#and that's with the extra centimeter that the shoes gave her

[gamebunny-advance]

HmHm.

I think a Hairdorables head on a Cave Club body would make a decent Mayday doll.

Nothing's gonna be perfect, but I think Hairdorables matches her face/head shape a lil'better than the base Cave Club.

Ya know. If somebody wants to get on that.

[milkyplier]

Have some more Rescue Ranch AU Time and Malon :D

Malon doesn’t sleep that night. Link does, head tucked against her chest and arms wrapped around her. It isn’t necessarily the most comfortable position to fall asleep in, but that isn’t what keeps Malon awake.

She lies there, listening to the soft snoring of her husband, and she relives that moment in the kitchen, over and over again. Blood on her hands, lips still tingling from his kiss, but the rest of her body was weightless and cold as the sheer terror made its way through her veins. Her brain keeps trying to tell her that she was merely overreacting, but every time it tries she remembers that exhausted, haunted look in Link’s eyes and knows she’s right to be afraid.

She can still feel the jolt of her right foot taking a step backwards in order to support his weight as he leaned on her. She can still feel the way he was just barely keeping himself on his feet. She breathed, and she stood there, and she waited. She waited, forcing herself to stay calm. It felt like an eternity before Link finally spoke.

“I’m tired.”

His voice was soft and hoarse. Malon swallowed.

“I know, my love.” She whispered. “But there is still more to be done. Just a little bit longer, and then we’ll go to bed, okay?”

“Okay.”

He didn’t move right away, and Malon didn’t pressure him to. When he did move, it was to embrace Twilight. Their son had been standing, frozen, at the side, unsure what to do. When his father turned to him, he unfroze and wrapped his arms tightly around him. Malon smiled at the sight, and then went about cleaning the kitchen. Swiftly and quietly, the many bowls of dirty water were emptied and put in the dishwasher. The counters were washed off and disinfected, and the towels delivered to the laundry room. Around halfway through, Link attempted to help but she shooed him away, insisting he shower and change. He seemed hesitant at first, but he gave in, and Malon was even quicker with finishing her chore.

When she did, she was met with another problem: the half-dead young man still lying on her island counter. In the end, she had Twilight carry him to one of their spare rooms. They laid him in the bed there and tucked him under some extra blankets. Twilight promised to watch after him, and with that, Malon hurried back to her room.

The door to her and Link’s bedroom closed behind her with a soft click, and Malon stood there for a few seconds just to listen. She couldn’t hear anything over the shower running. She moved to sit ok the bed, waiting for her husband to get out of the shower, running through every possible scenario in her head, thinking and overthinking things she might say, feel, and hear.

Half an hour passed, and Malon got nervous. There was not a single other sound from the bathroom, and her husband was not known to take long showers. She stood up, padding silently across the room to the adjoining bathroom door. Her hand paused mere centimeters away from the surface of the door as she contemplated knocking. She ultimately decided against it—it wasn’t worth the fuss of him not hearing her over the water, or vice versa.

She opened the door and slipped inside the bathroom, looking around for her husband. Her stomach dropped into her shoes when she saw him, sitting on the floor against the wall, head in his hands.

She thought he might be asleep, and approached him warily.

“…Link?”

He flinched, and when he looked up there was the flash of a wild expression—alarmed, ready to defend himself—before it settled back into the same exhaustion from earlier. He smiled at her, but it was heavy.

“Sorry, I just…got lost in my head,” he said.

“It’s alright.” She told him. “I just worried.”

“I’ll finish showering, now,” Link scrambled to his feet, and Malon nodded.

“I’ll be in bed,” she said, stepping back towards the door, intending to give him some privacy, but he reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“No.” He squeezed her wrist, and his hand was rough and calloused, but not in the way she remembered. “Please…stay.”

She met his eyes again, and the desperation there is something she’d never seen before.

“Okay.” She promised. She took a seat on the counter while Link stripped himself of his threadbare uniform, and Malon’s heart broke all over again when she saw his body. Littered with scars, some pale and thin, healed long ago, and others newer, pinker. A few were even still scabbed.

She waited, patiently, watching him and smiling every time he looked over at her, making sure she was still there. She started singing, at some point, and she saw him visibly relax as she did, and so she kept it up until he turned off the water and silenced her with another unexpected kiss.

She smiled at him again when he broke away, as big as she could, as if that would fix that emptiness in his eyes. It didn’t, not fully, but she saw the light in them return, if only for a moment. She took the brief moment while Link was brushing his teeth and getting dressed to rinse off—she was, acter all, still covered in the blood of the injured boy, and then the couple were finally able to retire to the bed.

Link immediately wrapped her in a hug, pulling her close and breathing her in. He pressed a feather-light kiss to the nape of her neck, and then rested his head on her chest. He was so quiet and still that Malon thought he had fallen asleep after a minute, but then he spoke.

“Am I dreaming?” His voice was heavy with sleep.

“No,” Malon said, carding a hand through his hair. The word brought her to reality, too—she wasn’t dreaming. This was real, she was really holding her husband in her arms again after four grueling years. She ran her hand through his hair again simply because she good, and felt the giddiness of it rising up in her. “No, my love, you are not dreaming. Not this time.”

“Good.” Link hums. “You are like a dream, though. One I hope to never wake up from.”

Tears pricked at Malon’s eyes. Goddesses, she’d missed him.

“I love you.” She whispered.

His response was merely a vague hum in the pitches of “I love you too,” and it made Malon smile.

And she lies there, and even if she is not able to sleep right away, even if she was not in the most comfortable position, she could have—and would have, if he needed her to—laid there forever.

[reallypleasanttree]

From the Obamitsu fic graveyard.

The only reason he hadn’t left yet was because he promised Kyojuro he would stay until the couple cut the cake. Obanai leaned against the column and stared at everyone else small talking and going up table by table to grab their food. He ate a protein bar before he came to the reception. 

Someone bumped into him, throwing him forward. He snapped his head towards them and glared. A woman with pink hair was holding up her hands preparing for an apology. 

“My heel broke and I tripped. I am so sorry,” she said. One of her purple shoes was indeed broken, the heel snapped in half. 

“It’s no big deal,” he replied and in a rare show of compassion he asked, “Do you have an extra pair?” The woman shook her head. 

“I have a pair of shoes in my car if you want to borrow them. They’re 23 centimeters,” he offered. Her feet were probably the same size. 

“They’re the right size, but you don’t have to,” she said and tried to take a step. It was hobbled by the broken shoe. It was sad to watch. 

“Wait here,” Obanai said and headed towards the parking lot. Why was he doing this? He didn’t know her. He didn’t even ask her name. 

Pulling out his keys, he popped the trunk open. He had an extra pair of white socks and work shoes in here. Black converse shoes with gel insoles. They wouldn’t match the purple dress, but oh well. At least she wouldn’t be hobbling around. Obanai walked back to the pillar he left her. 

“You really didn’t have to do that. I’ll be alright,” she said. 

“I already brought them back. It’d be rude not to wear them now,” Obanai said. She blushed and slipped her heels off. He set the converse on the ground and handed her the socks. 

The woman leaned against the pillar and positioned one leg in a figure 4 to don the socks and shoes. Surprisingly, the black converse looked nice with her dress and hair. It gave her an alternative edge. Obanai looked from her feet to her head before catching himself staring for longer than socially acceptable. 

“Does it look bad?” She asked as she tugged on a piece of hair. 

“No, it looks really cute,” Obanai said truthfully and nearly choked. 

[warcats-cat]

Yuletide Glow

A/N: My very *very* late gift exchange fic for @muppenthings is finally here! I really hope it was worth the wait. Her half of the trade is here; my little Floof AU OC playing with the other Floofs. I treasure it.

For my part, I wrote a little blurb about two of her beloved OC’s, Snuffy the Dragon and his old lady friend Hilda, celebrating Yule. (And I added in a handful of surprises for my fellow long-time Muppen fans.) I did a moderate amount of research, but I’m sure there’s still stuff I got wrong so feel free to leave comments and tell me more about your traditions! Also as always, please shoot me a message/comment if I missed any tags! Anyway, on with the fic!

Alternatively read this on Ao3

-----

Snuffy felt a firm pat on his nose as he was sniffing at the wooden bowl Hilda had set out. It was a funny shape; oblong, slightly pointed on one end and curved up on the other. It looked like a weird shoe. His ears twitched down slightly at being caught mid-investigation, but Hilda was smiling at him anyway.

"Don't move that. That's your shoe for the Yule Lads." She said gently as she carefully hung a long branch of pine across the top of the window. Snuffy moved and carefully grabbed the branch with his claws, lifting it the extra few centimeters to the hook.

"My what for who?" He rumbled, picking up another branch to hang over the farther window.

"It's an old tradition. You set out a shoe for thirteen nights and if you've been good, the Yule Lads will leave you gifts. And if not, they'll leave something else…" Hilda replied simply. It only left Snuffy more confused.

"Why a shoe? And who're the 'Yule Lads' "

The old woman's smile turned from fond to a touch mischievous, and Snuffy quirked his head.

"They're kind of like elves that like to cause trouble. They're watching to see if children are behaving and doing things like cleaning up after themselves."

"Why do they care, though?" Snuffy's ears perked up, watching as Hilda disappeared back inside the house with a little pine tree in a pot, and reappeared with a very thick oak log, which the dragon carefully took from her as well.

"Well, their mother eats the naughty children." Hilda motioned for Snuffy to put the log down in the little fire pit structure near the cabin, and when he did, she spread some black ashes over the top.

Her explanations weren't making anything clearer for him.

"But why do I have a shoe? I don't wear shoes. And I'm not a hatchling anymore."

Hilda huffed, but her fond smile didn't waver, and she gestured for Snuffy to set his head back down and settle; which he obliged, if for nothing else than to receive a scratching on his nose.

"I thought it would be fun to include you in my Yule celebrations this year, but if you're not interested I can put everything away. The shoe is an old decoration I found in the attic, and it's big enough to plausibly belong to you." She pondered for a bit, and Snuffy rumbled happily at the feeling of her little nails on the soft scales of his snout.

"I didn't say it didn't sound like fun." He replied, after a few minutes of scratching. Hilda perked up and gave him another pat, before going back into the house for another box. "So what do I have to do to be 'good' ?" He asked when she returned.

She chuckled, and began hanging funny looking ornaments on some of the lower trees and bushes. "Oh, you're already good. You'll just have to wait and see if you get any presents."

Looking closer, the ornaments were all simple and covered in seeds and dried berries. Snacks for the other, much smaller wildlife in the area. There were four that were hung very low on the bushes closest to the front door, along with dishes of water that looked to be mixed with honey.

A bundle of fresh daisies from the store in town, catnip, sweet berries, and small strips of dried meat: gifts for the funny spirits that had been wandering around the cabin lately. And sure enough, each ornament had a little scroll with their (assumed) names: Bee, Cat, Raccoon, and Fox.

Snuffy hadn't seen them much this winter. He hoped they were doing well.

They spent most of the afternoon like that; decorating the cabin with the rich greens of pine and holly, placing bundles of mistletoe and colorful candles on a little altar. Hilda finally declared the decorations complete by clipping bells to each of the four corners of the altar cloth.

"There," she said, brushing her hands clean on her skirt.

Watching her, Snuffy rumbled again, "Are you sure the other villagers won't mind me coming tonight?" His ears lowered a touch, betraying his nerves.

Hilda simply flashed her mischievous grin again, "Well, they don't really have a choice. You're my family now, so you're coming. I'm the crazy old lady who lives in the woods. It's not like they can stop me. Unless, of course, you don't want to come?"

He offered her a hesitant smile in response; he couldn't say he wasn't nervous about it. He liked the other people he had met so far, and of course, Hilda would be there the whole time. He'd even been getting more practice at shape-shifting and changing his size.

But all of the times Snuffy had met new people had been only one or two at a time; this would be the whole town. And there was going to be an even bigger Yule log burning in the town square, lots of tables and decorations.

Lots of things to trip over.

Snuffy shook his head, and perked his ears as Hilda finally returned with the last of the evening's necessities: a big pot.

Everyone in town was bringing food tonight; the main event was a big feast in celebration of the gods. Hilda had spent almost all of yesterday cooking something incredibly savory-smelling, and hadn't even let the dragon lick the spoon! 'A surprise,' was all she had said, as she set the kettle aside for the night; the pot stayed warm by the fire and never ceased its temptation of Snuffy's tongue.

Snuffy concentrated hard, closing his eyes. Slowly, he felt magic from the world around him wrap along his body, and he could feel the rushing sensation that came with changing from the size of a house to (roughly) the size of a human.

Even like this, he was well over a foot taller than Hilda, and most of the rest of the town...

He bent just slightly and carefully took the handle from the old woman's grasp, carrying the hefty metal and hearty stew with little effort. Hilda gave him a look, which he knew meant 'I was carrying that just fine'; he responded by raising his eyebrow and one ear, matching her gaze to convey 'I know, but you don't have to carry it when I'm here'.

One of Snuffy's favorite things about living with Hilda was how easily they could communicate without words. So much of dragon language was in face and gesture. It had been an exciting surprise to learn that humans could talk with just their eyes or postures too!

He swished his tail and rolled his shoulders, enjoying the quiet of the forest and the crunch of iced over snow under his feet. Hilda was covered head-to-foot in warm furs and knitted scarves, and her boots made much lighter prints behind them. The silence of their walk was comfortable; friends simply sharing space.

And if the dragon kept his tail loosely circled behind his old friend to catch her if she tripped, that was simply his own secret.

Several minutes of walking finally bled the dark, quiet forest into a warm, glowing town; the edge of the trees gave way to soft flickering torches and candles, and there were ribbons and wreaths and ornaments everywhere.

Snuffy stopped at the tree line, in awe of the sights around him. The center street had been cleared, and the town square held a massive bonfire surrounded by tables and cauldrons. There was more food than Snuffy thought he could eat, even in his massive true dragon form. The whole town had come out to celebrate, people dressed in warm reds and off white, carefully embroidered coats and long twirling cloaks. Several people were wearing wreaths on their heads, decorated with ruby red and sparkling gold flowers.

Hilda must have noticed his pause, and he felt her hand on his back.

"What do you think?" She asked softly.

"It's really beautiful." He replied earnestly.

With a gentle nudge, they began walking again, down into the center of town. The dragon couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious with all the staring, and he felt his ears tilt down slightly without meaning to.

Oh well.

A few townsfolk came to meet the pair, and carefully showed Snuffy where a much smaller fire had been started, to keep the stew warm. As he passed, his nose twitched at the familiar smell of apples and cinnamon, strangely coming from the cauldron next to their own. The girl stirring this cauldron barely looked up as he came over to investigate, and he took a deep breath of the sweet steam coming from the liquid.

"Would you like some?" The girl asked; her voice was unwavering, and she looked back up at him with a cheery smile.

He hesitantly smiled back, moving a little closer. "What is it?" He asked softly in response.

"This is Wassail," the girl replied, giving the pot another stir, "this one is for the kids, but on the other side of the table there's one made with alcohol."

Snuffy tilted his head in question, prompting her to continue, "it's apple cider with honey and a bunch of spices. It's really good for warming up, and it's really sweet."

Well, the dragon didn't have to be asked twice when it came to sweet things made with apples, and his tail swished in excitement as the girl handed him a wooden mug filled with the drink, offering him another smile as she did so.

Snuffy spent a good amount of time just enjoying the smell, remembering Hilda's baking sitting out on the window sill in summer. He turned to comment on the memory, but found the woman no longer at his side. He startled, more than he cared to admit, looking for her, until the girl simply pointed in the direction over his shoulder.

Turning, he saw Hilda standing next to the stew pot they had brought, stirring and adding last-minute spices.

Right. All of the food for the feast was being blessed for the gods, and everyone was putting their best cooking forward to bring a bountiful new year. There had been a ceremony earlier in the day for a sacrifice, a goat being ritually dressed and led through town before being killed in the name of the gods. Part of that offering too was now roasting, being readied for the feast they were about to have.

Not to mention, Hilda had lots of other people she wanted to see tonight, too. Holding the mug protectively, (perhaps tighter than normal,) he wandered back over to her slowly, watching her chat with other older townsfolk. But the second she looked up to see the dragon, her face lit up and she waved him over.

"I see you found the sweets right away," Hilda teased. Snuffy offered a mildly embarrassed smile, and his ears bent down, but he knew she was happy to see him trying something new.

"Did you want one?" He asked, watching the other townsfolk wander away again, over to the tables.

Hilda merely waved him off, "No, no, I'll get something to drink a little later. It's just good to see you enjoying yourself. I really do want you to have fun tonight." She spoke with a warm smile, and he settled himself next to her in the snow, sitting and lightly waving his tail, watching the town.

It was a peaceful night; the sky almost on fire with glowing stars. The dancing bonfire lights reflected against the snow and ornaments, bouncing around the town merrily. There were some more children a little ways off, having a snowball fight.

Someone dropped something itchy over his ears.

His head darted around, moving much faster than he would have intended, to see the girl from the Wassail cauldron standing next to him with her hands out but empty.

Her face was red with embarrassment, but thankfully, she didn't look scared.

"Sorry," she stammered, "I thought you might want something festive to wear too…"

Snuffy's face tilted again, and he reached up to lift the thing from his head - it was a wreath, like he had seen some of the others wearing. Carefully braided branches of holly and pine, tied with the same red and gold flowers, which turned out to be made of fabric.

He smiled back at the girl again, carefully placing the wreath back on and balancing it between his ears.

It fit perfectly.

"You just surprised me a little," he admitted with a shrug. "I'm not usually so easy to sneak up on."

The girl beamed, swinging her arms slightly, which waved the bottom hem of her long red dress. "Good then. I hope you have fun tonight! I'm really excited for fruitcake!"

His ears twitched up again in excitement, and Hilda gave him a light clap on the back, "cake is for after dinner."

Snuffy responded to her quip by sticking out his tongue playfully.

He trailed along behind Hilda for the most part; there were, of course, lots of wintery things to taste and smell, and a handful of people exchanging gifts and other displays of affection. At one point, Snuffy shyly asked Hilda if they could get one of the little knitted bears on display, so he could give it to the Wassail girl as a thank-you.

The dragon spent a long time just staring up into the night, marveling at the dancing colors that the town was dressed in. There were little lights of every color spilling over windows and along houses, twinkling and chasing each other like snow-pixies in the night.

As he wandered behind Hilda, the warm smells of roasted meat and hearty spices filled the air. All around, offerings were left on little altars or hung on evergreen trees. Candles flickered as some humans knelt to pray.

At one point, they came up to a small group of people before the fire, singing merrily. Though he didn't know the words, Snuffy's tail began to sway lightly to the melody.  He closed his eyes and let everything wash over him, then.

The night was crisp and cold, but the glow of the little town felt warm against Snuffy’s soul. This would be nice, after all.

The little town had welcomed the dragon with open arms.

With Hilda’s hand on his back, Snuffy took a seat at the long table, and took a deep sip of his Wassail, smiling.

[yorprincess]

When the man at the door finally moved, entering the premises and shutting the door with a quiet click, Yor felt her shoulder ease and bit back a wince as the pain roiled through her once more. Slowly, she eased her arm back into the sling and breathed subtly through the pain. It wouldn't do to pass out in front of an ally, especially one still holding onto his gun like he was going to draw it at a second's notice.

But his voice caused her to tense once more. It didn't sound normal. Though why should it, she thought. He's a spy and hiding things about himself was par the course. After all, his attire - while showing off his tall frame - hardly gave away much. His hair and eyes were covered, his face was obscured by fabric, and he wore gloves and boots... all concealing the man underneath. She could probably identify his shoe size and height, but there was no way of knowing if those boots were a size bigger than he usually wore or if they were somehow internally platformed to give him extra centimeters of height. He towered over her and the Director and with the way he moved, he was probably deadly fast.

"Of course," McMahon began, releasing his weapon and holding out his arms in a gesture of peace. "You may call me the Director and this is my colleague Thorn Princess. We are members of Garden, and are hoping for your assistance if you are able to help us."

The world was starting to spin - probably a side effect of the adrenaline wearing off, the pain, and her forgetting to eat - and Yor felt her head droop slightly. Taking a steadying breath, she forced herself to walk towards the kitchen once more. McMahon nodded as she made her way to the entryway, though she didn't turn her back completely to Agent Twilight. There was a chair within line of sight of the door and she sat down in it with a quiet sigh. Rolling her good shoulder she adjusted the ice on her left to get a bit more relief while listening to McMahon explain what was going on.

"I'm not sure how in touch with the ongoing of the underworld you are, Agent, so I'll briefly explain. A mob kingpin has put a hit out on all Garden members, but the only one they have the physical description of, currently, is that of our Thorn Princess. A few weeks ago, there was a skirmish between Garden and this kingpin's forces, leaving many dead and her injured," McMahon's voice turned grave and Yor could feel his eyes on her. Slowly she lifted her head to meet his hidden eyes. She couldn't quite read his expression, but there was a sadness in his long face, reminding her of Bond when he pouted or the Basset Hound that the Forger Hound enjoyed playing with on occasion at the dog park. "She barely got out alive and still requires care. I have arranged for her to travel to a sanctuary, but since the enemy knows her face, we - my superior and I - are hesitant to move her. You were recommended by a contact of mine due to your expertise in disguise... if you are willing to assist of course. If not, the door is there and we'll find another way."

Yor couldn't help how her eyes blew wide at that last statement. Agent Twilight, a foreign spy, had seen their faces and McMahon was just... ready to let him go if he wasn't going to provide assistance?

IS HE OUT OF HIS DAMN MIND? Were things so dire that he was willing to risk their location getting leaked? Or did her director not think he would survive this encounter? After all, Agent Twilight's hand was still very much on his gun while he had discarded his weapon as a sign of peace.

"D-director!" She stammered, voice still hoarse, but clear.

"We can't lose you too, Thorn Princess," McMahon stated firmly, albeit sadly, though he hadn't moved from his spot near the door.

But that didn't make any damn sense at all. She was a foot soldier in this war. So why the hell was her life being prioritized? Being sent away to heal only made slightly more sense than just having her vanish into oblivion. She should be on the front line with her director and the other comrades-in-arms of Garden. And yet, here she was, wasting away because of an injury.

She would have argued the point if everything didn't hurt so much. Because when it came down to everything, McMahon was right. She wasn't able to do much in this state and desperately needed to recover before she could begin to think about lending her stilettos to the fray. And she needed to show a unified front with her Director. Maybe it would help convince this new potential ally to lend his expertise.

Slowly, she nodded. The sooner she recovered, the sooner she could fight and go home. Just like she wanted to.

She turned her gaze back to Agent Twilight, scrutinizing him with narrowed eyes. Her expression morphed into something more akin to Thorn Princess, leaving the broken Yor Forger behind. The spy before her wasn't a target, but he certainly could become a hindrance if he chose to betray them.

And waited for his answer.

The gun teased the outlines of his flesh, demanding for his grip to tighten on the metal handle as calloused palms tingled with a buried itch within its deep crevices, begging to get scratched.

His leftover ripples of self constraint fought against a tremor in his index finger. It cajoled him into finding the trigger, which wasn't far from his balled fist.

It called to him. Sang to him like a siren leading his index to extend lightly in a lazy daze, guided by an invisible force he was neither too aware of nor too eager to fight if he noticed it. He might have actually found a home on the trigger if it wasn't for his brain zapping a command down his hand to sheath it back on the handle.

What the hell did he to do her?

The ground underneath his feet felt unsteady. The only thing that kept the room from spinning was the weapon in his hand, its weight having somehow doubled for the purpose of maintaining his balance. In many ways it was the only thing that kept him back from howling at the director and whisking his wife home after putting a couple of bullets through his head and between his ribs for good measure.

Disguise be damned, his suspicions were proven true and he loathed every single thought that popped in his head with suggestions that made his skin crawl with tiny ants running amok beneath his skin.

If only he'd acted quicker! If only he'd found her faster! If only he- What the HELL did he do to YOR?!

Why was her arm in a sling? What other injuries did she have that he couldn't see? And did he want to know about them?

But not just that -

The light from her face - the very warmth he'd grown so accustomed and even fond of - had been snuffed out. Gone like the light of a candle. Leaving nothing but a cold, damp and dark sigh in the aftermath of a lost present that had become a memory too soon.

That wasn't his Yor, and yet, it was, without a doubt, her. He didn't know what it was, but it broke something within him and he wasn't sure how long his gun would stay locked at his hip.

His hand was shaking. Both of them did.

Thank goodness his mortification was hidden behind the mask and goggles. He stiffened when she called to him, but it was welcomed, because it snapped him out of his daze. Blinking eyes washed some of the red from his view as he tried to remember the reason why he was there.

Right. Answers. But did he want to bother with them at that point? The only reason why he was pointing his gun at McMahon was due to him having stepped so close to her with a gun mirrored at his hip. The only exception was that the safety was on and the grip on it was laxed. What did that mean...? Was it part of a ploy or was he an amateur? Whatever it was, Twilight was there as... Twilight. Blowing his cover might cost Loid Forger too much, too quickly. But Twilight could negotiate her freedom first before he decided on anything drastic.

His inhale was deep, but subtle, masked by the way he'd reached for the door to close it behind him as he stepped into the room. It darkened with the soft click of the knob. His eyes behind the goggles barely blinked, and it barely if ever left them. This might be a trap, but he couldn't make such a haste assumption just yet. (no matter how tempted he was)

Gloved hand dove in his pocket and out he fished a small piece of paper with the transcribed message in the old ostanian encryption. Fingers unfolded the paper and displayed the message that he raised at the level of his ear.

"Explain."

Twilight's voice thundered in a deep and distorted growl caused by a voice modifier he'd attached against his throat - an invention curtesy of Franky. An explanation of the message was important for WISE, but his intentions were far removed from the organization. Though he held the paper up with a clear hint that his request be honored on behalf of it, his order was a mercy in regards to the woman who's figure didn't waver from his sight.

[bumbleklee]

labor and delivery

masterlist | 1k prompt masterlist | pregnancy series

pairings: diluc, kaeya, childe and zhongli x female!reader (separate)

warnings: pregnancy, labor/birth, 5.2k words

a/n: congratulations, you’re a mother <3

diluc

Instead of feeling anxious about your due date being days away, you felt at peace. And it felt like the world was at peace, too. The sun illuminated your kitchen, warm beams of light caressing your body. You could hear birds chirping outside and the stray cat you fed was sitting on a barrel next to the window.

You contemplated going outside to bask in the breeze but opted to stay inside. Despite your pleasant mood, you couldn’t help but feel like something was going to happen today. Your mind pondered the possibilities, skipping over the most obvious one.

Diluc was still asleep when you climbed out of bed. Some of the Knights kept him at the tavern extra late so you decided to let him rest.

You stood in front of the counter of your kitchen and reached up to pull a mug off a shelf. You had been drinking tea for the majority of your pregnancy and you couldn’t wait until you could finally have a mug of coffee again. You hummed to yourself as you filled the kettle with water and placed it on the stove.

A sudden, abrupt feeling hit your body like a ton of bricks. The feeling made your body jerk and a gasp left your lips, your hand instinctively covering your baby bump. Your other hand swept across the counter and knocked the ceramic mug onto the ground, leaving the porcelain to break into a million pieces.

Your midwife had described that leading up to the birth of the twins, you might feel braxton hicks. But something inside of you was telling you that this wasn’t just braxton hicks.

And your fears were correct when you felt something warm and wet running down your legs.

You screamed for your husband, panic rising up your throat. The comforting morning you had was thrown out the window as another contraction hit your body. “This can’t be happening,” You said to yourself. You were afraid to move, afraid to do anything, so all you could is yell for Diluc and pray that he heard you.

When Diluc finally heard you calling his name, he shot out of bed. He didn’t even bother to put proper clothes or shoes on, running down the stairs in his pajama set.

“Hey, hey,” Diluc said, shock and confusion written all over his face. “What’s going on?”

“The babies,” You breathed out, “I think they’re coming.”

You watched as the color drained from Diluc’s face. You weren’t supposed to have the twins for another few days. Nothing was set up and Diluc had even given his staff the weekend off. “Oh my god. Oh my god. What should we do? What should I do?”

Another contraction hit before you could answer, sending Diluc into another fit of hysteria. “You need to go into town and get my midwife,” You shakily said, “Like, now.”

“And leave you alone? Oh god, what if you give birth right here?”

You stepped closer to Diluc and pulled on his arms, guiding his hands to your baby bump. “I need you to focus. We can’t have both of us freaking out, okay?” Your husband nodded. “Everything is going to be fine but you need to get my midwife.”

Diluc nodded his head again, more firmly this time. His shaky hands led you to the couch where he knew you would be safe. He pressed a kiss to your forehead and bolted out the door, leaving you alone.

At the sound of the front door closing, you couldn’t stop the tears welling in your eyes. You knew Diluc would be back with your midwife and everything would be fine, like you said moments before, but you couldn’t stop the sheer terror that was creeping through your bones. Were you ready to be a mother? Could you give your babies the life they deserve? Too many questions flooded your mind and for the first time in months, you cried.

They return home within an hour and by then your tears have dried up. You were trying to focus on your breathing instead.

Diluc rushed to you, grateful that you were where he left you. “Is everything okay?” He asked quietly upon seeing your puffy eyes and red cheeks.

You forced a smile onto your lips and nodded, “Everything’s okay.”

“Where are we having this baby?” Your midwife said, interrupting the moment between you and Diluc. He stood up straight and motioned to the stairs.

“The bedroom,” He told her. Your midwife headed upstairs, pulling a rolling chest behind her, and Diluc helped you stand up. His fingers squeezed your hips, “Ready to have a baby?”

You threw your head over your shoulder, “Two babies, ‘Luc.”

For a moment, Diluc’s calm demeanor vanished and you swore you could see a spark of panic in his eyes. But your husband instead just smiled sweetly and helped you walk up the stairs.

Labor was not what you expected. You assumed that when your water broke, you would have your babies moments after but as you laid in the middle of your bed, you realized that wasn’t the case here. Contractions still hit your body every now and then but you were able to rest and even distract yourself from them.

“I’m bored,” You complained to Diluc, nuzzling closer to his warm body beside you.

“Do you want to play a card game?” Diluc asked. When you looked up to give him a deadpanned look, he put his hands up in defense. “What about a book?”

“Are you trying to make me even more bored?”

You wished you were able to leave the bed but as instructed by your midwife, you were on bed rest until the twins were born. Your midwife entered the bedroom again to check you and only gave you a sympathetic smile, “Four centimeters. We’ve got to get you up to ten.”

You groaned and threw your head back onto the pillow.

Your midwife left the room again and you sat up (as much as you could). You turned your body awkwardly so you could face Diluc, “Who do you think is going to come first?”

Diluc thought for a moment, “I think Clara will.”

You nodded in agreement, “One of the twins is super active and the other isn’t. I bet it’s Clara. She’s going to be fiery just like you.”

Around midnight your midwife checked you once more. Finally, you were almost ten centimeters dilated. Diluc moved off the bed and pulled up a chair next to it, instantly taking your hand in his. There was another twenty minutes before you felt a contraction that wracked your body. Your hand squeezed Diluc’s so hard he let out a yelp.

Your midwife sprung into action. She was at the foot of the bed in seconds, ready to guide you through the process. “Legs up, good, now just focus on me, okay? When you feel this next contraction, you’re going to push.”

Your chest was rapidly rising and falling and Diluc rubbed your thumb with his. And just like your midwife said, when the next contraction hit your body, you pushed.

The pain that ripped through your body was unlike anything you had felt before. It clouded your vision and you thought you couldn’t breathe. “You’re doing great,” Your midwife assured you, “Once the head is out, the baby will slide out like butter.”

Out of curiosity, Diluc poked his head around the corner of the bed.

And what a horrible decision that was.

“Oh my god,” Diluc mumbled, his face turning pale again. The grip around your hand became loose until his hand fully let go of yours. You heard a thump on the wooden floors and your mouth dropped.

Your midwife stared at your unconscious husband for a moment. “He can wait,” She decided, turning back to you. Your eyes squeezed shut in pain and you gripped the bedsheet beside you. “I see a head,” She smiled. “Ready again?”

You nodded your head before taking in a deep breath and pushing again. But there was no going back now and within moments of that push, you heard the little cries of a newborn baby. You wanted to stop and admire your baby but a gasp made you remember you weren’t done.

“What’s going on?” Diluc said groggily, finally standing off the floor. He was rubbing his head and froze when he saw the mess on the bed.

“Don’t pass out again,” Your midwife said sternly, “You have a daughter to clean up.”

Daughter. Clara was born first like you and Diluc said. Your vision was blurry from tears, the sight of Diluc and Clara distorted.

“Almost there,” Your midwife told you. After a few more minutes of strenuous pushing, relief flooded the lower half of your body. “And there he is.”

You tried to sit up but you were too weak. Two sets of cries could be heard and right now, that was music to your ears. Your son was placed on your chest and soon followed by your daughter. Your arms folded around them. Your midwife smiled as she cleaned up as much as she could before leaving the room to give you and Diluc some privacy.

“You did it,” Diluc said. He was in awe and couldn’t believe this was real life. The babies had tufts of red hair like himself but their nose was yours. Diluc wished he could photograph the sight in front of him. This was the start of your family.

kaeya

When Kaeya woke up in the early hours of the morning, he didn’t understand why at first. The night was peaceful and the bed was more than comfortable. His eyes ghosted to the side to see you still fast asleep. The blanket was pulled up beneath your chin and silent breaths left your mouth. It was only when Kaeya shifted did he realize why he woke up.

The sheets were soaking wet, especially from your side of the bed.

Kaeya’s hands gently shook you awake and you groaned, slowly opening your eyes. “Love, I think you had an accident.”

It took you a moment to register Kaeya’s face in the dark. “What are you talking about?” You asked before feeling the wet sheets yourself. An embarrassed fluster crept onto your cheeks but before you could say anything, a pain crashed down on your body.

“What’s going on?” Kaeya asked, immediately alert to your sudden movement.

“I think my water broke,” You said quietly, rubbing your stomach to try and soothe the ache that was growing. “Kaeya, it’s starting to hurt.”

“What is?” He was on his feet now, running to the other side of the bed to help you sit up. “Is it the baby?”

“I don’t know,” You answered, “I think so. It hurts here.” You motioned to the area underneath your baby bump and frowned. Kaeya helped you get out of bed and change clothes.

“Can you walk?” You nodded. There were spouts of pain with periods of calmness and you were ready to take advantage of those. You and Kaeya weren’t sure what to do. Fortunately, you had set up the guest bedroom a week ago. Unfortunately, your midwife was out of town this week.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen until next week,” You said, your voice shaking, “I don’t want to have the baby yet.”

Kaeya chuckled, “That’s not an option.”

Still dazed from your sleep, Kaeya led you to the guest bedroom and you sat on the edge of the bed. Your husband stripped the sheets off the other bed while you rested. Slowly, the fact you were going to have a baby that day was creeping into your mind. You were ready, you knew you were, but the thought was still scary. And your midwife wasn’t around.

Kaeya came back to the bedroom and rubbed your back comfortingly. You were still sitting on the edge of the bed, stiff as a board, eyes squeezing shut and your body tensing when a contraction hit.

“Can you do it yourself?”

His words made you look up in shock. Your husband couldn’t be suggesting you give birth without a guide, right? But when Kaeya looked back at you with a serious look, you felt your stomach drop.

“Look,” Kaeya took your hand in his, “Your midwife is out of town this week and I don’t know anyone else in Mondstadt who knows how to deliver a baby. You read books on childbirth, you’ll know what to do.”

You sucked in a deep breath. He was right - you did read a lot about labor and delivery. It would be hard without anyone there to help you but if your baby was coming, your baby was coming. Kaeya continued to rub your back as you contemplated your decision.

“I’ll do it,” You said, “But I need Jean.”

“What?”

“She’s my best friend. If I can’t have my midwife, then I want Jean.”

Kaeya knew it was useless to argue with you and the quicker he got Jean, the quicker you could get on with the process of labor.

“Alright, alright,” He said, defeated, “But don’t move.”

You promised him and Kaeya left to retrieve Jean. Alone in the house, you wandered the halls. Surprisingly, stretching your legs helped the pain slightly. You stopped outside of the door to your daughter’s nursery. There was a ‘C’ on the door and when you pushed the door open, you were met with a pastel pink wonderland.

There were photos of The Knights of Favonius on the walls and gifts from them littered the room. There was a stuffed rabbit from Amber and handmade clothes from Lisa. Even Diluc had gifted your baby a set of wooden blocks.

Your hand rubbed your baby bump gently, “Soon,” You said aloud. “Soon we’ll meet each other.”

The door to your house opened quickly and inside rushed Jean and Kaeya. Your husband frowned at the sight of you in the nursery and put his hands on his hips, “You promised me you wouldn’t leave the guest room.”

You only shrugged your shoulders and smiled.

Jean looked disheveled. She was wearing her pajamas and her hair was down from her usual ponytail. But she wore a look of determination on her face and you knew you needed her by your side throughout everything.

Once you were back in bed, your labor progressed quickly. The time between your contractions was becoming shorter and shorter and it was hard to catch your breath. Sharp pains were rocketing down your spine and bubbling in your abdomen and you didn’t know how you were going to survive this.

“Just breathe,” Jean said. She didn’t know anything about childbirth but when Kaeya came banging on her door in a panic, she knew you needed her.

Since you were in charge of your own delivery, you had to check yourself often. It was becoming increasingly harder to do but you knew it was important. “I'm seven centimeters,” You told your company. When they looked at you with a blank expression, you said, “It’s going to happen soon.”

Kaeya whispered affirmations in your ear, trying to distract you from the pain as you waited around. Jean brought you a cold washcloth and placed it on your forehead. You sighed in relief and leaned back against the mountain of pillows. While Jean looked at the various things scattered around the room, Kaeya leaned closer to your face.

“You’re a warrior,” He told you, his forehead almost touching yours. “We’re almost there. Just think about holding little Calla.”

You groaned as another contraction hit your body. “It just hurts so much.”

“I know, I know,” Kaeya pressed a kiss to your nose. You closed your eyes and tried to think about something relaxing. You knew you wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, not with contractions wracking your body every few minutes at least.

For a while, you stayed like that. Jean and Kaeya talked quietly about work in the background, pausing to look at you when a contraction hit, and birds were beginning to chirp from outside. You imagined holding baby Calla in your arms with Kaeya beside you. He would be mesmerized by your daughter and you would be so, so in love. And maybe there would be more children down the road. A nice, big family with Kaeya sounded beautiful.

You were ripped from your daydream when a horrible contraction hit your body. It was unlike the others and your legs went numb. Kaeya was by your side in an instant, noticing the change in your reaction.

A sudden urge to push overwhelmed your body. “I can’t do it,” You cried out, your hands trying to find something to grasp onto. Tears were streaming down your face and Kaeya’s heart sank. He hated seeing you like this, especially since the cause of your sadness was from your own fears.

But instead of Kaeya speaking up, Jean rested her hands gently on yours. “Look at me,” She said softly. You sniffled and turned to face your friend, “You can do this. You’re ready and you’re strong. The pain is temporary but you’ll have your baby forever.”

You nodded your head furiously and tried to zone into yourself. You repeated what your childbirth books said, waiting to push until you felt a contraction. Jean rushed around the room and Kaeya held your hand despite you crushing it.

“Is that her head?” Kaeya asked quickly, peering over your legs. He grinned and turned back to you, “Almost there! You got this!”

You had to take a pause to take a deep breath. You felt like there was water in your lungs and you wondered how a human body could endure this much pain. When the next contraction hit, you pushed as hard as you could and squeezed down onto Kaeya’s hand.

A rush of relief washed over your body like a tsunami. You were quick to reach down and pick up your baby, mouth agape that you did that all by yourself. The room was filled with silence until it wasn’t, a tiny cry breaking the air.

Jean handed you a fluffy towel and you quickly wrapped Calla in it, wiping her eyes and nose. “Congratulations,” She said softly, “She’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.” The words tumbled from your mouth in a whisper.

Kaeya kissed your forehead, “I’m so proud of you.”

childe

“She’s nesting,” Zhongli said matter-of-factly, “Like an animal.”

Truthfully, you were nesting. You wouldn’t call it nesting, of course, but the way you were arranging your birthing room was eerily similar. Your baby was due any day now and you were getting anxious about things being perfect. Your midwife had already come by to set up her things and now it was time to set up your things.

A photo of you and Childe sat on the end table, next to a copy of your latest ultrasound. Three of Childe’s sweaters were thrown over the back of the bed and when Childe asked why you needed three, you couldn’t give him a final answer.

After putting a candle down on the adjacent end table, you proudly rejoined the men in the living room.

“How’s the nest coming, Birdie?” Childe grinned, moving over so you could sit beside him.

You rolled your eyes at your boyfriend, “It’s coming along great, thank you very much.”

Childe laughed and wrapped his arm around you. You were content, feeling calm and secure in the moment. You were ready to have your baby and you refused to let it consume you. You were lost in your thoughts when Childe shook you back to reality.

“Are you peeing on me?” He asked, a confused look on his face.

“What?” You exclaimed, looking down. Your pants were soaked from something, darkening them as well as the couch. You felt a sharp pain in your abdomen and your hand raced out to hold your baby bump, “Whoa, he just kicked me hard.”

Childe raised an eyebrow at your weird behavior. “Are you okay?”

You nodded and stood up, looking at the mess you made. “Sorry, I’ll get a towel,” You said. Zhongli paid no mind, trying to understand that you were a heavily pregnant woman, while Childe continued to tease you from down the hall.

You reached for the towel in the bathroom and were met with another pain. You rubbed your belly, “It’s okay, Nikolai.”

Heading back to the living room, you wore a frown on your face. “Is everything okay?” Childe asked, taking the towel from you. His jokes had died off and him and Zhongli were looking at you with concern.

“Um, I don’t think I peed myself,” You said quietly, “I don’t feel good.”

Childe jumped to his feet, “What’s wrong?” His hand came up to caress your cheek as he watched you, trying to see if something was physically wrong. “Are you hurting?”

You managed a nod before another contraction hit your body. You gasped and held onto the bed of the couch for support. “That really hurt.”

Thankfully Zhongli was a man with common sense. “Are you going into labor?” He asked, reaching out to hold onto your arms. “Where does it hurt?”

“Here,” You said, pointing to your stomach.

Zhongli nodded firmly, “I see. Are you expecting a midwife?”

“We are,” Childe answered, running a hand through his hair. “Zhongli, can you stay here while I run and grab her?”

“Certainly.”

Childe turned to look at you and cupped your face again, “Don’t stress, okay? Zhongli is going to be right here if anything happens. I’ll be back in no time.” Your boyfriend ran out the front door and you collapsed down onto the couch, breathing hard.

“Can I get you anything?” Zhongli asked, unsure of what to do. “Water?”

“I’m good,” You said, clenching your teeth. “Can you help me get to the bedroom?”

Zhongli nodded and you held onto his arm. You were trying to regulate your breathing but it was coming out in rough, short breaths instead. You stopped in your tracks when the pain came back, flowering itself inside of you. You groaned and leaned forward, Zhongli needed to wrap his arm around you to steady you.

He helped you in the bed and you instantly grabbed one of Childe’s sweatshirts off the bed. You hugged the fabric tightly and inhaled the comforting scent of your boyfriend. Zhongli paced the room, getting more concerned when your pain was only increasing.

But, thankfully, Childe and your midwife returned home quickly. Zhongli wished you the best and took his leave. You were still holding onto Childe’s sweatshirt.

Your midwife checked you and you were only three centimeters dilated. “I think this is going to be a slow process,” She said sympathetically, “Is there anything you want to do in the meantime?”

“Can I take a bath?” You asked, your ears perking up.

She nodded, “Just call for me if needed.”

Childe helped you out of the bed and kissed the top of your head before helping you to the bathroom. He filled the bath and stripped your clothes, helping you into the tub. Childe sat on the toilet, an excited grin on his face.

“What are you smiling about?” You asked, a smile creeping onto your lips too.

“Just thinking about how we’ll have a baby to hold tonight,” He said. “Teucer is going to be so excited when he hears.”

You hummed in response and leaned back, submerging your body fully in the water. Surprisingly, being in the water helped with your pain. You still felt contractions but they weren’t as breathtaking in the bath. You stayed in the bath for what seemed like hours.

Suddenly, something snapped inside of you. “Oh, shit,” You cried out, hunching forward. “Get the midwife, Childe!”

Your boyfriend shot off his feet to grab your midwife while you cried out again. She hurried into the bathroom and bent down to you. “I’m going to check you.” Her face paled slightly after removing her fingers, “You need to give birth now.”

“What?” You nearly screamed, “Right now?”

“The bath must have sped up the process,” Your midwife explained. You looked at Childe and panic coursed through your eyes. You tried to sit up straight, ready to get out of the bath, but your midwife stopped you. “There’s really no time to dry off and move to the bed. You’ll have to give birth here.”

Your eyes widened, “But I’m in the bath!”

“It’s safest this way,” She said. Your midwife instructed Childe to get some things and when he came back, he sat by the edge of the tub and held your hand. “You’ll need to push the next time you feel a contraction.”

A feeling of upset was bubbling in your throat, “But...but everything is in the bedroom.” You thought about the photos and the candle and the sweatshirts and felt tears welling in your eyes. You wanted to have your baby in the bedroom, not here.

Childe kissed your fingertips, catching your attention. “I’m sorry this wasn’t your plan,” He said, “But you need to listen to your midwife. You want to meet Nikolai, right?”

You nodded, a few tears falling loose. “I do,” You said.

“Then let’s have a baby.”

Childe wrapped his hand tightly around yours and interlocked your fingers. He squeezed it comfortingly and didn’t even flinch when your contraction hit and you nearly broke his fingers. You let out a string of curses, mostly towards Childe, and pushed.

“This sucks! This really sucks!” You cried out, wondering how you were going to get through this.

“You can do it!” Childe assured you.

“Almost there,” Your midwife said, “I see the head.”

It took one more contraction for your son to be born. Immediately, he was placed on your chest and you had to shake your head to focus on reality. “Oh my god,” You muttered, turning to look at Childe. He was grinning ear to ear.

Your midwife wrapped the baby in a towel, cleaning his nose and mouth, before handing him to Childe. She helped you get out of the bath and you almost fell over, your legs feeling like jelly. She wrapped a bigger towel around you and as you gazed behind her, all you could see was the beautiful way Childe looked down at your son.

zhongli

“Watch out, pregnant woman coming through!”

Xinqiu and Xiangling held onto your arms as Chongyun cleared a path through the crowd. Like usual, the teenagers were being your honorary protectors while Zhongli was at work. They took you to the Wanmin Restaurant and Xiangling disappeared momentarily to bring out platters of food.

Your midwife told you that it was best for you to stay home, since your due date was at the end of the week, but you thought one last outing with the kids couldn’t hurt.

“You’re getting bigger each time you come around,” Chef Mao called through the opening of the storefront.

You laughed, “Well, I’m almost at term!”

Xiangling piled your plate high with food, “More for the baby.” Frankly, it was nice being pampered by the teenagers like this. They were selfless, especially towards your unborn baby, and everyday they surprised you.

You were shoving a dumpling in your mouth when an odd feeling struck your abdomen and water gushed onto your pants, the seat, and the ground. Based on your facial expression, the kids knew something was wrong.

“What’s happening?” Xinqiu asked.

“I think my water just broke,” You told him, groaning as a harsh pain swept over you.

“Oh, no.”

In that moment, you were reminded that despite their maturity, they were still children. Panic spread throughout the three of them and they began debating what to do with you.

“Let’s bring her to the infirmary!” Xiangling argued.

“Why would we do that? Let’s bring her home!” Xingqiu shot back.

You held back another groan, “Guys, don’t fight about this.”

But they didn’t seem to hear you. Chongyun’s eyes flickered back and forth before running a hand through his hair, “I think you should bring Y/N home and I’ll get Zhongli.”

“We need to go now,” You said. Xiangling and Xingqiu held onto your arms like before and immediately started towards your house. Chongyun took off in the opposite direction. “Fuck, this hurts,” You muttered, stopping to ride out a contraction. “Excuse my language.”

“It’s okay, we know you’re in pain,” Xiangling says.

Finally, the teenagers get you home and you sit down on the couch. You would wait to move to the bedroom when Zhongli came home. You breathed deeply and Xinqiu spoke up, “Look on the bright side, it’s only going to get worse from here. So this can’t be that bad, right?”

Xiangling glared daggers at him, “I thought you were smart.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at their banter. The pain you were experiencing was worse than anything you had ever felt in your life but with the kids nearby, the pain was bearable. They would make great siblings to your daughter.

Chongyun and Zhongli burst through the front door, startling you. Your midwife was right behind them. Your head was hanging low and you were clenching your jaw each time a contraction hit. His large hands rested on your back and he rubbed your shoulders, “Thank you, kids. I’ve got it from here.”

“Good luck!” Xiangling beamed before ushering the two boys out the door with her.

Zhongli lifted you up by your shoulders and his heart nearly broke when he saw your face. Your eyes were wet and puffy and your nose was already stuffy. Any calmness you had was gone as pure panic and pain overtook your senses.

“Can you stand?” He asked, wanting to move you to the bedroom. You shook your head and Zhongli managed to pick up your body, carrying you to the bedroom. He helped you change before you climbed into the bed, feeling dazed and scared at the same time.

Your body felt weak and you hadn’t even begun giving birth. Your midwife was talking to you but you couldn’t seem to pay attention.

“I’ll need your help,” She said to Zhongli, “You’ll need to grab her leg and hold it steady.” He nodded and did as told. Your midwife grabbed your other leg and you barely looked up. You could feel the pain and you knew what was going on, but you couldn’t comprehend it. The pain was unbearable but you did what your body was telling you.

A gasp left your mouth and Zhongli said something to you. There was pressure and pain, a lot of pain, and then suddenly it was gone. The last thing you saw before your vision went black was the blurry silhouette of your baby.

When you came to, the room was quiet. Your eyes adjusted to the light and you looked around before stopping on your husband. Zhongli sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the bedroom, holding a little bundle in your arms.

“Hey,” You said, your voice hoarse and low. Zhongli looked up and immediately came over to you. Without words, your baby was placed in your arms. “She’s so tiny.”

“I was so worried,” Zhongli said, brushing your hair back to press a kiss to your forehead. “How do you feel?”

“Sore and tired and achy.”

Zhongli slid into the bed next to you and wrapped his arms around your frame, leaning his chin on your shoulder. “She has your nose,” He whispered. Despite having a traumatic labor, it was all worth it.

[softinkshadows]

㊙️Secret facts㊙️, or Things the JJK sorcerers would rather die than tell anyone (*ノ▽ノ)

Headcanons, crack edition, of our favourite sorcerers! (partly in homage to @snk-headcanons)

Some extensive contextual references to both the anime and manga ahead ~

----

Itadori Yuuji

Itadori has had a six pack since elementary school. He has also remained at the bottom of his cohort for academic grades since elementary school. Itadori isn’t actually good at cooking; meatballs are his only specialty. His wardrobe only contains hoodies. Itadori really ate his boogers as a kid. Itadori is so bad at reading cursed energy he still can’t tell the difference between a curse and a sorcerer. Nanami once asked him if he considered therapy. Itadori’s favourite mode of transport is Fushiguro’s demon dogs. On some days, Itadori thinks Fushiguro looks better than Jennifer Lawrence. 

Megumi Fushiguro

Fushiguro once tried to pick up smoking in middle school. He gave up because he was irritated at how popular it became amongst his schoolmates when he did. He has a drawer full of un-replied confession letters. Fushiguro can’t sleep without a bolster (he gets touchy in his sleep). Fushiguro cuts his own hair. His go-to drink is strawberry milk. Fushiguro is so unused to smiling he practices in front of his room mirror before giving up. In reality, when he’s genuinely happy his eyelashes grow by 3 centimeters. On some days, Fushiguro admits that Itadori is the person he will always count on to save him.  

Nobara Kugisaki

Nobara likes to dress up in her room and pretend to be a cover girl or fashion model. She once found Inumaki-senpai attractive. But this was probably because he was quiet. Nobara actually got lost in Harajuku station before meeting Itadori and Fushiguro for the first time. Nobara only processes emotions by yelling. Nobara does not feel pain. Ever since arriving in Tokyo, she has been scouted for several television shows. They were all makeover specials. Nobara has a personal grudge against the mirror in Shibuya’s UNIQLO store. She has a private photo folder in her phone dedicated to snaps of city lights, skyscrapers and Maki.  

Inumaki Toge

Inumaki likes to visit convenience stores to look for new onigiri flavours. He assigns expletives to a different flavour every week, and enjoys swearing at others without them realizing. His uniform collar serves a dual purpose of concealment when he sticks his tongue out at people he doesn’t like. Inumaki likes flirting. Inumaki secretly stocks up Yuta-senpai’s favourite snacks just before he returns from missions. Inumaki longs to be kissed (on his beautiful, cursed mouth). He keeps a written diary of things people say to him and and things he would like to say back to them. Inumaki’s favourite verb is “susumu” (keep going). 

Panda

Panda is intrigued by meat, particularly fried chicken, even if they cannot eat it. Panda does not like cooked vegetables. Panda gets PR packages from apparel and household brands with panda designs; they do monthly unboxing videos for over a million subscribers. Panda’s favourite tv shows are Oprah and Japanese crime dramas. Panda reads religious texts on Shintoism in their free time. Panda’s third core is a koala. 

Maki Zenin

Maki once lost her glasses at a party and almost burned down an entire restaurant to look for it. Maki does not like spicy food because it makes her blush. Maki giggles at memes. She has timed crying breaks in the bathroom. Maki secretly names her cursed tools after her favourite celebrities. Maki always buys herself two birthday cake slices. 

Aoi Todo 

Todo drinks protein shakes more often than he would like to admit. He has never won Maki in an arm wrestling match. Todo’s IQ fluctuates between 80 and 155. He has only been part of Takada-chan’s fan club for 6 months. 80% of Todo’s memory is fabricated fantasy. Todo’s teary face has made both children and grown men cry, out of fear. His dream is to open a pancake house. 

Ijichi Kiyotaka

Despite his looks, Ijichi is skilled in Jujitsu and Aikido. He pre-orders extra sets of Itadori’s uniform every month. He has at least 3 Fast and Furious movie posters in his bedroom. He likes to daydream about being part of an A-list sorcerer team with Nanami, with Gojo as his personal chauffeur. Ijichi keeps a treat money jar for every time he feels slighted or overly stressed at work. To date, he has used the jar to visit 3 Michelin-star restaurants. 

Geto Suguru 

Geto developed a sweet tooth after enrolling in Jujutsu High. His first kiss was stolen by Gojo in a supply closet when they were both sixteen (the latter did it for fun). Geto was once dared to shave off all his hair and had to stifle a sob at the thought. Geto’s non-sorcerer disinfectant spray is coincidentally a rose-scented line of luxury cologne called Infinite Love. On a bad day, Geto finds himself indulging in dessert. 

Gojo Satoru

Mostly shameless, Gojo feels the most self-conscious with his eyes uncovered. Gojo gets turned on by an exquisite pair of sunglasses. Gojo doesn’t like drinking alcohol. Gojo once injected sugar into his blood, partly in jest, partly because he was curious. Gojo reads critical theory. Gojo uses SK-II facial treatment essence. Gojo likes reading fanfiction written about him. He keeps a scrapbook for deliberately ugly doodles of Jujutsu society’s higher ups. He is the owner of tabloid news twitter account @jujutsushits. He is also the owner of twitter account @RealNanamiKento. When he has a bad day, Gojo scrolls through old, defunct chats between him and Geto.  

Nanami Kento

Nanami has never suffered from hair loss problems. He earned a university degree after leaving Jujutsu High, where he majored in economics and minored in comparative literature. Nanami freelanced as a poet-writer for 2 months. He is so respectable in jujutsu society that he once sold (more like auctioned) his pair of men’s leather shoes for 500,000 JPY. The buyers were all women. He has a drawer of XXL condoms. He did not buy them (Gojo did). He keeps a slogan t shirt that reads ‘Hot Stuff’. He did not buy it (Haibara did). Nanami is fluent in 5 languages. Nanami’s hobbies are ironing his blue dress shirt and getting into existential crises. Nanami has an excel sheet detailing his weekly expenses titled ‘letsgetthisbread.exe.’ When embarrassed, Nanami is prone to hiccups.

Ryomen Sukuna

Sukuna has a personal list of ‘Top 10 Sukuna Badass Moments’ playing on loop in his head. He sings when Itadori is in the shower to spite him, but mostly because he likes the sound of his own voice. Sukuna has a bad memory, having been alive for more than a thousand years. Sukuna hates contemporary fashion, but has a fascination for Crocs. He prefers jazz to imperial court music. Sukuna delivers lengthy, oftentimes ultraviolent monologues to Itadori when he is bored. He thinks he would make a good university professor. Sukuna is still terrified of motorised vehicles. 

----

Notes: writing this was so fun, but some of it made me sad... 

----

Taglist (っ˘ω˘ς ) : @encrytpta @wilddreamer98

[fan4196]

Happiness (Part 3)

Evermore

Hey everyone here’s part 3, the last part, as requested by so many of you. Hope you like it. Enjoy!

-

After they dropped Izzie of at the hospital to see her mother alone at first, Jo convinced Alex to drive them to the loft and order some lunch. The twins were already sleepy from the flight and also jet lagged, so Alex gave in and drove them to the place he once called home instead of driving them around city, looking for a hotel to stay at.

As soon as they walked through the loft door, Alex has this weird feeling of being home again. It feels like the place where he belongs, the place he once thought he would start a family with Jo in - now he sort of does but he also feels like a complete stranger. Like he shouldn't be here. Like he shouldn't be allowed to feel like home here.

He immediately notices the missing of all their pictures. The corner were is workout stuff used to be holds two cribs and a changing table now. Most of the stuff he once brought into the loft is gone. Jo's closet is half empty and all in all it just doesn't look like it used to.

All of them get rid of their shoes and jackets and Jo prepares the bed for the twins, so they could take a nap. She and Alex sat on the couch talking until the twins woke up again and they ordered pizza.

The evening went over rather quickly with them watching movies and playing games. Heavy hearted the twins said goodbye to their new friend Jo, but got immediately excited again when she promised to accompany them at the zoo tomorrow.

Exhausted Jo falls into bed that night. Letting the day reminisce. She's really relieved that the twins immediately liked her and also that Alex is back or at least near. It makes her feel safer, to know that if something would happen now Alex is only a fifteen minutes drive away and not a three and a half hours flight. Although her due date is still seven weeks away, you just never know.

-

For Alex the next morning starts quite early - like almost every day with the twins but today they are extra excited. From getting them dressed, through breakfast and through out the whole car ride to the loft, they couldn't stop talking and asking about Jo.

They pick Jo up from the loft and Alex drives them to the zoo. The twins chat happily with Jo and sing along to the Taylor Swift songs she plays for them. Alex is quiet the whole car ride, smiling and thinking about how this right here is everything he ever wanted - a family with Jo.

At the zoo they start with the otter as requested by the twins. They walk the big round, looking at all the animals before then decide to take a break at the playground.

While the twins play and show Jo their skills at the monkeybars, Alex sits down on one of the benches from where he has a good few at them.

"Are they all yours?" An old man that sat down on the bench with Alex a few minutes ago asks all of a sudden.

"Yeah." Alex answers simply with a toothless smile, not really in the mood to explain his family constellation to a complete stranger.

"If an old man can give you an advise, try to keep them as happy as they are right now. If they are happy you are happy." He says before he stands up again and walks away.

"I see while I was gone you made a new friend your age." Jo jokes as she comes towards him and sits down on the bench.

"Shut up." He snorts, keeping his eyes on the twins.

"Never." She mocks, laughing at the sulky look on his face.

They sit in silence watching the twins play for a while, when out of nowhere Jo grabs Alex's leg and doubles over in pain.

"Jo what is it? Are you in pain? Jo talk to me!" Alex immediately asks concerned, grabbing her hand that's on his thigh, while his other hand strokes her back.

"I think I'm having contractions." Jo answers as the pain subsides and she sits up straight again.

"Since when?" He asks worried, not letting go of her hand while he's also not taking his eyes off of her.

"This morning?" She answers a little quieter, looking away to escape his look.

"What?"

"I'm having braxton hicks since probably a week. I saw Carina and she said everything was alright. But I don't think that those are braxton hicks, this one was way stronger and it hurt a lot more." She answers, trying to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Alex hand on hers was helping a little bit.

"Ok. Ahm we can do this. We're gonna get you to the hospital. Can you walk?" He asks before he gets up from the bench, holding his hands out to help her up.

"Yeah." Jo answers, taking both of his hands and letting him pull her up.

"Ok. Alexis! Eli! Come here! We need to go!" He screams in the twins direction, waving at them.

"Noo, Daddy." His daughter immediately complains from the sandpit.

"Yes. No complaints we need to take Jo to the hospital now!" He shouts again.

The twins know their dads serious voice so without further complaints they come running towards them and all of them make their way out of the zoo as fast as Jo can. Alex arm is around her to support her while walking and to stabalize her when another contraction hits.

"You're doing so good. Deep breaths." Alex whispers in her ear when they stop for another contraction break. His arms are around Jo, calmly stroking her back while her head is against his chest.

"It's way too early." She whispers a little out of breath from working through the contraction.

"I know. Let's get you to the hospital and see from there ok-" He says while her head still leans against his chest.

"Sir, Ma'am do you need help?" An older lady asks, coming up to them.

"No!" Alex immediately answers rather rudely which scares the lady off.

"Alex! They just wanted to be nice."

"They should mind their own god damn business." He answers "You good again?"

"Yeah." Jo nods and they keep walking, finally making their way out of the zoo.

"Ok you stay here with Jo and have an eye on her and I'm getting the car." Alex orders, already running off to get the car.

"Are the babies hurting you, Jojo?" Eli asks as he sits down beside Jo on the bench in front of the zoo.

"A little bit but it's fine. It's nothing you have to worry about, ok?" Jo assures him with a smile stroking his hair. "There's your dad. Come on."

They get up from the bench while Alex parks in front of them. He quickly gets out of the car to help Jo in the passenger seat and the twins buckling up in the backseats.

During their ride to the hospital the car is silent. The twins are completely quiet while Jo calmly works through her contractions and Alex tries to get them as fast but also as safe as possible to the hospital.

"Kiddos when we are at the hospital a nurse will take you to your mom, ok?" He explains to the twins, watching them nod in the rearview mirror.

"Ok daddy."

"Good." He takes his view from his kids and takes a quick look at Jo, "You ok?"

"Yeah." She smiles as he reaches for her hand to let her squeeze it during the next contraction.

"Ok unbuckle. I'm gonna get you in a second ok?" He tells Jo before he gets the twins inside where a nurse takes them to Izzie. He comes back with a wheelchair and helps Jo sitting down in it.

"Karev? You can't park here." Owen orders as he comes around the car, which is parked directly in front of the ER door.

"Jo's in labor!" Alex replies immediately, handing his key to Owen.

"Alright don't worry. Go get her admitted I'm gonna take care of your car."

"Thanks Owen." Alex screams as he pushes Jo into the ER.

"Stop!" Jo interrupts Alex before he can get them into the elevator, "Levi! Can you go to my place and get me my hospital bag it's right at the front door?" She stops the resident before he could walk past them.

"Are you in labor?" He asks totally surprised.

"Yes."

"Oh my god. Ahm- Of course. I still have my key."

"Thanks." Jo smiles, letting go of his arm so Alex can get them onto the elevator.

He pushes the number to the OB/Gyn floor and squads down in front of Jo, taking her hands in his.

"You're doing so good." He smiles up to her, his eyes softly looking at her.

"It's way too early." She whispers, trying to hold back tears while she keeps looking into his soft, brown eyes.

"It's not. You are 30 weeks which is far enough for them to survive. You kept them save as long as you could and once they're out I promise that I'll keep them save as long as they need, ok?" He assures her softly.

"I'm so glad you are here right now." She whispers.

"Me too."

The opening doors of the elevator interrupt their moment of intimacy and Alex gets her admitted and into a room.

"Jo, bambina I didn't expect you here so soon. Oh hello Doctor Karev." Carina DeLuca greets then as she walks into Jo's room.

"Hi Doctor DeLuca." Alex returns her greeting.

"Carina." She smiles at him, as she puts on a pair of gloves.

"Carina. Alex." He smiles back, taking Jo's clothes from her and puts them on the chair in corner.

"Ok let's see. Did your water already break, Jo?" Carina asks, getting the ultrasound machine ready.

"No- yes." Jo corrects her answer, as she feels the liquid running down her leg.

"Alright then there's no turning back now. Your bambino's want to come today. Can you lay down so I can do an ultrasound and check how far you are dialated?" She asks, getting everything ready.

Alex helps Jo on the bed and sits down on the chair beside her while Carina does the ultrasound and checks her.

"Your babies look great. They are both with their heads down which means we can try the vaginal birth you wanted." Carina smiles, taking off her gloves.

"Yes."

"Perfecto. I'll give you an IV with fluids and something to develop their little lungs and then we'll see. You are seven centimeters so you'll have a little more to go." Carina informs them before she gets the ultrasound machine to take it with her again.

"Thank you Carina." Alex smiles at the OB as he gets up to help Jo sit up again.

"Of course. I'll send a nurse for your IV and check on you in an hour."

"Thank you." Jo smiles.

Carina pads Alexs shoulder before she leaves the two alone again.

"If you need to get the twins or something you can go, I'm fine." Jo turns to Alex.

"Hell no I'm not leaving your side again. Izzie can take care of them for once." He replies, sitting down in his chair again.

"What do you mean?"

"Since the day I got there she plays the 'You missed five years of their life' card which means I have them 24/7 and she doesn't give a shit about them. Don't get me wrong I love my kids but Izzie couldn't care less. She's happy when they are at school or at a friends house and she doesn't have to deal with them all day. Why do you think she has this big ass farm with a hundred animals and a nanny? Just so they can run around outside and she has her quiet inside the house." He vents, laying his head back agains the headrest of the chair.

"So you have them all the time?"

"Yeah they basically live at my place and visit Izzie when she's free on the weekends."

Jo had heard enough, with Alex's help she gets up from the bed and sits down on one of the yoga balls. Closing her eyes and thinking about everything Alex just told her. 

The next few hours go by quietly. Carina checks on Jo every hour and Alex tries to help Jo whenever she needs it.

"I'm thinking about moving here again." Alex voice breaks the silence from his new place on the bed, "Would that be ok with you?"

"What?" She asks again, opening her eyes to be sure he really said what he said.

"I wanna be closer to you and our babies. I wanna see them growing up, Jo. I already missed the first five years once and I don't wanna miss them again. I wanna be their dad - who is around, who is there for their their first words and their first steps. I wanna change dirty diapers and get puked on, I wanna take them to daddy and me classes, I wanna have the whole damn thing - if you'll let me." He finishes, waiting for her answer, "Jo?"

He gets up from the bed and walks to her. Seeing that her eyes are closed, he takes her hands.

"I need to push."

-

An hour later their beautiful babies are born.

Small but healthy. They need a little help with their breathing but other than that they are both perfectly fine.

Jo has Emery on her chest, Alex has Parker for a little skin to skin time. They are all four curled up on the hospital bed - happier than they ever believed they could be.

"They are so perfect Jo." Alex whispers, watching his son and daughter sleeping peacefully.

"They really are." She smiles towards Alex, "And yes."

"Yes what?" He asks, now looking at Jo.

"You can have the whole damn thing if you want but only if I'll get the whole damn thing with your twins too." She throws him a toothless smile.

"Are you saying-"

"I'm saying after all I still love you and I wanna do this with you. I'll probably need a little more time to fully trust you again but I want them to have their dad around." She nods, not interrupting their stare.

"Thank you." He really doesn't know what other to say.

They get interrupt by a knock and the door opening.

"I'm so sorry Jo that it took this long. I got pulled into a surgery with Bailey- Oh my god you had the babies." Levi stops in this movement.

"Thanks Levi." Jo smiles at him.

"Sure. They are perfect, Jo. Congratulations."

He smiles at them before he puts the bag down at the door and leaves the four alone again.

"How come you call him Levi?" Alex asks interested, watching her carefully.

"He was my roommate for a while right after you left." She answers, carefully stroking her daughters rosy cheek.

"Oh-"

"And Taryn too." She adds, taking her glance of her daughter now looking at him again.

"Who?" He asks, scrunching his nose as he returns her glance.

"Helm."

"Oh ok."

Another knock at the door interrupts them. This time it's one of the nurses.

"Are you up for some visitors?" She asks carefully before she opens the door completely as Jo nods. And the twins come into the room.

"Hey guys. Come on in." Alex assures them as they are a little careful. But within a minute they are on the bed with the rest.

"Eli, Alexis those are Emery and Parker." Alex announces with the biggest smile an his face. Right in this moment he was the happiest man alive.

"They are so tiny." His daughter marvels over her little siblings. Scooting closer to her dad to have a better look at her new baby brother.

"They are." Jo laughs at the twins reaction.

"But they are soo cute." Eli adds, scooting a little closer to Jo to get an even better look.

"Right? Don't you think that Parker looks just like your daddy?" Jo asks, pulling the blanket a little from Parker's face so the twins have a better few.

"A little." Alexis agrees with a nod.

"Can we hold them?" Eli asks excited, scooting even closer to Jo.

"Sure. Are you guys strong enough to get me this bag?" Jo asks them, ponying towards the bag Levi just brought.

"I'll get it."

"Thank you, Eli. Let's get them dressed then you can hold them ok?"

The twins nod before they help Jo dressing Emery and Parker. When the smallest Karevs are dressed Jo gets something else out of the bag and hands one to Alex.

"I think you were right about their heads. These are a little big now but just think about their heads if they would have been full term."

"Where do you have those from?" Alex looks at the little hat in his hand, before he looks at Jo.

"Your mom send them."

"You're still in touch with my mom?" He blankly.

"Yeah. And Amber and Matt. And I finally met Aaron too-"

"When?" He asks quite surprised.

"Well your mom invited me to Easter and Amber, Matt, the kids and Aaron where there too."

"We would have been there too but the twins were sick," Alex gasps, looking at Jo.

"Well now we're all gonna be there for Christmas." Jo smiles at him.

"We will." He smiles back.

[writella]

Around and Around and Around

Pairing: Luke Patterson x reader

Requested? Yes! My first finished request! Thank you for the idea anon. Original ask: Could you do a present day... Alive!Luke x reader fic where him and his girlfriend (the reader) are just trying to spend some alone time together at one of Carrie’s parties? (I’m so sorry I didn’t make it Carrie’s party anon, I forgot.)

Summary: It’s a New Years Eve bash! The gangs all there, but the only thing Luke wants to do is spend time with his girlfriend. Unfortunately though, his friends constantly need their help which causes them to lose each other in the crowd. Around and around and around they constantly go... Can Luke meet up with her in time for a New Years Kiss? We shall see, my friends. We shall see.

Word Count: :)

Warnings: Kissing? Two curse words? I don’t think any of that counts. Oh! Over explaining? Neediness? An over use of the same words?

A/N: Hello everyone! IT IS A CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS MIRACLE! I finally finished a new fic. I really hope you enjoy it. I think I did a little too much, but this request just got my head turning and included the whole gang, so I just couldn’t help but give them all their own little moments! I had fun and I hope you do too. I’m taking you on a bit of a rollercoaster here, I will admit, but don’t worry though, I think I gave it a good ending.... You tell me.

“Y/N!”

“Y/N?”

“Luke?”

“Where are you?”

“Luuuke!”

“Luke!

“LUKE, COME LOOK!”

“Y/N, I need you.”

“Her shoe broke!”

“Luke, did you see his dog? It’s so cute! And he even likes pizza!”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to give pizza to a dog, Reg.”

“Well it wasn’t chocolate… Wait where’d he go? Wanna help me find him?”

“Well can she wear yours? Do you have an extra pair?”

“Where are they?”

Hey, Luke?!” 

“Y/N?!”

Boom the bedroom door slammed shut, and an out of breath Luke and his girlfriend, Y/N, filed in with a sigh: “Finally,” Luke said, his eyebrows and the corner of his lips rising with excitement. Throughout the hour and forty minus they had spent at the party thus far, they had found corners, almost empty areas, and even tall trees in the backyard, but none were as private as this. 

Still standing close to the door, Y/N looked around the walls that glittered with posters of rock bands and athletes. “Do you really think we should be in here? It is the birthday person’s room. Maybe we should be nice and leave it alone.” 

“When you throw a party you get what you get,” Luke reasoned, a hint of humor tracing throughout his words. “People travel, and we’re not going to do anything crazy on the kid’s blue basketball sheets if that’s what you’re worried about.” He ended, teasing Nick, the party host. 

She softly gave him an ‘alright,’ waiting for him to make his next move. Though they had been thrown around by their friends plenty of times by now tonight, the night was still young, and she knew Luke was adamant on spending time with her. Even more so, it was her first party after living in Los Angeles for almost a year now. (She was a Molina from Julie’s father’s side.) Back home she didn’t have the friend group that she had now, nor did she have someone like Luke specifically in her life as a significant other. After all this time in high school not experiencing these regular social events, a party— especially at this large of a house— seemed daunting, but as always Luke made it seem, as he always does, like it was the most spectacular adventure you couldn’t miss. Apprehension and excitement filled her spirit for what was to come of tonight. 

Following his gaze as she watched him survey the room, Luke’s eyes fell most notably on Nick’s guitars. “God, I wish I had this many.” 

“He definitely has the collection,” Y/N agreed,  still wondering what they were going to do, “but you’ve got like four, right?”

“Half of those were Bobby’s, and the acoustic is the one my parents got me… way back when, so really I only scrounged up enough money once in my life for one electric of my own.”

“So two. Still more than most.” She gave him a sympathetic smile, messing up his hair a little bit while doing so. He rubbed his head into her palm, enjoying the feeling.

There was a wonder in his eyes as he looked at the guitar rack that Y/N found quite charming. “Can’t believe he could spend all his time with these babies and he decides to balance it with sports.”

“I guess we all have our hobbies… but honestly I can’t believe we’re using this moment to ourselves to stare at guitars.” She laughs, “I’m just saying! This is what you wanted!” She corrects herself, “They are beautiful guitars though.”

“Yeah, you’re right. One of them could barge in any minute now,” Luke says, moving closer to Y/N till her back leans against the door. His fingers trace her jaw, then the side of her neck, ending as he swirled one finger around the tips of her hair. “And I could be looking at a much prettier sight.”

“Stop,” she blushed. Y/N was fine with tending to all her friends needs. She enjoyed being the first one Julie, Flynn, and now even Alex or Reggie went to for advice or help. Besides running the jatp social media account and co-running their YouTube page, making her friends feel better was what made her feel needed, but she had to admit, she liked this too. 

As they traveled backwards to the door, Luke pecked her lips a few times, then the corners of her mouth, then doing both again making her giggle and move her head to either side his lips fell. Finally, he moved centimeters back, looking in her eyes, ghosting her lips, “Stop doin’ what? Tellin’ the truth?” 

The rosy color on her face became more prominent. Her eyes traced between his own emeralds and his smile— his face made her mind fill with wonder. It was so bright, so positive, so warm, so close to her own. She could stay there with him, looking at her so endearingly, forever.

“Y/N?!” 

“Ow!” she screeched as Flynn pushed the door open on her leaning stance, bopping her head on the wood. 

“Oh my god, sorry!” Flynn gritting her teeth with worry, a fist coming to cover her mouth. “So yeah, ha ha,” the girl tried to build some relief, “Well there you two are!”

Luke grabbed the side of Y/N’s head, placing his hand over her own that covered where the impact landed, “You okay?” 

“Yeah…” She sighed, she was more concerned about whatever Flynn had to say. 

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I need you, like for real this time.” Flynn said, her voice filled with urgency. 

“Haven’t you needed her and looked for her ‘like’ everywhere three times tonight already?” Luke argued, a little disgruntled that their first truly private moment got interrupted in the matter of minutes.

“Was I talking to you, Patterson?” Flynn retorted, head tilted with a closed smirk on her face. “No, the answer is no.”

“You didn’t have to say the answer, okay? Got the gist.” His movements became dorkier by the second, his fingers coming to his face. “It was rhetorical- I knew that!” 

“Wow, learned that big boy word from your girlfriend?”

“Big boy?! I- That’s not even-“ before Luke went on, Y/N cut in: “Alright,” she lifted her hand, “What happened, Flynn? What do you need?”

“It’s Julie-“

“Don’t tell me she broke another shoe. I don’t have an extra-extra pair.”

“No.” Flynn’s eyes widened, “I actually- I don’t know what it is. She just told me to get you and come to her together.” The girl sighed, “She looked sad.” 

“Oh,” Y/N said, a frown coming to her face. A sad Julie is a Julie that should never be in this world. Other than thinking about the absence of her mother, Y/N’s cousin knew how to smile even when things got tough, so if she was feeling down now, and it was evident, it must’ve been important. 

“Yeah. So come? Like now?” Flynn grabbed Y/N’s hand and Y/N looked at her own opposite hand that was currently attached to Luke’s, trailing her eyes up to his face. 

“Well, I’ll just go too.” He insisted, “I want to help Julie, and,” He spoke directly to Y/N, “I don’t mind.”

“She didn’t ask for you.” Flynn snapped back. 

“It’ll be fine.” Y/N decided, “It’s not like we all don’t know her well anyway, right?”

“Yeah, let's go. And then we can just get back, hopefully. I want to spend tonight with you.” Luke said that last part more softly, but apparently not quietly enough. 

“Oh god!” Flynn vexed. “Haven’t you spent all week stuck to her mouth?”  Through snickers she said, “Let her come up for some air, bruv.” Then, letting go of Y/N's hand as she turns, leading the couple to the staircase, she continued: “And really you should be relaxing all those throat muscles or whatever. I've got you in two open mic night cafes next week and that kids party at the restaurant tomorrow, AND on Sunday Julie said she wanted to record that new song for the YouTube channel.” She slapped the side of her hand to the inside of the other, creating a chopping effect, “We got things to do! I’m trying to make sure you guys stay safe and have fun, but we shouldn’t be here all night.”

Luke rolled his eyes, as much as he loved playing, he hated being bossed around like this. “It's New Year’s Eve!” He complained, yet there was still a hint of playfulness in his voice. “Mind you, this is being said by the girl who agreed to DJ at this party.”

“I didn’t agree! I got reeled into it— Difference, see! This kid comes out of nowhere to bring me onto his home stage— man, he’s rich—- and asks me if I could change the tracks, put something fun on. How am I supposed to say no? It is his birthday and everything that was on before was terrible!”

“That we can agree on,” Luke noted with a laugh.

Y/N added on, after her long silence of listening to the two go back and forth, “You finally got everyone dancing.”

“I did! Thank you!” Flynn appreciated the acknowledgment, especially from Luke, but nonetheless, she persists on her earlier claim, “That being said, I really think we should leave by 10.”

“10?!” Luke repeats with annoyance. “Tomorrow’s gig starts at six. PM. And might I remind you again: it's freakin New Years Eve! We have to stay till the ball drops!”

“We have to practice one last time and we have to get there bef-“

“Alright, alright, boss.” Luke was done arguing (for the time being.) Instead his eyes followed Y/N’s who was no longer listening, bored of her best friend and boyfriend’s little fighting game, as they looked for Julie in the clusters of kids all around the room on the main floor. “Let’s just look for Jules so we can get back. And can we make it to midnight at the least? Please? I mean, come on, there no food at the Molina house to celebrate with and you were having fun up there with those turntables.” He started to smile cheekily at Flynn, “Don’t deny it.”

Flynn took in a sharp breath as she thought. Nick did have access to some sick equipment and has always been so kind enough to share, so it would be fun to play around some more. “We’ll see how I feel at 11. And by the way, we do have things to celebrate with at the garage. I bought stuff specifically so you guys wouldn’t complain when we left,” she went on, the three taking another turn, “We’re going to have some fun here till 10, or 11 I guess, get back to the garage, celebrate New Years— woo-hoo!— and then you guys are settled down by 12:15, 30 the latest. I don’t care if you’re not asleep, just not outside.” Seeing Luke’s face rise up again she defends herself,  “It's not my fault you phantoms have terrible time management skills! You guys literally have transportation powers and you’re either late or not present. It’s crazy! I need to make sure you’re there and we get paid. Period.”

Luke suppressed a grunt as Y/N rubbed his shoulders, laughing a bit at the truth of Flynn’s statement. 

Then, to console Luke, she whispered in his ear, “No matter where we are, I’ll be there. Plan still intact.” 

“True.” Luke whispered back, rubbing his nose on the side of her head. 

Luke liked his freedom. He was used to calling the shots when it came to the band, only taking on co-captain position as Julie challenged him with just as much leadership star power as he contained. This made Flynn appointing herself as band manager not something to be desired exactly, especially when she made decisions like this on their down time. He didn’t quite enjoy being told where to go and when, but on the other hand, he couldn’t help to admit to himself that the tech savvy skills both her and Y/N brought to the table were tremendously helpful. The 90s boy was used to walking around town trying to find the next cafe for the guys to play at that he didn’t know how easy it was in this digital world to find venues he never even heard of through the internet. This made him never forget to say thank you after a gig she or Y/N would find from their endless online searchings. And on Flynn’s end, she never forgot to commend Luke on his writing skills when he happened to be the scribe for one of the band’s songs she happened to enjoy, but other than that, they did not have that much to say to each other. 

Despite the natural banter and quips  that would suggest they were well acquainted, they were actually still quite awkward. Luke was used to admiring her relationship with Julie and Y/N from afar, and for Flynn, after the boys came back to life she didn’t know exactly how to fit herself into the group. Of course she was a part of it, Y/N made certain of it as she herself had also felt strange about her placement in Julie’s new friend group before Julie formally introduced her to them, not knowing that her cousin could also see ghost like she could, but overall, Flynn felt just the tiniest bit embarrassed that the boys she once called ‘cute ghosts’-- more than twice-- heard her say that and all the other things she’d say not knowing they were around (Julie told her they could sometimes snoop in unbeknownst to even her at times. ‘They don’t know boundaries,’ she would say.) Flynn especially felt this way when one of those ex-ghosts was Luke who knew he was ‘cute,’  as she once said, and would bother her about it endlessly when he was first able to communicate with her. 

Were they friends? Or was it simply that Luke was just a friend of her friends and that Flynn was just the friend of his girlfriend and mutual friend. Neither of them knew where their relationship stood. This caused Flynn to use her wit as a defense mechanism or to only begin a conversation with the guy when it was about something band related. ‘You kind of act like siblings,’ Y/N would tell them when they were at it. Both of them gawked at the word. ‘Siblings?!’

Around another corner the three went, passing the open space below the home stage that was being used as a dance floor. They went to the room adjacent to it. It was another rather large area, though this one was filled with more furniture, a lot in fact, perhaps to make space for the makeshift dance area. There was also an unused fireplace which caught the eyes of Y/N who yanked on the connected hand of Luke’s and then Flynn to take notice of who sat on the ledge. 

The water bunching up in her eyes sparked white from the room's fluorescent gleaming lights, making her tears look much bigger and shinier. It made the group feel bad they didn’t find her sooner. 

“Julie!” They all exclaimed in unison though Luke’s reaction was filled with the most apparent fret: the glow of the lights and his wide eye expression showed clearly how his eyes were growing greener with questions and worry. “What happened?” He tried to ask softly, not knowing how to react to her tears. The attempt at softness then immediately changed into one of starting frustration as he sat down next to his poor bandmate, hand on her knee, looking toward Flynn, “Why didn’t you tell us she was like this?” 

“Because she wasn’t like this when I left!” Flynn countered, coming to sit down next to Julie on her left side as Luke had taken the right. 

“Why do you always-“

“Enough guys,” Y/N silenced them for the third time that night. She noticed how Julie was shying away from both of their faces, not wanting to show them her tears. Julie was strong; a fighter; she sometimes much rather fake out her friends by smiling through her problems before she was ready to talk about them. Y/N knew all of this, related to it in fact, and could sense the possible embarrassment she must’ve been feeling. Not only did she create a movie moment for herself by being the girl crying at a party, but she was crying in front of her friends, when she was typically the person who tried to inspire hope, for she was the front man of her own band after all. 

Y/N could also sense— guessing by the way she mostly was turning her face from Luke— that it was a boy problem. Not that Luke’s jittery expression, or close proximity to her face was helping her open up either. 

Luke was trying to work on being more helpful in moments where his friends were in tears, but sometimes he could be a little too aggressive, or ‘extra,’ as Flynn would put it and Alex would agree, adding the new slang term to his vocabulary. 

Y/N took a seat in front of her on the ground, rubbing her friend's arm. “It’s okay, Jules. Nobody cares what you look like. You can tell us.” 

“I know, it’s just-“ she sucked her teeth, looking up, head still tilted to Flynn’s side. “It’s stupid.”

 “No ones going to judge you,” Y/N promised, pointing her head to Luke’s direction for Julie to see. 

“Yeah, and I bet it’s not ‘stupid’ anyway.” Flynn added.

“Nothings stupid if it made you cry, Jules.” Luke chimed in, finally agreeing with Flynn on something for the second time this night. “Who was it? I’ll beat them up for you.” He joked.

“Oh my god, no!” Julie tittered just a little while trying to wipe away all her tears. “And please never say something like that again. You sound like a dad.”

“Well he is supposed to be like 40 or something,” Flynn said, making the both of her best friends laugh. Julie specifically shook her head at this moment of Flynn and Luke’s typical banter, it was the first time she was getting a whiff of it tonight. Although she appreciated the entertainment they brought when in a room together, she agreed with Y/N that they were relentless. 

Luke let that one go, seeing how it finally brought a smile to the girl’s face, “There she is.”

Julie rolled her eyes at him, sighing as her fit of giggles passed, “Okay,” she started slowly, “Well... it was Nick… and I know it’s stupid-“

“-Not stupid.” Her friends finished.

“But you know, he invited me to this party. Directly! Said he wanted to hang out- to dance. When we came, the party just started so he had to say hi to people, that made sense, and he told me to stay near the main floor, so I waited. And then my shoe broke, and then some girl spilled some of that fondue on the bottom of my dress which I had to get out with bathroom wipes, so that was annoying. Then next thing you know it’s an hour later and all I’ve done is eat pizza and watch Flynn at the turntables…”

Julie went on. She explained that finally Nick showed up again , but as he was walking to her, Carrie had just arrived at the party, stopping him in his tracks. Apparently her gift was too heavy to bring inside, so she wanted to take him to her car to show him right then and there. “He said he’d be five minutes tops. Told me to come here by the fireplace, so again, I waited. Then five minutes turned into fifteen, so I got up.” She sidetracked, “That’s not me. Just sitting there, waiting, waiting, waiting. I felt dumb. That's when I walked to the backyard to see what was going on out there, find something to do after all this time, but funny enough that’s where I found Nick and Carrie, laughing, dancing, having a great time.” She wipes a new stray tear, “I decided to look for you,” she nodded to Y/N, “And it’s no offense Flynn, you know I love you, it’s just that I didn’t want to hear you tell me that ‘he’s not worth it’ at the moment.” She gave herself a pity laugh, “I’m currently feeling a little bad for myself as you can see.” 

“I’m so sorry Julie.” Y/N started. “But Flynn only tells you the facts like that because she thinks you’re so worthy of more.” 

“So much more,” Flynn added on, moving closer to Julie.

 “But I get it, it's not fair.” consoled Y/N. “I try to always consider his actions in those instances with Carrie as him just being a pacifist, but if he said he wanted to be with you and continuously told you he would, then he should’ve been here.”

“Agreed, but also, being a pacifist doesn’t mean to always stay quiet though, you can find a way to keep the peace and still do what’s right.” Luke spoke up. “He shouldn’t let Carrie always take him away like that.”

Y/N gave Luke a smile, “Insightful.”

“Strangely,” Flynn chimed in, “but exactly right. Not to mention how it’s not fair— no matter how nice he is— for him to just let Carrie keep saying whatever the hell she wants without calling her out.” 

“I just feel like I shouldn’t be so beat up. It is his birthday after all. He can do what he wants.” Muttered Julie.

“No!” Y/N told her. “You feel like you wasted your time, I get that! It’s his birthday, but your feelings are still important.” 

“Also,” Luke started, “Julie, I mean, come on! You could do so much better. So what? He’s like 18 now? Well I’m 18 now too, supposed to be 40 something apparently and I look like this! This! Compared to Nick?  Julie… girl!” He stated her name again, smiled wide, “I know Molina’s have better taste than that. Not to say what you didn’t want to hear, but, it’s true: he’s not worth it. Period.” He mimicked Flynn with the last word. 

Both Flynn and Julie gagged, “Oh my god,” they said in union. Y/N just put her face in her hands.

“You were actually doing well, and then you just go and screw it up like that?” Flynn sighed. 

“Now you went from a dad to sounding like a whole ratty teenage boy.” She rolled her eyes teasingly, trying to conceal her laughter at his conceited remark, “Disgusting.”

“Well as long as I got you to stop crying, that’s all that matters anyway.” He laughed goofily, invading her personal space once again. 

“Yeah,” Julie realized with a contented sigh. It seemed all the company she really needed was her friends. 

“Well, I think the only thing to do now is make up for all that time wasted, huh?”  Y/N spoke with a smirk. “If he doesn’t want to be your dance partner, it looks like you’re going to have to take on three instead.” 

“Fuck yeah,” Luke said, jumping up, grabbing Y/N and Julie’s hands and running to the dance floor.

Flynn called to the group, as she parted from them, heading to the stage, “Lemme change the song!” 

“OOOH!” Luke roared as the ooos and aahs of Donna and the Dynamos filled the room. “One of the best things to come out of the 2000s!” 

Julie and Y/N laughed at the surprisingly grand amount of love Luke had for Mamma Mia! 

Luke imitated the hustle, sticking his tongue out,  shaking his hips, and making Y/N dance along with him, moving around Julie who looked at them incredulously. 

“Come oooon,” he said to Julie’s direction, “Nobody can NOT like this song.” And after that Julie gave in, agreeing that a Mamma Mia and ABBA song was too good not to dance to. Flynn came up right behind her, making the dancing trio into a group of four. 

From jumping, to slides and shoulder grooves, and even forming their own little dancing circle the four lived in the song, seeing the last of Julie’s worry wash away as the speakers blasted the words “Dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen,” to which Julie’s friends made sure to spotlight her on as their hands sprinkled up and down spirit fingers as she twirled, enjoying her title that fit perfectly with her age. 

“Thanks guys,” Julie smiled sweetly, still jumping to the beat.

“WOOOO!” Luke hollered into the crowd, taking Y/N’s hand, swaying and jumping with her exclusively now. 

“WOO!” She yelled back.

“LOUDER, LOUDER!” He yelled in her face, shaking his head, his hair imitating a lion’s mane as he gritted his teeth, getting closer to her face. 

“WOOOOO!” She yelled, trying to match her boyfriend’s energy. 

“YES, Y/N. WOOO!” They kept jumping and he spun her around, letting her twirl into his grasp. He held her closer, one arm tightly around her waist while the other still held her hand, stepping and swaying side to side in a fast pace in order to keep up with the quick musical tune. Her laughs of surprisement to his actions filled him with pride. She was usually so focused on making her friends smile, she could sometimes forget to just have fun for herself. She dropped anything to tend to their needs, which is why tonight was important. At her first party he was going to make her smile and have fun, and that ended with a New Year’s kiss. Hopefully, he could find a way to hide from Flynn— and his friends for that matter— till that time to make it happen. 

Finally the song died down and a rush of endorphins filled the floor as almost everyone in the area, even those who typically didn’t dance joined along to the jumping motion the four started at the beginning of the song. “Should I change it?” Flynn asked Julie as the next song started, noticing how different the vibe of this song was from the last: slower, more romantic.

“No,” Julie told Flynn as she watched Luke take his arms closer into Y/N’s sides, “Let’s let them have their moment.”

Y/N arms went around Luke’s neck, and his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling each other closer while swaying in a circular motion. He connected their foreheads. His eyes fixated on her own. They were so gentle, so sweet, so comforting, he felt safe looking in them. He could stay that way forever.

“Luke?”

Luke sighed, once again just minutes of feeling release ruined. “Yeah, bud?” It was Alex. 

“I’m sorry to bother you, but this kid Reginald-“ 

“Don’t tell me he lost the dog again. I don’t want to look for it.”

“It’s not the dog! Well, not this time. I think he’s finally realized that we can’t take it home with us. It’s-“ Alex started snickering which then turned into great belly laughs he couldn’t stop, “I just- I can’t- I can’t- just please,” he had no control. “Please I need your help!”

“What the hell, Alex?”

“Just-“ Alex put his hand over his mouth, trying to conceal his laughs. He motioned Luke with his other hand, walking away. 

Luke kept his hand in Y/N’s, bringing her along with him, “I don’t want to get split up again, like last time with the dog.”

“It’s not the dog!” Alex exclaimed, still laughing. 

The three were now on the right side of the house, near the pool door that also stood to the right and in the area sat a couch and pool table. The wall on the left side had a small vent near the floor which is where they found Reggie, hip deep in the square hole.

“HELLO!” Reggie wagged his butt, for his friends to see, “Did you bring Luke?”

“Yeah!” Alex answered “Do you see now? He’s stuck!”

“How and why?!” Y/N asked, now joining in with Alex’s uncontrollable laughter as Reggie kept shaking his butt. Quickly Luke couldn’t help himself either.

“No! Y/N is here?” Reggie asked, “Y/N I’m so sorry you have to see me like this. I haven’t been doing my squats recently. I know I don’t look in the best of shape-“

“I think that’s the last thing I’m worried about, Reg,” Y/N said, still losing her breath along with Alex who yelled an incredulous ‘what?!’ at his words. 

“No one cares about your glutes, bro.” Luke shook his head, laughing with the two. 

“Well I do!” Reggie fought back. “I don’t wear these skinny jeans for nothing!”

Alex’s laughter from Reggie’s wackiness turned into one of apprehension. “Well there are more important things to worry about! Like my date being almost two hours late and also how I don’t even know what to say to him because I haven’t seen him in like two months and it's New Year’s Eve and yeah, okay, okay- Stop shaking your ass!”

“Okay,” Y/N held his shoulders, still losing her breath, “Willie is going to come, alright?  It'll be fine, but-“

“Let’s deal with gluteus minimus first.” Luke finished.

“That’s not even-“

“I don’t care.” Luke finished for Alex this time. “I’ll take the right leg, Alex, take the left. Pull!”

Ow! Ow! Ow!” Reggie yelped.

“PULL!”

“Ow! Stop!” 

“It’s going to hurt till we get you out, Reg” Alex explained. “And why isn’t Y/N helping?”

“Oh, sorry,” She was caught up in the hysterics. 

“Oh that’s right,” Luke noticed. “Take the right, I’ll hold onto his feet and pull from the back. On three. 1, 2, 3, PULL!”

“WAIT!” Reggie yelled.

“WHAT?” Alex yelled back.

“Luke said on three, but you pulled at ‘pull’, or really after pull, so is it really ‘on three’ or do you want it to be ‘on pull’ or ‘after three’ or ‘after pull’?”

Alex shook his head, “Does it matter?!”

Reggie’s voice cracked, “Just asking!”

“Okay, ON pull!” Luke clarified, “1,2,3, PULL”

“NO! WAIT!”

“WHAT?!” The three pullers yelled. 

“I felt a tear in my jacket, I love this jacket.”

“Oh god,” the boys complained.

“I think it’s just going to have to tear for us to get you out,” Y/N told him. 

“But you gave it to me!” Y/N heard the sadness in his voice. It was a brown leather jacket with long strands of fringe on either side. She thought it went perfectly with his banjo and love for country music. It also had big inside pockets that could hold all his little treasures, and whatever he had in his pocket today is probably the reason why it was so hard to get him out. 

“Maybe Victoria knows a good dry cleaner that can give us a discount,” she reasoned. 

“Tía does always have very nicely pressed clothes,” Reggie agreed, as an honorary Molina— self appointed, but appreciated by most— he felt that it was okay to address Victoria as such. 

“Yeah,” She laughed at his words, “So are you going to tell me how you got stuck?”

“Well I knew there was going to be a pool table here so I brought my lucky gold eight ball-” Reggie had a lucky every- “And it kind of just fell in here.”

Alex corrected him, “You mean you were getting too cocky at the game and knocked the ball so hard that it fell in there.”

“Potatoes, tomatoes, uh, spaghetti! It doesn't matter now, I got my ball and now I need you guys to help me get out.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Luke nodded, “You ready Reg?”

“...No!”

“You want to make out with the rats? They have diseases.” Alex sarcastically noted.

“They’re misunderstood creatures!” Reggie stated on their behalf. Reggie’s butt buzzed, “Oh that's my phone, that feels weird, “ he laughed. 

“Phone!’ Alex's eyes widened, “Where’s my phone?” He dropped Reggie’s leg

“Alex!” Luke exclaimed want to get this over with.

“Willie texted, he said he’ll be here in thirty- thirty minutes!” 

“Anything else,” Y/N asked.

“He’s excited to spend the New Years with me” He said softly, unsurely.

“That's great.” Everyone agreed, happy for the boy. 

“Are you going to text back?” Y’N asked excitedly, happy with the idea of Alex’s romance coming to life. 

“Oh yeah!” Alex’s face faltered, “Shit. It just died.”

“Just get Reggie’s,” Luke shrugged, “But after we get him out!”

After 3 more tries at “ON PULLS,” Alex, Luke, and Y/N were able to get Reggie out, only tearing his jacket on the left side.

“Thanks guys” Reggie said appreciatively. 

As Luke patted Reggie back Alex spoke: “Um, hey, Y/N?” He asked quietly, hands in his pocket, “Mind if I steal you for a second?”

“Sure,” she smiled sweetly at him, turning the corner so they could have a little bit of privacy. 

“I’m nervous.” He sighed, “ I already spoke to Luke about it before we left for tonight, so he’s already given me all the inspiration he’s got, but I’m still not sure of it all… He took the whole coming back to life hard, but I didn’t think he would take it so hard that he would separate himself from us, from me. ” The boy frowned. 

“I think he really liked being a ghost,” Y/N started.

“Yeah and we ruined his whole life,”

“We didn’t ruin his life, we saved it. He’s free, just like you guys. And…” Y/N trailed off trying to find the words, “Hm, well, I think he was just a ghost so long it became a part of his identity, and now that part left him, it must’ve been hard to take in. Should he have been more verbal about needing space? Yes. You deserved that. If you want to tell him that, you should, especially if it’ll help relieve whatever thoughts you’ve got suck up there. I’m sure he will be apologetic if you ask calmly, try to see it from his perspective. And that way he can be empathetic to your perspective as well, you know? On the other hand, you can also take this New Year in stride and just like go to the past and have a good time with him. Or do both!” She put an arm on his shoulder, giving him a warm closed smile. 

He nodded taking in her words, trying to remember what she said as she said it.

“You got this, okay? What does Luke say? Step into your greatness?”

“Heh,” he laughed, “Greatness is usually for Julie, awesomeness is mine, not saying that I am awesome though, it’s- it’s just what he says.”

“Well it’s because it’s true. You’re awesome, Alex. Just be open hearted and your awesomeness will shine through.”

“But.. how?”

“Didn’t I- Never mind. Okay, from what I know, Willie already knows you, and likes you, and enjoys talking to you, so there are no awkward first encounters to be made. You’ll see him and all you need to do is be prepared to say hi, that is unless you want to talk to him about the past, and then it will go off from there. I feel it ending up well, I promise. And even if it doesn’t? Show him the food. Everyone loves food.”

“Hi- maybe past- food- got it.” He turned, but Y/N quickly grabbed him. 

“Wait, but don’t just think about that. Remember: He’s coming because he wants to see YOU. He wants to spend New Years with YOU. That’s what his message said right?”

“Right.” It seemed Alex forgot. 

“So believe it. Live in that message.” 

“Okay,” he started to smile lightly, though still a little wearily. “Thanks… He wants to see me, he WANTS to see me, live in it.” He repeated her words. 

Alex gave her Reggie’s phone, asking her to message Willie one last time stating that he would be waiting for him by the front of the house by the band’s van. She did so and turned the corner hoping to find both Reggie and Luke, but unfortunately the latter person was not in sight. 

“Reg, where’s Luke?”

“Y/N! Meet Amelie Laurent,” Reggie introduced the girl sitting next to him, imitating a French accent as he said her name. “She’s a foreign exchange student from France. She likes my jacket.” He said with a smirk. 

Y/N guessed he didn’t hear her question.

“Nice to meet you,” the girl said giggling at Reggie’s antics. “Comment tu t’appelles?” She asked.

“Uh, yes.” Y/N stared blankly, watching the girls face fall, “I’m just kidding, it’s Y/N. I know that much at least.” Both you and the girl laughed. 

“Aw look, my girls getting along!” 

“Your girl?” Amelie questioned.

“Well maybe not yet,” Reggie winked while wiggling a brow. 

“You should get Luke and come hang out with me and Miss Amelie Laurent.” Reggie once again pronounced her name with the most fake sounding French accent he could muster, having fun with how the name rolled off his tongue. 

“Speaking of that,” Y/N handed him his phone, “Do you know where he went?”

“Well he didn’t go through the pool door because that’s where my Amelie Laurent came from, so I’m guessing back there,” Reggie pointed his thumb behind him.

“Alright, then I guess I’m going that way. Nice to meet you Miss Amelie.” She giggled, attempting her own French accent.

-

About 10 minutes had passed. Y/N had walked around to the backyard, upstairs to some rooms, to the dance floor, the kitchen, stopping along the way when Julie and Flynn caught her in their sight till she found herself back by the pool table. Reggie’s banjo and doggy friend was present but not he nor his lady friend, or Luke. Y/N wondered if she should finally try the pool door till she heard a sound, a voice actually. As she walked down the hallway she was just minutes before, she heard his voice. 

It was Luke, his tones muffled by the music and talking inside, but she could hear it, it filled her senses, making her heart flutter to hear his singing as it belted a tune much more soulful then the usual pop or rock songs the band sang. He was outside, in the backyard, one of the first places she looked. As she almost reached the back door, she was pushed rather harshly, by someone with wheels, skateboard wheels. 

“Whoa! Sorry!” It was Willie. “You’re Y/N right?” He smiled, running his fingers through his hair as he took off his helmet. “I know we’ve never really spoken, but we know of each other.”

“We do,”  Y/N said pleasantly. 

“I’m glad I finally found one of you, I’m totally lost.”

“Well I think Luke was just outside there, actually.”

“Oh really? God I was going so fast I wasn’t even thinking. Or looking would be correct, right? Anyway, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there, sometimes I still think I’ll just go through people. Can’t believe I have to walk indoors now.” He rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Life of the living,” she tried to joke, “I’m sorry. I know it must be strange.”

“Yeah, better than being under Caleb though.”

“Right,” Y/N nodded. 

“Oh, sorry,” 

“No don’t be. I’ll never know him like you did. No emotional tie here.”

“Um,” An awkward silence erupted, “So since you’re the only one in the group I’ve found you want to play a game?” 

“A game?” She asked, confused.

“Yeah!” He raised his brow.

“And what game would this be?” 

“The Where’s Alex game. If you have the answer I’ll love you forever. I already know I’m super late.”

“Oh!” she laughed at the realization, “He’s at the front! You didn’t see him? Or see the text?”

“My phone died,” He pulled out the device as proof, the glass was severely cracked, “I’m not sure how to properly take care of it as you can see. No wonder I make it die so fast.”

“His phone died too, strangely enough. But he’s waiting for you at the front entrance. You didn’t come from that way?”

“No, I didn’t know if someone would stop me if I went that way because I wasn’t actually invited. I never really did this kind of thing in the past. It’s my first time.” 

“Really? It’s my first too, but for you? You seem so cool to me to never be invited.”

“Well the actual definition of cool and high schoolers definition of cool is wildly different. We’re obviously a different breed, you and I. Better.” He joked. 

“Well thank you.” She could tell why Willie liked him. “Alex is by the white van, it has ghosts painted all over it so you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you!”

“Of course!”

As he was about to walk away, skateboard in hand, he stopped, “Can I be honest?”

“Sure.” She smiled nodding at him to continue.

“I’m a little nervous. I know that’s his thing so I should try to get over it, but I can’t help it. This not being a ghost thing has been hard, you know? Is he mad? I didn’t mean to separate myself…” he faultured. Although Y/N knew Alex’s half of the story, Willie and her were still newly acquainted, it made sense why he felt the need to stop himself from possibly over sharing. 

“He can’t wait to see you.” She reassured him, ending the silence. “It’s literally why he decided to stay by the front. He wanted you to find him right away. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“You sure?”

She confirmed, “Absolutely positive.”

“Alright, thanks again. And nice to meet you! You know, not just by me peering through windows and being creepy. Sorry.”

“Ghosts will be ghosts.” Y/N shrugged. She watched as Willie gave her a laugh and started to walk away. 

“Y/N,” the sweet voice from the backyard called for her again, this time saying her name.

“Luke,” her eyes brightened, turning around.

“Found you.” He grinned, intertwining their fingers on both sides. 

“Well really I would have found you first. I heard your voice, from the backyard, but Willie stopped me before I could go.”

“Ah, you heard my call for you.”

“For me?” He hummed in response.

“I’ll pretend that’s true.” 

“Good,” Luke brought one of her hands up to his lips, kissing it softly. “So where have you been in the last twenty?”

“Well I was looking for you. Reggie said you didn’t go through the pool door so-“

“I did.”

You did?”

“I did! He probably didn’t mention it because he was so focused on-

“Miss Amelie Laurent!” You both said in unison, French accents prevalent. 

“He said you went back here so I went to the backyard, but you weren’t there, so I went upstairs back to Nick room, and you don’t want to know what I saw in there-”

“Ooo tell me,”  his eyes were eager.

“Anyway, I went back down stairs, found Julie near the kitchen— we shared a cupcake— and then she asked me if I would go to the dance floor with her and find someone to talk to so I did that, but then Flynn can said she lost her bracelet so we three had to look for that one, then I came back to the pool table, heard you singing, bumped into Willie, asked me where Alex was, and then I think he needed some advice— he and Alex are literally having the same problem, it’s kind of cute— and then you finally came. That’s my story.”

Luke's mouth was open, eyes going around in a circle as she went on her tangent, hanging onto every word, he thought it was pretty adorable. “Well, my story is much shorter. When I picked Reggi up, you disappeared.”

“Oh, Alex asked me to speak to him, all we did was turn the corner.”

“I didn’t know, but then some guy from the pool came up to me asked me if I could show him some cords from a phantom song and before I could say yes he was pushing me out the door. I helped him, went back inside, met Miss Amelie Laurent, walked to the backyard because Reggie said you went that way, and there I stayed.”

“If only I went back.”

“We’re good now.” Though a smile still ghosted his face he felt a sudden suppression wash over him, “Are you having fun, Y/N/N?”

“I- Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I don’t know… I just know it’s your first party here and I wanted you to have a good time, but at every second someone needs you, or someone needs me, and we’ve been pulled around and around and around,-“ Luke moves his head left to right, a rasp in his voice like a motor engine as he repeated the word for effect, “-that I feel like you’re not letting yourself get into some trouble like everyone else.”

“Trouble?”

“Lack of a better word,” he smiled smugly. “I’m just saying, you’re not Julie and the Phantoms glorified assistant-”

“Neither are you. You’ve done just as much as me tonight.” She reasoned. 

“Yeah, but that’s because I was trying to stick with you and lessen the load. You know you do so much for us all the time.”

“I guess I just like you guys too much.” she shrugged, matching his playful tone from before.

“Like just me a little bit more then.” He moved closer, placing his fingers on her jaw, “Hmm?”

He finally kissed her, a real kiss this time. His other hand moved to her neck as her hands moved to his arms. The hand on her jaw lifted her chin higher, deepening the action.

“People are watching,” she said through a breath, eyes alert. 

Before going back in he said, “No one's watching,” Then after a peck, “And no one cares.” His hands slid to her waist, head tilting to the other side, he hummed, causing Y/N’s hands to fall to his cheeks, quickly sliding her fingers against his chest; she was lost in the moment. 

Slowly Luke’s feet moved backwards, moving one of the hands that was wrapped around his waist to her hip as he motioned her against the wall. “Ow,” Y/N yelped, the black and blue Flynn gave her earlier pulsing again. 

Luke’s hand came to her head, cushioning it against the wall. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“So did I,” she laughed. 

The both smiled at each other, Luke forehead connecting with hers, he rubbed his nose against her own etching more bits of laughter out of her. He relished in the noises, the closeness, the feeling. 

Looking down he noticed their shoes, Y/N’s original chucks in the middle of both vans. He didn’t care what shoes she wore, but he much appreciated how she had to change her footwear for Julie because now they matched… somewhat. The black and white pallets, but different designs; similar, but different; individuals, but connected. He liked it. “Nice shoes, kid.”

“Thanks,” she laughed, “Not what I originally intended, but they work.”

“Work better, in my opinion.” He moved back, extending her arms out as he held her hands. He was surveying how her black dress with white polka dots perfectly matched the color scheme of the converse. “Perfect.”

Once again she blushed, but didn’t respond. Instead she made a remark about his own shoes. “You know, I don’t understand how you wear those everyday, yet they aren’t all dirty like mine.”

“Well I used to be a ghost, when I was walking my feet weren’t actually treading on the Earth.” 

“Well that was three months ago.”

“Almost three months ago,” he corrected, for that’s when their official relationship started. Luke always thought she was pretty, right from the moment he saw her, but it wasn’t love at first sight, not even like. She was a little quiet, at least with him and the boys and they all noticed. With Julie and Flynn she smiled brightly and chatted constantly, or that’s what he would hear when he would come to Julie’s room, hearing her voice through the door. It was a sweet voice, empathetic, understanding; he thought it sounded like music, and not only did he wonder how his name would sound on her lips, but he felt connected to it. He understood the desire to make others feel good. Through his singing he tried to make people feel seen, make their problems validated, and he could tell she tried to do that with her words. 

For Y/N at first, she wanted Julie to have the band for herself. She thought that this was one of the few things making her feel happy during this dark time of Tía Rose’s passing, so she didn’t want to step in too much, not to mention the realization that she could see ghosts wasn’t exactly the easiest things for her to get her head around the way Julie did. But her elusiveness only made Luke more curious, and when Luke was curious, he was persistent in finding out whatever it was he wanted to know. 

First, he would ask Julie to bring Y/N down for their rehearsals and she would, sometimes, but nothing gave. Y/N would most give Julie feedback, shying away from the ghosts gaze, still unsure how to interact. Then, he just started asking Julie about her cousin, little questions here and there till Julie finally got tired and told him to just go talk to her himself. This is where he was at a stand still as he was unsure how to approach her. Finally, after noticing how her room lights would shine quite far into the night, he decided to go up there, telling himself he would just ask her why she sleeps so late, that he only noticed because he likes to take walks at night. It sounded reasonable to him. 

This is when he realized how similar Molina’s are: Always trying to be brave for others. After she told him she always had trouble falling asleep unless it was specifically her bed at home, but didn’t want to tell anyone else because it would bother them. She wanted to stay here for Julie and for the friendships she was finally making at Los Feliz, so Luke decided to start a tradition with her: late night bike rides. It was a way to tire her out and a way for him to get some alone time with her. Him taking a bike from the garage, and her using her own she brought from her old home. They rode separately, but together, letting the quiet road open them up to the other. Telling each other stories, discussing interests, consoling each other when they were feeling down. Luke never knew how close you could feel to someone else by just conversation until he had to do it with Y/N. It made him appreciate her in a way he’d never felt before. 

They were not friends, they knew that fairly quickly, but they didn’t hurt each other by talking about being more. It was just an unspoken agreement that they hung out with each other exclusively in the way that they did, but they never spoke of romantics. Their rides were special, only for them. That’s why when he became alive the first thing he wanted to do, after celebrating with everyone, was take a ride with her. One bike this time. Her heels on the bars and she heads onto his shoulders, showing her where he used to grow up. That’s what he always wanted to do. 

“Not enough time,” Luke said in response to Y/N who mentioned that wearing the same two pairs of shoes for 3 months had to have made them a little messed up, but he was talking about them, thinking about how short of a time ago it was that he got got be with her this way. It was a long year of just knowing her without the sense of touch. He felt lucky. Once again, he dipped his hands on the side of her face, starting to go in till-

“Hey, Y/N! And oh, Luke! Hey man.” It was the New Years Eve birthday boy.

“Oh, hey, Nick,” Y/N said, maintaining a kind disposition although she knew how his actions made Julie feel. 

“Um,” he laughed awkwardly at Luke’s stoicism, it was unnatural for his character and even Nick knew that by now, “Well I was wondering if you knew where Julie was. I’ve been looking for her everywhere.”

“Really?” Luke questioned.

“Yeah, I promised her a dance,” he laughed, “or really she promised me one because we all know I suck.”

Y/N laughed kindheartedly at his deprecation. She was still trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Carrie does have a dominating attitude, and with someone as tender Nick it would make sense that he got roped into whatever it was even at his own party, but looking at Luke’s face and knowing how she felt earlier, she decided to to be upfront, “Look Nick, you don’t have to say anything, but I think you like Julie, and I don’t know if Julie likes you, but let’s say she does: You’re sending mixed signals. I get you and Carrie have a history and that she can be bossy, but you make your own choices. If you want to hang out with a certain someone, I think you should put your foot down and make it a priority to do that.” She tried to be ambiguous, obviously failing throughout. 

Nick sighed, “I know… I have no excuse. But that’s why I’ve been trying to find her. I want to hang out with her, do a- I don’t know-“

“‘I don’t know?’” Luke intervened, restating his words, unsure about the possible actions behind them.

“I mean like... New Year's kiss, I- don’t laugh at me Y/N!”

“No! I think it’s sweet. I'm only laughing because I’ve understood your pain, Nick.”

Nick laughed alongside her albeit he was still mostly laughing at himself. Luke kept his grumpy face, eyebrows twitching. “Well if that’s what you want, go get it before the Carrie snatches you up again”

“But even if she does,” Luke started. 

“Put your foot down.” Y/n finished “You know, Stand Tall, like the phantoms song.”

“‘Whatever happens’  he snickered, waving his finger as he said the lyric in hopes to ease the tension with Luke, but he was not amused. 

“Exactly,” Y/N smiled, paying her boyfriend's chest. 

“Right,” Luke agreed, he was really only saying it for Y/N. “Nice basketball sheets by the way”

“Hey, come on, my dad got those for me. It’s nostalgic, you know? Anyway, so I know you guys were busy and I’m sorry that I interrupted anything, but do you think you could help me find her? I really want to find her.”

“Listen Nick,” Luke started once again, it was getting late and he still had a plan he wanted to maintain. 

“Y/N! So there’s this gu- Nick, oh-“

“Julie, I’ve been looking for you!” Nick exclaimed, happy to see her. 

“You have?”

“Apparently,” Luke answered. 

“Well Nick, actually I-“

“Wait. Julie, wait. I- um, I was also looking for all you phantoms actually. I mean I was going to find you and talk to you first and the ask about this later but hey two out of the four are here so,”

“What are you talking about?” Julie asks, hoping he’d get to the point.

“I was wondering if you could play a song? Just one. I don’t have a bass but I’ve got a drum kit on stage already and I’ve got plenty of electrics. The party’s coming to a close and I thought this would be one last thing to bring it all together to make a great night. I know it’s last minute,”

“Nick-“

“Julie.” He stopped, stumbling with his words, till he finally felt sure of what to say, “I’m beating around the bush. What I really need to say is I’m sorry for leaving you. You’re the only one I wanted to hang out with tonight. Carrie- Carrie’s just lonely. If I’m being honest and I promise I don’t mean this in a rude way, but Kayla is just more of her henchman. I know we used to date so it looks strange, but I think I’m her only friend right now. She bought a really grand present and took me away to show it to me, that’s all. I should have stopped to speak to you first though. That’s on me.”

Julie looked down, nodding, “I appreciate that.” 

“You don’t have to sing and you don’t have to give me any more of your time tonight if you don’t want to. I’m just glad you’re here either way.” 

“I don’t mind hanging out with you... if you actually stick around this time-“

“I will!”

“But singing? I guess I’ll leave that one to you Luke.” Julie said, noticing his expression, lips scrunched up together.

“I- It’s your choice, Jules. Whatever you want.” He said lessening the intensity that was in his eyes, Nick did do what Y/N said after all. 

“Let’s sing then. This party has been a little hectic and I think we all need to get our emotions out. Let the New Year come in with good vibes. Right, buddy?” She said tapping Luke’s cheek. “Y/N, help me find the others?”

“Sure,” she said with a sympathetic smile to Luke who she noticed didn’t seem to enjoy that little buddy comment, nonetheless, she joined in: “See ya soon, buddy,” Y/N laughed, letting the ends of her finger tips brush against his till she was pulled away by Julie.

-

On stage, Julie and the Phantoms rose, singing Finally Free. It had become quite the party anthem for them. The repetition in the chorus made it such a good song for them to engage with the audience. Every time Julie sang ‘I got a spark in me’ the crowd would sing back, throwing their hands up in the process quite literally making the next lyric, ‘hands up if you’re with me’ come true in the most perfect way.

Y/N wished she brought her camera, instead she opted to take out her phone, taking some iPhone shots of the band, hoping the fans would enjoy these raw candid pictures, but then Luke caught her attention through the screen, he sent her a wink, one that the people in front of her probably thought was for them. As he strummed his guitar he yelled a ‘WOOO’ her way, bouncing with Reggie. Y/N decided to put her phone down. This performance was a New Years special, one to only be viewed in person; in the moment; no thinking of anyone else. Finding Flynn in the crowd who was also trying to catch some snapshots of her own, Y/N passed on the energy Luke had given to her: “Lets just have fun!” 

- 

Soon after, the song had ended, and despite not being the ‘hologram band’ anymore the Phantoms vanished from the stage, still giving the audience chills as Julie was the one last standing, thanking everyone for being such a great audience. When the gang realized the guys still had some ghosting abilities, Julie wondered if they should stop the whole disappearing thing, saying it would be harder for people to believe, but honestly, seeing the guys at school, at this party, and still watching them turn to dust when the music and cheering ended still amazed the crowd and made it just that more of a spectacle; no one cared for reason, it was simply that cool to see. 

Y/N hoped Luke would pop up alongside her, saving her the hassle of searching for him again, but alas, he did not. It made sense to her though, for she was right in the middle of the dancefloor. 

She decided to travel back around to the hallway where Nick and Julie had stopped her and Luke before. Walking down the hall, a hand snaked around her arm, pull her into a small closet under the staircase. “What the-” She stopped herself as she looked up and the light illuminated the small area with a click and a pull. Her eyes traveled slowly from the buttery yellow glow of the small light, the hand which pulled on the silvery chord, the shimmering skin of Luke, whose eyes followed her gaze till she met his own. “Howdy.” 

“Hey there, partner” she said softy, small breathy giggles coming out of her. “Nice hat.”

“Why thank you, pretty lady,” he responded with a wink, tipping the brown leathered cowboy hat he’d found.

“So what are we doing in here?” She asked, watching him take off the hat.

“Wanna play seven minutes in heaven?” 

“Like in 13 going on 30? Is that the kind of game you played in your 90s parties?” 

Luke rolled his eyes at her comment, moving on, “I decided that our friends are not going to leave us alone tonight, so I want just seven minutes. No interruptions, just us.” 

“I’d like that.”

Luke took out his phone starting a timer on his phone, “Yeah,” he nodded as he moved closer to her face, “me too.”

Lips on her own, he moved his hand to the back of her head, remembering her black and blue and he softly placed it against the wall of the small space, removing it once there. 

As her head leaned eagerly against it, the rest of her body was slanted, legs in between his own, he moved his arms to her waist, hands going up her back, while hands went up to his neck, going in to play with his hair. 

“Y/N?”

The sound caused her to jump, banging her head for the third time. “Ow.” 

It was Flynn. 

“Luke!” 

It was Reggie. 

Now Julie came over, “Is Y/N and Luke in there? Guys?!” H-“

“No!” Luke yelled. 

“Hey!” It was Alex, hand in hand with Willie. “Are they coming out? It’s-“

“Five minutes!” Luke yelled out again. He slid out his phone from underneath the door. “In fact, reset it to seven, give us seven.” 

Reggie took phone, “But Luke you didn’t notice the ti-“ 

Luke bagged on the door, “When it rings, that’s when you can give us your requests.”

Y/N covered her mouth, giggling at his aggressive tone. 

“Come here,” he motioned her with his hands on her hips, lips once again reconnected. As they started to move backward again, Luke moved his hands higher, picking her up, motioning her to wrap her legs around her waist, Y/N tried to catch her breath as their lips fell a part in the action, “Not this time,” he whispered in her ear, the vibrations of his voice making her shiver. He crashed his lips onto hers again as his hands went lower on his hips, supporting her on his frame. He swiped his tongue on her lower lip in an attempt to deepen the kiss further. Thereafter, their lips were connected in open mouth kisses, Luke taking control of the action.

“We just wanted to say Happy New Years, it’s 12:03.” Reggie uttered quietly at the bottom of the door, petting Nick’s dog that found him again. Y/N and Luke didn’t answer him, he figured they were too busy engrossed in each other. 

“Happy New Years, beautiful.” Luke sang to Y/N, sighing out, admiring the way her eyes looked into his, realizing that he completed his mission after all.  

“Happy New Years, Luke.” She breathed out, planting her lips on his once more. One hand on the side of his face as the other went back to his hair, rejoicing in their closeness, finally, uninterrupted.

- 

Thank you for reading! 

Tag list: @lolychu​ @marinettepotterandplagg​

[kaylaxwrites]

Street Kid

Pairing: (platonic!) Frank Castle & Reader Words: 1.9k Request: “hi :) can you do a platonic frank castle imagine where he is in a fight and looses alot of blood and end up passing out in an alley but a street kid (16/17 yo female) stitches him up and saves him and later he runs into him and they develop a father-daughter relationship? thank you so much!” (anon) A/N: I don’t know if this is what you wanted, and my mind blanked half way through when trying to come up with some father/daughter scenarios, so that aspect of it probably isn’t the best. But!! even though requests are technically closed, I’ll also some father/daughter requests for if you have any specific situations/scenarios you wanted to see. Just because I feel really bad that I couldn’t write what I wanted to see so it’s probably not what you wanted to see lol

Warnings: reader has an ambiguous background of being kicked out by her parents and she’s homeless and also somewhat-graphic description of stitching somebody up. but it’s a punisher fic, so you know

You ducked through the alley, taking the shortcut you always took. You stumbled to a halt when you noticed a body laying on the ground. Please don’t be dead, please don’t be dead, you thought as you inched closer to the man, letting out a breath when you noticed the rise and fall of his chest. You hesitantly leaned over him, toeing him with the edge of your shoe. “Buddy…uh, you okay there?” you asked, nudging him a few more times. It wasn’t until the fifth nudge until he finally gasped awake, wildly swinging at you the instant his eyes opened.

“Woah, woah, woah,” you called, stepping back several feet. “Chill, dude, you’re fine.”

It was a few moments for him to calm his breathing and gather his surroundings. “Who’re you?” he grumbled, words almost slurred.

“Uh…Y/N. I was just walking by and I saw…” You noticed his wide away of injuries then. He was so bruised and bloodied, you weren’t sure where one wound ended and another began. Blood obscured his face so you couldn’t make out any details as to who he might have been. But the skull on the chest was a dead giveaway. The Punisher. “I think you need a hospital.”

“No—no hospitals.” He stumbled to his feet but crashed into a dumpster, unable to find his balance.

“Uh, yes. Yes hospitals.”

“M’fine.”

“Uh-huh. Is there…is there anyone after you? You look like you got the shit beat of you. They won’t be coming back, will they?”

“No. No.”

You sighed. “Glad that’s settled. So if no hospitals, you got anyone I can call? You got friends?”

“Look like I make friends?”

“No.” You looked around and sighed. “Well, I wouldn’t feel like a good Samaritan if I left you all by yourself. You wanna follow me or…?” He huffed something that almost sounded like a laugh, but hesitantly shuffled behind you after you started walking.

You kept pace with him as you navigated to your home. No, house? No…place you slept. The abandoned building that acted as the roof over your head wasn’t much, but it was all you had. After your parents had kicked you out a year and a half ago—and your subsequent emancipation—it was the best spot you could find. The shelters were always overcrowded and no landlord in their right mind would lease to a sixteen-year-old, so you settled. At the very least, you were able to spend money earned from your two fast food jobs on things other than rent. Like food. And a nice sleeping bag. And, useful in instances like this, a well-stocked first aid kit.

You held open the gap in the chain link fence for the man to wince his way through. In any other instance, you’d feel hesitant to let a stranger—a grown man, no less—into what acted as your home, but this was the Punisher you were talking about. Even though he…killed…people, you read enough in the news to know that his moral code—however skewed it was—wouldn’t let him hurt women or kids. As you fell squarely into that category, you figured you were safe.

You kicked open the door to your building and led the Punisher up the stairs to the room where you camped out. You directed him to sit on the dusty table at the center of the room. You pulled out the first aid kit you had, as well as a couple clean towels you had nicked from work. You set those on the table next to the Punisher before pulling the 48-pack of water bottles out from under the table. You wet a towel with one of the bottles and handed it to him. He started cleaning his face until he could finally see clearly through the blood.

“You live here?” he asked after taking in the room fully. You noticed his eyes lingered on the sleeping bed and mat framed by battery-operated string lights in the corner of the room. Then he finally took in your appearance. “Jesus, you’re just a kid.” And your age, apparently.

“I’m eighteen!” you tried to defend yourself. Frank arched an eyebrow, eyes sliding to your stuffed animal still propped up on your pillow. You sighed, looking down. “Sixteen. And a half,” you added after a moment. As if it would help your case.

“Where are your parents?”

You crossed your arms defensively. “It’s a long story.”

“Fair enough.” He looked around the room once more. “You got a mirror I can use?” You nodded and slid a half-shattered mirror from behind the door. He nodded his thanks and stepped over to the mirror, sliding his shirt and vest off with a grimace.

You puttered around while he did whatever he needed to fix himself up and clean himself off. You tried to avoid looking over at him, the blood making your stomach queasy. You were able to ignore him until he caught your attention half an hour later.

“Kid,” he called. “Kid. Hey, kid!”

It was the last one that startled you to attention. You jumped and turned to face him. He was cleaned and stitched up. For the most part. He definitely looked a lot better than when you saw him for the first time. But you still thought he should go to the hospital. Punisher or not.

“I need your help,” he continued.

“How am I supposed to help?” you asked.

He turned to show you a gash on the back side of his ribcage. “Needs stitched. I can’t reach it.”

“And you want me to…” You gulped.

“You got anyone else here to help out?”

“Well…no.”

He gestured you over and then pressed a needle and tweezers in your hands. You eyed the curved suturing needle warily. “I’ve already sterilized everything. I just need you to close it.” He braced himself against the wall with his opposite arm.

“I—I don’t know what to do.”

He pulled your hands so they were against the wound. “You gotta pinch it closed then about half a centimeter from the edge slide the needle in and straight across.”

You followed his directions and gagged at the feeling of the needle sliding through skin. “Oh my god! That is disgusting!”

“Yeah, yeah, keep going.”

You gagged again as you pulled the needle through the opposite edge of skin. “Now what?” you asked, breathing heavily.

“Double knot it and cut it off. And then go every quarter inch or so until the end.”

You did as he said until the entire would was sealed off. You raced to grab a bottle of water to pour over your hands. You never wished more for running water so you could thoroughly wash the blood off your hands—and the memory of feeling the sutures pull against skin. “Please tell me that’s the only one,” you said when your hands were the cleanest they were going to get.

“Yeah, that’s the only one.”

“You do that often?”

He chuckled. “More than I should.” He shrugged his bloody shirt back on, seemingly preparing to leave. “You stay here by yourself?”

“For the most part,” you answered. “I mean, sometimes there’s a few kids who hole up downstairs, but for the most part, it’s just me.”

Frank looked conflicted, as if he wanted to leave but didn’t feel right leaving you here alone. After a few moments, he seemed to make up his mind. “I should probably lie low for a little while. You mind if I stay out in the hallway?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. I don’t…I don’t have, like, any extra pillows or anything to give you, though.”

“Trust me, kid, I’ve slept in worse places than that dingey hallway.”

“Oh, okay. Well, I probably should…be getting to bed,” you said. You weren’t anywhere near tired, but you don’t want him to feel like he needed to hang around you any longer. You passed him two water bottles as he stepped outside of the room. “Well, uh, goodnight, Frank.”

He tensed as you said his name. “How do you know my name?”

You almost rolled your eyes. “Uh, it’s not exactly like you’re incognito. The Punisher logo on your vest kind of gave it away.”

“Right. Night, kid.”

“Goodnight.”

You smiled and shut the door, moving to curl into your little bedspace. If you were being completely honest, you felt the safest tonight sleeping here than you’d ever had. Logically, you knew the Punisher was supposed to be some big, scary man, but deep down, you knew no harm would come to you with Frank Castle sitting just outside your door.

The sunlight slowly woke you the next morning. You squinted into the light that poured in from the broken window above your sleeping bag. You turned over and tried to fall back asleep, but it was no use. You rose from the makeshift bed, wincing as your joints popped, and made your way to the hallway. You looked down each end, but Frank was gone. It didn’t surprise you that he left at some point in the night, but you couldn’t say you weren’t a little disappointed he wasn’t there. You shuffled back into your room, freezing when you saw what was on the table.

Breakfast.

A hot, steaming breakfast.

You weren’t sure how you didn’t notice it earlier, what with the smell now wafting towards your nose. Instantly, your stomach rumbled. You rushed over to the takeout container, eager to find what was inside. A sticky note on top simply read “Thanks, kid,” but you set it aside. Your mouth watered the instant you opened the container.

Pancakes.

This was probably the single most happiest moment of your life. You hadn’t had a hot meal—let alone a hot breakfast—in who knows how long. The platter spread before you seemed like a feast. You dug in happily, savoring every bite until it was gone.

 That was the last you expected to hear from the Punisher. You stitched him up, he bought you breakfast the next day as thanks, that should be it, right?

Turns out Frank Castle was a man of many surprises.

Nearly every single day from that point forward, you would find a takeout container centered on your table. Sometimes, he left you breakfast like that first day—sometimes pancakes, sometimes omelets, but all from the diner a few blocks down the road. Other days, he’d bring you dinner, leaving Chinese takeout containers piled high on the table or a Tupperware container full of homemade spaghetti. You weren’t sure who made the spaghetti—you couldn’t exactly picture Frank in the kitchen—but it was incredible, nonetheless.

Your favorite days were when Frank lingered after dropping the food off, eventually going as far as to sit and eat with you when he could. Those days left you feeling the happiest. Dinners with Frank happened more and more until he offered you the small second bedroom in his rundown apartment. “I’m never gonna use it,” he said, “and I’m not gonna bust you out of jail if you get caught for trespassing.” You eagerly grabbed the opportunity with both hands—you wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, especially if that horse would get you out of this rat- and cockroach-infested hellhole. Living in an actual apartment would be a dream.

Thinking back on everything, you weren’t sure when the feeling began, but one day, you realized…you felt like a family. By all means, the relationship you had with Frank Castle was far more familial and paternal than any you’d ever had with your biological family. With each passing day, you couldn’t be happier that you’d stumbled across a half-dead Punisher in the alley that night.

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

A Miraculous TikTok Account

Part 15

First

Previous

Next

Ladybug woke up the next morning to her phone going off like an alarm. She groaned and slowly reached to her bedside table, gently nudging away fabrics in search of her phone. She found it, eventually, and tapped her finger on the screen repeatedly in search of the snooze button, but it didn’t seem to be working.

She grumbled to herself, snatching the phone off the table and looking to turn it off…

Only to realize that it was a good hour before she’d set her alarm to go off for her meeting with Audrey Bourgeois. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she watched another round of notifications come in.

Ugh. That’s what she gets for turning her ringer on at night in case her friends had nightmares. She silenced her phone and fell back in her bed.

After ten minutes of staring at the ceiling and attempting to trick her brain into thinking she was asleep, she reluctantly pushed herself out of her bed. Phone in hand and blanket around her shoulders, she shuffled downstairs for a cup of coffee.

She waved to Chloe absently when she saw her in the kitchen making a bowl of cereal and got a hum in response. That was their entire conversation, though. Chloe always seemed to know when exactly it was a good time to tease her or not without Ladybug ever saying a word.

Maybe she should have figured out that Chloe was some kind of minor telepath.

Whatever.

She scrolled through her phone as she waited for her pot of coffee to finish.

The Parisians on TikTok were going wild.

There was a group freaking out about Chat’s account (because it was cute, but also because he might actually be a dog person considering that was the first thing he’d uploaded). Carapace’s video was full of comments analyzing their group dynamic or pitying the people who had been on shift at the time. Rena’s account had thousands of people screaming about having actual information on the miraculous holder’s daily lives for once and people attempting to use the footage to figure out where they were living. Chloe’s video had people speculating on what she would be doing or commenting on their day-to-day outfits.

And Ladybug’s…

It was full of people saying things along the lines of “of course Ladybug would have a lifestyle account”.

Part of her was kind of offended. Sure, her persona was definitely different than her and if she knew a person like ‘Ladybug’ in real life she probably wouldn’t be all that close to them, she’d made it that way on purpose… but still. It kind of hurt.

Then again, there was another part of her that was tempted to sing. Her ruse was working! She had accurately guessed what would be in character for her persona! Nice!

She poured herself a cup of her quickly cooling coffee and headed up to get properly dressed for the day.

Ladybug couldn’t help but be a little anxious as she changed from her red and black pajamas into a completely different red and black ensemble. Her mind wandered to all the messages she was getting about how consistent her persona was.

If she didn’t give her persona any kind of depth, how long would people keep falling for it?

She didn’t know. She was out the door in minutes and heading off to the park where Audrey had wanted to meet, the prototype of the dress she’d made for a ball in the United States in her hands. She had to remind herself constantly that, even if the stuff she’d used for the prototype was just there to simulate the real thing and wasn’t all that expensive, she still needed everything to be intact when she gave it to Audrey.

She was a little distracted during the meeting, her mind on what to do about her persona, so it was a good thing that Audrey’s only complaint was that the prototype fabric was a little coarse. That could be fixed.

The persona thing…? Not so much.

Rena was already suspicious, Ladybug could see it in the way her eyes narrowed ever so slightly whenever she let little things slip through.

(Thanks for telling her that everyone has personas, Carapace, now she had to be even more careful.)

She forced herself to relax. There wasn’t anything to gain from worrying about people figuring out just how fake she was outside of a possible akumatization.

No. Instead she would concentrate on something she could fix: Hawkmoth. If she figured out his identity they could beat him, and then she would never have to worry about personas ever again.

The moment she got home she walked over to the conspiracy board. She glared at the millions of closeups of every part of Hawkmoth’s body.

~Want to skip some calculations? Here’s your chance! I nerded out a little, sorry~

Hawkmoth was about 230cm tall in costume. That’s what Rena had found out through calculating his height in comparison to some of Nino’s plates in the photo, but Ladybug had (stupidly) offered to do the math to see how tall he would be without the miraculous stuff...

She knew the man’s shoes gave him a little extra height than most normal shoes would; she’d seen them up close, they were practically heels.

She spent literal hours sitting down with her computer at the kitchen table, a cold look on her face.

(Thank the kwamis for Chloe, because every time someone came near she would quickly come up to play interference. Ladybug didn’t know if she was doing this for their sake or hers, but either way it was appreciated.)

She scrolled through page after page of shoes, trying to find a model that looked close to the fashion disaster Hawkmoth was wearing.

Did she have a theory for the type of shoe they were? Yes. Was she going to just go with that? Of course not. She was Ladybug! Ladybug doesn’t GUESS --!

Maybe she’d been pretending to be Ladybug for too long. She made a mental note to go out with friends as a civilian sometime.

Still, it took until midnight to find a model that was similar enough for her to feel comfortable using it as a base. She printed out the picture and put it beside the picture of Hawkmoth’s shoes and nodded to herself. Great. His shoes added about 3 centimeters to his height.

Now onto the next part of height calculations.

Miraculi gave everyone extra height.

She didn’t know for sure if it was a flat rate or proportional, so she went out on the town, looking for some kind of measuring tape -- the type she used for work wasn’t long enough for a person’s actual height. She managed to find a place unfortunate enough to be open past midnight and she and the person checking out her item shared ‘I wish I was dead’ expressions.

It was here that she dragged everyone out of bed to measure their heights as civilians versus as heroes (without shoes, obviously).

They were clearly very annoyed by this, but it was nearing three o’clock at this point and she had spent an entire day looking at shoes. The look on her face was absolutely murderous. They opted to just quietly do what she said so they could go back to sleep as soon as possible.

5 centimeters. Everyone grew by 5 centimeters.

She wasn’t quite sure why this happened, nor did she really care. It was just important for her calculations.

~Calculations over~

So he was anywhere from 215 to 225 centimeters. Unreasonably tall, really. There could only be a few people of that height in Paris.

After doing some searching she figured out that there were probably about 5 people in all of Paris that were that height.

She just had to… find them? Somehow?

Whatever. She should also do some quick things to distinguish Hawkmoth from the others. She grabbed an extra sheet of printer paper and started writing things down.

A semi-muscular build, possibly bald, stupidhead, terrible fashion sense...

She fell back on the couch for a quick breather.

She was getting a headache. What was it from? The caffeine? Dehydration? Was she clenching her teeth? Who knows.

Ladybug pulled her phone out and checked the time…

Four-thirty.

She had time to finish that sketch for Jagged Stone before their eight o’clock appointment. It would be close, though.

She changed while she waited for her coffee to brew (How many pots had she had since yesterday? Four? Five? Whatever, it was probably fine) and then got to work.

She looked up a while later when Chloe walked down for breakfast. It was seven now, then. She would need to leave soon…

“Kwami, Ladybug, you look awful!”

“Thanks,” she said, her eyes falling back to the sketch. It didn’t have enough… yeah, that was the end of the sentence. It was too plain, but she couldn’t seem to --.

She felt hands rest over her cheeks and she looked up to see Chloe standing over her. “You need to sleep.”

“I need to get to an appointment.”

“I WILL use Sticky Situation if I have to.”

Ladybug wasn’t impressed.

“Pollen, buzz on.”

Ladybug blinked at the miraculous holder in front of her and then gasped. Of course! She’d forgotten accessories! No wonder it felt empty!

Kwami, she really was tired, huh?

She put some quick accessories down, careful to make all the items kind of tiny so Jagged wouldn’t be able to tell the ideas weren’t fully fleshed out yet, and then smiled at Chloe as she got up to leave. “Thanks, Queenie. I gotta go, I’ll sleep later.”

“But --!”

She was already gone.

The meeting went well. Yay. She kept her job.

She walked home, happy to just be done with that really long day --.

She randomly chanced a look in the window as she passed and winced when she saw Chloe waiting for her on the couch. She was far too tired to deal with a lecture. She transformed and flew into her room through the window.

… now what? Should she sleep?

Nah. She had patrols that night. Might as well just stay up through it all.

She yawned into her hand and headed down to Rena’s room. She might as well tell her what she’d figured out.

She knocked her head against the wooden door instead of her fist in an attempt to wake herself up a little and smiled when it opened.

“You look…”

“I’ve been told. Anyways, I’ve finished doing math and stuff. Come look.”

Ladybug grabbed Rena’s arm before the other could even say anything and pulled her down to the kitchen where she’d done the calculations.

Rena looked over everything for a few moments before her eyes widened.

“... hey, quick question, why does it say he has a ‘condom-head’?”

That got Ladybug awake. Her eyes found their way to the list of attributes she’d written while sleep-deprived.

Her eyes went wide with horror.

Because there, in handwriting that was definitely hers, were the words ‘stupid-looking condom-head’.

Fuck.

~~~

Taglist

@nathleigh @mialuvscats @sassakitty @th1s-1s-my-aesthet1c @blueslushgueen @woe-is-me0 @ladybug-182 @cas-and-their-refusal-to-write

[inkslingersworld]

Zusammen: Part XI

Link to all parts here.

While Adrien and Kagami were eating dinner and agonizing over the newfound revelations, Luka Couffaine was eating licorice and agonizing over the upcoming concert.

What had caused the momentary lunacy that made him accept Rose’s offer for Kitty Section to perform some of his recently written songs at the music festival? It would’ve been all good and fine if they’d been instrumental, like most of his previous work, but these songs had lyrics. That he would be singing. In front of a multiple-thousand person audience. What had given his brain the audacity to short-circuit and make him respond “yes” to Rose’s question?

Though he’d never admit it as long as he lived, Luka despised singing. Not other people doing it, but himself. He couldn’t understand why; after he’d agreed to Rose’s suggestion, he practiced singing one of his songs in the shower, and he thought he sounded pretty good. Luka supposed it could have something to do with being watched by multitudes of eyes, but that didn’t make since either - he’d spoken at several former Kitty Section gigs without incident. For some reason, singing before a crowd just got him.

He gave a startled jerk at being tapped on the shoulder, turning to face his sister, Juleka.

“Luka, you good? You look a little pale, what’s the matter?”

“Uh... nothing. Just that these Twizzlers taste like rubber,” Luka answered, not necessarily lying.

Juleka gave him an understanding look. “If you want, we could feed them to Fang.”

“Is he supposed to eat licorice?” asked Luka.

“If he can eat Dad’s portable cassette player, I’m sure some candy won’t hurt him,” said Juleka.

“I thought Fang got sick after eating the cassette player,” Luka said confusedly.

“What made you think that?”

“Right after he ate it, I heard these awful wailing sounds from the bathroom. They went on for like an hour.”

“No, that was Dad mourning.”

“Oh, okay.”

Luka handed the half-empty packet of licorice to Juleka. She pocketed it and looked at him expectantly.

“What?” Luka asked.

“Aren’t you coming?” Juleka asked back. “It’s time to rehearse.”

“I-It’s time to rehearse?” repeated Luka nervously. “Now? I thought we had an hour!”

“It’s been an hour,” huffed Juleka impatiently, waving hair out of her face. “We would’ve finished already, but you said you needed to rehearse for the rehearsal and shut yourself up in your room.”

“Ah. R-Right.”

Juleka studied her brother’s anxious face intently. “Luka, you have nothing to worry about. You’re one of Kitty Section’s most talented members. Heck, you’re as good as Dad at this point.”

“Ouch,” said Luka, in a mock offended voice. 

Both brother and sister laughed heartily, but once the laughter subsided, Luka’s feeling of dread slowly crept back into his mind. 

“You ready?” asked Juleka.

Luka took a deep breath; he wasn’t about to let his friends down. 

“Alright,” he said, with as much confidence as he could muster. “I’m ready.”

===========

The performance space on the deck of the Liberty was lit only by outdoor string lights and the stars above in the heavens. When the spotlight flicked on and the band walked onstage, Luka had trouble determining who was in the audience. He could certainly make out his parents and Fang (they were in the front row), but all other faces were shrouded in darkness.

“Hi everyone!” chirped Rose effervescently. “You know us, we’re Kitty Section! This isn’t really a concert, it’s a rehearsal, but that doesn’t mean it has to be any less fun! One thing different about tonight’s performance is that we will be debuting some song written by our lead guitarist, Luka Couffaine!”

A smattering of applause followed Rose’s announcement. Luka squeezed his bracelet tensely.

“I have to say, Luka has written some truly fantastic songs for our band, and he will be opening our rehearsal by performing one of them for us! I give you, Luka Couffaine, playing his own original song, ‘The Quiet’!”

The applause returned stronger, although they could have thrown tomatoes for all Luka cared. “The Quiet”? No. No no no no no no no no no. He wasn’t overly fond of singing any of his songs, but especially not “The Quiet”. Luka had written that song to be performed a cappella - without instruments. 

Had he agreed to sing “The Quiet”? Luka couldn’t remember - the fear of singing in front of a crowd had shut out anything else at the time of Rose’s suggestion. He guessed he could ask Rose if he could sing another song, but once he’d thought of this, he was already at center stage, his mouth centimeters away from the microphone. Had he walked there? 

Focus, he thought. You can do anything. You’re Viperion, for Christ’s sake!

Luka opened his mouth to sing, but his vocal chords refused. 

I said ‘Focus’! his mind told him. Choose a single spot to train your eyes on. Look at nothing except for that one spot. Didn’t your dad say that helped to calm nerves onstage?

Yeah, he did, Luka said to his mind. 

He decided to stare at the Notre-Dame Cathedral; the Liberty was parked in an area of the Seine that provided a perfect view of the famous church. However, when his eyes traveled up from his shoes to gaze at the stained glass windows, Luka found something a million times better.

Marinette. The love of his life. The center of his whole world. 

How had he not seen her before? She was right up in the front row with his family, staring at him with a heartfelt expression that made Luka’s heart expand in his chest. He knew that as long as Marinette was here, everything would work out. 

Luka waved to his girlfriend. Marinette smiled widely and waved back.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

That’s how Luka wrote “The Quiet” to begin, with the calm shushing noise. After a four second pause, he began whispering the lyrics softly into the mic, just like the song was supposed to go.

Don’t cry now, darling / the quiet will keep you safe / lullaby now, darling / the quiet will keep you safe / sweet dreams are ‘round the corner / I’ll be waiting there for you / and we’ll fly above the clouds / with the wings our joy will bring / in the search for something new

Another four second pause; Luka had originally written “The Quiet” as a lullaby for Marinette, though this would be the first time she or anyone else heard it, unless there had been spies in the bathroom while he showered.

It’s all right, darling / the quiet will keep you safe / stars are out tonight, darling / the quiet will keep you safe / so lay down on the pillow / make sure to set your alarm / but I’ll stay awake a bit / to marvel at your peaceful face / and keep alert in case I need to protect you / from harm

Luka ceased singing; the song wasn’t very lengthy. Despite this, the applause was the strongest yet, accompanied by whoops and cheers, and even though Luka knew there were less than a dozen individuals seated before him, the clapping sounded loud enough to him to fill the Parc des Princes. He felt so relieved that he hadn’t frozen up during the performance that he didn’t even register Marinette approaching until she’d kissed him. Further cheering ensued as Luka kissed back, and when they finally separated, both of them were beaming.

“Luka, you were amazing!” said Marinette proudly. “I knew you were strong enough to not freak out!”

There was an awkward silence. Marinette’s smile slowly faded.

“Oops,” she said, beginning to blush. “I wasn’t supposed to say that.”

“You guys knew I was nervous?” asked Luka, amused rather than upset. “How’d you even find out?”

“It was all Jagged,” grumbled Anarka annoyedly. “I tried to tell him you could handle yourself, but no, you needed emotional support.”

Anarka said the last two words in a frighteningly good Jagged impersonation. Everyone laughed, including the rock star himself, and Anarka couldn’t help chuckling.

There was a dinging sound. As all people in the vicinity kept laughing, Marinette pulled her phone out of her pocket and checked it. She stopped laughing almost immediately.

“Luka?” she asked uncertainly. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Absolutely,” Luka replied, wondering what the matter was. 

Once they’d retreated to a secluded part of the boat, Marinette said, “Adrien just sent me a text.”

Although Marinette and Adrien no longer held romantic feelings for each other, they still had a close relationship that Luka mentally compared to his and Juleka’s. Marinette would usually react positively to a message from him.

“Why is Adrien texting you bad?” Luka asked, puzzled.

Marinette handed Luka her phone, and Luka read the text aloud.

“Marinette, I need you and Luka to meet me and Kagami at the Nerve Center as soon as possible. Better bring Nino and Alya for good measure. I know I don’t need to ask you to keep your Miraculous on you, but just be extra sure to have Tikki at the ready. Kagami and I have just made a lot of startling discoveries, and it may or may not involve Hawk Moth.”

Luka’s brow furrowed. “May or may not involve Hawk Moth? He isn’t sure?”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” sighed Marinette. “I’ll go get Alya and Nino. If you want, I can provide an explanation for our absence.”

“Nah, it’s all right,” said Luka. 

Marinette smiled, gave him a peck on the cheek, and walked back towards the stage area.

Luka groaned. If Adrien was asking for them to meet him and Kagami at the Nerve Center, there was a very high possibility for superhero action to take place. 

And the night had started off so well, too.

[dabisangel]

i have this idea, what about some bakugou x reader where his best friend asks him to teach her how to kiss and he is like brah wtaf idek how to kiss and its fluffy and awkward and idk man i love ur stuff :)))

AH! Hi! Thank you for sending this adorable ask and thank you for liking my stuff 😭. I tried to make it as fluffy and awkward as I could while letting Bakugou still be Bakugou. I feel like even though he has NO idea what he’s doing, he would just pretend that he does and blame any fuck ups on y/n. 😂I hope you enjoy!

ALso! This is my first Bakugou piece so 🤞🏽

“First Kiss”

Pairing: Bakugou X Reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: Making OUT

Word Count: 1580

“You’ve never kissed anyone?” Mina asked in disbelief 

You shook your head.

“Like never!?” Momo tagged along

The three of you were at a coffee shop in the middle of town, enjoying your weekend off. A conversation that was initially about work suddenly took a sharp turn into talking about boys. Great. 

Mina bragged about a guy she was seeing, and how they planned on going on a trip soon.

Momo filled the two of you in about her latest fling, and how they were probably going to call it off. 

But when it came to your turn, you had absolutely nothing to share.

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.” You whispered, nervously tucking your hair behind your ears. 

The two gave each other a look before looking back towards you. 

Momo spoke first “But y/n you’re so pretty. You’re telling me there’s no one that’s tried to kiss you?”

You shook your head and grabbed at your coffee mug. “Nope. Nobody.”

The conversation carried on like that for a while longer, before the two moved the conversation in a different direction.

You pondered the thought as they spoke.

‘Why have I never kissed someone?’

Pushing the thought aside you continued to converse with them, laughing and smiling until it was time to go home.

The three of you said your goodbyes and went your separate ways.

You pulled your phone out of your purse, reading a less than happy text from Bakugou. 

Baku: what the FUCK is taking you so long.

You couldn’t help but laugh before typing back your response 

Y/N: “Not everyone has as much free time as you do.”

His response was quick

Baku: “What the fuck ever. Be here in 10 minutes or don’t bother coming.”

 You smiled and stuffed your phone into your pocket, making your way to Bakugou’s apartment.

Movie night was a weekly occurrence, and you were usually late. 

You made your way up the stairs to Bakugou’s apartment door. Before you could even knock the door swung open, and Bakugou loomed angrily in the doorframe. 

“It took you fuckin’ long enough.” He grumbled before turning away and walking towards the living room. 

You chuckled and closed the door behind you, taking your shoes off before stepping onto the plush carpet. 

He plopped onto the couch and grabbed the remote, quickly switching it to Hulu. 

“What are we gonna watch?” You asked heading for the fridge and grabbing a soda. He didn’t respond as he flicked through the movies, eventually settling on one. 

“You don’t get to help pick. You’re fuckin late.”

You checked your watch and looked up to him in disbelief “oh PLEASE. Kirishima is late too.”

The bickering simmered down after a few minutes and you sat next to him

“What took you so long anyway?”

A sigh left your lips as you grabbed a plush pillow and hugged it gently. “I was getting coffee with Mina and Momo.”

He rolled his eyes and mumbled something about ‘fucking extras’

“Conversation must’ve been enlightening.” He sneered sarcastically 

You thought back to it, zoning out for a moment. 

“Hey, Bakugou?”

“What.”

“Would you believe me if I said I’d never been kissed.”

He looked over at you, eyebrows furrowed. “What the fuck are you on about now?”

You laughed a little bit. “I was talking to them about it, and they made me feel…” you huffed “Weird about it.”

“Wait. You’ve never been kissed ever?”

Here we go again

You groaned “No.”

The two of you stayed silent 

“Have you?”

Bakugou gave you a look. “Once.”

This took you off guard. You had imagined that Bakugou had a ton of experience with the number of girls that fawn over him. Then again, Bakugou never could quite stand any of them, could he?

“Do you think you could teach me?” You asked, instantly tensing up. Of all people, you figured that someone as close to you as Bakugou would be ideal to ask. But as you looked into his eyes, and the confusion that floated in them you weren’t too sure if it was the best decision. 

His eyes widened slightly. “What.”

You cowered a bit, “You know what forget it I’ll just ask kirishi-“

He cut you off scooting closer, “Kirishima doesn’t know shit.”

Two of you leaned towards each other instinctively and held each other’s gaze. 

“So does this mean yes?” Heat began to spread to your ears as you mumbled your response.

Never in a million years would you guess that you’d be in this situation, nor did you expect Bakugou to actually indulge you.

He rolled his eyes in response before tucking a piece of hair behind your ear gently. 

“Are you stupid or what?” His voice came out angrily, but his facial expression betrayed him. He was just as hyper-focused on your lips as you were in his. 

You attempted to close the gap and make the first move. But to your disdain Bakugou had the same idea, and your noses collided. The two of you pulled back immediately,  and you felt as your ears got hotter. 

Both of you spoke in unison, avoiding each other’s gaze “Sorry.”

After a few silent moments had passed, he shifted uncomfortably before leaning back in. “Keep your head tilted idiot.”

Of course, he would blame you. 

 “Okay.” You tried again, leaning in and letting your lips meet his. It was a glorified peck if anything, seeing that you pulled back so quickly. As the reality of the situation set in you began to feel anxious. You and Bakugou were alone in his apartment, kissing. You truly hoped that this wouldn’t ruin anything between the two of you as friends, but if you were being honest, you didn’t want to stop now. As you began to overthink you twiddled your fingers nervously. 

‘This was a dumb idea’ you thought. 

By now your entire face was hot and your hands were sweating. Neither of you broke eye contact and maintained a few centimeters of distance. The silence between the two of you was deafening, the only sounds filling the room were gentle breaths and the movie playing in the background.

“Was that okay?” You asked softly, over analyzing the last kiss. You stared into his eyes with uncertainty, and then down to his lips. His features were softened, and his brows were relaxed, which was a stark contrast to his usual scowl. He blinked slowly while looking into yours gently. 

“Shut up.”

He placed his hands to your cheeks lightly before closing the space between you again. His lips pressed softly against your own. Your heart began to race as your lips moved together gently. But this time you didn’t pull away. 

At this point, the movie in the background was just an afterthought, no longer worthy of being watched or even listened to. Your mind only focused on how Bakugou weaved his fingers through your hair and worked his soft lips against yours.

In response, you snaked your arms around Bakugou’s neck and shifted so that you were closer to him. One of his hands dropped to your waist and pulled your body even closer and you relished the feeling. Thoughts of whether or not things were going too far had already jumped out the window, and you threw caution to the wind.

Suddenly, you understood why Momo and Mina thought you were missing out.

The two of you continued to make out, soft lips working together. Neither of you seemed to come up for air as you desperately latched onto each other. You felt as he smiled against your lips, and you did the same.

The sound of keys rattling in the doorknob made the two of you jolt, instantly separating. 

Fuck.

“Alright, guys. I brought all kinds of snack-“ he paused in the door frame as he looked over at the two of you. Though you had separated, you were still closer than usual, and your hair was still slightly disheveled; courtesy of Bakugou.

It was painfully obvious that the two of you had just made out. 

Kirishima made his way into the living room, kicking off his shoes, not saying a word. The smirk on his face was enough, as he sat on the couch squeezing between you and Bakugou. His hand reached for the remote as he stifled a laugh.

“What the fuck is so funny,” Bakugou growled. 

Kirishima’s eyes flicked up to Bakugous as he snickered. “Nice lip gloss dude.”

This caused Bakugou’s eyes to widen before he dragged the back of his hand against his lips roughly. He rose from the couch with a huff, making his way into the kitchen.

“Fuck off Kirishima.”

Once he was gone, Kirishima gave you a knowing look, quirking his eyebrows. You stared back towards the TV. Settling into your spot on the plush couch. 

“Alright soooo what do you want to watch?” You questioned awkwardly.

Kirishima laughed as he pointed the remote to the tv. He glanced over towards Bakugou, who was looming in the kitchen awkwardly, and then back to you. 

“I’m already pretty entertained.” He teased before settling on a movie.

You knew Kirishima wouldn’t let this one go. 

Instantly you craned your neck to glance into the kitchen, your eyes landing on Bakugou’s. A mischievous half-smile painted his face, causing you to sink into the couch.

You knew Bakugo wouldn’t let it go either.

[dumbbitchenergy17]

Extra Part 6

U.A. a school for students to learn how to become the best Pro-Hero. When young Y/n Midoriya returns from her traveling to be accepted through recommendation. What awaits her when she meet the explosive blonde Katsuki Bakugo

Words- 2759

Katsuki Bakugo x Midoriya!Reader, Izuku Midoriya x Cousin!Reader

Warning-Spoilers from show, bit angst but mainly fluff in this chapter, and relationships form

Series Masterlist

You have woken up a bit disoriented on where you were but realized you were in your dorm at U.A. You got out of your bed fixing your bedhead, slipping on some shoes, and headed down to get some breakfast. Right before the elevator closed a hand slipped between the doors reopening it and Bakugo slipped in. 

“Morning.” 

You sent him a wave and he gave you a nod. There was an awkward silence between you as you went down to the common room. You glanced over and saw him already looking at you making you both look away and blush. Bakugo turned to look at you and right as he was able to talk the elevator doors opened to the common room. You both walked out and saw most of your classmates sitting around eating food and talking.

“Hey Bakugo!” Kirishima called him over at the same time you were called over by the girls. You both went your separate ways as you headed towards your respected group. There were different types of food around the table, probably Sato, you would have to thank him later. Grabbing some waffles and fruit you go sit next to Ashido.

“Ugh I’m so bored, I thought living on campus would be so much more fun but we can’t do anything except train.” She whined, placing her head on the table. The girls nodded in agreement adding their grievances.

“You know there is the pool.” You said making them turn to you

“Y/n you are a literal genius, we can spend our day at the pool.” Uraraka said smiling.

“I can go set up a proposal to Mr. Aizawa, Y/n you’ll come and present it with me right.” Yaoyorozu clapped her hands already thinking of ideas.

“Um sure yeah.” You nodded. You guys spent the rest of breakfast talking about what you guys would do at the pool unbeknownst to Mineta listening in, making a devious plan.

The girls except you and Momo stayed back at the dorms as you both made your way onto campus to see your homeroom teacher. When you got into the building you both made your way to Class 1-A.

“This is gonna be a piece of cake.” You gave her encouragement as she knocked on the door. You guys heard a “come in” so you both entered thinking he would be working or anything, but there was Mr. Aizawa on the floor in a sleeping bag.

“Um, Mr. Aizawa, Um we were wondering if we could go use the pool. Are you ok?” Yaoyorozu started out confident but trailed out seeing her teacher look so tired.

“I’m fine and yes you can use the pool. It closes at 5.” Mr. Aizawa pulled out a juice drinking from it still in his sleeping bag. You both looked at each other before saying your goodbyes and leaving.

“Does he do that a lot?” You asked, giggling.

“That’s how we met him on our first day.” Yaoyorozu laughed as you texted the girls the all-clear to get ready. You were standing in your dorm looking at your mirror, you had your swimsuit the school gave you on but you could see the scars spanning from your shoulders up to your neck.

“Hey, Y/n you ready the girls said they were heading over to get set up,” Uraraka called through your door.

“Um yeah, one sec.” You said still unsure if you should just not go at all. The door opened up making you turn around and there was Uraraka in a cover-up holding her towel.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, walking and sitting on your bed.

“I don’t know I’m just self-conscious of my scars, I just don’t want to freak everyone out with how bad it is.” You wrapped your hands around your waist making yourself smaller. Uraraka placed a hand on your shoulder where your scars were.

“What happened to you and Bakugo shouldn’t make you scared to be the same girl you were before, so we are going to go out there and have an amazing day at the pool,” Uraraka said grabbing your towel as well as your hand. You threw a t-shirt on and followed her out to the pool, by the time you both got there the girls were already in the pool, and surprisingly the guys were there as well.

“Did we invite the guys?” You looked over at Uraraka who shook her head. It wasn’t the thought of the guys seeing you, well except for Mineta. It was the fact that your scars are gonna fully be on display for them to look and mock.

“I think I’m just gonna have my legs in the water.” You said shuffling over to where the rest of the girls had put their stuff. Uraraka had tried to encourage you that they wouldn’t care but you stuck to your ground, while the girls played volleyball with you as the referee. The boys were doing some workouts, which you felt bad for them with Tenya training them. You walked over to Izuku who was leaning against one of the walls trying to catch his breath.

“Tenya pushing you guys.” You passed him one of the drinks from the cooler Ashido brought, he nodded regaining his breath.

“Yeah...I thought it would be a calm workout.” He thanked you, chugging the water. 

“Ah, Y/n will you be joining us in training.” Ida called out to you as the boys came back together looking upset.

“Oh no I’m good Ida, Ashido has drinks if anyone wants some.” You call pointing to the cooler. Ida blesses them with a break and they head over to get drinks, the door to the pool, and Kirishima and Bakugo come in. Your eyes are drawn to him and your face turns red, what the hell Y/n it’s just a boy. You are surrounded by them right now so why is he different.

“Hey Y/n!” Kirishima gives you a wave as he and Bakugo walk over to you.

“Hey, there are drinks over there if you guys want any.” You point over where everyone was standing. Kirishima nods, going to grab a drink leaving you and Bakugo alone.

“So how are you.” You fiddle with your thumbs as you both look at the group. 

“I’m good.” He replies and there is silence.

“Hey how about we hold a race. Whoever is the fastest swimmer for 50 meters.” He calls to the group. “A friendly race.”

“Yeah!” Kaminari smiles.

“That sounds fun.” Sero said walking to the multiple starting boards.

You looked over at Bakugo who had a grin on his face, “Looks like you got some winning to do Blondie.” You smirked.

“Shut up Idiot.” He walks over to the group of boys.

“Can our quirks be used.” Ojiro asked which Ida nodded.

“As long as it does hurt the players or damage the property.” The rounds are set up with Mineta, Tokoyami, Koda, Bakugo, and Kaminari. Yaoyorozu was the flag girl to count them off.

“Alright, 3...2...1..Go!”

The boys leap into the water but Bakugo uses his explosions to send him across the pool and land on the other side ending the 1st round without having to get in the water.

“How was that, you sidekicks!” He yells pointing at Sero and Kirishima.

“What do you think you’re doing.” Sero yelled.

“You didn’t even touch the water!” Kirishima yelled.

“IT’S CALLED FREESTYLE SWIMMING!” Bakugo yelled explosions coming out of his hands.

The second round had Sero, Aoyama, Todoroki, Sato, and Kirishima. Sero had used his tape to get across, while Aoyama used his navel laser to fly him across but his stomach started to hurt sending him crashing into Sero and into the water. Todoroki uses his ice and glides across the water ending on the other side winning the second round.

“You’re supposed to be swimming!” Both Mineta and Kaminari yelled at Todoroki only for him to ignore them. For the last group of boys, it was Ida, Izuku, Ojiro, and Shoji. When the whistle is blown everyone dives into the water except for Ida who uses his engines to glide on the dividers. Izuku uses his quirk to speed up now both he and Ida are neck and neck. Izuku ended up winning by only a few centimeters, the final round being Izuku, Bakugo, and Todoroki.

“Can Bakugo and Todoroki even swim?” You said to Kirishima who laughs and Bakugo hears your question.

“I CAN SWIM YOU IDIOT!” He yells at you, making you laugh. Everyone is cheering for their respected classmates as they get set up

“Alright ready,” Ida calls out to them holding the whistle. You could see ice forming around Todoroki, as well as sparks coming from Izuku, and lastly Bakugo who has small explosions forming.

“3…2….1!”

Ida blows the whistle and the boys jump ready to use their quirks to get across but they all fall into the pool.

“Hey what gives!” Kaminari groans.

“Your authorized pool time is official over, hurry up and head to your dorms.” Mr. Aizawa says, making you all look over at him, his eyes were glowing red using his quirk to end the race.

“Come on! One second.” Kaminari groans,

“We were getting to the good part.” Sero pointed to the pool.

Mr. Aziawa’s eyes glowed a brighter red making them shut up “Are you questioning me.” He threatened the two boys.

“Not at all, Mr. Aizawa.” You all said fearfully of what he might do. He nodded walking off as everyone collected their things. The boys climbed out of the pool going over to get dry, and you went over to Bakugo holding out his towel.

“Guess you can swim Blondie.” You tease making him glare at you.

“Yeah whatever.” he dried off his hair, while drying his hair you looked him up and down. When had he been this handsome, wait what...Bakugo is just a friend. 

“Did you get to swim at all?” He asked throwing his towel over his shoulder

“Ah no it’s just my scars and I was nervous, I don’t know I’m being dumb.” You said toying with the loose threads of your shirt you used as a coverup. Bakugo remained quiet looking around to see if anyone was by you guys.

“Meet me in the common rooms after everyone went to bed.” He said quickly before walking away catching up with Kirishima. You were still standing there frozen.

“Y/n you ready to head back.” Izuku said, making you turn to him with a red face. 

“Yeah..pfft..definitely” You nodded joining him and your friends. After everyone had gotten back they all went off to do their own things before you all meet up again to have dinner. You headed back to your room where you waited until you thought most people would be in their rooms or asleep. You exited your room around 10 pm looking down the hallway making sure no one was walking around. You got in the elevator and headed down to the common rooms, what did Bakugo need you for. When the doors opened again you walked out into the silent common area, no one in sight. Had you been stood up, this was some cruel joke, you got ready to take your bruised ego back to your room when you heard footsteps. You turned and saw Bakugo leaving the laundry room holding some towels.

“Took you long enough, I thought your dumbass fell asleep.” He said handing you a towel before leaving the dorms to the outside. You followed him as you walked around the campus in the middle of the night

“Where are we going Blondie, You gonna murder me.” You caught up to him walking next to him.

“If you don’t shut up and just follow me I will.” he said. When you got to your destination it was the pool, the gate wall separating you from it.

“What are we doing here.” You asked turning to him

“Let’s go, idiot.” He handed you his towel before holding his hands to boost you over the fence. You landed on the other side placing the towels down, as Bakugo went climbing the fence. Your hands glowed red as you used your quirk to bring Bakugo over the fence.

“I could have just done that in the beginning.” You said the red fading from your eyes.

“Whatever come on.” He said walking over to the pool.

“Why are we even at the pool, we were literally here early.” You pointed to the water and before you could turn back to him you felt hands push you into the water. You hit the water with a crash coming back up, pushing your hair back as you glared at him

“What the hell!” You yelled your clothes completely wet. He smirked, putting his hands in his pocket.

“You said you didn’t get to swim today.” Before he could continue making fun of you his body is surrounded in a red haze as you pull him in the pool as well. He hits the water before coming back up sputtering out water.

“Karma’s a bitch huh Blondie.” You smirked and he splashed water at you making you gasp

“Oh it’s so on.” You said splashing back until you both were sending tons of water at each other. After a while, you both got out sitting on the edges, your feet in the water looking at the stars a silence washed over you.

“Thank you.” You said making him turn to look at you.

“Yeah, don’t go telling anyone about this.” He said making you laugh caused him to smile. You shiver the cold air and your wet clothes creating goosebumps. 

“Here.” Bakugo passed you one of the towels and you wrapped it around your shoulders, leaning back to look at the stars.

“Why don’t you hate me as much as the others.” You said turning to look at him, he shrugged 

“I don’t know it sounds dumb but what we both went through in Kamino, I thought we would be able to relate to each other.” He said looking out on the water, you grabbed his hand making him look at you.

“I guess you're not that bad, Blondie.” You said giving his hand a squeeze. 

“That’s not my name, Idiot.” He huffed.

You smiled, “That’s not my name either, If I call you by your actual name you have to call me by mine too.” You said,

“Fine Stu-Y/n” He corrected himself.

“Now doesn’t that sound better Kacchan.” You called him by the nickname Izuku has for him. Before the two can speak anymore, you hear footsteps heading to the pool, you both rush and grab your towels, quickly using your power you float the both of you over the fence running off towards the dorms laughing. When you both got back to the dorms you both were semi-dry, using the towel to continue drying off your hair. You both made your way down the hallway to your room as he wanted to walk you back to your first.

“Thanks, for tonight Bakugo” You smiled throwing your towel over your shoulder. 

He nodded looking down, “Yeah it was nothing.” he said, whatever took over you, made you leaned forward pressing a kiss to his cheek making his head shoot up to look at you both of your faces red.

“I’m so sorry.. I don’t know what I was thinking and I-” You rambled and before you could talk anymore he pressed his lips to yours kissing you. You froze, closing your eyes savoring it. He pulled away, your eyes fluttering open both of your faces were red just staring at each other.

“Night Y/n.” He gave you a smile walking back to his side of the building where his room was, you nodded still somewhat frozen before walking to yours. Your feet turn on their own and you rush over to him before he gets too far away and pressed another kiss on his lips, he grabbed your waist pulling you closer then you both slowly pulled away.

“Goodnight Kacchan.” You said, you both were looking at each other before your door closed, cutting off your vision of each other. You pressed you back against the door and let out a dreamy sigh, you pressed your fingers to your lips that are still tingling. You quickly change out of your damp clothes in your sleepwear and climb into bed, sleep taking over but the memories of you and Kacchan still in your mind.

[kyleoreillysknee]

Blue Tinted World

Part 1/?

Pairing: Orange Cassidy x Ophelia “Lia” Freeman

Word Count: 2036

Warnings: ABO, hints of emotional baggage, Orange holds a baby

Tag Squad: @snarkandsarcasmftw​ @adampage​ @cowboyshit​ @unabashedwrestlefics​ @cabotcoves​ @rampagewriting​ @goodnaito​ (bolded means you got a cameo in here)

A/N: Special shout out to Aj who encouraged the shit out of me. 

Spiraling had such a deceptive name. It sounded like fun. Like something exciting. Carefree. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t spiraling. She couldn’t be spiraling. She was running late.

Snatching her finger away from tracing the kaleidoscope of blues etched into her forearm she gave the contents of the baby bag one last look over before taking her keys off the counter. Lia exhaled sharply before leaving her apartment, dropping a gentle kiss to the newborn strapped to her chest as she locked the door. This was going to be an awkward conversation with Charlie.

Once she got to the arena, she kept her eyes down to avoid all the strange looks and double takes. It was like no one had seen a baby before. Not wanting to let the tension fester, she followed her nose and found Charlie inspecting some rigging and jotting notes on a clipboard. She didn't have to wait long and watched his shoulders tense before he shifted to sniff at the air a few times. The broad smile on his face stuck awkwardly as he turned and dropped his gaze to the baby blowing drool bubbles against her collarbone. She could only shrug.

“So. Immaculate conception?” Charlie tried, folding his arms across his chest.

“Nephew. Godson, actually.” Lia mumbled, fighting against the nervous tick of reaching over to her forearm. Silent recognition crossed over her manager's features before he gave a small nod.

“I … can’t afford to miss any more work.” Especially now was left unsaid but lingered in the air between them. After a beat she felt a giant hand roughly pat her head and when she looked up Charlie had a soft smile on his face.

“Obviously no climbing the racking, but there’s still a shit ton that needs to get done. Glad to have you back.” Charlie pulled out his phone and she felt a buzz in her pocket, “Sent you Ash’s number. Her and Viv run a daycare, reach out and see if they can take him in.”

Lia’s breath caught in her throat and a rush of heat burned her eyes but she set her mouth in a flat line to push it back, “I- thank you.”

Charlie crouched down to meet her eyes, “I’m here if you need anything, alright?”

With a sniff, she nodded and managed to try at a smile. It was pathetic but this new life didn’t come with a manual or anything so of course the first time anyone offered the bare minimum of help it struck her raw heart. 

“What’s his name?” Without her realizing, Charlie had taken the baby bag from her and she naturally fell into step beside him as they walked to the lighting area.

“Sam. Short for Samson.” Lia finally felt like she could breathe and she knew it was Charlie letting out some of his alpha pheromones. Sometimes having a giant overprotective softie for a boss was a good thing. The baby currently trying to snuggle deeper into her skin was probably triggering some deep rooted omega thing in her too but she didn’t want to dwell on that.

After Charlie made sure she was situated comfortably in the booth, he went back to doing his rounds and barking and whoever needed barking to get the show running. Lia let out a happy sigh as she hovered her hands over the switches and dimmers for a second, settling back into the familiar for the first time in what felt like forever. Grabbing the walkie, she announced the start of testing and received a string of cheers of her name from the rest of the tech crew.

Letting the cycles start, Lia sat back and absently rubbed along Sam’s back through the harness as she scanned the program for tonight. Sam let out a gurgle as she felt a slight tickle of air against her shoulder, causing her to flinch as aqua blue sunglasses crept into her periphery. That pure shot of fear caused every muscle in her to tense but she still had the sense to not shout, not wanting to disturb Sam. 

Orange immediately went ramrod straight, his hand shooting up to pinch his nostrils closed. Stumbling backwards, he leaned against a nearby barricade and waited until they both had their bearings. Lia almost felt bad, knowing that he just got a metric ton dose of pure omega pheromones slammed into him but he could’ve at least knocked or made any noise. It didn’t help that he was a void of scent, which led to many instances of him suddenly appearing beside her and nearly getting punched.

“For fucks sake, Orange.” Lia sighed, pushing a clump of hair out of her face as she turned to look at him. He gave his head a shake before sinking his hands into his pockets and giving her a shrug. It was the closest thing to an apology she ever seemed to get from him so she accepted it as her body slumped in her chair now devoid of any adrenaline.

“Cool baby.” He mumbled as if he was complimenting her getting new shoes or a haircut.

Lia just stared at him, trying to figure out where he was looking at behind his sunglasses but all she got was her own bewildered expression mirrored back at her, “thanks?”

His head snapped to the side and she could hear a faint low rumble come from him that only confused her more. Is he growling? Lia didn't need to follow his gaze to know that the Inner Circle sans Jericho prowling around the equipment. The heavy cloud of cologne and spicy unrestrained alpha scent was heavy in the air. She had started expecting Orange to show up in places he wasn't supposed to but the Inner Circle pack only came here for one reason: to annoy the shit out of her. Sammy deemed it that she owed him a date because she looked at him once after he nearly knocked her over while vlogging and now she couldn't go a day without having to reject him. She could feel a headache forming and sighed as Sammy finally saw her and they all thundered over.

"Heard your sweet little voice over the radio- ew." Sammy grimaced at the sight of Sam which had her seeing red. She felt a warmth draw closer as Orange placed a hand on the back of her chair and stood beside her.

Hager had to elbow Sammy before he could recover and he was soon flashing his giant toothy smile, "if you just agreed to be my princess you wouldn't have to babysit. I'd take care of you."

"I'm not babysitting. He's my nephew." She snapped, letting her anger pulsate off her in sour waves. Orange tilted his head slightly and Lia realized that what she said wasn't much of an explanation. But it was the truth. He was her nephew and she was his … aunt? Guardian? Mom? 

"It's complicated." She whispered, mainly for Orange's benefit. She didn't give a shit what the Inner Circle thought. He gave a barely perceptible nod before shifting his attention back to the now fuming Sammy. Clearly he didn't like the spotlight being moved from him a few centimeters.

"What are you doing here?" Sammy sneered and Hager stood straighter and cracked his knuckles in a display of dominance. Lia felt a slight shake from Orange's hand as her shoulder brushed against it as they both struggled to not burst out laughing at the pathetic peacocking.

"Chilling." Orange muttered simply as he couldn't help himself and made a show of copying Hager. Lia finally couldn't contain it and let out a giggle that she had to slap a hand over her mouth to stifle. Prompting Orange to break and snort as the corner of his mouth twitched into a small grin.

The Inner Circle just stared at them as if they both grew an extra head before Sammy got tired and dismissed them with a wave of his hand and left. Hager frowned at them before plodding after Sammy and Ortiz had to pull Santana away from trying very hard to get a peek at Sam. Now alone again, Lia smiled up at Orange who was trying to rub away his grin and settle back into his perpetually cool stance.

"Thanks," she said softly, realizing that whole scenario would've played out very differently without him here.

"Wasn't for free," as he spoke he flopped into the chair beside her, close enough that she could feel the warmth emanating from him but they were not actually touching. 

Lia simply raised an eyebrow at him that morphed into genuine surprise as he took off his sunglasses and placed them on the table. When he looked back at her she swore he was a little sheepish.

"Can I hold the cool baby?" 

There was such an earnest gleam in his eyes that it took her breath away. They were so blue. It had to be an omega thing that was making her heart race. Any man showing a bit of interest in children and that whole caregiver bullshit. Right?

"Sorry. Stupid question." He mumbled, eyes downcast as he reached for his sunglasses.

"No!" Lia blurted out, suddenly very unhappy at the idea of not seeing his full face. That thought did not at all make any heat rush up to the tips of her ears, "sorry. It's ok. I just … not used to seeing your eyes. Or something."

His head perked up as she carefully moved to unstrap Sam from her. All that understated confidence melted off him as she stood and gently slid the harness away revealing a snuggly swaddled bundle of baby blue dinosaur print. If she wasn't so taken with staring at Sam's face she would've noticed the slight tremor in Orange's hands as he moved them to his lap. As she stood, she hesitated for a moment and Orange just silently watched as a myriad of emotions flitted across her face for split seconds each. Remembering herself, she found a small smile and shifted to place Sam in his perfectly positioned waiting hands.

The expression became genuine as she watched Orange expertly adjust so that Sam was securely nestled in the crook of his elbow. His motions oddly practiced until he started using his other hand to trace absently along Sam's back.

"Hey cool baby," he muttered softly, head bowing to let Sam take up his entire vision. She wrestled down the urge to coo at the sight, instead wrapping her arms around herself feeling a bit of a chill in the arena.

"Sam," Lia softly provided, only now recognizing that she was still standing and moved to sit. Nudging her chair a little closer, their knees ended up touching but neither made a move away. She relished in the contact, letting his warmth seep into her as she draped herself across her chair arm. All those sleepless stressful nights finally catching up to her now that she was allowed a moment to not be vigilant.

"Hey cool baby Sam," Orange corrected, utterly captivated. Peeking over at Lia, he watched her struggle against her eyelids and shifted so that she could see Sam better resulting in their shoulders almost touching. A distantly familiar ache settled in his chest as her head rested against his bicep after she finally lost against her exhaustion. He ignored the eruption of itch that took over his forearm, specifically the swirl of vibrant blues that covered his inner arm hidden beneath his guard.

Charlie later found them all asleep in the booth 30 minutes before recording. Orange with his cheek resting against the top of Lia's head as Sam mouthed at the tip of his finger was the first to wake. Lia was roused by the rumble he let out for a moment before catching himself. He tried to play it off as a yawn but Charlie flashed him a knowing look that he ignored. In under a minute Orange had placed Sam back in Lia's arms and was sauntering out of the equipment area with a lackadaisical flick of his wrist to push his sunglasses back in place.

[mdotmaro]

Winging It.

Chapter 2

Author's Note: I am so ecstatic at the reviews you all have left. I appreciate every kind word and am only mildly afraid of constructive criticisms :). I am going to continue this story along with a vague idea of what happens next. Confession time: I see much of my own relationship with Casey and Derek. No, not step-siblings, just their connection. The club scene with the drunken dancing and then kissing… yeah, that actually happened to us. Extra fun fact is that I was his boss at the time :P ANYWAY! Onto the main event.

"So, the glory of the stage wasn't all that in the end?" Lizzy assumed as she carefully packed Casey's dishware into the appropriately labeled boxes. Marti was on bathroom duty, and Nora was working on linens while Casey was backing her clothes and shoes. Casey's announcement to leave New York and go back to school for business with a minor in dance was warmly welcomed. Nora admitted that she was selfishly glad that Casey would only be a few hours away by car instead of a plane ride away. Marti was more curious about what happened. The now ten-year-old went through Casey's bathroom with precision to see if there was any clue her step-sister was hiding.

"Did Jessie do something stupid?" Marti asked from her perch on the bathtub. Casey gave a short laugh.

"No, he didn't. Even if he did, it doesn't matter. We broke up months ago. He was just a summer romance." Casey said with a reassuring smile. Marti narrowed her eyes, not entirely convinced. Casey desperately wanted to change the subject, so she moved to Lizzie, who was tapping up the last kitchen box.

"So, speaking of summer romances. Have you heard from Oscar, Lizzie?" Casey asked abruptly; Lizzie slipped and cut off a much longer piece of tape than was needed. She glared at her older sister, who mouthed 'sorry' to the now blushing teen. Lizzie cleared her throat.

"Oscar lives in Parkhill, and we have a date over at the skatepark over there. He is going to teach me to skateboard." Lizzie said and quickly picked up the box and scurried off downstairs to the car. Marti came out of the bathroom with her box and a confused expression.

"But Lizzie already knows how to skateboard. She taught Edwin and me," Marti said, and Nora giggled and took Marti in a light hug.

"Yes, but Oscar doesn't know that," Nora said with a smile, and Marti shrugged, still not understanding but not invested enough to keep asking. Casey, Nora, and Marti went downstairs for the last time and finished packing the moving truck. Casey would fly back with the girls, and after a weekend at home, she would go to Queens to start the Summer semester.

Normally Casey loved falling asleep on long flights, but her heart was beating too fast for her to relax. Derek had left New York from his short trip to see Casey two weeks ago, and they were still 'Winging it,' so to speak. They talked nearly every night, more or less the usual banter and teasing, but there was something else there. It was impossible to tell how the family would react to the eldest step-siblings 'winging it,' so they had both agreed not to say anything until they were sure. Casey was relieved she could convince Nora and George that she could live by herself in a dorm instead of in an apartment with Derek. They were afraid of her being alone, but she quickly reminded them that she had lived alone in another country for six months and did just fine.

Besides, the idea of them living together so soon after they...they kissed. Casey absentmindedly touched her lips in the memory of those hot at heavy sessions at the club and in her room. She unconsciously clenched her thighs together. They didn't move past the over clothing caresses and kissing. Casey had tried having sex with Jessie, and by tried, she means tried to go for longer than a few seconds because it was just too painful. Jessie wouldn't pressure her to go any further than she was willing, but coincidentally after the third time they tried having sex with no success, Jessie came over to say things were not working out.

Casey had been relieved, but now what? Derek, Casey imagined, had a lucrative sex life in university, and now that they were... whatever they were. How could she tell him that sex was so painful for her?

"Casey. Your cuticles are bleeding." Lizzie said, snapping Casey out of her intense thoughts. She had been peeling the excess skin at her cuticle, and sure enough, little garnet bubbles of blood had appeared around her nails. Casey quickly wrapped her especially mutilated middle finger in a napkin and applied pressure.

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked and then peered over to the aisle across from them where Marti and Nora seemed to be sound asleep. "It's just me. You can tell me, and then it could make up for totally throwing me under the bus earlier." Lizzie teased and poked at Casey's side. Casey gave her little sister a guilty smile.

"Sorry again about that," Casey sighed and contemplated telling Lizzie everything. Her little sister was extremely mature for her age, but she adored Derek like a blood brother, and Casey knew that this would be jarring even if Lizzie acted supportively. Casey decided on half-truths.

"I am nervous about having sex," Casey whispered, and Lizzie furrowed her brows.

"But you and Jessie never?" Lizzie asked, and Casey let out a heavy sigh.

"We tried, but it was just too painful," Casey admitted, and then Lizzie shook her head.

"From what I have researched, sex is not supposed to hurt. You are not really even supposed to bleed because of your 'broken hymen.' If it hurts that much, he is doing it wrong." Lizzie explained, and Casey couldn't help but smile at her sister. Of course, she researched sex. A quick flush of panic ran through Casey, and she looked at her baby, 14-year-old sister. Had she already had sex? Lizzie laughed at her expression.

"Relax, I haven't had sex yet. Not really interested yet, but I have plenty of condoms when I am ready, and I will make sure I have mom or George take me to get the pill. Casey stared at Lizzie, quite impressed.

"Have you told Nora and George about your well-calculated plan? And where did you get condoms?" Casey was trying to keep her volume down not to alert the other plane passengers. Lizzie shrugged.

"George kept having to leave the conversation to go outside and get some air, but mom was glad I am being responsible, and I got the condoms from Edwin," Lizzie explained. Casey had a brief moment to imagine sweet George trying to compose himself at the idea of his stepdaughter having sex. Casey was sure that he would need therapy after Marti hit puberty.

"And where did Edwin get condoms?" Casey asked incredulously and then realized at the same that Lizzie said

"Derek," they both said in unison. Maybe it was naive, but Casey, the thought of her little siblings being open to the idea of having sex made her queasy. Casey's finger stopped bleeding, and she tucked the bloody napkin into her now empty bag of pretzels.

"Don't worry, things will happen naturally, and now if you want to bail, you can use Derek as an excuse," Lizzie tried to reassure. Unfortunately, her timing was awful, and Casey choked on her water that she had been drinking. Lizzie smacked her back hard, and a few curious passengers turned to check on the commotion. Casey finally regained the ability to breathe and nervously laughed at Lizzie.

"And what would Derek do?" She asked, trying not to sound shrill. Lizzie smiled at her sister.

"Oh well, he can play the role of overly protective brother," Lizzie said but then tilted her head in thought. "I mean, he wouldn't do it for free" She laughed. Casey gave Lizzie a small smile and let out a deep breath, and continued to look out the window. Maybe she was getting ahead of herself. She and Derek hadn't even been on an official date yet. Sure they had gone to eat in the city and run around central park and even went to an amusement park but had those counted as dates? I mean, they held hands through the corn maze, but Derek insisted it was because he didn't feel like chasing after her when she inevitably got lost.

Casey smiled at the memories. Something else that made her chest flutter was waking up next to Derek. She missed being held while she fell asleep, but it's not like they could do that right away at university. There were rules. Weren't there?

Edwin had just passed his driver's license and was glad to volunteer to pick them up at the airport. He had seemed to have grown several centimeters in the six months Casey had been away and now was slightly taller than her.

"Edwin, look at you!" Casey said as she attacked him in a bear hug. Edwin grinned and twirled so she could see his new and improved preppy wardrobe too. His jeans seemed uncomfortably tight, and his polo was maybe a bit snug, but his face was losing its baby softness, and he had a ghost of a mustache on his upper lip.

"I know, your little brother Edwino is all grown up and looking cool," He said, and Casey couldn't help pinching his cheek.

"Aww, you are so cute." She said, and he shrugged off her pinching.

"Casey, cute isn't cool. I am a man now." Edwin protested. Marti laughed as she passed her brother.

"Really, you're a man now. Why didn't we get the memo." She snickered, and Lizzie laughed as she went into the backseat to join Marti. Nora squeezed Edwin's shoulder reassuringly.

"Aw, don't listen to them, Edwin. We know you are a man, and speaking of which, we can start talking about when you can pay for your car insurance," Nora said, and Edwin gulped. Casey road in the back with the girls and Nora road shotgun. They were all talking animatedly, talking about school, Simon, and generally anything in the neighborhood. Casey was excited to see Emily. They had coordinated to see each other the next evening. Casey was hoping to talk to Emily about her and Derek, just to be able to talk to someone for advice. Emily and Derek broke up a week after graduation; things just seemed a bit forced. After having a crush on someone for so long, it was hard not to be crushed by the heavy expectation of a perfect ending. Emily actually was discovering a newer side of her sexuality and actually had a steady girlfriend, Ruby.

The house came into view, and before she could get swept up in the nostalgia, her heart dropped to her toes at the sight of the prince in the driveway.

"Wait. Why is Derek here? He isn't supposed to pick me up until Sunday?" Casey asked in a loud and almost shrill voice. Nora sighed.

"He was able to come down for the weekend. Isn't this great, Casey? The whole family gets to spend time together before you both go off to University. So, try to be civil, please." Nora pleased, and Casey sighed and nodded to her mother. George came out with a crying Simon. Casey had been right on her assumption that he had doubled in size. Poor George looked exhausted but smiled at his eldest step-daughter warmly nonetheless.

"Casey, it's great to see you," He said, and Casey hugged him and reached for Simon. The baby was pink-cheeked and bundled in a light green onesie. Casey started cooing at little Simon and rocking him lightly.

"Careful, he just projectile vomited on Derek," George warned after he kissed Nora. Casey chuckled.

"Knowing Derek, he probably deserved it," Casey said with the same cooing voice. She was surprised at how quickly the jeer came to her. Old habits, she guessed.

"Well, he is taking a shower now, so you'll have some time to get settled before you two go at each other's throats," George said and took her dance bag from her shoulder. Casey thanked him and went to sit on the couch.

"Oh hey, Casey, I hope you don't mind. We had to do a little room rearrangement with both you and Derek gone. We moved Edwin into Derek's room and Simon into his old room, and yours into a guest bedroom, so If you don't mind sharing the space with Derek's things. While you're here." Nora said and then clarified after seeing Casey's wide eyes. "Just his things; he will be taking the couch at night." Casey might have a nervous breakdown before the end of the weekend.

Simon started reaching out his tiny pale fists towards Nora, who happily collected her baby. Lizzie dragged Casey up to show her how she redecorated her room, and such was the process for the other two Venturi children. Casey retreated into her old room, now a guest bedroom, and exhaled against the door. She assessed the room. Gone were her ballet trophies and academic achievement awards. Now there was a pale yellow walled, neutral sandalwood furnished and fluffy white carpeted room. Derek's battered duffle bag was on the cream-covered bed. Casey swallowed thickly and thought back to her conversation on the plane with Lizzie. Derek had given condoms to Edwin. Did he pack any for this weekend? Was he expecting something to happen in their parents' home? She had only just begun to unzip the bag when a voice came up behind her.

"Snooping, Case?" Casey shuddered at Derek's warm breath on the back of her neck. Casey jumped and reflexively swung a pillow at Derek.

"Der-rek, you scared me." She shouted and then took an extra step back when she realized that he was shirtless and slightly damp from the shower. Derek had always been lean, but there was a new indent of muscles, especially at the v of his hips from piling more hours at the rink in university, and Casey forced her eyes to stay now lower than his collar bones.

"Yeah, but you were still snooping. What's up Casey, you seem a bit flushed?" He said with a level of sarcastic concern; he couldn't keep the mischief out of his dark eyes. Casey kept her chin held high.

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't bring anything inappropriate that the kids could find, like how you gave Edwin condoms. He is fifteen, Derek," She said hotly. Derek caught on to her real question.

"Well, he's at that age where it's better to be safe than sorry, and though he is not as in with the ladies as I was, it's part of being a big brother," He said and took another step towards her. Casey was already leaning against the nightstand. There was no. Further, she could retreat to. "But don't worry, I wasn't expecting anything this weekend," He reassured and then smirked. "And in our parents' home no less, for shame, Macdonald." He teased and cupped her chin once she let out a relieved exhale.

"Oh, shut up. I just wanted to make sure you didn't have any ill intentions." She said but leaned into his touch nonetheless. She quickly glanced at the door. Thankfully she had thought to lock it. Derek followed her gaze, and with the minor level of privacy, he leaned down and kissed her pouty lips. Casey sank into the kiss; his wet curls brushed her forehead and ran her cool fingers down the side of his face. Derek's hands roamed up and down her sides, occasionally dropping to squeeze her outer thighs. The feeling made Casey release a shuddering gasp. Derek moved both hands to her face and kissed her firmly before breaking away.

"Think you can hold off with just that for now, Case?" He asked, a bit breathless. Casey looked up into his eyes and saw the restraint he was using, so she offered a small smile and let the tips of her fingers whisper down his torso and then stop at his jeans' waistband. Derek bit back a grunt.

"Sure thing, Der," Casey said and turned to head downstairs. When she didn't hear his footsteps trailing her, she saw him with his back facing her and his hands resting on his hips. "You coming?" She asked

"Mhmm, Just give me a minute," He said, and Casey bit back her giggle. Derek let out a breath.

"Oh, don't worry, Princess. I'll pay you back."

Next day

"I'm sorry, run that by me again. You and Derek?" Emily asked for the third time. They were at Smelly Nelly's, and Casey was picking at her salad.

"Sorta. It's just something that happened all of a sudden when he came down to New York. Now I just keep getting all flustered around him and even the thought of him." Casey explained and then gave up on her salad altogether with a groan and holding her head in her hands. "Pathetic, huh."

"Well..." In a high-pitched voice, Emily caused Casey's head to look up and give her best friend a desperate look.

"Emily! I am in a delicate state right now." She complained, and Emily giggled at her friend's antics. Same old Casey.

"Casey, I am your best friend, and so it is my solemn sworn duty to inform you that this is not all of a sudden," Emily indicated with outstretched hands. "You two have had this intense chemistry that you both were too stubborn and thankfully young to understand. I had my suspicions, but I didn't want to jump the gun before you told me and inadvertently caused you to blow it out of proportion." Emily explained and then took a sip of her mint tea. Casey was in open-mouthed shock.

"I don't blow things out of proportion." Casey protested. Emily pursed her lips into a knowing smile. Casey waved it off.

"I mean, this is wrong, right? He is my stepbrother; we've known each other since we were fifteen," Casey whispered. Emily sighed.

"It's not conventional, that's for sure, but as you said, you were fifteen when you met. You didn't necessarily grow up together like Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti have. Have you guys talked about it?" Emily asked. Casey nodded.

"We have; since we don't really know where this will lead, we didn't want to get everyone at home involved, especially the kids," Casey explained, and Emily nodded in agreement and then reached out to hold Casey's hand.

"Casey MacDonald, you are stuck in your very own version of 'Clueless.'" She teased; Casey couldn't help but laugh at that. She conjured up her best Cher impression.

"As if! Derek wishes he were Pual Rudd."

The weekend hadn't been such agony to get through as Casey had predicted. Thankfully with so many people in the house, it was easy to slip a gaze or two, and hand grazes without being noticed. All things carried on well until Sunday breakfast.

"Okay, Derek, now that Casey is going to school with you, be sure to look after her," George said before shoveling down some eggs. Derek was across from Casey at the table and gave a nonchalant shrug.

"I'm pretty sure Casey can take care of herself." He said through a mouthful of bacon.

"For once, you're right, Derek," Casey said with as much bite she could muster. "I will be fine, George, and I didn't need Derek to save me in New York. I don't need him to save me in Queens." She said proudly and continued to eat her avocado toast.

"I didn't know you went to see Casey in New York, Derek," George said, and Casey almost choked. Derek gave Casey a leveled look that read, 'Way to go, Space Case.'

"I take it back; Casey needs all the help she can get. She called whining about everyone being so mean to her, so I took pity and flew in." Derek said a nudged Edwin. "The theater girls were hoooot," and the brothers shared a chuckle. Lizzie made a disgusted sound, and Casey tried to keep the burning blush from rising from her chest.

"I should have let them rip you apart." She snapped. Derek rolled his eyes.

"Please, unlike you. I can handle a few catty girls." He said, and Casey chucked an apple at his head, he easily ducked, but Marti wasn't so lucky.

"Oww, Casey!" She shouted.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Marti." She said, and her stepsister grumbled by something along the lines of 'quit flirting.' Only Derek was close enough to hear, and he froze.

"What was that, Smarti?" He said, and she looked up at her brother, and her dark blue eyes said that she knew far more than they were letting on. Derek frowned at her; when did Marti start rebelling against Derek? Mari batted her lashes at him and smiled.

"Oh nothing, Smirk. I am just going to miss you and Casey when you go away." She said and threw her arms around Derek's neck and whispered so low that only he could hear. "I know."