#and then I got these little thick overalls and they’re like this bright red with little white flowers

[minamotosousuke]

I got my niecephew the cutest heirloom outfits

[peaches2217]

how do you personally envision Mario and Peach (and/or others)? Like if you could draw them, how would they look? Physique? Significant height differences? Super poofy dress for Peach? Hairy arms and body for Mario? (Already know the answer to this ;)) I know you’re a fan of chubby Peach, but what does your mind picture when writing them?? 🤔

This got long and has visual aids aplenty, so Mareach body and outfit headcanons below the cut!

First up, body headcanons! The closest I could find to how I envision Mario is this ridiculously handsome man named Louis Kwong Jr.: fat but muscular, overall stout build, and, of course, an abundance of body hair, because I’m not weird about that at all.

I had to thumb through bear porn just to find what I was looking for. Consequently, that means this dude’s dick is on the internet for all to see, so exercise caution if you look him up.

For Peach, I take inspiration from the absolutely stunning Kristine Thompson. She’s tall, she’s curvaceous, and she’s the picture of elegance and feminine confidence. I hc Peach’s chest being a little smaller, but still generally large.

Height-wise, I put them at 5’1 and 6’, which would put the top of Mario’s head right about at shoulder level with Peach; she typically wears kitten heels and he wears work boots with thick soles, so that difference doesn’t change much based on whether they’re wearing shoes or not. Size-wise, they’re both somewhere in the realm of 200+lb, though Mario is larger and heavier than Peach since he’s so much shorter, and since he’s got as much muscle as he does fat.

I couldn’t figure out how to change the colors, lest I would’ve made them red and pink. I wish there was an option to tailor the weights too, ‘cause this just looks weird 😭

As far as clothing goes, Peach is all about dresses, the longer and flowier, the better! She enjoys miniskirts and will wear pants or shorts when it’s more practical, but maxi dresses are what makes her heart sing loudest. She opts for Big and Poofy when going about her business in the castle or for formal occasions/ceremonies and looser, simpler offerings like sundresses when going casual. She’ll wear darker colors every once in a blue moon, but she loves bright, cheerful colors most of all, pink and white and orange and yellow and the likes.

That last one miiiiight be AI, but it came from a photoset that was clearly an actual human modeling the actual dress, so I’m fairly certain it’s just heavily airbrushed. If I’m in the wrong then I’ll happily find a replacement!

Hair! I’m a Curly Haired Mario truther myself. The curls I picture him with tend to fall between 3a and 3c, depending on who you ask, but this is the closest visual representation I’ve found to my vision (just in a lighter shade of brown):

Peach’s hair is very long, very thick, and slightly wavy (somewhere between 1c and 2a). She enjoys brushing and pampering it with products, but the only way she gets it to stay in place is via her magic (which also keeps her makeup perfect, no matter how many wringers she’s put through on any given day). It puffs up considerably when it’s humid.

I was gonna include more character appearance headcanons as a bonus, but Tumblr keeps screaming at me for adding so many images to a single post, so if there’s any more y’all are curious about, ask away and I’ll give them their own posts!

[strawbxrryneptune]

Level one

Word count: 10k

Cw: pretty tame, just slight descriptions of a dick, play fighting, mentions of almost dying.

This fic and the fics following will contain monster fucking, cucking and threesomes!! If you are not comfortable, try out some of my other works, but if you wish to proceed, remember, sharing is caring.

@miggiisdumb

Next~♡

♡♡

Being a princess was always portrayed as this lush, lavish life. Spoiled rotten with goodies and suitors on you left and right. Everyone respects you, maybe even fears you, and you don't have to worry about a thing cause you have your guards and your secure little tower.

Only one of those things applied to you. The people of the Mushroom kingdom adored you, sending you gifts and bringing their cute little families to meet you. You had moved out of the actual palace ages ago, deciding to reside in a cute little cottage hidden deep in the woods. 

You had some bodyguards, but you kind of doubted their abilities in warding off monsters. You didn't mind fighting by the side though, it built up your strength and courage. 

You knew that you alone were pretty strong, and so were your guards, but it still confused you how you barely got bothered. Occasionally you would hear a growl or roar in the distance, but it was quickly cut off and you would go about your business. 

You finally found out what was keeping the monsters at bay when you ventured out into the forest alone, not wanting to wake up your bodyguard since you were just getting berries.

You had managed to fill up your basket and make it halfway back before you felt a rush of air behind you, only getting a second to blink before you were sent flying, hot breath and saliva tickling your neck and cheek.

You kick and scream, arms flailing when the creature pushes your head down into the dirt.

You start to weaken as your vision swims, struggling to breathe. You go limp, letting out choked sobs when the creature is suddenly ripped off of you. You hear shuffling and roaring, and then the forest goes silent for a moment before coming back to life, birds chirping and wind blowing as you feel someone touch your arm gently. 

You hear a smooth, low voice fussing over you, the stranger lifting you up and assisting you back to the cottage. You try to turn to see their face, but all you can make out is a bright red hat, dark red hair and pretty lips before they're turning you back around.

When you make it to the cottage, you try to once again turn to thank the person, but they're already gone. About to head back inside, you see a bright red object laying on the ground. When you get closer, you realize it's the strangers hat, soft and big with a K patched into it.

You gasped, realizing who exactly this man was.

You came from a long line of royalty, your mother being Queen Star and your sister being Princess Peach. When you were kids, your mother would tell you of an Italian family who were so kind and brave, always looking to serve and expecting nothing in return.

For your mother, it was a man named Papa Mario, and for Peach it was Mario Jr. And Luigi. Around the time you were born, they also were welcoming a baby into the world, and you have fuzzy memories of a little boy with sharp teeth and red hair vowing to protect you even when you were in diapers.

Snapping back to reality, you scurry back inside and throw on a more casual outfit, still in a dress but with more room to move, slipping on some boots and stuffing the hat in your bag.

You take the path down to town, chatting with the residents along the way until you arrive at the Mario Bros Tavern. 

You step inside, greeting everyone and making your way over to the counter, seeing who you assume is the brother, dressed in all green. His name tag reads "Izuku", and you smile at him when he looks your way. 

"Hi, Princess!! What brings you here?"

You dig in your bag and take out the plush hat, holding it in front of you.

"I- Uh…. I found this in the woods, I was jus' wondering if the owner of it was here?"

Izuku lets out a soft, 'oh', and holds a finger up to you to signal you to wait. He disappears into the back room and when he comes back you suddenly wish you were dressed better.

In the forest all you could see what that your "hero" was wearing overalls and red. You didn't pick up on the fact that he was probably almost 7 feet tall, buff and solid with pretty, full lips and a sharp smile, cute spiky hat hair which a deeper shade of red then his clothes, which fit him so perfect it was like he just stepped out of a clothes factory. 

When you met eyes, the stranger gave you a sheepish smile, stepping up to the counter and gently taking the hat from your now trembling hands. 

"Gee, thanks for bringing this back, Prn'cess. I hadn't even realized I lost it."

You search for words, feeling your cheeks heat up when his smile widens, big veiny hands reaching out to shut your mouth, which fell right back open at the feel of his hands on your face.

"I'm, uh, I'm also here to thank you for saving me today…"

"Kiri."

"Kiri. Thank you, Kiri."

He smiles a toothy smile, giving you a silly bow. You giggle, your heart swelling with affection as you realize you could get used to this.

"As a token of my appreciation, I'm taking you on a date in two days, up by the waterfalls."

The red head blinks in surprise before his smile returns, pink coloring his cheeks as he mods vigorously.

"I'll see you then, Princess!!"

♡♡

You trudged through the forest, cursing yourself for putting off your carriage repair. The trail was under construction, so you had to walk you way through the bushes towards the waterfall. 

At least you weren't wearing a formal dress. You were just wearing a simple skirt and a top, some boots and a picnic basket in your hand.

As you stumble along, you start to hear the roaring of the waterfall, but laced within you hear growls and grunts, followed by a shout that sounded all too familiar.

Kirishima.

You pick up speed and come to a clearing, stepping back slightly in shock. 

In front of you is one of the legendary Bowser men, powerful and downright terrifying. They had a tendency to go after princesses, which was the main reason the Mario brothers protected your family. 

This Bowser was the new heir, Bakugou. He didn't have red hair like his father, his was an ash blonde, and his shell was a slightly darker green. He was taller too, looked about 6'9 from where you were standing, but he towered over Kirishima so you figured he was over 7 feet. He was actually kind of attractive, which surprised you given how his dad looked.

Kirishima has him in a headlock, both of them grunting and growling and you would be lying if the sight wasn't hot, but you shook the feeling off and silently marched over to the two, wanting to "save" the red head like he had for you for the longest time. 

Taking a deep breath, you launched yourself on the Blonde's shell with a shout, quickly realizing how stupid this "plan" was when you could barely hold on, being so small compared to him that when he stood up and reached behind him, he could just pluck you up like a bug, holding by the back of your shirt in a big hand. 

"What happened Bakubro? Why'd you stop-y/n?"

"Well well well, wha d'we have here? Is this the pretty little prn'cess yer were telling me about, Kiri?"

You gulp harshly, not even out of fear anymore now that you realized that they were play fighting, and that they know each other. 

No, you were nervous because Bakugou was hot. Sharp canines digging into his bottom as he watched you dangle in his palm, spiky hair leading down to a bushy mullet, bulging muscles and thick thighs hidden by a ratty loin cloth, blonde happy trail-did something just twitch?

You swiftly look back up, looking into knowing vermillion eyes as he licks his lips and shoots you a smirk, his eyes dark and cheeks slightly flushed. When you feel a slight breeze and begin to rock, you realize that hes still holding you. Up in the air. With one hand. 

This is not doing anything good to your manhandling kink. You can already feel your panties start to get sticky as he gently sets you back down, standing straight back up.

You're now level with his veiny thighs, hands starting to tremble from how guilty and horny you feel. The guy you asked out on a date is right there!! Speaking of, you glance at Kiri and he's already looking at youz something dark gleaming within his eyes but quickly hidden when you meet gazes, rushing forward to trap you in a crushing hug, big hands running up your sides.

You blush as you pull back, about to ask if he wants to get going when he jogs back over to Bakugou, who's eyes haven't left you, and tackles him onto the ground, putting him in a chokehold.

You would be pissed, you planned a picnic and its getting dark, the bugs coming out and the air getting sticky but they look so good like that, muscle on muscle, and Bakugou keeps letting out snarls and growls that go straight to your cunt, slicking up your panties as you think about those big, clawed hands your skirt up and plugging you up with his big dick.

You stop mid thought as you remember what they taught you in Princess survival school, in the monster course. Bowsers can smell really really well. Which means Bakugou….could probably smell you right now. 

You look up at him and let out a breath of relief when you see he's still distracted by the Kirishima, writhing to try and get away from the his grip on his neck. With a sharp movement from the blonde, his loin cloth flutters to the side momentarily and flashes you a peak of his really, really fat cock. You almost pass out from how fast blood rushes to your head when you see so many veins and bumps, and he's obviously not even hard. 

All of a sudden, Bakugou takes a deep breath, preparing to let out a roar to startle Kirishima into letting him go, and chokes on air, gasp getting caught in his throat. Kiri is none the wiser, laughing and joking behind him about how hes strongest, but Bakugou isn't paying attention, eyes blown wide and rolled in his head as his tongue slightly lolls out of his mouth, as if to taste what he's smelling.

To taste you. 

His head rolls to the side, eyes trained on the clench of your thighs and flush of your body, and it make his hips jump, red irises locking onto you as drool spills out of his open mouth. 

Kirishima realized how quiet he is, and attempts to peak over and see if he's okay but Bakugou roughly shoulders him off and stomps away into the trees, leaving you dazed and Kirishima confused. 

"That was weird."

[jinkicake]

You Call Him Daddy?!

You accidentally call them daddy in front of the team.

Kageyama Tobio x Reader

Sugawara Koushi x Reader

Tsukishima Kei x Reader

For the anons who requested these characters!! Here you go~~ I combined them and put them on one page, the Karasuno boys. (*・∀-)☆ Pls omg Kageyama and Tsukki are aged up to 18, they’re third years in this. Don’t be gross and think they’re tiny first years, I wouldn’t be able to handle it TT

This is complete and utter filth, I have no idea what possessed me to write this. Please..... read this at your own caution TT SMUT

WC- 2,208

~~~

Kageyama Tobio

Kageyama would pass away on the spot, he would stop functioning

Honestly though, it was his fault he got caught, he was too distracted to even catch his mistake

It was tournament season and you were going to watch some of his games

Sadly though you had to babysit your neighbor’s daughter, who happened to be the child of Aoba’s assistant coach, and with her parent’s permission you brought her to the arena

It was so crowded as you held her to your chest, you frantically looked around for any members of your boyfriend’s team

You couldn’t see where you were going and bumped into a familiar player, their large hands bracing your shoulders and your eyes widen at the turquoise in your vision

“Oh, Kindaichi I’m sorry, are you okay?” You smile politely at your boyfriend’s old teammate, much to Kageyama’s dismay, you actually liked the onion head and Kunimi

“I’m fine, it’s good to see you. Hi Natsumi.” He pats the little girls head and she squeals in delight at the familiar boy

“Where’s daddy, huh?” You coo and lift her up so she can find her father

“Daddy! Daddy!” The little girl calls out to her father and you hand her over to the assistant coach before waving at Kunimi

“(Y/N).” Kageyama calls from behind you, you can’t keep the wide smile off of your face when you see him “What’s wrong?” His concern sends your heart into a frenzy

“Oh, nothing! I’m just letting Natsumi see her dad before we head up to the bleachers, I was looking for you!” You tell him and he flicks your forehead, disappointment heavy in his features

“So you weren’t calling for me?” His flirty tone causes your face to heat up and you thought no one had heard due to the mass amount of people in the hallway

You were wrong…

“Gross.” Kunimi rolls his eyes as he passes his old teammate “That’s nasty, even for you Kageyama.” He tosses his nose high into the air and a bright red Kindaichi follows behind him

You can only gape and blink before clutching your boyfriend’s shoulders and laughing loudly into his chest

Kageyama seriously stopped working, his face turned bright red and he was trying to hide his face behind his thick hair

“Ah you’re so cute Kageyama!” You cup his cheek and smile sweetly, in an effort trying to bring his spirits up after the humiliation he brought on

“You look so cute with kids.” Kageyama praises, his face resting in the crook of your neck as he slowly thrusts into you. You tilt your head back against the pillow at the intensity of each stroke, your back arches into the air and Kageyama smirks before wrapping his lips around your nipple. 

“F-fuck,” You sigh loudly, your voice breaking off into a moan when his teeth bite down on the small nub. Your hands quickly find his hair and roughly pull on the strands, you’re really being worked with each of his thrusts.

“I should fuck a baby into you, shouldn’t I? You would look so nice with my cum spilling out of you, don’t you think?” When Kageyama asks questions he always expects an answer, but right now it’s so hard to give him one. It’s so hard to focus between his pelvis rubbing against your clit and the overall feeling of being so full.

“Yes,” Your word stretches with a whine and you press your lips together to hold back another. “I would like it so much daddy.” Your begs make Kageyama want to pick up the pace but he continues to thrust into you slowly while one of his hands gently slaps your other breast.

“Is that any way to ask, petal?” His eyes are so commanding as he looks at you, almost as if he is testing you to reject his motives. The natural dominance, the need to be in charge, radiating off of him makes you feel so small under him. So protected in his care that you want to give your all to him. 

“Please ruin me, I won’t waste a single drop daddy.” You promise and Kageyama breaks into a wide grin, his hips pick up the pace to fuck you into the sheets.

“That’s it sweet girl, you better keep your words.”

Sugawara Koushi

Listen nobody thinks Sugawara is nasty

But let’s be real, we have all seen him angry! That bitch is crazy!

We call Daichi the ‘dad’ but honestly,,,, Sugawara could make everyone his bitch without lifting a finger

Daddy!Sugawara periodt, that’s all I want to say

After practice one day you agreed to help some of the first years with their Japanese literature class, it went by slow and you mainly just proofread their writing to make sure it was all correct

As you continue to read through Hinata’s paper, your brows furrow together when you try to piece together the word he had written

It doesn’t look like it belongs there and you can’t figure out what it could possibly be

“Umm Hinata what is this word? It looks like you wrote ‘daddy’ but that doesn’t fit there?” You lightly point at the smudged pencil and the small boy squeaks before trying to piece it together himself

“Daddy? Hinata you’re an idiot!” Kageyama insults as he continues to write his own paper

“Daddy? I love that word!” Sugawara pops up from behind you and squats down to kiss your cheek before running back to the court

The two first years look at each other before looking at you, confusion painted on their faces before going back to their work

“Is no one going to say anything about that?” Tsukishima looks around with a mild disgust before shrugging his shoulders and serving to Yamaguchi

“You didn’t mean it like that right Sugawara?” Daichi smiles at his friend, his smile faltering when his friend doesn’t confirm his statement

“No I like being called daddy.” The refreshing setter sends an innocent smile back before grabbing a ball, ignoring the stunned look on his captain's face

“S-Sugawara-“ Asahi starts but can’t find the words to figure out what the hell to say

Kiyoko looks up from her clipboard and sends you an approving nod, hiding her face behind the object just as quickly as she looked up

“Hey! Let’s not be so surprised! We’ve all seen him angry before!” Nishinoya defends, standing tall next to his setter “Good for you Sugawara, daddys for life!” He gives him a slap on the back as praise and you simply watch the entire thing with a deep embarrassment

“Am I really that innocent to them? Do I not look like I would be into freaky shit, should I be offended?” Sugawara continues to ask you, knowing damn well you won’t be able to answer him back with the makeshift gag in your mouth. “Your panties work so well, don’t they angel? You look so utterly delectable.” He pushes the material deeper into your mouth with two fingers before going back to check each of the soft silk ties holding your arms and legs apart. “As if none of them want to be called daddy, and they look at me like I’m the weird one?” He continues to rant, gently running his finger up and down your naked body. “What do you think, sweetheart?”

You try to talk around the soaked material but it only comes out like complete nonsense, Sugawara nods as if he understands it anyway.

“What can I do to show them I’m not the vanilla player they think I am? I’ve already ruined you beyond repair, haven’t I?” He cups your cheek lovingly, his words are added with extra fluff that hold nothing but lies. “Maybe I just need to push your beautiful body further. Would you like that angel?” He continues to ask and you nod frantically. “Ah, of course you would.” Sugawara dips his fingers between your thighs, spreading your folds apart to tap at your clit. Even the small action makes you release a muffled cry.

“Daddy is going to take such good care of you tonight.”

Tsukishima Kei

I don’t know who Tsukishima would throw off a building first, you or himself

It would be just his luck that the first time you call him daddy, someone overhears it and can’t keep their mouth shut

Spoiler alert : said person is Hinata

It’s after school before practice and Tsukishima has you cornered against the wall in an abandoned hallway

One of his long legs rest between your own and his hands are pressed flat on either side of your head

Yes you had been teasing him in class, sending him filthy text messages to the point that you could see the familiar tent rising in his slacks but, did you stop there?

Nope

Seeing him so turned on in such a public setting only made you hotter and the sticky summer humidity wasn’t helping you either

But your boyfriend knows discipline and was able to control himself…. well until the bell rang

Now you’re his for a short time before he has to get to the gym

Two of Tsukishima’s fingers pinch your chin and force you to look up at him, his narrowed eyes glare down at you and it should make you feel nervous

… it doesn’t

The irritation radiating off of him in waves only makes you pout larger, purposely you push your lip out just to spite him

“What was that in there?” Tsukishima spits out in a hushed whisper, heavily referring to the last period when you sent him text after text of all the things you want him to do to you

“It was just a little teasing.” Your words fuel him to grab your wrist and place your hand flush against his crotch, the contact causes your thighs to clench around his leg 

“Little? What about this is little?” He sneered and you could feel yourself going light headed

“I-I’m sorry” Your apology is still not enough for him

“You’re sorry? Who are you apologizing to?”

“You, daddy” The words slip out of your mouth, fumble out so smoothly that you don’t even realize what you said until he stopped moving

At this Tsukishima’s glasses fog over, it’s like he stopped functioning and you fear that you may have broken him

Fuck, you can’t think it had gotten any worse….

It had

“T-Tsukishima practice started five minutes ago…” Hinata calls from around the corner and from where you are, you could have sworn you saw blood trickle out of his nose

“Come on daddy” Kageyama tries to tease but ends up gagging on the last word, covering his mouth to shield his laughter

The two third years walk off while they try to hold back their amusement, unable to look their teammate in the eye

By the looks of it…. You can’t handle looking your boyfriend in the face either

“Fucking brat.” Tsukishima rolls his eyes as you lay on your stomach, your hands tied to the bedpost with your ass high in the air. He continues to glare down at you and as much as you want to look back at him, you know better not to. You feel the bed dip and you nearly moan when his large hands grip at your inner thighs, spreading your legs apart so that he can touch your delicate slit. He flicks your clit and you bite the pillow beneath you. “Good girl.” Tsukishima praises, moving to rub three of his fingers along your soaked entrance, occasionally dipping his fingers to rub along your walls. You nearly whine when he removes his fingers and you can’t stop the moan that slips from your lips when he finally lays a brutal slap against your ass.

“Oh?” You can’t see his face but you know exactly what he looks like. In your head you can see the mild irritation covering his face as he stares down at you amusedly, you know how badly his cock is aching in his shorts at the redness covering your ass. “You like that, don’t you?” He sneers, smacking your behind a few times before going back down to rub your slit. He toys with your clit too much, giving you too much attention that you can’t hold any noises back. “What can I expect from such a dirty girl? Are you going to call me daddy again?”

You can hear him laughing and his words do nothing but make you clench around nothing, you push your ass higher into the air and moan loudly.

“Yes daddy, please.” You beg and nearly faint at how quiet the room gets. You’re almost afraid that you went too far, that he wasn’t ready for this just yet, but all your fears disappear when you feel his nimble length between your lower lips. Tsukishima preps himself in your natural lubricant as he tries not to cum from your words alone.

“Scream for daddy.” He chuckles darkly before entering you in one swift movement, his chest presses against your back and you see his hands on either side of your head. “So fucking tight.” Tsukishima grunts and pauses, trying to ignore how tightly you’re clenching around him. 

“Stop, if I fucking cum you’re cleaning it up.”  

[angry-geese]

Blood Ties - Chapter Eight: The Shibuya Incident II

Soulmate au Choso x Reader

Warnings: some swearing. jjk manga spoilers. overall its sfw but theres some pretty graphic depictions of violence.

Word Count: 3.7k

prev - next

masterlist

“Would you rather kill a bunch of weak, mutated humans, or exorcise a single strong cursed spirit?” Mei Mei asks.

With Yuji's help you would stand a chance against that cursed spirit. The humans would be easier. But they're humans. Or they used to be. You can argue about if they are or not forever, but that would be a waste of breath. Whether or not they still are isn't for you to decide. This needs to be taken care of. The morality of it can wait.

You leave Yuji to decide. You don't feel strongly either way, but you have a feeling he’ll pick the second one. And maybe the second one is more bearable to think about.

“The mutated humans are wandering about and attacking civilians in B4F,” she continues, “I think most of the civilians are on the Fukutoshin Line Platform in B5F.”

“You think?” You ask.

“The crows I use get cloaked in cursed energy, I couldn't see inside myself. I guess the civilians inside had no choice but to flee to lower floors. They were being chased.” She says. “My crows were hunted down between B1F and B2F,

“It's hard to say why they’re there: they could be there to eliminate civilians trying to escape up the stairs. Or it might be a condition of the curtain.”

Yuji looks as if he has something to say. He stands abruptly, motioning down the stairs.

“He’s there, right?” Yuji asks. “Below here, that guy…”

“I couldn't say.” Mei Mei says. “But he must be, considering the mutated humans,

“It's a bad idea to split our forces. But if we hesitate too long, we’ll get everyone killed. We’ll use the 7th entrance to go directly to B4F. If things get rough, you run down there too,

“But honestly, when we reunite,” she says, “I hope that the curtain is raised, the civilians are rescued, and you’ve identified what the person in B5F wants.”

“Don't worry, Mei-san.” Yuji says. “I’m not gonna lose anymore. I’ve got it from here.”

…

Somewhere in the dark is a wet crunching noise. All but one light has gone out. Your hands feel along the cold tile walls in your best attempt to guide yourself through the dark. They tremble. Are you shaking? No. It's just dark and you can't see. You have only the faintest notion you’re going the right way. Cursed energy hangs thick in the air. It threatens to strangle you. It takes everything within you to not fall into a coughing fit.

Up ahead is a single light.

Your heartbeat drops off for a moment, before picking up pace.

It's unmistakably a curse. They're a lot uglier now that you can finally see them. It resembles a grasshopper in shape. It gnaws on a corpse. That explains the crunching. Blood drips down it's chin (mandibles???), staining it a bright red. Something metallic smelling hangs in the air. You pray it isn't blood, but your heart—and nose—tells you otherwise.

A shock of fear is sent straight up your spine. Grasshoppers are gross little creatures. Except not much about this guy is little. He's got the gross part going for him, though. Fear makes your palms dampen with sweat. Moving takes more effort than usual. Each action you take is forced, like you have to manually command your limbs to move, instead of going off muscle memory.

You can deal with curses, injuries, and a litany of other horrors the world of sorcery brings, but bugs gross you out. It's not like you can exactly help it. They're gross! And they have too many eyes!

It's a curse. Somehow that's better than it being a bug. Though those are a lot smaller, and a lot less harmful. If it's a curse, you can exorcise it.

"The fuck are you lookin' at?" It asks.

“Oh, you talk,” You say.

Do these things normally talk? Sure seems like they do. If it can speak, does that make it a special grade? It doesn't look that tough. But it can communicate, which is worrying.

“I didn't realize you were smart.” Yuji says.

The grasshopper stops, turning to look at you. There's something unsettlingly human about it's eyes.

"You're a… sha-shu-shaman right?" The curse isn't stuttering, so much as he's getting a feel for the word. He repeats it back to himself several times, like he’s feeling the words as they leave his mouth. "You're a shaman right? Of course I'm smart!"

"Have you seen the patchwork kid?" Yuji asks. "I mean the guy with stitches in his face-"

"I know what that means!" The curse replies. "I'm not stupid! Mahito is down," he points at the ground, "I'm protecting the curtain here!"

So that guy's name is Mahito.

Your gaze drifts to the left. Something nailed into the ground, wrapped in what looks like gauze, scrawled with runes. Stuck in the ground, a few feet behind the curse, is a post.

It looks important. You're gonna break it.

You suppose you could throw rocks at it. But having Yuji distract the curse while you run over and stomp on it is

"Mahito's jujuchu is no good," he says, dropping the corpse, "did you know that when a human's shape is changed, it tastes worse? See I'm smart! I know things."

"You sure do," you say.

Barrier techniques are hard. Yuji recalls a conversation he had with Gojo. Despite many sorcerers being strong, most of them can't do a barrier technique.

Gojo can do both, though.

You're the weaker target, but Yuji is a bigger threat. Ko-Guy can always kill you later. But getting you out of the way first would be smart too.

His attack is cut short when Yuji's foot connects with his chest, shoving him back into the wall. The sound of the bricks breaking reverberates low in your chest. It makes your teeth rattle and your ears ring. Your arms move to shield your face from the wave of dust and rocks.

"Bastards! All of you!" Yuji says, "I'd stop underestimating humans if I were you!"

Whether he’s focusing his cursed energy on purpose, or by instinct, you can't tell. But you know he's gearing up for an attack. You do the same. Pulling from your reservoir of cursed energy is hard. It's either all or nothing, especially without being hit. If there's nothing to absorb, then there's nothing to use. And though some lingers in the air, using it is difficult too. It's… bitter.

So it comes down to luck. And you don't consider yourself a lucky person.

The very nature of your cursed energy is moody, like you, Nanami would say. Your unpredictable nature is an advantage when it comes down to a fight. The enemy can't predict your next move when even you don't know what you're going to do. You're far from the strongest. But you are strong. Resilient might be a better word for it. Like a cockroach that can survive it's head being cut off.

Fights are nothing like they are in the movies. The scene doesn't slow down and give you time to think about what's happening. If anything, things speed up.

Yuji's feet are moving before his brain is even telling them to.

The grasshopper curse swings for him, his left arm (arms???) coming down hard to Yuji’s side. As he rolls aside, you replace him, jabbing the tip of your blade into the creature. Cursed energy courses down your arm, into your blade, and subsequently into your target. The tip, being broken and jagged, doesn't do any fatal damage. But it's enough to stun him, leaving an opening for Yuji.

"You're not smart!" Yuji says.

"You are?!" Counters the curse.

"Fair point." You say.

Yuji casts a scowl in your direction. You duck out of the way as the curse swings, stumbling a few feet backward.

"I doubt you can even tell what type of curse I am." Ko-Guy says.

"You're a grasshopper curse." You say.

His eyes widen. "This guy is smart!"

"And you're both idiots," you say, before adding: "sorry, Itadori. Now, can we get this over with?"

Yuji’s eyes narrow. His pride is a bit wounded, but he seems to understand.

"Did you know that in this world," the grasshopper straightens to its full height, towering nearly a foot above your head, "those who aren't smart DIE!"

His bite, combined with his use of his four arms, create a deadly close range opponent. He seems to want to keep things in close range combat. You doubt he’s going to use any sneaky tactics. That you can work with.

“So which are you?” He asks.

“Which what?” Answers Yuji.

“Are you smart or not?”

“People who are smart,” Yuji says, “usually don’t brag about being smart.”

The curse gasps and covers his mouth with his hands. His eyes widen in a mix of shock and fear.

The air turns static with the swell of Yuji’s cursed energy. His feels strange. It's different from the energy put off by curses. Cursed energy used by humans feels different from that used by curses. You don't know the reason why, you only know it is. Honestly you're making things up as you go, though, so does everyone else, if it's any consolation.

With inhuman speed, Yuji swings. His first hit connects. Then his second. With brutal force, too, nearly folding the creature in half.

You’re starting to wonder why they even asked for your help in the first place.

As if driven by some unknown force, Ko-Guy swings for you.

At the end of his abdomen is a black stinger, akin to that of a wasp. When it stops mere centimeters from your face, you freeze. Not on purpose. It's like some primal part of your brain is refusing to let your body move. You’re not sure if it's venomous, or primarily used to stab things. Either way, you’re not exactly happy to be at the receiving end of it.

You guess you can take back what you said about him not pulling anything sneaky. He may be smarter than you first expected.

That stinger will rip you apart before you even know what’s happened. At least it'll be a quick death. You can't tell if you're trembling, or if it's adrenaline making you jittery. Probably both. You can move out of the way, or you can attack. Neither of which you think will have a good outcome for you.

“I win.” He says. “Move, Yuji Itadori, and I will kill them.”

You take back what you said about having only two options.

You duck, bringing your blade up and into the abdomen of the curse. The force of the hit is enough to make your teeth rattle, and send a shock of pain up your arms. Even without the cursed energy behind it, it would have been a decent hit. With it; it's deadly. Foul smelling blood sprays out, covering your chest and arms, dripping off your skin. It's cold, and congeals quickly, taking on a clumpy texture.

Grimsever is stuck.

If you try to pull it out, you’ll likely be killed. But without it, you’re useless in a fight. Unless you can figure out how to use Rend without a weapon in the next few seconds, you’re doomed.

Your saving grace is Yuji, who slips between you and the curse, putting some distance between you. Ko-Guy is weakened slightly, and no longer able to dodge every hit. There's a gap between the two when it comes to raw skill. Yuji Itadori is powerful. Even without being Sukuna’s vessel, he’s a formidable opponent. You often consider yourself glad he's on your side.

“Any last words?” Yuji asks.

The curse never gets the chance to answer. His final blow lands with a sickening crunch.

Your sword clangs to the ground as the curse dissipates. It's soaked to the hilt in foul-smelling blood, though that will evaporate in time. At some point you should clean and sharpen it, but as busted as it is, you often find it hard to justify putting in the effort.

The post crunches underfoot as you break it. There’s no flashy lights or noise to indicate anything has happened. You won't be certain that the curtain has been lifted until you regroup with the others.

You give Yuji a once-over for injuries. Aside from scrapes, he’s fine. He’s always fine. He’s strong. Talented too. Yuji has a kind of raw, inborn talent that you haven't seen before. Even now you’re still impressed by his strength.

He should have joined his school’s sports club. A lot of this could have been avoided if he had taken track and field.

“Are you alright?” He asks.

“Don't worry about me,” you say, “he just caught me off guard. That's all.”

He nods. “We should go find the others.”

You motion for him to take the lead. You won't fall too far behind, but you want to look around.

Your—James’—phone has service. One bar. You doubt a call would go through if you tried. You’re not sure who you would call. Nanami? Gojo? Nobara?

It's a text. Not to your phone, but to his.

The area code is from somewhere in Japan. You recognize it. It's not the same number that was in his call history, but the area code is the same. Could be a coincidence. Or not.

There’s no logic or order behind the way things happen, they just happen. And that's not exactly the answer you want—or anyone wants—but it's the most people are going to get.

But you don't really believe in coincidences any more.

It only says “call me”. Being nosy, that’s exactly what you plan to do. Who knows how long you’ll have cell service for? You could enter the curtain at any moment.

“Hey Yuji?” You call out.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve gotta do something real quick.”

“Splitting up is a bad idea.” He says. “We should really stick together.”

Well that didn't work.

You could lie. If you said it was an emergency, you really can't see him refusing. He’s far too kind for his own good.

“It's not that,” you say, sucking in a breath, “I gotta pee like REAL bad!”

“OH!” Instantly his face turns red. “There's a-” he motions behind you, “bathroom over there.”

“Thank you! Sorry!”

You pick the first bathroom you see and slip in. It's the only stall with a light still on. The door shuts and locks behind you.

The phone rings three times before it's picked up.

The call is static-y, and you can barely hear anything on the other end. It feels like any moment it will be dropped. With only one bar, your time is limited. You’re far too close to the curtain for this to work.

“Satoru Gojo has been captured, and we are all going to die.”

You’re silent for a moment. There's too many thoughts racing through your mind for you to focus. At first you’re shocked, and a bit relieved. That quickly turns to anger. There's no rage quite like that directed at your siblings. Call it a Cain instinct, or whatnot.

“Oh, sure, no ‘hey, how are you? It's nice to see you SINCE I RAN OFF!’” You say.

James sucks in a breath. Whatever reaction he was expecting, it wasn't this.

“Where are you?” He asks.

“On my way to KILL YOU!”

“Very funny,” he says, “where are you right now? And who are you with?

“I’d really like an answer,” he says, “I’m risking a lot contacting you like this.”

“I’m with Yuji Itadori and a grade one sorcerer named Mei Mei,” you say, “I doubt you know her- she’s some weird chick with blue hair; has a creepy relationship with her little brother- that's besides the point. Right now we’re on our way to the B5F platform.”

“Don't go there!”

“We know about the mutated humans,” you say, “we’ll be fine.”

You pause for a moment. In the bathroom, the only noise is the faint dripping of water. A leaky sink. It echoes through the empty room.

“Wait, why the hell are you here?!” You grip the phone so tight you fear you’ll break it.

“Work.” He says. “It's… I don't have enough time to explain. Now I suggest you turn around and leave.”

“You're with…”

“Look, I know it sounds bad…” He’s not going to add a ‘but’ to that sentence, that's it.

You’re definitely snitching on him to mom.

“You better hope something finds you before I do,” you say, “because when I do, I WILL kill you.”

On the other end is static. The call has been disconnected. Either one—or both—of you have run out of service.

…

“Looks like we're too late,” Mei Mei says.

Despite the rest of the station being dark, the bottom of the stairs are well lit. A lone man sits with his back to a pillar. His eyes are wide, his pupils shrunk down to pinpricks. His arms cross over his chest as his body rocks back and forth.

“Train full…” he mutters, “train full. Didn't want me.”

Yuji kneels to be eye-level with the man. “Are you alright?” He asks.

His very being trembles. For being a normal civilian, cursed energy radiates off him in waves. It's as if there's something wrong with his very soul itself. You find yourself backing away without knowing why.

“Every one…” he says, “monsters.”

At first you think he’s going to scream. The man opens his mouth, but no noise comes out. His face twists, horribly so. It’s inhuman. The crunching of bones echoes through the station.

The patchwork kid was here. Mahito, Mojito, whatever.

He smells like a corpse before his body has even had the chance to decay. Maybe Ko-Guy was onto something about mutated humans tasting worse.

Yuji, seemingly unaware of what’s going on around him, slaps his hand over his ear. When he pulls his hand away, he holds a small, disc-like object. It vaguely resembles a face. Or that of a robot.

“This is Mechamaru from Kyoto High-” Yuji squeezes the disc so tight his knuckles turn white, “wait! Wait! I’m on your side!”

After a moment of thinking, Yuji decides to let him continue.

“We don't have much time.” He says. “Satoru Gojo-”

“Has been captured.” You interrupt.

Yuji’s face turns white. The Satoru Gojo? He’s the strongest. Yuji can't imagine anything bad ever happening to him. Because he’s always okay. No matter what, he’s always okay.

“If only you said that,” Mei Mei says, addressing Mechamaru, “I would find it hard to believe. But both of you…”

“How do you know?” Yuji asks.

“I don't have any proper proof, if that's what you’re asking,” Mechamaru says, “but the fact I’m here is proof enough,

“I was killed on October 19th by a special grade curse named Mahito. What I am now is nothing more than a contingency I planned for before I died. It was made under the stipulation that Gojo would be sealed. To avoid a malfunction, I limited the positions of these puppets to three possible locations,

“Yuji Itadori, out of all the sorcerers in Jujutsu High, is the least likely to be a mole. And I’ve eliminated Mei Mei, given the current situation. And you, the swordsman, as well.”

“Why?” Asks Mei Mei.

“Because your scouting crows were sent to Meiji-Jingumae instead of being used for covert operations in Shibuya.” He says. “As for you and Yuji, neither of you had a connection to the Jujutsu world until recently.”

“What if I was just refusing to follow orders?” Mei Mei asks. “Besides, I was the one trying to stop Itadori, despite his determination to come to Shibuya.”

“Then why are there curse users coming to kill you?” Mechamaru asks.

“There's what?!” You ask. You cast a glance over your shoulder, but you’re only met with suffocating darkness.

When Yuji does find it in him to speak, he swallows hard. Satoru Gojo has been captured, and we are all going to die.

Yuji senses something. You’re not sure what. If you hadn't stopped to focus, you would have ignored it, thinking it was residuals. Cursed energy is so thick in the air down here it's hard to tell what is what. You’re overwhelmed, and irritable. It only becomes more tolerable when you take off your glasses, but doing so for long is dangerous.

“One.” Mechamaru says, before quickly correcting himself. “Maybe two, Itadori, are they stronger than the curse you just fought?”

Despite the curse not being very strong—or smart, for that matter—it could still communicate. Which is concerning. No matter how low the estimate, it was powerful enough to be a semi-grade one at least. Enemies like that are appearing all over the place now.

“Let's ignore them, and keep going.” Mei Mei says. “We should check on-”

“No!” Interrupts Mechamaru. ”The situation in Shibuya has changed. The barrier techniques they’re using are far more advanced than first thought, and superior to ours.

“Curtain A traps civilians, curtain B traps Satoru Gojo, curtain C bars sorcerers from entering.”

“Well fuck,” you say, “so there's a curtain further down the tracks blocking our way?”

“Yes.”

“Well fuck!”

The sorcerers on standby are probably already in the curtain. Using a phone within a curtain is impossible. Or, at the very least, really hard.

“Not only that,” Mei Mei says, “I can't contact any of the managers either.”

She’s right. James’ phone is out of service. You thought you hit a lucky break with that call back there, but maybe it was a fluke. If James is in Shibuya, he must be outside the curtain. Or in a pocket, or something that negates the effects of the curtain, though you find that unlikely.

“Please,” Mechamaru says, “my contingency will wear off soon. Itadori and the swordsman head back to Meiji-Jingumae and proceed to Shibuya above-ground. You have to inform the others about what’s happened. Rescuing Gojo needs to be a collaborative effort,

“Mei Mei, please open a way for them to get through. After the curse users attack, I’d like for you to manage things down here. We can't be certain of how the enemy will engage,

“If Satoru Gojo disappears, not only will the Jujutsu world be upended, but the human one too. I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to put your lives on the line here.”

“Everyone,” Mei Mei says, “they're here.”

[forlove2020]

Day 2 - No Vacancy

It is the last day of November and no one wants to buy any more pumpkins. 

Halloween has gone by, and Thanksgiving has blown past too. The people of Lebanon, Kansas have had their fill of the bright orange gourds - for more than two months they've displayed them on their front porches, carved them into jack-o-lanterns, and added them into every kind of dessert and frothy little drink imaginable.

And that is why, on November 30th, Dean decides his family is going on a field trip to the Lebanon Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch.

Things have been good lately. No, scratch that. Life has been freakin' awesome. It has been just under two weeks since he rescued Cas from the Empty and a week since Jack came home. Dean is over the moon; radiating happiness in a way he never has before. They're all together, alive, and no Big Bad hovers menacingly on the horizon. Dean's not one to believe in a 'best case scenario,' but hell if this doesn't feel just like it.

The farm is about a twenty-five minute drive from the Bunker, and Dean, Cas, and Jack pull up in the Impala at the same time as Sam and Eileen arrive in Sam's CR-V. 

(Dean had teased him mercilessly about his new ride until Sam looked him dead in the eye, placing his hand protectively on Eileen's protruding belly, and insisted "Honda gets really good safety ratings, Dean." Dean, wisely, had shut up after that.)

Claire and Kaia are already there waiting, leaning up against Claire’s car, hand in hand. Jack leaps out of Baby as soon as Dean puts her in park, barreling toward the girls so he can nag Claire about his latest obsession: TikTok. Even from a distance it’s clear she’s rolling her eyes at him, but smiling despite herself

Dean and Cas get out of the car at a more leisurely pace and survey their surroundings.

What had been a busy festival complete with a lush corn maze, vibrant pumpkin patch, and stalls selling kettle corn and caramel apples two months ago is now a dismal scene. The corn maze has dried out and shriveled up, and the stalls are unmanned. Technically, there are still pumpkins aplenty in the field, but they're the ones that have been forsaken. The remaining pumpkins are leftovers that were considered either too skinny, too fat, or just too misshapen and lumpy to have been picked as the cream-of-the-crop.

Dean looks over at Cas. He’s squinting at the scenery in the dim autumn sunlight, and the nippy breeze has swept through his dark hair, making it seem more tousled than usual. Not for the first time, Dean thinks that he is gorgeous.

But now, he can actually tell Cas what he is feeling in these moments. There are no more half-truths or lies between them, nothing secret. After years of pining for one another without any hope of reciprocation and hiding the pains of longing, they’ve finally broken down the walls that kept them apart. They love one another fiercely, and while their relationship is new, it is not tenuous. 

So, Dean turns to him with a crooked grin.  “Hey, handsome.”

Cas blinks, and then a little smile curls the corners of his mouth. “Hello, Dean.”

Dean moves closer until their shoulders are brushing and he can feel the warmth of Cas’ body through both of their jackets. “You think Jack’s gonna be disappointed?” he asks quietly, watching their kid practically tackle Sam with a hug as Eileen signs something Dean can’t quite make out from the other end of the parking lot. “I mean, this isn’t exactly the ‘autumn glory’ we were promised on those fliers earlier this month.”

Cas doesn’t even hesitate. “No. I think Jack just appreciates having a normal...uh, sort of a normal life again. He’s excited to be here picking pumpkins, especially with Claire and Kaia, and Sam and Eileen joining us. This was a nice surprise you planned for him, Dean.”

It’s a simple compliment, and not even particularly saccharine, but Dean flushes from head to toe anyway. He’s working on believing the good things Cas says about him; he’s really trying, but it’s always been difficult for him to take a compliment about anything other than his good looks or hunting prowess. Instead, he meets Cas’ eye, and nods silently. And then, remembering he is allowed, takes Cas’ hand in his own, twining their fingers together.

They walk hand-in-hand to join Claire, Kaia, Jack, Sam and Eileen at the front gate. It’s hanging wide open, and no one is standing there to charge them an entrance fee. However, the sign does make a point to state that the maze is open until December 1st. Eileen shrugs, and so the seven of them wander down the path towards the pumpkin patch and the entrance to the maze. 

“Kaia! I’ll race you to the end!” Jack shouts, and laughing, Kaia chases him into the maze, dragging a grumbling Claire along behind her. 

“Let’s see if we can find anybody still working,” Sam suggests.

Eileen points at a worn down farmhouse tucked mostly behind a newly-painted red barn. “Someone must be home,” she signs pointedly, gesturing to plumes of smoke exuding from a grey chimney stack.

Dean ends up knocking on the door. He leaves Sam, Eileen, and Cas at a nearby picnic table, debating in Sign Language about the best flavor of cotton candy and whether or not the color of the dye changes the taste. 

 A minute or two later, an older man swings open the squeaky screen door to the house. He’s scowling, wearing muddy overalls, and chewing on a thick cigar. “Yeah?” he asks shortly. “Whaddya want?”

Dean raises his eyebrows at the farmer’s bluntness, but manages to respond politely. “My family and I saw fliers for this place a few weeks ago. We were hoping to buy some pumpkins and candy apples. What are you charging”

The farmer’s scowl grows deeper, and he looks past Dean to Sam, Eileen, and Cas relaxing on the bench, then narrows his eyes at the corn maze, where shrieks of laughter can be heard as the younger adults chase one another through the thinning stalks.

Getting impatient, with the man’s surly silence, Dean prods, “And…? It’s a yes or no question. Are you still selling pumpkins?”

The old man pulls the cigar out from between his teeth. “My wife and daughter run this hokey shit,” he grunts. “They went into town today ‘cause folks already came through here earlier in the month. They like customers. We haven't had anybody else stop by since before Thanksgiving.”

As his temper flares, Dean turns his grit teeth into a sharp smile. “Well, then it’s your lucky day! Here we are,” he says mockingly, sweeping his arms wide. The farmer mumbles something insulting and covers it with a hacking cough. Dean pretends not to hear him, “Fine. I take it from your sunny attitude that there will be no popcorn or apples today?” 

The man scoffs, “Enjoy the maze, boy-o. Free of charge.” He turns to lumber back inside, but Dean grabs the screen door before he can try to disappear.

“Hey!” the hunter barks. The farmer pauses, his body tensing for a fight. “Are you gonna sell me the goddamn pumpkins or not?” 

Cas has wandered to his side, either noticing the commotion, or simply because he wanted to be closer to Dean. Now, he interrupts casually, “You still have quite a few squash left in the fields and there’s going to be heavy frost two days from now, overnight. It’d be a shame if all of these pumpkins rotted, and you wasted the rest of your harvest.”

He has, quite deftly, snared the salty old farmer’s attention. Money is the man’s language; he might not enjoy having customers on his property so late in the season, but he certainly likes having the funds to maintain his land.

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

“A hundred.”

“A hundred?” Sam sounds insulted. “You’re gonna pitch all of these in a couple days. There’s no way we’re paying a hundred. Try twenty-five dollars.”

The farmer rolls his eyes dramatically. He is in his element; the thrill of making a good deal and bartering his wares on the last day is an unexpected but welcome surprise that has put him in high spirits. “You’re cute, kid. I know my produce is worth more than that. I’ll go down to eighty-five, and you can take whatever you can carry in one trip.”

“Thirty-five,” Sam shoots back.

“Eighty.”

“Forty-one.” Once, Sam was going to be a lawyer. He’s got the upper hand in this situation and he’s going to crush his opposition. One more price reduction and they’ll have dozens of pumpkins to take home, way below the original asking price.

“Sevent…”

“Sixty-five, and we fill up all of our cars,” Dean interrupts, and Sam looks at him, utterly betrayed as the gleeful farmer shakes on the deal.

As Cas, Jack, Claire, and Kaia help carry the pumpkins to Sam and Claire’s cars respectively, Dean just claps Sam on the shoulder and tells his brother, “It’s still a cheaper family outing than going to Disney.” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Sam says mournfully, and sulks over to help Eileen, who is supervising the influx of pumpkins that are being loaded into their vehicle.

Dean chuckles, and scoops up a few pumpkins. He’s got some recipes he wants to try out, plus he’s excited to teach Jack to carve ‘Jack’-o-lanterns. The kid seemed to want to learn how to do everything the human way now, and Dean is more than happy to teach him.

One by one, Dean places eight pumpkins in the backseat of Baby. One is tall and oblong with lots of stringy stems, matched with the only short and well rounded pumpkin he sees in the field. Between those two he sets a teeny tiny baby-sized pumpkin. Then, there’s a pumpkin that is half-green half-orange. It seems like it must have grown too fast because it is still quite young despite its size. Next, he adds two medium pumpkins that are also young, but growing strong. And last but not least, he picks up two more pumpkins. They are both a bit damaged - one is bruised and discolored, the other looks like it might have grown sideways. But Dean picks them because they lean against one another in the field, steady despite their flaws, despite what they’ve been through. 

He sets them all up in a long line along the backseat, and when Cas sees what he chose, his eyes go soft and warm as he looks at Dean.

“Let’s go home,” he breathes out, and takes Dean’s hand again.

Everyone gets in their cars - Dean in the driver's seat and Cas taking shotgun, as before. Jack tries to get in the Impala, then looks in the back window, and starts laughing. 

“Dean! There’s nowhere for me to sit.”

Cas chuckles quietly beside him, as Dean grins. “Aw, tough break, kid. Guess you’re walking home.”

“Hey, no fair- Dean! C’mon! Cas! Tell Dean he has to -”

Dean starts to roll up the window, laughing loudly as Jack knocks on the window pane.

“Sorry! No vacancy!” he hollers. Jack is nearly doubled over, hilarity spilling from him in peals of laughter.

Claire honks her horn loudly, and throws open the back door to her car. Jack straightens, and scrambles to join her and Kaia, shooting Dean and Cas a bright wave goodbye.

Sam and Eileen also wave as they leave the parking lot, wheels sending gravel spinning in their wake. Claire and Kaia follow, and Jack rolls down the window as they pass, and calls across to Cas and Dean, “This was the best family trip ever!”

They too are soon gone, headed for the Bunker to drop off dozens of pumpkins which will decorate every room until they end up decaying or until Dean cooks them. 

Dean and Cas wait until the others have left, and then Dean leans over and kisses Cas, long and sweet. When he pulls back, Cas traces his cheek, and says thoughtfully, “We could take the backroads home today….”

Dean is so gone on him. He kisses Cas once, twice more, and then puts the Impala in drive, and they’re on the road, taking the long way home.

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

I enjoyed adding a little Day 1 ‘Harvest’ flare to Day 2!

My goal is to make most of my Suptober fics one-shots that are in some way related to my multichapter fix-it that is still a work in progress (Dean/Cas, Sam/Eileen, etc, post 15x20).

Thank you for reading!

-V

[bangfantanfic]

Our Own World: Chapter 3

Warnings: None???

Type: Not set genre

Authors Note: Hey~ again, so sorry I took so long ;-; I do have two jobs and both are basically full time so I haven’t got much time. This chapter isn’t as good as it could be, I apologise! But now shit can get spicy!!! I hope you guys enjoy 💕

Your brother's guilty face spread across your laptop screen as apologies tumbled past his lips.

“— it’s not like I wanted to be sneaky, I just really needed you!”

“Oh, come on Y/N don’t look at me like that!”

“I would’ve called sooner, you know that!”

Throughout his 25 minute speech on how sorry he was, then how he actually wasn’t sorry, but still was sorry, your brother groaned obnoxiously. It was late at night for him, his jet lag still messing with his body clock. Beside him Mila slept.

You were jealous of how heavy a sleeper she was.

“You’re the only person I could trust with this, Y/N.” He finally said, exhaustion coating his words. “Mom and dad are too interested in them, they would’ve made the boys uncomfortable. I knew you wouldn’t be interested in them from a scientific perspective. I just wanted them comfortable that I forgot about how you would feel.”

You narrowed your eyes at his confession, his face dropping at the expression.

“You’re lucky I didn’t leave.”

He nodded wildly, agreeing.

Your expression relaxed, your glasses sliding down your nose. You wish you could just leave. But you’re too involved now, and you weren’t one to give up so quickly.

“They’re good guys, Y/N. You should give them a chance.”

“Oh, you’re out!” A surprised voice chirped from behind you.

You spun on your heel, cheeks heating up as you caught sight of the familiar polar bear hybrid. He stood with his hands shoved into the pocket of a large brown sweater that hung not too far off his knees.

“Are you hungry? I made sure the boys didn’t eat everything, we’ve been rationing.” He explained, waving you over to follow him.

He led you into the kitchen, swinging open the fridge. His hands now resting on his thin waist as he stared at the contents. His pretty plump lips were pursed into a pout as he seemed to consider what there was to offer.

“Anything in particular you want?”

You weren’t actually that hungry. The house had been quiet, you thought maybe you had found the perfect opportunity to get some fresh air without being spotted.

Clearly, you failed.

But the excitement on the hybrids soft features made your heart clench. How could you possibly say no to him when he’s looking at you like that?

“A sandwich will be fine.” You smiled sheepishly, watching him nod to himself.

“The others are probably off sleeping somewhere,” Seokjin explained. “Hobi and Yoongi are out in the cages, but otherwise I’m guessing they’re sleeping.”

The cages?

You remembered that was where they had been when you first arrived. Your cheeks turned pink at the thought of them watching you fail at your one job.

Why would they be back out there?

Seokjin must’ve seen the frown on your face, quick to change the subject. He began to babble about how the younger boys had been on his back, bored and missing their gaming.

“You’ve probably noticed the two computers in your room,” He said knowingly. “That’s where we would game, but the boys are under strict orders not to go in there.” He laughed.

You nodded, they were the first thing you noticed when you found the room. Two large PC’s back to back, with multiple screens and fancy setups that you couldn’t even begin to understand, but you knew it all cost more than your entire education so you didn’t dare go near it. You knew your brother loved gaming, he always had. It was one of the only things the two of you had ever managed to bond over, even if you weren’t that good.

You felt bad. They’re all clearly bored, unable to leave the house without your brother and you had taken their favorite form of entertainment away, unintentionally but still.

“They’ll live, they have the console out here and phones. They’re just dramatic.” He laughed, cleaning up the mess from lunch.

“Hyung— oh,”

You stiffened at the unfamiliar voice, eyes glued to the hybrid in front of you that grinned at the new comer.

“Namjoon, back inside already?”

You shifted, turning to see a taller male. He had tan overalls on and a white, muddy shirt on underneath. His silver grey hair was fluffy, clearly not done and standing up in every direction, almost covering up the pointed ears on top of his head.

“It started to rain…” He trailed off, although he wasn’t talking to you he was staring you down, his tanned cheeks slightly pink. “I’m Namjoon, by the way.” He added sheepishly, a dirty hand rubbing at the back of his neck.

You nodded, smiling slightly “I’m Y/N.”

He nodded, smiling bigger. “It’s nice to see you out, I was starting to think we never would.” He admitted, carefully walking over to Seokjin.

He moved and spoke to you like a scared animal, how ironic.

You watched as Namjoon washed his hands in the sink, giving you a chance to get a good look at his face.

He was cute, his face round and eyes reminding you of a dragon. A rounded nose and deep dimples on either side of his cheeks. He was beautifully tanned reminding you of honey, and his smile as he listened to Seokjin just made him all the sweeter.

“Miss Y/N, will you be joining us for dinner tonight?” Seokjin asked after a moment.

Namjoon’s head perked up at the question, and although he was trying to make it seem like he wasn’t watching your reaction, or listening to the conversation, you could see him watching your through his eyelashes as he pretended to clean under his nails.

“Ah, I guess if you guys don’t mind?”

“Oh—ow dammit Namjoon, be careful!” Seokjin scolded, making you jump at the raise in tone.

Namjoon flushed bright red, straightening up and grabbing his silky tail. “Sorry hyung, I didn’t mean it!”

The two bickered, Seokjin telling the younger to be more careful with his emotions if he couldn’t control the physical side of it. Meanwhile Namjoon complained that he needs to word things better because he sounded gross.

Maybe for once your brother was right.

The lead up to dinner was nerve wracking. You had spent the remaining hours in your room scolding yourself for agreeing.

You weren’t sure if you should dress somewhat nice? It would be your first time meeting them, did you want to make a good impression? After all they probably all thought you were a scared, stuck up princess.

Scared? Definitely.

A stuck up princess? Maybe a little.

In the end you just settled on what you had put on that morning after your shower. Sweatpants and hoodie. It’s not like you had to impress them.

Right?

“Miss Y/N?”

Your pacing halted. The voice was familiar, but definitely not Seokjin familiar.

“It’s Namjoon, Jin told me to see if you wanted me to walk with you to the kitchen?”

He sounded just as nervous as you felt. You quickly agreed, swinging open your door and almost sighing in relief when you saw him in a similar outfit to your own.

The walk to the kitchen seemed to drag, Namjoon taking him time as he explained a few things about his “brothers” to you.

“Jimin and Taehyung might be a little much, they’re pretty social. Hoseok is pretty loud, he loves to socialise as well.” He had told you, holding three fingers up as his listed people off. “Yoongi and Jeongguk, they may seem rude and maybe even intimidating, but they’re softies. They’re just wary of new people, which is understandable.” He concluded, looking down at you with a small smile.

“Everyone is super nice, I promise.”

When you both arrived at the kitchen three others were already seated, and Seokjin was running back and forth from the table to the stove. Three backs faced you, white hair, brown hair and black hair.

They didn’t turn to acknowledge the new arrivals in the kitchen, but it was obvious they knew you had arrived. The way their backs tended up and ears twitched gave it away.

Namjoon placed a large hand to the back of your shoulder softly, noticing your anxiety. He had honestly expected you to flinch away from his touch. But instead when you leaned into his touch, practically burying yourself into the side of him, he practically disintegrated where he stood. Just when he thought the pink on his cheeks couldn’t get any worse you looked up at him, glasses hanging low on your nose, through your eyelashes and gave him a weak smile.

And that was all it took.

“Boys, why don’t we all introduce ourselves?” Seokjin said once he was seated beside you at the head of the table.

Seokjin sat to your left and Namjoon to your right. Across from you was a boy with white hair and soft features, to his right was a boy with brown hair and then finally, another with black. Two of the three smiled at you, one more shyly than the other, while the third kept his eyes to his plate.

“I’ll go first,” Seokjin suggested, clearing his throat. He shifted himself in his seat so he was facing you properly, a warm smile on his thick lips. “I’m Seokjin, you can call me Jin. I’m, as you know, a polarbear hybrid.”

You smiled, nodding your head. You liked Seokjin. He gave you a warm, cosy, homey vibe which was something you hadn’t felt around anyone else other than your brother. But even then it was a different feeling.

From beside you Namjoon spoke next.

“Namjoon, I’m a wolf— Alaskan interior wolf to be specific.”

You frowned, you had just assumed all wolves were the same. You didn’t realise that there were multiple different breeds. When it comes to animals you really were clueless.

“I’m Taehyung, we already met when you were sleeping!”

“Taehyung, that’s creepy.” The white haired boy snorted, rolling his eyes. The brown haired boy frowned for a moment, thinking before he grinned. A large boxy smile that showed off his teeth and squinted his eyes.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly, running long fingers through his hair. “I’m a capuchin.” He added, his tail flicking out from behind and waving. “Not, a furry.”

You wanted to glare, or even flip the grinning boy across from you off. But instead you felt your cheeks burn red and your body curling in on itself. You had a feeling the boy wasn’t going to let your insult go.

You didn’t notice Namjoon glare at the monkey hybrid, or the warning look that Jin shot the boy before turning his attention to Jimin.

The white haired boy smiled, and at first glance you would’ve mistaken the smile as shy. But you knew better.

“I’m Jimin, Arctic fox.” He introduced simply, leaning back into his chair. You noticed he was sitting with his legs crossed in his seat, long fluffy white tail wrapped around his stomach as his brown eyes sized you up.

“And the last one is Jeongguk, he’s your age.”

Your eyes met with the dark haired boys, your back stiffening when you noticed he was already staring at you. He didn’t make any move to look away, in fact his glare seemed to get icier the longer you looked. Your head shot down, eyes to your bitten nails.

“It’s nice to meet you all.”

Dinner went by smoothly. Namjoon was proud of his pack, for the most part they made sure you weren’t uncomfortable. You were even smiling and occasionally, even though you tried to hide it, he heard you laugh. He wanted to hear you laugh properly. Out loud, but he didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. So he left you to laugh to yourself.

He couldn’t help himself throughout the meal, moving closer hoping you didn’t notice the way he inched his chair closer to yours until they were barely a few centimetres apart. You were warm, heat radiating off like the fireplace in the living room. It was his favourite spot to be too, curled up with a book in hand, glasses perched on his nose and the fire roaring beside him. You felt just like that moment.

You were pretty, glasses snuggly sitting on the bridge of your nose, shiny eyes focusing intensely on whoever spoke, all your focus and interest pouring into the one person. Your nose was a cute button shape, and your lips naturally poured, thinning slightly whenever they were stretched back into a smile.

You were easy to read, every emotion spilling across your face. He wasn’t sure if you meant to be like that, but he was thankful for it. He could see how nervous you were the entire night, see how tensed and stiff your shoulders were. It took his entire restraint to not rest a hand on your thigh and to promise you were safe with him by your side.

He really didn't want to scare you off.

After dinner Namjoon was sent off to take the missing two their dinners while the younger three were left to clean up. Seokjin happily accompanied you back to your room, a bright smile on his lips as he babbled away about how well behaved his brothers were. It was sweet how proud he was, and you had to agree for the most part they made sure you were comfortable.

You were surprised how much you had enjoyed the night. Sure you were filled to the brim with anxiety that at some point someone would snap and tear your jugular out, but they all seemed weirdly human too, even with the unique body differences.

Namjoon had made himself closer to you throughout the night, and oddly enough the act didn’t terrify you. It was actually comforting. At one point you had to remind yourself that just because he, and the others, looked more human than animal didn’t mean he wouldn’t tear you limb from limb. Maybe him moving closer was a hunting strategy. But then you realised just how awkward he seemed to feel, the way his foot was bouncing off the floor. How he gnawed away at his poor bottom lip and was practically sitting on his hands to keep them at bay.

His round, dimpled cheeks were flushed pink the entire night, and every so often you could feel him staring.

But there was no way in hell you’d call him out on it.

“Y/N, are you okay?”

You pinched your leg, smiling. And for the first time since arrived it was actually genuine. “I’m actually really good! I had fun.”

The blonde smiled, his eyes crinkling and thick lips thinning ever so slightly. You don’t think you’ll ever get use to how inhumanly beautiful he is.

Usually, beautiful isn’t a word you would say to describe a man, mostly because you remember how annoyed your brother would get every time your mother said it, but in this situation you couldn’t help it.

The man was the definition of beauty.

“We had fun too. I hope this means we’ll see you more often?” He looked nervous, his fingers tightly gripping the other hands. You could see he looked hopefully even with his face near only showing anxiety.

“Definitely.”

[elsewhereuniversity]

We Need Backup

So… this is a tough one. 

My room-mates and I are in kind of a bind. We have this rental, see? It’s nice enough, for student digs - modern(ish) furniture, climate control, decent (not great, but decent) wifi connection. 

The only real downside is it’s kind of not exactly real. Or not always real. Something about N-phase space and the quantum uncertainty principle, idk.

There’s an overgrown path in one of those school gardens the horticulture club set up a few years back - you know, with all the willow trees and roses? It’s made of weird amber-ish stones laid out in pentagons.

If you follow it the right way,  it goes to a little valley on the border (so far as we can tell) of Summer territory. The grass is green, the air is warm, the ring of oaks and maples growing around the rim are always in rich, vivid color; it’s full of thick wildflowers that line the slope, and our house is right at the bottom. 

 If you follow it the wrong way, though, you wind up stuck in either the 3rd back-up spare props room or a life-sized mural on the wall of the Art building’s atrium. And most people follow it the wrong way. 

So, as you might imagine, we don’t get a lot of visitors. Like I said, we rent, and the 4 of us - including me - have never even seen our landlord. There’s a powder-blue ceramic bowl on the mail table: it’s due 3 gold drachmas on the 11th of every month, which always disappear by sunrise. It’s a little odd, yeah. We *do* certainly have questions. But, overall, we like to think we’re lucky. 

See, none of us can live in a dorm. Believe me, we’ve tried. Euclid’s closing in on a Phd in Irrational Geometry and Applied Mathemagics, so zher homework assignments keep warping the fabric of reality; rearranging furniture, tearing holes in the walls, and adding extra space where it really shouldn’t be. Molybdos was the only survivor of a questing party gone very, very wrong. She has wicked PTSD, which manifests itself mostly in violent screaming and semi-corporeal night terrors. Silphium’s sick; I’m not sure what’s wrong with him, quite frankly, but being in the dorm rooms made it worse. The medicine that helps him can’t be brewed Ironside; there’s a good chance he’ll never be able to leave. 

Me? I had a stalker issue. Someone in a few of my classes heard about a particular family heirloom I’m quite loathe to part with, and they got interested. Very interested. Dangerously interested. 

But that’s not the point. The point is, we’re really not used to company. 

So , as you might imagine, it was somewhat of a shock to wake up one morning and find a Gentry man on our living room couch. 

Unconscious. 

Oh, Archivist, he’s in bad shape. There are thick ropes of scars around his neck and wrists. 

We had to scrub a while to get rid of all the ingrained filth - there was lots of it, dirt and dried gore and other crap - but it turns out his skin is pale. Not normal Fair Folk pale, either; the kind you get from spending too long underground. 

He’s got a blade of a nose, eyes a pure gold color, and bright red hair that seems to smoke if you look at it too long. Three fingers on his left hand are fused together by what look like old, pink scars, and his right arm is tattooed with all these crazy woad designs. You can tell that he used to be powerfully built; the guy’s almost seven feet tall, and his clothes (or what’s left of them) hung from his body. 

Well, we cut the damn things off. Then we did our best to clean him up. There were 12 open wounds that needed stitches, and lots of raw areas oozing this pale, watery gold stuff. Not to mention all the aforementioned filth. 

Anyway, long story short: something must’ve gone wrong. He’s been here for 3 days , gripped by delirium, caught in the throes of a hellish fever. He keeps moaning and thrashing around, raving in some kind of language none of us speak. 

Meanwhile, the wifi’s shot. Our phone lines put out nothing but a ‘drone’ noise, like huge clouds of flies in the speaker. Once everyone got home again the next day, the house won’t let us leave. it seems kind of…protective? I guess? The windows won’t open, and none of the doorknobs turn anymore. 

Euclid’s busy with zher chalk, drawing out bizarre patterns on the walls that zhe claims are wards. Silph’s working overtime trying to keep our ‘guest’ alive, and Moly…

Moly hasn’t slept. She’s… erratic. She keeps pacing around, staring out the windows, and clinging to her kukri while she mutters about how ‘they’re coming.’ 

Meanwhile, there’s a bad wind on the rise. The view outside grows darker every hour. Things have taken to lurking about; black and twisted, they hide in the wild grass and wait beneath the trees. Every time someone looks, there’s more of them: biding their time, in no kind of rush at all. They’ve got us where they want us, and they damn well know it. 

Since I can fly sometimes (thanks to that heirloom I mentioned) the others sent me for help. Thankfully, my other form is just smart enough to fit up the chimney flue. It was a tight, painful squeeze, and I lost a few feathers, but I made it. 

I’m sorry, Archivist, I didn’t know where else to go. Hopefully the goshawk rapping at your window didn’t freak you out too much.

 Do you know who our 'guest’ is? Is there someone - anyone - who can take him to safety? Are any Knights available - and, if so, can they please come drive off the intruders before my friends all get killed? I’d be more than happy to guide anyone who needs assistance.

In return, I brought a charm Euclid made. It was zher semester project junior year, and we thought you might have some use for it: 

A crystal lense etched with a Pythagoras tree. Perfect, of course. Those bronze rims around the edge are how you set the thing: they move independently, see? The biggest, outer one is for years, the middle for months, and the tiny inner one for days. Pick a date, work them around so the little notches all line up, then wave your hand over the clear part. It will show 13 minutes of an event you were involved in. 

Please hurry.

-Hamaliel

___

Congratulations: the heir apparent of the Autumn Court is dying on your futon, most likely from some manner of assassination attempt. You can officially consider yourself Embroiled In Intrigue. 

I will reach out to the Knights, but delicately - a good number of them would view your guest as not much better than whatever is coming for him. But there are always a handful more oriented towards protecting the helpless - any helpless - than they are towards eradicating the things that lurk in the dark woods.

I will also try to send word to a handful of Autumn changelings. If you are lucky they will pass on the news of their lost and found prince to someone powerful enough to come to his aid, and do so in time for it to change anything.

In the meantime, for the good it does: a dull knife of iron with a hilt of scorched bone, which will in your time of need become blindingly bright and razor-sharp. A caltrop tipped with iron, and in the same vein, small tangles of rusty nails, twisted into the shape of apples: guard your windows and doorways and hearth. You are not the only creature that can fly.

[alloftheimaginesblog]

Secret’s Out (Indiana Jones x Plus Size Reader)

Plot:  Okay, but like Indiana Jones x Plus Size Reader where you're a fellow lecturer at the university and it's just peak handsome archaeologist and soft nerdy other academic (of any subject of your choice). Watch as I send you about 50 million requests for different things now, Ang xD

Requested by @hufflepuffing-all-day-long​ (thank u for the requests Charlotte!)

Character: Indiana Jones x Plus Size Reader

Part of my Plus Size History Professor x Indiana Jones series and part of my Plus Size Reader x Character series!

The clock ticking on the wall and the scratching of pencil on paper was the only sound to be heard in your classroom. You were grading papers with your free afternoon. It was either do them now or do them over the weekend and to be honest, you had plans to chill out and lay on the couch with a certain someone this weekend so... you were doing them now.

Your students had done well this semester, actually, you thought with a smile. You’d been teaching for years yet you did always worry that you weren’t doing enough for them but judging by their papers, you’d been doing pretty well. Grading their papers helped you to reflect and evaluate yourself as a teacher as well. There were mistakes made, like the wrong dates or misspellings here and there, but overall they were good; which meant you were doing good!

Someone cleared their throat in front of you which stopped you in your tracks, “Jesus!” You yelped, looking up to see Indy with a stupid grin on his face, “You scared me half to death!”

“I did knock, twice,” he smirked, “you were too busy with your papers.”

Your cheeks began to heat up, “Oh,” you looked at your papers, “They’re doing so well!” You gushed, “Every paper I’ve marked this afternoon has been at least a B- or above!”

Indiana - Professor Jones - smiled and sat on the edge of your desk, “And you were worried you weren’t doing enough. How many more have you got to grade?”

“Just this one,” you smiled, “then I’m all yours.”

You and Indiana had been together for just shy a year at this point. You’d met through working together, he was the archaeology professor and you were a history professor, so naturally you both kind of gravitated towards each other. Indiana liked turning up at your class with insanely cool finds, you quickly found out that being an archaeology professor wasn’t his only job - he was also quite an adventurer - and he would ask you about what he found. You sussed out quickly that he would already know about the things he was showing you but he just wanted to come and talk to you. It was sweet. He asked you out for dinner one night after work and how could you turn him down? He was incredibly handsome, charming, smart, funny and my god, he treated you like royalty. 

He waited in silence, giving you time to concentrate, as he played with one of the nik naks on your desk. It wasn’t long before you were finished, “Finished with a bang,” you grinned, “A+!”

Indiana smiled, he admired how much you cared about your students and wanted to improve your teaching for them if it was lacking (though it never was), “And as a treat, I’m going to take you out tonight.”

You stood up and walked to the filing cabinet to file away the papers. You could feel his eyes watching your backside as you did so. He loved your wide hips, your plump backside and your thick thighs; that’s why you’d worn your new pencil skirt. Usually, you’d be self conscious about the tightness of it and the way it clung your lumps and bumps but that’s exactly what Indy loved. He’d spent many a night praising you, touching you and kissing you everywhere making you believe that you were truly beautiful.

You felt him walk up behind you before his hands were on your waist, “Maybe we’ll skip dinner,” he mumbled, hand grazing over your ass, “You look incredible.”

“Oh, I know,” you smirked as you turned around to stare up at him.

He pushed you softly against the filing cabinet, eyes watching your lips with a hungry look in his eyes. The man knew exactly what he was doing, he was too sexy and it killed you. You pulled him by the shirt collar to kiss you, falling straight into his trap. He liked when you took what you wanted from him, it only turned him on further. He tasted like coffee and chocolate.

The two of you got a little carried away as you continued to make out, pressed against the filing cabinet. Well, that was until someone cleared their throat from the doorway, “Um, Professor Jones?”

The two of you broke away, staring like a deer caught in headlights at the door. Your lipstick was smeared all over your face and Indy’s. It was one of his students, oh fuck, it was a group of about six students all grinning as they peered into the scene before them.

“Secret’s out now,” you whispered, quickly turning away wiping the lipstick off your face and flattening your hair.

“Yes?” Indiana asked, lips pursed, clearly annoyed that his students interrupted.

“We just had a question about the coursework,” one student - Ben - smirked, “but uh, we’ll go if you’re too busy.” The students snickered and you covered your mouth with your hand, trying your hardest not to laugh. Sure, it was embarrassing as hell and you knew that within an hour the whole campus would know, but you had to laugh.

“Sure,” Indiana said with a sigh, “better be quick.” He turned to you, “Wait for me?”

You nodded with a secret smile, “Sure thing. I’ll swing by your class in fifteen.” With his back to the students, he smiled back at you - obviously finding this situation humorous also but when he turned around to them, his face was stony.

“Oh, Ind- Professor Jones,” you said quickly, he turned to you and you handed him a tissue, “Lipstick.”

As he walked out with the laughing students, you were sure his ears were bright red and it wasn’t just lipstick. Indiana Jones was embarrassed.

[corruptedconfessions]

Dragon!Kirishima

Day 7!

Warnings: Oviposition

ngl im not to happy with this one but writing 1k+ fics everyday is wearing on mee

It’s a gender-neutral reader this time~ tomorrow will be gender-neutral as welll

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dragon!Kirishima “Humans are such needy creatures. Why would you need to talk to anyone except me!”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Humans are such needy creatures. Why would you need to talk to anyone except me!”

You were sat ontop of the dragon, one leg on either side of his torso as his clawed hands dragged across your bare body, sliding up your sides before grabbing your chest, his thumbs rubbed across your nipples as he squeezed your breasts so hard it hurt.

“K-kiri-”

You were immediately cut off by the shifter, who squirmed irritability underneath you, wings flapping in frustration as he settled down again. It wasn’t often you saw your mate in half shifted form, not fully dragon, but not as humanoid as he could be. His horns sprouted from his head, his entire body covered with patches of hard scales, his finger and toenails had turned into claws. You had fucked up big time…

“I get you humans usually stay attached to your original nest mates but you don’t need them! I’m your mate! None of them should be laying their eyes on you…”

His voice cut off into a deep angry growl, his eyes briefly turning into slits before melting back into the circles that you were use to. You had no idea that leaving for less than an hour to see your mom would be such a big deal. You frowned softly down at him as his hands instead slid down to your hips, tracing shapes into the skin their as he scowled angrily at the wall.

“Kiri, im sorry…I just missed my family. I should’ve asked you first…I-”

You hesitated cutting off the ‘ill ask you next time’ you were about to add, eyes sliding over to the shredded remains of your clothes, the only ones you had. You had a feeling that there would be no ‘next time’. Your gaze turned back to the dragon, tensing up when you found a serious look on his face as he stared at you.

“K-kiri?”

“You missed your family…”

You blinked at him in confusion, squirming uncomfortably ontop of him, squeaking when his grip on you tightened.

“Humans…usually live in packs.”

“W-what- I mean- I guess so? Kiri what are you talking about?”

You frowned worriedly down at him, not liking the spark in his eye as he started to grin up at you. He had had that look when he first took you, he had that look when the two of you had mated, and it was that same look he made whenever he had an idea you knew you would be forced to go along with.

“You humans are so…needy. You need other humans, that’s why you left! Because you needed to see your old pack!”

You frowned down at him, more and more confused by the second. So he understood then? You wouldn’t call your family and village a pack, but you also took awhile to understand what mate meant…

“Yeah?”

“So if there is a pack here, you won’t need to leave!”

You blinked down at him, trying to understand what the hell he meant by that, but found yourself pulling up a blank. You frowned softly at him as he practically glowed in excitement up at you.

“It’ll take me a few days to get them all ready, and of course we’ll need to stock up on food and water for you…Oh! I bet you’ll want more blankets!”

You slid back slightly, settling yourself on his lap at the dragon sat up, chirping in excitement as he rambled away, arms wrapping around you as he pulled you close to his chest.

“Oh, Isn’t this just so exciting, pebble?”

“U-uh…yeah.”

You couldn’t bring yourself to dampen the excitement that was practically rolling off him in waves. Even if you could, you would much rather deal with an over excited dragon than go back to the angry one that would probably end with a village or two being burned to the ground. You convinced him to stop eating humans, but killing them was a harder task, especially when your normally cool tempered dragon got angry.

Still, you couldn’t help the nervous squeeze in your chest when he grinned and hugged you tight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.

Several weeks had passed since then, and part of you had forgotten about the strange incident. You had settled into your new normal of your dragon mate coming back home with armfuls of quilts and blankets, silk embroidered pillows, and other strange things that you didn’t even bother asking where he had stolen them from. When you had first told him to take them back he had given you the most offended stare you’d ever seen, and then started hording and bringing home even softer and more expensive items. You hadn’t bothered to bug him about it again, and he seemed pleased, apparently thinking that the quality of the blankets was the issue and he had now passed your test.

And then there was the constant hovering. Sure, Kirishima had always been extremely worried about you, almost too aware of how fragile you were compared to him, but in the past few weeks that seemed to be put into overdrive. Most of the time you were trapped to the nest of blankets that he had made, being pushed down with soft coos of ‘needing your rest’ every time you tried to get up. Not that you could fight him too much, you were so comfortable you hardly wanted to get up anymore. Especially when when you did you had a dragon practically breathing down your neck, walking so close to you that you had tripped over him several times, leading to panicked chirps and whines as you were immediately taken back to the nest and coddled for the rest of the day and into the next morning.

Overall you had just accepted this new behavior as the new normal and rolled with it, nearly forgetting his comments about packs and his endless excitement, at least until you were jostled awake in the morning by your dragon practically jumping on top of you, back in his half shifted form as his tail wagged so hard it thumped against the side of the nest rapidly.

“Kiri…”

You grumbled up at him softly, still half asleep and very tempted to ignore the ball of sun sat ontop of you. More often than not he woke you up for stupid reasons and you were ready to smack him despite knowing hitting his stone hard muscles would hurt you more than it hurt him.

“They’re ready!”

“What’s ready…”

“Our eggs!”

You had been half falling asleep again, eyes slowly drifting closed, but that caught your attention. You snapped awake, staring at him in completely confusion. Eggs?

“Our…what?”

You didn’t think it was possible but his grin got wider, showing off his sharp teeth as he practically purred down at you, tail wagging even harder as his wings fluttered in excitement.

“Our eggs! The ones im going to put inside you!”

You sputtered up at the redhead as he hooked his arms around you, pulling you up to sit ontop of him as he fell onto his back, melting into the curved edge of the nest. Your hands fell to his chest, holding yourself up as you stared down at him, mouth open in shock.

“You said you missed your pack! So we’ll make our own pack.”

“I-I-”

You were lovingly shushed as he grinned up at you, clawed hands wrapping around your hips as he ground up against you, cock bumping against you gently.

“It’s okay~ I’ll take care of it all!”

You stumbled over some weak complaints, but you knew it was too late, there was nothing you could do but ride this out. Is that why he had been acting so weird? He had been making eggs to put inside of you?

You squirmed squeaking softly, grabbing onto his shoulders instead as he lifted you just enough to rub his cock against your entrance, the slick pouring from the tip slicking the way as you were slowly lowered down onto his cock, gasping at the burn of the stretch.

“S-slow down!”

You gasped weakly whimpering at him, thighs clamping down around his hips once you were fully lowered down, preventing him from moving at all as he snarled, grinding up into you.

“Can’t! Need to…Breed!”

Your breath stuttered, thighs clamping down harder around him when he kept swelling, stretching you further. You trembled and whimpered down at him, about to complain further when you felt it.

You could feel it, Kirishima’s cock pushed deeper, nudging hard inside you before being followed by something thick. It stretched you further than before, sliding past your walls, deeper and deeper before it finally popped inside of you, several gushes of cum following it as it settled inside you.

You were left groaning, shaking and gasping for air as that egg was followed by another and then another, each one grinding slowly past your sweet spot before falling into the place with the other. Every single one was cushioned, the gaps between them being filled with hot cum. You trembled, feeling fuzzy and weak, everything felt distant from you, when you looked down you saw Kirishima, lips curled back into a snarl, the claws on his toes shredding through the blankets of the nest as he rocked up hard into you, pushing the eggs through. You swore he was growling, snarling up at you, lips moving but you couldn’t hear anything past the ringing in your head. Pleasure filled you, muffling all your senses.

 All you could focus on was the grind of each egg against one another, the sweet drag of each egg across that little bundle of nerves inside of you. You weren’t sure how many there were, enough that your belly swelled slightly, a round bump forming and growing with every new addition.

You stayed like that, drunk of pleasure, hazy and pliant, stretched around his cock as you were stuffed completely full, stomach swollen and heavy, cum starting to drip out of your abused hole as your dragon snarled, gnashing his teeth as he pushed the last one into place.

“Pebble?”

You blinked blearily down at the dragon who was frowning up at you as your hand reached up to rub over your swollen belly. Red eyes stared up at you for a few moments before a bright grin crossed his face, his dragon features starting to melt away into his more human ones as he lifted you up, laying you on your back, tucked safely into the unstained part of the nest.

“You’re so cute, pebble~”

You shuttered weakly as he nuzzled you, nuzzling back slightly as you clamped down and squeezed your legs shut to prevent the eggs from coming out too as you nuzzled down into the nest, sleepily closing your eyes as you rested a hand on your stomach. You could still feel Kirishima’s eyes on you but you couldn’t bring yourself to care, eyes slipping shut as you drifted off to sleep.

[mcmystery]

Playing in the Woods

(HappyFamily!AU one shot Ft. Cerise and Fraise) Warning: Very Fluffy, motherly love, bunny apple slices

On a sunny day, the breeze was fresh and carried the wonderful scent of the wilderness and flowers. Leaves and petals would flutter in the wind as the sounds of giggles floated around here and there. Rustling of the bushes and the crunch sound of grass was timidly present as a small figure ran through the semi thick forest. The small individual dashed past many trees looking for a good place to hide themselves among the thick terrain of nature that surrounded their home.

The young individual was only a small child. One with fair colored skin with cheeks that were marked with a few freckles and a light blush that was almost always constant. Along with dark hair that transitioned into a copper color towards the ends and was short cut all around except for a small braid on one side. With bangs that came just above her bright blue eyes that shined brightly in the sunlight. The small child wore a very light pink shirt with strawberry colored overall shorts, and white ankle frilly socks with almost black scalloped ballet flats. This small child who hide playfully in the forests found a suitable hiding location within the hollow truck of a very old and aged tree. And this lively cheerful child was named-

“Oh, Fraise~!” Rang out a female voice. “Wherever could you be~?” The voice came again as sounds of the foliage rustled in the distance.

The small child, Fraise, giggled within the shadow of the tree’s hollow trunk. Keeping her mouth covered; muffling her sounds as the older female called out and searched for her. She held herself tightly against the inner wall of the tree’s trunk as the rustling of grass and bushes came closer. Having a big grin across her face as she struggled to hold down her laughter.

“This forest is sooo big, it’s going to take forever to find my little Fraise.” The sweet voice chimed closer. “This must be my toughest challenge yet! To find such a worthy opponent!”

The young women looked around as she pushed some tree branches away and passed some bushes. That’s when she stopped behind an aged tree trunk and heard the murmurs of small giggles that echoed within. The woman brought up her hand and showed that her ring finger projected a bright yellow thread that lead to the inside of this old tree trunk. She smiled to herself at the realization of where her little adorable prey was.

“Ahh,” She exhaled as she looked up towards all the other tall trees in the forest, “Maybe they’re at the top of one of these huuuge trees!”

More small giggles escaped the hollow trunk, and she peered her eyes to the side of the entrance, where she slowly tipped toed to its opening.

“Or maybe…” she eyed the trunks opening. “They’re right here!!” She exclaimed cheerfully into the opening, as the small girl screamed with a delightful thrill of being surprised. The older woman got on her knees to reached in and grabbed the little one as she laughed and wiggled in her grasp. “I found you~!” The women playfully laughed as she hugged her small bundle of joy.

“No fair, cheated! You cheated!” Fraise giggled as she was held in the loving embrace.

“Cheated?” The gentle women stated, “Why, there’s no such thing in this game of ours!” as she began tickling Fraise’s sides. “Everything is up for grabs… even this cute tummy!” She tickled Fraise’s stomach as she laughed harder at the actions. Fraise laughed as the older woman kissed the side of her cheek repeatedly in a playful manner, and Fraise used her shoulder to scrunch away, trying to block away the tickling feelings from the onslaught of motherly kisses.

The women, named Cerise, pulled away from giving Fraise many kisses and smiled at her as she brushed Fraise’s hair into place. “Well, I think this is enough playing for now.”

“Wha?” Fraise began, “But I want to play more!” She exclaimed as she moved a bit away and standing firm with a bit of a pout.

Cerise, still on her knees looked at her daughter’s cute display of confidence, to persuade her to keep the game going. She only smiled at the young child before her. “I know you do, but its snack time now. Unless you want to wait till dinner tonight?”

Fraise still stood firm and kept her pout, thinking of the options. Then, out of nowhere, her stomach growled loud enough for the two to hear. She blushed as it became known that she was getting hungry. Cerise kept her giggles to a minimum but only displayed a soft smile.

She got up on her feet and picked up the small child into her arms, “That settles it, its snack time then!” As she began to walk, making sure to push any branches out of the way so that they didn’t get in her or Fraise’s way. As she did, she began to make small conversation with her daughter. “We’ll be eating a light snack since I’ll be making a big dinner for when daddy comes home tonight.”

Fraise’s eyes widen, “Daddy’s coming home tonight!?” she expressed loudly with pure excitement.

“That’s right, what do you think I should make for us tonight?” She asked curiously as she got closer to exiting the forest.

“Hmm… grill cheese!” Fraise announced with her arms in the air.

“Grilled cheese!?” She questioned back, but then responded back playfully. “Yes, I do think he would like those.” There was a pause until Cerise mumbled, “Maybe a tomato soup, too?” while thinking of what else she could put on the menu.

As they both excited the forest, Cerise walked a bit towards their home. She looked at some of the trees in the distance that displayed some fruit. She halted a bit, “You know what, why don’t you help me pick some apples so that I can make a pie for tonight?”

She knelt and settled Fraise onto the ground. “Okay!” She agreed with visual joy as she hopped up and down a bit.

“Alright, alright. Why don’t you go grab the basket from the side of the house and meet me by that apple tree over there.” Cerise pointed out the two locations of the basket and said apple tree.

Fraise gave a confident and eager smile of dedication. She began to rush over to the basket’s location. “I’ll meet you by tree!” Fraise yelled as she rushed as quick as she could to the basket. Cerise smiled as she also began to make her way to the tree with a casual walk as she watched her daughter hurry as quick as she could to do the task.

By the time she reached the tree, Fraise was already rushing quickly towards the tree with said basket in tow. She dropped the basket at the base of the tree and grabbed onto the surface of the tree’s bark. “I win! I got here first!”

Cerise gasps, “You did! You bested me with your speed! My, every day you get bigger, stronger, and now faster! How am I supposed to keep up!”

The young girl came up to Cerise’s legs, “I want to be big and strong like you, mama!”

“Ooh, big and strong you say? As big as this!?” She quickly turned the girl around and snatched her up, holding her high in the air as Fraise screamed with happy sounds from the rush of being picked up. Cerise brought Fraise over her head and settled the young girl on her shoulders. Fraise giggled as she held on. Cerise picked up the basket from the ground and walked towards one of the lower branches that was weighed down by some apples.

She pointed some out. “Fraise, can you get those right there for me?”

Fraise nodded with a “mhm” and reached out with her small hands to grab the red apples. She picked the biggest one she could grab onto and brought it over to drop it in front of the basket that Cerise held up with her hands.

The breeze ruffled the leaves as Fraise went ahead and picked a few more from the branch. Cerise would walk over to another branch filled with more ready to pick fruit and instructed Fraise to do the same task. Which was: to pick the tastiest ones. After a while their basket began to carry weight of the red fruit.

“Okay, that looks like enough for now.” Cerise mentioned as Fraise reached out for another.

“One more?” Fraise asked kindly.

“Okay, one more, but that’s it. Unless you want to be eating apple pie every day for the next two weeks.” She mentioned with a sassy tone.

Fraise grinned as she picked the last one and dropped it into the basket, adding to more of its weight. Cerise walked away from the tree and settled the basket down to give her hands a break.

“Alright then, my little helper. Thank you for the hard work!” She brought her hands to her daughter’s side and lifted her up and over her head again, placing Fraise carefully back on the ground. “Now go wash up so I can get your snack ready.”

“Okay!” She began to run again. “I’mma race you, mama!” Fraise shouted as Cerise picked up the weighted basket.

Cerise laughed at Fraise’s playfulness. “You already got a head start, that’s not fair!” Smiling as she lifted the basket and holding it with both arms.

Fraise giggled as she ran towards the front of the house. Yet, in her excitement, she lost balance and started to stumble. Each step she tried to recover herself but, in the end, she tripped and skid a bit as she landed harshly from the speed and force across the dirt and grass.

Cerise took notice as this happened in front of her and began to pace quickly towards her. “Fraise? You okay?” She asked.

Fraise turned around to sit up as dirt and some grass leaves covered a bit of her face, shirt, and the bottom of her overall shorts, along with her knee being scratched up and palms sore from trying to brace from the impact. Fraise frowned sadly as she looked herself over and noticed her knee was scratched up and starting to bleed. Seeing the visuals, the pain connected then, and she began to sob.

“Waahhh!” Fraise cried, rubbing the dirt out of her face and hair.

Cerise came up to her little girl and placed the basket down swiftly as she looked over the injury. “There, there, I’m here. Let me see.” She dusted the dirt away lightly around the injured area. There was a scratch that was more prominent in the middle of Fraise’s knee which was surrounded by red marks and small dots of light blood coming through the skin. She did her best to sooth the child as she softly cupped the side of her crying face with the warmth of her palm. “The apples can wait, let’s get you inside, sweetheart.”

Fraise still softly cried as Cerise picked her up gently, careful to pay mind to the injury. Fraise wrapped her arms around Cerise and hid her face into the nook of her neck. Cerise tightly embraced her daughter as she walked back to the house.

As Cerise entered the home, she walked towards the kitchen and opened one of the cabinets to retrieve the first aid kit. Fraise sniffled as she watched her mother open the box and get some packages of antibiotic wipes and a band aid suitable for knees cuts. Cerise brought those over with her as she settled Fraise down on the kitchen counter next to the sink.

Carefully, Cerise folded over the hem of the shorts to expose Fraise’s cuts. Fraise winced at the sensitive pain as she still held tears from earlier. In the silence, there was only Fraise’s quiet hiccups of sobs and Cerise preparing to care for the injury by grabbing a clean washcloth and turning on the sinks faucet.

“My poor baby,” Cerise stated as she ran the cloth under the warm water. Fraise wiped away her tears a bit, but still they continued to rise to the surface due to the pain from her knee. “Always so excited and eager to run off on your own. Just like your father.” Cerise mentioned as she brought the warm clean cloth to her child’s sensitive skin.

Gently she put some pressure to the cut to halt the bleeding and to wipe the blood away in one go. Fraise flinched at the pressure, but Cerise cooed her. “It’s alright, I just need to clean this up a bit, okay?” She spoke as Fraise lightly nodded timidly.

Softly she pressed another clean area of the cloth to the wound and removed any dirt and blood that came with it. She brought the cloth under the running warm water to soak it again and rinsed away the dirt and blood. Coming back to lightly tap on the wound as carefully as she could to not cause her little bundle of joy more pain. Once she felt the wound was cleaned up a bit, she drapped the towel over the sinks edge and shifted over to grab the small package that contained the antibiotic wipe.

Cerise opened the package and removed the moist wipe and gently held Fraise’s knee. “This might hurt just a bit, but it’s to make sure you don’t get an infection from the cut, okay?”

Fraise nodded again and trusted her mother to help fix the injury. Lightly, Cerise wiped at the cut and Fraise’s knee twitched as she felt a slight burn from the damp tissue. “There, just a bit more.” Cerise mentioned as she gave a few more wipes. Slowly the pain went away, but she still felt the soreness from the nerves and muscles. Cerise tossed the dirty tissue into the sink to clean up later and reached over to grab the bandage. Opening it, she peeled away the paper wrapping and carefully aligned the band-aid to the center of his cut. Slowly sticking it to Fraise knee and pulling the ends of the paper off so that the flaps could adhere to the skin, keeping it in place.

“There we go!” Cerise stated warmly; crinkling up the plastic papers in her hand and tossing them aside onto the counter. “Is that a little better?” She asked her.

“Mhm, still sore.” Fraise said with a soft voice.

“I know, sweetheart. It’s going to be sore for a while, but you’re okay now.” Telling her as she picked up her daughter into her arms and carried her across the house. She entered Fraise’s bedroom where she gently laid her down on the bed. “Now you wait here while I go get those apples and make you a snack, okay?”

As she was about to walk away, Fraise called out to her, “Mama, don’t go.”

She turned around and held her face, smiling lovingly at the small girl. “I’ll be right back, sweetheart, I promise. I’m just going to get the apples, okay. And then I’ll be right back.” Fraise nodded as she held her hand, slowly letting it out of the others grasp. Cerise smiled at her one more time before leaving the room completely. Once outside, she gathered the basket again and brought them back inside the home. Taking them to the kitchen and placing the whole thing next to the sink. She took out the medical wipe along with the crunched-up bandage wrappers and threw them away into the bin. She came back to the task of washing each apple down and placing it on the other side of the counter to let them dry out. Once done with all that, she grabbed one apple that looked the tastiest in her eyes and began to peel and cut them up into fun little rabbit slices. Satisfied with her work she walked back to Fraise’s room where she laid back a bit waiting for her.

Fraise noticed her and sat up, “Mama’s back!”

Cerise smiled at her daughter with much love in her expression. “I told you I would be, didn’t I?” She approached her and showed the plate filled with many cute bunny slices. “Look I even brought you little bunnies to cheer you up.”

Fraise’s eyes widen and glimmered at the display of the fresh apple slices. “Cute bunnies!”

“That’s right!” She grabbed one and playfully moved it in front of Fraise’s face. “I saw them outside hopping around and quickly snatched them all up!”

“Silly, mama, it’s just apple.” She giggled as Cerise played with the food in front of her.

“Ooh, are you sure? They might look like apples, but you never know when they might… hop away!” She exclaimed as she jerked the plate upwards and let the slices toss in the air. Fraise laughed at her actions. Cerise giggled softly too as she watched the small girl’s cute expressions of joy.

She brought the slice back to Fraise and let her grab it by herself. “Here, sweetheart.”

“Thank you, mama.” Fraise said as she brought the slice to her mouth and took her first bite. Fraise’s cheeks blushed at the sweetness that came with the taste. “Itsh yummy!”

Cerise placed the plate to the side of her and let the little one snack from there. Watching each action. Fraise would take another slice, munch on it, and enjoy each bite. Once she was all done with the snack, Cerise moved the plate away to the side table. “How’s your knee feeling?”

Fraise, who was distracted by the food came to remember the injury and brought back the sore feeling again. “Still hurt…”

“Hmm,” She gave a concerned look, but as she looked over to the bookshelf she sprang and idea. “Well, why don’t I read you a little story then before I start on dinner?”

Fraise nodded as Cerise got up and walked over to the bookshelf. She picked up one of Fraise’s favorites, The Girl in the Tower, and came back to sit on the other side of the bed next to her daughter. Once settled, Fraise cuddled up to Cerise, who brought her arm around the small child to let her in closer so that they could read along and look at the pictures.

Once they got in their comfortable positions, Cerise began to read the story to her. As she started to narrate the story, Fraise read along, scanning his eyes across each sentence, or keeping her eyes on the images illustrated in the book. Towards the middle of the story, Fraise began to nod off and let her eyes slowly close, but she would be awoken slightly with each page turn. It was toward the end of the story that she completely fell asleep against her mother.

“The girl was surprised to have met a hero right from the pages of a fairy tale. The hero was surprised to meet a smart and powerful girl who shared his curiosity about the world and a strong sense of justice. Neither was eager to go their separate ways… Hm?” Cerise stopped reading as she noticed her daughter reacting less but saw her fast asleep and breathing calmly.

Cerise smiled and place the book to the other bed stand. Coming back to gently moved Fraise so that she laid her head softly against the pillow. As she got up, she covered her daughter with the cozy bed sheet and brushed her hair tenderly. Leaning in and giving a small loving kiss to her head as she slept.

Slowly she walked towards the bedroom door and looked back at the sweet peaceful state the little girl was in. She grinned, turned off the lights and went about to create a dinner for a family she thanked the Brothers for.

[theyreonlynoodlesmike]

The lost boys with an s/o who has self esteem issues & has never really stood for herself & is always timid & talks softly

You got it!! I'm just gonna sum this up as a "shy" s/o. Here you go!!

Poly!Lost Boys x Fem!Shy S/O with Self-Esteem Issues

It was pretty easy for the boys to start dating you. They're all fairly outgoing (with Dwayne being able to when necessary), and they spotted you in the crowd. Even in the summer heat, you were covered head to toe. You were pretty, even if it was clear from your behavior and dress that you didn't think so. You were with some of your friends, but you seemed to almost be hiding behind them. When the boys came up to you, you looked like a scared little mouse. A few hypnotism tricks, and suddenly your friends that had tried to stand up for you were absolutely no problem. David had just wanted to mess with you at first, like a cat playing with its prey, but Dwayne had started to like you. Really like you. Your voice was nice and soft, and the way you said your name made him smile.

The terror twins were busy driving you nuts, making you flush bright red and Paul had even gotten you to squeak (Paul had made a particularly dirty joke about finding out what was beneath all those layers). You couldn't even tell them to stop you were so shy. So, Dwayne did it for you. The large brunette had wrapped his arm around your shoulders, bringing you closer and assuring that he wouldn't let them bother you. When he stared at you, you looked like you were going to faint. He'd given you a small smile, and your response was to look anywhere that wasn't his face or his chest. All it had taken was one shared look between David and Dwayne. Dwayne wanted to keep you, and David thought that he could've picked someone far worse. So, why not?

They had easily convinced you to come back to the cave. Really, all it took was just saying, "Come with us." And you were too timid to outright deny them. Dwayne had given you another assuring smile, offering to have you ride with him. "I'll drive slow." He promised, and you couldn't deny the way his voice made your heart flutter in your chest. "O-okay." You'd quietly agreed, and you'd ended up keeping your face buried in his back the entire time. Slow or not. After that night together, a night alone where they were able to get to know you, they all decided that perhaps they wouldn't mind keeping you around. A few more nights like that, and they had all fallen for you. They told you what they were and that they liked you the same night, mainly because a) who were you going to tell and b) they figured you'd react worse to their confession than to the fact that they were vampires. Dwayne was a sure-fire "yes", but the rest of them? Might be the first time they'd ever heard you say no. You didn't, and they were extremely relieved.

Paul thinks your shyness is both adorable and hilarious, and always lays on the compliments pretty thick. When you confessed that you had self-esteem issues (they had all pretty much figured that out already) he had literally protested. "What do you mean you don't like how you look? You're hot as hell!" Takes it upon himself to remind you every day that he thinks you're "hot", and plans on single-handedly helping you boost your confidence. Tries to get you to change up your wardrobe a little, but only because he has a theory that your layers aren't doing your self-esteem any favors. "Babe, if you could see how hot you are, I'm sure it would help." He would say as the two of you lay on the couch and he plays with the edges of one of your many layers. Paul doesn't have any issues with his body or his looks, but sometimes he's worried that he's annoying. He can't talk to the boys about it, but sometimes he'll ask you if he's being too much and he'll smile when you assure him that he's better than you are in social situations. Paul has a tendency to talk over you sometimes. He doesn't mean to do it, but you talk so quietly and you're not the type to slap him upside the head when he interrupts. Usually, one of the other boys will do it for you, and Paul will usually say something like, "Oh, shit- Sorry, sugar, what were you saying?" When you tell them that you wanna take it slow because of your self-esteem issues, Paul had to have a hand slapped over his mouth before he said anything stupid. Doesn't stop him a few days later when the two of you are in the process of making out and he suggests doing it in the dark since, "Technically, I won't be able to see you then, babe." And you have to remind him that, "Paul, can't you guys see in the dark?" "Oh. Right."

Marko is pretty good with your shyness. Sure, he likes to tease you here or there, but he never teases you to the point of getting upset. Always assures you that you're beautiful, even if you don't believe him. If you shake your head or tell him to stop, he'll quirk an eyebrow at you and say, "What? You don't believe me?" Before he's launching into a tickle attack until you agree and say that you're beautiful. Lays on some cheek kisses to make you smile, and will cuddle you as the two of you calm back down. The two of you have some long talks about your self-esteem issues, mainly because Marko understands. It's not easy being the shortest of the guys, and just overall being shorter in general. He knows what it's like to have things that he wishes he could change, and sometimes he swears that if they had changed just a few years later in their lives, that he could've been just a few inches taller. You quietly tell him that you think he's handsome regardless, and he's so happy. You don't compliment them often, and you're in danger for a kiss attack if you keep being cute. Marko is the type to nod and let you finish what you have to say 9/10 times. Though, the way he smiles at you sometimes makes you flustered, and those are the times where Marko interrupts. But only to lean in and kiss you because "you're just being too cute, babe." When you say you wanna go slow, Marko accepts it. He knows that he'll probably just have to be a little pent up for awhile, but he understands. Sometimes he forgets during heavier makeouts, but he pulls back the second you seem to be getting uncomfortable and quickly asks, "Shit, are you okay?" Before layering on the apologies. Will stand up for you and fight someone for you in literal seconds. While all of the boys will do this, Marko is the fastest and has/will chew someone out for you. Literally.

David loves to tease you for your shyness. He'll purposely ask you questions or ask you to "help" him decide something for the group, just because he knows that it'll make you have a small crisis. Though, as soon as he's done teasing you, he'll gladly make any and all decisions for you. He's patient and he'll wait for you to finish speaking, but he likes the fact that you follow along with pretty much everything he says. Doesn't compliment you often, but means it when he does. The two of you will be at the cave and you'll be sitting on his lap after a particularly hard day. Surprisingly, he's one of the best boys to go to when you're upset, and he'll just stroke your hair and whisper about how he thinks that you're pretty, and that "You're perfect for us, kitten. We wouldn't want you any other way." Before he kisses your forehead. It'll probably take a few months for him to open up about any potential insecurities he may have since he genuinely is pretty confident in his looks. He only mentions one (1) time that he might not be crazy about his weight, since he's a little soft around the edges and the rest of the boys are either ripped or bone thin, before he decides that sharing is not for him. But, it's that one little conversation that speaks volumes, as it makes it clear that David gets what you're going through. David is one of the more talkative of the boys, so really you don't have to talk much when you're with him. He doesn't interrupt you when you do speak, but it's nice to just take a break and let him speak for you sometimes. When you tell them that you want to go slow, David doesn't mind. That means he gets to focus on teasing you, and he sees it as just building up tension. Teases you by saying, "You gotta tell me what you want, kitten," under the guise of him not wanting to push any of your boundaries. However, you know him well enough to know that he's doing it just to be an asshole. Will fight someone for you, obviously, and they almost always end up getting eaten.

Dwayne is by far the nicest about your shyness, since he's the quietest of the boys. Liked you immediately because he saw the two of you as kindred souls, and gently coaxes you out of your shell by stepping out of his first. The other boys think it's weirdly fascinating to see Dwayne be considered the more extraverted out of a pair, and Dwayne will even go as far as ordering food for you and speaking for you in situations that you're too timid to. Tries to keep his compliments to a minimum after you say that you have self-esteem issues, but the way he stares at you sometimes makes it clear exactly what he's thinking. He looks at you with so much love and adoration in his eyes that you have trouble meeting his gaze, and he'll gently run his fingers against your cheek. Gives you knuckle kisses whenever you're nervous about being in a large crowd or someone is being rude, and shields you away/glares at them rather than get into a fight. Keeps you close and acts as your bodyguard. Always waits for you to finish speaking, and is the type to nod encouragingly. Again, the way he looks at you makes you flustered, but Dwayne will encourage you to keep going and wait for you to finish. Dwayne doesn't talk about his insecurities that much, and when he does you think he's being ridiculous because he's gorgeous. Will respond with, "That's exactly how I think about you, princess." And it makes you flush so red that Dwayne thought you were going to faint. When you say you want to go slow, Dwayne assures you that he'll never make you do anything you're not comfortable with. Let's you set the pace, even if you're a little too shy to take the lead. The two of you will lay in your nest for hours, just slowly kissing and keeping things light. He likes to have you sit on top of him so you never feel like he's gonna take control, but really all it does is just make you more nervous than ever.

Overall, they do their best to try to help you with your self esteem issues and they love you exactly how you are

[symphonic-scream]

Okay so here's the summary of what happens in the first section of the ML Genshin au. If you're overly familiar with the lore of the game itself sorry in advance cause things are gonna be different. It's a mix of wanted to incorporate new ideas and I don't remember everything exactly lmao

This of course contains Spoilers for the first three Archon quests in Genshin Impact :) so there you've been warned. Also warning: long post. I'm sorry

--

So the story starts with two travelers soaring through the skies, visiting world after world as they go. However their journey is cut short when they encounter a strange god in the heavens above one such world

The travelers hold out against her for as long as they can, but she gets the upper hand, capturing one of the two travelers. She seals away the powers of the other, trapping him in this world

Some time passes. Our traveler has spent his time trying to survive in the wild in this new world, and has now fished a strange creature up out of the sea. Some floating cat thing, that insists he's not a cat. He calls himself Plagg

Our traveler is blond, with striking green eyes. His outfit is very strange, looking kinda like,, a thick leather armour type stuff but softer. There are dark stars on his shoulders, wrists, on the belt, and in the centre of his chest, and his shirt cuts off at the base of his ribs. Pants are much the same, boots ending just below the knees, and he's got some fancy golden gloves and padding on the knees

The traveler explains what he remembers of his story to Plagg, introducing himself as Adrien. He's not of this world, and he's going to find his identical cousin Felix, who was taken by a strange god, no matter what it takes

Plagg decides to be his guide in this world, which he calls Teyvat, and agrees to help him find the god and his cousin. He explains that Teyvat is divided into seven Nations, each under the rule of one of seven gods called Archons, collectively "the Seven". The land they're in now is called Mondstadt, the nation belonging to the Archon of freedom. And Anemo, the element of wind

Plagg leads Adrien into a small valley, a statue resting in the middle of a small lake right in the centre. The guide calls it a Statue of the seven, this one modeled after Barbatos, the name used for the Anemo Archon. Plagg believes there's a chance the strange god could be one of the seven, so perhaps praying to the statue may give them some answers

However when Adrien gets close, he's infused with a strange power. He now has control over Anemo

This is odd to Plagg because in Teyvat, only humans with something called a vision can use elemental abilities. Visions are gifts from the Archons, used to show who has earned their favour through what's usually some inhuman feat or something like that I guess

The statue left more questions than answers, so Plagg decides they should try to find the god in person in the City of Mondstadt. However on their way to the forest that will lead to the city, a dragon flies overhead

Plagg decides a dragon is too much work to deal with and suggests they turn back, cause maybe your cousin will show up on his own- wait - hey come back here-

Adrien marches on, interested in meeting a dragon. He walks carefully through the trees, stopping short when he spots the dragon and a shorter figure

The person slowly approaching the dragon has their back to Adrien, with pinkish-red hair, wearing a somewhat fancy looking grey hooded jacket, black high boots, and dark cyan trousers. On their left shoulder, attached to their lapel, is a spring green/seafoam?? Kinda? Idk- coloured gem

Their hand is outstretched towards the dragon, who growls lowly as the figure shushes them. Adrien leans in to see better, snapping a twig beneath his boots. At the sudden noise the dragon shoots off into the sky, flying off. The figure whips around to face Adrien, summoning a sword from thin air (vision users can just do this?? There's really no explanation that I've cared to read haha). The figure turns and runs off into the woods after staring at Adrien for a moment

Adrien and Plagg continue on their way through the woods, coming out the other end with no other issues. Once they exit the forest, a woman is calling for their attention

She's dressed in for the outdoors, emerald kinda green overalls that are cut like shorts, white,, idk kinda like tights but thicker?? And brown boots, the same colour as the pretty much useless belt around her waist, where a bright green gem and little pouches rest. Under the overalls is a navy collared shirt, soft fabric, button open at the top, a brown half jacket (cut like a crop top) open over it. Dark hair in two pigtails, bright blue eyes

She introduces herself as Marinette, an adventurer assisting the Knights of Favonius, who protect the city, with keeping monsters at bay from the city. She asks Adrien what he and his, cat? ("IM NOT A CAT!") Are doing outside the city, and he tells her he's looking for his cousin, and maybe Barbatos

Marinette explains that they haven't heard from their god in years, and only recently have they gotten any sign that the Archon actually exists, with the first Anemo vision to be given out in ages and the dragon attacks

Adrien helps her clear out a little monster camp before they head into the city, with Marinette planning on taking Adrien to see the Acting Grand Master to see if she can help

But OH NO DRAGON ATTACK. Adrien hears a voice and suddenly he's got boosted abilities, flying (using a wind glider) up with the dragon, chasing it away from the city by blasting it with Anemo energy

When he lands Marinette asks him what the hell he just did, and someone else steps in, claiming they were about to say the same thing. This woman has orange cat ears sticking out of bobbed orange hair, and is wearing glasses over teal eyes

She's got a simple, dark blue jacket on over a light blue collared shirt, a brown vest between the two. Dark pants, tall metallic, silver boots, a small kinda waist cape?? Idk what they are but she's got one and it's white and furred. A pale baby blue vision hangs from the side of her belt

This is Sabrina, one of the Captains with the knights, Marinette explains. Sabrina escorts the two of them to the headquarters of the knights, claiming the Acting Grand Master wants to speak with them

The Acting Grand Master has long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and tired blue eyes. She wears a long dark coat, an orangey brown vision just off the right shoulder. Under the jacket is a dark brown, thick blouse and vest combo. Her pants are a pale brown, and her boots are the same as Sabrina's. Her clothing looks rather lavish

The Acting Grand Master, Chloe, she insists they call her, listens to Adrien's tale. She explains she can help once things calm down with the whole dragon thing. He wants to help, but she can't just let him in for liability reasons and strikes a deal. If he can locate the one citizen that didn't check in and confirm their health after the attack, he earns honorary knight status

The knights and adventurers head out to seek out the temples of three of the four winds while Adrien and Plagg look for this missing person. They follow traces of Anemo energy, leading them to the roof of the knights headquarters where they come face to face with the figure from the woods, the missing citizen

The citizen attempts to run, but they stop her and say the knights are looking for her. The figure cautiously introduces herself as Alix Kubdel, watching the duo cautiously

Plagg speaks first breaking the silence, asking her about what she was doing with the dragon. You know, the dragon that attacked the city? Got an explanation for that?

Alix hesitates but explains that she was trying to calm down the dragon, bond with it. When asked why, she finally explains that she's the New Anemo Archon, and she's still getting used to what she has to do

New? What do you mean new? Plagg kinda hounds at her, Adrien apologizes, and Alix says the last Archon died, and she was eventually chosen as a replacement

By now the knights are returning from the temples and Adrien takes Alix in to talk with Chloe to convince her that they don't need to kill "Stormterror", the name given to the dragon by the city. Alix corrects them, stating his name is Dvalin

Alix has to reveal to Chloe as well that she's the new Archon in order to convince her to let them try Alix's "bonding plan", and they set into action. The group sets off for the lair of the dragon, to confront him headon

Adrien fights the dragon the same way as before, realizing Alix was the one that gave him the ability to do the funky blasting and flying, and then they've got him weak enough that Adrien can do some weird otherworldly healing thing on him

Apparently the dragon was poisoned by the monsters from the Abyss, and was under their orders. Without the aid of the Archon he couldn't fight it, but now that he's met the new Archon, Alix, all is great and dandy and they have a fun chat

They all head back to the city to celebrate, but they're ambushed by a group called the Fatui from one of the other nations, Schnezneya. During the ambush a woman known as Signora, one of the Harbingers who executes the will of the Cryo Archon, gets a hold of Alix

She snatches something called a gnosis from her, leaving her weak on the ground as they flee. The gnosis, uh, it holds like,, uh, the godly powers of an Archon? It's what makes em an Archon I guess? Sorta? Anyways Alix's was stolen so she doesn't have it now

And that's pretty much it. Alix goes to heal at this big ass tree and advises Adrien fo go check out the next nation, Liyue, and their Archon Morax, to see about his cousin and thats it

Adrien would do other stuff before leaving including meeting two Alchemists and helping them explore a mountain, assisting the two owners of the Harmony Tavern with some bullshit and all that but yeah

This is a very condensed version, of the events, but anymore detail and this would be that much longer lmao

If you have any questions comments complaints or whatever let me know. Sorry this was long I tried to condense it as best I could,

[breaddaerb]

listen i swear i'm not the kinda person that celebrates christmas when its february or something but. christmas scenarios with the whole squad??

[ valorant headcannons II ]

✎↷: you didn’t need to clarify that first part.. i looped ‘baby it’s cold outside’ yesterday afternoon ahxjdhjz. i got you, friend, have some late-christmas cheer!

christmas is a huge event. friends, couples, families, and strangers alike share the holiday around the world, and the valorant protocol was not excluded from this tradition. with so many young agents and an old man watching over them on a daily basis, it only made sense to...

...dress brimstone up like santa claus. the idea appeared when phoenix was talking about how he had pictures of himself sitting on santa’s lap when he was a baby at protocol dinner, and the other members of the ‘hell trio’ went along with it. after the meal, jett, raze, and phoenix came up to brimstone, begging for the man to dress up as santa that year. 

he owned a hat and a suit. it was his christmas present once when omen first joined protocol and severely misunderstood what the tradition meant, and had caused killjoy to have a borderline suffocation from her laughter. on christmas day when brimstone walked into the living room in thick black boots and bright red cloth, the younger members were ecstatic and practically clung to the man all evening in one form or another. 

every year their christmas meal is different. the different parts of the meal are always split up, like skye and breach on dessert or reyna and sage on the main course. there’s a lot of love packed into these meals, but also competition. to make the better dish or the weirdest dish is a conflict that the more chaotic members have, but brimstone warned them to make edible food for the rest of the protocol.

killjoy and raze are banned from the kitchen. if their boombot eats were anything to go with, it’s that no matter how hard or what they try, it’ll be exceedingly dangerous. instead, they get to work on decorating the protocol! they used to get real pine trees until the brazilian woman thought it would be freakin’ awesome to make ornaments with her grenades.

they never got to have a real tree again after that. 

brimstone has always tried to make sure everyone was at christmas dinner. no running off, no training, nothing but a normal evening where they could be the most comfortable. it was important to psychologically maintain a sense of normalcy, which meant that presents were bought. a lot.

sova and omen are the best present givers. they’re able to observe the small details and catch the little things, buying the desired gifts for their colleagues when the time comes around. most of sova’s gifts had a cheesily heartfelt message included in it to each of the agents and never failed to melt hearts, while omen did what he could to make homemade presents. like knitting.

and yes, omen did make all of the crew sweaters. they weren’t christmas ones, but neutral and customized colors that were made for the given agent. sova cried when omen gave him his present, ever the most-genuine one, and had embraced the man tightly. the picture of the affectionate gesture was saved in brimstone’s office, treasured on one of his walls.

mistletoes weren’t a common occurrence. yes, there was one always hung, and there was also a robotic mistletoe that would shoot anyone who didn’t kiss underneath it. killjoy reassured sage and skye that it was only a light zap and that they shouldn’t worry about it that much! after all, it was just a taser. viper was the unfortunate soul who had walked underneath the mistletoe, and yoru walking by in passing resulted in both of them getting zapped.

“you should run!” but real life.

there’s more drinking than there is food. some stay sober to witness the blackmail festival and clean up while the drunkards ‘get drunk’, and it’s overall a great time for both parties. reyna held a drinking contest with raze, and though it wasn’t clear on who won, the two of them made ‘close acquaintances’ that night. cypher saved the whole thing onto his cameras and phoenix begged him for the content as well because that, my friends, was totally going in the highlight reel.

even the healers don’t stay out of drinking. sage is considerably a light weight and usually hangs onto a glass of wine the whole night, but skye? oh, skye will go on and on. her drinking tolerance is among the best with breach by her side, and the two of them could casually share a few heavy drinks without a break. alcohol has never phased either of them, and brimstone had tried to join them once. notice: tried. once.

but everyone has fun! if a pair or two sneak away to continue their christmas festivities elsewhere, it’s likely that the entirety of protocol would be too drunk to notice until the majority of people trickled away. cypher and jett are somehow the ones who are last. jett, on the verge of blacking out, is sluggish and slow as ever. the moroccan man teases for it, but he doesn’t mind bringing her safely back to her room and giving her the according medicine for her hangover the next morning.

[maybeimamuppet]

in her pride

happy Wednesday and happy pride, friends! this is a request fill for @jusanotherconfusedfangirl who requested our art freaks and Elijah attending pride!

trigger warnings for:

homophobia

one use of d-slur

panic attacks

I think that's everything, but as always please let me know if I've missed something and I will add it in.

enjoy!

-

“Hey, Peanut,” Janis greets as Cady leaps into her arms. “You look cute!”

“Thanks!” Cady chirps happily. She does look rather adorable in her shorts and tank top combo, complete with bi flag suspenders and a matching headband. She also found bi flag socks and stole a pair of Janis’ boots. Cady pulls back to see Janis’ outfit too. “Wow. You look… really good.”

“Why thank you,” Janis purrs. She’s in her usual shorts and tights, but this time has a lesbian flag t-shirt and matching socks poking out from her own boots. She does a spin to show off her outfit, revealing that one the pockets of her shorts has also been painted with the many orange and pink stripes of her flag, and her infamous ‘female power’ painting done in miniature on the other. “Come on.”

Cady follows her into the house and up to her room. Julie waves as they pass her open door. She’s got on a rainbow shirt in solidarity, but wouldn’t be joining them on their little excursion.

“Do you want your flag painted on your face?” Janis asks, pointing to her own cheek decorated with yet another lesbian flag. Cady nods excitedly, so Janis gestures for her to sit across from her on the bed and grabs her paints and a brush.

“What’s it going to be like?” Cady asks as Janis tenderly brushes a thick stripe of blue onto her cheek.

“Loud,” Janis replies immediately. “In a lot of ways. There’s gonna be a lot of bright colors, obviously, and a lot of noise. And probably a few weird smells.”

“Okay,” Cady chuckles gently so she doesn’t mess Janis up.

“It’s a lot of fun, though. You’ll get to see and meet all sorts of people who’ve been through and experienced all sorts of things,” Janis says. “You’ll love it.”

“I’m so excited,” Cady says happily as Janis finishes brushing magenta on top of her purple stripe. “When did you start going?”

“Ninth grade,” Janis says quietly. “Damian and I went with our moms.”

“Aww,” Cady coos. “You sound sad.”

“I’m… I don’t know,” Janis says. “It was a great thing overall that year, but I had an… ordeal, let’s say, with a group of protestors there. I’m still not sure how I feel about that Pride as a whole.”

“Oh,” Cady frowns. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not right now,” Janis says. “It’s your first pride, let’s just focus on that for today. I’ll tell you some other time.”

“Okay,” Cady says. “You look good in warm colors, you should wear them more often.”

“You think?” Janis chuckles, putting her hands on her hips and striking a pose. “Haven’t worn this much pink since I was a Plastic.”

“Love, you wore that pink shirt so many times during our junior year,” Cady says. “And last year, too.”

“What pink shirt?” Janis asks in confusion. “I don’t have any pink clothes.”

Cady heads over to her closet and pulls out the two-toned pink striped shirt, a dress with pink flowers, and a pink sweater.

“Then what color are these?” She asks, holding them up to show off.

Janis goes very quiet and purses her lips. “Diet red. I don’t wear pink.”

Cady bursts out laughing and comes to kiss her cheek. “You’re allowed to wear pink if you want, lovey. It suits you.”

“Humph,” Janis grumbles. “Do you have everything you need?”

“I think so,” Cady says. “Sunscreen and sunglasses, ear defenders, hats, water, snacks, phone, ponchos, flags.”

“Sounds good to me,” Janis says. “Dame and Elijah should be here in a few minutes and then we can go.”

“Yay,” Cady says happily, coming to straddle her girlfriend for cuddles.

-

Sure enough, Damian and Elijah come quite literally parading into the room about ten minutes later, having let themselves into Janis’ house. Cady and Janis are more than a little concerned when they hear Julie yell “Oh my god!”

Until they see what she’s on about. Damian is looking… colorful in a full rainbow outfit, complete with cloud hat, bright red lipstick and wearing a trans pride flag as a cape. Elijah is entirely topless but in a rainbow skirt, long and made of tulle. He’s also wearing a flag cape, but his is the demisexual flag. He has a fan in each hand. One says ‘Oh honey’ with a bee pattern on it and the other appears to say ‘Power bottom’. Janis gags a little as he hands the latter back to Damian.

“Jesus Christ, guys,” Janis laughs. “Looking good.”

“Whoa,” Cady blinks. “I want a cape!”

“Do you have a flag?” Damian asks. Cady nods and grabs her larger bi flag that she’d impulse-bought a while ago out of her bag. He takes it and ties it loosely around her neck to match them. Once she has her cape, Cady does a superhero pose with her hands on her hips and her chin jutted out proudly.

“Bi-der girl,” Janis mumbles under her breath. Cady hears her and laughs, nodding in agreement.

“Can we go now pleeeease? I’m so excited,” Cady begs, tugging on Janis’ hand to get her to stand up.

“Yes, we can, easy,” Janis laughs. “Save your energy.”

“She’s got plenty,” Damian chuckles. “Let’s go, E can drive us there.”

—————

“Whoa,” Cady says in awe, looking around at all the bright rainbows and fun outfits surrounding them. They got a spot near the start of the parade, to get the best goodies. “Is that person-“

“Naked? Probably,” Janis finishes as Cady trails off. “There’s a lot of different things people are here for, some are a little ‘out there’ even for me.”

“Hm,” Cady hums thoughtfully. “Fun!”

“Just wait ‘til it starts, Butterfly,” Janis says, kissing her cheek. Cady flinches a little when the screaming begins along with the parade, and Janis quickly realizes she can’t see much. Cady accepts the offered perch on Janis’ back and watches like that, waving at people passing by and catching them a few of whatever is flung their way.

By the time the last few floats and groups have gone by, Janis is almost totally covered in all sorts of rainbow and pride accoutrements. Necklaces, other beads, candy, flags, and even some condoms.

“That was awesome!” Cady squeals in her ear. “What now?”

“Now we get to walk around and enjoy it,” Janis responds, following Damian and Elijah down the street. “Ooh, cupcakes.”

Cady is glad Janis seems to have forgotten she’s still on her back, since it means she doesn’t have to walk around. Janis buys them each a cupcake with their respective pride flag frosted on top, and Cady climbs down to dig in happily.

“Ooh, mine is funfetti!” She says around a mouthful, showing Janis her cupcake with the bite missing.

“I think mine is strawberry,” Janis says around some of her own, showing off the pink center to hers. Cady cheekily leans in and takes a bite of it. “Hey!” Janis leans in and takes a bite of Cady’s. “You got frosting on your nose.”

Cady crosses her eyes to see, and sure enough, there is a little bit of purple frosting from her cupcake on her nose. She pokes her tongue out to try to get it, but Janis kisses it away instead. Cady grins and clambers back onto her girlfriend’s back, peppering a few kisses over her cheeks.

“What’s that?” She asks, pointing to a group of people who seem to be doing some sort of craft as they listen to a local band on a stage nearby.

“I dunno, sometimes they have art stuff here. Do you want to go see? I think we’ve officially lost Dame and Elijah,” Janis says.

“How did we manage that? Damian is literally dressed as a whole rainbow,” Cady mutters confusedly.

“Exactly, it’s perfect camouflage,” Janis chuckles. “They’ll find us eventually, come on.”

Cady clings to her shoulders contently as she’s carried over to the area. A lady is running a booth there and explains they’re painting rocks to go in a garden outside the local LGBTQ+ youth shelter. People are painting anything from pride flags, to animals and other random things, to supportive messages on some of the larger ones. It’s free, so Janis grabs a few rocks for each of them and a paper plate with all sorts of colors of acrylic paint.

“So what do you think so far, Butterfly?” Janis asks as she gets to work painting a bee on one of her rocks.

“It’s fun! You were right, it’s loud, but it’s… safe feeling. A good loud,” Cady responds, deciding to do a rainbow lion, as a little nod to her pride of lions from Kenya. “And everything is so interesting, there’s so much here.”

“Good,” Janis replies, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Someone from one of the other blankets yells over that they make a cute couple, and they both call back a thank you with a giggle.

“And everyone is so nice, too,” Cady chuckles, brushing a streak of purple into her lion’s mane.

Once all their rocks have been thoroughly decorated with all sorts of flags and rainbows and messages, they return them to the booth to dry and be placed, and then head off to find another thing to do.

“Oh, there’s Damian,” Cady says, having been on her tippy toes and scanning the local area.

“Of course he found the food trucks,” Janis mumbles under her breath. She yelps slightly as Cady grabs her hand and starts running them in that direction.

By the time they make it to him, she’s thoroughly out of breath. Damian turns around at the sound of her panting and chuckles.

“Hey guys!” He greets. “I found tacos. You good, Jan?”

“Gimme,” Janis puffs, reaching for his slushee. He hands it over begrudgingly and lets her have a few gulps. “Ooh, blue raspberry. Thanks.”

“Get your own,” Damian whines. “They’re, like, two bucks.”

“And you owe me ten,” Janis shrugs. “Mine now.”

“Why does Damian owe you money?” Cady asks worriedly.

“I bet him ten bucks I could steal a sheep without being noticed,” Janis responds. “And then I did.”

“You-you-“ Cady stutters. “Wh-what-why- why did you-“

“Good job, Janis, you broke your girlfriend,” Elijah chuckles.

“I put it back after,” Janis says, as if that makes anything better. Cady is still stuttering over several questions. “I named him Walter.”

Cady just blinks and then sighs, leaning her head against Janis’ shoulder. “Stop stealing livestock. Just leave them alone.”

“I didn’t steal the cows! Or the chickens,” Janis defends quickly. “And the sheep was fine. I just borrowed him for a second. Also, did you know sheep are not as soft as you would think? They’re very scratchy.”

“There’s a reason I can’t wear wool,” Cady chuckles in response. “Now get us some tacos, you heathen.”

Janis pouts, but does head up to the window to order them some food. Cady takes hers and leads them all over to a picnic table nearby, trying to navigate around the sticky soda spills and leftover gum.

Elijah tells them about the clothing and accessory booths set up a ways away, showing them all the cool pride necklaces he had purchased along with a few t-shirts. In return, Cady points out the cupcake place back closer to the beginning. Damian suddenly looks much more excited than he did a second ago.

“They’re really good! Mine was funfetti, and Janis let me try some of her strawberry one,” Cady says.

“I didn’t let you, you stole a bite,” Janis retaliates. “Don’t twist this story.”

“And you took some of mine,” Cady argues jokingly. “You would’ve given me a bite anyway.”

“No I wouldn’t! You’re a thief,” Janis says. Damian and Elijah both shoot her a look. “What?”

To prove her point, Cady juts out her bottom lip and blinks at her pleadingly. “Jayjay, can I pleeeease have a bite of your taco?”

“This is a trap, this is a trap,” Janis whispers to herself, trying her hardest to resist. Cady takes it up a notch and leans into her shoulder, blinking those long eyelashes at her adorably. “Fine!”

Cady laughs victoriously and steals her bite. “I told you. I have the power.”

“Outside the bedroom, maybe,” Janis mutters crankily. “Ow!”

“Janis Sarkisian,” Cady scolds, whacking her arm once more. “We just got a whole intervention a couple weeks ago, did you not learn your lesson about keeping things private?”

“I was joking, ow!” Janis laughs. “Stop hitting me, I’m sorry. I gave you my taco.”

Cady chuckles. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have hit you. I love you.”

Janis grins again as Cady cuddles back into her shoulder. “I love you too.”

Damian shoots them a warning look, so Janis restrains herself to one kiss against Cady’s hair and less aggressive cuddling than she wants.

They finish their food and sit there chatting for a while before Cady pipes up again. “I’m bored, can we go find something else to do?”

“Sure, Cads,” Damian chuckles. “Come on, there’s some photo booth thingies this way.”

Cady says, “Ooh!” excitedly at the same time Janis gives a groan, but they both follow Damian and Elijah regardless. “Jayjay, it’ll be fun! Oh, look at all the backdrops, they’re huge!”

Janis can’t help but smile at her excitement, remembering the joy she felt at her own first pride. Cady takes all sorts of selfies and pictures with her little squad at every flag backdrop, even the ones nobody in their group belong to. They are all very pretty and do make excellent photo backdrops.

Janis takes some of just Cady in front of the bi flag pasted to the side of a building. Cady smiles happily at her and does a few poses. Damian cheers her on from the sidelines before joining her for a few more. Janis smiles even more. She and Damian are and always will be platonic soulmates, but he and Cady have something special too.

Cady eventually comes back to her girlfriend after no fewer than fifty pictures. Some Plastic habits have taken longer to fade than others. “Do you want any of you?”

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks, Peanut,” Janis says. She’s perfectly content to peruse their group shots or the photos of Cady, she’s never been one to enjoy taking pictures of just herself. “I’m in plenty of the group ones.”

“Okay,” Cady says. “What do you want to do? You’ve just been following me around so far.”

“No, I got the cupcakes,” Janis reminds her. “And you’ve picked good stuff to do. Let’s go check out the shopping stands, though, they usually have good stuff.”

Cady nods and takes her hand. Damian and Elijah realize they’re leaving and follow after them at a slight distance. Cady looks around curiously at all the rainbows and other color schemes in various forms around them. “I’ve never felt so… safe. Or secure in my sexuality,” she says quietly as they pass under a rainbow balloon structure.

“Good. That’s how it’s supposed to feel,” Janis says back with a smile. It quickly fades. “Too good to last.”

“What?” Cady asks. Janis points to a crowd of religious protestors nearby, holding signs with all sorts of cruel phrasing on them. “Oh.”

“Just ignore them for now, unless they start getting physical or go after someone young,” Janis shrugs, turning to browse some pride earrings. Cady nods and follows.

She notices Janis tense up as they’re forced to get closer to keep browsing, so she squeezes her hand gently to comfort her. Janis squeezes back thankfully.

Cady and Janis manage to ignore them and continue browsing. Cady buys everyone scrunchies patterned with their respective flags. Elijah puts his on his wrist, but Damian goes the extra mile and manages to get a little ponytail together on top of his head.

He and Elijah continue walking around for a while, but Cady and Janis stay and find a place to sit. It’s quiet and peaceful as Cady braids Janis’ hair down her back and ties the end with her new scrunchie.

So quiet that Janis forgets where they are and who’s nearby, and leans in to kiss her. All she knows is Damian and Elijah aren’t particularly close by, so she has free reign to kiss her girlfriend as much as she wants.

She’s violently brought back to reality when she hears some yelling. All she can make out is the word ‘dykes’. And to make matters worse, her hand suddenly feels warm and wet. One of them spat on her.

Damian and Elijah make a return as they hear the slurs being yelled, and Janis runs to cuddle into Damian. Cady, however, is fuming.

Cady knows she’s not supposed to engage these people. It won’t change anything, and puts her at risk. But, as she sees Janis being led away by Damian apparently in tears, she can’t hold herself back. Elijah is waiting for her, and there’s plenty of safe people around.

“Listen up, you fucks!” She snaps, getting the mob’s attention. “You know damn well you don’t belong here. This is an event for us, to give us a safe space. You’re entitled to your opinions, but attacking my girlfriend is where I draw the fucking line. Fun fact, pride actually has two meanings. This, and a family of lions. I grew up surrounded by several prides. I know how they fight, how they protect each other. The same applies here. If you even think about doing anything to anyone here again, I’ll show you how a whole pride of lions fights. Now fuck off.”

Surprisingly, they listen and back down a little bit. They don’t leave like she had hoped, but deep down she knew they wouldn’t. They’re suddenly swarmed by other pride-goers, congratulating her on her speech and going to try to cover the signs of the protestors.

“Damn, Cady,” Elijah says lowly. “Nice.”

“They hurt Janis,” Cady growls furiously. “Where did they go?”

Elijah points to an alleyway and leads them to it, quickly revealing a sobbing Janis being cradled by Damian. Cady’s seen her like this a few times before. She’s having a panic attack.

“Oh, darling,” Cady breathes sadly, any trace of anger gone once she sees the state Janis is in. “I’m so sorry.”

Janis reaches for her, so Cady cuddles in by Damian and squishes Janis between them. Elijah waits a little bit away, but in earshot if they need him. Janis doesn’t know him as well and his presence seemed to be making her more upset.

Cady pulls her bag off her back and roots through it, pulling out a water bottle and one of the snacks she brought, Janis’ sunglasses, and her own ear defenders.

“Mpenzi, do you want to try these? You don’t have to, but they help me when I’m overwhelmed,” Cady says lowly, tenderly stroking over Janis’ braid. Janis nods with another burst of sobs, so Cady helps her get the sunglasses on without poking her eyes and gently pops on the headphones. “Deep breaths, love, everything’s okay.”

Janis continues weeping in their embrace, sniffling anxiously every once in a while and clinging to both of her comfort people. Cady usually would offer a calming strategy, but she gets a sense that this time it’s important for Janis to just get it out.

A few people pass by the alley and ask if she’s okay, but Elijah plays bodyguard and sends them on their way again with the assurance that they’re handling it.

Very, very gradually, Janis does calm down. She pulls the headphones down around her neck and tucks the sunglasses into her shirt, reaching for the water and snack.

Cady unscrews the lid and hands it over, but helps her hold it when she sees how violently Janis is still shaking. Janis downs a couple gulps and continues clutching it as she shifts off of Damian and closer to Cady.

“Can I kiss you? Here?” Cady asks, tapping Janis’ forehead. She doesn’t know what triggered this, yet, and she doesn’t want to overstep. But Janis nods, so she pulls her close and peppers kisses against her temple. “You’re okay now, they’re gone.”

Elijah gets a little closer now that Janis is no longer in tears, sitting across the alley against the other wall.

“Did they-did they do anything? To you?” Janis chokes quietly, checking over Cady for any injuries and her face for any hint of sadness. Elijah snorts. “What?”

“Cady cussed their asses out,” Elijah responds. “She went off, even I was scared. They didn’t have a chance to get anything in edgewise.”

“That’s not- not safe,” Janis whispers anxiously. “Wh-why?”

“Shh, darling, I know it was a bad idea,” Cady says, blushing slightly at Elijah’s summation of the events. She just said whatever came to her. “But they hurt you. I’m not gonna let anyone get away with that. Nothing happened, and I won’t do that again.”

Janis looks warily to Damian, who gives her a sad nod. Cady gives a weak grin watching their apparent psychic connection.

“When I was-well. The first-the first time,” Janis begins shakily. “I was-was fourteen. Stupid. I-I made f-fun of them. And-and-and…”

She breaks down again, crying into Cady’s shoulder gently. Damian asks her if he can tell the story for her, and she nods.

“She kind of taunted them. I did too, it was funny for a while,” he says quietly. “But then one of them got really angry. He got them all to yell at us a lot louder, and Janis was obviously still kind of sensitive to the whole d-slur thing. Which they noticed, so they yelled that over and over. And then he threw a rock, and it hit her. She had a bruise for almost a month, it almost broke her arm.”

“Oh god, love,” Cady whispers in sad shock. “I’m so sorry.”

“That guy was arrested, but the rest of them weren’t. And he got out pretty quickly, unfortunately. His church paid his bail,” Damian growls. “We’ve tried to avoid them since.”

“Was he there?” Cady asks him quietly.

“No,” Damian says with a shake of his head. “But it was similar enough to what happened last time. She wasn’t right for a long time after it happened. And it makes sense she’s traumatized a little.”

Cady nods sadly and cuddles her girlfriend closer. It’s so hot, but Janis is crying so hard into her shoulder that she can’t think about anything else.

“Shh, darling, I’m so sorry,” Cady says quietly, rocking her girlfriend from side to side. “You’re safe, I’m safe. All of us are safe, nobody got hurt this time. Everything’s okay, I promise.”

Janis nods gently against her and tries to calm down, matching Cady’s slow, deep breathing as best she can and inhaling her comforting scent of rosewater, cherries, and books. They all mingle in an enchanting aroma around Cady, and Janis can’t get enough.

After another few minutes she stops crying again, and is just sniffling quietly in Cady’s hold.

“Okay?” Cady asks quietly. Janis nods gently again. “Good. Do you want to go fix your makeup or stay here a while longer?”

“You could do both,” Damian shrugs, pulling out a pack of makeup wipes and a few basic products. “What? You never know what you might need.”

“Gay,” Elijah teases. Damian pokes his tongue out at him.

Cady takes a few of the wipes and tenderly swipes the mascara and streaky remnants of a pride flag from Janis’ face. Her lipstick survived, so she leaves that. “Look up, dearest.”

Janis does, so she gently swipes on a new coat of eyeliner and several layers of mascara, as Janis likes it to be. “Thank you.” She says quietly, blinking a few times to get everything in place once Cady finishes.

“You’re welcome,” Cady responds with a kiss to her cheek. “Do you want to go home? You’ve been through it today.”

“No,” Janis replies instantly. “I-I went home last time. I let them get to me. I can’t do it again.”

“Okay,” Cady says. “If you’re sure you’re okay.”

Janis nods and stands up, brushing over her cheeks to try and help any remaining tear tracks fade. Cady, Damian, and Elijah stand as well.

“Oh, hang on a second,” Cady says hastily, taking her bag off again and rooting through it. She pulls out Janis’ pride flag and ties it gently around her neck so she has a cape like the rest of them. “It came off your face. You need another one.”

Janis grins weakly and squeezes her hand, leading them out of the alley and back to the festival.

“Hey,” Cady says quietly as they follow Damian and Elijah back closer to the entrance. Janis looks at her with a questioning hum, still not really in a mood to speak. Cady holds their intertwined hands up. “I love you.” She squeezes Janis’ hand three times, one squeeze for each word.

Janis smiles and leans in for a quick kiss. She looks around anxiously before she does, but the fact that she’s even willing to do so at all is frankly a miracle. “I love you too.” She squeezes Cady back four times, following the same pattern.

Eventually they get close to the area where they had painted the rocks earlier. And Cady gets an idea.

“Darling, will you be okay if I leave for a few minutes? I think I left something back that way,” she says to throw Janis off slightly. Janis pouts but nods and picks up a bit of speed to catch up with Damian. He screams and whirls around when she taps him on the shoulder, and Cady muffles laughter into her hand as she loops around a building and runs over to the booth.

“Oh, hello! Welcome back, are you here to do some more?” The kind lady asks.

“Um, yes, do you have any that are like that one?” Cady asks, pointing to one of the ones she decorated earlier. “And could I maybe keep this one?”

“I’m really not supposed to, but I don’t see why not. Our gardens aren’t that big,” the lady shrugs, handing over a rock of a similar size and shape.

“Thank you!” Cady calls, squeezing out all the colors she’ll need and running to hide from her little group. She copies the design she wants, and grins when it turns out even better this time. The paint dries within ten minutes, so she holds it carefully as she returns her supplies and takes her time returning to Janis.

Once it’s dry enough, she tucks it into her backpack and rejoins her friends and girlfriend.

She finds them by the cupcakes again. Damian seems very pleased with his lemon transgender pride flag one, Elijah got a cookies and cream demisexual one, and Janis seems content with another lesbian pride one since she gets this one all to herself.

“Hey, love,” Cady greets, once again leaning in and taking a small nibble of her cupcake. Janis whines in defeat, but turns to greet her with a smile.

“You’re a thief,” she gripes jokingly, kissing Cady’s cheek.

“A cute thief,” Cady responds.

“You got me there,” Janis chuckles. “Did you find your thing?”

“Yep! All good,” Cady says. “Now you have frosting on your nose.”

Janis scrunches her face up to see, making Cady giggle. She leans in to kiss it off, returning the favor Janis gave earlier.

“Jan, are you done?” Damian asks around the last mouthful of his cupcake. Janis takes the last bite of hers and nods, standing up to throw the wrappers in the nearby bin. Cady sneakily puts their backpack on Janis’ shoulders. She looks at her oddly, but puts her arms through to carry it around.

“Should we leave? I think we’ve done all there is to do,” Elijah says. “And I want ice cream.”

Janis perks up at the mention of ice cream. She’s lactose intolerant, but will be damned if it keeps her from enjoying her favorite cold treat.

“Janis, no,” Cady says. “You get sorbet.” Janis pouts, pulling her own puppy eyes pleadingly. Resist, Cady. “Fine, we’ll stop somewhere and get you your lactose pills.”

Janis thinks for a second before giving a begrudging nod. She’d rather not deal with a stomachache on top of everything else today, maybe her lactose pills are a good compromise.

“Good, come on,” Cady says. Janis shrieks in surprise as she picks her up piggyback style and starts following Damian and Elijah to the gates. “What?”

“When did you get so strong, babe?” Janis asks, clinging to her shoulders as Cady grips her thighs.

“You’re not that heavy, Jay,” Cady chuckles, adjusting her grip slightly. “And I did grow up in Africa. I carried a lot of water around.”

“Are you from Africa, baby, really? I had no idea,” Janis teases.

“I will drop you,” Cady threatens in retaliation. “If you don’t appreciate my services.”

“No, I appreciate them,” Janis says hastily, clinging to her tighter. She rests her chin on Cady’s shoulder and squishes their cheeks together. The rhythm of their steps nearly lulls her to sleep. “‘S nice.”

“Good,” Cady giggles. “You’re so cute.”

“No,” Janis whines, turning her head away to hide her blush. “That’s not how this is supposed to go.”

Cady laughs again. “Well, it’s how it’s going, so I suggest you learn to live with it. I think you’re absolutely adorable.”

“Why?” Janis pouts. “I spent so much time trying to make myself not cute.”

“Because you just are. Your eyes are so big, and you care so much about the people you can be bothered to give a shit about, and the way you stick your tongue out when you try to focus just… hurts me, almost,” Cady says, listing a few things. “And you love cuddles and when I hold you, and you still blush every time I call you Jellybean, and you pout when you get tired, and-“

“Okay, okay,” Janis says desperately, cutting her off so she can calm down. Her face is bright red by this point. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Cady says, depositing her safely just outside the car. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Janis says, leaning in for a kiss.

“Oh my god, get in, losers!” Damian yells far too loudly. Janis and Cady both laugh and slide into the backseat.

————-

“You have an ice cream mustache,” Janis chuckles at her girlfriend once their tasty snack is finished. “Come here.”

Cady reaches for her, and Janis presses their lips together contently, the flavors of chocolate and strawberry mingling on their tongues.

“There,” Janis says once they finally pull back. Damian and Elijah went inside to browse the candy for sale, so she doesn’t have to worry about being scolded for kissing Cady so aggressively.

“Thanks,” Cady giggles. “Oh, I have something for you.”

“Huh?” Janis says confusedly as Cady takes the backpack back from her and starts rooting through it. Cady pulls out her rock and holds it behind her back.

“You have to promise not to laugh at it, I did my best,” Cady demands. Janis nods in confusion and holds her hands out for her gift. Her brows furrow for a split second when Cady drops the stone in them, but she smiles widely when she turns it over to see what it’s been decorated with.

“The rainbow lion,” she says happily, tracing a tender finger over a piece of his mane.

“I went back and made another one for you, the lady let me keep it,” Cady says. “Do you get it?”

“No, I didn’t know there was something to get,” Janis says. Cady sits next to her on the bench and smiles as Janis leans onto her shoulder.

“A group of lions is called a pride,” Cady says quietly. “And you’re in my pride. In more ways than one. I love you, so you’re in my group. And I’m so, so proud of you. For just… being you. And being here. And letting me love you.”

Janis pulls back, and Cady notices her eyes brimming with tears as she suddenly tackles Cady in a tight hug. Cady squeezes her back just as tightly.

“I love you so much,” Janis sniffles. “Thank you.”

“I love you too,” Cady says, stroking down Janis’ braid. “Oh, darling, don’t cry, I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Janis chuckles through her tears. “Good cry this time.”

“Ah, okay,” Cady says, gently rubbing up and down Janis’ back as her girlfriend moves to sit on her lap. The sun is finishing its journey for the day, the stars are just barely visible and the horizon is still bathed in varying shades of pink and orange and purple. “Happy Pride, darling.”

“Happy Pride, Peanut.”

I’m glad I’m in yours.

-

well i’ve had quite a bit of excitement trying to get this posted, so i hope you enjoyed!

requests are still paused, but i am hoping to get them re-opened in the next few weeks. nearly there.

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

[myrandomfandomramblings]

Angela’s “Baby Shower” - a The Rookie Fanfic

At 35 weeks pregnant Angela was over it. She was sick of always having to run to the bathroom.  She was done with the fogginess in her brain interfering with her work. She was over the sore back and hips and feet that came from carrying an extra 30 pounds in her abdomen and she was tired of being so tired after being unable to find a comfortable sleeping position. But mostly she just no longer wanted to feel so different. She hated being too exhausted to go out with her friends after shift and even if she was feeling up for it she always had to get water while everyone else got their cocktail of choice. She was frustrated at being unable to bend down easily when investigating crime scenes and having to rely on others to find all the evidence. She also disliked the attention she got because of her pregnancy. Everybody always seemed to be looking at her belly, asking her when she was due, how she was doing and cooing about the joys of parenthood. She was excited about the baby and couldn’t wait to meet her little bundle of joy but she also craved normalcy, to just feel like herself and be a part of the group instead of sticking out like a sore thumb. So when Wesley pitched the idea of a baby shower to celebrate her and their little one, yet to be born, she vetoed that idea fast and hard. When she shared her reasoning her Fiancé nodded.

“I understand where your coming from but you actually gave me a really good idea for a baby shower that I’m sure you’ll love. Do you trust me?” he asked.

She had nodded and agreed to let him throw her a baby shower with the caveat that she could pull the plug at anytime.

Which brought them to the day of the baby shower, a Saturday, two weeks later.  

Wesley had kept the entire thing a surprise so Angela was thoroughly confused as she watched him unpack a number of crates and garbage bags from the truck and bring them into the downtown park where she sat.

“What is all this?” She asked. 

“You’ll see,” he replied giving her a wink. “Once everyone gets here.”

20 minutes later everyone was there. Lucy, Jackson, Tim, Nolan, and Harper. Grey wanted to come but had to work.

“Welcome everyone,” Wes announced, “today we will be competing to see who is the most badass pregnant person.” At this point everyone including Angela was looking at Wesley like he had grown a second head but he pushed on. “There will be three challenges: an escape room, laser tag and a contraction simulator and you will be divided into two teams. Angela as our guest of honour you get to pick your two teammates.”

“Nyla and Lucy,” Angela said immediately. She still didn’t really understand what they were doing but she had the feeling girl power was the way to victory.

Lucy and Harper excitedly moved over to Angela, giving each other high fives.

“Guess that means we’re a team,” Nolan said draping his arms around Jackson and Tim’s shoulders.

“Great,” Tim replied rolling his eyes. Angela wasn’t sure if he was mad because she didn’t choose him or because he wasn’t on the same team as Lucy either way she was looking forward to kicking his butt.

“OK now the last thing to do before we start the competition is to pregnify everyone,” Wesley stated.

“I feel like I should make some sort of joke about how babies are made but I think I’ll wait to see where you’re going with this,” Nolan offered.

“First everyone put one of these on,” Wesley said as he reached into a garbage bag and brought out a handful of wrap baby carriers which he handed out. Once everybody had theirs on he opened the lids of several storage containers.

“Now everyone, come grab a balloon and put them in your carrier.”

“Wow these are heavier than I expected. What’s in them?” Jackson asked as he lifted a balloon out of the tub.

“They’re full of water and some sand,” Wesley answered, “and they each way exactly 30 lbs, the average amount of weight gained in pregnancy. I weighed them myself.”

“Is that why you asked me where the scale was the other night?” Angela asked

Wesley confirmed before moving on. “Next everyone grab a hoodie to put over your bundle of joy,” he said opening another garbage bag.

“It’s at least 80 degrees we don’t need hoodies,” Tim complained.

“It’s to replicate the heat generated by a growing baby,” Wesley replied, “plus I had a lot of fun with them.”

Tim rolled his eyes but obediently put on the last hoodie.

All the hoodies were bright neon colours (Lucy pink, Harper purple, Jackson green, Nolan yellow and Tim blue) and had pregnancy announcements written on the front in thick black letters: ‘Baby on Board’, ‘Coming summer 2021’, ‘Eating for two’, etc. 

“There’s one for you too if you want it Ange, but you don’t have to wear it,” Wesley said. “Now the last thing, well things,” he added bringing out a bottle of Benadryl and stack of medicine cups, “since I can’t give you brain fog I’m just going to make you drowsy. Everybody take a medicine cup and wash it down with one of these,” he said opening a cooler lid to reveal a stack of 1L water bottles, “the whole thing.”

“I’m going to have to pee so bad,” Lucy joked as she started to drink her water.

“That’s the idea,” Wesley replied.

They spent the next 20 minutes finishing their waters, waiting for the Benadryl to kick in and admiring their new ‘bellies’.

Angela laughed as Jackson yelled “belly bump,” while running then jumping towards Lucy who met him in the air before the force knocked them both off their feet. She laughed even harder watching them try and fail to get up on their own until Wesley came to help them. She happily accepted a belly bum from Jackson once he had taken them down a notch (or several) as did everyone else but Nolan who was excessively protecting his fake fetus, shielding his stomach with his arms and body whenever anybody approached. Angela watched her friends, thoroughly entertained by their antics. She was especially enjoying the effect a visibly pregnant Lucy was having on Tim.  He was constantly stealing glances at her and when she smoothed her hoodie over her stomach and asked him how she looked his cheeks flushed and Angela was pretty sure she heard him stutter. This was confirmed by Nyla who had come up beside her and after a quick poke at Tim started reminiscing about her own pregnancy with Lila, which got the two woman talking and comparing notes. She was vaguely aware of Lucy who had taken her phone out and was now taking pictures and videos of everybody but didn’t fully turn her attention back to the others until Wesley said it was time for the first challenge: the escape room.

They walked to the escape room place which was only about a block away with minimal whining and a lot of perplexed looks from passers by. Once they got there they split into their teams and went to their respective rooms. The girls’ room was sorcerer’s lair themed and overall they got through it pretty smoothly. They had a few bumps in the road: by 20 minutes in they were all crossing their legs trying to hold their pee, Lucy fell asleep once while sitting at a table trying to decode a message and Nyla debated trying to use one of the magic wands in their room to pop her balloon. “Now I remember why I only had one. This was not easy,” she said as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor. But overall they worked together really well and had a lot of fun just talking about anything and everything as they solved all the puzzles and escaped the room. 

 When the girls were done, after a quick trip to the bathroom, they joined Wesley in the control booth to watch the guys via video and they seemed to be having a much harder time.  Jackson was trying to decode the message Lucy had but was becoming visibly more and more frustrated as he rubbed his temples and verbally demanded and pleaded with his brain to work. Nolan was trying to bend down to open a trap door (Angela had opened theirs with a broom handle) but couldn’t quite reach it without nearly falling over. After many failed attempts he eventually used the chair as a support bar to lower himself to the ground then push himself back up once the door was open. Meanwhile Tim kept swearing under his breath as he accidentally knocked various things off shelves and tables with his fake belly when he forgot how far out it reached. Luckily one of the things he knocked off opened when it hit the floor to reveal a key they needed to escape the room, which Nolan was able to retrieve with his new chair technique. Shortly after, Jackson succeeded in decoding his clue and from there they proceeded to finish the room pretty quickly and easily.

After another bathroom break they headed to the food trucks for a quick lunch where they mostly sat in content silence as everyone happily shovelled food into their mouths. This silence was only punctuated by the occasional comment that was either gloating or trash talk or by Tim barking “What are you looking at?” at people eyeing the group.

Next they headed to laser tag. Which Wesley had booked privately, so they had the whole place to themselves. The rules were simple every time you shot a member of the opposing team your team earned a point. First team to 30 won. Everybody seemed to have a good time. Angela laughed at her friends as they tried to sneak up on or out run each other, both techniques that were being significantly impacted by their fake pregnancies. Nolan at one point declared that the more aggressively you waddled the faster you could go and spent the rest of the game darting around like a mad penguin. He was ultimately successful in getting 6 points for his team using this technique which was significantly more than the 1 point he got before implementing it. Jackson on the other hand found a good hiding place in a high traffic area and would shoot the opposing team anytime they came by. Although initially this strategy was very successful and he quickly racked up 10 points, once the ladies realized their vests always lit up red when they passed that area they made a plan and were able to all find and corner him in his hiding spot. By the time he got away they had got 10 points themselves. Tim tried to use a lot of the same techniques he used at work or at paintball but unfortunately for him, although  they were efficient Lucy knew all of them and was able to use that knowledge to her advantage. The girls took a different approach and worked more as a team. They used some techniques from work and also had fun designing and implementing crazy plans, including one of them acting as bait to lure the guys in and the other two blind-siding them. When all was said and done the guys won 30-29. The girls attributed this to Tim and Nolan’s height advantage. They were able to see over all the obstacles but it could also be that the girls were having a little to much fun making elaborate plans that weren’t necessarily the most practical (the gun tricks looked cool but significantly decreased their shooting accuracy). Nonetheless, Angela had the greatest total points with 16. 

Following laser tag everybody was really happy but also extremely exhausted and they outright refused to walk the ten minutes back to the park despite the fact that because they were downtown it would take twice as long to drive their in traffic. While everybody went pee again Wesley walked back and brought the van. 

“I call middle row,” Harper yelled as Wesley pulled into the parking lot. 

“Me too,” West added. 

Angela took the passenger seat which left Nolan, Lucy and Tim to squeeze into the back row. Because Lucy was the smallest she was forced to take the middle seat but it didn’t seem to matter to her as she fell asleep almost immediately and spent the 20 minute ride leaning against Tim, head on his shoulder. They woke her up once they were back at the park but only after they had taken a couple pictures. 

Once they all got out of the van Wesley told them they could take off their hoodies and fake bellies. Tim and  Nyla quickly took off their stuff and helped Wesley set up for the labour simulation. Meanwhile the three newly minted P2’s goofed around. Nolan pretended to be giving birth taking quick breaths and squeezing Lucy’s hand as he pushed his balloon out the bottom of the carrier where Jackson caught it. Then working together the three of them lifted the balloon above their heads and belted out ‘The Circle of Life.’ Following the end of their song they too quickly shed their layers then went to join the rest of the group gathered in front of a folding beach chair that had been set up. 

“Alright everyone welcome to the final and tie-breaking event,” Wesley announced.

“Tied?” Angela questioned. “We beat the guys by at least half an hour in the escape room and they only beat us by one point at laser tag. We are winning.” 

“That’s not how this works babe. But don’t worry because you will be sitting this one out because you have to go through real labor in a couple weeks, I will be taking your spot and I will make sure your team wins.”

“You better,” Angela replied teasingly.

“Alright this is the labour simulator,” Wesley explained holding up a small device, “We stick these electrodes to your stomach and this machine will deliver electricity which will result in fake contracts that range in intensity from 1-10,” he pointed to a dial on the machine. “According to the instruction book 1 is like mild period cramps, 4 is Braxton-Hicks contractions, 8 is full blown labour and 10 is just full blown torture. Whichever team can tolerate the highest combined score wins. Oh and tolerate means experience that setting for at least ten seconds without ripping the leads off your body. Any questions?” When everybody shook their heads he continued. “Who wants to go first?”

“I will,“ Jackson offered making his way to the chair. Wesley stuck the electrodes to his abdomen then he was ready to go. 

He jumped initially on the first setting since he had no idea what to expect but after that he was pretty calm just clenching his jaw as the pain was increased. That is until he got to 6.

“Can I hold somebody’s hand?” he asked, “That’s a thing, right?”

Both Lucy and Nolan immediately stood up.

“How about two hands,” Nolan suggested seeing this.

“Even better,” Jackson replied intertwining his left hand with Nolan’s and his right with Lucy’s. 

This was enough to get him through 7 and 8 as he channeled all his pain into his friends, crushing their hands, but one second into 9 and he immediately pulled the leads off.

“Great job Jackson,” Wesley said as everyone patted him on the back, “Who’s next.”

Lucy went next and didn’t so much as flinch until 5 at which point she decided she was going to try meditation. This helped her through 6 and 7 at which point she too wanted hands to squish. Although both Jackson and Nolan offered, Lucy’ teammates decided it was their job. Between crushing her friends hands and focusing on her breathing she got through 8 rather easily. She clearly struggled more with 9. Jackson, Nolan and Wes were counting down. “Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven,” Angela felt Lucy’s grip loosen in her own. She was going to pull off the leads that is until Tim spoke up, “Come on Chen. You’ve got this. You’re strong,” he said and Lucy’s grip tightened back around Angela’s. “Three, Two, One, Done.” Everybody cheered as Lucy released her team mates hands and opened her eyes. “Sorry team but that’s enough for me I’m not trying 10,” she said as she removed the electrodes from her stomach.

“You did great,” Angela said and patted Lucy’s shoulder.

Tim went next. Rather than closing his eyes he fixed his glare on the machine in Wesley’s hand as if he could intimidate it in to giving up.  He also refused to hold anyone’s hand and instead gripped the armrests of the chair. By the time he got to 8 he was gripping so hard he broke the arm of the chair but still some how managed to maintain a near neutral expression throughout the entire experience. At this point Lucy insisted on holding the hand that had broken the chair. When he pointed out that he was worried he would hurt her she stubbornly grabbed his hand in both of hers, “I’m strong, remember.” With Lucy’s help Tim too made it through 9 and like his former rookie decided to end it there.

Harper went next. Although she was clearly in pain she was able to do 10 by focusing on her breathing, holding her friends hands and thinking about Lila. 

“How did you do that?” Jackson asked awe in his voice.

“When I was in labour with Lila I had contractions that were at least the intensity of 8 that lasted a minute each for like eight hours. One ten second one is a piece of cake.”

“You didn’t have an epidural?” Nolan asked

Harper shook her head, “I was being stubborn. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”

“You’re very impressive, but I have nothing to prove to anyone. I’m getting an epidural,” Angela offered. 

“You do what’s right for you,” Nyla replied patting her friend on the back, “ You’re going to do great.”

Nolan went next. He was practically jumping out of the chair by the time it got to 6 and at 7 he was writhing around so much he actually managed to tip the chair over. The fact that he ended up in a tangled mess on the ground was probably the only reason he made it through 7 without ripping the electrodes off. He did his best on 8 but despite having everyone around him either holding his hand or holding him down he only made it five seconds.

“OK the guys got 7+8+9 that’s 24. We already have 19 so all you have to do is get through 6 babe,” Angela said to Wesley.

It should have been easy. The pain wasn’t that bad, but it was in his abdomen and it was just a little too similar to the pain he experienced when he was stabbed. He was starting to get flashbacks but he wanted to do this for his fiancé, the love of his life and mother to his unborn child. He was going to do this for Angela even when she told him it was OK, that she understood, that he didn’t need to push through this trauma for her but he wanted to. So despite the fact that his whole body was pale, we was dripping with sweat, dizzy and short of breath with tears streaming down his face he pushed through his ten seconds at 6 with steely determination. At this point Angela pulled off the electrodes for him then pulled him into a hug. All her friends wrapped themselves around the couple and they stayed like that until Wesley was feeling better. 

“I didn’t get any prizes so bragging rights will have to be enough,” Wesley admitted.

“The day was prize enough,” Lucy offered, “I had a blast, we should do stuff like this more often.”

“Does that mean you’re not going to rub it in?” Jackson asked.

“Not a chance,” she replied.

“How about because we won we get to meet the baby first?” Nyla suggested.

“That’s fair,” Angela agreed, “but what do I get?”

“Presents,” Nyla said handing Angela her baby shower present. 

After Angela opened her presents which mostly consisted of clothes and books and toys for the new baby everybody headed home to get some rest.

“Thank-you,” Angela said giving Wes a quick kiss, “For today. I really needed it.”

And she meant it. She had been feeling alone, helpless, and inadequate. But today reminded her about all the people who love her, about the strength that comes with working together. It reminded her that it’s ok to be imperfect, stressed, struggling but also to be goofy, to let loose and have fun. After today she finally felt like her self again and that woman was going to be a great mother.