#and the little pause right before the verse I’m literally such a sucker

[honeyedlashton]

I love my bbg Caramel so much 🩵🤎💛

(✨I literally have no idea who to credit this to because I found it forever ago on twt but whoever made this made my favorite picture probably ever✨)

[jiminrings]

yoongi grills stem koo’s ass <3

cold senior!y/n x stem major!koo masterlist :D

stem koo wants to explain himself and yoongi may not want to listen

"hyeji's never packed you a sandwich before?"

jungkook pales at the mention, mouth drying when he sees yoongi bring up the soft smile that doesn't comfort him at all

“the one that’s all knuckle?”

oh my god

IS THIS A RIDDLE????

yoongi tilts his head in amusement when this pathetic excuse for your past crush is calculating what he just said in his mind

what is a sandwich that’s all knuckle?? but it doesn’t even rhyme!!

aren’t riddles sUPPOSED to rhyme????

jungkook’s more than well-versed in stem-related problems that are just rephrased 237 times over and over so that it wouldn’t be as easy to solve

he can solve that!!!

but this!!! :O his mind is short-circuiting pls do not approach him

“hm?” yoongi’s smile patronizes him further and puts him on the spot, straightening his figure and jungkook’s quick to stop him from coming back inside your dorm

“i want to-“

“i asked you — have you ever had a knuckle sandwich?”

yoongi enunciates with so much clarity that kook finds his mind blanking, tripping over his words he hasn’t even formed yet

“i-is it-...” he stalls, trying to rack his mind for the bread he’s not sure he’s ever even heard of in his life, “i-is it like, a pork thing? uhm, t-the pig’s knuckle? and then you put it between, uhm, bread?”

,,,, laughable

jungkook’s supposed to be smart, isn’t he? or atleast that’s what yoongi thinks he’s supposed to be

lmao he would’ve laughed at the boy’s poor attempts if only he wasn’t furious at him

he’s dumb but not the endearing kind ://

“no,” yoongi drawls out, pretending to fish something out from his pocket

jungkook watches in intrigue, thinking that yoongi’s reaching for his phone to show him a picture of what it looks like

the hypothetical situation in jungkook’s mind is clearly not the one that happens

jungkook SHRIEKS as he stumbles on his heels backward — crystal clear to him that yoongi was not looking for his phone, but instead balling his fist and him being the receiving end

almost the receiving end

yoongi almost sucker-punches jungkook in a blink, fist literally a millimeter away from his nose and the only thing he could see at the moment is red

... red and jungkook’s wide eyes that have never carried this much fear up until now

“that’s a knuckle sandwich, kid. would’ve fed it to you if only y/n isn’t in the room right behind me.”

holy fuck

his heart is beating right against his ribcage and that shouldn’t be possible, fists closing upon themselves nervously as he tries to soothe his thumb so his mind relaxes

spoiler alert: it doesn’t work

jungkook’s mind is all over the place, even more rattled than it was when he takes a text without studying (he was so low he got a 98), but the only thing that’s clear is that you’re behind this door

“yoongi — mister yoongi, please. i-i need to explain myself, and if only you let me try, i can!! i swear. i’m not forcing you but-...”

there he is again

jungkook’s only been in his sight for like two minutes but his eyes are already sore

“why are you even here?” he scowls and even if the younger boy’s taller than him, every bit of his posture and demeanor at the bite of his words scream small, “why go all this length for someone you stomped on today, then have the gall to be a crybaby about it?”

he's speechless and it only serves him right, looking at his mudded-up converse and trying to focus on anything besides the guilt within

"m-my explanation," jungkook mutters, hands behind his back as if he's being scolded, “will you tell y/n?”

yoongi releases an agitated breath at him muttering your name

he dOESN'T get to say your name!! no!!! not after what he did to you

“i’m not concerned about you. what i decide to do or not, has nothing to do with whatever you say right now.”

kook solemnly nods, and even if yoongi's much harsher in your words compared to yours, the gravity of yours with him not being related to you cuts deeper

there's nothing else he could care about, actually

jungkook follows campus curfews to a T and would come home two hours earlier in the rare event that he goes somewhere

but now, he couldn't care less when the dorm master could just be there any second and he'd pass a hall monitor like usual

for the whole day, you were the only one that occupied his mind

"i know hyeji isn’t the one."

god, it was clear as day

he'll be the first one to admit that he can't read people very well, but he knew from the start that it's probably not hyeji who's been packing his lunchboxes

jungkook sometimes takes attendance in behalf of the professor because as much as he's shy, he's also a teacher's pet

the classes she shared with hyeji? she wasn't present everyday for the whole duration of two weeks, and how could it be that she still managed to make him a lunchbox if she wasn't present in the campus at all?

there was a probability that it could've been her, but it was so low that it sat right next to improbable

"i-i entertained the possibility briefly that she was, but then nothing was making sense the more i thought about it."

jungkook sometimes also checks papers because his professors trust him enough and he has perfect scores anyway, so he uses his own as his answer key

"i needed to interview y/n for an assignment, a-and a signature above a name was needed and it was just so familiar."

the moment he racks his head for hyeji's writing, it seemed fAR from the writing on the sticky notes on the lunchboxes

"then she seemed mad at me, but when i went to her on the field to try and confront her-" jungkook pauses and almost whispers the next part, the shame on his skin starting to seep into his bones, "she told me that we weren't related for me to feel hurt about it."

yoongi clenches his jaw, a pressure forming on the center of his eyebrows because he knows where this is leading

"a-and i thought it was hyeji again."

jungkook can't bring himself to be elated that it's been you the whole time because he might be a little too late; a little too late when he's already subjected you to the heartbreak you didn't deserve

"i-i didn’t know what clicked in my mind but i was just so hurt that-"

that's the fiNAL straw for yoongi

this has been him trying to keep his anger at bay the whole time, but this one!! this one he can't just accept

"you are a fucking asshole. honestly."

jungkook slightly winces with the sudden cussing, but it barely scratches the surface

"you think you’re the only one hurt? tell that to me who’s never seen y/n cry so hard before — or even cry at all."

his explanation wasn't an excuse and he knows it, but nonetheless, it tears him apart

"i’m sorry."

his lips quiver and he's trying sO hard not to cry in front of his senior, but yoongi doesn't feel even the slightest remorse for the kid

"i don’t care. you don’t apologize to me; you apologize to y/n. whether she forgives you or not, which for the record i don’t think she should, you cannot take back what you said."

if what jungkook said was eVER said to yoongi, given that he had the same circumstances as you did, he wouldn't know how to bounce back at all

it's a pain he doesn't wish to feel and he could only helplessly look at you who's trying to navigate it

perhaps you don't even plan to navigate it — knowing you, you're just gonna sail through it all to the point you're not giving yourself enough time to even realize that you already are

it was the same cycle of trying to move on without grieving through it properly that it hurts yoongi and seokjin and the tiny amount of people around you

"grovel at her feet. cry her an ocean. commit penitence. whatever you wanna come up with, no matter what, you do not make my y/n feel like she isn’t deserving of love."

you're family and yoongi goes above and beyond for family.

"i don’t care if you make up. i don’t care if you don’t. all i know is that in any other place besides outside the room she sleeps in, i’d hurt you like you hurt her."

jungkook almost wishes that yoongi punches him now and he won't even try to dodge it

"i deserve it."

"you do."

they whole-heartedly agree and it's the only time that yoongi can get behind jungkook's words

"i’m always gonna be on y/n’s side, kid."

there's no other way around it and as much as you know it or not, you've cemented your position in yoongi's heart unknowingly

"the only way that i’m gonna be on yours is when you’ve earned my utmost respect," he can't even see when that happens, crossing his arms across his chest, "and you don’t."

jungkook's tears are falling to the floor but they don't get on his cheeks, the sudden set of footsteps coming from his side making his head straighten and wipe his eyes immediately

he's the only one alarmed and he spares yoongi a glance, then to said person

yeah right that couldn't have been you :((

the guy who's approaching doesn't stop walking and he looks like.... he's uh,,, coming to where he's exactly standing????

he seems oddly familiar though

“oh, taehyung!"

where did he hear that name before??

taehyung stands at the same height as jungkook, maybe a centimeter or two taller, but he just couldn't stop looking at him from the corner of his eyes

yoongi's oblivious to jungkook's ongoing deduction, immediately engulfing taehyung in conversation

"y/n’s already asleep. i could do her part of the project-“

he offers because he recalls that right, you told him that taehyung's coming over to finish your shared project of a business plan late tonight

uhhhhh you're kinda zooted and going through it rOUGH so yoongi doesn't mind doing your contribution for you

“yoongi!! oh no man, it’s not what i came here for," he leans for a side hug, eyes landing on jungkook to drop a polite smile to acknowledge him

jungkook only slightly bows, confused but even more intrigued because he heard your name in the conversation

"i just uh, i just saw y/n crying while i was on my way home awhile ago, and i didn’t get to ask why, but i felt bad, so i came by to drop some cookies.”

oh

taehyung continues talking and it leaves yoongi and jungkook stunned, but he only focuses his attention on the former

“you looked like a hazelnut cookie kind of guy, so i baked some too!! is y/n allergic to peanuts? i put some too in a separate container in case she is.”

yoongi laughs and they go from there

IT'S LIKE JUNGKOOK ISN'T EVEN HERE!!!!

baby he's here he's nOT a hallucination!!!!

despite the fact that he's sticking out like and (unacknowledged) sore thumb, no one makes a move to take the conversation elsewhere

“thanks, tae. damn, you did all this yourself?”

yoongi whistles when he takes the tupperware opening it and almost watering at the sight

he doesn't mind baking cookies for you in case you wake up hungry, but taehyung really just did himself a nice favor without knowing it

he smiles softly, eyes narrowing in intrigue now that he realizes

"taehyung. no offense, but you’ve only interacted with y/n like once and it’s only for a project. why would you bake her uhhh 28 cookies?”

hehe

“35, actually :D”

tae interjects, waving him off when yoongi's jaw drops even further

“yeah, i know. i just felt so sorry for her — i’m not related to y/n but i just felt like i wanted to make her feel better.”

jungkook's jaw locks at this, his breathing becoming shaky all over again, fists balled this time

“it’s like,, economics!! i don’t actually know, maybe??? i’m in visual arts. y/n took over my part for me when i was sick-“

".... so you made her 30 cookies."

taehyung's the personification of a golden retriever and now that he thinks about it, jungkook reckons seeing him more than a handful of times

he laughs deeply at yoongi's rebutt and it may be in unfortunate timing that jungkook realizes he kNOWS him

he's in the same year!! he's the one that takes the portraits for the school paper and it's always his name in the credits

"good night, yoongs. hug y/n for me. tell her i'll take over her part, no questions asked."

taehyung walks away and he's perfectly content even if he didn't get to give you the cookies like jungkook thought he would

"night, taehyung."

yoongi looks at the retreating figure briefly, then looks at jungkook pointedly

he doesn't realize that he's still budging and listened on an entire conversation, dropping his head when yoongi points to the elevator

"bye, jungkook."

"good night, yoongi."

he feels hesitant to leave but it's probably for the better, putting his hands in his pockets still not enough to make his hands stop trembling

kook stops at the middle of his walking, turning his head to look back at yoongi whose mouth already has crumbs

"c-can i see y/n tomorrow?"

"i'm not her dad."

jungkook nods somberly, leaving it at that while his bulk of emotions consume him

he thinks all about the ways he could attempt to make it up to you, a million ideas in his head but his head doesn't hurt

his nose twitches at the lingering scent the cookies left, annoyed at the persistent smell and perhaps the boy that brought them

jungkook's never really liked cookies.

[secret-engima]

Look look, I know you've implied that Sasuke!Nyx is the only FFXV reincarnation in the Naruto 'verse, but - just. I had a sudden mental image. Of /Libertus/ as a Maito - as in, a close relative of Maito 'Konoha's Glorious Green Beast' Gai. ("YOUTH!") Perhaps a younger sibling or cousin or something? Because. Because the /mental images/ of the /rest/ of the non-uchiha-Compound family /reacting/ to an Uchiha being Best Friends with a Maito - Kakashi would despair. Gai would weep - in JOY.

I was not on board with this plan until you said Uchiha being Best Friends with the relative of Might Guy and now I’m dying.

... FINE.

One exception. JUST THIS ONE.

And also Crowe. Because I’m a sucker but SHHHHHH.

Because of course Libertus and Crowe would bully their way through the afterlife and timeline to follow their Ulric. Of course they would.

Hmmmmmmmmm *cracks knuckles* ficlet ramble time!

-Jun will forever be grateful that his mother was the one to name him and not- well- his father.

-Of course he only knew to be grateful AFTER meeting the man his mother had had a teenage fling with, but his point stands. Which was after that wildfire swept through and burned down most of his little village and the trauma of nearly burning made him Remember. Remember another life, another time, another way of life.

-Made him remember Nyx and how Libertus, after finally passing away of old age, had found no Nyx waiting for him, had gone and picked a fight with ... he thinks it might have been Ramuh? Or possibly Bahamut himself, and demanded to be taken to his best friend RIGHT NOW. No he didn’t care if Nyx had wandered off to become a Walked Twice. You think Libertus isn’t stubborn enough to qualify? TRY HIM YOU OVERGROWN LIZARD.

-Not his most sparkling moment of intelligence to be sure.

-But that means ... Nyx has to be here. Somewhere. Surely.

-But there is no Nyx in the village, and the village is struggling to cope, especially his mother, considering both their home and her workplace had been reduced to rubble.

-They end up leaving the village. They had never treated Libertus’s mother too well after he had been born, so it was no real emotional loss. Libertus is physically five when this happens, and he tries his hardest to help his mother and make her smile. She’s the only Clan he’s got after all.

-They wander from village to village before settling down in one where his mother finds work as a seamstress. Libertus, now eight, makes a few yen running packages and messages around town, his brown braids with the little blue beads he’d managed to get bouncing against his temple.

-It’s on one of his runs when he’s around nine that he rounds a corner too fast and smacks right into someone’s leg. He lets himself fall, tucks and rolls back to his feet with the flexibility of a child and the skill of a glaive, an apology already on his lips.

-The leg turns out to be owned by a NINJA. Wonderful.

-The ninja is staring at him, a little metal toothpick hanging from his mouth so loosely that if he gapes a little harder it’s gonna fall out. Libertus has a bad feeling about this. He yells an apology that is possibly too loud and energetic (an odd side effect of this new body, he tends to get ... loud and enthusiastic when nervous) and books it. He wants nothing to do with ninja, he just wants to grow up enough to travel so he can go find his idiot.

-The ninja doesn’t follow him.

-Nope. The ninja turns up again two weeks after Libertus had successfully forgotten about the incident with ANOTHER NINJA. This one is wearing some kind of awful, AWFUL jump suit of eye-searing green (watch out indeed), a red belt (oh dear), and the world’s shiniest bowl cut.

-Weren’t ninja supposed to be STEALTHY?

-The living neon warning sign is looking around with fervor as the two enter Libertus’s mother’s workplace (how did the ninja know she worked here), and his mother gasps. But not out of horror at the truly awful outfit, but out of ... recognition?

-“H-hello again,” she murmurs with a mix of fear and memory that makes Libertus’s hackles rise and him discreetly snatch one of her spare scissors off the shelf in the back room.

-The green ninja gives a booming, smiling greeting, then ... sobers. Quietly asks if she’s ... doing well.

-If she has a son.

-That’s about the minute Libertus notices that the man has caterpillar eyebrows. Caterpillar eyebrows just like Libertus’s, who did NOT inherit those from his mother thank you. He got her soft chestnut hair and hazel eyes.

-Libertus dives out of the back of the store and tries to stab the ninja in the femoral artery with the scissors because PYRE NO is he gonna be taken away from his mom by ninja for being some kind of wayward blood child.

-He doesn’t manage to get the artery, the ninja is too fast, but via the advantage of surprise and glaive memory, he DOES manage to bury the scissors into the man’s leg.

-It’s really not fair that all the man does is hold him up by his scruff and laugh about it. He has a bleeding leg. SHOW SOME PAIN.

-There’s talking after that while his mother fusses in terror and the toothpick chewing ninja pulls out a roll of bandages with a sigh (if it hadn’t been for the current situation, Libertus would have sympathized, he knew what that Sigh meant, he too had an idiot to look after).

-Surprisingly, the green ninja (Might Guy! He announces with a smile that literally sparkles what the pyre) does not insist on taking “Jun” away from his mother.

-Nope. He takes his mother WITH them back to the village. For a wedding. Libertus is honestly stunned. Weren’t ninja supposed to be sneaky and without honor? He has literally no obligation to marry the woman he had a fling with as llike- a FOURTEEN year old just because a kid came out of it. But apparently nope. Libertus’s father is the one ninja with a sense of chivalry because he signs a marriage certificate within hours of getting back to the ninja village of Konoha with mother and Libertus in tow.

-And just like that, Libertus’s name is Might Jun.

-What.

-What is going on.

-No he doesn’t want to be a ninja buzz off.

-Libertus takes to exploring their new home, partly to avoid his new ... father and partly to look for Nyx because who knows, maybe he’ll get lucky for once.

-He’s passing the ninja academy when he hears laughter and footsteps. He sidesteps, but isn’t fast enough to keep from getting run over by a screaming blur of orange. While trying to catch his breath from being trampled by the screaming orange blur (who has yet to notice the impact), a hand appears in his vision. He follows the hand up a pale arm and to a concerned face with black hair and black eyes, “Hey, you okay? Sorry about Naruto, someone let him have ... caffeine...” the boy’s breath stops. He’s staring at the side of Libertus’s head.

-No. His head. His temple.

-His braids.

-And Libertus, on an old instinct from another life, tilts his head as he sits up, looking for braids.

-He sees the purple bead and cord, the simple twist braid partly tucked behind the boy’s ear and hope burns through him like liquid fire. No way. No way. What were the chances of finding Nyx HERE.

-Check that, it’s a child soldier death academy. Why wouldn’t he find Nyx here.

-If it’s really Nyx.

-He swallows his fear and whispers, “For Hearth and Home.”

-Hope flares in the other boy’s eyes, his lips twisting before he rasps, “Libertus.”

-And the next moment Libertus is on the ground again, pinned down in the middle of the street by a sobbing Nyx, but that’s okay, because Libertus is sobbing too. A second after that and he’s hauled to his feet and dragged off by Nyx to a too-empty compound that still stinks of old blood and bleach and bundled into one of the houses so they can sob in privacy.

-Libertus spends a good ten minutes screaming himself hoarse at Nyx for dying. For being a self-sacrificing heroic idiot. Nyx screams back that what was Libertus doing here then huh?

-“I died of old age you idiot! Like you should have!”

-Nyx pauses “...Oh.” A blink, a flicker of red in black eyes and Nyx whispers, “What happened ... after?”

-And Libertus tells him. He tells him everything as they lie on Nyx’s futon, tangled around each other in a puppyish pile like they did when they were children. He tells him about Insomnia’s fall, and Princess insisting on separating, on going to Galahd and waiting until the Long Night fell and he returned to the glaive. How he was the Captain and hated every second of it, hating having to choose which brothers and sisters would take the suicide missions, hated losing more and more people as the night kept going.

-He spoke of the young king who returned ten years later with age and wisdom in his every line. How they followed him to Insomnia to take back the dawn. How the king died purifying the scourge and giving them a chance. How he had gone back to Galahd with the survivors and rebuilt their homes until Libertus was old and grey and couldn’t really walk because of the ache in the hip a daemon shattered during the Long Night that no one had had an elixir for.

-Then he speaks of waking up here as Jun, of his mother and his ... new father. Of being taken here and exploring and finding Nyx.

-Then Nyx huddles closer, and tell him his story in return. In waking up his memories in a massacre. All of his Clan. Gone. Again. Murdered by a kinslayer, a former BROTHER and Libertus keens for his friend. Nyx whispers of putting himself back together and training, and it is only now Libertus registers the pink and purple ribbon woven into a tiny braid in his hair, a declaration of revenge.

-Nyx also tells him of Naruto, the boy he’s adopted, of little Hinata and her flinches and how she blossoms like a flower in the sun with just a little bit of kindness and praise. He talks about his Anbu, the masked ninja that leaves potted plants on his window sill and is secretly addicted to Nyx’s cooking, terrible as it is, and how even though the man will not speak and won’t give his name, Nyx has adopted him too.

-Libertus hugs Nyx as tight as he can and swears that it will be alright.

-He comes home late that evening, dragging Nyx behind him by the wrist, looks his new father in the eyes and says he wants to become a ninja.

-The promise of training, of becoming strong enough in this world to protect Nyx, is worth the manly tears and illusionary sunsets his declaration gets.

-Of course, dragging Nyx home only causes more manly tears when he announces that this is his new best friend (what kind of name is Sasuke anyway, Nyx is much better, but they keep their old life names to themselves). And they get ... a lot of odd looks after that as they run around, attached at the hip just like when they were kids the first time around. Might Guy, his father, has a lot of Feelings about this friendship. Mostly Manly Tears and booming declarations of Youth. Libertus smacks Nyx over the head the one time Nyx grins and says Lib’s new dad is fun.

-Meanwhile the rest of the village watches in horror at the budding friendship of the Last Uchiha and Might Guy’s newfound son. Because MIGHT GUY’S SON. AND THE LAST UCHIHA.

-Kakashi feels a creeping sense of Doom™ in his future.

I’ll cover the reunion with Crowe in another ramble sometime, and more reactions on the Might/Uchiha friendship but for now this has already gotten long enough so I’ll leave it there. XD

[jcmorrigan]

Me(n)tal Fatigue

The F/O? XR from Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. The S/I? Rachel Sparks - fifth ranger of Team Lightyear with a big heart for justice (and no glasses in this ‘verse because I suppose Nebula would surgically augment my eyes to make sure Zurg couldn’t rip the glasses off and stomp on them, which is a Zurg tactic). This one goes as an epilogue to the ep “Head Case,” and watch me project neurodivergent headcanons upon a ROBOT. Listen, I have evidence as to why he has OCD, GAD, or both and I can produce receipts.

***

       She crossed his path later that night, just after hours, in the hallways connecting the barracks. Not an infrequent occurrence, given the proximity of her barrack to his storage unit. As always, they greeted each other as friends.

           She put up her hand; “Hey.”

           He made finger guns at her and clicked his tongue, winking.

           This was the part where they would just breeze by each other and keep on going, usually. But tonight –

           “Hey. XR.”

           They’d already passed each other by a couple paces in her case and cycles in his, and XR heard Rachel’s call to him when his back was already turned to her. He turned a quick 180 to see her regarding him with an air of concern that was, frankly, surprising. Shouldn’t she be used to this by now?

           “You know, I didn’t come THAT close to dying this time,” he said, cavalier as ever, a flippant shrug punctuating it. “YOU were the one who almost exploded.”

           Oh, that realization didn’t sit well with him.

           “I know,” Rachel replied.

           The words were so hard to dig up. She knew what she wanted – had – to ask him. But was it out of obligation as a friend, or some twisted excuse to get more attention from him? She wrestled with herself in her mind over the topic. This was why having feelings for someone was horrible. You could never trust your own intentions.

           She ended up just staring at XR blankly for a minute and a half, at which point he remarked, “Ooooookay, Rachel’s finally glitched out. And here, I thought that didn’t happen to organics.” In a blink, he was up in her face, escalated to her height so he could wave a hand in her face; “HEL-LOOOOO! STAR COMMAND TO RACHEL SPARKS! IS THERE A SIGN OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THERE?”

           She snorted, then broke down giggling.

           “I’m not sure whether to take that as a good sign or one that you’ve just completely lost it,” XR commented.

           “I’m fine,” Rachel said, calming down. “I just…wanted to ask you something. It might not be something you wanna talk about.”

           “You grossly underestimate my desire to talk about anything for long periods of time, especially if that ‘anything’ is related to myself.”

           “Well, you’re in luck,” Rachel replied. “But seriously, if you don’t wanna answer the question, you don’t have to.”

           He reverted to his usual height. “You’re gonna kill me from curiosity, Rach. If your goal here was to finish the job XL started, you’re doing a bang-up job.”

           “I was the one he almost blew up, remember?”

           XR really, really didn’t like considering the actual implications there. “No, seriously, what’s the big, scary question?”

           “Well…”

           She had to ask. Even if it was just an excuse to get him to talk to her. Either way, she knew he needed to talk about it. If his case was anything like hers, anyway. And she knew it was.

           On impulse, Rachel repositioned, dropping to the floor to sit with legs folded in a pretzel-reminiscent configuration, making her actually have to look up to meet XR’s line of sight. “So. Everybody thought you had ‘mental fatigue.’”

           “We’re getting comfortable for this. That should be a red flag.”

           “You don’t have to answer.”

           “I at least need to know where you’re going with this.”

           “It’s just…” Rachel faltered on the wording, then decided to simply be blunt: “DO you?”

           XR flinched. “What, you think I’m some kind of nutcase? Granted, that would fall in line with your brand of affectionate insult – “

           “Just hear me out, okay?” Rachel interrupted. “It’s all these things I’ve been noticing. How you straight-up ditched the team after having an air freshener ripped out. That was the first clue. You KNOW I’ve been there. It really looks like if you think you’re not perfect, you might as well not try. And then there’s the whole NOS-4-A2 thing. You’ve been taking him…REALLY hard. And then there was that attack that kicked this whole evaluation off, and…”

           “You are reading way, WAY too much into things,” XR replied, waving a hand as though to brush off Rachel’s speculation entirely. “Everyone has problems facing down a legitimate archnemesis. The rest of that is just my lovable quirks.”

           “And that’s…fine,” Rachel said unsurely. “It’s just that…I’ve…been a lot of these places. Not all of them, but…sometimes it really looks like you’re dealing with some heavy shit. Like you’re scared. Like you feel you’re losing control. Like you’re anxious.”

           “Robots don’t get anxiety disorder,” XR said dismissively. “I am literally programmed not to have anything your armchair diagnosis has led you to believe I have.”

           “And I’m totally ready to bring out the apology train for assuming,” Rachel went on. “I just had to ask if…” She swallowed hard. “If you were okay. That’s really all I want to know. Because if you’re not, then I figured you might wa – need to talk about it. And if you do, then…I’m here. But if I’m wrong, then just tell me straight, I’ll shut the fuck up, and I’ll go directly to bed without passing Go or collecting two hundred unibucks.”

           XR regarded Rachel with mild suspicion. “And after I answer, you intend to do WHAT with that information, exactly?”

           “Nothing,” Rachel told him. “This isn’t like taping me stupid dancing. I’m not gonna broadcast it or use it as blackmail. Like I know you wouldn’t do for anything ACTUALLY important.”

           His immediate instinct was to make a wisecrack about that, but that was perhaps the one sacred covenant between them, and he knew better. She was right about that much.

           “I’m just…” Her voice was barely able to eke out the next words due to the pounding of her heart. “Worried about you.”

           The silence only lasted a few seconds, but they could both feel how heavy it was and what it carried with it.

           “Well,” XR said at last. “Don’t be, because there is nothing to worry about.”

           Rachel looked up to him, giving him a nod in response. Maybe she’d been wrong. It was entirely likely she’d been projecting.

           His smile was broad, his body language solid. “You think it’s gonna take a few near-death experiences to break XR, Robot Ranger? Well, think again, my grammatically correct friend. I’ve been on the force longer than you have, you know.”

           By a couple months, she thought, but she didn’t voice this, instead nodding.

           “And I’ve seen things,” XR went on confidently. “Things that would reduce your average civilian to tears. But me? I am resilient in all conditions! Mental fatigue? Please. At the end of the day, nothing REALLY gets to me. Only the satisfaction of bad guys stopped, a job well done, and, if the day has gone according to plan, side cash earned from a moonlight venture. Granted, it’s a fifty-fifty shot that that part ever goes according to plan.”

           Seventy-thirty, Rachel corrected internally, and not in your favor.

           “In conclusion,” XR stated, “you don’t need to get your pretty little head worried about me, because I am completely, totally, one HUNDRED percent – NO I’M NOOOOOOOT!”

           The shift had been completely unpredictable; suddenly he was shaking like a leaf, fluid welling up at the bases of his eye-lights. Rachel flinched; it was like he’d been replaced again, like an entirely different robot stood before her, but she knew it was him. And she knew it was exactly as she’d suspected.

           “I DON’T WANNA KEEP DEALING WITH THIS!” XR went on, his voice cracking. “I DON’T WANNA LEAVE DUTY, EITHER! I CAN’T HAVE ANYONE THINKING I’M NUTS! BUT EVERY TIME THAT ENERGY-SUCKING VAMPIRE REARS HIS HEAD, OR XL RIPS ME TO PIECES, I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF I’M GONNA MAKE IT OUT THIS TIME! AND I REMEMBER THAT! I THINK ABOUT THAT!”

           Rachel didn’t reply. She simply listened. He had to say his piece. He’d had to say it for some time now. Though she had to admit she wasn’t as prepared for this reaction as she’d thought she had been. She had asked for candor, but hadn’t expected things to get quite this candid.

           Nor was she expecting it when he leaned right into her, his arms suddenly extending to wrap tightly around her in a desperate search for comfort, for understanding. She froze, her heart the only part of her in motion, and that dangerously so, throbbing so fast it might just explode. Feelings. She cursed them. If she didn’t have those feelings for him, this wouldn’t be so difficult to navigate, and she could just be there for him without pausing or stuttering. She could just –

           Well, realizing what a rational Rachel without a crush would do indicated what the real Rachel had to.

           She wrapped her own arms around his cylindrical body, pulling him a bit closer. Thinking about how there might not even be any benefit he’d get from that, being unable to sense tactile stimulation and all. Knowing that didn’t matter.

           “And you know – YOU KNOW – I’m only the way I am because of an accident!” XR babbled. “I got smashed to smithereens, and when they put me back together, I was me! Nobody knows how that even happened! And every time since then, when I’ve been pounded to bits, I come back as me! But what if I DON’T come back as me next time? What if I actually get deleted? Erased? Eighty-sixed?”

           Rachel had never even thought about that before, and she had to admit even she was horrified. No. She couldn’t tell him she was worried about that now on top of his mental state. She had to be the strong one here. It’s what she would want if it were her doing the crying.

           “ – and that energy-sucker’s obedience code is STILL in my data banks, and I’ve erased it THREE times since then, but it keeps reprogramming itself, and I can’t get rid of it, I CAN’T GET RID OF IT – “

           Her hand gently slid up and down his back. Now, that gesture probably was absolutely useless, but still, any way to let him know, without verbally interrupting, that she was listening, that she was understanding as best she could.

           “ – and THIS time, it was almost YOU that bit the dust, and that would’ve been on me! Forever! Knowing I let you get blown up!”

           A cold flush ran over Rachel. He’d really been that afraid for her?

           “And what kind of ranger lets all of his friends go down like THAT? Listen, I know I’m not the galaxy’s most morally upstanding guy, but – “

           Oh. He’d meant the collective “you.” That made more sense.

           This went on for a while. What he poured out, she absorbed, and soon she was the one shaking, having to hold all of this knowledge, even if it was only confirmation of what she’d theorized. Then there was silence, the pair of them locked together in the middle of a public hallway, surprisingly not having attracted any outside attention or gotten in the way of passersby. The benefits of waiting until after hours to have a breakdown.

           At last, very quietly, XR said, “I needed that,” and Rachel knew it was over. They let go of each other, slowly, and when XR met Rachel’s gaze again, his tears had dried, and he was putting on his best game face.

           “And you KNEW I needed that,” he said in an even tone.

           “I guessed,” Rachel said. The first words she’d spoken in a while.

           “And you’re NEVER going to tell anyone.”

           “No,” Rachel affirmed. “This stays between us. Unless you want to take it to anyone else.”

           “I don’t need them kicking me out for this,” XR said firmly.

           “I don’t want them kicking you out for this,” Rachel agreed. “You’re still doing GREAT. Being a little…um…”

           “Insane? Loco? Bananas?”            “…I don’t have a more polite word right now. The best I have is ‘messed up.’ But being a little bit that-stuff hasn’t really held you back that much. People get stress like that.”

           XR fixed Rachel with a particularly corrective look; “People?”

           “And robots,” Rachel said with a nod. “And you do a great job of working around it. I just know that sometimes, when it gets like that…if you don’t find a place to let it out, you’ll just collapse.”

           “Well, in that case…” XR suddenly lost a bit more confidence, tapping his index finger points together sheepishly. “I probably owe you one for being the – “

           “No. You don’t.” She was stern on that point. “Never. And I don’t wanna hear it brought up again.”

           “Right.” A double take, as though he was only just now realizing where he was, and what time it was. “Basically, this never happened.”

           “What never happened?”

           “Exactly.”

           Though Rachel couldn’t be completely selfless. “A thank-you WOULD be nice, though. That’s literally all I want.”

           “Well, thank you,” XR said, sounding completely offhand.

           Even though Rachel knew he was anything but.

           She set about getting to her feet. “Anyway, we both need to get to bed. I’m gonna hate myself in the morning if I don’t go to sleep – “ She checked her watch. “ – thirty minutes ago.”

           “As opposed to how you USUALLY are in the mornings?”

           “It gets so much worse than you know.”

           “Well, that’s not reassuring,” XR told her, completely casual now. “Meanwhile, you know the drill. Don’t need sleep; still love it.”

           She nodded. Then said “Goodnight” as though that were in any way sufficient to close out the situation that had just taken place.

           Rachel turned to walk away when she heard it:

           “Hey. Rach.”

           She turned back to see XR regarding her with a look of concern this time; a mirror image of the incident that had begun the conversation.

           “It hit me that you figured all this stuff out about ME because you were reminded of YOU,” he pointed out. “How messed up are YOU? For lack of a better term, of course.”

           She bristled. “Enough.”

           “And who do YOU talk to about it?”

           “No one,” she admitted. “But it’s fine. I’m an old pro at this.”

           “Oh, reeeeaaaaally.” The skepticism dripped.

           “Who am I even gonna talk to?” Rachel asked, half hoping against hope –

           “Well, they do say turnabout is fair play,” XR told her. “You COULD unload all your sorrows on your local sympathetic robot.”

           As absolutely wonderful as that sounded, Rachel had to call it out for the pipe dream it was. “You don’t really wanna talk about my issues. I know you’re just trying to be a good friend, and probably get me to talk you up about being such a good friend, but you don’t want to. Not really. And that’s fine. You don’t have to. You’re a good friend for other reasons. I’m the hear-you-out-on-your-vents friend. You’re the pull-elaborate-stunt-to-get-me-un-fired friend. It’s fine.”

           “Oh, yeah?” XR retorted. “You think I can’t handle your problems? Try me.”

           Well, now Rachel realized she’d challenged him to prove his worth, and he wasn’t going to back down. “Another time,” she told him, vowing to herself to never let him know when she was having such troubles. “It’s late o’clock right now, and I just want to go to sleep.” By which she meant push her curfew another hour and a half reading fanfictions and critical analyses.

           “Just know I’m here when you need me,” XR stated, all too boastfully. He couldn’t be honest about this, Rachel worried.

           “And I’m here when you need me,” she replied, meaning it deeply. “Whenever.”

           I’d probably do way too much for you, she added internally. I like you so much. I need you to be okay.

           “Now GOODNIGHT,” she asserted as she turned on a heel and briskly strode off to her barrack.

           XR watched her practically speeding away, still not really able to move on from what had just happened. He was trusting her with a lot now, but he knew she was exactly the right person for that, regardless of venom swapped between them in the past. He was perhaps just a little more fond of her now – not romantically, not in the way she’d have wanted, but he still had no clue of that.

           It was just a very, very good thing XL hadn’t blown her up.

           XR now made direct tracks for his storage unit, resolving to forget about all he’d said and all she’d listened to but immediately replaying the conversation in his mind, word-for-word, ten times at least.

[l0vegl0wsinthedark]

Hey baby! I was thinking about my favorite scenes/lines from my favorite fics and got to wondering what scenes/lines stood out to the people who wrote them. Lolol. What would you say are your top 10 favorite bits from your fics? Gimme the scoop. ❤❤

YOU SENT IT ANYWAY DAMN YOU 😂😂😂

And does it have to be ten?! 

Okay omg i’ll try to go through them and pick something decent? (nope, just picking at random lmao)

1) In Your Arms, Rests My World: 

“Nobody else is ever going to touch you again,” he promises fiercely. “I’ll kill the next one, I swear to God.”

Malfoy gasps. “Potter! Oh, Merlin.” He grabs Harry’s hair roughly, half sitting up in his urgency to kiss him. “Say more things like that.”

“You’re mine,” Harry says immediately, pushes him back down and kisses him again. “Never letting you go again.” He bites along Malfoy’s clenched jaw. “Mine.”

“Yours,” Malfoy assents fervently, nipping his earlobe. “You fucking wanker. All yours, only yours. Who else’s would I be?!”

“I’ll kill them all,” Harry hisses into his shoulder, and Malfoy keens softly. “Every last one.”

“Promise me,” he implores. “I swear I’ll fucking murder you in your sleep, Potter-”

“I’ll kill them all,” Harry grits through bared teeth. “I promise I’ll die before I let anything happen to you again. I promise, I fucking promise.”

Why this bit: IDK I felt like this bit was really satisfying after all the angst and shit - plus I love me a possessive/protective Harry so… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2) Muggle ‘Drug Store’ Items:

Harry groans, throwing an arm over his eyes as Malfoy straddles his thighs with an excited grin, tugging Harry’s jeans halfway down, before rolling down his pants as well, Harry’s cock bouncing out eagerly to slap against his tanned belly.

“Oh, look, you’re all ready,” Malfoy comments happily, before leaning forward. “Wait, this doesn’t have a hole.” He pauses, holding the condom right in front of his nose, eyes crossing as he peers closely.

“You should call the manufacturers and leave that as feedback, it’d make their day,” Harry says, his voice rough, staring fixedly at the bulge in Malfoy’s snug black underpants. “Take your pants off and come sit on my face.”

“Wait.” Malfoy rolls his eyes, and jumps off the bed, returning with his wand. “I’m going to make a hole in it.”

“Why the hell, you weirdo?” Harry laughs despite himself.

“How else am I supposed to swallow?” Malfoy asks flatly and Harry chokes shut on his laugh.

Why this bit: LOL cause only Draco can buy contraceptives and then proceed to make holes in them and that’s fucking hilarious idk

3) To Those Who Wait:

It had helped that, along the way, I’d become reacquainted with the boy whom I’d hated for most of my childhood, who then, miraculously enough, turned out to be my soulmate.Yes, I know, I’m actually using the word soulmate. Like I said, I’m a practical man.

Later, we leave the windows open to coax in some of the cool, salt laden night breeze, Harry moving over me in patient, torturously slow undulations, his cock brushing my prostate every now and then in a teasing flick, my heels digging into his firm arse cheeks, my mouth gasping open under his.

“Harry,” I whisper, cradling his face with both hands, letting my lips flutter over his skin. “Please…”

“You’re my whole world,” he says abruptly, soft and breathless. “Did you know that?”

I can’t help but smile. “I had a vague inkling,” I tease gently and I kiss his laughing mouth, moaning softly as he picks up the pace.

Why this bit: Well, TBF, I picked two bits, but that’s only cause I can’t pick the whole fic (or at least the whole epilogue). Yeah, this one’s pretty close to my heart.

4) What Real Thing?:

“He has to go,” Draco repeats more vehemently. “It’s too late now– I can’t– He has to go.”

“Right.”

“I don’t even like him,” he repeats, his lip curled derisively. “I hate him, really.”

“No, you don’t,” she says quietly.

“No, I don’t,” he whispers miserably, staring into his hands.

Why this bit: Cause Draco admitting he doesn’t hate Harry is fucking precious?

5) Good Talk, Potter:

About seven pairs of eyes instantly swivelled onto me and I was quietly grateful for having worn my best shirt, I look fucking fabulous in this thing.

“Fuck you, ferret face.” Weasley’s ears still did that thing where they turned beet red and looked like they’d sizzle off his stupid head.

“Such a delight, aren’t you?” I’d smiled sweetly, still not looking at the man sitting half a foot to my left, smelling like aftershave and worn leather, looking up at me with eyes that are greener than the Malfoy grounds in spring.

Ugh, now I’m speaking in poetry?

Well, I’ve had one too many whiskeys and my thoughts tend to atrophy into doggerel by this stage – you’re not exactly the Bard of Avon yourself, let me see you come up with a decent verse or two when you’re tiddly.

Do you want me to go on or not?

Why this bit: Cause Draco ranting = endless entertainment lolol

6) Trouble: 

“I actually wanted to ask you that very evening–” Potter speaks in a mumble. “–but the probability of you chucking a chair at my head was rather high, so I decided otherwise.”

“Ask me what?” Draco asks impatiently when the man doesn’t continue.

“Do you think–?” Potter scratches his ear, restlessly kicking at a stone near his foot. “Could you maybe–?” He looks rather irritated with himself so Draco purses his lips on a smile and waits, tucking his thumbs into his pockets and turning to face the man properly. “May I have my number? I mean–” He looks rather alarmed as he hurries to correct himself and Draco could feel sudden laughter bubbling up inside him. “–would you give me my number?” He looks downright horrified now and Draco has to inconspicuously bring one hand up to his mouth to hide his grin. “Your number,” Potter sighs resignedly. “May I have your number?” he finally manages to say, hanging his head and looking miserable.

Draco bursts out laughing then, although his belly is suddenly filled by a swarm of manic butterflies and his heart thuds excitedly.

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” Potter growls irascibly under his breath.

Why this bit: Cause Harry’s a fucking dork after being an evil, sexy little shit earlier in the fic and it’s really satisfying lol

7) Kiss The Light Back Into Me: 

Harry likes to hold his hand a lot. His hands are perennially warm and when they’re wrapped around Draco’s fingers, he feels like he’ll never be cold again.

Harry’s mouth is soft and warm and his kisses are long and patient. He pins Draco to himself and kisses him like it’s his absolute favourite thing to do.

Well, it’s Draco’s favourite thing anyway.

He loves Draco’s hair and plays with it when he thinks Draco is asleep. Draco pretends to be asleep a lot.

Why this bit: Cause fluffeh goodness?

8) Luckiest Fucking Size Queen Alive:

I know what you’re thinking; Draco Malfoy, proud Slytherin, Senior Undersecretary to the Head of International Magical Cooperation, blond perfection, never one to follow the herd, hardly the type to be swayed by superficial things like the girth and length of objects, even less when said objects are attached to strangely handsome wizards, especially wizards who just happened to have saved and liberated the wizarding world before turning twenty even.

Draco Malfoy, twenty-seven and pretty darn attractive (if you ask me), who absolutely, definitely, almost certainly, probably didn’t, maybe did have a infinitesimal, itsy-bitsy, fair sized, shamefully gigantic, likely unhealthy crush on the aforementioned wizard.

Draco Malfoy who is also a sucker (occasionally, a downright slut) for sizeable cocks.

Oh, sue me, you judgemental, sanctimonious wretch. And go get a haircut.

I’m the one he eventually admits to being in love with, the words whispered reverently into my forehead, calloused hands tenderly cupping my face, his eyes soft and honest; and I’m the one he asks to move in with him six months later (golly!). I’m the one he makes breakfast for everyday, and I’m the one for whom he wakes up early on Saturdays to go buy fresh-from-the-oven pain au chocolat from that French place in Mayfair. It’s myface he sees and kisses first thing every morning and I’m the one he falls asleep pressed against every damn night.

Me, the luckiest fucking size queen alive.

Why this bit: Two bits, again; still have a dozen more fav bits. Also, Draco rants quite a bit in this one too lolol it was really hard to pick

9) (Un)Calculated Risk:

“Happy birthday,” Harry whispered, grabbing Draco’s hand where it lay on his cheek and then pressing something into it. Draco’s fingers closed around the Snitch and he looked back up at Harry with a soft snort. “I keep my promises.” Harry winked.

And with another kiss to Draco’s wryly grinning mouth, he was zooming away, leaving Draco there with the winning Snitch and jauntily flying away with his heart.

Why this bit: Cause Harry being a smooth, romantic AF fucker gives me life.

10) Hurt Me, Fuck Me (Just Don’t Hate Me):

“Fuck, Malfoy,” Potter pants into his neck.

“You just did,” Draco drawls, his balls quopping with the need to come. “Eat me out,” he tells Potter, and lifts his knees up to his shoulders as Potter more than amiably slithers down and obliges.

Why this bit: Because @bixgirl1​ would’ve brought the roof down if I’d picked any other bit

Bonus (even tho like literally nobody asked for it and I whinged about doing the first ten):

11) Just Go With It:

“Challenge accepted.” Harry sat up, kicking the covers off himself vigorously and accidentally catching Baguette with one heel. “Shit, Baguette, I’m so sorry!”

“What the fuck, Potter? Why do you keep yelling at a loaf of bread?!”

“It’s not—it’s my pet ferret! I accidentally kicked her.”

“…You have a pet ferret?”

Harry hurriedly tamped down a laugh. “Y-yeah, her name’s Baguette.”

“Why?!”

“Why do I have a pet ferret, or why is she named Baguette?”

“All of it! Why?!”

Why this bit: Because when @o0o-chibaken-o0o suggested I name the ferret Baguette, I didn’t realise what a celebrity that sassy little furry’s going to become. But she did! Plus, they have phone sex right after this bit, so.

12) All The Sense In The World:

“I take it you’ve spotted my arsehole by now,” Malfoy bit out. “So go ahead and put one finger in, Potter.” Harry blinked and looked around, registering the instruction at last.

“W-with the lube, right?” he blurted uncertainly. Malfoy pursed his lips.

“No, Potter, the lube is just for moral support – to sit there in your hand in case you need something to hold—yes, with the lube!”

Why this bit: It wasn’t until a number of readers pointed out this bit as being funny that I realised it too because Draco is such a salty bitch even when he’s seconds away from having his arse fingered open lmao

(I feel like I’ve let down my other works now D:)

THIS TOOK WAY LONGER THAN I EXPECTED AND I ENJOYED IT WAY MORE THAN I INTENDED TO DAMN YOU @bixgirl1 ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[raspberrytummytickles]

Not Your Fault

Title: Not Your Fault Fandom: Supernatural Characters: Sonny, Sam, Dean Summary: Ticklish!Sam; Sam blames himself for Dean getting arrested and having them end up at Sonny’s place for boys. Dean decides to show his brother that he is not to blame.

A/N: Heyo! So this is Part 1 of my Sonny Verse. I love the Bad Boys episode (Season 9) and I loved at the end, how Dean looked out the window at Sammy and anyway it was just adorable. (Sorry, I tend to ramble). I always loved the idea of Sam going with Dean to Sonny’s so that’s what this small verse is about! Hope you enjoy!! 

Dean never really expected to be caught. It wasn’t something that had happened before. He lost the money their father gave the boys for food in a poker game (he was still learning but damn he thought he would win). Unfortunately, that meant he had a hungry little brother waiting for him back at the motel room.

The deputy was a hard ass, grabbed Dean from behind―something you never want to do to a hunter―so Dean socked him in the eye. The deputy was a bit dramatic about it but when he tried forcing Dean in the car, all the teen could think about was Sammy. He couldn’t be away from his little brother. No matter how many years had passed, the shtriga incident still haunted his dreams so he yelled at the deputy that he needed to get his little brother.

Deputy didn’t believe him at first but humored the kid and drove him there, even knocking on the door. Sam didn’t answer because it wasn’t the secret knock. Before the deputy could drag Dean back, Dean hit the door three times before pausing and then hitting it four with a twist of the knob. Immediately, the door flew open and Sam was crashing into his big brother.

The deputy looked at them in surprise, glancing in the room to see no father. Hmmm…kid steals food, has a little brother in a disgusting motel room and an absent father. The man knew where to put these too and drove them to an old friends place. He called his homebase and explained what happened, looking in the rearview mirror. The smaller boy was curled next to the older one, quietly whispering while the older one soothed the kid instantly.

Rules were rules, the kid could go to Sonny’s but he had to wear handcuffs upon arrival (especially after the mean right hook and the disgusting call form their father). Sonny was waiting on the porch of his boys home when the deputy pulled up. The older one stumbled out, pulling on his handcuffs while the little boy clutched the leather jacket, eyes studying them. Sonny led all three to a couch in the living room where the kids took a seat and the deputy sighed.

“Thanks for doing this, Sonny.”

“It’s no problem,” The older man shrugged, gazing over the two boys. The deputy removed his sunglasses, forgetting his black eye. “What happened to ya?”

The older boy snorted, making Sonny know immediately who the culprit was.

“You think that’s funny?” The deputy snarled, the heat of anger previously left coming back full range. The smaller boy shrunk into his brother’s side.

“I think you’re slow,” The teen responded with a smirk.

“You sucker punched me!“

"You wish!”

“Enough!” Sonny broke them apart quickly, watching the deputy leave. He turned back to the kids, raising an eyebrow as the smaller one had already grabbed a paperclip and was getting his brother out of the cuffs. “So, what’d ya steal?” Sonny asked, noticing how the little brother quickly gazed upon his older sibling. 

The teen shifted under the scrutiny and looked down, “Bread and peanut butter.”

Sonny’s eyes went from the elder’s blank look to the kids surprised-quickly-turned-guilty look. Everything quickly came into perspective. He motioned the kids to follow him into the kitchen, not looking back to see if they were following.

“How do you know that we wont just run away?” The older boy asked, keeping himself in front of his little brother.

“Because you’re hungry.”

“I’m not hungry,” The boy huffed. The little boy shifted uncomfortably, looking between his brother and the man offering food.

Sonny nodded but continued to make the sandwiches, placing two perfectly good PB&J’s on a plate and sliding it toward the kids. The older teen took one and shredded the crust off, handing it to his little brother. The kid quickly munched on it, holding it close like someone was going to take it from him. The teen ate his the way it was, still hovering close and watching Sonny with narrowed eyes.

“So what are your two names?”

“I’m Sam,” The small boy said softly, smacking his lips that somehow got covered with peanut butter. Sonny snorted while his big brother rolled his eyes exasperatedly, grabbing a napkin and handing it to his baby. “He’s Dean.” Sam wiped his face with an adorable flush.

Dean gave a half wave, eyes beaming with amusement at his little brother but untrusting at Sonny.

“Well, I’m Sonny and I run this boy home.”

“Lame,” Dean muttered, wincing at Sam’s sharp nudge.

“Better than jail,” Sonny replied. “I’ll show you two your rooms. I bet you want to stay together?”

“Yes sir.”

Sonny opened the door closest to the stairs. There were two beds, a nice window seat and a huge bookcase. It was the only room with two beds; rarely anyone slept there (usually kids from sexually abused homes) but Sonny was happy to give it to the two brothers.

As they looked around their room, he had a feeling his life would be a little more interesting.

Sonny left the Winchester’s to their devices, Dean quickly checking that everything was alright in the room. Sam was staring out the window, a small frown on his face as he gazed at the trees and tweeting birds.

“Hey, kiddo, I’m sorry we’re in this mess,” Dean apologized. Sam blinked at him in surprise and shook his head.

“Dean, no, it’s my fault.”

“Your fault?” Dean narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms.

“I never should of asked for you to go on a food run. I was selfish, I’m sorry.”

“Woah,” Dean held his hands up, shaking his head. “Time out, what the hell are you talking about? Dude, I’m the one that lost the food money, not you. This one is on me, okay?”

“But―”

“No. Sammy, I mean it,” Dean warned, reaching over and poking Sam’s side. Sam yelped and jerked at the touch, pouting at Dean.

“Stop.”

“Stop what?” Dean asked, happy the somber mood lifted and poked his brother again, chuckling at the tiny giggle that escaped.

“That!”

“What’s that?”

“You know what that is!” Sam cried, stepping away when Dean poked his ribs.

“I don’t understand, Sammy, explain please,” Dean teased.

“Poking me!”

“Why?”

“Because,” Sam cringed as he realized he was between a wall and a Dean and there was literally no escape.

“Becaaaaaaaaauuuuse…?”

“It tickles!” Sam whined. As soon as the T word left his mouth, Sam doubled over as Dean latched onto his sides, digging into the ticklish flesh. “Nohoho!”

“Oh, this tickles? I didn’t realize!” Dean smiled, wiggling down Sam’s body, thumbs drilling into the thin hips. Sam shrieked, arching his body as he tried to escape.

“Dehehehean! Stohohop it!“ 

“Why? You like it don’t you?” Dean chuckled as Sam’s face flushed pink and scribbled over the hard boney hip. “You need to eat more, Sammy.”

“Ihihihisn’t that whahahahat got uhuuhus hehehere in the fihihihirst placEHEHAHA!” Sam squealed as Dean thrust his hands under Sam’s armpits, tickling the skin before the hollows and steadily moved in. “OHOHO MY GOHOHOD!”

“God cant save you from the Tickle Monster, Sammy! And he just wants to eat you up!” Dean easily lifted his baby brother up and threw him onto one of the beds before straddling the giggling mess. “Roar! Imma get you!”

“Nohoho Dehehe!” Sam giggled, batting weakly at Dean’s hands as they tickled his hollows lightly.

“Who is this De you speak of? He sounds handsome,” Dean joked. “I am the Tickle Monster, kiddo. And he needs you to lift your arms so he can move on…unless you like it here.” Dean dug into the ticklish pits, relishing in the scream that escaped Sam before the kid dissolved into high pitched laughter.

Sam tried to catch his breath as Dean slowed the tickles to light scratches. He lifted his arms an inch before slamming them back down as the hard tickling returned with vigor.

“NOHOHOHO! T-TIHIHICKLE MOHOHONSTEHEHER! STOHOHOP!”

Dean nearly cooed at how adorable his brother looked; face flushing dark pink with his nose scrunched, eyes squeezed shut and mouth wide open as happy laughter exited. 

“Tickle Monster is hungry Sammy-Sam. I think he needs some feeding!”

“Ahahaha he-he just ahahate!” Sam protested weakly as Dean pulled his hands free and skitted his nails over Sam’s clothed torso till it reached the end of the shirt, pulling it up to the baby Winchester’s chest. Sam’s hands tried once again to grab at Dean’s but Dean easily brushed the hands away, making them sit on his shoulders.

“Yeah, but there’s always room for dessert! And his Sammy always taste the best,” Dean leaned down, nosing the quivering belly as Sam started pleading again, hands tightening on his shoulders.

“Dehe De plehehease stop it, I cahahan’t haHAHAHAHA NOHOHO!” Sam bucked his hips hard as Dean placed a huge, wet raspberry right on his belly button.

Dean place two more on the dips of Sam’s sides, chuckling at the girlish squeals escaping. He started scribbling both hands over the sides and bottom ribs while nibbling the ticklish flesh of Sam’s abdomen.

“Yum Yum Yum!”

“NOHOHO! STOPITSTOPITSTOPIT! AHAHAHA! IT TIHIHIHICKLES! DEHEHEHE!”

“That’s the point, Smarty-pants,” Dean smirked, blowing more wet raspberries all over Sam’s tummy. The kid was too tired to jerk anymore, his laughter rising higher when they got blown before quieting to manageable laughter. Dean couldn’t even understand what Sam was pleading anymore as he screeched with every tickle.

Finally, the small boy fell silent and Dean felt like his job was done. He snorted as he looked down at Sam, taking in his red face that had tear tracks on them, his pink tummy actually still twitching from the torture plus the cool air along with the endless smile on Sam’s face. Dean took one of the pillow covers and gently wiped his spit off Sam’s belly, snorting when Sam giggled loudly as he tried to twitch away. The older brother pulled down Sam’s shirt and gave him two small pats, making the younger brother groan and close his eyes.

“Still convinced it was your fault?”

“Hell no,” Sam chocked out. “It was definitely all your fault. One million percent!”

“Don’t make me do round two,” Dean warned, wiggling his fingers over Sam’s belly. Sam squeaked and forced himself into his brother’s curve, head tucking under the sixteen year old’s chin like when he was five.

Dean blinked, a little shocked but otherwise embraced his little brother, cradling him away from any danger and ready to be the support the kid would need in their new place.

Sonny stepped away from the door, having arrived when Sam started screaming loudly. 

Yep, things were definitely going to be interesting with these Winchesters around.

~To be continued...~