#and I have the strongest urge to say pizza pizza pizza

[child-of-the-cosmos]

*crawls from the darkness battered and bruised* I... have another chapter.

Will probably upload sometime tmmr. Hope y’all are having an amazing day/night. <333

[temporalbystander]

Okay so... I'm not much of a theorist. I have watched Game theory for a bit, fell off when we hit the "let's apply realism to videogames" era. Got pissed at the "it's clearly NOT true but let's say it is anyway." Bits when film theory started. And then got dragged back in by the in depth dive he did with FNAF and other lore based games.

But, after some mindless scrolling reminding me of the disappointment of Monty fans (and some urges to write some NSFW Roxy stories...), I decided I'd give this a shot. Spoilers and theory under the cut.

Okay. Let's start at the beginning with Security Breach. We are introduced to Monty through story and context as one of the more aggressive animatronics. In game he lunges large distances, destroys machinery with ease and is most likely the strongest of the threats faced, outside of DJ music man.

Through the messages you can unlock we are told that Monty is Bonnie's replacement, that his claws were upgraded for him to play the bass and that his temper tantrums result in him destroying staff bots and wrecking his room. We are also told that he tends to skip shows to hang out in his own attraction instead. This, combined with Bonnie's last known location being Gator golf, sparked the theory that Monty decommissioned Bonnie. However given the revelation of Ruin saying Bonnie IS in Bonnie bowl, and seems to have been ended there, this is clearly not the case.

Speaking of Ruin. By now he's an animal, completely destroyed as he wanders around the pizza Plex, dragging himself along the ground, and launching himself at anything. He's also, surprisingly, still water proof despite the fact the entirety of his casing is gone. To those that don't like Monty? This was hilarious. To those who do? It was heartbreaking. His sense of self was completely gone. He gets fried by Cassie and that's it. He doesn't even appear in Help Wanted 2.

So what's my take on this? Well, going outside of the games and into the books, Monty didn't get angry until AFTER something called the storyteller was installed. What's the storyteller? As far as this theory is concerned it's the book version of Glitchtrap, or rather the virus making all the animatronics try to kill you. With this being the case, and with what's said in the books matching up with the messages in Security Breach. Monty didn't become rage filled until AFTER he joined the band, after he got his claws upgraded and all this being after Bonnie was decommissioned. Therefore his anger wasn't behind him attacking Bonnie, which he didn't do. So what was it?

Well let's compare him to the other affected animatronics. Chica scoffs down anything even remotely edible, requiring technicians to repeatedly clean out her gears, and Roxy locks herself in her room crying and lashes out verbally insulting anyone who gets in her way. Some have pointed out that these are all ways that someone can respond to grief over loss. However I think it's much simpler than that. These are all coping strategies, not healthy ones but they are.

Chica eats to calm down, Roxy lashes out verbally to hide her own self doubts, and Monty gets mad because at least with anger you can do something, you can attack and vent and feel alive. Hell, music man, sun and moon and even Freddy all have their own coping strategies going. DJ music man cranks the music loud, runs around and throws things. Both sides of the DCA cope by diving into their roles 200%. Sun goes happy and smiling trying to keep kids entertained and safe in one singular place while moon follows his job of making sure nobody stays awake regardless of how he comes across. He doesn't care if you're scared or insulted just go to sleep.

As for Freddy? This is more based on the books but he seems to cope in two ways. One he becomes more childish and two he becomes very protective, in the games he's willing to put himself at risk just to keep Gregory safe. Even the way he talks to Gregory in the games is more childlike then the way the other animatronics talk. The way Roxy talks to Freddy is more adult but even when talking to Vanessa Freddy doesn't seem mature. It's not until you go under the pizza Plex that Freddy seems to get more serious as the memories return to him.

But I've gotten off topic... Or have I? You see, this is a theory on WHY Monty seems to have gotten shafted but to explain that I have to explain what I think they're doing with him and, comparatively, what they're doing with all the other glamrocks. So let's move to Ruin shall we? Because, believe it or not, all the animatronics are STILL following their coping trends.

Chica is devouring food so much she has what remains of her mouth covered in cheese, garbage bags falling out of her stomach and ends up falling onto the cupcake assembly line before getting a forceful reboot and shutting down again. If you decide to reattach her voice box? She sparks up with the only word she says as "pizza!" Before shutting down again. Even her appearances in Help Wanted 2 revolve around her need to eat.

Monty, as I've stated earlier, copes with anger. In Ruin that devolved into a blind rage most likely throwing himself into any situation regardless of what it may do to him, hence why he went from dragging himself along the ground with his full casing, to being basically an endoskeleton lunging and biting at anything. He got tunnel vision and only seeks to destroy.

Prototype Freddy? Could actually be seen as still being childish and protective. When he catches you in Ruin he grabs you and tries to put you in the safety hatch where he has cake, he doesn't think of what might happen or how he appears he just tries to get you safe, unintentionally spearing you on his shattered chest plate in the process. In HW2 Freddy is oh so confident that you can help him because of course Fazbear entertainment would send someone qualified right? While also warning you that there may be some accidents should anything go wrong.

Roxy is where it gets interesting because, when Cassie first comes across her she's still trying to say she's beautiful. That she's special and her minigames in HW2 are all about trying to make her pretty while she gets angry at you for ignoring her and needs her walkie talkie to tell her how amazing she is once she's been shattered. But here's the thing, thanks to Gregory tearing out her eyes she's gotten another unhealthy coping strategy. Vengeance. Her entire demeanor changes and she charges at you full bore when her anger takes over. She's also gotten so confident getting around the pizza Plex that when she hears Gregory's voice she pounces through the double doors at full speed. She has a goal and that goal is getting her eyes back. Even when she eventually catches Cassie (canonically, all the other times you game over don't actually happen after all) she doesn't attack, she demands the return of her eyes and when Cassie gets scared she backs down. She realises she made a mistake and hurt someone she didn't mean to. She apologises. All this to say that, by giving herself a goal, Roxy managed to maintain her sense of self better than Chica and Monty when the orders to hunt Gregory left their system. They were all still suffering the main drawbacks, their coping strategies, but the worse part of the virus was gone. What happened between then and ruin they did to themselves.

So then. After all this. What's my thought on what they're doing with Monty? Why did he get screwed when Chica also suffered from a bad coping strategy that didn't improve? And, most importantly of all, what are they actually coping with?

Well, my thinking is simple. They had Monty cope by anger. They made him the most annoying animatronic to deal with (his glasses stopping you from stunning him, being the only animatronic to have a boss fight outside burntrap and even once dealt with he's still annoying because he's so low he can be missed easily and is ridiculously quick.) They framed him as the attacker of Bonnie and in Ruin they turned him into a rabid dogs there to terrify you until you get the satisfaction of electrocuting him. He was made to be the most hated animatronic through gameplay, story and design. And when he doesn't appear in Help Wanted 2 they wanted you to think "good riddance!"

Why? Because I bet they have a prequel planned for him. Something that shows his connection with Bonnie, his big brother attitude towards the kids on his golf course. Something that would connect him more with the teens. And through it all you're meant to be thinking "I'm watching you. I know what you're like. I know what you're capable of. Be wary Bonnie, he's after your job."

And then it would continue. You'd see his softer side cheering up some kids who just can't get the hang of golf. Scaring of some bullies by roaring at them. Having the time of his life on the solo stage. You'd smile, chuckle. Maybe even go. "Wow Monty? What happened to you? Why couldn't we do things like this with you in Help Wanted?" You'd slowly start to forget Security Breach and Ruin and just enjoy the time with the cool gator.

Then it would happen. There'd be whispers at first as they say Bonnie's gone missing and the shows been put on hold for a while. You'd look at Monty again only to see him worried and confused. Asking the staff what happened to his idol. Monty would be walking over the catwalks trying to remember what happened the last time Bonnie visited. Then he'd be told he'd be Bonnie's replacement. He'd resist, he loves his attraction, but he doesn't have a choice. The kids want to see the band perform after all.

So you'd see him get the upgrades, perform. See him get Bonnie's green room, hear the kids, and everyone else's, disappointment in him. Then you'd see him snap. See him tear down the posters of him and Bonnie before he trashes the rest of the room. See him destroy the staff bots that try to clean up. Then youd see him floating in the water. Twitching and sparking. And you'd say. "Oh god. What have I done?"

I think Monty is a lesson in judgement. That anger always comes from something else. Something deeper. And also that blind rage can turn you into something you aren't if you let it consume you. I think Monty is meant to be a tragic tale of someone who became a villain because he was misjudged until he couldn't take it anymore...

.... Oh. You're still reading? Oh yes. What do I think they are coping with. I did say I'd explain that as well didn't I? Well... Simply put? Being alive. The books have followed a trend of AI trying to become human. I think the glitch made the glamrocks sentient. Sure their AI was sophisticated before but they couldn't feel like they could when the glitch hit. Roxy realised she wasn't the best despite her programming saying she had to be so she was filled with self loathing. Chica was programmed as the fitness expert yet realised she doesn't have any concept of food or being full. Monty awoke feeling judged and got mad because it wasn't his fault. And Freddy? Well Freddy either got possessed by Mike early on and thus was saved by some of the existential crisis. OR his programming designating him the leader saw him recognising his friends having issues and thus he became naive to cope with the fact that everything was still okay and protective to try his best to help.

[dysfunctionalcrab]

babysitter

pairing: georgenotfound x reader

pronouns: gender neutral

description: george is left to babysit your niece

warnings: mentions of a future family? just in case that makes you uncomfortable.

[y/n/n] - your nieces name

[y/s/n] - your siblings name (gender neutral too)

note: i’m not too sure about this imagine, please a like or reply if you actually enjoyed! - niss

you woke up to the sound of your alarm blasting your ear off, if you hadn’t turned it off right there you probably would have gone deaf.

george was sleeping like a baby beside you, you could hear his quiet snores. you were surprised he didn’t wake up to the sound of your ear-piercing alarm.

turning on your phone, you glanced at the time that read 12:30. you sighed in annoyance as you registered that you only had half an hour before you had to be on your way to university. so you got up and began your normal morning routine, brush your teeth, shower, have breakfast and finally get dressed. however, as you were packing your bag, almost ready to go, you received a notification from your [sibling]

[y/s/n]: we’re 5 minutes away!!!

[y/s/n]: thank you so much for agreeing to do this :)

fuck.

it completely slipped your mind. you had promised to take care of [y/n/n] for today, your 7 year old niece, while your [sibling] was at their job interview. regardless, you texted them a quick ‘no problem’ before rushing upstairs to wake up george.

he was still sleeping, but now he was completely hiding under the covers with one arm sticking out. you hated to interrupt his beauty sleep but this was more important. you began to shake him awake.

“babe,” you shook him

“wake up,”

“george,” you removed the covers off his face

“wake the fuck up!” you started poking his sides. usually, you would be a little less... harsh, but you were panicking.

finally the boy rose from his slumber, groaning and stretching all his limbs. he blinked a couple times before meeting your eyes

“good morning,” he said softly, as if he completely just disregarded your tone of desperation and worry.

you pulled him by his arm and he sat upright,

“you need to get up right now,” you told him

“what’s going on?” he questioned, clearly confused as you weren’t giving him any context

“you need to take care of [y/n/n] for today, i have classes today, and i need to leave in 5 minutes and [y/s/n] has a job interview and there’s nobody else to take care of her,” you rushed out all in once sentence.

“are you serious?” he narrowed his eyes at you. “you know how bad i am with kids, especially [y/n/n] , she hates me,”

that was partly true. unfortunately, your niece wasn’t exactly fond of george. ever since you even started dating,m, [y/n/n] acted cold towards your boyfriend, it only got worse when you moved in with him. she always refused to play a game if george was going to participate, or never accepted any high fives or hellos from him. you felt sympathy for george. this child despised him and now you were asking him to look after her.

“please, i’m begging you,” you looked at him with pleading eyes. his eyes softened up after recognising the urgency of the situation.

“fine,” he agreed. you sighed out of satisfaction that you didn’t have to stress out [y/s/n] over finding a new baby sitter.

“thank you so much,” you pressed a small kiss to his lips appreciatively.

right at that moment, you two heard the doorbell ring. you urged george to get ready as fast as he could while you went down stairs and greeted your [sibling] and your niece.

“auntie/uncle [y/n]!” [y/n/n] yelled as you opened the door, immediately rushing into your arms. she looked a lot taller than the last time you saw her

“how’s my favourite girl?” you picked her up and swung her, before placing a little kiss on her head

you gave your [sibling] a quick hug. they handed you a bag full of toys, teddies and colouring pens, along with a spare set of clothing just in case [y/n/n] got a little messy throughout the day. and some quick reminders about her favourite foods or how to get her stop crying. you’d looked after her before, so all of it was pretty familiar to you

“again, thank you so, so much, you have no idea how much you’re helping me.” they told you. your [sibling] gave [y/n/n] a kiss on the cheek and told her to be a ‘good and kind little girl’ before finally exiting the household.

george, at last, made his way down. wearing a decent pair of jeans and a hoodie, giving an awkward wave to [y/n/n]

you checked the time and knew you had to get going. you had to explain to her that uncle george was going to be the one looking after her today. and after one whole tantrum, you managed to convince her to be a good girl by promising to give her a big reward afterward.

finally, you kissed [y/n/n] and george a goodbye , then shut the front door behind you.

george and [y/n/n] stood opposite each other. there was an uncomfortable silence in the air. george felt so...he didn’t even know. what do you say to a child who hates you? [y/n/n] tightly clutched her bag of toys.

“so, [y/n/n],” george cleared his throat, he bent down to her level. “i hear you like toy story?”

[y/n/n] pouted “i don’t like you” she said, and stomped away.

george sighed. this was going to be a long day.

and it was.

-

it started off with [y/n/n] innocently using her colouring pens and drawing random things, you know, as children do. but when she ran out of paper, she made her way to your office, where all your uni work was. she grabbed the closest piece of paper that was sitting on your desk, deciding it was going to be the next canvas for her art. this paper just happened to be a very important assignment.

when george caught her in the act, he had to physically tear her away from your office, in defiance of all her kicking and screaming.

-

then, when george accidently left the door to your shared bedroom open. [y/n/n] waddled in without him noticing, she started playing with all of his devices. his computer, his microphone, and somehow she got a hold of his headphones, and took out the battery. george didn’t realise until he noticed the cover missing. he tried to ask her nicely where she threw the battery. but she insisted that she wasn’t going to give it back unless he stopped being ‘mean’

-

when lunch time rolled around, george put a pizza in the oven, he remembered clearly that [y/n/n] loved pizza, specifically pepperoni. nothing could go wrong here.

but when he called her to the kitchen so she could receive her lunch. she just stared blankly at the pizza, and then at him. she crossed her arms

“[y/n] usually makes a smiley face with the pepperoni”

george just felt all his will to live just disappear

-

coloured pens and toys were spread out all across the living room floor, [y/n/n] was sitting in front of the tv, george put on one of her favourite shows which thankfully distracted her for a bit, allowing him to relax. he pulled out his phone and texted you

to [y/n] <3 : help me please

to [y/n] <3: i cant take this anymore, i’m literally dying rn

to [y/n] <3: come home quick

he exhaled heavily, throwing his phone to the side. he was so exhausted.

[y/n/n] was roleplaying with her toys, making them move around and doing squeaky little voices. george smiled at the innocence

“purple bear doesn’t play with us anymore. princess giraffe, mr. george took her away from us,” she spoke in a high pitched voice

george’s ears perked up. how funny that she had a teddy named ‘mr. george’. curiously, he watched the little girl.

“koala george, is a meanie, he stole purple bear and now they don’t want to hang out with us!”

it didn’t take a genius to find out what [y/n/n] was displaying through her role playing teddies.

that was why she didn’t like george. before they got together, [y/n] mentioned they almost spent every weekend with [y/n/n], playing with her and having fun with her.

she felt abandoned by [y/n] and felt as if george had taken them away from her .

george felt at fault as he noticed the girls eyes started to water.

“does purple bear love us any more?” she continued to play.

george decided it was enough and he switched off the television. he joined [y/n/n] on the floor and grabbed the teddy that was supposedly ‘koala george’

“[y/n/n]” he spoke softly. the little girl looked up at him expectantly. he held up the teddy.

“is this supposed to be me?” he questioned her.

“that’s a koala bear,” she answered

“no-, [y/n/n],” he said. he thought about how to ask her, and just chose it was best to be flat out with the child,”

“did i steal auntie/uncle [y/n] away from you?”

the question took her by surprise. she gazed at him with big wide eyes. she thought about her answer and grabbed the purple bear, which was supposed to be you.

“they don’t play with me as much anymore, they’re always with you, because of you, they don’t love me anymore,” she pulled a face, it wasn’t angry, it wasn’t annoyed.

it was a genuinely sad face.

george was sure he physically felt a pang of guilt in his stomach. he never even comprehended the fact that a child could feel so rejected.

“listen... [y/n/n],” he said gently. he thought about his words. comforting someone wasn’t exactly his strongest point, particularly not a child who detested him “[y/n] will never stop loving you, okay? they love you very much, and i’m sorry you feel like i stole them ”

[y/n/n] continued to listen.

“but don’t forget that [y/n] has so much love to go around! look, they love you, and they love me, they love grandma and grandpa too! they will always love one another even if they can’t see each other often,”

[y/n/n] stayed silent. she fiddled with the purple teddy, folding its ears and patting its head. she loved that bear. it was actually gifted to her by you, when she was first born. she brought it to her chest and hugged it. george tried a different approach.

“listen, how about- this weekend, we can all go to the park together, and have a picnic. you, me, [y/n], and your parents too,”

she continued to just stay silent. george didn’t know what to expect, she was unpredictable, was she going to throw another hissy fit? or start to cry? he wasn’t sure

“can we also get ice cream?” she asked

george smiled and felt himself relax. thank god. “all the ice cream you want,” he told her

[y/n/n] stood up and giggled. like her whole entire mood did a whole fucking 180. “okay! let’s go play dress up now!”

———

7:45 pm. you finally arrived home. you were tired out of your mind. [y/s/n]’s interview was delayed by two hours and was currently half way back home, meaning you had enough time to spend with [y/n/n]

you unlocked the door, expecting to see a giant tsunami of toys and colouring pencils and pens, but what you saw was the most heart warming thing ever.

george was sleeping on the couch, his head resting on the armrest. he had a couple pink bows in his hair, his lips were painted a hot pink, he was wearing a couple sparky bracelets and a purple floral necklace.

in his lap, [y/n/n] rested her head, she was wearing a fairy costume with matching pink bows and sparkly bracelets.

you quickly snapped a photo of this wholesome moment. because, who wouldn’t? you spent a few minutes just watching the two sleep, they were probably just as tired as you.

moments like these made you really appreciate the people you had in your life. the people you love so dearly much.

you didn’t want to disrupt the ambience but you felt it was better for your [sibling] to collect your niece when she wasn’t covered in glitter and an overload of pink accessories.

you quietly woke george up,

“baby, wake up.” you shook him awake, gently. in a very different way than you did this morning. he opened his eyes. and immediately smiled upon seeing your face. you ran your thumb across his cheek

“it looks like you two had a lot of fun,” you teased.

he quietly chuckled. “she’s okay,” he told you. looking down at the little girl sleeping in his lap.

you slowly and carefully picked her up, removing any accessories you thought may seem uncomfortable to sleep in. she was a heavy sleeper.

you carried her upstairs, tucking her into you and george’s bed and placing a kiss upon her forehead. you turned back to george and rushed in for a bear hug

“thank you so much for doing that,” you said. “i love you so much, i know it probably wasn’t easy, she can be quite the handful,”

george chuckled. “handful is an understatement,”

“you’d better be willing to dress up like that with our own kids one day.” you stated, hugging him tighter.

his face broke out into a small smile, having thought of an image of you two playing with you future kids. he kissed top of your head and then your nose

“maybe one day”

———

masterlist

[when-they-write-stuff]

Feels Like Home

fandom: teen wolf

pairing: sterek

word count: 4840

notes: a ko-fi commission for @ice-mage based on this image and i loved writing this so much! laura hale is one of my favorites.

It started when Derek went to buy coffee. 

To be fair, he hadn’t gone out into the public that morning expecting to be attacked. He’d gone out because of his sister’s insistence and because he knew she wouldn’t get off his back until he got her a proper cup of coffee. It wasn’t his fault their machine was broken during the move.

The point was, Derek hadn’t gone out in public that morning expecting to be attacked. That was completely uncalled for.

Okay, he wasn’t attacked, exactly. He was sort of attacked. He was attacked by the sudden scent of cinnamon and autumn leaves, which struck him so hard he ended up tripping over his own feet and nearly face-planting to the sidewalk.

And he probably would have if someone hadn’t caught him by the arms. Not just someone. The someone— the boy—who smelled so strongly like spices and fall that Derek had a mini heart attack and yanked back like he’d been burned. The boy squeaked in surprise at Derek’s sudden movements, stumbling back too.

“Dude, dude, I’m sorry, geez! Please don’t have a stroke on me, I’d really hate it if you had a heart attack on me. I promise, I usually watch where I’m going but my phone buzzed and it was my dad saying he had pizza and I got distracted and—”

Derek stared at the kid. He was still rambling and gesturing wildly around like that was somehow going to help his explanation. For a moment, Derek really didn’t know how to react.

Then he shook himself out of his head and realized that something was very wrong. The kid continued to rant, people continued to pass them by on the sidewalk, but Derek couldn’t smell anyone but him. The boy, the kid, the amber-eyed idiot who didn’t look any older than twenty, at most. His scent hit Derek like a tidal wave over and over again and as Derek realized something was wrong, he also realized what.

That’s when the panic attack started.

“Oh my god,” the kid said, finally cutting off with his rant. “Oh my god, I’ve broken you, haven’t I? Are you going to press charges? Are you going to punch me? Oh my god, are you going to call my dad?”

Derek blinked a few times, staring at him. It took him a long moment to regain the ability to form words. “Your dad?”

“... The Sheriff,” the kid said. Then he cursed. “I shouldn’t have said that should I? Now you know who I am. Wait, how did you not know who I am?”

Derek still didn’t know who he was. He didn’t realize he was supposed to. He just continued staring until the boy was shifting nervously and his teeth sunk down to chew on his lower lip. The red hoodie the kid wore was a little too small and his hair stuck up in all directions. He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. That really shouldn’t have made Derek’s stomach clench so hard.

“Well then,” the boy said. “Seeing as you’re not injured, not broken, and not, um, talking, I’m going to make my exit now. It was terrifying to meet you!”

“Wait,” Derek said, the word spilling out before he could stop it. The kid froze and stared at him and Derek suddenly felt his face turn hot. “What is your name?”

The boy’s already pale face paled anymore. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck and chuckled, before deflating. “Stiles.”

“Stiles?”

“Stiles Stilinski. The Sheriff’s kid?”

Derek hadn’t been back in Beacon Hills long enough to know who the current Sheriff’s kid was. So he only nodded dumbly and Stiles offered one last nervous smile before turning around. He all but raced away from Derek and the scent of cinnamon and autumn slowly faded with him.

Derek stood there for another few minutes. People passed him and stared, but he continued to gaze in the direction that Stiles had gone. His brain wasn’t working properly. Something was wrong.

Derek felt drunk. Which was odd, because he’d only been drunk twice in his entire life. But he felt like he’d just consumed the strongest alcohol laced with the strongest wolfsbane and everything around him was moving slowly.

Stiles. It was a ridiculously stupid name, Derek thought. And the kid had a ridiculously stupid face. Stiles. Derek had no doubts.

Stiles Stilinski was his mate.

- -

Derek didn’t actually get coffee. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he forgot, wandering all the way back to the apartment he and Laura rented out before he realized he’d come back empty-handed.

Laura didn’t seem too impressed.

“One job, Derek,” she said, frowning at his empty hands. “You had one job.”

Derek gazed blankly at her. Laura’s frown turned concerned.

“Okay, Der, what’s wrong with you? You look… grumpier than usual. I know you didn’t want to come back here, but I swear to god if you start complaining again—”

“Stiles Stilinski,” Derek said, cutting her off. “His name is Stiles Stilinski.”

Laura’s jaw snapped closed and her green eyes flared with interest. Derek moved over and dropped down onto the couch, before burying his face in his hands and shaking his head.

“Laura, what kind of name is Stiles Stilinski?”

“Okay,” Laura said, moving over and sinking down next to him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What the hell is a Stiles?”

“I don’t know,” Derek said. “I think he’s an idiot.”

“He’s a human?”

“He’s my mate.”

Laura froze, her hand resting on the middle of Derek’s back. Derek could’ve sworn he felt the tips of claws and he resisted the urge to whine and flash his throat. When he lifted his head and met Laura’s gaze, her eyes were slightly red and her expression was more than intrigued now.

“Laura,” Derek said. “How the hell do you woo a human?”

“A human.”

“Yes.”

“A boy.”

“The Sheriff’s kid.”

“Der,” she said, turning to meet his gaze. He did flash his throat upward a little then. “Are you sure?”

“He smells,” Derek said miserably. Laura crooked up an eyebrow and Derek felt his face turn hot as he ducked his head again.

He didn’t want to go into the fact that from the moment he’d looked at Stiles and his stupid face, he’d been bombarded by the smells that reminded him of home. Of his home, his family, and his favorite season. It was like the fall months at the Hale house when Derek’s dad would make cookies, Derek’s mom would make them rake leaves, and then they’d spend holidays, like Halloween, scaring the shit out of innocent trick-or-treaters.

“He smells like pack,” Derek said after a moment. Laura’s touch softened on his back and he felt himself melt into her touch.

Because Derek was a little terrified. The last time he thought something smelled good, it had been Kate and her perfume. Something that reminded Derek a little bit of red wine, a smell he couldn’t stand now.

But Stiles smelled nothing like that. Stiles smelled like family and safety and home. Derek hadn’t even been back in Beacon Hills for two weeks now and he was already messing up his vow to never get close to anyone from here again.

“Stiles Stilinski,” Laura said. “The Sheriff’s kid?”

“Apparently.”

“And you want to go after him?”

Derek paused for a moment. Because despite everything, it hadn’t crossed his mind that he could just ignore it. Ignore the smell, ignore Stiles, and ignore the fact that Derek had ever run into him. It was a completely accidental meeting after all. If Derek had been five minutes slower, he probably wouldn’t have run into Stiles at all.

Was this something he wanted to go after? Derek wasn’t sure.

Laura seemed to notice his indecision because she chuckled, brushing a hand through his hair and tracing her nose gently along the back of his neck before pushing herself up.

“No pressure, little bro. But if you dare go after this kid without telling me first, I will personally murder you. I want to meet him and I want to know everything about where he comes from. He doesn’t step foot into this apartment until I have details.”

Derek couldn’t help wincing at that. Because he knew there was more to the joking tone in her voice. Laura wouldn’t let anyone— even the pizza man—into their territory without a background check first.

Not after Kate.

He mumbled agreement into his hands and continued to stare at the floor. This was his decision, he realized. Whether or not he went after this Stiles Stilinski. What even was a Stiles Stilinksi?

Derek decided he wanted to find out.

- -

He wasn’t stalking Stiles, per se.

Derek wasn’t stalking Stiles, he didn’t care what it looked like. Yeah, he might have done a little bit of research on the kid. He might have figured out that he was home for the summer, on his second year at MIT, and had an internship from the FBI tucked in his belt.

But Derek wasn’t stalking Stiles. He just knew that the kid was staying with his dad across town, worked a summer shift at the bookstore nearby, and often bought coffee for his dad and the other deputies during his lunch break.

But Derek wasn’t stalking him. He was just interested.

So when Derek went down to the bookstore that Stiles worked at, it was purely out of interest. He didn’t even look toward the front desk as he slipped into the store, moving quickly behind the bookshelves and out of sight.

The scent of cinnamon and autumn leaves in the shop was overwhelming. Derek did his best not to close his eyes and just smell it, but it was hard. Shaking his head, he glanced over the shelves of books and realized he had wandered into the religious section.

Someone came into view and Derek froze as he realized it was Stiles.

Stiles paused too. Then a small nervous grin flitted across across his face and he leaned against the closest bookshelf, crooking up a brow.

“You’re not following me now, are you Sourpuss?”

Derek blinked at him. He was pretty sure words were possible, but at the moment, even the act of breathing fled him. Stiles barked out a laugh and waved a hand through the air.

“I’m joking, dude. I’m joking! You just look like you’re about to have a heart attack which, as we agreed on when we first met, would be very unfortunate for me. I don’t know the rules of involuntary manslaughter, but I’m pretty sure it’d be awkward for my dad if he had to arrest me.”

Derek nodded silently. Stiles grinned.

“So, can I help you find anything? Some Old Testament, maybe?”

Derek finally remembered he was surrounded by the literal Bible and quickly shook his head. “This isn’t the section I was looking for.”

“Ah,” Stiles said. “Well, I can help you find the poetry books if you want. Or maybe some Jane Austen? You look like a ‘classics’ man.”

Derek didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t really know how to answer anything Stiles said so he just nodded again. Stiles chuckled and started off across the bookstore.

“Well, here we have some Ernest Hemingway, here’s some George Orwell, and oh! Jane Austen. That lady wrote a mean Pride and Prejudice, you know.”

Derek was faintly aware that Stiles was still talking, but he was too focused on the boy’s face to pay attention to what he was saying. Stiles’s skin was pale and dotted with moles, and Derek really shouldn’t be concentrating so hard on his lips. The kid’s eyes were amber, but Derek thought when they caught the light, they looked a little golden.

“Uh,” Stiles said, and Derek realized with a blush how hard he’d been staring. “See anything you like, dude?”

“I wasn’t staring.”

Stiles blinked a few times. Then a lopsided smile cracked across his face and he shook his head. “I meant the books, Sourpuss. You feeling alright?”

“Fine,” Derek said. He turned to glare at the bookshelf as if it’d personally offended him and then grabbed the first book within reach. Stiles whistled.

“Fahrenheit 451. You could have worse tastes.”

Derek wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or insult. Or maybe it was neither.

He followed Stiles toward the back of the shop and paid for his book. He left a hefty tip and ignored Stiles’s protests when the boy tried to hand it back. Grabbing his book and receipt, Derek put on his best smile.

“Thanks for the help, Stiles.”

“Thanks for basically paying for my lunch, dude.”

Derek blushed and turned away, doing his best not to run from the shop. It was really hard, though, and he felt Stiles’s eyes burning into his back the whole way out. The bell over the exit rang and Derek was pretty sure he shut the door a little too hard.

Laura was at the apartment when he arrived back, still a little red-faced and fighting a smile. She sat at the table with a mug of tea but the second her gaze zeroed in on where he stood, her eyebrows shot up and she was moving across the room, taking his shoulders and sniffing in deep.

Derek tensed. Laura glanced up and searched his face. “You smell different.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Derek,” she said, eyeing him up and down. A smirk formed on her lips as she saw the bag he held and she snatched it up before Derek could protest, dancing away. Derek clenched his jaw and glared as Laura dug out his book, looked at the cover, and then proceeded to throw back her head with a laugh.

“Shut up,” Derek growled. Laura grinned at him.

“You hate old books!”

“I do not.”

“When we were kids you threw Hemingway out the window because you said it was rotting your brain.”

“It was,” Derek grumbled, stalking toward her and ripping the book out of her hands. It still smelled faintly like Stiles. “But I thought this one looked interesting.”

“What’s it about?”

Derek glanced back down at the cover and frowned even harder. “Really hot temperatures.”

Laura’s cackling picked up a level.

Derek glared at her and set the book on the coffee table. In truth, he probably wasn’t even going to read it. Maybe smell it once or twice more. But he wasn’t ever going to read it.

Laura was watching him knowing from the table when Derek dropped onto a chair across from her. She rested her chin on her hands and grinned.

“So, have you made your decision yet?”

“I just like the way he smells,” Derek said, looking down at his hands. “It’s... like before, Laura. It’s like before the fire.”

Her smile faded a little. Laura reached across the table and caught his hand, giving it a good squeeze. Derek swallowed hard and found he couldn’t meet her gaze again. They didn’t often talk about it. The fire, that was.

He’d always thought leaving Beacon Hills had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. But now Derek was starting to wonder if returning to it was.

“It’s strange,” he said. “I don’t understand why.”

“It’s ‘mate’,” Laura said, shrugging. “It’s not something all werewolves find. You’re lucky.

“He’s still an idiot.”

“But an idiot you’re planning on going after?”

Derek didn’t answer for a long moment, his memory snapping back to Stiles and his grin and his dancing amber eyes. Then quietly, he nodded, and Laura’s scent warmed across from him.

“Then, little bro, I’m going to teach you how to woo a human.”

Derek resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He was pretty sure he didn’t need any help, especially not from Laura. He could do this by himself.

- -

He could not do this by himself.

Or at least, maybe he shouldn’t. That’s what Derek realized when he spent five hours at the coffee shop for the next week and a half, waiting to see if Stiles would show up. He wasn’t sure if he kept missing the boy, if he had the wrong coffee shop, or if he was just wrong and Stiles didn’t buy his dad and deputies coffee.

But that had been a Facebook update status. Derek was pretty sure he did.

He was such a stalker.

On the tenth day, still ignoring Laura and her attempts to help, Derek trudged back into the coffee shop. The waitress knew his order by now and she’d given up trying to flirt with him on day four. Now, she just brought over his mocha, offered a polite smile, and turned away to attend to the other customers.

Derek leaned back in the same chair of the same table he’d laid claim to a week ago and proceeded to wait.

He didn’t have to wait very long.

Stiles came flouncing through not an hour later, closely followed by a slightly older man with light brown hair. The man wore a deputy’s outfit and was smiling fondly as Stiles talked, the boy waving his hands through the air as he punctuated each word.

The smell of the coffee shop filled with Stiles’s scent. It was like cinnamon and coffee and Derek didn’t think he ever wanted to leave.

He sat there for a moment, lost in his thoughts. Then he realized that he was basically hiding in the furthest corner of the cafe, partially hidden by a protruding wall, and there was no way Stiles was going to see him.

Derek panicked. Before he could even think he was pushing himself up, his coffee was tipping over, and a half-empty mocha was spilling across the tabletop.

Derek supposed that was one way to make a scene.

He stood there for a moment wondering how this was possibly his life when suddenly the smell of cinnamon and autumn was overwhelming. Derek spun around and Stiles yelped, stumbling a few feet back.

“Woah, Fahrenheit 451 dude, it’s me! The kid from the sidewalk, the one from the bookstore? Let’s avoid the heart attacks today!”

The kid had a handful of napkins in his hand and he offered them out as he regained his balance. Derek was pretty sure his face was fifty shades of red and he took them gratefully, turning toward the mess.

“Thanks.”

“So, you here for the coffee or the company?”

Derek tensed, frozen in place. There was no way Stiles could know Derek was here waiting for him. No way in hell. Unless he was a mind reader or something. “What company?”

“You meeting anyone here?”

Derek instantly felt himself relaxing. He finished wiping up the coffee and turned back around, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “No. Just here for the coffee.”

“Wise choice,” Stiles said. “It’s the best in the town, you know.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I make a pretty mean cup of black coffee. But that’s beside the point.”

Derek chuckled. Stiles studied his face before tilting his eyes, long eyelashes fluttering. “So, how goes the book? Have you finished it yet? Ready to come to the bookstore for another?”

The book. What book? Derek stared at him for a long moment before it hit.

“Oh, it’s great.”

“Yeah? I read that in high school and didn’t mind it much. Got a favorite part?”

Derek’s mind went blank. “The… hot temperatures part?”

Stiles’s eyebrows flew up. Derek felt a lump forming in his throat and then Stiles snorted, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’re hilarious, dude.”

Derek’s face turned warm and he grinned.

Then suddenly, the other man Stiles had come in with was approaching, a tray of coffee in hand. Stiles’s face brightened even more and Derek’s stomach did something strange at that. Something uncomfortable.

“Dude,” Stiles said, beckoning to the deputy. “This is Deputy Parrish, my dad’s literal favorite deputy. Parrish, this is… this is… dude, who are you?”

Parrish raised an eyebrow and Derek resisted the urge to growl at that. He tried to focus on Stiles, not the ‘Sheriff’s favorite Deputy’. “Derek Hale.”

“Parrish this is—Derek Hale?”

Derek didn’t know what to do with Stiles’s shocked tone. The boy and deputy exchanged looks and then Stiles shook his head.

“Sorry, I’m not freaking out. It’s just, dude. The Hale’s haven’t been in Beacon Hills since… uh...” Stiles trailed off and Derek ground his teeth together. He offered his best smile and nodded, although suddenly all he wanted to do was get out.

“My sister and I are back in town for the foreseeable future.”

“You two should come by the station sometime,” Parrish said. “The current Sheriff was there the night of the fire. I’m sure he’d like to welcome you both back.”

Derek really wanted to snap at the man, but he didn’t even have a good reason why. So instead, he nodded tightly and started to brush by. But to his surprise, Stiles caught his arm before he could make his escape.

“You will come by,” the boy asked, amber eyes catching the overhead light. “Right?”

Derek glanced from him, to Parrish, and then nodded once. He pulled out of Stiles’s grip and did his best not to stalk out of the cafe.

He was pretty sure he failed.

- -

So maybe Derek was willing to admit he needed help. He didn’t like it, he didn’t want to admit it, but maybe he did.

Laura was ecstatic.

“Okay,” she said, rubbing her hands together. “First, I need to see this kid.”

“Why.”

“Because, Der, he’s my little brother’s mate! Wait, don’t tell me. He hates puppies and thinks thunderstorms are the only reason to keep living.”

Derek gave her a flat look. Laura rolled her eyes.

“I’m joking, Der, I’m joking. I’m sure he’s quite lovely and fun.”

“He’s something alright.”

“So, when do I get to meet him?”

Derek’s eyebrows flew up. He didn’t actually think Laura had been serious. But when she crossed her arms and waited, he sighed. “We could go to the Sheriff’s station.”

“The Sheriff’s station?”

“He invited me.”

“Aw,” Laura said, eyes dancing. “How cute!”

“Shut up.”

She only grinned and patted him on the head, starting into her bedroom and announcing they were leaving in an hour. Derek rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure this was a bad idea and had no doubts it wasn’t going to end well. But he’d learned long ago not to tell Laura no.

Which might have been how an hour later, Derek was standing in the Sheriff’s office with Laura at his side. He hadn’t been here in years but it was like nothing had changed.

Some of the faces had, maybe. Derek didn’t remember much from his time here. He’d been in shock, in mourning, and hadn’t left Laura’s side except to give his statement.

Derek swallowed the lump in his throat and gazed around. He tensed as an older man approached; one with faint hints of Stiles’s scent, but nothing compared to the boy himself. The man wore the Sheriff’s badge, Derek realized. And he instantly straightened.

“Good afternoon,” the Sheriff said, glancing between them. “Can I help you two?”

Derek felt his face turn hot. Why had he come here again?

But then someone was calling his name and Stiles made a beeline across the office. Derek nearly slumped in on himself in relief and standing by his side, Laura straightened in interest.

“Dad, father-mine, pops,” Stiles said in excitement. “This is Derek!”

“Derek,” the Sheriff said. “Derek Hale?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I heard you’ve recently come back to town?”

“A month ago, sir.”

The Sheriff nodded his approval and Derek glanced sideways at his sister. She looked like she was going to say something too, but then another deputy was approaching. Parrish, Derek realized with a slightly sour feeling.

Except Laura suddenly straightened. Derek could’ve sworn her eyes flashed red, Stiles’s jaw dropped open, and then Laura was making a beeline for the door.

Parrish paused next to the Sheriff, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. And Stiles—Stiles was looking at Derek with a baffled expression. His scent had changed, Derek realized. He smelled excited, confused, and shocked all at once.

Derek’s stomach twisted.

“S-sorry, sir,” he said, backing after his sister. “Laura hasn’t been feeling well. It was, uh, nice to meet you?”

The Sheriff nodded once. Derek offered a small smile and then all but fled after Laura.

He found her outside, pacing back and forth the empty sidewalk and growling. Derek caught her arm and when she looked at him, her eyes flashed red. Derek swallowed a whine and tightened his grip.

“Laura, what’s happening?”

“Nothing.”

“Laura—”

“He smells.”

Derek narrowed his eyes. “He…?”

“The deputy.”

Derek stared at her for a moment. Then he let go to turn away and mask his sudden laughter. It served her right to be making fun of him for the past month to suddenly be faced with her own crisis. Laura smacked him over the back of the head and Derek smirked at her, all teeth.

“Smells, Laura?”

“Shut up.”

“Smells like what, old memories, new ones, possibilities?”

“He smells like mom,” Laura hissed. “Like her burning food in the kitchen, taking care of the pups, making sure no one hurt the pack—”

Laura suddenly cut off and straightened. Derek turned around to see Stiles standing in the doorway of the building, looking more than a little awkward. The boy wiggled his fingers through the air and Laura patted Derek on the shoulder before moving back into the Sheriff’s station.

Derek just stood there.

“So,” Stiles said, approaching carefully. “Werewolves.”

And Derek froze.

His eyes must have turned bright blue because the boy squeaked and threw his hands up. Stiles’s heart thudded against his chest and Derek was pretty sure his did too. Because Stiles wasn’t supposed to know. No one was supposed to know. Not again, not like Kate—

“My best friend’s a werewolf,” Stiles said quickly. “He was turned by a rogue alpha when we were in high school and he’s even got his own pack across the country now. I, uh, didn’t realize it until your sister’s eyes.”

“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Stiles flinched. “Are you mad that I know?”

Was he? Derek didn’t think so. Suddenly, it felt like a weight had been taken off his shoulders and all he could do was shake his head. Stiles grinned.

“Good, because that’s totally so cool, dude! I mean, I thought I saw blue sometimes, but I was never sure. And I was pretty sure you growled at Parrish when you first met him but I mean, I thought maybe that was just a fetish or something.”

“A fetish?”

“There are some weird people out there, dude.”

Derek stared at him. Stiles nervously wet his lips, tucking his hands into his pockets and shrugging.

“Not that I thought you were weird. A little stalkerish, maybe, after you started following me everywhere and accidentally liked one of my posts on Facebook from five years ago.”

Derek’s heart stopped. He hadn’t even realized he’d done that.

“But, uh, I don’t mind,” Stiles said. “You know. You don’t have terrible taste in books for anything.”

“I hate ‘classic’ books,” Derek said suddenly, the words spilling out. Stiles straightened, eyes widening, and then a surprised laugh burst out of his lips. It made Derek’s heart flip.

“Dude! Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Do you want to get a coffee?”

That spilled out before Derek could stop it too. He listened to Stiles’s heart skip a beat, caught the sudden change of his scent, and Derek nearly wilted in on himself. But then Stiles grinned from ear to ear and nodded. And Derek didn’t think he’d ever been more relieved or happy.

“Really?”

“Or dinner,” Sties said, winking. “I know this excellent pizza place.”

“Pizza?”

“Or Italian,” Stiles said quickly, looking suddenly nervous again. “Or Mexican, or Chinese, or—”

“Pizza’s good,” Derek said. Stiles cut off and another brilliant smile cracked across his face.

“Well then,” the boy said, moving a little closer. He tilted his head up and studied Derek’s face, long eyelashes fluttering. “It’s nearly something o’clock. You wanna take me now?”

Derek was pretty sure he growled. Stiles’s teeth sunk into his lower lip.

“Is that a yes?”

“Dammit, Stiles—” His scent. Standing there on the street, only a little ways from where Stiles had first nearly bowled him over, Derek was pretty sure he’d never smelled anything better.

It was like spices and autumn leaves. It was like sitting around the fireplace with his family, watching his siblings roll around in the leaves, smelling the cocoa his father would make on a cold day. His scent was like family. It surrounded him like pack.

It felt like home.

“Let’s go now,” Derek said, voice cracking. Stiles beamed.

- -

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[weeklyfangirl]

Frat Boy Pt. 19

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 (1), part 7 (2), part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13 , part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18

You’re a gal on a mission in this one. And you’re determined to get answers one way or another ;) Share this with a friend and drag them them along for a roller coaster ride too! xx 

“This is a bad idea,” Renny muttered. We were parked a street away from the frat house, waiting for the boy who’d been ignoring me the past week to appear and get in his car. Granted, I’d only reached out once, but still. He’d never replied. Never reached out. It was the radio silence that scared me more than any gang tags. Ignorance might be bliss, but conscious ignorance was hell.

 After our dinner, I’d woken up to my car in the driveway. The windshield clean. Spotless, even. He must’ve hardly gotten sleep. 

 “Why is this necessary again? Do you think he’s cheating on you?” Renny asked. 

 I shook my head too quickly at the word cheating, because even if he was seeing somebody else it wouldn’t technically be cheating. We’d never even defined this. The only thing I hated more than knowing I was in the dark were gray zones. I shook my head too soon, though. What else could I tell her? I couldn’t exactly tell her the truth - that I think I’m being targeted as a cause of Harry’s random association with a gang and that we need to follow him to confirm my crazy conspiracies so I can affirm that one, I am not crazy, and two, I can reach a decision about whether I should talk to the cops. 

 That was too complicated.

 “Actually, you’re right. I think he’s seeing someone else.” I let the lie slip from my lips.

 “Shit. You think he’s seeing Viv?” 

 I wanted to smile at the edge in her voice. The first evidence she didn’t really like the girl either. “He already told me they slept together,” I said casually, as though I’d mentioned I ate Cheerios for breakfast again.

 Renny almost spat. “Ew!! Seriously? I mean, I guess we kind of already thought that. But still…-” she shivered “-GROSS.” 

 “Yeah. Gross,” I agreed. Something stirred next to the bins, and I clutched her arm. But it wasn’t Harry. The random associate walked on, blissfully unaware of the two girls watching his every move and so completely disappointed by his presence. We both sighed. 

 “Wait, he’s behind him!” Renny screeched. 

 Sure enough, Harry emerged, trailing behind the associate. His hair looked damp. He’d probably showered after practice, then. They did some sort of weird bro handshake and parted ways. 

 A beep of an alarm and Harry slid into his Maserati. Let the chase begin.

 “Still can’t believe he drives that thing to school,” Renny muttered. “I mean I would if I had one, too, but … cheating prick.” 

 I had to hand it to Renny. Even if someone was the most likeable person in the world, if they’d done something to cross her friends, she’d find a way to make them the most detestable. At least in her eyes. 

 We waited as he revved the engine and pulled out. He drove fast, but thankfully Renny’s VW could keep up. Grandpa would’ve been a different story. 

 “Where the hell are we going?” 

 “I don’t know.” I fought the urge to add ‘that’s the problem.’

 We travelled towards the coast before he senselessly veered inland again, ending up somewhere I’d never been before. We trailed him slowly, past locked up storefronts, and tagged alleyways, until he turned into a gritty-looking neighborhood. We slowed around the corner, making sure to keep several streets between us. 

 Around the bend, Harry suddenly slammed on his brakes. Renny lurched forward. 

 “What the fuck-” Renny ducked lower in her seat. “Do you think he saw us?”

 In the split two seconds I had, I wagered our chances of reversing and getting through this unseen. But my split two seconds were up, and I hadn’t moved. 

 The motor ran as he got out of the car, calmly, not bothering to shut the door. He’d known. He’d known all along. Time slowed when he faced us, arms crossed, squinting as his judgement penetrated through his Ray Bans all the way through the windshield. He stalked towards our car. No one was around in the rundown neighborhood street to yell at us to get our cars moving. No one could save me from this eternal embarrassment slowly mounting with each step of his black Chelsea boots. 

 The gig was up. 

 I rolled down my window when he tapped on the glass.

 “Go home,” he ordered. 

 I scoffed. “Really? You haven’t talked to me all week and those are the first words you’re going to say to me?” 

 He stepped backwards, acknowledging nothing. “Go. Home,” pointing the direction whence we came. 

 “We weren’t even following you. We were already in the neighborhood asshole!” Renny yelled. 

 I couldn’t have it end like this. I couldn’t have another week of silence, of questions unanswered. The plan was to follow him and see where he ran off to, not utterly expose my desperation. But now that plan was obliterated. Was this it? Was this seriously how he wanted to end things so… pointlessly?

 I opened the car door, running after his sulking frame. The second I placed a hand on his shoulder blade, he whipped around. I cowered. 

 He hadn’t needed to bare his teeth or shout at me to be intimidating. This oppressive darkness rolled off of him in waves, knocking me down repeatedly just when I saw the shore. Like a tired sailor, I’d return to the ocean, knowing the damage it could cause, but knowing it was worth it. It would be worth it… if I could only see beneath the surface. 

 He flinched as I pulled the shades off, but he didn’t look at me. My hand went along his jaw, against the slight stubble that’d made its way through. He relented.

 His pupils were blasted, almost shadowing the outer ring of green. 

 “I changed because of you,” I breathed. Something flashed in his eyes. Something beneath the darkened surface. “I’m not the same as I was before. And I don’t know even know how to… express it. I don’t even know if that’s a good thing,” I admitted. He opened his mouth, but I raised a hand. “I need to know what you’re not telling me. The old me could’ve gone without it, but who I am now? I can’t.” 

 But it was like he only heard half of what I’d said. “I never asked you to be in my life, Y/N.”

 “No, that’s right. You just swindled me into it by pretending to be dumb. You’re a little too good of an actor.”  

 It was his turn to scoff. “No one’s making you run after me.” 

 “No one’s making you be a complete and utter asshole right now, either. Besides yourself. Can you just-” I pushed his chest- “PLEASE. I’m clearly tired of getting nowhere.” 

 Harry looked at his watch, and his jaw clicked. “You know for someone so concerned with their life, you certainly don’t seem to have much of one.” His eyes bore into mine. 

 I swallowed, hard, unmoving though it stung. “I know Viv’s in on it.” 

 It was a stab in the dark, but it worked. He nearly growled.

 I heard Renny open her door behind me.

 “She’s involved in a lot of parts of my life, Y/N. But at least she doesn’t ask too many questions. And she sure as shit doesn’t overstep,” he growled. 

 “We both know I’m not Viv.” 

 “Yeah,” he chuckled. “You’re right…” His eyes levelled with mine. At least she actually fucks me.” 

 I felt like he should’ve stayed, watch the awful betrayal fill my eyes. But he walked away as the air was ripped from my lungs. I wanted to scream, I wanted to run up to him, push him to the ground and tell him-! 

 ...tell him what? 

 It was true. 

 He paused at the car door, not even trying to face me. “Get yourself home.” 

 I didn’t see him drive away. I just heard the slam of the car door as he left me, halfway up the hill. 

 Renny pulled the car up next to me, and I suddenly felt dirty. Like I needed a shower. A very hot, scalding shower, that would burn every inch of him off my body forever. 

 “What’s the plan?” she asked.  

 Clearly, our plan to trail the subject in very deep question had turned out very deeply miserable. 

 In a close encounter, the sailor realizes fairly quickly that the ocean holds all the power to kill them. But the second they acknowledge that, they don’t abandon what they’re looking for. 

 “Can you drop me off at a friend’s?” I asked.

 They just get a bigger ship. 

 -----------

 The just-built senior apartments were the envy of everyone on campus. Modern architecture and sleek interior made it THE choicest option for the upperclassmen - especially the athletes. It was the next best thing for those not living in fraternities or sororities.

 It was also the most expensive on-campus housing available. You could live there if you were rich enough, but more importantly, if you were lucky enough. There was one other way you could live here, though. Chapman held a raffle to “make our housing opportunity equal for everyone.” Which, was bullshit, considering the apartment only reserved four out of sixty rooms for those “raffle winners.” Four raffle winners, out of four THOUSAND upperclassmen.  

 Felix and Zayn had some pretty insane luck. 

 I knocked on their door, antsy as I thought of their probable reaction: “Why is Y/N standing beyond our door on a Thursday night without Renny?” She was my strongest link to them. I’d begged her to come up with me, but she wasn’t budging. Though she wouldn’t admit it, she was a little annoyed at spending the whole day only to have found no other woman and to have been told off by Harry - who she now deems worse than Lying Panty Tossing Baby. 

 A tall athletic-built woman eyed me as she carried their trash down the hall. 

 Felix opened the door. 

 “Oh, hey.” It was the awkward I remember you but we aren’t friends dance. “S’been a while. Come in.” 

 I noticed he was at least 6’ 2” as I moved past him into the foyer where Zayn and Andre paused the video game. They had a whole tech center set up around the T.V. and dull EDC music came from their speaker system. 

 Andre waved and Zayn’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Hey! What’re you doing here?” He moved a pizza box out of his way to head to the open kitchen. Before I could answer, he returned with a cracked beer, handing it to me. 

 “Thanks,” I said, taking a sip out of politeness. Old Da Vinci maps hung on their walls along with tasteful sketches of nude women, and a framed vintage Star Wars poster was in the hallway. 

 “Where’s Renny?” Felix asked, arms crossed as he sat on the arm of the couch. He’d meant it to be casual, but it wasn’t quite casual enough.

 I didn’t want to be the one to break his heart and tell him about Niall if he didn’t already know. And something told me Renny wasn’t cruel enough to rub it in his face. “Uh, not sure. She had to buzz off somewhere though.” To Niall’s bed. I looked between the three of them. “All of you got so. Lucky. With this place. I almost didn’t believe it when Renny told me.” 

 “Not me!” Andre lifted his beer and dramatically pounded it, slamming it down on the table next to the other four beers.

 “Woah-ugh! Pa! That’s mahogany!” Felix spluttered. 

 “You found it at a garage sale!” 

 “It’s still mahogany!” he squeaked. His gangly arms flailed before adjusting his collar. “Either I’m never donating furniture to this apartment again - or you’re not allowed back in this apartment again. Or both.”

 Andre didn’t answer, just fell flat on the couch. Something was off with him. The energy shifted in the room as the guys eyed Andre. I’d clearly come at a wrong time. 

 “I can swing by later, I know you guys were in the middle of a... game…” 

  Zayn swatted his hand. “No, you’re fine. He’s just…” 

 Andre perked up, awaiting Zayn’s next words. 

 “You want to tell her?” Zayn finished. 

 Andre let out an awkward moan. “You know how date night is coming up?”

 My brows stitched. 

 “No??” He cleared his throat, surprised he had to explain. “So Sig Chi’s date night is coming up and basically we just bring a date, and… party. There’s a theme and everything. You really haven’t heard about this?”

 I shook my head.

 “Huh. It’s kind of a big deal that’s why I’m kind of... huh.”  

 “When is it?” I asked.

 “Tomorrow.” 

 “Tomorrow?!” I paused, thoroughly confused. Had Niall told Renny about this? And if it was Sigma Chi then… Harry must already have a date. For tomorrow. My blood boiled thinking that could be part of the reason why he’d dropped off the face of the Earth this week. So he wouldn’t have to take me as his date. 

 “Mine cancelled on me,” Andre said, running a hand over defined black coils. 

 “Dude, for the hundredth time, it’s not that big of a deal.” 

 “You’re not the one in a frat, Felix!” He laughed humorlessly before landing in a pile on the couch again. In a rare moment, I laughed with him. It was slightly ridiculous how important parties were.

 “Oh-kay,” Felix muttered. His blonde hair flopped on the couch next to Andre. He looked up to me, shrugging. “He’s helpless. Without the distraction of video games. Absolutely helpless.” 

 Zayn gave me a once-over. “You’re in the sorority with Renny, aren’t you?” 

 “Uh, yeah. Kind of. Not officially official yet. Kind of in the process of everything right now. Uh, but” -his eyes narrowed from my rambling- “Yeah. Yeah, I’m in it,” I settled on. 

 Andre came to life again. “Would you go with me?” 

 “Oh! Uh…” 

 “You don’t have to,” Zayn offered. 

 “I can do it. I wasn’t doing anything anyways.” The Netflix I was betraying threw a tantrum in the back of my mind. This weekend I’d been wanting to do nothing but lay low, and preferably, in bed.  

 But if today taught me anything, it’s that my plans clearly never work out too well.

 “Seriously?! It’ll only be a couple hours, I won’t make you stay the whole time. Actually, you can leave whenever you want. Just walk in with me.” 

 “Excuse me?” I asked, half-smiling. 

 “Okay, that sounded bad.” He let out a breathless laugh. “What I meant to say was, thank you. You’ll have a great time.” He threw up the finger guns. 

 Zayn nudged my shoulder with his beer. “Want to go on the balcony?” His eyes bore into mine, and I knew that he knew this wasn’t just a friendly visit. A slight chill ran through me at his perception. It was unnerving how he always seemed to… know. But I guess I shouldn’t judge him for having a keen sixth sense. 

 I let him lead me to the sliding glass door.  

 “Oh, the theme’s James Bond, too! So dress like a Bond girl!” Andre called after us. 

 “Like heels?” I asked. But Zayn slid the door shut behind us. It was dark out, but inside I could see Andre give me a thumbs up before resuming the video game with Felix. 

 “Saved his life. Mate wouldn’t stop gabbin’ ‘bout how gutted he was.” Zayn muttered. The flick of a lighter grabbed my attention. The slight orange illuminated dark features and hollowed cheeks as he took a drag. There was no denying he was handsome, especially in this mood lighting. He probably could’ve been recruited for any fraternity off looks alone, but something told me he wouldn’t step near the place. His vibe was too… anti-organization. He blew the smoke over his shoulder. 

 “Very tortured artist of you,” I noted.

 His head tilted at tortured as if throwing the title back to me. “Artist, maybe. Tortured, no.” 

 “What’s a yes for you, then?” 

 “Yes to whateva you’ve been plannin’ on asking me,” he smirked. “Must’ve been important if you didn’t find me in the studio.” 

 I looked down, then out at the city. Thousands of little people scattered everywhere. Students crawling from late-night classes on the fringes of campus looked like ants. I held my thumb up for scale. Verified ants. Maybe smaller. 

 “I came here to find a different perspective.” My hand fell. I faced him square. “Your perspective.” 

 He took another drag, letting the smoke fill the space between us. “On?” 

 I was a little surprised he didn’t know.

 “Harry.”  

 If he didn’t know, he also didn’t seem too surprised. He leaned against the railing, hazel eyes undressing desperate thoughts. “What do you want to know?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.

 The ash from his cigarette floated down to his feet, but an unseen wind carried it up again, rolling over and down like dirty snowflakes to the street below. 

 “I know he doesn’t like you.” 

 Zayn’s laugh was light, soft, but carried the same fullness as Renny’s. “Perceptive girl, ya? S’not what you want to know though is it.” 

 “Why is he so scared of you?” His brow arched, and I could tell I was losing him. “What do you know?” I clarified. 

 Another drag and his shoulders straightened. “Thought you were flatterin’ me there for a second.” Something glimmered in his eyes, something just beyond the surface, and I looked away before I could see anything more than friendly. “Can I ask you somethin’ in return?” 

 I nodded. 

 “Why do you want to know?” he murmured. 

 “I just want to understand.”

 “Mm,” he hummed, the treble of his voice like slow-spilling silk. “Curiosity killed the cat.” 

 I swallowed a little too loudly, but his words hit a little too closely. 

 “S’all right,” he continued. “S’human nature t’want to understand.” He cocked his head a little. “I actually met Harry before school started during the summer. I was working at Hilltop Resort.”

 “Really?” 

 “I was his server.” He let out a short breath as if he couldn’t believe it happened. “Tipped well, actually.” 

 “I remember you working there!” Faint summer memories of Renny whisking us away for lunch on our treat yourself day came back, stirring faint feelings of happiness. It seemed so long ago. I felt like I’d aged five years in three months. “So let me get this straight. He doesn’t like you because you’re in the service industry?” I spat.

 He winced. “No, s’more like…” He took a breath. “There was a coworker of mine. He wasn’t mean, but he wasn’t exactly nice either. Kept to himself on breaks, never really chatted with any of us except to flirt with the bartender. Anyway, I used to see Harry a lot there, but when Jack got promoted Harry’d only sit in Jack’s section.”

 I crossed my arms, the night time air finally sinking in. 

 “I didn’t think too much of it at first,” he admitted. The cigarette moved in his mouth, hand fiddling with the lighter. “But one night I was running out to give a guest the card they’d left behind, but I saw them together instead.” 

 Before I could picture Harry and Zayn’s coworker making out against the wall, he continued - “He was giving Harry stacks of cash.”

 Flashbacks of Viv trying to pass Harry money in the Catalina Island bar played out like a movie in my mind. 

 “What’d you do?” I pressed.

 He shrugged. “I saw Harry slip something else in his pocket. It looked like a little bag. Must’ve been a bonus.” He muttered the last words. 

 “A bonus for what?” 

 “I didn’t know then. I just thought he’d somehow found a way to steal from the manager’s safe and was splitting the profits.”

 “Why give it to Harry though?” 

 “That’s what I couldn’t figure out.” He leaned in. “I saw them together a few more times. The second was an accident. Third, not so much. Harry saw me that time. Then before I left for the night, I searched his locker. Took me a while, but I found some pills. Little bag of coke, too. He came in right when I was putting it back.” 

 “No.” 

 “Yeah. He didn’t say anything. Just stared at me like he was going to kill me. I got my shit and got the hell out of there. Next day, the boss said they received a tip to check my locker and they found the drugs in mine. You know the fucked up bit? I was fired.” 

 “But it wasn’t yours!” 

 “Doesn’t matter. Still found it there.” Zayn stamped out his cigarette, blowing away the last smoke. I guess pity was etched in my face, because he suddenly turned defensive. “Don’t look at me like that. I work at Javier’s now. I’m fine.” 

 Javier’s was the fancy Mexican restaurant overlooking the Pacific. He was doing more than fine.

 “That’s still not fair to you,” I muttered.

 “I didn’t want to be involved, anyway. S’better I left one way or another.” 

 “What was his name again? Your coworker’s?”

 “Jack.” 

 Jack. Why did that sound so familiar? 

 “He’s not sound, you know,” Zayn added. 

 “Well clearly if he gave you murder eyes.” 

 “No, not Jack. Harry. He’s not…”

 “Sound,” I repeated. The word felt heavy on my tongue.

 Zayn nodded, tucking a cigarette behind his ear.

 “I can’t believe Harry got you fired.” 

 “Well, I don’t exactly know. Jack must’ve been the one to move the drugs into my locker.”

 “Yeah, but who told him to?”

 Zayn didn’t answer. The facts had been there this entire time, but I didn’t want to see it. I still didn’t want to see it. But Zayn was here, undeniably linking them together for me. Harry and drugs and money were three things that’d been circulating in the same place much longer than I could know. For some reason beyond me, Harry was a dealer. Or ran as head of them. Which meant his association with the men who’d assaulted me was… what? A business deal gone wrong?

 “England’s a small country, you see the same faces everywhere. Like here, if you’re perceptive enough. And in each, he’s jus’... involved in something bigger, while at the same time trying to hide. S’like he’s a magnet for infamy to his own detriment.” 

 “Are you referring to his adoption?” 

 He twisted the cigarette behind his ear, realizing I didn’t really need an answer to this question and that now I was just testing him for what he knew. “Contrary to what he may believe, I don’t know everything.” 

 But I couldn’t fight the feeling that he was talking about me. Smooth artist’s fingers fiddled with the lighter again, but he didn’t light the second cigarette. He knew more than what he was telling me. 

 But even the new me didn’t want to hear much else tonight.  

 “You don’t want to stay?” he asked.

 I didn’t realize I was walking towards the door ‘til his words stopped me in my tracks. Disappointment tinged his words. I felt a little guilty, heading out the door as soon as I’d gotten what I’d needed. 

 But I was tired. And sadly, unless there was a sketch pad in front of him, I didn’t know what else we could talk about. I didn’t know what else he’d see. 

 I shook my head, and he lit the cigarette, not bothering to walk me out. 

 ------

Racing down the spindly halls, my heart pounded out of my chest. I heard the cries above the whispers of the Watchers, and they grew louder with a sickening urgency. A gutteral wailing meant for me. 

 I looked down the hall, awaiting the dark shadow to appear from the walls, when he’d creep closer, suffocatingly closer. 

 The door wouldn’t open, not past an inch. 

 But he called for me, this time. My name fell from unseen lips.

 “Y/N,” he called. It was hoarse. He was scared. I’d never heard that cry before. This time it wasn’t solid air the door was against - it was pills. Tiny pills, hundreds of them, thousands of them, multiplying on top of each other until they filled what I could see of the room. Until they were spilling out the crack. 

 “Y/N!!!” His voice was panicked, but muffled. It was muffled now. Why wasn’t he opening the door?? Why couldn’t he reach me?? The shadow drew closer. It surrounded me, outside, every inch of the hall covered by darkness. 

 My heartbeat was the only sound. 

 A waterfall of pills. The glint of a knife. 

 I couldn’t reach him in time. 

 I couldn’t save Harry. 

 I couldn’t even save myself.

part 20

[ericsonclan]

Double the Bites, Double the Heroes

Summary: Sophie and Minnie go on a field trip to a spider exhibit that changes their lives forever...

Word Count: 2425

Read on AO3:

“Oh!” Sophie’s mouth fell open as she looked around the room with wide eyes. “I didn’t know there were so many different spiders!”

“It’s crazy,” Minnie pulled Sophie back to make sure she didn’t get sidetracked and fall behind their class. Minnie couldn’t blame her sister though; Sophie just wanted to explore all the different exhibits. For their twelve year old minds, this was just about the coolest thing. The twins’ eyes kept wandering all around the room while the tour guide continued to talk about the Jumping spider.

“The Jumping spiders are in the family Salticidae. They have some of the best vision out of all spiders,” The tour guide moved aside so the kids could gather around and check out the spider. Some of them oohed and aahhed, clearly impressed by the spiders while some were more uncomfortable by the spiders and their multiple eyes. “They use their jumps for hunting, navigation and even courtship.” Some of the boys laughed at the last part. The twins tried to push forward to get a better look at the spider. It was a cool spider: light brown, it looked super fuzzy while its beady black eyes looked around at the onlookers. The tour guide moved onward to continue to the next spiders. The teacher pushed forward some of the kids that lingered to ensure they wouldn’t get left behind. “Next we have the Cellar spider, but they are better known as Daddy Long Legs,”

Justin, a boy with dark brown hair let out a snort and whispered to the boy next to him, Steve, though he made it loud enough for the twins to hear.

“I bet Minerva and Sophie would be those spiders cause of their long legs... and they’re totally lame,”

Minnie and Sophie glared at him when he looked back at them with a smirk. Both of them stuck their tongues out. After a while the teacher stepped forward and let the class know that they could wander this one room and take a look around at the many different spiders. Sophie immediately grabbed Minnie’s hand and the pair went off to explore. There were so many different types of spiders. Large, hairy spiders like tarantulas seemed to be active in their habitats, scurrying around while some others like Wolf and Recluse spiders seemed perfectly content chilling and waiting for the people to leave.

“Whoa!” Sophie pressed her face close to the glass. “This one looks cool!”

Minnie walked over, curious what spider had piqued her sister’s interest.

The spider was not super big but not too tiny either. Its black and white legs moved around with a mesmerizing movement while it made a brand new web. It had a dark brown back with different shapes and sizes of white splotches on its back.

“It looks like a mushroom,” Sophie turned to look over at Minnie when suddenly her stomach gurgled. Sophie clutched it with embarrassment. “Man, I can’t wait for lunch. It’s pizza day!” Sophie’s mouth was practically drooling at the thought.

Minnie walked over to the plaque in front of the exhibit that gave a short explanation of the spider. “It says here that the Shamrock spider makes a new web each day and that sometimes it hides in leaves and waits for the web thread they made to move to signal if an insect is nearby. Sophie looked impressed by that. “That’s amazing!” Sophie turned back just in time to see the spider patter over to its leaf hideout.

“Come on Soph, I wanna see some more spiders,” Minnie pulled on Sophie’s arm who reluctantly left her new mushroom spider friend. After a few more exhibits where neither twin seemed intrigued, they stopped by the Lynx spider.

Minnie’s eyes danced with excitement for this particular arachnid. She liked the way its legs looked super prickly with defined black lines on the inner parts. Its eyes almost seemed to blend into its face. The tiny, dark beads stared at Minnie with the same curiosity that she did when she looked at it.

“You like this one, Minnie?” Sophie’s voice drew Minnie’s focus away for a second.

“Yeah, it looks cool. Also...” Minnie pointed to the spider, “It looks like it has little boxer gloves,” Sophie squinted to where her sister had pointed. Her eyes grew large when she saw them.“Whoa!”

Minnie moved over to read some more about it. “It uses silk to protect its eggs and it says it attacks like a cat and pounces on its prey and stalks them.” Each fact made Minnie like the spider even more. The twins were going to go back to the Shamrock Spider one more time before returning to the Lynx spider, but the teacher was calling for them to join the others. Reluctantly the twins started to walk over.

“Who knew spiders were this awesome?” Sophie looked over at Minnie with a huge smile that disappeared when she saw the scared look in Minnie’s eyes. “What?”

“Don’t freak out, but there’s a spider on your nose,” Minnie whispered, inching towards her sister.

“What? How-” Sophie was lifting her hand to check, freezing when she saw a spider on Minnie’s neck. “Minnie, there’s one on your neck too!”

Minnie’s eyes widened as she froze. “Ok, let’s hit the spiders on each other’s face on the count of three.”

“Yeah, to sneak attack them before they bite us,” Sophie slowly nodded.

“Exactly,” Minnie gave a shaky smile. “Ok, one….” she lifted up her hand, carefully positioning it to strike her twin’s nose.

“Two…” Sophie inched her hand towards the right spot.

“Three!” The twins shouted in unison and swung out their hands to hit the spiders. Their moves landed, squashing the spiders but not before each could let out one final bite in retaliation. Both twins swayed back, from the bite or hit they weren’t sure.

Justin snorted as he watched the scene play out. “Man, those twins are such freaks,” He motioned over to the sisters who were not reacting very well to their less than thorough plan.

“Owwww,” Sophie clutched her nose, flailing about with one of her arms. Her legs were failing her. Minnie let out a grunt while she held the side of her neck, rotating it to try and get the pain to stop.

“You two,” The teacher huffed while she made her way over. “Just what is going on?”

The twins looked up. Before they could respond they fell over unconscious, their bodies hitting the floor.

------

Minnie felt her head pounding. It felt like needles pricking the inside of her head. “Ugggh,” she slowly sat up when she remembered something. “Sophie!” The memories were starting to catch up with her. Sophie had looked like she was in a lot of pain when Minnie’s hand whacked her nose.

“Minnie!?!” Sophie looked up from her spot in the room. Where were they? It looked like a nurse’s office. Sophie let out a sigh of relief when she saw that Minnie was okay. “I thought my hit knocked you out or worse. Y’know there’s some point in the neck that can really hurt someone if you hit it, right?”

“I’m fine,” Minnie lifted her hand to feel her neck. The spider bite was now covered with a piece of white gauze. She looked over and saw a large piece of gauze over Sophie’s nose. Minnie started to chuckle, causing her twin to look confused before she picked up on why she was laughing.

“Hey, my nose doesn’t look that stupid,” Sophie crossed her arms but soon started to chuckle as well. “Your neck looks funny too,”

The twins continued to laugh until the door creaked open revealing their parents who had been called in. Matthew and Walter looked absolutely terrified for their daughters’ health, their hands intertwined as their eyes searched the room before they found Minnie and Sophie, safe and sound. Both of them let out deep sighs of relief before wrapping the twins in their arms.

“When I got the call I was worried, but it seems like the spiders that bit you weren’t poisonous,” Walter whispered, thankful for that fact.

“That sure was lucky. But we’re still gonna take you home for now. The field trip ended a while ago.” Matthew added, pulling back and giving Minnie and Sophie a warm smile.

Sophie and Minnie’s faces fell. They were really enjoying that field trip. Plus Sophie was excited for the cheesy deliciousness that was pizza. But there was nothing that they could do. So they went home for the day and immediately fell asleep, counting their blessings that tomorrow was a Saturday.

-----

As soon as Sophie woke up, her nose was super itchy. She tried to resist the urge to scratch it, but it was so overwhelming. It was only when she suddenly felt extremely twitchy that she was able to distract herself, but that wasn’t great either. It really messed with her art time. Her sketches were constantly getting messed up when her hands began to twitch. Letting out a frustrated groan, she closed her eyes and fell backwards onto the couch only for her senses to feel like they were overloading. Every sense felt like it was trying to dominate her body for control. Every sound became louder. Whenever her parents strolled in she would flinch and spin around. Why is this happening? Maybe the spider was poisonous!!! Sophie snuck onto the computer to look up the Shamrock spider since that was the one that they said they found splattered across her nose. After a few minutes of research it was obvious that they weren’t poisonous to humans. Sophie groaned and shook her hand angrily at the overwhelming sensation that was plaguing her body. Suddenly a white, sticky substance shot out of her wrist and onto the computer screen. Sophie held back a surprised yelp as she struggled to get the sticky web off. Why is this happening? Sophie tried to fling off the web from her hand, but it refused. I gotta find Minnie!

-----

Minnie felt like she was sore all over but it felt strongest in her neck. She tried to roll her head cause she heard that that sometimes helped her mom when she felt stressed. When she placed her hand on her neck though she flinched in pain. Pulling back her hand, she looked closely at it. There on her fingers were tiny, minuscule bristles. They looked like what was on that Lynx spider. Minnie felt herself shake; her body felt like it was overheating. Rubbing her fingers together, she felt the bristles scratch against each other. I have to find Sophie!

-----

Sophie found Minnie in their room on top of her bunk bed. Her eyes widened when she saw her twin.

“Soph,” Minnie tried to move her hands that were on the metal safety railing but whenever she tried they refused to budge. “I think that spider bite did something to me,” Minnie looked terrified; it was obvious that her nerves were overwhelming her.

“I think my spider bite did something too! I’ve been twitchy and not the math type of twitchy before a test!” Sophie rubbed her hands together to try and calm herself down. She let out a surprised gasp when her hands became filled with sticky white spider webs. They were practically oozing from her fingertips. “Aaaah!” Sophie shook her hands to try and get the substance off but only ended up shooting a web out and knocking over her superhero figurine. “No!” Sophie cried.

Minnie attempted to release her grip and grab the figurine but it was too late. With a crash the figurine’s head flew off. Hurried footsteps and a quick knock on the door drew the twins’ attention.

“Are you two alright in there?” Walter called out from behind the door.

“I was just overly excited and knocked over one of my toys,” Sophie hoped her voice didn’t sound as scared as she did.

Luckily it seemed to have calmed down Walter and after some more reassurance he left to finish the movie he was watching with Matthew. Sophie ran over to wipe her hands and help Minnie only for the weblike matter to stick to her pants. Her hands were firmly placed on her hips now.

The twins shared a concerned look.

“It’s okay, we just have to calm down,” Minnie started to take a slow, steady breath which her sister followed. Suddenly Minnie’s hands were free from the railing. She looked at her hands gleefully before jumping down with ease onto the floor.

Sophie was surprised by that. “How did that not hurt you?”

Minnie looked just as confused and surprised . “I don’t know, but for now let’s get you free,”

It took nearly an hour to get Sophie’s hands free from her hips. The twins sat on the floor, feeling absolutely exhausted and overwhelmed by what had just happened.

-----

A few days passed and the twins had been extremely cautious with whatever they did. But even with their caution it seemed they only partially tempered the mistakes from their newfound spider powers. Their bodies were still way too worn out from whatever had entered their bloodstreams so on Monday their parents had called the school to let them know that they wouldn’t make it to class.

Minnie stood by the wall, her hand stuck to the doorway. Sophie walked forward with a plate with a sandwich on it. Her hands were glued to the plate.

“This sucks,” Minnie grumbled. She knew she needed to calm down, but how was she supposed to when whatever had happened to them would change everything about their daily lives?

“Yeah, it does,” Sophie lifted up the plate and tried her best to bite down at the sandwich. “Maybe it could be good though,”

Minnie quirked an eyebrow “How?”

Sophie had spoken before she had even really come up with an answer. “Ummm, well….” Sophie’s eyes wandered the room until they landed on the cracked superhero figurine. In an instant Sophie was struck with inspiration. “Heroes! We’ll become superheroes!”

Minnie looked shocked but her eyes soon danced with excitement.

Sophie’s eyes matched hers. “We’ll be like the Spidertwins or something! We can use this for good!”

Minnie beamed. “Yeah, this is going to be so cool!” She threw her arms out with excitement only for silky webs to cover both doorways. The twins shared a concerned look. They still had a long way to go before they were going to anything close to heroes.

[mister-lucky-bunny]

The Grand Neopian University Chpt. 2

The Grand Neopian University

Chapter 2: Eating, Meeting, and Greeting

As expected with such a prestigious college, the amount of choices that Lucky had in regards to food was overwhelming, to say the least. Even though he was familiar with numerous food stand choices, having come from Neopia Central, the Acara had never seen quite an array of delicacies and fancy foods in such abundance before. Ranging from gourmet sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, salads, sushi, cheeses, and plenty of desserts, it began to make Lucky wonder just how expensive a meal would even cost.

For awhile, he decided to walk around, browsing the various food vendors and what they sold. Aside from general food items, there would also be various Neopians selling food that was well known in certain parts of Neopia. For example, one stand that made the Acara slow down was the amazing smelling stand of Altadorian baked goods. Figuring that he might as well treat himself on his first day at the school, Lucky made his way over to said stand, which was being manned by a fat, yet quite burly, Skeith, adorned in a gold Altador toga.

It took no time for the vendor to notice the curious, hungry Acara, quickly brightening up and greeting him in a boisterous, thick Altadorian accent. "Ah, hello, my friend! Yes, yes, I see that hunger in your eyes, one that can only be satisfied by the fine flavors that Altador has to offer!" He started up, getting into a sort of sales pitched. Again, being from one of the biggest shopping districts in all of Neopia, Lucky was no stranger to such practices. Even as the Skeith began showing off a large variety of pitas and hummus, the Acara couldn't help but be charmed by how genuine he was. If the amazing smell was anything to go by, the vendor had a lot of pride in his craft, and was confident that what he had to sell would certainly be worth it.

"Well, uh, let's see..." Lucky began, eyeing over everything. Once his gaze began to linger upon one of the pitas, it didn't take long for the Skeith to grin, lifting it up in a large hand.

"Ah, a pita! Filled with hummus and some very tasty falafel, no doubt!" He said, offering from a few choices of hummus that he had before him. Plain, roasted red tomato, red pepper, olives and caper, roasted garlic, and even one called "Pimento and Caviar" (which Lucky was not bold enough to try). Deciding to go with the "Roasted Red Tomato Hummus", the Skeith scooped an incredibly generous amount into the pita, not slowing down as he popped a heaping amount of falafel as well. "Yes, excellent choice, my friend!"

As he began to fill the pita with some spinach and tomato, Lucky watched with wide eyes, both impressed by just how skillful and precise his movements were, and also a little bit intimidated by the sheer amount of food the vendor managed to pile into the pita. "Wow, that's uh... quite a big pita you're making there," Lucky stated, wanting to not be a silent weirdo.

"You're a skinny boy, yes?" The Skeith joked, laughing a little as he wrapped up the pita, handing it off to the Acara. "Here ya go! Let's say, for you, eh... 150 NP," He finished up, coming up with an amount of money to be paid. It definitely didn't seem like he put much thought into the pricing, as it was a lot lower than Lucky had expected.

Resisting the urge to take a big bite out of the overstuffed pita, the Acara couldn't help but tilt his head a bit. "Only 150? I would've thought it would've been more," He said, freeing up a hand to reach into his pocket, pulling out three 50 NP coins and passing them off to the Skeith, who merely laughed and accepted the money.

"My friend, I do this not for money, but to share my food with others," He explained, puffing his chest out in a prideful way. "Besides, you'll be needing money for books and other school things, yes? I do not want food to be a problem for students," He continued on with a chuckle, waving the Acara off. "Now go eat before it cools!"

Lucky nodded and returned the wave, beginning to move away. "Hey, thanks a lot, sir!" He replied gratefully.

"Hey, call me Buddy, alright?" The Skeith yelled in return, laughing as he served another Neopian that had walked up.

After a quick visit to a vending machine for a bottle of water (for 50 np), Lucky began to scout around for a free table. As his eyes scanned the area, he began to nibble at the pita. As expected, it was quite delicious and he didn't waste time in taking a couple more bigger bites, enjoying the flavor. While the Acara ambled around for a little, May soon zipped right up to his side, also eating at a large bowl of stir fried noodles. The sudden sound of the Xweetok slurping her food made Lucky jump a little bit, making him turn to her. "Woah! Don't sneak up on me like that," The Acara exclaimed.

"Shorry!" May replied with a mouth full of food, quickly swallowing her current portion. "So where do ya wanna sit, Lucky?"

"Uhhh, not sure," He answered, still looking at the dining area. While it was very big, as expected, all of the tables were already filled up with other students. Even though Lucky was above average with his height, he still had trouble finding any seating. "Maybe there's a second area? I can't find any empty tables."

At this statement, May scoffed playfully and shook her head. "Empty tables? C'mon, Lucky, it wouldn't kill ya to make some friends. C'mon, I see a couple of empty seats right over there!" She said, hurrying off to a nearby table. Before the Acara could say anything, May had already sat herself right down, setting her bowl of noodles and looking over at Lucky expectantly. Looking over the other Neopians at the table, Lucky's enthusiasm did not seem to go up. He didn't tend to do too well around new people. Heck, he was still kind of iffy about May!

One of the other Neopains was a Kyrii, who certainly came from Mystery Island, due to the bone necklace that he was wearing and his long green hair. He also had a single tooth ear ring, and had gold bracelets on. Other than a simple, yet long, grass skirt, he was not wearing anything else. The Kyrii had pinned the buttons on the skirt hem, since he had no shirt to afix them on. He paid little attention to anyone else at the table and instead took to prodding and stabbing at a bowl of... what was hopefully food. He knew that those from Mystery Island tended to be quite odd, so he tried not to judge it too much. Still, a bowl of what looked like oily slop just didn't seem very appetizing to Lucky.

Sitting across from the Kyrii was an Aisha, who's background was very obviously Darigan, with dark purple skin and black spikes menacing their back. Their hair was short, neat, and black (obviously), and their red eyes seemed to look at May for a few seconds before returning to their meal. The Darigan Aisha was eating a salad with steak on it, though judging from the amount of blood that pooled around it, the meat looked far too undercooked for Lucky's taste. The Aisha looked incredibly androgynous at a distance, due to the fact that they weren't speaking either. Not only that, but they wore some important looking, yet large robes with a large hood (currently kept down), the lapel of the robes pinned with the same GNU button that Lucky and May acquired earlier. The dark colors of the Darigan Citadel made up the second button.

Finally, the third stranger at the table would be a blue Moehog, with a long orange mullet. Upon closer glance, it was obvious that he came from Tyrannia, due to his larger-than-average tusks. Much like the Kyrii, the Tyrannian wore very little 'modern' clothes, and instead opted for a standard speckled pelt. He also had a ring made of bone pierced into it's snout. The Moehog looked like it was the strongest, physically, as his arms were incredibly muscular, and some pecs were visible as well. He also took no notice to any of the others, as he instead opted to messily eat away at a piece of raw meat with one hand, holding a large Juppie berry in the other, snorting all the while.

None of these strangers really seemed too friendly, in Lucky's opinion, and he would've rather just sat by himself than sit with such imposing figures. However, May's giant, sparkling eyes showed absolutely no fear and kept staring intently, yet patiently, at the Acara. With a quiet, rejected sigh, Lucky slumped his shoulders a bit and stepped forwards. He shifted into his seat as silently as he could, eating his food and keeping to himself.

Of course, May took this as a cue to start up conversation with the others, much to Lucky's chagrin. "Heya! Nice to meet ya all!" She began eagerly. Lucky's ears folded down a bit as the Kyrii and the Aisha turned their gaze towards them. The Moehog, however, paid no mind and kept eating his meal. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the Xweetok took it upon herself to continue her greeting. "My name is May: Illusen's finest disciple! And this here is Lucky! He's here all the way from Neopia Central!" She said, wasting no time in introducing the shy Acara.

Being put on the spot, Lucky looked between the other two Neopians, who now turned their gaze to him curiously. He could feel his face burn a shade of red, due to the fact he hated being brought to attention, especially unexpectedly. Wanting to not be incredibly awkward, he lifted a hand up gently and gave it a little wave.

A derisive scoff was soon heard from Lucky's left, which came from the Aisha, who had crossed their arms in an important manner. "Neopia Central? What'd you do that was so important to get in? Run the most successful lemonade stand around? Maybe even have the biggest stamp collection?" The Aisha joked. Her voice was clearly feminine, yet also rough and very thick with a Darigan accent. May looked quite taken aback with the Aisha's blatant rudeness, balking at the statement. Meanwhile, Lucky buried his face into his food, taking another bite.

Just as he was starting to wish he was invisible, another voice piped up across from the three. "It's awfully impolite to not finish a greeting, dontcha know?" The Kyrii asked, glaring and raising an eyebrow to the Aisha. His voice was smooth, yet high pitched, and also matched his place of origin. After another small scoff and a roll of her eyes, the Aisha remained silent. This gave the Mystery Island native the time to turn to May and Lucky, shrugging his shoulders. "Sorry, about that. Guess she's not used to niceness where she's from," He stated, taking a jab at the Darigan girl. "My name is Enele, an apprentice mystic," He began.

"Oooh, a mystic? So, like, you can tell the future and stuff?" May asked curiously.

Enele laughed a bit and waved a hand. "Kind of. I have predicted events in the past, and even helped the island prepare for a mudslide. I think that is the reason why I was invited to this school. Much much larger than the school we have on the Island, that is for sure," He added with a chuckle.

"That's even less impressive than what I thought," The Aisha laughed, earning another glare from Enele.

"And what makes you so important, eh?" He asked suspiciously.

Leaning back in her chair, the Aisha got a proud look and grinned. "I'm one of Lord Darigan's personal assistant. Name's Val, and Lord Darigan personally made sure I got in. After all, I am the one that kept him from being poisoned by a mole," She added on in a prideful manner.

This made the others curious, as they looked to each other and then back at Val. "Wow, a mole? Did it turn out to be another assistant? Or a guard? Or the butler? It was probably the butler, wasn't it?" May rambled aloud.

Val answered with a shrug. "Didn't matter. Took care of 'im the moment I saw him slip the dust into my Lord's goblet. Never saw me comin'," She snickered evilly.

For the first time, Lucky managed to gather up enough words to ask a question. "Is that what you normally do?"

"More or less," Val replied to the Acara. "Guess you could say I'm a bit of a spy of sorts. I go around the Citadel and listen on troublemakers and thieves. I make sure I stop 'em from seeing through their misdeeds and... 'take care of 'em'," She added on carefully.

"So that means you..?" Lucky trailed off cautiously, wondering if 'taking care' of someone meant what he thought. In no time, she unsheathed a dagger from a hidden pocket, picking at her fingernails with it casually.

"What do you think?" Val asked with a bit of a sneer. This quickly shut up Lucky, with him and May keeping a close eye on the dagger. "Just mind yer P's and Q's and nothin' will happen."

As May nodded meekly, the Kyrii huffed. "Put that away, Darigan. You have no need for that," Enele warned, pointing a fork in her direction.

"And are you gonna make me?" She threatened, pointing the dagger in his direction. Before the Kyrii could respond, however, a new voice at the table made itself known, beginning with a loud snort.

"Alright, you two, let's just relax a bit," The Moehog said, speaking in a surprisingly elegant, articulate voice, sitting up enough to keep Val and Enele from fighting. "No one's here to cause any trouble," He continued calmly, sitting in his seat and taking another few bites of his raw meat.

Wanting to also keep any fights from occurring, May spoke up and nodded. "Yeah, we're all friends here!" She said, which elicited another scoff from Val. "So what's your story, stranger?" She asked the Moehog, who peeked up from eating and began to speak again.

"I'm Krugg. Used to be a weightlifter back in Tyrannia. Damn good one, too," He said with a bit of a snort. "However, I soon decided I'd rather tell stories. Taught myself Common Neopian just so I could tell stories to more than just Tyrannians. After all, speaking only Ugga would put a few others off," He said with a laugh. "From myths to heroes, villains, fables, all of those types of stories, I'd tell numerous others lots of enjoyable stories. Guess they invited me here because I'm so well spoken? Who knows," He concluded thoughtfully. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

"Likewise, Krugg!" May responded eagerly. "You'll definitely have to regale us in a tale sometime!"

"Of course!" He began enthusiastically, rubbing his chin. "Hmm... I've been cooking up one story about this vampire Chia-"

"Another time perhaps, eh?" Enele offered with a sheepish smile. "We don't have much time for a story right this moment."

"Besides, we still don't know anything about Lucky over 'ere," Val said, pointing in the Acara's direction. Upon hearing his name, Lucky peered up sheepishly, polishing off his pita as four pairs of eyes were currently fixated on him. "So c'mon, for real. Did ya own the most successful shop and make a shitload of money?"

"Uh... well, no," Lucky replied after finishing off his lunch. "I worked as the apprentice to someone else."

"Ugh, lame," Val replied, rolling her eyes.

"Were you a hero of any sort, perhaps?" Krugg. "Even the smallest bit of action gets the attention of the school, I've heard."

"Maybe he's keeping a few secrets up his sleeve, eh?" Enele offered, flashing a knowing smirk. "Blackmail someone, perhaps?"

"Coulda bought an invite, too..." Val said aloud.

"N-no, nothing like that at all!" Lucky insisted, his eyes wide as he accused of dirty tricks. "I swear, I just woke up one day and found the letter delivered to me," He explained, feeling quite nervous at this point. The last thing he wanted was to be treated like a criminal on the first day. He knew how rumors worked...

Fortunately for him, May seemed to come to his aid, her usual cheery tone trying to put a positive spin on the situation. "Well, whatever it was, it must have been important! They don't just choose anyone, after all. Maybe they just see something in ya!" The Xweetok offered , smiling gently and placing a hand on his shoulder. While not usually one to like being touched, Lucky didn't seem to pull away from the comforting act.

"Well... I appreciate it, May," Lucky responded, giving a small smile to her. "I'm just as confused as everyone else, though. If I knew the reason I was here, I'd definitely say so."

"Hey, it's alright! I was just pullin' your leg," the Kyrii replied, chuckling a bit. "I wouldn't know what to say in your position either."

"What matters most is that we're all here now," Krugg added, snorting with an important tone. "So we might as well see it through!"

"Yup yup! Friends help friends, so that's what we're gonna do, right?" May asked.

"Better than being alone, that's for sure," Lucky responded with a small laugh of his own.

"Certainly works for me, eh?" Enele added on, with Krugg nodding in agreement. This time, it was Val's turn to receive everyone's gaze, as she merely sat there in silence. Her arms hadn't uncrossed the entire time she had been sitting there,. She looked quite perturbed, yet also visible confused. After a few seconds of awkward, expectant silence, she finally sighed.

"Ah... could be worse Neopians to be with, I suppose... why not, I'll humor you all, yeah?" She responded, doing her best to hide a self-important grin on her face. "Just don't make me regret it, alright?" She snapped suddenly.

"Awesome!" May sang, quickly leaning over to hug the Aisha tightly, due to excitement. From the displeased look that flashed upon Val's face, it was safe to say that she did not enjoy the sudden hug.

"Gaaah!" She exclaimed, trying to pry the hyperactive Xweetok off. The three guys laughed at the sight, quickly finding good company in each other. As Lucky took a sip of his water, he felt a lot more at home, especially with new friends. It was still quite odd to him, of course, as just a few minutes ago, they were all strangers, sitting at a table and not talking to each other. If anything, he had May to thank for this, as she was the one who got everyone talking.

Of course, with how tight she was holding onto Val, he didn't want to thank her too soon. He didn't feel like getting squeezed to death right now.

_____________________________________________

It wasn't long before the group finished up lunch, as well as a bunch of other students. Now was the time to sign up for some classes, which took place in the middle of the courtyard. The GNU's courtyard, as expected, was extremely well kept, with all of the shrubbery cut to look like historical figures. Lots of very color flowers were planted in beautiful patterns all over the place, with various Petpetpets buzzing and flying around them happily. Perhaps the most noticeable art piece, however, was a large stone statue, depicting the symbol of the Grand Neopian University: a large open book with Neopia resting in the middle of it.

"Wow!" May exclaimed upon seeing the gorgeous courtyard. "They must've taken forever to make it look this pretty!"

"I hear they let some of the students take part in groundskeeping and gardening for the school," Krugg informed, which made the Xweetok beam from ear to ear.

"Oooh, I definitely wanna sign up for that program!"

"Don't sign up for too much. Otherwise, you'll have no time in the day for yourself," Lucky advised, heading with the group towards a large cluster of desks, each one of them formed by a large line.

"Well this is gonna take awhile," Val sighed, getting in one of the numerous lines.

"Aw, don't be like that. The lines seem to be moving quickly," Enele pointed out. Indeed, it didn't seem like the staff was taking too much time. For the most part, from what Lucky saw, they would pull out a sheet of paper, talk to the Neopian for a few minutes, write some stuff down, and hand it over to them.

The group of newly acquainted friends still had to wait in the lines for a good while, trying their best to keep small talk going. With stomachs full of food, they would've preferred to hurry up and get their new schedules so that they could take a nice long nap.

After what seemed like a half hour or so, the group managed to be called forward one at a time, talking to professors about what they would want to take. Lucky, naturally, was seperated from the others by an older Wocky professor, who eyed him over through his thick glasses. Even through the professor's large beard and mustache, he could tell that no smile graced his face. Not out of anger, just out of disinterest. Apparently, the Wocky was quite tired as well.

"Let's see... Lucky, yes?" He began, not waiting for an answer before returning to his paperwork. "Says here you're a freshman, so you'll have the mandatory class of 'Neopian History', along with the other freshmen, which will start at 9 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Anything after that is entirely up to you. Hmm... Neopia Central, huh? Perhaps a business related class would interest you?" He droned to the Acara, raising a big, bushy eyebrow.

Despite the obvious stereotype of him being a shopkeeper, Lucky did have a legitimate interest in economy. With a nod, he responded, "Uh, sure thing. Perhaps economy or something?" Wordlessly, the Wocky professor nodded in return, quickly scribbling the class times on the paper.

"Economics 101, Mondays and Tuesdays at 12... any other hobbies or interests?" He asked in a bored tone.

Knowing that 'games' was hardly a proper answer for this type of question, Lucky decided to think a little bit harder on it. "Uh...well, I like music..?" He said, feeling unsure of himself.

Instead of writing anything, the professor raised his eyebrow again. "What instrument can you play?" Lucky remained quiet for a few too many seconds, not sure of how to phrase 'I don't know how to play anything'. With a sigh and a small shake of his head, he wrote something on the bottom of the schedule. "I'll refer you to Doctor Finklebaum. She tends to be in her office in the evening from five to six in the afternoon. Maybe she can help you with that," He explained, writing her room and office number on it. "I do assume you have a Neophone, yes?"

Finally, a question Lucky could answer properly! "Yeah, I do. It's a little outdated, will that matter?" The Acara answered, holding up a simple, black phone. It definitely had some wear to it, but was still ultimately in one piece. Hell, the screen wasn't even cracked.

"So long as it can make calls and keep a connection, you'll be fine," The Wocky replied. He paused a moment, looking over the Acara with a more focused stare. Despite Lucky's obvious discomfort, the professor took his time before speaking up. "Say, lad, is that a real water faerie token around your neck?" He asked, showing interest for the first time in a few hours.

"Oh, this?" Lucky asked, holding it up to look over it himself. He nearly forgot that he was still wearing it. "Unfortunately, no. At least, I don't think so," He answered, scratching his head. "I got it as a gift one year."

"A gift, hm?" The professor hummed, a little bit more interest starting to show on his wrinkled, whiskered face.

"N-not from a faerie, of course. Just from my old boss," Lucky added on awkwardly.

The Wocky man stared a little while longer at the charm before returning his attention to the schedule, writing down another few classes and times. "...still, it seems like you have an interest in this sort of subject, so I've got you down for magic classes. Tuesdays and Thursdays at one in the afternoon," He rambled. Lucky smiled a little bit more, nodding in response. Magic was cool, and learning how to harness it would be nice. He just hoped he'd be good at it.

"Great! Thank you!" He said, looking over the paper. "Uh, may I ask what the other class is?" He asked skeptically.

"Our magic classes are conjoined with battle classes, so naturally I signed you up for both. After all, what good is learning magic if you don't know how to properly apply it?" The professor asked in a rhetorical manner. "These classes start at one in the afternoon on Wednesdays and Fridays," He concluded. Lucky's stomach sank a bit, his excitement dwindling. If there's one thing Lucky knew he wasn't going to be good at, it was fighting. A skinny twig like him would be utterly useless in an arena!

"I-I see..." He said with an unsure tone.

"You'll be fine, lad. After all, you look like you got a good head on your shoulder. Fighting isn't just about brawn, y'know," The Wocky replied, writing a few more things down on the paper before signing it. From the looks of it, he was referring to another sheet of paper to help come up with the book list. Each class was associated with one or two books, which would need to be purchased. "Alrighty, here you go, lad. Classes begin tomorrow, so get any last minute supplies before then."

"Thank you, sir," Lucky stated, scanning over the list quickly. His brow furrowed a bit as he read over the book list. He figured that however much it costed would be a lot more than what Lucky had in his pockets currently. "Uh, quick question, sir... what if I don't have the funds to buy all that I need?"

At this, the professor sighed, waving him off. "Lad, I'm sure you'll figure that out on your own. Now please move along, there's still more students who are waiting for their schedules," He sighed in a tired tone.

"R-right! Sorry about that, thanks again," Lucky replied hurriedly, quickly rushing out of line. Once out of the way, he kept scanning over everything, his nerves feeling a bit overwhelmed again. What if he didn't understand any of the subject matter? What if he was unable to attend a class? What if he ran out of money the first week of school?

While his anxieties bounced around his head, he was met with the familiar voice of his roommate. "Hey again! Finally get your classes sorted out?" She asked innocently.

"Eh... more or less?" Lucky responded, scratching his head once again.

"Works for me! The others went on ahead to the Book Store, so we should probably head over there," She said, walking alongside the Acara. "We can talk about our classes on the way there!"

"Sure thing," He responded, sighing gently to himself. "Well, she's helped me make friends, so hopefully she'll help keep my mind off of my worries," He thought, adjusting his glasses. At the very least, he knew he had a couple thousand NP to spend on supplies. With a new set of friends, he knew he wasn't going to be lonely, either, so thankfully he was off to a good start.

He just hoped it would continue as such.

[neighborhood-merc]

[ Here are Part 2, 3 btw! ]  

The themes of the stories on this list varies, I’m either into something heart-warming, fluffy, domestic that sort of thing or into some really really heavy and dark messed up ones. It depends on the mood am I right? wink wink

It’s always gonna be smutty though lol

As long as it’s tastefully written, whatever kinky shit, I can be into it, I don’t judge the writer. With that being said if I add something straight up messed up here now/or in the future, don’t judge too, just mind the tags of the fic, for your own discretion if anything.

this list should be Wade Wilson/Peter Parker - Spiderman/Deadpool pairing only. I kinda like my babies greedy/possessive for/of each other.

I don’t care who tops or bottoms.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Summaries are taken directly from the fanfic’s summary.

Read the tags first!

Comet  Peter is his comet, bright and beautiful but fleeting. Peter left one day and Wade will fight beyond time to find a world where they can be together.

On Our Ride-side Down (this is a wip, but it’s worth it, read.it) "Peter...!" “Been a long time…” Peter says and Wade’s finger twitches, halting his plan to grab the hilt of his sword.The alpha wants to move -wants to say something. Anything. But he can only watch as the omega slowly… sultrily… stands up and turns his head to face Wade with a sidelong glance. Hazel eyes peer at him under his lashes as his lips curl up to form a malicious yet seductive smirk. “Did you miss me, Wade?”

It Will Always Be Us Sometimes the Alpha thought he knew everyone of Peter’s heart beats, the significance of each breath, the uniqueness of every blink and perfection of every inch of skin. He memorized the concave of his mate’s stomach and the dip of his navel, the length of Peter’s legs, knew every count up and down each vertebrae and the minute shift of hips and flex of abdomen and it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough.Wade would always need more.

Wrapped in Red Intersex!Peter and Wade have been waiting to move their relationship towards sexy shenanigans, and Christmas seems like the right time to give it a try. Peter is nervous, Wade is patient, there is a visit to a lingerie store, some rather questionable Christmas innuendos, and a happily ever after.

Sundays with Spideypool (Amazing short stories)

Sundays with Spideypool Volume 2  (Amazing short stories)

Sundays with Spideypool Volume 3  (Amazing short stories)

Bad Ideas Peter Parker isn’t Spider-Man anymore. No, he left his suit and that life behind after Gwen, Harry and everything else went wrong. He packed his bag and took off, looking for someplace where he won’t see Gwen’s ghost on every corner, someplace where he won’t have nightmares every night. Wade Wilson isn’t Deadpool anymore. No, he told a client to fuck off when he’d been sent to end someone who… didn��t deserve it So he left, packed his bag and headed for a place where the voices in his head don’t scream at him, where he can find some peace.

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse (this is out there, but so fucking good!) Having a heat during the zombie apocalypse was probably the most terrifying part of the zombie apocalypse, but Peter shouldn't have been worried about being eaten. He should have worried about being bred.

You big disgrace Wade’s hanging by one leg from the firescape outside Peter’s seventh floor apartment, katanas sheathed on his back and a gun on each thigh - but he’s frozen like a deer in the headlights, as if Peter poses some sort of threat, standing like an idiot at the open window in sweatpants and no shirt, only a flashlight and a thin smattering of chest hair to defend himself.

5 times Wade didn't believe Peter, and the one time he did Wade isn't a fool. And he knows better, whatever Spidey says. Or five times Wade didn't believe Peter, and the one time he did.

Daddy’s Little Mama Peter is an Omega male and he loves to feed his Daddy every morning and every night.

Beta Peter had to pretend to be a beta; that meant squashing down his every instinct, every urge that wanted him to be held tight in Deadpool's arms so he could just hug the stress away. Unsurprisingly, he wasn't very good at it.

Learn the Alphabet with Wade and Peter Follow Wade and Peter's many love stories with this handy A-to-Z guide!

Do Me Damage The only exception, the only time Peter would lose his cool, was if his mate was involved. No one talked bad about Wade. No one put their hands on him, and if they did, they'd answer to Peter.

Clingy Petey Peter Parker is very clingy and Wade finds it absolutely adorable

Pizza Parker, Booty Double The pizza delivery boy has hips that don't lie, and a booty belonging to Spider-Man. All Wade has to do now is find proof that Peter is the webbed wonder...

I Know your secret “I’m your new neighbor,” Wade forged on, oblivious to Peter’s state of shock, and he stuck out a scarred hand. Peter gripped it, feeling numb, and gave it a shake. Did Wade realize who he was? No, clearly not. He was acting way too normally. Wade was one for dramatics.

I Think I Missed a Step ('Cause I'm Fallin' For You)    There’s a weird familiarity about the kid's tone and posture, and it’s true that Wade is pretty far from home today but he’s also certain he’d remember that baby-face if he’d seen it before. On the other hand, he has spent the better part of the past few years feeling like he’s missed a step, so this conversation isn’t exactly anything new.

Fall out, boy, so i can fall in(to you) (this ones got art and a sequel, so perfect!) Deadpool keeps having sex with Peter and Peter… Peter keeps letting him.

Your love is my confessional [SEQUEL TO fall out, boy, so i can fall in(to you)] Unlike most of the Avengers, Peter has never been allergic to talking about his feelings with the people he loves. Except for the one person he has the strongest feelings for. Except for the one feeling he feels the strongest. Why was it so hard to say what it was so easy to be? Why was it so easy to be what it was so hard to say?...Why did he expect any other reaction from Wade when Peter finally said it?

A Match of My Own Wade Wilson is a dishonorably discharged vet from Canada, making a new life for himself in New York City after going into heat cost him his military career. This time, three years later, when he goes into heat, he gets proactive about it and turns to the only matchmaking service he can sort-of afford, in the hopes of finding a heat-mate to get him through the worst of his season. Because with a mug like his, that’s all he can hope to get, right? And certainly not a permanent mate?

[wolfstarwarehouse]

au masterlist part ii

I had the strongest urge to make another one of these, so I did. These are all fics I have already read and recommended, now in a convenient list. :)

part i here.

Non-magic!AU

...And They Were Hallmates! (Oh My God They Were Hallmates) by Chromat1cs

The Barista, the Burglar, and the Sofa by SeasOfTrees (reverse burglary)

Cue Love, Go by lelamore (theater!au)

*Degrees of Intersection by muse_in_absentia (editor!remus & depression)

Desperado by fluorescentgrey (Western!au)

Discards by picascribit (librarian!sirius)

Early Morning, London Skyline by nerakrose (steampunk!au)

Forever by orphan_account (youtubers!au)

Forever Is a State of Mind by orphan_account (deaf remus & youtuber sirius)

Going As Planned by lionturtles (camping & first kisses)

How to Suffer a Storm by gayagape (lighthouse keeper!remus)

The Importance of Being Sirius by dogsunderfoot (teachers au)

Impossible Things by accioromulus (modern au, flatmates)

Intergalactic Hitchhiking, and Other Such Earthbound Adventures by TheSparksofMagic (space!au)

In a Quiet Place by toyhto (WWI au)

Kindred Spirits by shoebox_addict (Anne with an E/Victorian!AU)

Likewise Variable by ssstrychnine (high school!au)

Love in a Mille-Feuille by abyss_valkyrie (bakery!au)

A Love Match by the_gramophone (regency au)

Make Much of Time by WolfstarGarden (Dead Poet’s Society!au)

A Mix of Jealousy and Jager by jprongs (band!au)

Never Above You, Never Below by orphan_account (famous!sirius)

New Eyes by FivePips (historical!au)

Of Monsters by llassah (crime family au)

Once In A Blue Moon by RedLikeLithium4 (coffeeshop!au)

*Or, a Portrait of the Mathematician as a Young Man by zambla (1931 Cambridge/Brideshead Revisited aesthetics)

*Palo Alto by NachoDiablo (Silicon Valley au)

Pas de Deux in the Upper West Side by wilteddaisy (ballet rivals au)

The Price of Liberty by orphan_account (dystopia!au)

Quarter Life Crisis by captainevilpants (modern, oblivious!remus)

Retrial by phoenixgal (Serial podcast au)

Saving Regulus Black by toyhto (road trip au)

A Series of Sketches Done in Black Ink by mustntgetmy (established relationship)

*A Smithfield Bargain by shaggydogstail (con artist/detectiveau)

Something About You by huldrejenta (cute pizza delivery guy au)

Super by kouje (superhero!au)

A Supplementary Story by elixirsoflife (vampire!sirius)

Wear Your Heart On Your Skin by FivePips (tattoo parlor!au)

Where the Mist Falls by YumeNouveau (small town deputy/fbi agent au)

You Can Have the Best of Me by jprongs (lifeguard!au)

Magic!AU

Alt Ed by NachoDiablo (marauders!au)

As We Say Our Long Goodbye by OfALaurel (university!au)

The Bells by fluorescentgrey (apocalypse!au)

The Black Knight by victoria_p (superhero!au)

*Black Sparks, Wolf's Eye, and the Inflammatory Article by mustntgetmy (outspoken, pro-werewolf journalist!remus)

The Crooked Age by aryastark_valarmorghulis (no Voldemort au)

Don't Fuck This Up, Lupin by blibberinghumdiggory (soulmate!au)

A Duet by mustntgetmy (different houses, first war!au)

Every Rose Has Its Thorns by shadow_prince (beauty and the beast!au)

Everything's Connected by mizdiz (boarding school!au)

The Fall of the House of Black by starfishstar (gothic romance!au)

Fell in love once and almost completely by llassah (werewolf!sirius)

Ghost Notes by NachoDiablo (drummer!remus) 

Golden Hours, Passing By by grandilloquism (magical artifacts restorer!sirius)

The Great Wizarding Christmas Bake Off by earlybloomingparentheses

Hope & Legacy: Black Brothers Edition by epithalamium, nerakrose (figure skating!au) 

*Holding Out by bigblackdog (raising harry!au)

Howl by BeesKnees (sleeping curse)

The Lionhearted by cindergal (slytherin!sirius)

*The Moon's Favourite Son and the Guardian of the Forest by shaggydogstail, Tpants (incredibly beautiful fairytale!au)

Ocean Above & Sky Below by grandilloquism (no war au)

Out there on the water by flora_tyronelle (seaside fae magic)

Ready for the Storm by pommedeplume (lighthouse keeper!sirius)

The River Lethe by grandilloquism (inn keeper!remus)

Runes by YumeNouveau (Victorian era Hogwarts professors)

Skin by Chromat1cs (shapeshifting, bartender!remus)

Stella Pulverem by dogsunderfoot (star!sirius)

*A Store of Happiness by coyotesuspect (raising harry!au)

Take me as I am by Judeyjude, Shira_a (fantasy!au)

A Tall Drink of Chardonnay by muse_in_absentia (one night stand au)

Underglass by Chromat1cs (Voldemort wins/mob boss!remus au)

Wilde and Whimsy by chasingbluefish, obsob (mystery, auror!sirius)

Wizard Beat by eprime (fanboy!sirius)

A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing by writingwillow (remus didn’t go to hogwarts au, also there’s knitting)

The Woods by fluorescentgrey (Salem Witch Trials au)

[ashsblurbs]

Change hurts like hell

*Chapter 5 of the change series*

Tony laid in his empty bed, that was in his empty house where he was in a town that no one cared about him. He picked up the bottle of scotch downing half of it in one go. He thought to himself was this his second or third bottle today. This was what his life was like for the past two months. After Tony found out Steve moved away and most likely moved on with someone that wasn’t him, he couldn’t bare his own choices. He was a stupid man for leaving the one good think in his life. He should have been happy Steve moved on and didn’t wallow in self-pity like he was doing at this point. Tony’s eyes started drooping close. Maybe if he fell asleep, he could dream of Steve. He dreams where he was happy.

Steve sat on the back porch looking at the beautiful sunrise. He was woken up by yet another slight pain running through his back. It wasn’t a big deal, he knew this. He asked his doctor about it when he went to his last appointment and he said they were just Braxton hicks. Many people get them when they were this far along. That didn’t mean he still wasn’t worried. The baby wasn’t due till June fifth and it was only May twenty seventh. He groans in pain as another one came now shooting pain through his hip. “Darling, please be nicer to your daddy.” At that she decided to kick instead.

The screen door banged open to reveal Natasha walking out holding two cups of tea and was on facetime with Bucky. “Yeah, I will keep you posted but I would recommend heading up here tomorrow night. Steve still having pain. I feel labor may start soon.” Steve shot her a look meaning don’t say that or I will start freaking out. She mouthed sorry. “Hey, Bucky, Steve is here, want to say hi.” Natasha passed the phone over and sat down beside him. “Hey, bro. How are you feeling?” Steve rubbed his stomach and then moved to his back. “Some slight pain. Nothing to worry about really. This baby isn’t coming anytime soon.” Natasha plucked the phone out of his hand and told Bucky goodbye. “You better be here tomorrow. Promise.” “Promise. I love you”

Natasha placed a hand on to Steve’s stomach and watched as the baby moved around. “It will never not freak me out when I see a foot protruding from your stomach. It looks like the scene from alien.” Steve scoffed at her but placed a hand on the exact spot where they could see a little hand. “Did you just say my baby is an alien?” Natasha laughed. “She’s a very cute alien.” Another shot of pain hit again making him wither with pain. “Steve are you okay?” Steve waved her away, but he knew what was happening. This was the beginning stages of labor. “Starting right now we are on baby watch. That was the strongest one yet.” Natasha jumped up with fear in her eyes. “Steve, we need to get you to the hospital now.” Steve shook his head as he took a slip of tea she brought out. “We have time Nat. Most likely tomorrow we will but today lets just get everything together and have a nice calming day. Now help me up. Please.”

Rhodey looked around at the mess of a house Tony had. He was beginning to get worry when there were no calls, no messages from Tony in a couple of days. From the state of the house, Rhodey knew why. There were whiskey bottles all over the counters. Scotch was spilled on the floor. Pizza boxes stacked high by the door. Rhodey was afraid of what he was going to find when he finally found Tony. He kept walking still not seeing any sign of his friend. Rhodey finally found Tony laying in his bed looking way to peaceful for his liking.

New day brought stronger contractions but nothing that warrant a hospital visit yet. “So, can I know her name now since she is clearly coming.” Natasha suggested they went for a walk since sitting made the pain unbearable at some points. Steve chuckled and made the motion his lips were sealed. “No, you will know when she.” Steve stumbled over in pain which lead Natasha to start the stopwatch. He sucked in deeply and breathed out. Then it was over. “One-minute Steve. You are now in active labor.” Natasha was extremely happy, but he was in pain once again. Natasha rubbed a hand against his back while he works through another one. “Yeah, let’s get my stuff. I think it’s time to go to the hospital.” Natasha nodded agreeing.

Rhodey tried to shake Tony awake but nothing was working. “Tony, buddy you need to wake up.”

A slight scream left Steve mouth as they entered the hospital. “Hi, my friend is in active labor. The contractions started about a couple days ago but up until this afternoon did, they become stronger and close together.” A nurse had Steve sit in a wheelchair where he was placed in a room with a large window. That was lovely he thought. While he went through the worst pain in his life, he could watch the sun set. His doctor came in to examine him and make sure the baby was not in distress.

“Well, Mr. Rogers, it looks like you are five cm dilated which is wonderful. You only have about five more to go. The baby’s heartbeat is pumping how it should and is not breech. I see your water hasn’t broke yet. If it isn’t broken in an hour we will have to induce.” Steve nodded feeling relieved that his baby was okay but scared at the same time because he was half way there. Once again, another pain shot through his back leading Natasha to hold his one hand and rub his back with the other. He didn’t know what he would have done if she wasn’t by his side at this point in time.

“Yes, he’s not breathing. Please hurry.”

Steve no longer felt comfortable laying or sitting. He decided that crouching was the only comfortable position he could stand. “Are you okay like that Steve? Are you sure you don’t want the ball?” He motioned her to come over and help him stand up. He needed to move. “Let’s go for another walk.” Natasha grabbed a blanket knowing Steve would soon complain he was cold. “When are Bucky and Sam getting here.” Steve waddled down the hall feeling slight pressure but so far everything was okay. “Last time I texted Bucky he said they were three hours away. Um Steve I think your water just broke.” Steve felt wetness running down his leg and pooling at his feet. Tears welled up in his eyes knowing they were in the endgame now. Natasha ran to a nurse to tell them what just happened, and he found his way back to his room before another contraction came along.

Rhodey watched as they rolled Tony way on a stretcher. He still wasn’t awake but at least they got him breathing again. Rhodey didn’t want to think what he would had walk into if he waited a few more hours. What was going through Tony’s mind? This time was a lot worst. Should he contact Steve or was it better to leave the man that Tony hurt so much out of this.

“It hurts so much. The baby should be coming out right.” Steve was now curled into a ball on the floor. His backed hurt so badly as well as his abdomen. He should have gotten drugs when he had the chance but decide against them since the pain wasn’t bad but bearable just a few hours ago. Now he felt like he was being stabbed over and over again. It didn’t help either that his senses now were heighten. The door had to be close so to let in as little sound as possible and the room was completely dark. “I will go get the doctor and here are some ice chips you need to eat. We don’t want you getting dehydrated okay.” Steve took the cup from her hands and moved himself to the edge of the bed where he tried to stretch his body out as much as he could. Then another shot of pain came again. He just wanted to rest.

“Steve could you please try to lay on the bed so we can check out the baby’s progress.” With Natasha’s help he climbed up on the bed. The position definitely wasn’t comfortable, but he told himself that it wasn’t permanent. “Okay, lets see. Yep as I thought. You are eight cm. Now to let you know these last two cm can be super quick or can last a while so just be prepared.” Steve leaned back against the pillow feeling defeated. He was so tired he didn’t think he could do several more hours of this. He just wanted this baby out of him.

“Your friend is asleep and should be awake in several hours. It seems that he had alcohol poisoning. His alcohol level was .8. Your friend is very lucky to be alive.” Rhodey looked over to see a sleeping Tony. He agreed he was lucky, but something had to change because the next he might not be so lucky.

Natasha heard the door click open to see Sam and Bucky enter. She motions them to be quiet since this was the first time Steve had fell asleep since they got here. She stood up and pushed them outside so, she could talk to them. Bucky wrapped her into his arms feeling relive to finally see her again. “How’s Steve? Do we have a baby yet?” Natasha shook her head no. “The doctor said we were going to be having a long night a head of us. Right now, Steve is eight cm, but he still needed two more to fully push.” They walked back in quietly to find Steve still asleep. “He’s been a trooper through. You never seen someone in so much pain before until you see them bring life into this world.” Bucky came over to Steve and brushed his bangs way from his forehead. He saw Steve wither in his sleep. No doubt once again another contraction shooting through his body.

The time clicked away as now they were just waiting. Steve was up again now. Bucky was holding him up through the pain. Then he felt the movement. The baby was now moving down into his pelvis. Steve just froze. Sam came around him and rubbed his hips then he pushed everyone away. “Steve are you okay. What’s wrong.” Steve climbed onto the bed and pushed the nurse’s button without saying a word. “The baby has moved into my hip. I just had the strong urge to push. I think the baby might be coming.”

The heart machine was beeping so loudly in Rhodey’s ear. He just wished Tony would wake up already but nothing. The doctors came in once again to check on him and said if he didn’t wake in the next two hours, they will be classifying him in a coma. Rhodey knew he had to call Steve. Steve might still care a little and he knew Tony would want him there when he woke up. He tried Steve’s phone three times but no answer.

The nurse placed her gloves on slowly and was taking her sweet time. Well that’s what Steve thought. He wanted the lady hurry up or he was going to have a baby right here with out her. The nurse finally was ready and checked if he was right or if his body was just betraying him once again. “Mr. Rogers, are you ready to have a baby?” “I’ve been ready.” The nurse left to go grab his doctor. Natasha took his right side and Bucky his left. Sam stayed back because he was feeling a little queasy. “I feel a push.” He pushes down feeling a lot of pressure. Natasha looked over and saw just a tiny hint of a baby.

Steve had been pushing for an hour and no progress. He just wanted the baby out and there be no more pain. “Okay, give me a big push.” Steve felt a burning sensation when he pushed that time. “Okay, she’s crowning. Push again.” The doctor count to ten and he breathed. “Doing great Steve keep going.” Natasha cheered him on. He pushed several more times then something inside him snapped and he cried out, “He should be here. Tony should be here.” Natasha and Bucky looked at each other sadly knowing Tony should be but he chose his fate. “Steve two more big pushes.” He gave all he could give, and he felt all the pressure was gone. All he heard was his baby girl cry.

A nurse through a towel over his chest and sat his baby on top. She was beautiful with golden hair and brown eyes. Tony’s eyes. “Do you have a name?” Steve just stared at her and knew this name was perfect for her. “Sarah Maria Rogers-Stark.” Nat lean down and kissed the top of his head while never taking an eye off of Sarah. “Welcome to the world. On May 29, 2019 at 2:51 am.” Steve thought how wonderful it was she was born her father’s birthday. Even if Tony would never really be involved in her life at least this was one thing they had in common.

Rhodey was jolted awake but the ringing of Tony’s phone. He picked up to answer it to find Natasha on the other end. “James, where’s Tony I have important news to share with him.” Rhodey sucked in a breath not sure what to tell her. “He can’t talk right now we are in the hospital. Tony decide to almost drink himself to death.” The line went silent until he heard Nat take in a deep breath. “Well don’t tell him this but he has a daughter. Steve just gave birth to her an hour ago. Tell him to get his act together and have him call me. Promise me you won’t tell him anything because I wasn’t even supposed to say anything.” Rhodey agreed and hanged up the phone. He agrees Tony needed to get his act together before even thought about calling Steve.

Natasha walked back into the room to find her three men make a fuss over the baby. “You’re so pretty. Come here Nat she’s opening her eyes.” Natasha laughed and walked over to be greeted to amber eyes. “So why did you choose Sarah. Which by the way is a very pretty name.” Steve looked down at Sarah knowing the name was perfect the second she arrived. “Sarah is mom’s name and Maria is Tony’s mom’s name.” At the mention of Tony, Natasha decided it was best not to tell Steve about what was going on. He already had a lot on his plate with feeling sad that Tony wasn’t there to meet Sarah when she came into the world.

Tony woke up about an hour after Natasha called. Rhodey kept his promise about not saying anything. Tony needed to work on himself and be better if he was ever going to be a good father. “Rhodey, what happened.” Rhodey wanted to be pissed but he saw how weak his friend was. “You almost drank yourself to death. This needs to stop Tony if you want a future at living.” Tony scoffed. “What’s the point in living when all I do is screw up my own happiness. I let Steve down.” Rhodey slammed a fist down onto the table. Tony was so stupid sometimes. “That doesn’t mean you don’t get to live and find new happiness. You need to go to therapy and work out all of your issues. Not for me, not for Pepper, not for Steve but for yourself. I’ve seen you at your best Tony now you need to figure out why you won’t stay away from your worst.” Tony looked away and he knew Rhodey was right. It was time to get his act together. Tony was only twenty-nine. He had a lot of life to live. “I’m going to do it. I’m going to therapy and give up all alcohol.”

“Ready to go home sweet pea.” Steve finished dressing Sarah into a little onesie with little butterflies all over. She was the most perfect little baby. Steve placed her in her car seat and looked around the room happy to finally say goodbye. Natasha grabbed the rest of their things leading them to the car. “Ready Steve for the next chapter of your life.” Steve looked down at his sleeping child.  He was ready for what change was bringing him.  

One year later:

Rhodey pulled up to the rehab facility where Tony stayed to work on himself. Tony through his bag in the back and hopped in the front. “Rhodeybear what are we doing first. Pizza, movie or a trip to the beach.” Rhodey handed Tony a piece of paper with a number on it. “What is this? Whose number is this?” Rhodey looked over at Tony making sure that it was the right time. That Tony was ready for a big change in his life. “It’s Natasha’s number. She told me to tell you to call her when you have your shit together. Do you have your shit together Tony?” Tony looked backed at his last year. He was sober and now took medication for anxiety. Tony learned that what he went through with his childhood didn’t define the person he was now. He had the tools now to make sure he was happy, and he was worthy to receive love back.

Tony dial the number. The phone ring once and Natasha picked up. “Hello, Tony. How have you been?” Natasha looked in the house at Steve bouncing Sarah up and down trying to get her down for a nap. She wondered to herself if this was the right time to bring a hurricane of Tony into Steve’s life but Rhodey assure her he was in a good spot.

“I’ve been good. I got a lot of needed help after my scare a year ago. You probably know about that from Rhodey right.” Natasha just agreed and there was a silence fell over them. Then Natasha spoke up. “Here’s Steve address. You can come May 22nd. Don’t ask me anymore questions. Have a nice life Tony.” She hung up on him. She left him in confusion. He wouldn’t knock down a chance to see Steve and show him the new man he had become. Tony didn’t want anything from Steve. He just wanted to apologize to him.

Steve walked out of the nursery to find Natasha coming back in from her call. “Was that Bucky?” Natasha got nervous. She didn’t want to lie to him and spring on this moment on him but maybe it was easier to rip the band aid off instead of preparing for it. “Yeah, he said hi. I think I might go visit him for a week. I will bring the boys back with me to celebrate Sarah’s first birthday. Which don’t plan anything I have all of it covered.” Steve pulled her in a hug. He was so grateful for her. This year had been wild, and fun but he was glad he had help. “Thank you, so much Nat.”

Tony found himself in Maine wondering why of all places Steve could have been, why Maine. Tony thought the house was cute, but he deserved something better. Steve always deserved everything better. Tony hoped one day he would get better. Tony took a deep breath to get all of the confidence he could get. This was nerve wrecking. Tony knocked on the door.

[jdmslut-red]

Could you do one where Jeff’s gf is also an actress but has a panic attack from from a fan event, cause she she was overwhelmed being surrounded by people?

Dear anon, hope this helps or this is to your liking I should say. I didn’t wanna focus heavily on the panic attack having already posted a couple in the past with some crucial detail. I’m always a little hesitant to write these because I don’t wanna trigger people. Suffering from severe panic attacks and anxiety myself I know all too well some triggers. Having said that, I’m an expert at fighting through it and pretending everything is A okay because I’ve dealt with it so long I’m used to it by now. It doesn’t lessen the horrible experience by any means but I guess I just kind of wrote this in my perspective or how it came to me anyway. Hope it’s ok. And for any of you reading this that also suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, depression or whatever it may be... know that your not alone!

———————————————————————

He knew she was doing the best to keep it together. Every now and then Jeffrey would look up at his girlfriend across the room, seeing her force a wide smile to greet fans. She hugged, signed autographs and took pictures with all her beloved fans. To anyone else, the scene would’ve appeared natural but Jeffrey knew his girl better than anyone.

He caught the slight shake of her hand when she put her arm around her fans, the fidgeting of her brushing her hair back while speaking to them. Yup, she was on the verge of a panic attack or already in the first stages of one. She knew how to hide it well. It broke his heart to see her like this. Ever since the last incident, Evelyn got worse.

Regardless, Jeffrey was proud of how strong his girl was. A lot stronger than him that’s for sure, he was barely holding it together seeing her like this. Just a few more hours... just a few more hours and they could go home.

On the cab ride home...

They sat next to each other in silence with Jeffrey’s arm around her shoulder, each of them looking out the window deep in though. He took a deep breath to calm himself, fighting back his own anxiety and urge to hide and shield his girl from the world.

Once they finally reached their home, Jeffrey reached for Evelyn and tightly embraced her. For the first time in days, she allowed herself to be vulnerable again. Silent tears spilled from eyes, soaking through his shirt as Evelyn hugged him tighter.

“I know baby. I know... we’re home now. Everything is gonna be ok.”

She cried harder at his loving words and Jeffrey felt the painful stab in his chest. He kissed her hair, bitting back his lower lip to prevent his own tears from spilling.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“No baby. Don’t apologize for yourself, there’s nothing you need to be sorry for. I’m sorry you’re going through all the turmoil. Can I get you anything my love? How about I draw you a bath? We can call some pizza and afterwards we’ll just lay in bed. I just wanna hold you until your troubles wash away. I wanna kiss your aching head until it stops aching, massage your little perfect body until you’re no longer stiff.”

She smiled. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“It is I who should be asking this question babygirl. You are amazing! You are the strongest person I ever met in my entire life. To deal with and balance all the things you do in a day to day basis... I just want you to know I’m so proud of you sweetheart. And I’m the lucky one. I love you so much babygirl. If I could take all your pain away and make it mine, I would.”

[princeandreis]

coffee grounds (part 7/?)

word count: 1215

warnings: angst!

A/N: as this series is winding down, i would love to get some feedback from you guys on the story so feel free to drop a reply or an ask anytime :)

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6

As you climbed into the taxi, it started to rain. Hard. You almost felt sorry for Race, who was still standing there on the curb, but you pushed the thought away and told the driver to step on it. Night was quickly falling and rain lashed against the windows. You shivered and nestled back into the seat, then realized you were still wearing Gavin’s coat. You thought vaguely that you’d have to give it back to him sometime. He would probably call you tonight or tomorrow, or even try to come over to talk about what happened with Race. You weren’t really in the mood to talk to him about anything, but he was the kind of guy who always wanted to make sure you were okay. It was something to appreciate about him. You stared out the window as the sounds of thunder prowled nearby and occasional flashes of lightning slashed through the clouds above. Maybe coffee just wasn’t worth the trouble, you thought to yourself dully.

A few minutes later the cab stopped in front of your apartment building. The driver had tried to get as close as he could to the awning to keep you from the rain, but you were still going to get soaked. Oh, well. Nothing like a cold to hopefully keep Gavin away for a day or two. You paid the driver, hopped out, and splashed your way into the building.

After you entered your own apartment, you tossed your things on the table. You were starting to take off Gavin’s coat when a frantic knocking sounded at the door. Who could that possibly be? It wasn’t as though you had frequent visitors, but at the same time —

Oh. Gavin.

The loud knocking sounded again, more urgent this time, interrupting your thoughts. You sighed, exasperated, and called to the door, “Gavin, I’m not really in the mood to talk right now.”

You heard a muffled voice say, “It’s not Gavin.”

Cautiously, you opened the door, and then gasped. Race the barista was standing at your door, drenched from head to foot. With his hair hanging in his eyes, little rivulets of water running down his face, and panting as if he’d been running, he looked pathetic.

“I didn’t get to explain myself,” he ventured. “I know it’s… sudden.”

“You don’t have to explain a thing to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s your life, you can date whoever you want.”

“Well, it doesn’t seem like you really believe that,” he said.

“You’re right. Maybe I don’t.” You started to close the door, but he put his arm in the way.

“Look, I followed your cab, I ran all the way here in the pouring rain, just so I could talk to you. Would I do that if I didn’t care about you?”

You paused. “Like you cared about Beth?”

He recoiled in surprise. “That’s not fair,” he said, but you pushed him out of the way and shut the door.

Race’s voice followed you from outside: “C’mon, [Y/N], just let me in so I can explain.”

“No.”

“Am I gonna have to yell through this door? I’m getting really cold just standing here.” He added a conveniently-timed sneeze for effect.

You couldn’t really let Race catch cold on your doorstep, so, rolling your eyes, you slid back the lock and allowed him to enter. He hugged his arms around himself, watching you, looking like he was trying not to drip on the carpet. You gave him a towel to wrap around himself and made him sit down on the sofa. He sat criss-cross. Even in his bedraggled state, or maybe because of it, you had the strongest urge to put your arms around him to warm him up.

Race looked up at you where you stood in front of him on the couch, and shivered a little in spite of himself. You folded your arms. “What do you want?”

His gaze flickered around the room. Huddled in a towel with his wet hair hanging in his eyes, he looked like a little kid. “Nothing, I, uh, I was just thinking maybe this would be easier to talk about if I… if we had… some, uh....”

“What?”

“Hot chocolate?” Race said hopefully.

You hit him with a pillow. “You’re impossible.”

He was trying his best not to laugh. “No, no, I really do think… not just because I like hot chocolate, but just — it’s harder to be mad at someone when you have a nice warm drink in your hands.”

You snorted, “Maybe that’s why I bought coffee from you for so long.”

“Shut up.”

There was a pause. You could tell he was thinking about how you’d met.

“Fine,” you sighed, “I’ll get the cocoa mix.” Race’s face brightened a little before you added, “But this does not mean you’re off the hook.”

“No, ma’am,” he called after you innocently.

When you came back with two steaming mugs of cocoa, Race stood up to take one from you, and as he did, his hands brushed over yours and his gaze froze you for a moment. You hated to admit it, but that electric feeling from before was still there. Before he could do anything else, you pulled your hand back and turned away to take a seat across from him.

“Talk.”

Race sipped his cocoa. You waited.

“Would it make you feel better if I said I missed you when you stopped coming in?” he asked with a dimpled smile.

In spite of yourself, your heart softened a little. He’d just made a mistake and he was sorry. Would it be too late to start over? You shifted in your seat, crossed your legs and then uncrossed them. “I missed you, too.”

Race beamed. He really did look like a little child wrapped up in a towel, sitting cross-legged on the sofa and sipping hot cocoa.

“So, listen,” he said. “I’m sorry I didn’t do anything. I promise, I was thinking I would ask you out soon. There was this one time… I gave you your drink and I touched your hand by accident, and there was this look that you gave me, and I really thought I would do it right then. But then you left in a hurry and didn’t ever come back. I guess I thought I did something wrong.”

You considered this. “So… when I didn’t come back for, what, two weeks? You thought I was gone forever?”

Race rubbed his eye with the heel of his palm. “I know, I know, it sounds dumb. But it made me sad when I didn’t get to see you anymore, so I just… wanted to be distracted. So I asked Beth out, but I didn’t really think that hard about it. She got really serious about it right away.”

“You do know she had a giant crush on you, right?” you snorted. “Even I knew that, and I was just a customer.”

He laughed sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess I should’ve picked up on that sooner. Trust me, I regret getting involved with her.”

Getting involved…

Race continued, “Hey, speaking of which — ”

A light knock sounded at the door. “[Y/N]?” called a familiar voice.

Oh, no.

“Sweetheart, it’s Gavin, are you okay?”

~~~~~~~~

taglist:  @i-got-personality @we-dont-sell-papes @savory-n-sweet @kingofsantafe @livinchancey @sam-roll @broadwayandbookblog @agentmalfoy24601 @thatshiscigar @heytheywascoronas @ginervacade @fallinglegen19 @gayfortoast @viennaleia @newsies-stop-theworld @jordmac @blytheandherbrain @thalia-prior-of-ravenclaw @imslightlyconfused @bennie-badeend @books-netflix-and-pizza @infinity-fandom-trash @bencookisagod @myheartissetinmotion

[cyoza]

adrenaline; part six (final chapter)

Hello!

This is it! The final chapter!

I wanted to kind of mimic part three where Dick is sharing what happened with his parents and kind of end it kinda of open just in case I wanted to do a sequel later. Especially now the show has been renewed for season 3 (very exciting). I also wanted more softness and allow Kory to have her emotions rather than be the badass queen we all know her as; she’s been through it this season and it’s sometimes forgotten. 

But yep, this is the final chapter, thanks everyone for all the support and sticking with me! I've really appreciated it!

Hope you enjoyed reading!

part one 

part two

part three

part four

part five   

- 

‘Careful, Kory!’ 

Dick stood from his seat on the chair next to her bed and began fussing around her, wrapping an arm around her back and supporting her as she sat up against the pillow. Kory fought the urge to swat him away, feeling more than frustrated by his almost smothering attitude. However, as much as she was exasperated by his hovering, on some level he had a right to be worried. The simple move of lifting herself up knocked the wind out of her and swept a wave of exhaustion through her. In the few hours she’d been awake, she had felt her strength return to her at a snail's pace, again aggravating her to no end. Arguably the strongest person on the team, it was unnatural for her to feel so incapacitated and she was finding it hard not to take it out on the people swarming around her.

Moments after awakening, the team had poured in after hearing Dick’s cries of relief. They had then dotted themselves around the room unwilling to leave her except to retrieve things for her; water, food - pretty much anything she’d asked for appeared in her hand within minutes. Whilst Kory appreciated it, she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the constant attention, especially when she was still slightly disoriented from spending such a long time unconscious. Dick being Dick, sensed this and pushed everyone out of the room not long after so she could take a breather. Nonetheless, he stayed put, refusing to leave her side. It helped that he didn’t force her to talk, just being a presence close to her but jumping to attention if she so much as lifted a finger. Even still, she could tell that he was growing impatient, wanting to hear what happened to her as much as he tried to hide it. So she cleared her throat and began to talk. 

‘I guess you’re wanting me to explain what happened whilst I was away.’ She started but Dick cut her off almost immediately. 

‘Kory, it’s okay if you’re not ready. I’m just so glad you’re okay.’ He reassured, placing himself on the empty space next to her on the bed and gripping her hand. 

‘No, no it has to be done. For everyone’s safety.’ She stated gravely, igniting a flash of confusion in his face. ‘It’s been a rough few weeks I’ll be honest. But I guess I’ll start at the beginning. Remember a while back, when I said I had a jump start in getting my memory back? It wasn’t entirely just a jumpstart, I got everything back. I remembered being a princess, everything back in Tamaran. I knew what it would mean to go back. And I tried to put it off as much as I could, I wanted to stay. I wanted to be free here. Back home, you know, everything gets decided for you. How to dress, who to marry, your entire life. But here...you guys just get to be. And I wanted that. I wanted it bad..’ Kory broke off, her voice growing hoarse as her throat swelled with tears. 

Dick said nothing, looking forlorn as he listened to her talk, squeezing her hand tighter; an action that said ‘I’m here, you’re safe.’ So, she continued. 

‘The ‘jump start’ part was thanks to a visitor from there - Royal Protection Services to be exact. He was sent here to take me back and I was going to go, I didn’t want to escalate things and it was my duty after all. But then Rachel called and I knew I couldn’t leave. I already didn’t want to go but hearing that she needed me just, I don’t know, cemented it, if that makes sense. But then I got a call another, that day that I told you I was leaving. It was him, the Royal Protection Services, Fiddei -’ Her voice cut out yet again but this time it was accompanied by a glimmer of liquid in her eye. 

Dick’s chest tightened as he watched her raise her gaze to the ceiling in an attempt to push back her tears - this person was obviously important to her and this couldn’t have ended well. The wretched feeling in his chest got even worse when he realised she felt like she had to be strong in front of him. Even moreso, when he remembered how many times he’d laid himself bare in front of her without fear of judgement and here she was holding herself back in front of the one person on earth who would never judge her. 

So he shifted even closer to her and placed a hand on her cheek bringing her eyes back to him. The action seemed to break the dam because the next thing he knew she gave him a tremulous smile before the tears tumbled down exponentially. It was a beat before she continued. 

‘My sister. She,um, she killed my parents. Everyone important. Fiddei, he came back to warn me and she took over his body. I had to kill him. Everyone I knew and cared about - just gone. By someone who was supposed to be on my side. And the only other person from my planet who was close to me, who understood me on some level, she made me kill.’ She let out a sobbing gasp. ‘And I tried to get back here to regroup but she just kept sending soldiers after me. It kept getting tougher and tougher to fight them alone and it was taking longer and longer for me to recover. I barely made it back here, I was just so...tired. But I kept thinking if I could just make it home, if I could just get to you, there was a chance I could be okay.’ She whimpered. 

Dick was overcome with her admission, not knowing what to do. He wanted to envelop her in his arms so she was never hurt again, he wanted to cry with her for all she’d been through, more than anything he wanted to find her sister and kill her himself. Yet, all he could manage was a tense press of his lips and a stroke of her cheek, very aware that any other manoeuvre could damage her further and potentially halt her recovery. But he also knew that she needed more than that. 

‘You’re home Kory, and you will be okay. I promise you. Even if it kills me, I will make sure that you end up okay.’ 

- 

Kory had drifted back to sleep not long after dropping the bombshell on him, clearly exhausted after such an intense recollection. Dick, on the other hand, was still completely wired. Unable to stop the one thought that was running circles in his mind; Kory could have died. She could have genuinely died. And in her death, not only would humanity be destroyed but he would be long before that would even come close to happening. 

They hadn’t discussed his earlier declaration, its importance paling in comparison to the situation they now had. Especially when you factored in that they still had Slade running amuck to consider. But he couldn’t help but think about it. He prayed that she knew it wasn’t out of desperation but that every part of him was genuinely, irrefutably in love with her. And he didn’t know that she knew. If everything else went to shit in the future, he wanted that to be the thing that survived to her. 

‘Hey, what time is it?’ Kory croaked, pulling him from his thoughts. 

He instinctively stood up from the chair to get closer to her,  in case she needed anything. 

‘It’s half 8. Everyone’s just having dinner, unsurprisingly it’s pizza.’ He informed her, prompting a breathless chuckle from Kory. 

‘Why aren’t you  with them? Have you had anything to eat?’ She inquired, worry coating her voice. 

‘Kory, you’re the one in a cot, why are you worrying about me?’ He asked with a roll of his eyes. 

‘Because I know you, Dick. You put everyone else first and yourself last.’ She paused, apprehension overtaking her. ‘Besides, I found something out. Turns out that the theory that people who are comatose can hear their surroundings is true. So...I heard you talking but it didn’t seem like anybody else was here - I didn’t hear anybody else here. Who were you talking to?’ She questioned hesitantly. 

Dick’s heart dropped to his feet. Shit.This is the last thing he wanted to happen. God, she was going to think he was insane - maybe he was insane but he certainly didn’t want her to think that. He ran a hand over his face, not knowing what to say. He knew he had to be honest but how was he going to tell her what had been happening with him. So instead he did what he knows best to do - avoid the subject. 

‘Kory, it doesn’t matter right now, there’s so many other things to focus on that are more important.’

She gave him a disbelieving and frankly concerned look but didn’t object, either deciding that there had been enough sharing or was too tired to argue with him. However, if the glint in her eye was anything to go by, it didn’t mean that she would be forgetting about it anytime soon. 

‘So this situation with Blackfire...I know we already have so much to deal with but-’ Dick cut her off. 

‘We’re behind you. All the way.’ He reassured her. 

‘Always.’ The word didn’t come from either of them but from a new voice by the door. 

Both Dick and Kory turned their gaze to the door to find Donna, Rachel and Gar piled into the door frame. 

‘What do you need?’ Rachel spoke again, eyes hard and dark.

Kory felt a warm pride bloom in her chest as she looked at all three of them. They were willing to fight for her without needing an explanation, just that she needed them. They were her family now. 

She knew then that maybe everything would be okay; as long as she had them behind her. 

[manrocket-mo]

Would love to hear a Mo meet cute

Hi! I’m assuming you meant meeting Mo! I got a little carried away with this one! Hope it doesn’t suck too bad lol.

You didn’t even want to go out but your roommates begged you saying that it was important for you to socialize, that it was the end of the semester, that you never let loose, that you’re finally single and need to get back at it. And that’s how you ended up here.

You sat alone in the booth that your friends claimed watching purses and drinks as they took over the dance floor. You swirled your Long Island in the glass with the stirrer.

“You got forced out, too, didn’t you?” You look up and catch the blonde that you had vaguely remembered arriving at the same time as the group. You hadn’t paid him any mind before, trying to buy yourself an excuse to leave early much to no avail.

“What makes you think that?” you ask teasingly. He was handsome and you figured if you had to be stuck here, you might as well find someone to occupy your time with. Blondie was not a bad start.

“Hmm… I don’t know. You’re all alone, you’re dressed a little casually for a club with a cover like this,” he muses. “…And you picked the strongest drink you could think of.” He tips his glass to you and you take in his jeans and tee that was very similar to your get up.

You raise an eyebrow. “So are you here to share in my sorrow or scold me?”

He laughs warmly and signals to the bench. You oblige, moving in.

“I’m Morgan,” he introduces, sticking a hand out to shake as he occupies the space next to you.

“I know. Y/n.” You place your hand in his and revel in the warmth. As soon as you pull away, you take a long sip of your drink and feel the burn as it trickles down your throat. “So is this whole, forced out act, a whole thing so you could hit on me? Because you’re so used to getting what you want around here?”

Morgan laughs again and it sends warmth through me. It’s music to my ears. You glance up at him and see his laughter touching his eyes, the baby blues soaking you in.

“No… I actually would rather not be here, but believe that is your friend with mine.” He points through the crowd where your friend had an arm around a dark haired man, making out in the middle of the dance floor a little too passionately.

You groaned. “My roommate,“ you corrected. “All I wanted was to stay home and quietly celebrate the end of this shitty semester and the end of dealing with Nick with some ice cream and Netflix but here I am.”

“Probably can’t even go home now,” you mutter, taking another long swig.

Halfway through your sip, you felt the cup being taken away from you lips, spilling your drink all over the booth and Morgan’s lap. “Hey!” you protest, stunned by the audacity of this total stranger.

“Get up,” he orders, though his tone of voice betrays the command.

“What?”

“Get up. Come on, let’s go.” Before you could protest, Morgan was up and out of the booth, tugging on your hand.

“What are you doing? Where are we going?” You ask.

“I’m giving you an excuse to leave,” he says nonchalantly, bending down to speak into your ear. His beard brushed against the sensitive skin of your neck, sending tingles throughout your body.

You planted your feet on the floor next to booth, trying to ignore your body screaming wildly for you to leave with him. “How do I know you’re not some serial killer that’s going to dump my body somewhere?” you ask defiantly, the little you got to drink giving you some liquid courage.

Even in the dark you could see Morgan’s eyes roll. “Here, open a text to your roommates and give me your phone.”

He waits with an open hand, an eyebrow quirked until you hand over your phone. Within a few seconds, he hands it back.

Went home with Morgan Rielly. Have a good night! See ya in the morning!

“Now that they have my full name, do you trust me?”

Now it was time to roll your eyes. “No, but if you’re going to get me out of here, lead the way.”

He laughed again and offered you his hand to guide you out of the crowded night club.

You couldn’t help but glance down at his hand in yours every few seconds, the flex in his muscles as his hand gripped yours.

“Where are we even going?” You mumbled as Morgan led you through the spring night. He didn’t answer but you could see the relaxed smile on his face so you just went along with it.

“Ta-da!” He chuckled as he led you to what was probably the only ice cream shop still open in the city of Toronto. “You said you wanted out and that you were having a shitty day and you wanted ice cream and a reason to leave.”

Your heart warmer and your sass melted away as you took in the array of ice cream goodness before you and the gentleman that led you here.

“But—“ you protested.

“But you looked like you needed a pick-me-up… and I really like ice cream.” He squeezed your hand, still in his and gestured to the case. “I’m having the Reese’s peanut butter cone, please and whatever she’s having.”

He allowed you to pick whatever you wanted, however many scoops your heart desired and even encouraged you to go for the sprinkles. He asked you about himself and rarely talked himself up. He was warm and inviting and familiar and kind. He was a man after your heart, once a stranger, now Mo to you.

“Ugh, this was not good. Coach is going to kill me tomorrow…” he leans back and pats his chiseled stomach.

“Wha–”

“Hey man, can we get a picture?
” one of the few occupants of the ice cream shop asks, interrupting you. Morgan glances over in apology but gives in, standing up to smile for the photo. “Go Leafs, Go!”

When Morgan takes his seat across from you again, you quirk an eyebrow. “Big time guy, huh?”

Morgan rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Just Mo.” He places his hands on the table and there’s an urge deep down inside to lean in and for once in your life, you follow that instinct and place your hands around his.

“This was very sweet of you, Mo but I must say, I’m partial to Babs not going on a headhunt for me because his star defenseman is sluggish out there tomorrow so I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this short.” His eyes met yours in alarm, as if afraid that you were going to pull away so abruptly.

“…But if you’re free tomorrow night after the game, I would like to continue this somewhere else and get to know more of just Mo…”

His alarmed features melt into a soft smile and he leans forward in the booth too.

“How about this time, we get some pizza?” he suggests, the sweetness across his face having more to do with him than the ice cream.

MO SOFT/THIRST NIGHT! Send in asks!

[the-cookie-of-doom]

There was no shortage of blame once all the children really got going, railing against him for all the crimes he committed. It was Scott who got the process started, as usual. Whining about how Peter ruined his life while ignoring all the things he’d gained, that he never would have had in the first place. Social status, a girlfriend, upcoming lacrosse star thanks to the enhanced abilities and curing of his asthma. 

Stiles at least was entertaining to listen to, he didn’t whine. His only problem was that he didn’t trust Peter, not that Peter blamed him. He respected Stiles for it, in fact. And Lydia, gorgeous, intelligent girl that she was, who knew that the only way to really get something from him was to strike a deal. 

The puppies only followed their alpha. Isaac, Boyd, Erica, they weren’t there for Peter’s reign of terror, as Stiles called it. But Scott hated him and Derek didn’t trust him and so they made the foolish attempt of trying to cut their fangs on him, thinking that they were safe. That they were protected. That Peter cared enough about the consequences not to lash out and cut any of their throats. The only reason he didn’t is because they weren’t worth the effort. And he didn’t want to ruin his favorite outfit. 

The only failed relationship Peter was truly regretful over is with Derek. His misguided nephew who was full of so much hatred and self-loathing that Peter couldn’t stand to be around him. Derek blamed him for Laura’s death—and Peter won’t deny that that was a mistake, a lapse in judgement—and so channeled all of his rage and grief into hating Peter, because then it meant he wouldn’t have to hate himself so much. Peter would repair that bond if he could, he and Derek were once close after all, but Derek won’t let him, and Peter doesn’t really care enough to try. 

Allison is predictable. She hates him because she is a hunter, and he is a werewolf. A known killer, unlike the puppies she plays with. And just as much as she hates him, she hates how she can’t kill him. The precious Code she so foolishly changed on a childish whim prevents her from it; afterall, Peter was only defending himself when he killed her dear aunt Kate in front of her. 

The only one who has any right to hating Peter over Kate’s death is her very own estranged son, who stands opposite Peter in the sad industrial space that functions as Derek’s kitchen. But the hunter has been silent throughout the argument that has raged for over fifteen minutes, his dark eyes watchful and calculating. 

“Do you have anything to add to this?” Peter asks in a bored drawl, cutting off the beginning of another of Scott’s rants and silencing the rest of the children. All eyes turn on the pair of them, Mitch leaning back against the kitchen island with his arms crossed casually over his chest, Peter in his customary place on the stairs. 

The only indication Mitch gives that he heard is a slight tilt of his head as he looks Peter over, a mean little smile quirking the corner of his mouth. 

“I did kill your mother. If anyone should have some complaint with me, I’d expect it to be you.” Peter doesn’t know why he feels the need to elaborate. Maybe because it makes Scott gasp in righteous indignation. Maybe to hear how Allison grinds her teeth together, because she would never defend Kate but it makes her seethe how casually Peter flaunts her death. Allison glances at her cousin, waiting to see how he 

Mitch only shrugs, like Peter admitted to breaking a plate and not an importantly family tie. It’s.... unsettling, the way Peter can never quite get a read on him. He doesn’t know what the hunter wants, what his motives are. He’s on the fringe, like Peter. Not a part of the pack, but not outside of it, either. A tangent. Ostensibly he’s here for Allison, and more generally for the wellbeing of the town, since it is a hunter’s responsibility to protect their territory, and he can’t do that if he doesn’t know what threats are presenting themselves. 

While there’s no doubt Mitch cares for Allison, and Mitch always deals with threats as they come, Peter doesn’t get the impression that either are his primary objective. 

Allison leaves Scott’s side to go stand with Mitch in defiance, two Argents presenting a unified front. Mitch says something to Allison in French that Peter hears but doesn’t understand, with an infuriating smirk that says he wasn’t meant to. Allison scowls but Mitch never looks away from him, a challenging look in his eye. 

Allison says something back and Mitch bumps their shoulders together, finally looking at her when he gives his soft reply. Reluctantly Allison leaves him, rejoining Scott and the others. She touches his arm and quietly says something to him, but Peter doesn’t bother to listen.

Soon, the pack are all clearing out, Stiles shouting something about pizza and videogames. Even Derek gets dragged along with them, only Mitch and Peter left alone in the loft. Peter watches Mitch warily. 

“You want everyone to hate you,” Mitch observes once a minute has passed, plenty of time for the children to have gotten out of earshot. 

“Now why would I want a thing like that?” Peter smoothly asks, standing up to his full height because sitting down has started to make him feel like he’s at a disadvantage. It doesn’t matter, Mitch is still several inches taller, but with the distance between them Peter doesn’t feel the disparity so acutely. Building pressure aches at his nail beds, reminding him he’s a killer. The scent of gunpowder and wolfsbane reminds him he’s in the presence of his only natural predator.

“You tell me.” Mitch uncrosses his arms and puts his hands on the edge of the counter instead. The position may look casual, his posture open rather than defensive. It also puts his hands closer to the gun Peter knows is tucked into the back of his waistband. “Although I have a theory.”

“Enlighten me.”

“You first.” 

“It comes naturally,” Peter says arily. “My cross to bear, I’m afraid.”

“Hm.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“No, I do. But you know, lies of omission are still lies.”

“You would know all about that, I’m sure.” Mitch gives him a saccharine smile that makes the hairs on the back of Peter’s neck stand up. Why does this one man get under his skin so easily? “What did you tell dear Allison?”

“Why do you want to know?” 

“Just curious.”

“Not knowing everything bothers you, doesn’t it?”

“Wouldn’t it bother you?” Is that too much of an admission, Peter wonders.

“Nah, I don’t care that much about other people.” 

“Implying that I do.”

“I think you do, yeah.” 

“Why would I care about any of them?” Peter asks, bristling. “They are stupid, petulant children.”

“Then why haven’t you killed them yet?”

“I would assume you and the rest of your family are waiting for me to try, so you can take the opportunity to kill me. I don’t intend to give any of you the satisfaction.” 

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Don’t. Even the strongest alpha would be at a disadvantage against three hunters. I am merely a weak omega.”

“You’re a lot of things, Peter, but you aren’t weak. Not as much as you pretend to be, anyway, and we both know it.” 

“Do we?” 

“C’mon, Peter,” the hunter rolls his eyes, granting Peter a moment of reprieve from his heavy gaze, “you play it up way too much to be as weak as you say you are.”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. None of this goes to show why you think I want my nephews strays to hate me.”

“There you go again, having to know everything,” Mitch says with a knowing smirk. Part of Peter wants to tear his throat out; Mitch was the one who maneuvered him into this position in the first place, dangling that assumption in front of him like a carrot that Peter couldn’t refuse. 

“Clearly you want me to know, or you wouldn’t have brought it up.” 

“I’m just waiting for you to tell me the truth.” 

“Have I ever lied to you?”

“Not as much as you lie to yourself.” The comment catches Peter off-guard; Mitch has a habit of doing that, throwing him off his rhythm. He’s more observant than any human has a right to be. “I think you care about Derek, and to some degree the rest of the pack. Well, not Scott, but I’d bet my life you actually like Stiles and Lydia, and tolerate the rest.” 

“Is this part of your theory?”

“Yeah. Am I off the mark?”

“Yes. Quite.”

“Come on, Peter. I don’t have to be a werewolf to know that’s a lie.” 

“Just spit it out, already, Dr. Phil.”

“Fine. Hating you gives them a common enemy. History shows that when you have that, you’re more likely to ignore minor problems. Like, say, a guy breaks up with a girl and she starts dating his friend instead. Things like that can destroy a friendship.”

“Unless they have some greater evil to focus on,” Peter finishes for him. Mitch’s assumption hits a little too close to home. “I’m afraid you couldn’t be farther from the truth. I don’t have to put any effort into making Derek and his little friends hate me; they’re too self-centered and ungrateful to appreciate my help for what it is.” 

“Sure,” Mitch says, nodding along like he believes Peter, even though it’s clear he doesn’t. He pushes off from the counter and for a moment Peter thinks he’s going to attack, but the hunter makes like he’s going to leave. Peter feels the strange urge to call him back, but doesn’t. 

“I told Allison I wanted to talk to you alone,” Mitch says casually, halfway to the door. “She asked why, and I told her that it’s the only way you know how to be.” 

“Takes one to know one,” Peter replies, in lack of anything witty. Mitch gives a soft laugh, stopping at the door and glancing over his shoulder at Peter. 

“Yeah, maybe.” 

It’s the first genuine show of emotion Mitch has directed at Peter. The smallest bit of vulnerability that amounts to nothing, a half-truth extended like an olive branch. 

“Why don’t you hate me for Kate?” Peter finds himself asking, not even conscious of the question until it’s already left his mouth. 

“You’ve already died for your sins, Peter. I would say you’ve suffered enough for a lifetime.” 

[miraclejune]

HERO’S SOUP: Chapter 11

11 Families

It’s been two months since Seungmin moved into the mansion with the rest of the pack. It definitely took a lot of persuading to get him to agree with the boys. Woojin on the other hand, wasn’t saying anything at all, the only time he urged Seungmin to move in with them is when they sat together for dinner. 

The look on the wolves faces was priceless once Seungmin declared he was gonna move in with them. They bribed everything they had just to get the witch to live with them, but no matter how many times they present Felix and Hyunjin as an offering, Seungmin refuses, although he really thought it was a good deal.

“So what did Woojin offer to you?”

“For the last fucking time, Felix, he offered nothing! I came here on my own accord, so stop pestering me.” With one last nasty glance, Seungmin went back to typing on his laptop. Felix pouted, but he didn’t want to concede defeat just yet. “The others even betrayed me and Hyunjin just to get you to live here and you refused. But with only a word from Woojin, you come running here with your weird ass briefcase that almost ate Hyunjin." after his pity talk, Felix rose up from his seat stomping away towards the kitchen with his arms crossed. Felix was always the sulky type of person. Chan eyes Seungmin who was grinning ever so smugly. 

"You're not a witch. You're a devil." Hyunjin clicked his tongue in disbelief.

"You're not a wolf. You're an idiot." Jisung and Changbin cackled. "Daaaamn. Apply cold water on that burn bro!" Changbin blurted, holding his stomach as both him and Jisung fell on the carpeted floor. "Why are you so good at comebacks…" Seungmin shrugged. He looked back at all the times where he got dissed by Chan with just a few words. 

Seungmin is an asshole. But Chan is the ultimate asshole.

"Anyway, none of you can still convince Jeongin to move in?" Minho asks, leaning on Jisung's shoulder. The rest of them looked at each other with curious eyes. But with a few turns of their heads, they came to the conclusion that no one succeeded. Felix walks back in the kitchen, his resentment towards the witch long forgotten as he sat in between Seungmin’s legs. "What you guys talkin' bout?" 

"How none of us won over Jeongin to move in." Felix's mouth formed into a small 'oh', he nods his head and frowns after realizing he too hasn’t won over the boy. “I did try to bribe him with snacks.” Felix murmurs, munching on a sandwich he made.

In one blink of an eye, Jisung was kneeling in front of him, mouth wide open. Felix offers him the sandwich and Jisung happily takes a bite. "Ew, what the hell is this?" the wolf’s face contorted in disgust.

"Vegemite." Jisung forced himself not to choke as he swallowed. "This is gonna come right back up." he already felt his stomach gurgling. Thankfully it stayed there.

"How can you eat that?"

Felix gasped as if his whole nativity was insulted. "It's called 'refined taste'. You wouldn't understand either way."

Jisung glared at him before returning beside Minho.

They continued their conversation.

“His mom wants Jeongin to live with us, right, Chan?” Woojin puts a hand on Chan's thigh making the guy smile meekly, “Yeah.” 

“Really? When did she say it?” Seungmin straightens up from his seat, placing his hands on Felix's shoulders, tapping them rhythmically.

Thinning his lips, Chan huffs out air from his nose. “When I visited his place.” he purposely emphasized the word ‘I’. As a response, he got big grins and cute faces from everyone. Including Woojin. His stern look was overpowered by his fondness. He shakes his head and looks down briefly before breaking into a fit of chuckles. “Alright alright. I’m sorry I didn’t let you guys come with me.” 

They all laugh. “Wait, how did she say it to you? While we’re leaving the house? When did she say it?” 

Chan chuckles awkwardly, scratching his nape as he avoids everyone's gaze. “Well, she didn’t actually say it.” 

“What do you mean?” Chan sighs quietly. “I kinda read her mind.” 

“You what?” 

Woojin smiles. He knows about it. Chan tells him everything. He trusts the vampire as much as the vampire trusts him.

Apparently, after gate crashing, Jeongin and Chan's supposed “home visit”, while they were heading out one by one outside, Chan made eye contact with Jeongin’s mom. And it’s as if all her thoughts flow simultaneously in his head.

The sole thought that actually caught his attention was ‘I really wish Jeongin would spend more time with you guys. I don’t even mind if you all move in together. I’d be glad.’

“So you just read her mind? Dude! That’s Jeongin’s mom!”

Chan raises his hands, stopping Changbin’s assumptions midway. “Hang on. I didn’t purposely read her mind. I told you a couple of times before, that’s not possible for even the strongest vampires.” Hyunjin shifts from his seat, attaching himself more to Woojin. His eyes finding Chan's, opening his mouth to ask the question: “Then how?”

“You guys know I can only read minds when that certain person gives me access to their memories and thoughts. However, that doesn’t mean I can read everything. I can only hear some random thoughts and those thoughts that are just on the surface of their brains.” Taking a deep breath, Chan stood up, fetching his phone near the TV before plopping back down on his seat.

“It’s like she purposely allowed you to hear her thoughts? Or she just unconsciously let you hear them.” Woojin eyes Chan curiously. The vampire said the same thing. Although, he wasn’t quite sure himself if that was the case. “No one would know. Only Auntie can answer that question.” the room went still and silent.

Breaking the silence, Minho spoke up. “We can rule out the assumption that his parents did not give him the permission to live with us.” Chan nodded. Crossing his arms, Woojin slumped on his seat. “That’s actually the only one to cross out. We have no idea why he doesn’t want to live here.” Everyone else agreed with the alpha. Jeongin never told them the reason why. He would always avoid answering the follow up question ‘why?’

“Not even you, Woojin?” Hyunjin assumed that the sole person who could convince Jeongin was Woojin. He’s the alpha and almost like the oldest member of the family. 6 pairs of eyes, excluding Woojin, stared at Seungmin. The witch gave each of them a dirty look. “Get your stinking eyes off of me or else… The suitcase?” shivering across the room was Hyunjin, his face was pale and he was shaking against Woojin’s chest. Seungmin held his chin high, feeling like he won the world cup.

Going back to the topic. Woojin had no chance either. Unlike the other boys, he did not bribe nor push the boy to move in. He sometimes, almost casually just brings it up and when he feels like the Jeongin was getting uncomfortable with the topic, he would brush it off and move on.

He didn’t want the boy to feel obliged to move in with them just because Seungmin was there. 

"I know."

"Thank god you finally said it." Woojin eyed Chan. The vampire looked around the room. "What? I thought you guys didn't know?"

He saw Hyunjin rolling his eyes. "Duh? We know that you know."

"So spill." In unison, they crossed their arms and faced Chan.

"Ok! Geez." He touched his nape uncomfortably. All this attention is unnerving. "He said he's okay with our current status. Visiting us often here, we hang out outside. He said that moving in here was a big decision to make and that he's not ready to take it." They saw how the vampire's sullen eyes grew sadder. "We can't blame him. Humans hate change. They need ample time to adapt and Jeongin's still quite young and vulnerable."

They felt bad for making Chan feel bad.

Minho stood up, he walked to Chan's side and put a hand over his shoulder. "It's fine. At least we get to hang out with him in general. That's better than nothing, right guys?" the rest agreed. They reassured Chan that none of it was his fault.

Woojin offered to order some pizza and chicken. Food always kept them away from such heavy topics.

“But hey guys. Did you hear what Chan said earlier?” Jisung managed to utter the question before taking another big bite from his pizza, his cheeks bulging with food. He almost resembled a squirrel. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Seungmin looked at the wolf in disgust, rolling his eyes when Jisung flipped him off.

“What was it?” Chan tilted his head curiously, he waited for Jisung to answer Felix’s question. Their eyes shifted from Jisung to Minho who instead answered the question. 

“He called Jeongin’s mom ‘Auntie’.” 

If it was possible for a vampire to blush, Chan would be red as the blood he was drinking.

Oh god was he so embarrassed. He hadn’t realized that word slipped out from his mouth, and how the hell did they even manage to catch that with such a heavy subject matter? And alas, the teasing began. It was unbelievable that a vampire like him would never be taken seriously in that mansion.

“You guys are utter dick-nuggets. I’m gonna murder you all with a trowel.”

-

The cold winter breeze hummed outside the shop. With his head hung long, Chan sat behind the counter, a half-empty flask of blood on his hand. As the door swung open, a familiar waft of human blood came in contact with his nose, not just any human. Chan's calm face turned firm as he heard a voice that annoyed him to bits decades ago. “Hey, Chan!” his eyebrows twitched in annoyance. He stood up, coming into view of 3 people. Two of which he was unfamiliar with. 

With a bat of his eyes the door instantly locked with a subtle ‘click’ making the 2 new faces look back. “Kazuo.” The man laughed, he was used to Chan's attitude towards him, but he could at least hide his utter disgust towards him. 

Ignoring the vampire, Kazuo went around the counter, sitting down like a boss. When he was about to put up his foot on the table, he received a very terrifying gaze from the vampire. “Woah woah. Alright, geez.” he threw his hands up in defeat, signalling the two boys to come sit down with him. Chan eyed the two identical faces as they walked past him sitting down beside Kazuo, both of them staring at him like he was an antique piece too, well technically he is. 

With a heavy sigh, Chan proceeded to the fridge, shoving his flask inside. “Any drinks?” His voice had the most unpleasant and unwelcoming tone ever. The guests couldn’t feel at least an ounce of hospitality from his actions. They were unwanted and Chan was shoving it in their faces.

“Nah. Don’t want to piss you off some more.” thinning his lips Chan sighed, now trying his best to glance at the ‘guests’. “I insist.” Kazuo chuckles, irking Chan’s nerves even more. “We’ll have some tea, right boys?” the two boys nodded in unison before turning their heads back to Chan, almost melting him with their curious stares.

“Ah, yes boys. Stare all you can. That’s a very ancient and powerful vampire right there. You don’t often see that in this light and day.” If he had Seungmin’s hexing powers, Chan would’ve had the 3 ‘guests’ throw up cockroaches the moment they stepped in the shop. After tea was served, he sat on the opposite side of the table facing them. He rested his elbows on the table, staring directly into Kazuo’s eyes. Kazuo shivered discreetly, he didn’t want to show the twins nor Chan that he was afraid of the latter.

“What do you want?”

He smirked, taking a sip of the tea before placing it back down on the table. Kazuo glanced at the twins beside him. “That’s really how you talk to an old pal?” Chan furrowed his eyebrows. “As far as I can remember, we were never pals, Kazuo. I stayed at your grandfather's dojo for a few decades and that was it. We were never friends, nor acquaintances.” Kazuo did an action where he pretended to be shot in the heart, he pouted still gripping his chest.

“Man, sugarcoat your words just a little bit, okay? You’re too harsh.” Chan shrugged, he stood up and turned his back to get a fresh new flask in the fridge. 3 pairs of eyes bore on his back, taking his time leisurely opening the cap and swigging down one mouthful of blood. He turned to his heel and saw the amazed faces from the boys.

“That’s really scary.” one of the twins who has a significantly higher voice than the other stared at his mouth in surprise. Chan brought his hand up to his mouth and wiped the blood that obviously ran down his chin.

“Is that really blood? Do you harvest it from people you attack? Where do you hide the bodies? I want to see it.” the same twin who spoke earlier wiggled excitedly in his seat, his eyes sparked with excitement. Chan slumped in his chair, he placed the flask on the table and played with the lid with his right hand. He stared deeply at the boy.

“First of all, those are corpses. Not some kind of animal at a zoo. Second, I don’t attack people, that’s against the law-” lifting up a finger he halted the boy in his words. “The human law and the supernatural beings law. And lastly, please don’t say the word ‘harvest’. You make it sound like I own a farm made of human corpses.” 

The irksome twin finally shuts up, but when Chan is lulled into a false sense of security, the other one speaks up. His voice and attitude are far more different than the others. “So are you born a bloodhound?” the color on Kazuo’s face vanished, he straightened up from his seat and smacked the twin hard on the back of his head. “Ow! What the hell!” he scowled at Kazuo but his expression grew curious as he saw the horrified look on the latter’s face. 

Lights flickered inside the shop and soon enough they were engulfed in darkness. The cold winter breeze roared outside the shop. The temperature grew more suffocating and colder. “Do you ever shut up, Vaughn?” He cautiously turns to the vampire. Piercing red blood eyes bore on his face, his eyes faltering down Chan's canine teeth. Kazuo swallows the lump on his throat. He was too reckless. He should’ve given more warnings to the twins before visiting.

Even though Chan acts indifferent towards him, the vampire respects his family, especially his grandfather. However, Chan could turn his back against them and kill each and every member of their family with just his deadly stare. Kazuo stands up and bows, pushing the heads of the twins along with him as he manages to shout an apology. He turns to his heel, dragging the twins to the door. 

SLAM! The door shuts right before he could reach out for the doorknob. He lets go of the twins, clasping the knob on both his hands. He twists and turns, he nudges the door with his shoulder but it’s sealed shut.  Ah, that’s when he knew he was screwed. Encountering Chan in an open area with a lot of people walking around is dangerous. But being locked inside a room with the ranging vampire? Suicide is the only escape. 

Kazuo musters up his courage. “Chan, I apologize on behalf of the twins. Please open the door.” As he turns around, the twins hurriedly hide behind him. Just like he predicted, Chan was already in front of him. His expression was cold and bland, but the searing color of his eyes were enough to say he was infuriated. “I’ll open it once those brats apologize.” the three of them flinched in fright as Chan emphasized the word ‘brats’.

The twins shiver in fear as they take a step forward, bowing their heads. “We’re sorry!” they didn’t waste a second when the door shot open, the twins stumbled to freedom. Kazuo wanted to turn to his heel and sprint out of the shop, but his head was telling him otherwise. It wasn’t the best option.

“I’m really sorry about those two. Let’s talk tomorrow.” Chan, who was still in angry vampire mode, snickered. “Just you.” 

Kazuo nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Just me, tomorrow.” he turned to his heel, he knew he was not coming back for weeks just to ease his PTSD after this. Sighing in relief as soon as he stepped outside the shop. That scared the living shit out of him. He remembered the times he used to tease Chan and get traumatized afterwards. Really, that man is blood-curdling.

As he stood there to calm down his racing heart, there he saw Seungmin crossing the road towards his direction. He must be visiting Chan. 

Seungmin looked both ways before jogging to the other side. His eyes land on Kazuo for a second before travelling to two identical figures near a black sedan. They were both shaking in fear and were pale as a sheet. They looked like they just saw a ghost. “Not a ghost, I believe.” sighing, he shakes his head and walks towards the door.

He abruptly stopped feeling a hand on his arm. “Woah there. I won’t go in there if I were you. Chan is on his kill-mode.” Kazuo tried to hide his fear behind a laugh but failed miserably as the witch stared at him blankly before brushing off his grip. He cleared his throat.

“What did you do?”

Kazuo's eyes widened. “I didn’t do anything! I swear!” Seungmin faced him. “Really? Then why do they look like that?” he points at the twins, now sitting on the pavement. “It was an accident.” 

Seungmin sighs one last time, he turns to his back and mutters “It better be.”

The door slammed shut. The three of them heard muffled shouting inside the shop. Kazuo prayed to all the gods for Seungmin’s safety, as much as he hated his attitude, Seungmin was a good friend. 

And he didn’t want him to die just there. Oh god, it was like he went inside a cage with a hungry and pissed off lion. 

“What the hell did you do?” As soon as the door closed, he flung a thick spell book at Chan, hitting him dead on the head. The eerie feeling sent shivers down his spine all the way to the soles of his feet. 

“I didn’t do anything! That fucking brat called me a bloodhound.” Seungmin simmered down a bit. Oh no, that’s a very taboo word for Chan. It was the worst name you could ever call a vampire. Derogatory.

Chan was hurt, he usually doesn’t mind it but being called like that made him feel like he was an animal, like he was the lowest.

With a deep sigh, Seungmin drops the books he was about to fling to Chan (for the second and third time) neatly on a table. “Alright, they were wrong. But you shouldn’t have scared them like that.” Chan furrows his eyebrows. His fangs slowly disappear and his eyes turn back to their usual color. “I don’t care.” but he did, deep down he cared more than anyone else.

Seungmin smiles. Chan was always portrayed as that cold hearted person he never was. He was gentle, caring and supporting. He just comes out aloof because he doesn’t want any attention from him. He just wanted to show he cared, and doesn’t want anything back.

“Okay, I’ll go get Kazuo. Maybe ask him to send the twins home for now. I’m guessing he wanted to talk to you?” Chan nods. Seungmin gives him a pat on his shoulder before going out of the shop. 

“You okay?” 

“I’m fine, Kazuo. He wants you to come in.” he looks behind Kazuo, eyeing the twins.

“And I think it’s best for you two to leave out of this.” The twins couldn’t agree more. They gave him a nod and hurriedly went in the car. Seungmin smiles at the familiar driver.

"Are you sure he’s safe now?” 

“Chan is always safe.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Seungmin gave him a shrug. He walks back in the shop, calling out to Kazuo. “Ah, shit.” he clearly had no choice but to follow Seungmin.

“Stay here.” He ordered the twins sitting on the back seat. He asked the driver to look after them before going back to the shop. The lights were back to normal and the heavy atmosphere dispersed quite a while now. He pokes his head on one of the shelves and sees Chan's back behind the counter.

“Kazuo, come here.” Seungmin calls him. He slowly makes his way to their location. As he cautiously circles the counter, he sees Seungmin was sitting down. That’s why Chan's back was turned against him.

He quietly sits down beside Seungmin, keeping a good distance from Chan. “Great! You traumatized him.” Seungmin threw his hands in the air and gave Chan a judging glare.  “He was always terrified of me back in the days. He’ll be fine.” Kazuo glares at Chan too. The vampire really gave him multiple frights back then. Chuckling, Seungmin stops both of them. “Alright, kids. No more fighting. Kazuo, why don’t you tell us why you are here?”

Kazuo fixes up his hoodie and slumps onto the chair. “The twins are my half-brothers. Vaughn is the noisy one and Vincent is the calm one. They’re identical.” Seungmin snaps his fingers. The broken cups and, now cold, teapot disappeared. With a second snap, a fresh hot pot of tea and 2 cups appear on the table. Kazuo holds up his cup, the teapot floats in the air and fills up his cup. He looks at Chan. “The old man wants you to train them.” Chan snickers in disbelief. He pulls himself up the counter and crosses his arms. “The answer is no.” 

“I knew that. But he forced me and the twins to go here. He insisted.” Seungmin’s head snaps.  “You mean, your grandfather is here?” Kazuo nods.

“And so he returns.” Chan murmurs, his eyes lost in the cluster of books on the floor. Kazuo glances at them both, clearing his throat, he leans on the table.

"I won't do it."

Kazuo smiles meekly, "I know you won't." Chan raised an eyebrow at him.

"Then why did you still come here?"

The red head's thumb fidgeted on the tea cup. He tried to form the correct words in his head to avoid being strangled to death. "Grandpa never insisted before. I wondered why he wanted you to take command of the twins so much."

"He must have a purpose for them." Chan replied. The topic irked his interest.

"Everyone in the clan has a purpose. So why didn't he let them train there just like everybody else? Why did he have to come back to Korea just for them?"

Chan thinned his lips. The issue grew larger. He thought that after he refused, profusely, the Sofia's would go on their merry way. This isn't the first time he was asked to train someone in the Sofia clan. What's first for him was that it was a direct order from the leader.

"It's still a no." he decided to just refuse him. To end the conversation at that. Kazuo smiled, Seungmin somehow thought he smiled in relief. Relieved that Chan said no. "I'll tell him. You have to be careful."

Now what did that mean?

“So, what’s your connection with Jeongin?” he saw how Chan's jaw clenched, having Seungmin around gave him a new source of courage. And talking for a while with the vampire kinda calmed him down.

“Saw him hang out here and at your mansion all the time.” He turns to Seungmin, exaggerating his actions with his hands. Oh how that irked Chan.

“Seungmin, you moved in with the wolves? That’s great. My old man wondered where the mischievous bakeneko and freckled fox went. Turns out you also welcomed him into your ‘family’.” 

The topic went from fun to heavy in just a second. Forget the tiny sense of friendliness from the redhead.

“Can I get a piece of that family love too? I’m also a supernatural being. You won’t grow cold with me in the house. I swear I’ll behave.” Seungmin was sure Kazuo did not have a clue about the wolves nor Felix and Minho. Plus, he never recalled telling him about moving in with Chan.

“Your connections are fucking insane.” Seungmin brushed it off as a joke, but he knew Kazuo really had them investigated. And Chan sensed it a while back. “Yeah, I have my ways.” Kazuo smugly exclaimed. 

“So, who is he?” he smirks at Chan, irking a few nerves. “He’s a good friend.” Chan answers discreetly. Kazuo makes an impressive expression, mocking the vampire.

“Okay. When did you meet him?” 

“That’s none of your business.” 

“I guess so.” Kazuo nods his head multiple times as the room stays silent. “Is he moving in with you guys too, or?” This time, Chan was pissed. His eyes flashed red for a few seconds. “Drop it, Sofia.” It was a warning. And Kazuo got the message clear and precise. 

The witch was impressed. He never thought Kazuo feared anyone else but his grandfather. And there he was, witnessing a trembling Sofia in front of Chan. That vampire is really something else.

“Kazuo,” 

“Hm?” Seungmin almost breaks into a grin. The look on the man’s face was so desperate. Like he wanted to escape his current situation ASAP. “Do you know Ms. Yoo from the Music Department?” Kazuo looks at him weirdly but answers his question nonetheless.

“Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t know about her.”

Seungmin tilts his head. Know her? He does know her, she’s a professor at his university. He sees her on campus. Kazuo opens his mouth in disbelief, he was shocked about Seungmin not knowing Ms. Yoo.

“Seriously? You don’t know her?” 

“Well I do, I see her in school.” the witch retaliates. By now, Kazuo was scoffing.

"She was also Merlin’s Descendant.”

-

Seungmin sees Kazuo off. His words are still lingering in his head. Ms. Yoo was also Merlin’s attendant?  How is that even possible? He can spot a fellow descendant just by their stature. But Ms. Yoo? He didn’t even think she was related to supernatural beings. “Hey, Kazuo. Why did you ask about Jeongin? Were you just teasing Chan?” he answered with a shrug. Seungmin watched as the car disappeared around the corner. He stood there with his mushy thoughts.

As the winter breeze swept away the leaves on the pavement. Seungmin decided to go back to the shop. He searched for Chan, poking his head around the counter and walking around the shelves and items. “Must be upstairs.”

Flipping the open sign to closed, Seungmin pulled down the blinds on the windows before ascending to Chan's room upstairs. 

Chan mutters a low ‘come in’ as he hears a soft knock on his door. “Hey.” Seungmin sits on the worn down sofa in Chan's room. It was the only set of furniture in there besides the bed and a small wardrobe. “You okay?” the bed squeaks as Chan plops down on it. He leans forward and gathers both his hands.

“I need to investigate too.” 

“Chan, you know you can’t.” Seungmin warns him.

“Kazuo is a Sofia. And you know those lots aren’t to be messed with. He was warning us about something. Let's heed that warning and just let them be.” of course he knew that. He lived with that family for decades. He knew how powerful they were. Out of frustration, Chan runs a hand through his hair, tugging on his curly locks.

“I know that. But, Seungmin,” he stands up and sits down beside the witch. “They know about Jeongin. They know he's my bondmate. They want him so they could take a hold of me.” Seungmin feared that too. As soon as the boy’s name rolled off Kazuo’s tongue, he knew something was up. They just don’t know Jeongin as a random university student who likes to hang out with them. They know more than that. Maybe even more than them. 

Seungmin puts a hand on Chan’s lap, he squeezes, reassuring him that it will be okay. “I know. This is bad. But, Chan..” they lock eyes.

“Once you mess with them. You mess with all of them.” the vampire bites his lower lip.

“You alone can’t handle the 11 families.” 

The strength that gave him the courage to confront the Sofia's, vanished into thin air. The 11 families. Those people are horrible, selfish and hungry for power. He hated them. He lived long enough to see how those people reigned over others. How they killed into superiority. “Look. I know you’re strong. We all know that. But the 11 families outnumber you. A million to one. Don’t make haste decisions.” 

Chan stands up and gets ready to leave. He slips on his leather jacket and picks up the helmet on his bed. But before he could close the door behind him, he stopped and listened to what Seungmin had to say. 

“Don’t pick a fight with the Sofia’s. Or else this country will burn into cinders.”