#and i took mom and sis to a shelter

[chappellrroan]

.

[whoopsyeahokay]

October Sun

summary: your mother had warned you. Don't let them know, she'd said, her nails digging angry crescents into the flesh of your upper arms, eyes wild and imploring, don't let them know you can see. you'd listened, all these years, you'd lived your life by that rule. until you couldn't.

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. and mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.

bon reading, frens

___________________________💀

OCTOBER SUN pt.1

Like most things, it started with a look.

A boy. A girl. A crowded place; a friend talking—their voice muted as if heard through a motel wall. Time slows. People filter in and out of the space between, chatting, laughing, in frame just long enough to emphasize the weight behind something that, in any other context, would be utterly unimportant.

Simon had urged you outside at lunch, pulled you away from your table, tone frayed in desperation as he interrogated you about things you're certain you'd made seem the expression of a morbidly quirky imagination.

"Well," He said, like jabbing the eraser-end of a pencil into your sternum, "Can you?"

You hesitated, gaze lifting away from his to skirt the middle-distance behind him.

And then—

It happened molasses-slow. Your eyes caught his; lingered a beat too long to be played off as anything other than what it was. Acknowledgment.

Those sweet-sultry cow eyes widened a fraction.

Oh no.

Then time rushed back in and snapped into the correct rhythm. You didn't have a chance to process what had just happened because Simon sighed with the weight of the world, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and pulling. Quickly, you arranged your expression into something slightly put-off.

"Si, what are you talking about?"

Simon groaned and took a few steps back then forward again. He reminded you of a caged animal being forced to perform. Lately, his mannerisms had been erratic, a little unhinged. You'd caught him talking to himself a couple of times, in classrooms or the cafeteria. The last couple of days he'd been glued to his phone, taking spontaneous calls that he'd never received before. Initially, you'd assumed he was in touch with Maddie; the only one she'd trusted enough to keep in the loop. However, the more you'd observed, the more you'd doubted the assumption.

You'd watched him unravel from a distance, of course. Nicole had turned inward, Simon was bursting at the seams, and you, as the casual friend with a life separate to theirs, stayed away out of a sense of insecurity.

You and Maddie hadn't been as close as she and Simon and Nicole. You shared interests in the macabre and spooky, but that's where it ended. Event Buddies who became familiar through exposure, lacking that profound connection that would give you a reason to call about something other than the next horror film release date.

You didn't feel right about asking to share their grief. It felt intrusive.

Simon paced the length of the bus shelter once more before stopping in front of you. He was clearly nervous, frustrated, avoiding your gaze for a second while he collected his thoughts.

Finally, he took a deep breath, glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot, and said, low and secret, "You talked about the ghosts here—" You folded your arms and tilted your head in what you hoped came across as confused. "—Last year," Simon grabbed your arm and pulled you in closer when a group of younger girls walked by, "Last year, you told us about the crush you had on your mom's dead boyfriend, remember? The guy who died during the '83 homecoming game?"

"They never dated." You corrected, fighting the urge to chew your lip. A giveaway that you were about to choose your words very carefully. "But, look, Simon, I talked about that stuff because I thought it was fun. Not because I can commune with the dead."

"But your mom—"

"Is a fraud and you know it." Then you frowned, genuinely intrigued, "What's going on?"

Simon shot you a dazed look, "Huh?"

"Why are you suddenly into this Sixth Sense shit? You've never believed in it before. A stance you've made very clear you take." Every time you joked about reaching out to the Other Side, Simon would scoff and roast you endlessly. Something that you found endearing. Like a prickly inside joke. It was your thing.

Suddenly, Simon got that look on his face, the one he got in class when your teachers outlined your homework. As if he were listening to someone. Except there was no one else close enough to hear.

The silence stretched into a thin static between you until, at last, Simon said, "Never mind." He sounded equal parts defeated and aggravated.

Taking a cautious step forward, you placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Maddie, Si, I—" Have no idea how to put into words how fucked up it all is, "—I wish there was something, anything, I could do to help."

Simon pressed his lips together and nodded. From the corner of your eye, you saw a figure approaching the bus shelter. Tall, broad, donning the unmistakable colors of the Split River Bandits, née Devils. You had to get out of there before you irrevocably fucked up and found yourself at the center of what your mother warned you would be a swarm.

"Look," You dropped your hand to Simon's, squeezing supportively. You might not have been able to tell the whole truth but you could try to offer some comfort. Whether or not he believed you was up to him. "Maddie's okay, Simon. Wherever she is. Whatever happened to her..." You paused, considering your next words, "She can't be so far gone that we won't get her back."

You said it with all the conviction you had in you, believed it to your core.

You'd seen the beatnik with her lollipops, the shy boy with the glasses; you'd seen the young man in the outdated suit, and the modest, Sally Olsson lookalike, and the girl with the daydream eyes. You'd seen the myspace emo punk, the lanky autoshop geek, the dark-skinned disco queen; the marching band, and the theater kid...and him. The charming, high-on-life football star currently stood outside the bus shelter, his hands cupped around his eyes as he peeked through the glass against the glare of the sun.

You hadn't seen Maddie. Not a glimmer or a shadow or the impression that she'd been and gone. Nothing. And you'd done your due diligence as soon as you'd heard about the blood in the boiler room. You'd scoured the town after dark, before school, whenever you could get away without raising suspicion. Her old haunts and favorite places had been empty.

Minus a couple of exceptions, but they hadn't been Maddie, so you didn't see the harm in continuing to keep the truth from Simon.

"Yeah." Simon said. He didn't sound convinced. "Thanks. For that."

You deflated, released his hand with an affirming squeeze, and made your excuse, "I gotta get ready for next period."

He didn't meet your eyes, simply pulled his phone out and put it to his ear. "See you later." The smile he gave you was tight, quick, insincere.

Taking that as your cue to leave, you turned and exited the bus shelter, tall dark 'n' handsome keeping pace as you made your way back into the school, his gaze a warm weight on the side of your face.

All you had to do was pretend he wasn't there. You'd done it countless times in the past, were well-versed in how to cover your mistakes.

You stopped briefly, reached out to open the door, and in that second, you felt a tingle up your spine and the closeness of a body behind you. His voice, a gentle rumble, spoke directly into your ear, the parody of soft breath tickling the hairs on your neck.

"I know you can see me."

You forced yourself not to react, perhaps stood a second too long before yanking the door open and marching inside, but you kept your eyes forward, and relaxed your jaw and shoulders. To the students milling about the hall, you were the picture of normal.

"Do what you want but I'm not going anywhere until you admit it." He said lightly, a step behind you as you maneuvered toward your locker.

Once again, you had to stop, twisting in the combination to open your lock. You fumbled, missing a number, had to start again. He leaned his shoulder against the locker beside yours, watched you through his lashes, a smirk pulling one side of his mouth upward.

You'd always been attracted to him. Had to suppress the urge to stare at him when he appeared in the same classroom or hallway you happened to be in. Having him interact with you, intentionally, made your heart quicken and the ability to think critically dissolve.

Oh God, not again...

Your brain fired a thousand synapses in every direction as you willed yourself to hurry before you accidentally did something stupid; steadied your hand to input the combination correctly. You tugged the lock. It stayed stubbornly latched. And then he leaned in, too close, the tip of his nose practically grazing your temple.

"You missed the 3."

The air was syrupy thick, fuzzy. In an effort to concentrate, you closed your eyes, repeating a mantra your mother had taught you to center yourself.

You sensed his body shift, tilted further toward you like a bracket, then the sensation of blunt nails traveling up up up your back, catching in the material of your shirt as if the touch were real. Goosebumps erupted over your arms, your breath hitched, and you found your head slanting in his direction.

Fuck. You needed to—BANG—Jesus Christ!

Your eyes snapped open at the abrupt noise, your friend cackling wickedly as she took in your shock.

"Hey, silly." Mathilda Grace—of The Split River Graces, not that she'd ever say it like that—grinned proudly at the reaction she'd gotten out of you. "You ready to fail this test with me?"

You could still feel him hovering, but it seemed he'd put an appropriate amount of distance between you. Shaking your head to clear the last of the muzziness from a moment ago, you plastered on your most natural smile and responded, "Let's go disappoint our parents."

You managed to undo the lock and grab the right textbooks, transferring what you didn't need from your bag into your locker while Mathilda regaled you with what you'd missed after Simon had dragged you outside.

"What did he want, anyway?" Mathilda asked, more concerned than curious.

"To talk about Maddie." You replied as close to the truth as you dared. It had the added benefit of making Mathilda feel awkward enough to change the subject immediately.

"K, c'mon, bell's about to go and I need to grab my book, too."

Shutting and locking your locker, you chanced a sideways glance and were relieved to find that it was just you and Mathilda and the regular stream of other alive-and-well students making their way to their next class.

Still, as you and Mathilda walked toward Ms. Fields' class, you felt the tingle of his gaze on the back of your neck.

The next couple of days would be white-knuckle hard, but you'd dealt with it before and could do it again. Had to do it again.

What you didn't anticipate—and probably should've, given what you knew about him—was Wally Clark's steadfast determination and his refusal to let sleeping dogs lie for a second time.

💀___________________________

PART TWO

also available on AO3!

MASTERLIST

[thekatebridgerton]

Baby Bridgerton meet cute au

Today on another episode of Bridgerton fics I really want to read. But can't write because I lack both the time and the creativity to do them justice

Baby Bridgerton meet Cute au

Saphne:

Young stuttering Eton aged Simon Basset meeting Anthony's little sister on a visit to the Bridgerton home and immediately being pulled into a game of house by Anthony's tallest little sister. Who forces him to play husband and she will be the wife and all her siblings now are their kids so they must listen to her of course. Because she's the mom. And him the dad. Simon stutters the whole time but leaves little Daphne with the most organized pretend household he can manage before running off to find Anthony to ask to come over more often

Kanthony:

Young 10 yo Anthony finding a scared toddler Kate afraid of storms, asking him to help her find her papa and pretty Miss Mary in Hyde Park. Because she can't find them and its started to rain and she's scared. And Anthony being the gallant kid he is, shelters the little girl from the rain with his coat under a tree, and returns her to her father as soon as he hears voices looking for her. The day after he meets her, he finds out that the little girl Kate, is the daughter of the man who just ran off with the season's diamond. He wonders if he'll ever see her again

Benophie:

Benedict met Sophie in the theater when Sophie was four, since her mother was an actress and Sophie would have been trained to appear on stage. Benedict saw little Sophie play a little Christmas angel in a opera and immediately asked his father if they could meet the actors, just so he could give the little angel girl a flower and tell her she was pretty. Sadly Sophie's mother died not soon after and rather than see the little girl starve, grandmother left her at the doorstep of the Earl of Gunningworth. But she never forgot the dream of the nice boy in the theater who once called her pretty

Polin

The first time Colin met newborn Penelope with her red hair and Rosy cheeks, he wanted to take her home with him and share with her his favorite cake and biscuits. Penelope would cry if Colin was too far from her cradle and Colin declared to all sundry that baby Penelope was "his Pen" for almost all the time it took Penelope to learn how to talk and say it back. Even if adults tried to convince him that Penelope wasn't "one of his" thinking he was confused about his many siblings growing in number. Colin remained insistent for most of Penelope's early years, that Penelope was 'his' Pen the way he was 'my Colin' for her. they only outgrew the habit after he left for school and made more friends his age. Still Penelope never forgot that he was 'her Colin'. Even if Colin did as they grew older. (or maybe he's always been sure she's 'his' Pen too)

Philoise

Their first time meeting was on one of young Phillip's visits to London with his father. Little Eloise had snuck out behind her parents back to a particularly busy bookshop and happened to see an older boy, buy the exact same book that little Eloise had been eying for ages. So of course like any Viscount baby sis...She threw a tantrum. Phillip was terrified of the crying girl who kept accusing him of stealing her book, but he wanted to keep the book, so he just, found something else to give her, shaved ice? did she want shaved ice? he got it for her, maybe a toy, yes, little girls liked toys, here's a toy, just don't cry, don't cry. By the time Edmund found Eloise again, she was grinning, sitting atop of veritable mountain of trinkets, eating shaved ice, with a devoted young boy profusely apologizing to her. Phillip went home with his book and every time he read it, he remembered fondly the cute little tantrum thrower who warped him around his finger that day in Mayfair. While Eloise never quite forgot that moment either.

---

guys you should write this, I want to read it!!

[queenie435]

FIRST SUCCESSFUL FEMALE STANDUP COMEDIAN

Loretta Mary Aiken (March 19, 1897 – May 23, 1975), known by her stage name Jackie "Moms" Mabley, was the first successful female standup comedian and had a career that spanned over 50 years. Moms bridged the gap between vaudeville and modern stand up comedy. She was also the first woman comic to be feature at the Apollo theater and Carnegie Hall in 1962.

Moms Mabley was born Loretta Mary Aiken in Brevard, North Carolina, to a large family. She experienced a horrifying, traumatic childhood. Her firefighter father was killed in an explosion when she was 11 and her mother was later hit and killed by a truck on Christmas Day. By the time she was fifteen she had borne two children resulting from sexual assaults: the first by a neighbour when she was twelve, and the second, two years later by a local sheriff. Her stepfather, who had remained her guardian, gave both children up for adoption and then forced Moms to marry a much older man who she despised.

Aiken left home at the age of 14 and pursued a show business career, joining the African-American vaudeville circuit(aka Chitlin' Circuit)as a comedian under the Theatre Owners Booking Association, Fellow performer Jack Mabley became her boyfriend for a short time, and she took on his name, becoming Jackie Mabley, with "Moms" coming from her eventual reputation as a mentoring, mothering spirit.

Moms saw an opportunity to try out her own voice, and discovered that she was a natural at singing, dancing and telling a joke. Especially telling a joke. She realized she had something that many of her contemporaries didn’t - original material. Since her sheltered life had hampered any introduction to current comedy routines, Moms inevitably began to craft authentic pieces based on her own experiences, much of it based on Granny’s pearls of wisdom.

Moms talked to her audience as if they were her children. She delivered superbly solemn routines, original in their time yet amazingly, never bettered. As soon as Moms delivered her opening line “I 'gots' something to tell you...” she immediately captured the attention of everyone in the room - and those rooms were full for over fifty years.

By the early 1920s she had begun to work with the duo Butterbeans & Susie, and eventually became an attraction at the Cotton Club. Mabley entered the world of film and stage as well, working with writer Zora Neale Hurston on the 1931 Broadway show "Fast and Furious: A Colored Revue in 37 Scenes" and taking on a featured role in Paul Robeson's "Emperor Jones" (1933).

Starting in the late 1930s, Mabley became the first woman comedian to be featured at the Apollo, going on to appear on the theater's stage more times than any other performer. She returned to the big screen as well with "The Big Timers" (1945), "Boarding House Blues" (1948), and the musical revue "Killer Diller" (1948), which featured Nat King Cole and Butterfly McQueen.

By the late 1950s Moms Mabley was one of the highest-paid comics in the US, making $10,000 a week. Mabley's standup routines were riotous affairs augmented by the aesthetic she presented as being an older, housedress-clad figure who provided sly commentary on racial bigotry to African-American audiences. Her jokes also pointed towards a lusty zest for younger men.

Mabley began a recording career with her Chess Records debut album "The Funniest Woman Alive," which became gold-certified. Subsequent albums like "Moms Mabley at the Playboy Club," "Moms Mabley at the UN" and "Young Men, Si - Old Men, No" continued to broaden Mabley's reach (she ultimately recorded many albums). She landed spots on some of the top variety shows of the day, including "The Ed Sullivan Show," and graced the stage of Carnegie Hall.

Mabley continued performing in the 1970s. In 1971, she appeared on The Pearl Bailey Show. Later that year, she opened for Ike & Tina Turner at the Greek Theatre and sang a tribute to Louis Armstrong as part of her set.

Mobley had a starring role in the 1974 picture "Amazing Grace," which she was able to complete despite having a heart attack during filming.

Over the course of her life, Mabley had six children: Bonnie, Christine, Charles, and Yvonne Ailey, and two placed for adoption when she was a teenager. She died from heart failure on May 23, 1975, in White Plains, New York.

Actress Clarice Taylor, who portrayed Bill Cosby's mother on "The Cosby Show" and was a major fan of Mabley's work, staged the 1987 play "Moms at the Astor Place Theater, in which she portrayed the trailblazing icon.

Fellow comedian Whoopi Goldberg made her directorial debut with the documentary "Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin' to Tell You, which was presented at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired on HBO in 2013.

[nei-ning]

Many weird dreams from last night. In first my sis was playing some video game so I helped her to find items etc. In one point we noticed one team member is missing. A male vampire demon. We found him outside in medieval town. He was laying in a little fenced animal area where was pile of poo, human corpse with flies etc. He had long black horns forward and between them small area of reddish-brown hair (like Crowley's hair style curl from Good Omens).

He was alive but his chin and neck had bad burns, skin looking like melted cheese. He sat up and spoke slow in a hissing way, like snake. What I managed to hear from him, he said he would allow himself to be burned again if it would save his friends (meaning all of us his team mates). He stayed behind to begin with to save someone from very intense fire. He survived.

In next dream I was in a house with sis and someone else. Sis had ordered 2 huge boxes of things (vitamins, kitchen supplies, toilet papers etc). I was given a time limit to use on unpacking those boxes. I failed miserably each time! :'D in first round I didn't even find the clock to check the time. I'm second time I still had 32min left and I thought I can easily unpack the rest of the stuff in that time. Bullshit xD in last time I had time left 3,28 seconds. I gave up.

In other dream I was on the walk, suddenly just ending up in this room which was some kind of animal shelter. There was a woman who clearly couldn't care less at being there. She worked there but she was doing crosswords. Across her was bigger cat, looking like Verti. I actually didn't see him but I knew he was there. I heard his voice in my head. He said: "My heart hurts..." I instantly told about this to the worker who just groaned and said: "He keeps saying that." I was shocked! That cat was clearly and seriously ill and she did nothing! I wrapped this cat in white towels, rushing through this tiny hallway, finding a vet in the same place. I told her the situation as she started to listen to his heart. I asked will he survive but she shook her head, saying it's already too late for him. He either died there and then or she was going to put him down, end his pain.

In last dream mom took me to see my uncle who said to me he knows someone leaked out the information to me. I was scared since I thought he was talking about another thing but then he said: The seal. I need to know can you kill it." I said I won't hesitate to kill an animal if it's suffering. Just give me a riffle and I kill it. He seemed pleased so we headed out. The seal was supposed to be in the middle of the road where uncle had moved it, hoping someone to drive over it but we lived in rural area. The seal was found at the base of a tree near the road.

Uncle was holding a huge knife. He was going to pierce seal's head with it but I noticed how the seal opened it's eyes, being responsive. I yelled my uncle to halt and he did. This seal had long healing wounds all around it's body but no blood. It looked a bit tired but otherwise good and healthy. I told my uncle we should try to save it since it was energetic enough to be given a second chance. We just would need to find / get it fishes and see if food would help it as a first aid.

Uncle's friend, who I don't know, came there and she had a tracking collar for sheep but it was put on the seal, just in case. Then next we were in a car and this seal was in my lap. We drove past my childhood area with a lake and the seal saw this lake, another seal hunting fishes near the shore. This greatly improved seal's health and mood. It clearly recognized the lake and the other seal. I was happy, smiling at it. I said to others it clearly knows where it is, where it is from and it must had swim in this other lake via this underground tunnel / pipe which went under the road further away, connecting upper and lower lake.

I told this seal it will get back home after we get it some fish, feed and observe him 2 days to be sure he's okay. After that I woke up.

[symphonic-scream]

🃏

Something for Joker... Lemme see what I got

Uh. The unposted Cat au?? I've had this for so long I'll screenshot it with the dates to show

Nearly a year! Alt text available for anyone who needs it

Morgana is the only human. He works at a cat shelter, and cares for the cats with some others (Caroline, Justine, and Lavenza) but. He can talk to the cats. He tries to be normal about it so he doesn't weird people out but this one group of cats, well...

Akira: *Morgana, give us more wet food*

Ryuji: *OR YOURE GAY*

Morgana, glaring:

Futaba: *HES GAY HE DIDNT FEED US*

Makoto: *thank you for trusting us enough to come out to us, Morgana*

Morgana, whispered hiss: I'm not gay!

Lavenza: ...what?

Morgana: I can talk to cats

Lavenza: ...hey is there a history of mental illness in your family?

Ryuji has a chunk out of one of his ears, and a limp cause his leg grew in wrong.

Haru is the biggest, and fluffiest. Her and Ann have to have weekly grooming visits with the shelter, as the long haired ones in the crew

Makoto's file has a mark that says "must sedate for check ups". One of their vet techs got some nasty scratches.

Like. The rest of the shelter is normal cats and then there's this Gang that tortures the staff that let them know he can understand them

Sae and Tae being an older bonded pair that are like, the shelter mascots at that point

Makoto: Sis, can I sleep with you two tonight? I heard a noise ...

Sae: ...

Tae: get in here kid

Sae has the same flipped up ears but she's a grey tabby, and Tae is a classic shorthair tuxedo

Lavenza, who helped bottle feed the little brown cat from the moment of the rescue of the sisters, watching all confused as usually shy Makoto jumps down from the big cat tree to bonk her head against the shoulder of the (shaved, she had matts) fluffy Ragdoll that was just introduced from a week in the quarantine room: that's odd...

Morgana, tired, hearing the gayest most pathetic attempt at Cat Rizz ever: I think Makoto's gay.

Lavenza: Morgana-

Makoto: hey, welcome to the main room. They had you in quarantine, huh?

Haru: yes! But it was lovely, though I am excited to get to know everyone here

Makoto: well, I'm Makoto, and I'll gladly help you get accustomed?

Morgana: god. What is my life.

Tae: ...where's the kid?

Sae: with her girlfriend, in one of the cubby holes. Now I have you to myself again

Tae: you miss her don't you

Sae: ...

Ryuji and Ann were both born in the shelter, different moms but they were both during Kitten Season so. They grew up together, play together a lot. They tend to curl up with the odd blue cat. He was returned after adoption as a kitten for being "weird". He gets along with the others just fine

Futaba was found in the alley of a coffee shop. The owner can't have pets, but he stops by often with freshly baked treats for them all

Haru was a garden centre cat. The shop went under, and the owners didn't want a cat, so they left her in the closed wreck. The shelter picks her up after two weeks

Sae and Makoto were scooped up from a colony. Sae was from a previous litter with the same mother, and Makoto was the sole survivor of this last litter. Sae was feral for so long, and it's rubbed off on Makoto, who only likes 2 people, and is defensive and wary of other cats

Haru: you're very warm

Makoto: THANK YOU. Yes. They took your fur so I shall lie here and keep you warm in your sleep. Yes.

Morgana: ...smooth.

Morgana: I hate my job.

Akira: *TREATS!*

Ann: *GIVE US THEM*

Ryuji: woah, the mean one is being nice...

Akira: she has a name

Ann: ...I forgot it

Akira: me too. Let's go ask her

Ryuji: DUDE I DONT WANNA DIE

Akira: hello ladies-

Makoto: *glaring* why do you approach?

Akira: ...wanted to welcome the new cat?

Haru: thats sweet! Is he a friend of yours, Mako?

Ann: Mako?

Makoto: only Haru gets to call me that! Makoto, that's my name. And, this is Haru. If you harm her, I'll -

Yusuke: you two have lovely matching souls

Makoto: akfhdkfhfk

Haru: thank you! I do feel something special between us, right, Mako?

Makoto: y-yeah,

Ann: woah, she broke her...

Lavenza: we need to edit her papers, I don't think Makoto should be adopted alone

Morgana: she's bonded to Haru already. Mark them as bonded.

Lavenza: really? I don't...

Morgana: trust me.

Haru gently grooming Makoto while she purrs, a little broken at first, but then it's so damn loud

Ryuji: damn,

Ann: I want what they have...

Akira: *eyeing the "not friendly" cat in the corner* hmm

Ryuji: don't.

Futaba: DO NOT

He gets clawed and gets "I told you so"

[pennysylvester]

if you let me, here's what i'll do, i'll take care of you ➝ pexter.

TAGGING ➝ Penny Sylvester, Dexter Sylvester (@syldexter).

LOCATION ➝ Locked down at Shelter Build.

TIME FRAME ➝ 10/13, morning.

WARNINGS ➝ None.

SUMMARY ➝ Unfinished; Penny and Dex comfort each other during lockdown.

DEXTER SYLVESTER

The polite thing to do right now would be to stay calm and assure people that they would all be fine. For all the things Dex had been called in his life though, polite wasn’t one of them. He was too focused on the nagging buzz just underneath his skin, putting him more on edge than he’d ever admit. Also on the list of things he wouldn’t admit was his gratitude that Penny was here. Knowing that at least one of his siblings wasn’t buried under rubble somewhere was the barest of reliefs. “Do you think it’s within Mom’s power to rework the fault lines so this doesn’t happen again? Find her a good seismologist to marry?”

PENNY SYLVESTER

Penny was anything but selfish; she tried to put others above herself, tried to be the person to take care of everyone and make them feel safe, yet in all of this, all she could think was that the universe was punishing her. Given the messages she'd sent out just before the earth had moved and she'd found herself seeking shelter, there really was no other explanation—nor a worse time for it. So, Penny was distracted, in her own head worrying about everything and everyone, but trying not to let it show. Thank God for Dexter, at least she knew one person she loved was okay. It took her a moment to process he was even speaking to her, but when she snapped back to reality, she did so with a frown. "I don't know that I'd put anything past Mom's power at this point." She lowered her voice some. "Did you know she literally rigged the elevators at the school the other day to trap me and Emmy in there?"

DEXTER SYLVESTER

It would take being waterboarded for him to fess up but just standing with his sister, exchanging words like they’ve done damn near every day of their lives, helped put him at ease. If he deluded himself, he could convince his brain that they were hiding out in the kitchen during Thanksuing. By the tone of Penny’s voice, Dex felt like it should be surprising. But he’d had two extra years of Sue-posure than her, so there wasn’t much that could catch him off guard. Minus the entire kidnapping fiasco, but he could only handle one disaster at a time so that one would have to be shelved for now. He at least had the insight to keep his voice low to match Penny’s “Did she use the puppet or did she have Robin crawl through the vents again?”

PENNY SYLVESTER

The whole elevator ordeal was terrifying enough already without the addition of props, or worse...Robin. Penny shuddered at the thought. "No, just her voice. All distorted over the speaker system." When spoken aloud, it sounded even more insane than it had felt at the time, but if anyone could understand the absolute insanity that was Sue Sylvester, it was Dexter. "God, Emmy was so petrified. Between that and the...other thing," she gave Dex a look, the lower volume of their voices still not private enough to mention the kidnapping situation out loud, "I feel like she's getting worse." She paused then. "Do you think she's okay? Right now I mean, in all of this. She'll be safe, right?"

DEXTER SYLVESTER

"But you got out of it. Whatever she was up to was only temporary." Dexter felt the sudden, not completely unwelcome urge to hug Penny. He could probably count on both hands the number of times he'd actually done that in their lives, and he felt like he might lose all control of himself if he did it so instead he put a hand on her shoulder. Still more affection than he was comfortable with, but that didn't matter if they died in the next three hours."Mom? You're asking if our mother will be okay?" Dex couldn't help it, he had to laugh. Not cruelly - even at his worst, which this was rapidly approaching, he couldn't find it in himself to be cruel to his siblings. "Penny, the entire world could go up in a rampant ball of flames that wipes out every organic matter on earth and Mom would still survive to roundhouse kick her way through the ashes.

PENNY SYLVESTER

Yeah, I know. [Penny chuckles, but it's clear she doesn't feel like laughing.] I don't know, I just don't like thinking of her on her own. I mean, I know she'll be with Robin, and that they're both total pains in the ass most of the time, but I just like to have eyes on them. It's just hard not knowing where everyone is, you know?

DEXTER SYLVESTER

Well, I’m here. Joni was at work today so I’d imagine she’s still there. Sage is probably somewhere cursing all of us for missing their birthday. And Danny is… in the city, which is closer than he’s been in years. Robin is at home, currently trying to dig a tunnel underneath the Schuester home. And Mom is probably at the center of all of this, threatening to remove the internal organs of anyone who dare tell her she can’t leave her own home.

[titanicfreija]

Traveling

An uneventful night passed, and the pair found the foothill morning peaceful and cold.

"How far in which direction would I have to go to get the radiation to go away?" Freija complained, pulling on her boots before she climbed out of the tent. "How bad would it be to sparrow back?"

"There's a full mountain range between you and the Tower," Sunny said.

"And I can't transmat?"

"See the aforementioned radiation problems."

"Are you fucking joking! Literally everything-- I'm not mad at you. I'm not," Freija bellowed, whirling in place. "Fuck!"

"It's actually faster to salvage parts and fix the ship," Sunny sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"I wouldn't have listened," Freija sighed back before they laughed together. "It's okay. We're good. Learning experience. Been a while."

"I don't like learning experiences," Sunny reported, 'matting into Freija's mark before she dropped to the ground, packed up and ready to go.

~

The road held together all the way to the town they approached. Freija only traveled alongside, keeping the trees easy to dodge into, and even sparrowed for some of the longer stretches of clear visibility. And it still took 'til noon to get there, nearly six hours of trek.

Nothing was out here. Wildlife rustled, but no hostile creatures, alien or local, approached.

"Okay, so before you say anything, I'm going to tell you-- complaining about anything will change the thing for the worse. Don't. Ever. It's a traveling superstition, I've never really worried about it before now, but if you complain, it will bite you in the ass. Don't."

"Good call. Was about to say I was bo--"

Sunny shook violently in Freija's pouch. "Hush! That counts!"

"Yes, ma'am. Are the Eliksni anywhere close?"

"They can fix that at short notice, it's not worth counting on current information," Sunny warned. "Just keep cover."

Easier said than done. In the forest, one had to try to lose cover. The city provided little shelter, with flat buildings on either side of open streets with only a few trees on corners. Even the millennium hadn't reclaimed this ruin.

Some sort of vine, however, had overwhelmed the place. Foliage covered every inch of building front and street, with leaves spread six inches above the thick wood crawling the length of every corner and curb.

"Neat," Freija mumbled.

"Get a sample, please," Sunny said. "The Tower will be interested."

Freija bent down to collect a sample, a stretch of woody trunk, stem and leaves and passed over a small stack of pamphlets. At first, she only glanced, but then she swung back to it and picked them up. "Hey! I can read this!" she cried. "Really read, like on accident, couldn't help it read it! -- Si vous ne pouvez pas -- I speak it!" Freija picked at the water-logged pamphlet, almost tearing it. "Where are we?! What language is this?!"

Sunny's translation and scan overrode Freija's visual as she failed to hide surprise and confusion. "French," Sunny eventually said. "Why do you speak French? How well are you reading this?"

Freija turned the paper to study again and stepped away from it, putting her palm to her head. "I don't -- Mom! Uh-- Fira! She... fuck, I know this, it's in here, I'm... come on, I won't yell at you again. Fira spoke it, she even had an accent, but there's more in here and I can't find it!"

Sunny had no data on Fira before she came to Earth and only a few stories from before, so if she came directly from the Distributary, she could well have spoken French first. "I wonder if you speak Japanese, too. Sobu and his mother Botan have Japanese names."

"Why is my primary spoken language one I can hardly read?!" Freija cried. "What sense does that make?!"

"Primary Tower language is English, so you mostly spoke English. Mara knew how to speak English so even if all the Awoken kept their first languages, they'd know English. If Sobu spoke Japanese and Fira spoke French, they'd likely use English to bridge. But reading, you'd only see in the Tower and you wouldn't have as much call for reading English as speaking it, and you'd have a lot more call for reading other languages if you traveled like we know you did."

Freija pressed into a pout. "Think we can find a library?"

"We need to be looking for ship parts or a new sparrow or something," Sunny reminded her. "If I see a book, we can grab it. If not, we can mess with settings in your helm and datapads."

Sunny searched in her memory for latest records of the family, where Fira's latest maps had been, name trends of pilgrims in previous rescue runs... mostly Arabic, but French was mixed in...

"I'm not sure," Sunny admitted. "Maybe you just liked it better."

"Makes sense to me," Freija muttered. "How far is the spaceport?"

"A few miles. Like ten."

"If I find a highway, I'm gonna sparrow."

"How much French do you know?"

"Je courante! Qu'est-ce que c'est? Pourquoi rêve n'était-il Français?"

Sunny, speechless, 'matted out just to give Freija a "look". 

"Suppose que je n'étais tout pas exposé," she said with an awkward shrug. "je ne l'ai jamais entendu auparavant."

"I guess not," the Ghost barely managed. "It's old, though. I doubt you'd have heard French as it is now, but you wouldn't recognize it if you did. I guess Fira was Distributary-born or even Pre-Awoken human. How about Japanese?"

"Une phrase en Japonais?"

"Oh, well, as the French is twenty second century at the latest... Nihongo wa hanasemasu ka?"

"... I know what you asked me, but no, it's not going like the French is. Why the fuck did they teach me French?"

"Maybe it's a primary language where you guys worked? Maybe you were scouting out here? As a normal person with real skills to use, you'd be a great asset for places like this. You're young for Awoken but you're an adult. Guardians would be good for the Light, but having to be careful like that, you might as well let the living go."

"Makes sense, I guess."

~

*  interpreting in order: "You can't avoid";

* "I'm fucking fluent! What is this? Why wasn't my dream in French?" 

*"I suppose I've never been exposed. I've never heard it before." 

*"What's a phrase in Japanese?"

~~

On a Walk

First Step

Into the Dark

Detour

New Experience

Traveling <-

The Spaceport

Sneaking

Nobility

Rescue Operations

Caught

Gratitude

Pride

[purplesimmer455]

Tess, Megan, Amir, Safiya, and Emily then tried to have a campfire roast outside, but unfortunately it wouldn’t light with all the sims sitting too close. So while I tried to figure it out, Megan told a spooky story to her kids.

Megan: Long ago, on a moonless night, a park ranger was patrolling an area of the forest in Granite Falls. (Amir shivers and automatically moves closer to his older sis, Saf). He heard a strange baying noise all of a sudden, and he stopped. Something felt off, but he couldn’t tell what. He closed his eyes and listened and it dawned on him. The only thing he could hear was his heartbeat. The forest had gone unnaturally silent. (Safiya scoots closer to Amir as well, saying she’s just cold) His heart starts thudding, and he walks quickly, hoping to reach his station and take shelter until it turns light out. But before he can, he hears something trotting behind him. He full on runs, and in his panic trips over a tree root. He closes his eyes, waiting for the strange creature to get him, and almost empties his bladder bar when he sees a wild shaggy llama staring curiously at him. It turns out, it had gotten loose from a llama petting zoo, and it had roamed wild until it could be caught again. The ranger was relieved, and he took the llama back, but the one thing he can’t explain is why the forest got so silent, and why there were strange footprints, not of a llama or sim-human, when he went back to check the trail.

Emily laughed nervously, and took her mom’s hand. “Only so you won’t get scared, mom.” She explained hastily. Megan smiled and leaned in and hugged Emily before adding it was just made up, in case it scared her. “It didn’t scare me, mom. But it scared Amir though.” She added teasingly, gesturing to her brother, who now was glancing behind him and rubbing his arms as if he was cold. “Shut up, Emmy.” He said, but smiled.

[sufandomgirl]

Amphibia Soulmate AU Fanfiction 1 Part 20

Andrias x Leif

!Swearing and Mature Themes Warning!

{Oak kept her eyes on her siblings. Not that she didn't think they were particularly safe. Barrel was there, as were Alex and her brother in the throneroom. There, on the throne, Andrias sat. Another thing she considered to keep her mind off of...the past was that if they married, her mother might one day sit beside him. She'd be his Queen. While she knew the thought had crossed Leif's mind, too, it wasn't the reason that she was courting him. They truly loved each other, anyone could see it.}

Oak: (avoiding eye contact; curtsies) Your Majesty.

Andrias: Oak.

Rain: What are we doing today, Andrias?

Andrias: Today, we're simply spending the day together. I don't think your mother would be too ecstatic if I took you somewhere without her knowing.

Barrel: (eyes go wide, imagining it)

{This was true.}

Bud: Sounds like Mom.

Pod: Probably a good idea. The last time we were separated from Mom for a whole day and night was when that water snake slithered onto land and she told us to run.

Rain: Kind of nice not having to outrun predators all the time.

Pod: I bet it's nice for Mom, too. Remember how the village basically gave her the unpaid job of being monster bait and she either had to distract the beasts long enough for everyone to get away or lead them away herself?

Rain: Yeah, I remember that. Especially after the herons got Dad and almost got Oa--! (stops herself, looking up at her older sister) Oh...

Oak: (bites her lip; looks away) I'm fine, Rain. Mom got there in time to save me, remember?

Rain: Yeah...sorry, sis, I didn't mean to...

Oak: Really, it's fine. I remember what Mom told me afterwards. She said, 'In case I'm ever not around and you and your siblings are under attack from a predator, I'm going to teach you to distract it with the Plantar Family Hunting Dance'.

Pod: Oh right, yeah, when you two finally got to the shelter.

{Barrel, Andrias, and Branson shared a concerned glance. Sure, they knew all of this already, but it broke their hearts that Leif's kids and Leif herself had to go through so much in a small village that she did so much for. In the meantime, Leif had all her prep work done for the next few months and all the preparations made for her twin boys' small surprise birthday party on Friday. It had always puzzled Leif why Melina would let the favored young in her family leave their chores for months on end, but demand to know about events months in advance. Sometimes, it wasn't even thought of until like a week before and Melina would deny it, simply because "she wasn't told soon enough". Leif shook her head. That didn't matter anymore. They had a new life that was going well for them in the capital. Had Aldrich minded his own business, Leif probably would've stayed mostly within the castle walls, definitely in Newtopia for the rest of her life and things would've been very different. Leif had chided herself for that idea, because despite all the bad things in her life, she loved her kids and couldn't bear a life where she wouldn't have had them. If she had stayed, would they have been her and Andrias' kids, though? She blushed at the idea. Before she left all those years ago, she'd heard that King Aldrich had ordered research be done to ensure that cross-species hybrids were impossible. Leif was a curious girl and had read in the research notes that in fact, hybrids were possible, should two beings of different species decide to mate. She hadn't told Andrias or Barrel, because she was embarrassed that she'd even researched it, but she had always known that Aldrich was worried that she and his son would be soulmates and that that was one of the reasons he sent her away--the former king had told her so, himself. Hypothetically, if they had gotten together and couldn't have kids of their own, that gave Aldrich the right to arrange Andrias to mate with someone else, even if they were married, to continue the family line. Andrias couldn't refuse either. Once he found out that it was possible, however, he sought to prevent them from being together in the first place. So, he sent her to Wartwood--the most remote, isolated town from the capital--to live with her aging, sickly father who'd given her up years before and told him to arrange a marriage for her as soon as possible. That way, if Andrias did find out, she would already be engaged. Looking back, she wouldn't change having her kids, just who she had them with if she could. She knew it was selfish and she was grateful for her kids the way they were, she just hated Aldrich and by extension, her own father for going along with his plan.}

Leif: (scoffs)

{Just the thought of her own father. It seems that daddy issues ran in her family.}

Flashback...

Young Leif: Daddy, are you coming to pick me up from the castle?

Leif's Father: Sorry, honey, I'm just here to for a quick 'hi-bye' before I go to your brother's recital in Wartwood.

Young Leif: Dad, you promised you'd take me, remember? We planned to go together to support Fern.

Leif's Father: You can't abandon your duties as a Royal Gardener.

Young Leif: I'm not. It's my vacation, there's people to cover me. I want to be there for Fern, too.

Leif's Father: Leif, we've been over this, you're only paid and we only eat if you're present in the castle.

End Flashback...

{Amphibian labor laws allowed her to be a paid apprentice very young. Like the rest of her family, she was great at farming and gardening. Her brother, Fern, had a real talent for dance and their father was surprisingly supportive. Unfortunately, they lived on a minor farm close to the capital. That meant that struggling restaurants and businesses that couldn't always pay made up most of their customer base. Leif had shown her talent of gardening to a community garden a block away from the castle and an official recognized her talents. She was about seven when she and her father and brother were summoned to the castle for her skills to be evaluated. She was offered a menial apprenticeship because of her age with limited upward mobility. Her father more than eagerly accepted for her and at age 8, she became an apprentice gardener, her meager wages being sent to help her family. She worked hard within the castle walls to support her older brother and father, rarely getting to see them. Leif worked up to getting her own space in the corners of the garden hall. She was lonely, as there were no other apprentices as young as her. That was until a certain young royal rolled down a grassy mound of dirt near her quarters and introduced himself after she helped him up.}

Leif: I hope this goes well for them.

{Just then, mysteriously, another letter had appeared in her small mailbox.}

Leif: What n--! (unfolds the letter; shudders and starts to cry as she reads)

[ninjakasuga]

Sonally Celebration Week, Year 3, Day 2: Mystery

Day two has come for the celebration of one of the best furry OTP’s ever~. @gojira007 ‘s celebration blog @boundforfreedomsonsal of Sonic and Sally continues and here’s my second entry. Enjoy all~

Sonsally Week, Year Three!!

Day 02: Mystery

Foreword: This episode is still set in the Archie-Verse depicted in my fics of last year and day one’s story. This one is set some years after the fall of Eggman, when peaceful times finally settled on Mobius for the first time in ages. Of course, peace doesn’t always equate to ‘easy’, especially when babysitting two spirited scamps.

“Sonia, Manic- WHERE THE FREAKING BLEEP ARE YOU?!!” Shouted an irate, and clearly frustrated blue hedgehog as his right eye twitched something horribly. Standing in the town-square of the rebuilt Knothole Village, his gaze shifting back and forth from the trees, and the various huts of the quiet village. While mostly destroyed during one of Dr. Eggman’s devastating attacks; the entire village was rebuilt as it was during the war era of fighting the original Robotnik. With a few Eggman era buildings kept, and one or two new additions. Knothole was mainly a tribute to the village that sheltered the survivors of the fall of the original Mobotropolis, and became home of the resistance that would become the Freedom Fighters. Mostly a standing all-may-come museum to pay homage to the place that started as a Royal Retreat/shelter, but became so much more. A few of the huts were still livable, home away from home for certain members of the Freedom Fighters who occasionally would return to Knothole with their families to celebrate and remember those days.

Today, it was host to a game of hide and seek, giving the two instigators of the game a plethora of hiding places. One that was driving the elder brother of Sonia and Manic Hedgehog, one Sonic the Hedgehog, former hero of Mobius, crazy!

After tapping his foot rapidly for a scant few seconds, Sonic cupped his hands together again and shouted as loudly as he could manage. “MANIC! SONIA! FOR BLEEPING FRACK’S SAKE YOU BETTER GET YOUR BUTTS OUT WHERE I CAN SEE EM’! AIN’T FUNNY NO MORE!” It really wasn’t, Sonic nor his lovely wife, had agreed to hide and seek, but his two younger siblings opted to begin a game without anyone’s consent.

A voice soon called to him, followed by familiar footsteps. “Is there a reason you’re using frack and bleep? Is that a new sibling code of some sort Sonic?”

Speaking of lovely wife’s, there she was. Turning to face his wife, Sonic shrugged with a sheepish expression. “It was censor myself or risk using words I don’t think Mom nor Dad would care for two nine-year-olds to repeat.”

“That is probably for the best.” Agreed Sally, with a tired sigh as a hand went to her rounded stomach. She wasn’t far enough along in her own pregnancy; her movements were not hampered; but the extra weight of the two passengers in her belly was sapping her energy. “Whew, I’ve just been walking but I feel ready to kick back.”

Concerned, Sonic walked over and touched her shoulder. “All the more reason I’m not too happy they started this ‘game’ when I made it clear you can’t be as play-happy as usual because you’re pregnant.”

Shaking her head, Sally reached over to place her hand over his, giving an assuring squeeze as she managed a smile. “They’re just kids, it’s alright Sonic. They probably just want to get some last playtime with us before I’m truly an invalid.”

Sonic had to admit she had a point but his ire was not fully dissolved. “Maybe, but this is still too much. Even Mom n’ Dad told em’ to not get carried away.”

Smirking, Sally lifted an eyebrow as she glanced at her husband. “Sonic, they’re ‘your’ siblings. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. There seems to be an innate sass-o-meter in your family. Pushing buttons seems to be something of a religious doctrine.”

Opening his mouth to counter, Sonic slowly shut it, frowning deeply. “... Fair nuff, but I still say you’ve rubbed off on them if we’re going for sass influence.”

“ME?!” Sputtered Sally, an incredulous frown, forming over her face. Beautiful blue, eyes narrowing almost dangerously. “How pray tell, do I count as a bad influence toward Manic or Sonia?”

Smirking widely as he got her goat, Sonic yanked the chain more, counting off with his fingers. “Well again, you’re the Queen of Sass and not just the Kingdom. When you gotta be right, you will argue til’ the cows come home. Plus you’re good at being playful when you want something, Manny’s baby-of-the-family routine is killer thanks to watching you. N’ Sonia’s all about emulating her Sis-in-law’s fancy mannerisms, and silver tongue. Just the other day she was in trouble and convinced Mom to let her off the hook light with a buncha big words she got from you.”

Almost mirroring Sonic, Sally opened her mouth, then closed it as she thought better of it. “...Touche’, but that doesn’t excuse the bad habits you’ve given them love-of-my-life.”

Laughing, Sonic gave her a big, if careful hug. Letting her have that one as, one it was true, and two, he knew jerking her around too much with hormones a-flame was a bad idea. “Of course, of course, but they also picked up on my coolness factor.”

“Truly…” Replied Sally in a dull, drawl that spoke volumes of how little she believed that. “I just hope our own bundles give us something of a break compared to these two. I can see why your parents are all-too-eager for us to babysit when we can.”

“Knowing us, they’ll drive us insane cuz they’ll be just like us in ways, but we’ll love em’ anyway.” Sonic mused, placing a hand to her belly and leaning in to kiss her gently. Sighing in a content manner, Sally melted into the kiss and hug, feeling a bit of the weight of impending motherhood ease off her shoulders to a degree.

Almost as if on cue, a duo of childish voices are heard uttering, “Eeeew gross!”

Instantly, both Sally and Sonic broke the kiss, angled their heads upward, and pointed as they both cried out in triumphant unison. “AH-HA! THERE YOU TWO SCAMPS ARE!”

“Aw crude!” Muttered Manic, as he and his sister clung to one of the large tree branches, quite a ways up that was connected to one of the tree house type huts.

“Well we gave them the ghost for a good twenty-minutes I’d say we won.” Stated Sonia in a rather faux-haughty manner. The more purple-blue of the two, whipped back her-pink hair? Wait, Sonia was blonde! Plus some of her fur looked more magenta-purple now?

In fact, why was Manic’s fur and quills more of a green-ish tinge than the light-blue they should be? Not to mention that punk-esque quill style... Eyes narrowing, Sonic let go of Sally, zipped into the hollowed out large tree with a hut built around the base. With the same speed, he charged up the ladder within the hollowed out tree, allowing him to come out at the point where the tree-house hut was, and lean out where the landing gave way to a natural, thick tree branch. 

“Oh no, you two did not!”

Putting on the best coy, innocent face he could, Manic twiddled his fingers together in a playful manner. “What’re you talking about Big-Bro?”

“Seriously Sonic, you need to use clear, concise words.” Snickered Sonia.

“You both dyed your hair and fur!” Sonic pointed between each sibling. “Mom’s gonna have kittens!” Growled their elder brother as his mind swam with images of a none-too-pleased Bernadette Hedgehog glaring at her son and daughter-in-law.

Arms crossed, Sally tapped her foot, in a manner not unlike her husband. “You two sneaks lost us to go and do the dye-jobs yourself didn’t you?”

“Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe.” Both twins chorused.

Sighing Sally frowned more. “Manic, Sonia, you do realize your Mother and Father are going to tan the crap out of your hides. They both told you, neither of you could have such radical dye jobs until you were fifteen, thirteen at the earliest if you both proved responsible enough! Plus, Manic, sweetie, why are you intent on making yourself look like Scourge?!”

“Hey!” Manic cried indignantly, a pout forming on his lips. “I just like the color, it’s not my fault Sonic’s scrub of a doppelganger had the same color-job! It screams ‘me’! Plus I don’t have sharp teeth or those evil eyes like he does, plus my quills are cooler lookin!”

“I’ll give you that li’ bro, on the being cooler looking thing, but dam-er dang it!” Sonic grabbed his own head-quills, mussing them up some in frustration. “Urgh Mom n’ Dad ain’t gonna let us watch you two ever again if you pull crap like this again!”

“He’s right.” Sighed Sally, rather dramatically. “We’ll be seen as so irresponsible they will forbid us from ever seeing you again!” She put a hand to her heart, and the other against her head. Truly, piling on the dramatic flair. “They may even question if we’re fit to be parents ourselves and have our babies taken from us.”

While Sonia rolled her eyes, Manic’s went wide as panic took over his earlier nonchalant attitude. “R-really?! We don’t want that!”

“Manny, bro she’s trying to guilt us!”

“Well it’s working! I didn’t wanna get them in that deep of trouble!”

“Manic she’s the QUEEN!! Mom and Dad can’t do jack to her!” His (slighty) older twin argued, seeing her partner-in-crime was about to fold.

“Wanna bet?” Sonic crossed his arms, smirking fully as he saw the sliver of doubt in the two’s eyes. “Mom can be scary when she wants and Dad, Dad is aaaaaaaaaall about the ‘subtle, quiet big stick’ kind of approach.”

Now even Sonia was doubting if they’d gone too far, especially as it pertained to how much trouble this might land her and Manic. Maybe she underestimated her ability to talk her way out of trouble. “M-Maaaybe we got a little carried away?”

“You sure did you two scamps, now if you come with me down the tree, we might ‘might’ convince Mom and Dad to let you both stay the night, and we can wash out the dyes and treat your fur so they never notice.”

Nodding as they both climbed fast, but still safely across the branch to Sonic. The two younger hedgehogs cling onto his legs. “We give, we give!!”

“Smart choice!” Laughed Sally from the ground, smiling at the won tag-team victory of talking the kids into doing their bidding. “If you two behave onward, there might be my special ice cream sundaes after supper.”

“Really?!”

Maybe handling kids wouldn’t be so hard after all? Sally thought before speaking aloud to them. “Cross my heart!”

“N’ you know Sal’s promises are good as gold.” Quipped Sonic as he guided the two once they stood up towards the ladder down to ground level. “Also, expect to help do some chores as further punishment for this stunt.”

“What?! Oh come on big brother-!”

“Nope, nada, don’t even try to talk me down Sonia!” Sonic cut her off as he coaxed first Manic, then Sonia to climb down the ladder. “Sal’s gotta take it easy and I need help doing this and that.”

“But you guys got a staff at the castle to do stuff!” Pipped Manic, his voice echoing through the hollow tree.

“It keeps us honest to do our own chores.” Quipped Sonic, watching them both get halfway before he started down the ladder himself. “Plus if you want us to keep quiet about the dye-thing-.”

“Oh fine!” Both younger hedgehogs huffed, giving up arguing.

“Being a big brother has its perks.” Chuckled Sonic to himself as he made his way down. Maybe in a few years, Sally and he could return the favor and foist their own kids on Manic and Sonia to babysit. Oh the payback will be sweet!

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 28

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: At Waystation, pt 1/?

A/N: Alright, an update and this time /almost/ on time! So, here's the thing: we are starting the so called 'Waystation arc', which will be many, many chapters because I have way too many ideas despite the fact that Leo and Cal won't even be there that long. So, please bear with me, I know this chapter is kind of a fillery one but I can't really skip the introductions 😅 More interesting stuff will definitely happen soon enough!

I hope that you guys enjoy (seriously it really always warms my heart to see your wonderful comments ♥) and maybe leave some nice words if you feel like it!!

Words: 2700+

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

...

”So, here we are…” Leo told Calypso when he stopped his car, the faithful Argo II, in the yard of Waystation. Both of their exams were finished and Calypso had taken a few days off work so she could join Leo at his family home for the holidays. “What do you think?” he asked, possibly a bit nervous about his flatmate’s opinion. Calypso could understand that; she knew that it was a very important place to him.

She took in her surroundings: a big, old house where the family lived and several other buildings such as a garage and a shelter for the animals next to it. Even though she and Leo were still in the car, she could already hear the sharp barking of Festus the German shepherd somewhere further in the yard. The place wasn’t all that showy especially compared to what she had seen in her childhood, but there were a lot of mysterious corners and fascinating looking objects around that screamed to be observed more closely. Unlike the place where she had been living several years of her life, to her this place… seemed home-y.

“It… looks cozy,” she finally answered Leo's question when she realized he kept looking at her expectantly. “I think I can see why you like it here.”

“Yeah!” Leo seemed happy to hear Calypso liked it. “I like to call it a well organized chaos - just the way it should be in Leo’s world. But c’mon, my fam must be waiting already.”

“Let’s go, then.”

Leo barely had time to open the door of the car and stand up when Festus ran and jumped at him, trying to drown him in wet dog kisses.

“Woah, buddy! I’m glad to see you too!” Leo exclaimed and attempted to pet him even though it was hard because Festus was all over the place. “It’s my holiday break so I’ll be here with you for a long while! Isn’t that great?”

Festus gave him a small bark and wagged his tail even faster as a response. Calypso followed the exchange between the boy and his dog with amusement.

“Not sure if I should be jealous of your… you call it bromance, right?” she teased, while smiling widely. Already she had noticed that Leo seemed more relaxed in this place, and for some reason that made her feel warm and fuzzy even though she tried to battle such feelings.

“Aww, why would you be jealous? I have space in my heart for both of you,” he winked and Calypso had to look away so that he wouldn’t see her blush - again.

“No reason,” she mumbled and got out of the car as well, causing Festus to leave Leo alone and come to greet her instead. “Hi, you!” she managed to say while getting showered with love by the dog. “I guess this means you still remember me!”

“Of course he does,” Leo grinned at her. “I think you made quite an impression on him earlier. Hey, boy!” he whistled at the dog who returned to him. “I’m still your number one man, right?”

“Now who’s jealous?” Calypso chuckled at him. “He was just getting started with me.”

“That’s what you think,” Leo claimed. He had already taken his luggage from the car and now he was waiting for Calypso to do the same so he could lock the doors. She just stuck her tongue out at him instead of replying to his comment.

“Wait, are you planning to move here?” He asked with amusement when Calypso dragged her suitcase out of the car. Even though she would be staying at Waystation for less than a week, she had taken quite a lot of things with her just to be sure she wasn’t missing anything. “Not that I have anything against you living with my family… It’s just that that…” he pointed at the suitcase, “… looks a bit excessive considering we’re not staying that long and we can just drive or even walk back to our flat any time we want to if we need something.”

“You can never be too well prepared in situations like this!” Calypso stated, pulling her suitcase behind her while Festus followed her happily.

“Okay, okay,” Leo put his hand up in defeat and started following Calypso towards the house. “I believe you.”

…

“Calie, Calie!” a young brown haired girl exclaimed happily when the flatmates made it inside the house. “You came!”

“Hi, Georgina!” Calypso greeted the girl. “I did promise you, and both you and I know that promises should be kept, right?” Even at the risk of the trip being very awkward because of everything that was currently going on between her and Leo, she wasn’t planning to disappoint this little girl. She knew too well how that felt.

“Right!” Georgina agreed with her. “So, how has my brother been lately? Super annoying, as usual?”

Calypso was unsure what she should answer to that question, especially since Leo was listening right next to her. “Umm… he hasn’t been that bad, in my opinion… Sure, he has his annoying moments but I think the exams have kept him so busy that he has mostly been behaving himself.” She smiled at the girl, one part of her hoping Leo knew better than to take her too seriously. But then again, they had been bickering since day one, and apparently, he still liked her.

“Yeah, and Calypso has been somewhat behaving herself too, thanks for asking,” Leo intervened, looking slightly annoyed. “Well, what about you, sis? Did you pass all your tests?”

“I did but the math one was super difficult! Maybe you can help me with it when the school starts again?” Georgina gave Leo the kind of puppy eyes that would have been hard to resist for anyone. And sure enough, Leo’s frown melted quickly when she kept looking at him pleadingly.

“Of course I can help! That’s what I’m here for, right?” he answered without hesitation. Then he frowned again. “But where are our mothers? I thought they’d catch us like hawks the moment we arrived.”

“They’re probably busy making a big dinner,” Georgina noted. “I don’t think they’ve talked about anything else except you two the whole day…”

“Really?” Leo asked. “That’s… weird? I do visit here often enough…”

“Yeah, but how often do you visit with a girl?” Georgina pointed out sneakily. The girl was really observant for her age, Calypso thought. She and Leo exchanged quick looks before Leo answered.

“Listen, Georgie. Cal and I are friends. And flatmates obviously. But we are not dating, I hope you know that,” he said firmly, even though Calypso could sense that he wished he could have told her something else.

“Then how come she’s spending the holidays with us? Doesn’t she have her own family to spend it with?”

It was an innocent question, as Georgina had no idea about Calypso’s home circumstances, but it had still hit a bit too close to home to Calypso and Leo knew that. That’s why he rushed to answer for her: “Hey, now, miss Nosy! Cal has her own reasons why she prefers spending the holidays with us, and she doesn’t have to explain them all to you. The main thing is that she’s here and I hope you won’t bother her by asking more of your annoying questions.”

“Now you’re just being rude,” Georgina grimaced at him. “But fiiine, I won’t ask more questions. I’ll go tell moms that you guys arrived.”

“Go do that,” Leo sighed, and rolled his eyes when she was already out of sight. “Sorry ‘bout that,” he told Calypso as he showed her where she could put her outerwear. “For the first 15 years of my life I didn’t have a sibling and somehow I thought it would be great to have one… She /is/ pretty great most of the time but no one told me beforehand that sometimes siblings can be quite nuisances too.”

Calypso’s face fell a bit as she thought about her own sister and how much she sometimes wished she could see her again. Luckily Leo seemed to realize pretty fast that he had said something wrong.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry! I didn’t remember… I mean, I know I’m lucky to have a sister like her, I just… Um, I’m just gonna shut up now.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Calypso tried to calm him down. “It’s an easy mistake to make. I haven’t talked about her a lot to you…”

“As someone who has also lost a family member, I understand why you don't wanna do that, Sunshine. But hey,” he stepped closer to her, sticking his index finger close enough to her chin that she had to lift it, but not close enough that it would have touched her. “You’re visiting casa de Valdez & co and we have a rule here that we should put the nasty stuff behind us, at least during the visit.”

“You mean like, ‘Hakuna matata’?” Calypso asked, having heard the story of Leo loving Lion King as a child. As their eyes met, she could feel the butterflies flying in her stomach again.

“Yep, now you’re speaking my language, babe.”

“Babe?” Calypso raised her eyebrow but was interrupted before she could say more because Leo’s adoptive mothers finally entered the room. Calypso had already met Jo earlier, but Emmie hadn’t been with her and Georgina that time. She had a long, grey braid, and something about her posture told her that the woman had done a lot of sports back in the day. She was wearing an apron over her work clothes and she was smiling at her in a friendly manner when their eyes met.

Jo greeted Calypso first.

“Hello, it’s nice to see you again.” Then she pointed at the woman next to her. “This is my wife, Emmie. You haven’t met her yet, right?"

“Correct.”

“Well, hello dear,” Emmie spoke, shaking Calypso’s hand. “You must be the Calypso I keep hearing so much about. I’m not sure which of these kids has been more excited about your visit; Georgina has been asking Leo every time he visits when he’ll bring you with her. I guess that day is finally here!”

“Oh, that’s sweet,” Calypso mumbled, a bit overwhelmed by the excitement with which Leo’s Waystation family welcomed her. The more she heard, the more it felt like they really thought that Leo was bringing home someone who was /not/ just a flatmate. Despite that, she knew these people were just trying to be polite, so she couldn’t get angry at them. Especially since in different circumstances they may not have been wrong. “Thank you for having me. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this place! And of course I haven’t forgotten that I promised to teach Georgina some baking so I had to come.”

“I hope it’s not too much trouble,” Emmie said, a lot like Jo during the visit to Leo and Calypso’s flat. “Leo has of course told us that you’re a rather busy person these days so we wish you get some resting time too.”

“No, it’s not a problem at all,” Calypso shook her head, smiling at Georgina who was looking at her expectantly. “I like having something to do with my hands; I’m not used to just sitting around.”

“That’s great,” Emmie said approvingly. “I don’t think you will have a boring moment in this household. Now, let us show you to our guest room upstairs and then we can all go dine together.”

“Sounds good,” Calypso agreed and started following the women further into the house.

…

After setting her things into a guest room with a big bed, an old mahogany desk, some flowers by the window and a fascinating looking bookshelf, Calypso was led into the dining room where the dinner was waiting.

“Smells so good,” she told the others before she knew what kind of meal Leo’s mothers had prepared. “Reminds me of something I’ve tasted at home…”

“A little bird told us that you like Greek food,” Emmie said mysteriously.

When Leo had told his mothers Calypso and he would be visiting Waystation, they had asked him what kind of food she liked. Calypso had once mentioned that she missed eating some of the traditional Greek foods she had gotten as a child, so that’s what Leo had suggested. The women of Waystation had ended up making moussaka and along with it (much to Leo’s dismay) some salad with lots of olives in it.

“You didn’t...!” Calypso exclaimed when she saw what was inside the frying pan, clapping her hands together. “I loved it when mum made this when I was a kid! I probably last ate it when I was 10…” Something warm rose to her chest when it sunk into her that someone had seen that much effort to make her feel welcomed. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome, dear,” Jo said. “We know you’re a very important person to Leo – even though he may be a bit bad at expressing his real thoughts sometimes – so we wanted to make sure that you know that you’re always welcome to visit us.”

“I’m sure I would have been convinced about that even with less effort,” Calypso reassured Leo’s mothers, pretending to ignore the hidden meaning behind the older woman’s words. “But I appreciate it a lot.”

“Guys, I don’t know about you but I’m starving, so can we please skip the pleasantries and just start eating?” Leo asked impatiently, drumming a glass on the dining table with a spoon.

“Some things never change,” Georgina joined the conversation, elbowing her adoptive brother. “Leo’s always so impatient when it comes to food.”

“But Leonidas,” Calypso started when she took a closer look at the salad that was being served, giving him a lopsided grin. Clearly Georgina’s mischievousness was already getting to her. “Are you really that excited about olives? The last time I checked, you weren’t particularly enthusiastic about them.”

Leo seemed a bit less excited about the food when he realized that she was right, but before he had time to comment, Emmie spoke first.

“What? You made Leo eat olives? That’s a story I’d like to hear,” she urged Calypso, and the latter mentioned did not have to be convinced twice to tell the story.

“Alright. One Saturday evening we decided to cook some Greek and Mexican style food just for fun. I of course had some olives in the salad I made and asked Leo to taste it, but he didn’t like it so somehow we ended up making a deal that if I eat one of his chilis, he eats his olives.”

“Yep, and you lost,” Leo pointed out immediately.

“I’ve said this before and I will say it again that it was an unfair bet! Those chilis were /hot/. Olives can actually be consumed without burning your mouth.” Calypso retorted.

“Wait, are you talking about the chilis that Leo has gotten from here?” Emmie asked. “Ouch, Leo, those things really are spicy. I am on Calypso’s side here; it /was/ an unfair bet.”

“Not you too!” Leo protested, crossing his arms. “Nothing happened; she only ate a little and I gave her some bread and milk afterwards. And eventually we both laughed at the whole thing.”

“Wow, brother, that was almost gentlemanly of you,” Georgina stated, clearly proud of the fancy word she had just used. “Calie, he would probably have just let me suffer if I had eaten that chili pepper.”

“Yep, because you’re just a little twerpette,” Leo replied while ruffling Georgina’s hair affectionately.

“Ahem,” Jo finally interrupted the banter. “I love hearing these stories but we don’t want Calypso’s welcome dinner to get cold, do we? So let’s dig in.”

The others didn’t have to be told twice. As everyone was eating the moussaka (Calypso noticed Leo had even taken an olive on his plate to show the others he could) and chatting about various things, Calypso really did start feeling welcomed and she even caught herself thinking that Jo was probably right; she wouldn’t be having a boring moment here.

[tev-the-random]

What it Ursa took her children with her? - Pt.1

So I was thinking about that idea I had the other day. And as no one could guide me to a fanfic on the matter, I thought I would try and expand on this idea a bit.

Right! So, if I were to write a full-length story – and I don’t know that I could. Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time for that right now –, it would go as such:

 Just like in the original, Ozai dares ask his father to revoke Iroh’s birth right, so Firelord Azulon orders him to kill his own son as punishment. Literally what the fuck, both of you.

 And just like in the original, Ursa discovers Ozai’s intentions and makes a deal with him: in exchange for Zuko’s life, she’ll make an odourless, colourless poison for him to kill Firelord Azulon with. Additionally, Ozai demands Ursa to leave the Capital City and never show up again, to which she agrees on the condition that she can take her children with her.

And here’s where things will change: Ozai accepts these terms. There is no reason for him to keep Zuko, and although he can see potential in Azula as a tool for his needs, he can easily think of ways to replace her. If it means he can get rid of the threat Ursa presents (read “he’s scared shitless now that he knows she was a poison-making master this whole time”) and get the throne he wants, he doesn’t give a shit if he has to dispose of the children. And Ursa would be more than relieved to leave that hellish place anyway.

She hurriedly wakes up Zuko, takes a sleepy Azula in her arms and leaves through a secret passageway, as to not be spotted. Ozai watches from a distance as his wife disappears into the night with her children.

The next morning, Ozai puts up a whole act to his father about how he killed Zuko as ordered and how his wife, horrified by what he did, took his daughter and left. Azulon believes this and declares that the man has suffered enough of what he deserved, and that they are to wait for Iroh’s return as if nothing had happened.

(Yes, I do wholeheartedly believe Ozai is capable of fantastic acting abilities and menacing deceit when he really wants to.)

What about the whole thing with connecting Avatar Roku’s bloodline to their own in order to fulfil a great destiny or something? I’ll say Azulon would plan to eventually get Azula back in the picture. And that’s all I’ll say for now.

In the middle of the night, Ursa and her children take a boat to travel to her hometown, Hira’a.

While she goes into a spiral thinking about how her life got to that point, Zuko – who was barely processing anything that was happening – falls asleep by her side, whereas Azula starts to stir on her mother’s lap. She wakes up and silently looks around.

‘Where are we?’ She asks.

‘Azula,’ Ursa calls, snapping out of her thoughtful state. ‘Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep, sweetie.’

‘What’s happening?’

‘Go back to sleep,’ she repeats. ‘I’ll explain everything later.’

Azula doesn’t go back to sleep, instead pondering about this unusual situation.

Upon arrival in Hira’a, Ursa is concerned about finding them shelter. So, unlike the original, she doesn’t stop after discovering her parents died years ago. She searched for old friends, finding that most of them had left the town at that point. Eventually, she finds the old director of the local acting troupe, Grandma Guchi, who is alive and well, albeit retired.

The old lady is happy to see Ursa again, and even happier to take her in in what seems to be a very difficult time for the Fire Princess and her children.

Guchi breaks the news that Ikem disappeared into Forgetful Valley a long time ago. This isn’t compatible with Ozai’s story, for his assassins couldn’t possibly have found Ikem in Forgetful Valley, could they? Regardless, nobody ever saw the man again.

The moment is interrupted by the sound of Azula indiscreetly opening cabinets around the house.

‘Azula, be respectful of others’ homes,’ Ursa reprehends.

‘I don’t like this place,’ Azula comments, visibly confused by why they’re here, by the fact that – and she noticed – they had spent the past few hours practically begging for a place to stay and by the apparent lack of royal procedures. ‘When are we going home?’

She receives no response.

‘Mom?’ Zuko asks meekly. Part of him hadn’t spoken so far because he didn’t want to overwhelm his mother, who already looked so perturbed. But he, too, was getting preoccupied. ‘What is happening?’

Ursa very carefully explains the situation to them, trying to make it seem as non-terrifying for two kids as possible. So instead of going full “I gave your father the means to kill your grandfather so that you wouldn’t be brutally murdered in your sleep, now he’ll hunt us down if we even think of going back to the capital”, she says Ozai asked her to do something, and the only way to keep them safe after that was to leave the capital.

Azula believes this situation is temporary, and they’ll come back home in due time, even if her mother didn’t know when that was.

Zuko is… uncertain of what to think. He wonders, again and again, if what Azula had said the day before was true; was his father actually willing to kill him? What was it that his mother did? Why did their safety lie in leaving their home?

Ursa is unsure if they’ll stay in Hira’a, but for the time being, she considers finding herself a job there. Grandma Guchi suggests she goes back to working with the local theatre, as an actress or otherwise.

The ex-Fire Princess is then formally presented to the new director of the acting troupe, Noren.

Ursa restarts her theatre life as a part of the production crew.

Noren doesn’t make his true identity known right away, as he doesn’t want to overwhelm her. So he acts as if they just met, and Ursa doesn’t quite notice the overly fond looks he gives her.

He is absolutely delighted to meet Zuko and Azula.

As days go by, the siblings get increasingly… frustrated. This is all new to them. No more servants, no more training, no more studies, no more feeding turtleducks by the pond, no more palace, no more of their friends, no more Ozai… they now have chores to do – which they find a tad bit indignant at first –, but apart from that, life is pretty boring in this remote town of peasants, stuck in this old lady’s house, told to forget their royal identities and customs…

Little more than a week goes by following the trio’s arrival to Hira’a, and word gets around that Firelord Azulon passed away in his sleep, leaving the throne to his second son. As literally no other family member attends to the funeral or to the coronation, Firelord Ozai immediately spreads the idea that he is to be a strong ruler who doesn’t let himself get overwhelmed by emotion, unlike his brother. (Little do they know he probably doesn’t have any emotions at all.)

Ozai took a bit of his time before using the poison so that no one would connect his father’s death to his wife and children’s sudden disappearance. These were two separate and completely unrelated events, and Ozai holds ultimate responsibility for neither.

Azula and Zuko are obviously upset. One would think that after their grandfather’s death, the family ought to stay together.

Azula is the one to reassure her brother. If Azulon wanted Ozai to have the throne after all, it means he was pleased with young man; He probably thought Ozai went through with killing Zuko – ‘don’t you see, Zuzu? That’s why mom brought us here in the middle of nowhere: so that grandfather could see that dad is much stronger than uncle Iroh. But now that grandpa’s gone, it’s only a matter of time before dad sends for us.’ And although they both come to the conclusion that their father loved them, it was also implicit that he needed them. They were his heirs, after all.

But as several weeks go by and there is no sign of them leaving Hira’a anytime soon, Azula starts to get apprehensive. While Zuko kind of likes it here – of course he misses home, but the absence of that watchful eye telling him everything he did was worthless makes him feel a bit more patient –, she is utterly done with the place.

Other kids don’t want to play with her because she’s scary and demanding and burns down things on purpose. She doesn’t want to play with other kids because she considers them to be beneath her.

The first performance of this season’s play comes, and Ursa is glad to see things work out. But of course we have to ruin that, so moody Azula breaks into an argument with her mother. As patient as Ursa tries to be – despite the clever and sassy remarks, this is a child she’s arguing with –, she ends up letting out that they’ll never go back home.

This confirmation is the last straw for little Azula. She can be as precociously mature as it comes, there’s only so much a nine year-old child can take when her entire world crumbles down beneath her. So she runs away.

The girl is determined to return to the Fire Nation capital. But as it turns out, Hira’a is quite far away from Capital City. She can’t firebend her way there, she can’t demand her way there and her manipulation skills only take her so far. By the end of the day, she’s lost, she’s alone and she doesn’t quite know what to do.

Deep down, she’s terrified of the fact she can’t do anything; already at this early age, Azula internalized that she’s supposed to be the “fierce prodigy soldier princess” and forgets that she’s just a child.

Hours later, Noren finds her somewhere in the outskirts of town.

‘Azula! Thank goodness you’re ok, your mother was so worried about you!’

A moment of silence. ‘I want my dad,’ Azula murmurs, almost as if afraid anyone will hear her vulnerability.

Noren takes a second thinking about it, then sits beside her. ‘I know you miss your home and your dad,’ he says. ‘Life is probably very hard right now, and it’s unfair that you never asked for things to change so much. But you know you can count on your mother and your brother, right? They love you-‘

‘No, they don’t. They think I’m a pest.’

‘They don’t.’ Noren sighs before continuing, ‘I know you probably don’t want to hear it from me, but your mother is trying her best to protect you.’

‘I don’t need to be protected,’ Azula retorts. ‘I’m not weak.’

‘Someone wanting to protect you doesn’t make you weak. It makes you loved.’

‘Dad says the only way to be strong is to fend for yourself. Those who don’t have no place in this world.’

‘Maybe he was wrong?’

‘He’s the Firelord!’ She cries.

‘Well, he was supposed to be a father.’

Azula goes silent. After a minute, Noren moves, and the girl flinches – for a split second, she thought she was about to be attacked. But when she raises her eyes, she sees the man was merely offering his hand. ‘Let’s go get your mom,’ he says.

(Excuse me if I can’t help it, but I think Noren is just a Nice Person.)

It takes a little while for them to find Ursa – who was running around the town like crazy searching for Azula –, but when they do, the woman is dishevelled and so, so glad. ‘Are you alright? You’re not hurt, are you? Oh, my dear baby, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you! I was so worried!’

If somewhere inside her Azula actually believed Ursa didn’t care, she’s now just… strangely relieved to be in her mother’s arms.

Cut to sometime in the future, maybe a week or so later: Zuko is watching over Azula. He’s messing with some flowers, whiles she’s pensively looking at the sky.

‘Do you miss dad?’ She asks.

‘And uncle Iroh. And Lu Ten. And the turtleducks. And even your crazy friends-‘

‘Ugh, I just asked if you miss dad!’ Azula rolls her eyes.

‘Yeah…’

Silence.

‘I wish none of this ever happened,’ she comments.

‘You’d rather dad had killed me?’ Zuko asks disheartened.

‘Maybe, yeah!’ She stares at him for a few seconds, then sighs. ‘No.’

‘If it makes you feel better, here’s what I think dad would say:’ he clears his throat and starts making an impression of Ozai, ‘you have to fight for your honour! The children of the Firelord cannot be intimidated by weird situations, so always hold your head high! Now be more like Azula, Zuko.’

The two of them laugh. ‘Well, a princess has to maintain her dignity no matter what,’ Azula admits. ‘But I don’t think he would be proud of us meddling with dirty peasants.’

‘Call it tactical espionage,’ Zuko comments, and places his newly finished flower crown on his sister’s head ‘O, princess of the Flower Nation!’

‘Since when do you know how to do this girly stuff?’ The girl chuckles, taking the ornament from her head.

‘Mom taught me. Do you want me to teach it to you? It’s not hard.’

‘I’m a brave warrior, I don’t do this silly stuff!’ Azula says and proceeds to set the flowers on fire, because that’s still Azula.

Zuko has half a mind to snap at her for burning down his hard work, but he puts on a smug smile instead. ‘Ok. At least that’s something I can do that you can’t.’

She pouts at him. ‘Fine. But I won’t learn from anyone can’t even fight properly. So you better learn some actual firebending before giving me any lessons!’

This is only one scene, but please give me more of Zuko and Azula as children getting to close that gap in their relationship that was being formed by their parents. Quality Sibling Time, if you may.

Meanwhile, Ursa and Noren are overviewing the preparations for the last performance of the season. They chat idly, Ursa commenting on how Love Amongst the Dragons used to be her favourite play.

Basically, Noren takes that cue and says something awfully suspicious, Ursa suspiciously suspects and he ends up telling her that he’s actually Ikem. Yes, with the whole “When we were six you kicked me in the stomach and pushed my face into the dirt. When we were twenty-one, you shattered my heart.” Because I love that line. Heartfelt emotions when she realises the love of her life was alive all along.

Somewhere else: a few months go by and Iroh is finally back from Ba Sing Se. Things in his home are definitely different: his son, his father and (supposedly) his nephew are dead, his sister-in-law and his niece are missing and the throne that was meant for him has been passed to his brother, who rules as a ruthless Firelord and only plans to aggravate the war.

A changed man, Iroh sees the impacts of war very differently. A part of him wants to leave the palace behind and find peace; another part tells him that his brother has literally no one else left. So he vows to stay, not only because he takes pity on Ozai, but also because he is aware that, if left unchecked, the new Firelord would fuck things up even further.

Yes, Iroh becomes the Firelord’s advisor. No, Ozai doesn’t listen to half of what he says.

Back in Hira’a, Ursa is slowly getting to convince her kids that this is their home now. Slowly, very, very slowly.

The siblings are becoming closer, as seen by the fact that Azula has willingly been helping Zuko become a better firebender – both of them see firebending as less of a competition now that it isn’t being held against them anymore. But it’s still no common kids’ play. Don’t tell me they don’t “play” Agni Kai whenever they’re bored – and Zuko is willingly spending time with her and teaching her nice, non-destructive things.

I like to think that Hira’a isn’t a place where many firebenders would like to live, considering the jungle just around the corner and the fact that all houses seem very flammable. But I also like to think that there are two local firebenders, one of which is more erratic than the kids and another who is fairly well-trained, but refuses to teach anything to the Firelord’s children. Of course, eventually he cracks and teaches them one thing or another because he can’t bear to leave these demons to their own devices.

Ursa is having some Quality Time with Azula. Although the girl has the innate ability to say some disturbing things, Ursa finds herself to be more patient as time goes by. Now imagine the two of them by a riverbank as the mother is telling stories that have nothing to do with the royal life; imagine Azula excited to show this new firebending trick she learned and performing complicated yet beautiful moves; imagine the Quality Time.

The kids are being home-schooled by Ursa. And Grandma Guchi. And any willing member of the acting troupe. And any local elder and/or master. Truly, they’re getting some street smarts around the here.

Cue to Azula getting to discover something called “childhood”.

Cue to Zuko getting to be appreciated as a human being and loved by people around him.

So one day Ursa and Noren decide to finally get married – as they planned to do over eleven years ago.

Of course, this is a little disheartening to the kids. Ursa doesn’t quite know how to explain Ozai’s Abusive Husband Shenanigans, but they all know Noren is such a nice person and he’s made it pretty clear that he does not intend on trying to be their father – even though he unintentionally acts like a father every now and again. So the kids are sort of in denial for a while.

Zuko is a little afraid the prolonged company will drive Noren to take over his life and start acting cruel/mistreating him. The poor boy is just so used to the table being ruled over by Ozai that he expects Noren to snap any minute, so it feels strange when all the meals together are so… peaceful?

Azula sees all this as some sort of act. She never quite gives up on the idea that Ozai will come around any day now. Until fateful news come around…

(Cliffhanger, dun dun dun!)

(If you can even call it that)

Ok, so… This got kind of long. Way longer than I expected it to get.

My ideas for what happens next are a bit fuzzy – as in: they’re less structured and more like… just loose ideas –, but I still have a lot to talk about, so I’ll split this into a two-parter and get back to you in a bit.

[magicflowershop]

one day kitty; Yaku version

《inspired by movie A Whisker Away》

✿✿ you wished to be with the person you like and wish granted. whiskers, button nose, tail, four legs and ears on top of the head; you turned into a cat. with this, you are given the opportunity to be with the person you want to express your affections to. but as a cat. and only in one day.

― haikyuu characters x cat!reader imagines!

❀ masterlist ❀

the wheel of names have spoken.

Yaku is so cute

he’s so confused why a cat is following him to school

he stops crouches and picks up the cat and thought of bringing it to the shelter bc it looks so clean,,, someone must own it yk

but when you realize you are being sent to the shelter you screeched and clinged to him like a mad cat

the terror on the cat’s face terrified Yaku the same,, he concluded it was abused or smth so he proceeded to bring it to school with him

the school patrols were by the gate so he did his best to hide you inside his bag,, which thankfully worked since you were small enough

skinny

he lit did not know what to do with you,, especially since you behaved and kept looking at him with beady eyes :((((

he wanted to cuddle you but he was afraid since its a cat, it might get attached to him and not leave him alone :((((((((((

besides that you prolly had a family and he wanted to search it for you

which he did,, he brought you along with him to volleyball practice and asked the others if he’s seen the cat before and knows the owner

sadly, no one did

realistically as well since duh you lit just spawned on the surface of the earth ;)

during vball practice, Yaku kept looking if you were alright by yourself with his things and when he looked there you were

sleeping, snuggling yourself on his bag all comfy :(

meanwhile Lev lowkey wanted to jump on you and give you a big ol hug since he loves cats so much but Yaku had that taken care of dw

his heart was broken not knowing what to do with you

Kuroo suggested him to just bring you with him home if he rly didn’t have the heart to leave you alone like this

and you were surprised to hear this like oh my god oh my god its wORKING MY PHEROMONES-

you were so enthralled, it showed on your face Kuroo laughed at you and ruffled your head,,, you hit his hand with your paw-

on the way home, Yaku went to buy food for you in the convenience store and you noticed the sky was getting dimmer o no 6 more hours till midnight you gotta step up sis!!!!!

you started flirting with him in front of the cashier clinging to his neck like a spoiled cat lmao the cashier even told Yaku the cat look so in love with him

and what were the odds he were right

Yaku’s mom was kind enough to let him bring a cat in the house,,, even said that you could say and of course you’d love that but as a cat???? you’d def rather as her daughter-in-law idk

he took you to his room

his room

HIS ROOM

YOU FELT LIKE YOU WERE TRESSPASSING

Yaku noticed you were scared to take steps in the room, had no idea why but he chuckled and picked you up with his hand he told you its ok you dont have to worry about dirtying the floor with your paws aw he thinks u durty

so he starts changing his clothes

i mean what else did you expect you’re literally just a cat

and that made you sad bc you’re just a cat getting his attention like this and it felt unfair,,, you wanted to stay like this forever bc its not easy to do smth like this irl but doin the dirty is another story i mean cmon

that night Yaku was just hanging out with you on his bed, talking about things that happened,,, and his worries for the vball team since they’re about to graduate soon

“i dont wanna leave them behind,, they’re like my family. Kuroo’s an ass but he’s been one of my great friends, Kai too. Lev’s a pain in the ass but he’s a good kid. Kenma’s shut off but he’s really sweet when he’s sincere with his feelings. Fukunaga doesn’t speak much but he means well.”

you,,, uh you guessed he really loved his team

and he’s opening up with rubbing your head and the spot behind your ears,, and you just stayed like that,, you never left his side and he really loved that part of you

but then you felt the change happening

you looked at the time and it was almost midnight,, you needed to leave

Yaku was asleep so you wanted to leave as quietly as possible your body was wrapped around his arm!!!! you needed strength to get out!!!!

he woke up but you went straight to his window and oh no it wasn’t opening with your puny little paws

Yaku got up to open the window for you absentmindedly and you just yeeted yourself outta his room,, he was shot awake and left the house immediately to see if you were alright

ofc you landed perfectly with your kitty reflexes and ran straight ahead to where you first met the the big crazy cat you wished from

but Yaku caught you

as yOU WERE ABOUT TO TRANSFORM BACK to what you were supposed to look like

and oh no since you’ve transformed back you wouldnt be able speak to the big crazy cat anymore,,,

the spell is removed

and Yaku saw all of that happened

“y/n???”

you wanted to tell him that it wasn’t what it looked like,, but what in the world would he expect it to be??? you couldnt speak since you were swallowed by the humiliation

“are you okay?!”

“you jumped off from the second floor you could’ve hurt yourself!”

this sweet boi,,, isnt even fazed seein a cat shapeshift into a human girl

it was late af and Yaku doesn’t have any choice but to let you stay in his house for the night,, sis his mum was shook to see him bring you home

she asked you where your parents are

and you said they’re out of town at the moment,, which clearly was a lie since there was a substitute of yourself back there

see, their house dont have guest room,,,,,,

“Morisuke, you have another futon in your room don’t you?”

so yuh,,, its a sleepover

he asked you so many questions about what just happened and you honestly answered every single one of them,, especially the part of you feeling as if you weren’t wanted in your home

and that you liked him

well, that part kinda slipped ahaha

“you like me?”

“um”

“y/n since when?”

“uh, nyways, don’t get shocked tomorrow morning if i suddenly disappear here, i won’t die i’ll just-”

“you’ll disappear?”

you were about to say that you’ll just manifest back to your usual life back at your home,,, however the worry in his eyes made you want to wrap your arms around him and never let him go and thats exactly what he did

“you’re not alone anymore”

stay tuned for more from the wheel of names.

[atc74]

Heartbeat - Chapter Three

Warnings: COVID-19, Croatoan, Fluff, quarantine, Mentions of fever, coughing, emergency room, mentions of loss, TW: major character death (Each chapter will have additional warnings).

Summary: Sam, Dean, and Y/N are sheltering in place at the Bunker, researching this new virus that has created a world pandemic. But what happens when one of your own is immune compromised?

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1366

Beta’d by: @amanda-teaches​ because she’s the best

A/N: I’M BAAAAACCKKKK, well, mostly :) I know I’m not the only one struggling with life right now, and writing has been hard. Thank you all for sticking it out until I was able to get something together for you guys. This is only temporary and will pass. Keep your chin up and try on your jeans every few days.

Heartbeat Masterlist

Like Dean’s scent? Buy it here from @scentsfromthebunker!

Previously...

“Honey, you’re warm. You feeling okay?” Dean voiced his concern as they settled into bed a few hours later. 

“Yes, babe. I’m just tired,” Y/N yawned, almost as if to prove her point. 

“We’re taking your temperature,” Dean said, getting out of bed to get the thermometer. 

“Dean, I think you’re overreacting a bit. I’m probably just still warm from our bath,” Y/N reasoned, but he wasn’t having any of it. 

“It’s just a precaution, honey. I’m sure it’s nothing, but this virus is not like others. It moves quickly and it’s lethal.” He took a seat next to her and shoved the thermometer in her mouth before she could protest again. When the beep sounded, he removed it and checked the digital readout. “It’s 99.5, low grade. But I’m still keeping an eye on it, and you.” 

“I’d expect nothing less,” Y/N yawned once more and rolled over, her eyes closing instantly. “Love you.” 

“I love you, too, Y/N,” Dean echoed, crawling in beside her and pulling the blanket up to cover them both. He pulled her small frame into him, wanting, needing to keep her closer than usual. 

Sleep did not come easily for Dean that night; he was worried about Y/N. Since she returned to his life, his nightmares and insomnia were few and far between, but as he lay next to her, his mind played out a thousand different scenarios where he couldn’t save her. He was hyper aware every time she moved, coughed, or even breathed heavily. He finally fell under, out of pure exhaustion, just before five in the morning, only to be plagued with nightmares of the same.

Now...

By midday, her temperature had risen to 100.3, and she was coughing regularly. After taking her next round of medication and an additional fever reducer, she was ready for a nap. Dean tucked her in, kissing her flushed cheek before pacing the library while his brother researched. With the fingers of his right hand, he continuously rubbed at his wedding band, acutely aware of each beat that pulsed through it. 

Y/N’s condition worsened and, by the third day, Dean took her to the emergency room. Sam called ahead and informed the staff they were on their way. Dean broke every traffic law between the Bunker and the County Hospital. “Honey, you gotta hang on for me, okay? I need you to fight. I need you to fight for us. Honey, I love you. I know you can do this.” 

“Sir, you can’t come inside,” a nurse stopped him after he gently laid Y/N on the waiting gurney. 

“She’s my wife! I’m not leaving her!” Dean argued, advancing on the nurse as she attempted to hold him back. 

“Sir, I’m sorry. I really am, but no one is allowed inside. I’m going to ask you a few questions, but I need you to put this mask on first, okay? We’re going to take excellent care of your wife. I promise,” the nurse vowed, taking Y/N’s medical history, including a list of all medications she was taking. Before heading back inside, the nurse gave Dean’s shoulder a reassuring pat then disappeared behind the sliding doors. 

“Cas, Billie, dammit, anyone with their ears on. My wife is inside this hospital. Please keep her safe and bring her home to me,” Dean raised his face heavenward and prayed. “Please. She’s my world and I can’t live without her.” 

Dean reluctantly moved the Impala to a parking spot and made himself comfortable. He may not be allowed inside, but there was no way he was leaving the hospital without his wife. 

“Sam, I’m fine...Yes, I grabbed a sandwich and some water from the gas station down the street, okay, mom?...I told you, I ain’t fucking leaving without Y/N!” Dean shouted into the phone. “Yeah, I hear ya...I’ll keep you posted. Yeah, okay. Bye, Sammy.” 

He knew his brother meant well, but they both knew exactly what this could mean for Y/N. She was already immune compromised because of her Multiple Sclerosis, and this virus could be fatal for her. He was getting frequent updates from the kind nurse and knew she had been placed on a ventilator when she was admitted, having difficulty breathing on her own. 

With as much time as Dean had spent in this car throughout his life, this is the moment he hated the most. No cases, nothing to do, but sit and worry that he was going to lose the love of his life. He twisted the ring on his left hand repeatedly, closely monitoring the beats as they passed through it. 

The shrill ringing of his phone jolted him from the restless sleep he had fallen into. He started panicking. He didn’t recognize the number but answered immediately. “Yeah?” 

“Mr. Ford? This is Jocelyn with Smith County Memorial Hospital.” 

Dean barely registered anything the nurse was telling him. All he could hear was his own blood rushing through his veins and all he felt was the slowing of Y/N’s heartbeat through his wedding ring. 

“Mr. Ford? Are you still there, sir?” Jocelyn asked, her voice tinny through the phone. “Mr. Ford?” 

“Yeah, I’m here. Just do everything you can to save her...please,” Dean begged the nurse on the other end of the line.

Dean felt like he was losing his mind. This wasn’t a fight he could prepare for, there was no battle for him to fight for her here. This was always a possibility, in the deep recesses of his mind, that she could get sick, but it was never a possibility until now. And now, he didn’t know how he could fight something he couldn’t see. How could he fight this for her? What if he couldn’t win? 

“Sammy, I don’t know how to do this, man. I can’t do this without her, I don’t want to. I need her,” Dean sniffed later that night on the phone with his brother. “I don’t know how to do this without her.” 

Sitting alone in the Impala, Dean was startled by a pair of headlights as they blinded him in the rearview mirror. The sound of a door closing put Dean on further alert. It wasn’t until he saw the face of his brother in the window that he breathed a sigh of relief. He opened his door, but felt like his feet were buried in concrete. 

It was his little brother that pulled him to his feet, wrapping his arms around him. It wasn’t until that moment that Dean let himself let go and let the fear consume him. 

Sam sat with Dean. There were no words that needed to be said, Dean was just relieved to have someone with him. It was Dean that broke the silence.

“Sammy, I-I c-can’t feel her…” he broke with a sob. Sam reached over and pulled his brother into his arms once more, feeling the sobs as they wracked his body. They both wept for Y/N. 

~*~

“I’ll take it from here, Sam,” Dean stepped in front of his brother. 

“Dean...” 

“I said I got it, Sam!” 

Sam knew when he could push his brother and now was not the time. He put his hands up and stepped away. Dean reached into Baby’s backseat and gently picked up the fragile bundle. He walked slowly with purpose through the halls of the Bunker until he reached the Infirmary. He descended the stairs one at time, careful not to jostle his precious cargo. Sam walked a few steps ahead and opened one of the doors of the cold storage. Dean stopped in his tracks as Sam slid out the steel tray. 

“Leave.” 

“Dean…” 

“Now, Sam!” 

Sam backed off and made his way up the stairs, looking down at where Dean placed Y/N’s wrapped body on the tray. He sighed heavily before walking out the door, leaving his brother alone with his wife’s body. 

Dean pulled over a chair and sat down, his eyes never leaving Y/N’s wrapped body. “Honey, I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you. I’ve never been much for praying, but I prayed for you, for us. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Y/N. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you, ya know. You saved me more times than you’ll ever know. 

“Even when we were kids, you saved me from myself. From going head to head with my dad, with Bobby, hell even with you. The only person I know more stubborn than me is you. You always said it was part of your charm and you were right, Y/N. I know what you’re gonna say, so I’ll beat you to it. I know you’d want me to salt and burn your body. I know you’d want me to move on with my life, keep going, all that crap. But I don’t want to do it without you, honey. So, uh, just don’t push me, okay. I’ll get to it, but I’m gonna need some time. And, I promise, I’ll salt and burn your body myself. I’ll build your pyre, but not until your dad and Jody, and the others can be here. You deserve our family to be here, so they can say goodbye. I’m sorry you had to go through that alone, Honey. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most. I’m sorry I let you down.” 

Dean’s sobs echoed through the room and bounced off the cold stone walls, making their way to Sam in the library, where he sat, with a bottle and his own tears. 

Did you like it? The nicest thing you can do for a writer is reblog their work and tell them, and others, how much you like it!

The Whole Enchilada: @iwantthedean​​​ @dolphincliffs​​​ @mrswhozeewhatsis​​​ @meganwinchester1999​​ @cherrycokegirls1​​​ @closetspngirl​​​  @roxyspearing​​​ @flamencodiva​​​ @blacktithe7​​​ @sis-tafics​​​ @just-another-busyfangirl @evansrogerskitten​​​ @amanda-teaches​​​ @hannahindie​​​ @wotinspntarnation​​​ @winchesterprincessbride​​​ @winecatsandpizza​​​ @kickingitwithkirk​​​  @wi-deangirl77​​​ @hobby27​​​ @mogaruke​​​ @gh0stgurl​​​ @alleiradayne​​​ @idreamofplaid​​​ @seenashwrite​​​ @manawhaat​​​ @crashdevlin​​​ @thoughtslikeaminefield​​​ @emoryhemsworth​​​

The Dean’s List: @jerkbitchidjitassbutt​​​ @dean-winchesters-bacon​​​ @maddiepants​​  @adoptdontshoppets​​ @supernatural-jackles​​​ @fandom-princess-forevermore​​​ @akshi8278​​​ @thing-you-do-with-that-thing​​​

Heartbeat: @idksupernatural​​ @imaginationisgrowth​​ @gabrielslittleangel​​

[moonprincemulti]

Suffering In Silence - Chapter 6

- 4 Jan 2021

- sixth chapter of a series (SIS)

- abused changbin x protective seungmin

- top seungmin x bottom changbin

- trigger!warning; violence, break-in, arrest

- creds to @monscastle​ for the edit

Changbin trembled as he heard the violent knocking on the front door, Seungmin's mom holding him tight. "It's okay. I'll protect you." Seungmin's mother glanced at the door, seeing the figure of Changbin's father move away. They both gasped as he then started knocking on the livingroom window. Seungmin's mother took a deep breath, never having been so scared before in her life. After hearing what Changbin had went through, she could understand how terrified the young boy was. She stroked over his back, seeing Changbin's father walk back to the door. "I know he's in there! Will you please let me in Miss Kim?" Changbin whimpered and tightened his grip on the taller female, trying to hold back his tears. Seungmin's mother shook her head. "Never! You are a horrible man!" She yelled back, hearing the older male chuckle. "Oh really? Then why are you kidnapping my kid, huh?!" "I'm protecting him from you!" Seungmin's mother made a small prayer, hoping dearly that Seungmin would get the police. They had to come here quickly, because she could imagine Changbin's father would not just give up after a few spoken words. And she was correct. Only moments later, Changbin's father tried to bust open the door by slamming against it with his full body weight. Seungmin's mother looked at Changbin and cupped his face. "Changbin, listen to me. You go upstairs to Seungmin's room and hide, okay? I will stay down here and prevent him from finding you, okay?" Changbin nodded slightly. "Okay, go.. come on, go." Changbin let go of Seungmin's mother, dashing upstairs to Seungmin's room. 

Changbin hid himself in the corner behind the closet, making himself as small as possible. He hated this feeling, hiding until he was yanked from his spot, as he knew hiding wasn't forever. He wished he had never come here and had just ran home, but he tried to trust Seungmin's mother with his safety. Seungmin's mother got a dough rolling pin from the kitchen, holding it tightly in her hand. She gulped as the door seemed to creak and budge ever so slightly under the continued slamming of Changbin's father. She got ready for his entrance, which happened after the lock gave in at the last slam. Changbin's father stumbled inside, looking pissed and aggressive. Seungmin's mother held up the rolling pin. "Do not dare to set another step!" Changbin's father smirked. "Where are you hiding the kid? Give him back!" Changbin's father charged at Seungmin's mother, who yelled and tried to defend herself with the pin. |××××××××××|××××××××××| Chan, Jisung and Seungmin walked into the police station, the officer behind the reception looking up. "Welcome, can I help you-" The officer stopped shortly as she saw Seungmin's bloody, slightly crooked nose. "Can I help you boys?" Seungmin nodded as he walked up to the reception desk. "Yes. I want to report a case of child abuse and assault." The officer tilted her head and nodded. "Of course. Can I have the name of the suspect? And, are you the victim? Is it your father?" Seungmin saw the officer signal something to their colleagues, who immediately focused on the three boys, ready to jump into action. Seungmin shook his head. "No. It's mister Seo. The father of Seo Changbin, my friend. Mister Seo abuses his son and he just assaulted me in front of our school." The officer wrote some stuff down, then going to search on the computer for the profile of Changbin's father. "Do you have any proof of the abuse? I can see the assault, which we can also check on the security cameras of the school." Seungmin took a deep breath. "I can show you the abuse. His son, Changbin, he is covered in scars. Bad scars." Chan nodded and took over the conversation. "We need your backup.  Changbin ran to Seungmin's home to find shelter, but his father is there now. We're scared that Changbin's father might try to break in and hurt Changbin and Seungmin's mom." The officer's eyes widened. "You think there's currently two people in danger?" Chan nodded and looked at the other officers. "Please help us." The officers immediately jumped into action, grabbing their gear and heading towards the door. One officer took Seungmin aside, wanting to take him to a doctor, but he refused. "I need to go with them. I need to tell them where I live. I need to protect Changbin." The officer sighed and brought him to the police cars outside. They drove to Seungmin's home with sirens on, but Seungmin begged them to turn them off. He didn't want Changbin's father to run, he wanted them to catch him red-handed. The cars turned onto Seungmin's street, and he could feel his heartbeat go up. They parked the cars, getting out with minimal noise, two officers approaching the house with caution. As they stepped into the house, they could hear Seungmin's mom sobbing in the kitchen. She had hidden herself, scared of Changbin's father. The officer glanced to the stairs, hearing grunts coming from one of the bedrooms. One officer walked to Seungmin's mother, trying to calm her down. The other officer glanced back at Seungmin, who was still standing in the doorframe of his broken down front door. Seungmin gulped and looked at the officer. "My bedroom is the second door on the right..." The officer nodded and quietly ascended the stairs. Seungmin walked further, seeing his mom being calmed by the officer. He walked to his mom and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry mom. I'm so sorry.. did he hurt you?" Seungmin's mother shook her head. "No no, I could defend myself." Seungmin sighed slightly of relief, but was still worried about Changbin. He glanced at the stairs, wondering if he should go up. He let go of his mom, walking towards the stairs. Seungmin's mother was guided outside by the officer as Seungmin started making his way upstairs. |××××××××××|××××××××××| Changbin had been hiding in Seungmin's room, hearing the voices of his father and Seungmin's mother downstairs. He trembled as he curled himself up, his breathing being irregular. After hearing some screams and the sound of stuff being broken, he could hear footsteps on the stairs. He pressed himself against the wall, knowing it would be over for him soon. "Oh Changbin~ Come out come out wherever you are~" Changbin's father spoke in a singsongy way, looking around. He opened the first door, checking the bathroom. He grumbled slightly as it was empty. "Tell me where you are~ I'm coming to take you home~ Didn't you miss me?" Changbin's father walked to the next room. Changbin bit his lip, trying to stay as quiet as possible. He heard the footsteps walk around, and eventually they came closer. He shut his eyes tightly, whimpering softly. "I found you~" Changbin let out a squeal as he was dragged away from his hiding spot. He struggled against his father's grip, hearing his evil chuckles. "I got you, you bastard." Changbin was harshly pushed into the ground, feeling the weight of his dad on top of him. Changbin tried his best to wriggle free, but his father pinned him down. "How dare you walk away from me! How dare you hide from me! I protect you from the world, are you that ungrateful?" Changbin shook his head and looked at his father. Changbin's father had an evil expression on his face, and Changbin could feel that he wouldn't go easy. He groaned as his father grabbed his chin, his strong grip hurting Changbin's jaw. "You'll pay for this. You'll learn not to run from me ever again. I'm so done with your behaviour."  Changbin whimpered and he felt his father's hand move down. Changbin's father then turned fully aggressive. He started jabbing a few times in Changbin's jaw,  making the boy groan out in pain. He kept going however, until Changbin's face looked severely damaged. Changbin had lost consciousness after a few hits, his limp body only moving as it got impact. Changbin's father then went down to Changbin's chest, grabbing the knife from his pocket. "I hate you. You monster. I never loved you as my son." Changbin's father raised the knife, ready to push it into the smaller boy, but froze as he heard a gun being loaded. "Step away from the boy." Changbin's father looked to the side, seeing the police officer pointing a gun at him. "Step away from the boy and drop the knife." Changbin's father got up slowly, grumbling as he was pissed. |××××××××××|××××××××××| Seungmin was at the top of the stairs, seeing the officer stand in the doorway to his room. He let out a squeal as a gunshot went off, dropping down and protecting his head. The officer had purposefully shot in Changbin's fathers leg, as he had wanted to attack the officer with his knife. Seungmin looked up again as the officer walked inside his room, coming out with Changbin's father who struggled against his grip. "Let me go you fool! I'm not the one you should have, my son is the murderer!" Seungmin gulped and stepped aside, letting the officer pass. He gasped as Changbin's father lashed out at him, the officer quickly forcing him against the wall. "You have done enough damage, sir." Another officer ran up the stairs, an ambulance nurse right behind him. "He's in the first bedroom. Unconscious." Seungmin couldn't quite following everything as it all went so quickly. He tried to process it, but it was hard as suddenly his house had become full of officers who dragged Changbin's father outside. The nurse had rushed to Changbin, checking his vitals to see if he was stable enough to move. Seungmin shakily walked to his room, seeing Changbin on the floor. He could feel the tears prick behind his eyes, feeling so bad for the smaller male. Why did it have to go like this? Could Seungmin have changed it? Should he have acted differently? The nurse looked up and smiled slightly at Seungmin. "He'll be okay. We'll fix him up at the hospital and check for any internal damage." Seungmin just nodded, being worried anyway. A few hours later, he was sitting with his mom at the police station, ready to make a case against Changbin's father. They told the officers everything they could, although Seungmin only had suspicions at first. The police wrote everything down, and it was clear from how Changbin's father had behaved that day, that he would be charged as guilty. Seungmin sighed deeply, leaning against his mom as they waited for a bit. His mom hugged him, stroking over his side. "You did your best, Seungmin. You helped him, I know it. I'm proud of you." Seungmin smiled slightly. "Thanks mom.." Seungmin took a deep breath. "Can he stay with us? Because he can't go anywhere now.." "Of course he can. We can foster him." Seungmin nodded and closed his eyes. After a while the door of the room opened, making Seungmin and his mom look up. An officer entered, Changbin following behind her. Changbin had been patched up at the hospital, but he still had to make a statement for the case. Seungmin got up and ran to Changbin, who practically melted into his arms at first touch. Changbin held onto Seungmin as tightly as possible, having been afraid and nervous ever since he had woken up in the hospital. He cried out into Seungmin's shoulder, who tried to comfort him, although he found it hard to keep in his own tears as well. "You're safe now. He's locked up. He won't hurt you any longer." Seungmin stroked over Changbin's back. "It's all over."