#apparently one of the teens' friends is staying with them and brought it

[aidenwaites]

Neighbors have yet another new dog they let get loose outside and can't catch 👍

[voitier]

Blame Morpheus for your sins - 01

𝒾𝓃 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽... you and jungkook had been attached by the hip since you were little toddlers learning how to live in your own bodies, which led you two to spend most (if not all) of your life together. one weird dream makes your whole view about your best friend change. how will you live with that?

𝒸𝑜𝓃𝓉𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈... [mini-series!] friends to lovers, college au, jungkook is whipped for reader but she's oblivious to it all, descriptions of wet dreams, second-hand embarrassment, learning how to deal with new found feelings, sex and all the good stuff, HEA.

𝓌𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔... mentions of sex once but nothing graphic, mentions of alcohol and being drunk, reader is dumb, apparently, and jk is whipped.

▸ 𝓔𝓷𝓰𝓵𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓶𝔂 𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓼𝓽 𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓾𝓪𝓰𝓮

▸ 𝔀.𝓬. : 2𝓴

index / next

Panta Rei.

The philosopher Heraclitus believed that you cannot step twice into the same river: the waters might look the same, but they are not.

Everything in life is constantly changing, nothing is constant, except for one thing: change itself.

Change is the perfect noun to describe you and Jungkook’s relationship: having known each other since you were toddlers - thanks to your mothers, who were long time friends - you saw each other through all life stages up to this moment. You stuck to each other’s hip through good and bad, ups and downs, never once thinking or trying to leave the other. 

You were there when your moms brought you to the park after kindergarten to let you have play dates, chatting happily while you and Jungkook tried to grab the little ants that climbed your shoes to shoo them away, and running after butterflies hoping to catch one, occasionally stumbling on your own feet and rolling to the ground. Somewhere, in the piles and piles of printed pictures that your mom - a photographer - stores with care, there’s a photograph of little you and Jungkook dressed in overalls and yellow rain boots in the park. In the picture you’re sitting on the soft, green grass while Junkook stands next to you, and your mom managed to capture the exact moment a sneeze almost took your best friend out, his four years-old body folded in half right before falling face-first on the grass while you laughed heartily. 

Obviously, you don’t have any memories of the toddler stage, and the stories you know were narrated either by your mom or his, accompanied by some pictures. However, you have a ton of memories of your childhood and teen years spent together. 

For example, you remember almost like it happened yesterday, the years when you two went to elementary school and you spent too many evenings to even recount at his place doing homework, sat at the table with him and his mom who tried to help you since you had problems understanding math and no one could assist you at home since everyone worked till late at night. His mom was not only a precious help to pass math, but also a second mom to you. She let you stay at hers when your mom had to leave early for work, tucking you in Jungkook’s bed even though you were already dressed for school and he was still snoozing comfortably in the comfort of his pajamas and warm sheets; she braided your hair whenever you asked, but in return you had to be Jungkook’s little mannequin, trying to stay as still as possible as his mom taught him how to braid your hair; she listened to your frustrated rambles about Jungkook’s childish teasing, always trying to act so tough but ending up crying each time cause his words hurt more than you cared to admit. He never apologised for it, but he would always show up at school the next day with your favorite snack, a silent plea of forgiveness for his behaviour. 

Then, the teen years came, and your relationship changed once again: your playful banter was still there, but it was more careful, each word almost tentative. You didn’t share a bed anymore, both of your minds already too corrupted by society and the implications it would take to sleep in your best friend’s bed at your “grown age”. Your careless glances turned into sneaky peeks, trying to understand how both of your appearances were changing, with you admiring how his little stubble adorned his pretty face whenever he let it grow out and him observing discreetly how your body was morphing into one of a woman. He started to hang out with boys of his age more, the same way you started to hang out with your girl friends, and soon it was clear to you both that, even if done in different ways, the topics of your chattings weren’t so different, with the main focus being the other sex and the many changes your bodies went through. 

Luckily, the awkward phase lasted until you were sixteen, then things went back to normal and you didn’t feel like you had to tiptoe around each other anymore. But sometimes, life gives you something and asks for a payment: so yes, you and Jungkook went back to the “regular you’s”, but you weren’t ten anymore and it showed. Particularly, your life changed according to your ages and not your wants, and soon you had to come to terms with newcome feelings you never felt before. 

For example, you had to learn how to deal with this weird, twisting sensation in your gut each time your best friend stopped at your place to talk about the new girl he was seeing, rambling on and on about how cool she was and how good he felt when he opened a can of pepsi for her, all while basking in the sun that seeped through your windows. You associated that weird feeling to your envy, wanting to feel desired like he felt, too, pushing further thoughts down. 

“Oh, and she stroked my beard. Do you think I should grow it out?” he asked one day, laying on the ground of your room with a dreamy look in his eyes. You huffed, slapping your laptop closed as your patience finally snapped: you had been sitting on your bed with a blank document in front of your eyes for the past two hours, your mood already cranky since you had spent the first half of the day folded in half because of your period, then he came, all jumpy and happy as if he could shit rainbows and life was worth living, slammed your door open without even knocking and started yapping his ass off about some random girl you couldn’t care about less. Oh, seventeen year old you was pissed, to say the least. 

And that’s why you let yourself fall to your knees, next to Jungkook. You grabbed his chin with a death grip, just to make a point clear, and acted like you were thoroughly inspecting his “beard”. In the end, you just shrugged. “Dude, if this is a beard for you then I’m so sorry for your little girlfriend once you’ll do more since, apparently, you over exaggerate things this much. This is barely a stubble, get a grip”. And with that you got up again, acting like you didn’t notice how embarrassed Jungkook got at the insinuation of him having sex, rubbing his jaw to feel his skin. 

Then, life changed again: contrary to what the both of you thought, he wasn’t the one to lose his virginity first. He wasn’t, because the same night he was breaking up with his girlfriend - and he insisted on never telling you the reason - approximately six months after getting together, you were busy spreading your legs for a cute boy you shared literature with, hidden in the parking lot of a desert supermarket. It wasn’t exactly a memorable experience,nor was it that comfortable, but you were so happy to take your well deserved revenge, finally flipping the tables. Jungkook didn’t speak to you for a week after that, disappearing from your radar completely, missing classes and ignoring your calls and messages. When he returned he acted like nothing had happened, blamed his absence on his “heartbreak”, and said that now he was feeling a lot better. He got way clingier to you after that, always on edge when a boy would get close to you, always so protective and jealous of you, acting both like your bodyguard and boyfriend. This time, it was you that blamed it on his heartbreak, assuming that he just needed someone to fill the empty slot left by his ex, looking for that connection in someone else just until he got back to normal. Except, he never went back “to normal” and his behaviour became the normality pretty soon. 

Then, adulthood came, and with it the new phase of your life: college. It was pretty clear to the both of you which major to choose: you went with Philosophy, he went for Classics. “You two are literally complimentary,” had commented your mom once, shrugging her shoulders once you glared at her. “What? It’s true, you can’t study philosophy without knowing anything from the Classic Age and you can’t study the Classics without knowing philosophy. What have I said wrong?”

You chose a college that had both so that you could attend it together, and it wasn’t too far from home so you didn’t need to move out. Jungkook also didn’t need to, but he felt like it would benefit him to move into the dorm, and so he did. Truth to be told, you would have also enjoyed it, but while your best friend had the economical means to pay for both tuition and rent, you could only afford one of the two. Either way, you spent most of the times in uni, whether it was to attend classes or to study at the library, and when you weren’t busy you hanged out in Jungkook’s dorm the same way he did in your room back in the days, so either way you were almost never at home. 

It got to a point where Jungkook’s dorm slowly turned into yours, too. It started small: forgetting your charger plugged in his room, leaving a mascara there “just in case”, dropping your gym bag since you didn’t want to walk around campus all day with another heavy thing on your shoulder. Then, it became sleeping there for the night when you had too much to drink to drive home safely. He would take care of you so lovingly, carefully taking your makeup off with the wipes he had bought - specifically for you -, handing you a spare change of his most comfortable clothes to sleep in - which soon became your designed set of clothes for when you spent the nights - hoping you didn’t trip while changing, locked in the bathroom half naked; braiding your hair out of your face just like his mama had taught him years prior. Then, and he never told you this, he would tuck you in his bed, getting up to go sleep on the couch just to be stopped by you who, half-drunk half-asleep, whined until he finally gave in, scooting in beside you.

“Why do you never hold me?” you had asked that time, your words undefined and messy. Your hands grabbed fistfuls of the soft fabric of his hoodie, dipping your nose into it to inhale his scent. Jungkook’s heart had skipped a beat at your question, not expecting for you to become this affectionate and clingy all of a sudden. “Do you want me to hold you?” he had whispered, almost too scared to push you into sudden soberness with his question. You had hummed, nodding your head while mumbling something before sleep took the better of you. Nonetheless, he spent the night hugging you close to his body, his eyes tearing up as overwhelming feelings clouded his mind. He never told you this story, though, treasuring it jealously in his mind. 

In a way or another, Jungkook fit perfectly in your life. And he wasn’t a filler piece, no, he had his own space perfectly cut out for him in your everyday life. You truly couldn’t imagine your life without him, the mere thought of spending time away from him immediately put you in a mood. Someway, somehow along the road, Jungkook became part of your own soul, a vital piece for your own existence. If it wasn’t for Jungkook, you would have never become who you are today. And as for Jungkook… he physically ached when he wasn’t close to you, but he would never admit it. It wasn’t needed, though. You felt it, felt how you moods changed when you were with each other, felt how your chest tightened in pain when you weren’t close, almost as if your souls longed for each other. 

And that’s why you love him. He’s your best friend and you love each other exactly how best friends should, nothing more, nothing less.

Right?

© voitier 2025

next part

taglist: @mia7732 @tastykookoonut @koooobi

[harknessxo]

Okay I may sound insane but could I request a one shot or short story whatever you are more comfortable writing. The premises behind the story is the reader is an apothecary witch from Agatha’s past. Agatha has asked her to join them in walking the road as well as the others. She reluctantly agreed but not without attitude. The problem with going on this journey at least for the reader is that she’s not just a scorn witch from Agatha‘s past, but one that she would have considered a friend along time ago. Agatha would always come to her in order to be healed or for a remedy due to whatever difficult situation she got herself into overtime. They grew closer together, but Agatha made it apparent that she wasn’t capable of the type of relationship the reader was wanting from her. Not to the readers knowledge, but because of everything that had happened between her and Rio.

How the story starts is that they are currently on the road after completing the second trial in the studio and healing teen from his injury . At the campfire while all the different witches are trading their battle stories you listen to Agatha speak and then Rio. Somewhat connecting the dots on your own, but not fully believing it, not until you follow them both and watch the scene that unfolds between them in the fourth episode. It’s then that the reader realizes that maybe Agatha was always capable of feeling that type of emotional vulnerability but the reader just wasn’t worth it. How it ends is really up to you. It could be somehow Agatha figured out that the reader was spying on them and then fixes it in a sweet way to show that the reader is worth it. or it could be Agatha completely denying any change between her and Rio that she was only using manipulation tactics to see if teen was her son, a mix of both. I’m not picky.

Once again, if this is too insane, please ignore it. I do understand it’s completely random, but I do love your writing style and do you think you would do it absolute justice!!!!

THE GREATEST

Paring: Agatha Harkness x reader

Summary: look at the request ^

Warnings; angst…

Word Count: 2.0k

Part 2

A/n: I hope you like this anon! I know you lowkey wanted a happy ending but angst took over. I’m open to making a part two if you’d like! Also this originally had nothing to do with the song “The Greatest” but then I added a part of the lyrics so…

“Jen! Y/n! Do something please!” Agatha pleaded, holding Teen’s hand tightly. You and Jennifer looked at each other, trying to figure out something that would heal his wound and help him survive. You both quickly made a substance and spread it over his wound. He groaned in pain but the wound healed and he continued to sleep. You all gently picked him up and placed him in a better place to rest. Agatha stayed by his side, refusing to leave and the rest of you went to make a bonfire.

You sat down around the fire for an awkward moment before Alice chose to speak up to start a conversation. She shared her experience with her curse and her scars and soon everyone told their experiences except Rio. You didn’t like her from the second she dug herself out of the ground. You could tell there was immense tension between her and Agatha and you detested it.

“How is he?” Alice’s voice brought you back to reality. You looked up and saw Agatha taking a seat next to Rio.

“Mouthy,” she replied sarcastically.

“That’s a good sign,” Lilia commented.

“Agatha,” Jen started, “Why don’t you show us your battle scars?” Agatha hesitated for a moment before she started rolling up the sleeve of her left arm. Your eyes diverted to Rio who chuckled while she gave Agatha a knowing look.

“Knitting needle to the elbow,” she said, showing off the scar on her elbow, “You ever heard of the daughters of liberty?” of course you knew of them, you were the one that healed said scar but the rest shook their heads having no idea, “Exactly.” All the witches chuckled her light joke and you could tell Agatha enjoyed it. The joyful moment suddenly came to a stop when Rio decided to speak up.

“I��ve got a scar.” All eyes turned to Rio as she spoke. Agatha’s expression changed, her face becoming serious and a bit irritated.

“No you don’t,” Agatha was quick to deny. How would she know that? You thought.

“Yes I do,” she insisted, “…A long time ago, I loved someone,” she side eyed Agatha, “…and I had to do something I did not want to do even though it was my job,” she emphasized the last word and you saw Agatha looked away from the corner of your eye. She clenched her jaw, her eyes fixed elsewhere. The other witches exchanged glances, sensing the tension between the two. Rio continued to speak.

“And it hurt them,” there was a pause, “…she’s my scar.” It wasn’t hard to figure out who she was talking about and it angered you even further. Why did Agatha lie to you? Were they still together when you fell in love? Were you just not enough?

“I’m gonna go stretch my legs,” Agatha said standing and walking away, Rio hot on her trail. Curiosity got the better of you and decided to follow them, the worst decision you could have made.

You watched their interaction, the hug, the loving look, and before their lips touched you walked away. You had seen enough. You fought with every bone in your body trying to keep your sobs at bay. You felt so betrayed but you shouldn’t. Agatha had made it crystal clear that she couldn’t pursue a commitment relationship with you like you wanted. That she wouldn’t. It hurt to hear but maybe it was for the best, especially if she was still messing around with Rio.

You made your way back to the campfire, trying to hide the tears in your eyes. The others looked at you, noticing the change in your demeanor.

“Are you alright?” Lilia asked, her voice filled with concern.

“I’m f-fine,” your voice cracked a bit, “That last trial just had me a little shaken, that’s all.” Alice frowned and shifted closer to you, rubbing your back soothingly.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Mhm…” You gave her a reassuring smile before sitting back down by the fire. Alice didn’t seem convinced but didn’t press further. The others exchanged glances, clearly worried about you but they didn’t say anything. Soon Agatha came back taking a seat next to you with no trace of Rio but you remained silent. Agatha looked at you, noticing your lack of response. She was oblivious to the facts that you had seen her with Rio.

“Are you alright, sweetheart?” You didn’t reply and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern. She gently placed her hand on your shoulder, trying to get your attention.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you shrugged her hand off. She was taken aback by your cold response. She was used to you being more open and warm, not this.

“Bullshit,” she said firmly, crossing her arms.

“It’s not like you would fucking care,” you spat out, getting up and walking away. She wanted to go after you but Rio appeared and held her back.

“Let her cool off. I’m sure it’s nothing.” She said into Agatha’s ear.

“Yeah…maybe you’re right.”

—

After everyone was rested, you all continued to walk the road onto the next trial. Usually you would have stayed by Agatha's side but you chose to stay with Lilia and Alice this time. You thought Agatha hadn't noticed, too deep in a conversation with Rio but she did and she was not happy at all.

Agatha’s eyes narrowed as she watched you walk with Lilia and Alice. She tried to keep her cool, but the sight of you ignoring her and choosing to stay away from her made her feel frustrated and angry. She couldn’t understand why you were acting this way and why you were avoiding her. Her fist balled up tightly when she saw you laughing with Alice. Rio noticed Agatha’s reaction and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down, sweetheart. You’re going to give yourself wrinkles.”

“I just don’t understand what happened!” Agatha said, frustrated. Rio rolled her eyes before cupping Agatha’s face, making her look at her.

“Don’t worry about her. She’s probably just throwing a tantrum.” Agatha’s face was filled with irritation as she listened to Rio’s words.

“Tantrum? She’s never like this! I’ve never seen her this upset before, she’s avoiding me, she’s acting like a brat.”

“Relax, Agatha,” she kissed her cheek, “Just focus on me.” Her irritation slowly melted away as Rio kissed her cheek. She looked at her and took a deep breath, trying to push her worries about you to the back of her mind.

“You’re right,” she said, forcing a smile. She needed to keep Rio happy for now, just until they got to the end of the road.

Your eyes had wandered to the two women at some point and you regretted it immediately, seeing Rio kiss Agatha’s cheek. Rio looked in your direction while doing it with a smirk on her face. You wanted to lounge at her but for what? For Agatha? She didn’t want you anyway, you just had to come to peace with that.

Rio caught your eye and noticed the hurt and jealousy in your expression. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of satisfaction. She knew she was getting to you, and that only made her more determined to keep Agatha away from you.

You all eventually found the next trial inside another house. You all split up into pairs to find some sort of clue. Alice and Teen, Jen and Lilia and of course, Agatha and Rio. Lilia offered to go with you but you declined and said you could take care of yourself if something happened.

She had looked at you with concern but respected your decision. She nodded and went off with Jen to search the house. You were left alone, walking through the house and looking for clues. You could hear the others calling out to each other as they searched different rooms. Suddenly, you heard footsteps approaching you and you already knew who it was.

“Agatha, shouldn’t you be with Rio?” She appeared from behind you, her expression serious.

“Why are you avoiding me?”

“You seemed busy with Rio, that’s all.”

“You saw that…” she said, realizing what you were referring to.

“Yeah. You know, I thought you said you couldn’t pursue the type of relationship I wanted from you. Now I know you simply wouldn’t do it, with me at least. Why don’t you go back to your precious green witch. I’m sure she’s already missing you.” Agatha’s expression softened and she looked hurt by your words.

“It’s not like that…”

“Please,” you laughed, shaking your head, “Save it. I literally saw you two about to kiss.”

“You don’t understand…” she stepped closer.

“Agatha, what is there to understand? You lied to me. You said your heart was jaded and then I find out you have an ex lover who you seem to still be in love with.”

“Don’t act like you know everything. You don’t understand the situation between Rio and me.” Her eyes flashed with irritation.

“Then lay it out for me Harkness!” She clenched her jaw, her hands balling into fists. She took a deep breath before speaking.

“Rio and I…we have a complicated history. We were together a long time ago, and it didn’t end well. We had a falling out and we haven’t spoken in years. Seeing her again has brought up a lot of old feelings and emotions that I didn’t know how to deal with.”

“…do you love her?”

“No, of course not-” she said without hesitation.

“Then what’s the deal? Does she know that? Because she seems to know the effect you two have on me.”

“My sweet Y/n,” she cupped your face, “I just need her and the rest of the witches to get me to the end and then you and I can be together-”

“It’s not that simple Agatha,” you shoved her off, finally letting the tears fall, “I don’t even know if I can trust you. And what of her, huh? You’re just gonna leave her hanging? How do I know you won’t do the same with me? How do I know you’re not just using me?!”

“I’m not using you! I care about you, Y/n. You have to believe me.” She reached out to touch you but stopped herself.

“How can I?! You have a reputation, Agatha!” Her face fell, hurt by your words.

“You don’t trust me because of my reputation? I thought you knew me better than that…”

“So did I...” your voice broke at the end. She was speechless. She knew you were right. She had hurt you, and now you didn’t trust her. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks.*

“I…I don’t know what to say…”

“Then don’t say anything,” you tried to walk past her but she quickly grabbed your arm, stopping you from walking away.

“Please, don’t go. We need to talk about this.”

“What is there to talk about? You’ve made your choice and it clearly isn’t me.”

“That’s not true! I do care about you. I just…I don’t know what to do. Seeing Rio again has brought up all these memories and feelings that I thought I buried a long time ago. I don’t know how to handle it all.”

“Then come back once you’ve figured it out,” you roughly freed yourself from her grip and walked away to find Lilia and Jen. You didn’t want to walk away. You wanted to cling to her but you couldn’t get yourself into a situation where you would eventually get hurt…again.

Agatha watched you walk away, her heart breaking. She wanted to call out to you, to beg you to stay, but she knew she had messed up. She felt a mix of guilt and regret, knowing that she had hurt you deeply. She sank to the ground, her head in her hands. She replayed the argument over and over in her head, regretting every word she said. She wanted to make things right with you, but she knew it wouldn’t be easy. As much as she cared about you, she couldn’t deny the history she had with Rio. She was at a crossroads, torn between two people who both meant something to her.

Taglist; @oh-no-bummer @wandasreallover @polaris-likethestar

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[specialagentlokitty]

Negan x teen!reader - friends become family

can you writes more depressed reader x rick/negan i reader your other work and i just loved them <3 - anon💜

TW: mentions of depression, thoughts of wanting to disappear and self harm

This wasn’t the world you were born into, this was the life you thought you were going to have when you grew up.

You were born into this world, maybe you should have been used to it, but your parents always told you that it wasn’t going to last forever.

They told you stories about the old world, what it was like, and promised you that it was going to go right back to that.

Then the world tore them from you, right in front of your own eyes, and it left you all alone until Gabriel and Aaron stumbled across you and brought you back to Alexandria with them.

But it wasn’t home.

Nowhere was home anymore, despite how much they tried to connect with you, make you feel at home, it just wasn’t home and it never would be.

You spent most of your time trying to find a place to hide from them, they always found you, and you remembered the one place Michonne told you to stay away from.

The cell block, warning you to never go in there.

You made your way down the steps and knelt down by the door, quietly picking the lock and you pushed it open before slipping inside.

Closing the door, you turned around and walked over to the corner, sitting down.

“Well, not that I’m not thankful for the company but I get the feeling since you picked that lock you shouldn’t be in here.”

You looked up, finding a man standing against the cell bars as he looked at you.

“Got a name?”

You shrugged a little bit, looking back down again.

“Alright, I’ll call you kid.”

“Not a kid…” you grumbled.

“Well apparently you don’t have a name so your shit outta luck there kid, why’re you here? Cause no offence but I’m gonna be the one getting it in the ass if they find you here.”

You looked at him, resting your chin on your knees.

“Don’t tell them…”

“Well im not fucking stupid, course I’m not going to tell them.”

He rested his arms between the gaps of the bars, and he glanced up to the window before turning his attention back towards you.

“Names Negan.”

You nodded your head, letting you know that you had heard him.

You didn’t stay long, you didn’t answer any of his questions before you left, locking the door before finding somewhere else to go.

But it soon became a daily occurrence, you would turn up at the cell between certain times, knowing the routines of when they brought him food.

Negan would talk, he didn’t like sitting in silence, and you would just listen to him, or read from one of the books he would slide under the cell bars for you.

You did eventually tell him your name, but he still liked to annoy you and refused to use it.

Today was no different, you came in, locked the door and walked over to your corner.

“Hey.”

Negan sat up from where he had been laid reading and he looked at you.

Negan swung his legs over his cot, and he rested his arms on his knees.

“Kid? What’s up?”

You shrugged a little bit, resting your head against the stone wall.

“Now don’t get me wrong, I love the fact you break into here and barely say a whole sentence to me, but this shit isn’t normal for you.”

You turned around, looking over at him.

“Do you ever feel alone…?” You asked quietly.

“Yeah, sometimes. But I only got myself to blame for that, I know that. I did shit things and it made me alone.”

“What did you do?”

Negan sighed, looking down at his hands.

He explained everything to you, what he had done, the saviours, the lives he had taken and everything he had done before landing in that cell.

When he finished he looked at you, giving you a little grin.

“See? Shit person.”

“My dad used to say that sometimes good people did bad things because they didn’t have a choice…”

He hummed a little bit.

“Yeah? What if that person is just a shit person?”

You shrugged a little bit, turning away to go back to resting your head against the stone wall.

Negan sighed heavily, getting up and he made his way to the front of the call, sitting down in the corner, resting his head on the bars.

“Your parents know you come down here and see a fucked up asshole like me?”

You didn’t reply and Negan looked at you, he heard you sniffled a little bit, and saw you wipe your eyes with the backs of your hands.

“Shit kid, I’m sorry.”

You turned around, keeping your back to him.

“Fuck, come on kid, I’m so sorry I had no idea. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

He sighed again.

“You know I had wife.”

You turned around and looked at him, wiping your eyes again.

“Yeah, yeah. I had a wife, I bet you’re looking at me thinking how can this old bastard have had a wife? Let me tell you she was… she was so beautiful.”

“What happened to her…?”

Negan smiled sadly.

“She died too, cancer.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Yeah, so am I.”

You looked at the door before turning back to him.

“What was she like?”

Negan smiled, and he told you about his wife Lucille, what she was like, and how things were with them all while smiling as he recalled the memories.

Sometimes his smile would fall, and then he’d smile when he told you another happy memory.

“What about your mom and dad?”

“They were optimistic things were going to change… happy… despite everything…”

You told him a few stories, and he listened carefully, not wanting to interrupt you since this was the longest you had spoken to him for.

But you seemed to realise this and quickly jumped up, taking the photo back from him and you left.

You didn’t turn up for the next few days, and he went back into his routine of solitude.

You finally came back one evening, the only giveaway it was you was the small click of the lock as you closed the door once.

“Hey kid.”

You had a lantern, and a bag and you walked over to the cell, sitting down by the bars, you passed him a few of the candles and he walked over to take them.

Negan put others back on your side of the bars, and he set one to the side, taking the lighter you had given him so he could light it and went to hand it back but you shook your head.

“You know the check my shit right? Make sure I have nothing I shouldn’t have.”

“Oh…”

You took the lighter back, and the spare candles to put back in your bag.

It added some light to the place, helping you see around better.

Negan rested his back on the wall, staring at the window on the opposite wall.

“What made you come by so late?” He asked.

You shrugged a little bit, resting your arms on your knees.

Negan turned to look at you, and he could slightly see inside of your bag, and he noticed that it seemed to have food inside, some water.

He furrowed his brows.

“Going somewhere?”

You didn’t say anything.

“Where are you going?”

Again you ignored his question, instead you pulled out a book, and you passed it through the bars to him so he could take it.

“Tell me about the old world?” You asked quietly.

“What do you wanna know?”

“Everything I guess…”

Negan thought for a moment, and he told you about the places that he had been to, what they looked like, about normal schools, aeroplanes, whatever came to mind.

You asked him questions, curious about wanting to know more, and hours passed like that.

You shared some of your food and water with him, and you set your bag down next to the bars of his cell, laying yourself down.

“Come on kid, you can’t sleep in here.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere else…”

“Why not?”

Negan got up, heading to his cot he grabbed all the bedding on there, brining it over and he shoved a blanket through the bars for you, and made his bed on the other side.

You stared up at the ceiling, covering yourself with the blanket before turning your back to him.

“They pity me…”

Negan didn’t miss the slight growl in your tone when you said that.

“They all try to act like they’re my parents… they… they never leave me alone and I hate it…”

“You hate having people around you?”

“I hate people who pretend… they only pity me… they don’t actually care.. just see some teenager with no family…”

Negan nodded his head, but didn’t say anything.

“They’re not my family… my family is dead… I’m alone…”

“Now come on, don’t spout that shit. That’s not true, you’re not alone.”

You didn’t say anything else and he sighed.

“Okay yeah, maybe they pity you. How do you know I don’t pity you?”

“You don’t look at me like they do… it’s why I come here… they look at me and.. and they see right through me… you actually see me…”

Negan didn’t tell you to leave, it was late now, and he wasn’t sure how safe it was out there for you to be wondering around in the dark.

You fell asleep there, and you slept through the sound of the door opening.

What woke you up was the sound of arguing and you slowly sat up.

“I told you not to come down here!” Michonne snapped at you.

You blinked a few times in confusion.

“Hey! Leave the kid alone!” Negan growled at her.

“You shut up, you don’t get a say in this. Gabriel take (Y/N) outside and place an extra guard in front of this place.”

Gabriel walked over to take your stuff and you quickly took it back, and he stopped, raising his hands as he smiled softly at you.

“Come along now, we should leave.”

You looked over at Negan and he gave a small nod his his head, letting you know it was okay to go.

You left your stuff behind, leaving the room, making a quick get away to another one of your hiding places, though it never took them long to find you there.

Aaron was the one to come looking for you.

“Hey…”

He walked into the small room you had called your home since you had arrived here.

“You know why we told you to stay away from the cell right? What Negan had done?”

You nodded.

“Then you understand why we want you to stay away from him? He’ll get inside your head, use you for his own benefit, to manipulate you into helping him escape or something along those lines.”

You stayed quiet, only getting up to leave and Aaron sighed.

You wanted nothing to do with anybody from the community, you never spoke to any of them, the most they got out of you was your name.

You went back to that cell, but the guard at the door looked at you, and you sighed.

Sitting on the steps, you stayed there all day.

Nobody really spared you a glance, it was like you were there but you weren’t really there all at the same time.

Maybe you would be better off if you weren’t there, it’s not like anybody would notice.

You didn’t have much, so it’s not like they’d even notice you were missing.

Getting up, you went back to your makeshift home and stayed there for the rest of the day, lost in your own thoughts.

How you were alone.

You had nobody.

Nobody cared about you.

Nobody loved you.

Nobody would miss you.

The only person who would notice would’ve been Negan but since you weren’t allowed to see him he’d forget about you too.

So you made up your mind, you were going to disappear.

You left that night, making your way back to the cell to see the guard was asleep and you snuck in like always to find Negan was asleep.

You sighed a little, and you looked at the guard before turning to Negan.

“Thank you…” you whispered.

“For what?” He mumbled out.

You jumped a little bit.

Negan was looking at you and you shrugged slightly.

“For being my friend…”

Negan quickly sat up, and he walked over, resting a hand on the bars.

“What’re you doing?”

“I.. I have to go away…”

Negans eyes widened a little bit, he saw your arm when your sleeve rolled up as you reached up to wipe some of your tears.

He saw the bloodied bandage wrapped around it.

“Listen me kid, now Im not saying that you’re gonna do what I think you’re gonna do, but I’m telling you right now down you fucking dare.”

“I’m sorry…”

“(Y/N)!”

You quickly left, forgetting to close the main door, and you ran away.

You didn’t think, you just went to the first place you could think off, the tallest building in Alexandria, and you stood up there.

You looked down at the dark streets, and you took a small breath, turning your back on it, facing the way you had come from.

You didn’t realise that your commotion had alerted the guard who had alerted the council, but you could hear the pounding of footsteps getting closer.

Gabriel, Aaron and Michonne stood there.

“Come down.” Michonne said.

You shook your head.

“Please, let us talk about whatever is going on. What makes you feel like you must do this.” Gabriel said softly.

You shook your head again, shuffling back and they all tried to branch out, but nobody dared to get any closer.

“Just talk to us.” Aaron whispered.

“No…”

“Then who will you talk to? If there’s somebody out there that can stop you who is? Who do you want to speak to?” Michonne asked.

“Please, we don’t want you to do this..”

You didn’t reply, and suddenly Michonne ran off while Gabriel and Aaron watched you.

You didn’t know what they were doing and you were trying to work up the courage so you could see your family again, so you could take those last few steps back.

A few minutes later Michonne came back, and she shoved Negan forward making him stumble a little.

“Fucking hell, push me any further and I’ll be going over that edge.”

“That would be the day.” Michonne scoffed.

She gestured for the other two to back away, and they all walked away slightly.

Negan looked up at you.

“Hey, let’s talk, yeah?”

“I don’t want to talk…”

He hummed a little.

“Do you want to jump?”

“I… I don’t know…”

Negan sighed, and he looked up at you, holding out his hand.

“Come down (Y/N)…”

“I can’t…”

“Why not?”

You didn’t say anything.

Negan sighed, lowering his hand, bringing it up to run over his head as he tried to figure out what to do.

“You know, I wouldn’t forget you. I’d remember.”

You looked at him.

“You think everybody will forget you right? You’ll be able to disappear like you want right?”

You nodded.

“Hate to break it to you kid, but that’s not true. I wouldn’t, I’ll always remember you. We’re friends right?”

“Yeah…”

“Then let me help you, that’s what friends do. They help each other, and I’m not about to stand here and watch you throw your life away. You’re not alone, and I know it’s hard.”

“Does it get easier…?”

“No. It doesn’t. But you learn to live with that pain, and you just grow around it, but you have to be willing to just try, if you take that step, if you let yourself go, you’ll never know what will happen in your future.”

You shrugged a little.

“I don’t have one…”

“You don’t know that. How about we find out, together? Yeah?”

“What if you leave too…?”

Negan smiled softly at you.

“I’m not going anywhere kid.”

“You can’t say that…”

“Maybe not, but I don’t give a shit. I mean I’m in a cell, do you really think I’m running off anywhere?”

You shook your head.

“Come on, come down now.”

You looked down at the ground, and Negan took this as his chance to run forward and grab you, pulling you down.

He fell over with a heavy thud and slight groan of pain, and you fell to the side, sitting on your knees as you cried.

Negan sat up, pulled you into a hug, placing his hand on the back of your head.

“I’m sorry…” you cried quietly.

“It’s alright… you’re okay…”

Negan held you tightly, sighing heavily, running his hand up and down your back.

“Don’t you ever try anything like this again…”

Negan placed a hand on your arm.

“And stop hurting yourself… you don’t deserve this pain…” he whispered

[astoopidfool]

Tidbit Tuesday

Self tag. Enjoy some more troubled teen adoptee parents Buck and Tommy and their wayward not-quite-theirs-yet teenage son, Branson.

(There's one mildly racist line/joke said by a POC in jest in reaction to what the MC says, just as fair warning.)

x-x-x

Holy fuck, two months. Two months have gone by and he’s still here. Things haven’t changed much but he can’t say that it’s the worst. Ever since the first day there he’s had enough to eat. They’ve given him his space, never going into the room he’s been given without asking him first. Despite everything, they have yet to yell at him and always give him the opportunity to explain himself.

But it doesn’t matter because sooner or later, they’re going to change their minds. He doesn’t know how or why, but they’re going to. So Branson is going to continue doing whatever the hell he wants. His decisions to do, or not do, doesn’t make any damn difference. He continues skipping classes at school and hanging out with Smith and the others.

Whenever he gets the opportunity, he stays out of the house. He’s even resorted to hanging out in the food court inside the mall. Smith works at the movie theater that’s only access is through the mall entrance. Evan and Tommy gave him a debit card with money on it, but he never uses it. It’s another thing to control him with. Smith sneaks him free soda and snacks any time he’s working. Branson asks if he’s worried about them catching him, but he seems unconcerned. Claims people do it all the time. Branson doesn’t want him getting fired for doing something nice for him, but he’s not going to argue over it either. Smith is old enough to make his own decisions.

One day at the mall, Branson is scrolling through his phone in the far back corner of the food court, sucking on the soda that  Smith brought him at the beginning of his shift, when Smith slides into the seat across from him with a mischievous grin on his face. Branson looks up through his lashes and cocks an eyebrow. “What's up?” He asks. “Aren't you supposed to be working?”

The other teen shrugs as he leans forward on the table, arms braced. Waggling his eyebrows he states, “I’m on break. But that’s not the point. Listen, my coworker just told me that there’s this party this weekend at her cousin’s house. Apparently his parents are gone for the weekend, and since he’s twenty-one he plans on buying a fuck ton of booze and shit and told her to invite everyone she knows. Her cousins parents are super chill, I guess, don’t give a fuck what he does as long as the police don’t get involved.”

Branson leans back in the chair and crosses one arm over his stomach as he asks, chewing on the end of the straw so his words are a tad distorted, “Okay, and?”

Smith rolls his eyes. “C’mon dude, seriously? There’s a party. WIth no adults. And probably a ton of hot girls. I mean, my coworker has no brains at all but has the best tits I’ve ever seen so her friends are probably the same. We could get drunk and get laid.”

“I don’t drink.” Branson firmly states, face hardening a bit at even the idea of tasting booze.

Smith groans and flops dramatically onto the table, head resting on one flimsy bicep nearly sending Branson’s empty popcorn boat flying. “Live a little my dude.” He heaves a sigh. “Even if you don't drink, there's going to be weed, edibles, and even some THC drinks I think. Or would you rather stay home with the homo's and hope they don't come for your virtue?”

Snorting, Branson bends his straw back and lets it flick forward, spraying his friend with sticky soda syrup. Being so close, it hits him straight in the face and Smith sputters, sitting back so quickly he nearly loses his balance on the back legs of the chair. “Fuck!” He splutters. “Rude ass mother fucker.” Branson laughs, throwing back his head and letting it come from the belly.

Eventually he settles down and says, “Yeah man, I'll go. You know I'm always good for it. I'm pretty sure I heard Evan and Tommy doing god knows what over the weekend and it's scarred me for life. The less I have to be at that house the happier I'll be.” What he doesn't say is that all he heard was Tommy telling his husband that he misses him; that having alone time is more difficult with a teenager than a toddler. And then Branson heard their door slam and the two of them laughing and speaking in hushed tones. He'd put headphones after that in hopes of drowning them out. When Tommy left for work a little while later, Branson couldn't look him in the eye, and the entire rest of the time with just Evan at home, Branson avoided him. A shiver runs down his spine at the memory. “Send me the deets.”

“Sure thing. Fuck.” Smith pulls a jingling phone out of his pocket and sighs as he wipes at his face with a leftover napkin someone hadn’t bothered to throw out. “Gotta get back to work.”

“Make sure you actually text me instead of just using that piece of junk as decoration.” Branson salutes him with his cup. “Oh. And get me another soda.”

Sliding from his seat like his body is made of Jell-O, Smith salutes him and sarcastically replies, “Yes mast'a, sir. Anything else this negro can get for ya, mast'a?”

“Oh, piss off, Smith. I swear to god if you keep that up I'm going to hurt you.”

Snickering, Smith yanks the empty cup from his hand and makes a point of sashaying his way back to the movie theater. It's Branson's turn to roll his eyes.

[honey-minded-hivemind]

Reader meets many strange people in that sleepy little town:

- Charles and Erik, an older couple who own the bed and breakfast Reader stays at. Charles apparently keeps bees as a hobby and keeps insisting Reader eat some honey. Both regularly praise Reader for all the help they do around the house and "that's its so nice to have someone youthful energy in the old place".

- Hank is the town doctor. For someone who looks like he can break steel beams, he's very polite and mild mannered. But he can get a little invasive when he gives Reader a check up. " How's you relationship with your parents?" " I saw your light was on late last night, you should get to bed at a more proper time. A good night's rest is important to growing bodies."

- Ororo is the one school teacher in town, though everyone calls her Storm. She teaches out of a tiny one room school house. Reader thinks she's lucky all the kids around the place are the same age. Storm regularly invites Reader for "girl's night" ( even if reader is not a girl, they are getting mani-pedis and face masks). Reader just wishes she would get not so strong alcohol, they always end up blacking out.

- Reader doesn't see Logan that often, but he comes to town regularly to check up on Charles, get a check up with Hank about his short-term memory loss, and have a beer. He doesn't seem to like Erik all that much, but he's nice to Reader. Apparently, he and his brother own a farm just out of town, which Reader is "allowed to visit whenever, kid". Charles says he's Laura's dad but she stays with Kurt and Rogue and their mom during the school week and goes home during the weekend, holidays, and summer.

- Rogue and Kurt are the goth girl and blue hair boy they met earlier. Apparently, they're siblings, but they don't look much alike. Their mom, Mystique, runs the mom-and-pop store and is always dressed impeccably. Rogue and Kurt's relationship with her is a little rough at best and they cling to Reader, asking for advice and attention.

- the other teens are similar. Evan, Scott, Jean and all of them. Reader may be older than them but still young enough to relate to their problems so they like to follow behind when they run errands for the Bed and Breakfast. They assume they think it's "cool" to hang out with the new, older stranger from out of town, so they try to be a goof example. They wonder where the rest of the parents are at, though.

Hahaha... I love it, @sugar-soda! I admit, I keep imaging Reader being somewhere between 15 to 19, but honestly, it works at any of those ages! I'll add a little to this, as a treat-!

• Reader doesn't quite remember how they ended up with Charles and Erik, but according to them, they found Reader passes out in the bushes outside, so they brought Reader in and helped make sure they were okay. They always compliment Reader on how polite they are, how strong they are when they lift heavy boxes or haul jars of honey-like liquid around, how sweet they are when Reader brings back some raspberries for them... They're nice, very nice, for people who supposedly found Reader drugged or passed out or dying in their bushes...

• Hank is okay! He just seems a bit obsessed with health and eating proper meals and the like. Old school doctor values, right? And Reader could probably stand to eat a bit more, or eat more consistent meals... He says he has a clinic outside of town too, which is funded by Charles and Erik, and has volunteers such as his friends, Logan and Victor... He also thinks honey is the best cure for everything, for some reason, and asks if Reader eats a bit every day...

• Reader likes Ororo! She's funny, and smart, and always on point with fashion! Plus she let's Reader try a sip or two of mead, which she says is good-! Of course, Reader can't remember anything after having their small sip... And they woke up in the field outside of town. Again. So maybe they should stop tasting the different honey stuff...

• Logan is gruff, from what Reader can tell. He seems to like the kids, including Reader, and he's checking up on Mr. Charles every weekend before he and Laura go back to their farm, so he seems pretty nice for a tough guy. Reader doesn't know why he invites Reader to visit, or why Laura likes them, but they let Reader eat pancakes with them at the diner and don't mind when Reader falls asleep, exhausted from a night of trying to figure out why they can't seem to find the way out of town...

• Reader doesn't mind offering advice to Kurt and Rogue, seeing them as the siblings they never had (all of the teens feel like siblings, in way, which confuses Reader for people people hardly know-). Whether it's how to make a new friend, what to wear in Winter, how to win at darts- It doesn't bother Reader to answer their questions or let them follow them around. Reader just hopes they don't get caught up in Reader's search for clues, in case it gets dangerous... Their mom, who seems cold and sharp, is oddly nice to them. Reader left her some wild roses they found, and now they get discounts on snacks or drinks when they come in her store

• Reader doesn't mind entertaining the kids. Really, they don't. For how they can't remember much, there are certain tricks and skills they have that seem to impress the teens. Be it winning at guessing games, knowing how to climb a stone wall, or being able to win over stray cats and bugs, they always seem to find Reader interesting. Sometimes they feel a little... freaked out... over having so many eyes on them. But these are just teens. Good ones, for the most part. What harm can they do?

• Reader keeps trying to find clues as to the odd symbol on their hand, or why the town is closed off from the outside world, and why Reader can't remember anything before waking up here... they keep digging, checking the old history museum and the woods beyond the last few houses, but whenever Reader feela they're getting too close- suddenly they're pulled off to something else. They're worried, for themself, for the others... but with each new puzzle piece they uncover... they can't help but start to think there's something hiding close enough to touch it...

• If only they could just reach it and not fall asleep again, waking up back in the field or in their bed, wondering why their dreams keep getting so strange and frightening...

[seelestars]

Hello. I'm sorry if this is sudden but I was wondering if you took story requests and if you do, could you make a platonic Dan heng story with the reader being the child of his previous incarnation Dan feng and is the reader still quite young. Jing Yuan is the one to tell Dan Heng about them even though he's only met the reader a couple times and doesn't know them very well, but Jing Yuan felt like Dan Heng had the right to know about the reader especially after the reader had an encounter with Blade. (If this is too much that's completely understandable and I wish you a good day/afternoon and or night😊)

➴ ✫ * ✧ DAN HENG MEETS HIS CHILD !!?

a/n : sorry if there’s like. plot holes? in areas bcuz ik vidyadhara can’t reproduce and adopting just didn’t make sense for me in this context ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡ i hope u still enjoy tho!

edit : HELPP I MEANT FOR THIS TO BE G/N YET I ACCIDENTALLY PUT DAUGHTER MY BAD OMG.

this moment of peace was much needed, though rare since he returned to the luofu temporarily to sort some things out. he blew on his tea, taking a small sip before he sensed another’s presence approaching him. he set the cup down, turning around to see just who it was that dared to disturb him. he relaxed slightly, after noticing it was just jing yuan.

an old friend of his previous incarnation.

but what could he possibly need from him at this time? he kept wondering to himself before jing yuan spoke up, his usual calm expression on his face, “sorry if I was bothering you. i thought there was something you should know.” he could sense his choice of words were a little more causal than usual, as if he still viewed him as dan feng. “go ahead.” he nodded, waiting for jing yuan to spill whatever he needed him to know.

though what he said next, brought him shock he hadn’t felt in a while.

“…you have a child.” jing yuan confessed, the calm smile never leaving his face even while confessing such news. “..how come.. I never knew about this?” dan heng had a puzzled look on his face, his eyes widened uncharacteristically. “that… im not exactly sure. but they have strikingly similar features to yours, and we even did a dna test. …you’re the father.” jing yuan said sheepishly, letting out a small chuckle. “but that aside, would you like to see them?” he offered.

even though he was no longer dan feng, he couldn’t find it in himself to refuse.

“..sure.” dan heng said awkwardly, following jing yuan to where his supposed child was. they walked for a little while, until they reached the busy and crowded streets of the luofu.

there they were.

a young teen that resembled dan heng was distracted, playing celestial jade with qingque. they had similarly colored horns that sprouted out like branches above their head, except with a scaly tail poking out from a hole in their outfit.

“thank you for distracting them, qingque. they seem to be quite a carefree spirit from what ive seen, so I appreciate you helping them stay in one place for the time being.” jing yuan had an amused smile on his face as he looked at dan heng before looking back to his child. “no problem general.” qingque responded, her eyes still glued to the game of celestial jade as she made another move. “ill be taking my leave now, have fun you all.” and with that, jing yuan disappeared in the crowd of people.

you on the other hand, was too focused on dan heng to pay attention to the game. “who are you?” you had a friendly look on your face, even though he was a complete stranger to you. “mmm wait… you look like me!” you smiled, always so full of energy.

“..I suppose I do.” dan heng smiled warmly back, feeling his heart melt at the sight of you. “and that’s because.. I am apparently, your father.” he averted his gaze awkwardly, the smile fading from his face. he was never good with kids, even when they act like someone he’s familiar with (march).

“ooooh.. I’ve always thought I didn’t have a father or anything of the sorts!” there was an excited look in your eyes as he admitted to being related to you in that way, your arms immediately pulling him into an embrace. dan heng was never a huge fan of chatterboxes, but he didn’t seem to mind when it came to you rambling about how excited and happy you felt. your childlike innocence warmed his heart in a way, as he found himself returning your embrace.

he was never good with kids, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll learn how to be a father. for you.

[fairytales-and-folklore]

First Impressions

The Owl House » Huntlow

Title: First Impressions

Author: fairytalesandfolklore

Fandom: The Owl House (Masterlist)

Relationship: Hunter | The Golden Guard x Willow Park

AO3 Rating: Teen & Up (a complete collection of author's notes, inspiration credits, content warnings and tags can be found on AO3)

Summary: Hunter meets Willow's dads for the first time (though apparently he's already made quite a first impression.)

"Oh, Hunter," Harvey says, his entire demeanor shifting as it all clicks together in his head, exchanging bright-eyed, all-too-knowing smirks with his husband. "So this is the boy we've heard so much about," Gilbert chimes in with a teasing smile, positively radiating with joy. "Tell me, are you the same Hunter our little sunflower used to stay up all night texting on Penstagram?" "Oh my Titan, dad," Willow gasps, face going up in flames as Hunter chokes on absolutely nothing from right beside her. "Gil, don't embarrass her," Harvey chides with a barely-contained snort of laughter, elbowing his husband in the ribs. "Oh come now, is it really a secret she's sweet on her own boyfriend?" Gilbert chuckles, throwing Hunter an exaggerated wink.

Read On AO3 | Read On Tumblr:

Willow takes a deep breath as she makes her way down the familiar floral-lined path, hand hovering for a few anxious moments over the peeling green paint of her front door, before rapping her knuckles against it in a steady, three-count knock. 

She hears the telltale rustle of a newspaper from the living room, a clatter of pots and pans from the kitchen, and then her dads are appearing in the doorway, expressions melting from wary concern to teary-eyed relief as they pull their daughter into their arms for a bone-crushing, breath-stealing hug, little family reunited after all these months spent apart.

After a few more heartfelt cheers of I'm so glad you're okay, coupled with an astonished Look how much you've grown! and Is this what they're wearing in the human realm these days? I love it! as Willow spins to give them the full effect of her Halloween costume, Gilbert and Harvey turn to address the friends she's brought with her, pulling Gus into a one-armed bear hug and greeting him like a long-lost son.

"And this is…?" Harvey asks, cocking an inquisitive eyebrow at the tall, gangly blond boy hovering awkwardly at the back.

"Dad, this is Hunter," she tells him, eyes flitting to the boy in question, fixing him with a soft, reassuring smile as she waves him forward. "Be nice, he's been through a lot."

The wispy tree of a boy smiles back at her — or at least, that's what Harvey thinks he's attempting with that strained, awkward grimace he's got going on, the tips of his ears flushing a furious shade of pink as he shuffles forward and greets the two of them with a solider-like salute and a voice-cracking, "Hello, Mr. and Mr. Park, sirs."

"Oh, Hunter," Harvey says, his entire demeanor shifting as it all clicks together in his head, exchanging bright-eyed, all-too-knowing smirks with his husband.

"So this is the boy we've heard so much about," Gilbert chimes in with a teasing smile, positively radiating with joy. "Tell me, are you the same Hunter our little sunflower used to stay up all night texting on Penstagram?"

"Oh my Titan, dad," Willow gasps, face going up in flames as Hunter chokes on absolutely nothing from right beside her.

"Gil, don't embarrass her," Harvey chides with a barely-contained snort of laughter, elbowing his husband in the ribs.

"Oh come now, is it really a secret she's sweet on her own boyfriend?" Gilbert chuckles, throwing Hunter an exaggerated wink.

"You are welcome in our home any time, son," he says, reaching out to shake Hunter's hand with the same enthusiasm his daughter had done the day she'd dragged him out of the sky and asked him to join her flyer derby team. "Anyone who makes our Willow smile the way you do is good in our book."

"Th— um. Thank you, sir," Hunter stutters, staring over at Willow with an utterly gobsmacked expression on his beaming, tomato-red face as she buries her own rosy complexion in the palms of her hands and groans in embarrassment.

[in1-nutshell]

What do the dc buddies think about cuddles?

All right a change in Buddy pace. Lets do this!

I may or may not have accidentally got to into this...

Enjoy!

Batfamily

Tobias 'Toby' Drake

Toby is quite touched starved. Like his twin, he never got much physical touch from his parents. It wasn't until later in his teen years that he actually took in the practice of cuddling.

Dick was the one who introduced the activity during a rainy movie night at the manor. Poor thing was as stiff as a board for most of the movie. It wasn't like he didn't like it, it was just new.

As time went on, Toby started getting used to getting cuddles from anyone. After his incident with the Joker, physical touch only seemed to skyrocket. Tim and Dick being the more outwardly affectionate with cuddling (aka in the living room). Jason and Damian reserve that in more private areas (bedroom after searching around for any planted cameras)

Wonderfamily

Elena Prince

Elena is very revised with cuddling. As much as battle is a part of her life, so has showing some affection. Anyone who becomes friends or family to this girl will find out very fast that she is big on physical touch.

Damian and Jon were not prepared with how much touch, especially platonic cuddles. She makes sure that anyone who is taking part in cuddles gets their fair share of affection, whether they ask for it or not.

Jon absolutely adores these cuddles. Damian is less vocal about the cuddles because he has a reputation to uphold. But make no mistake, when he wants cuddles the son of Batman will find any excuse to have them. Even if it means breaking into her room. An act that if Jon finds out, will gladly take part in.

Diana knows these break ins, and only makes sure to let Bruce and Clark know where their sons are.

Justice League Unlimited

Charlie the Werewolf

Poor, poor Charlie...

He can count how many times he has had cuddles and still have fingers leftover. No one exactly wants to cuddle a werewolf with good intentions.

It was an unlikely source to ask a cuddle.

The League had just rescued a bunch of school children from an avalanche. They had all seperated into different groups to get the seperated children. Charlie was with Batman when he noticed the poor things shivering at the dropping temperature. Slowly, the kids started coming closer and closer to him and before Charlie knew it, all of them were snuggling close to him.

Bruce could tell the shock and sad look on the werewolf's face seeing this and how Charlie slowly brought them closer. Apparently some of the kids thought they would take their chances with a nervous looking werewolf than the Batman.

Nether of them bring the experience up again and stays on the low... until a month later in the city the children recognized Charlie and charged at him, hugging him. Charlie wasn't crying and you can't prove it!

Young Justice

DCpool

Another sweetie that is touch starved.

DC does seen like a character larger than life on most days, but there is a noticeable hesitation to start any sort of physical touch, let alone cuddling.

That however changes very quickly once he gets used to the team and, dare he say, starts seeing them as family. From awkward pats on the back, to full on koala hugs.

Cuddling seems to be his favorite after mission activity. DC doesn't care who he is cuddling with, whoever is sitting with him on the sofa WILL be cuddled during movie nights. The team as learned to let DC do his thing, besides its not like it hurts anyone.

Captain Ace

Ace used to be very affectionate before the ice. She loved hugs and playful touches with her friends. After the ice, being in a new world, it lead her to retract from touch.

Nothing seemed familiar to her anymore and was warry.

The team does notice her flinching at some of the platonic affection being thrown here and there. Most of them think its because she doesn't want the touch and try to minimize it.

Ace sees the restriction and does not like it one bit! That's when she finally decides to take some initiative and start some affection. Starting with more pats and side hugs until she is finally ready for cuddles.

After the 'leap of faith' Ace is not afraid to cuddle anyone who asks for it.

Henrietta Pym

Henrietta is very picky with her physical affection. Being used to having few friends, even fewer close friends, she doesn't exactly know how to do platonic affection.

She knows what cuddles are, but to start some, that is a whole different ball park. This goes with receiving cuddles as well. Its probably a member of the team that becomes the first person to cuddle her.

Is she stiff at first? Absolutely. She just doesn't want to mess up this moment, that's all!

Henrietta does eventually melt in whoever's embrace and lets herself enjoy it. Maybe if she becomes relaxed enough, she will reciprocate.

All in all, Ant Girl loves receiving cuddles and is working on how to give them.

James van Dyne

James is a very touchy person.

Loves giving and receiving affection of any kind. Will go out of his way if friends or family are offering it to him.

Was physically affectionate to the team as soon as he got used to them. If anyone can stand his wings and still call him a friend, they are at the top of his book!

James does find Henrietta's hesitant for touch to be annouying. He just wants to show his friend that he cares for her! If he can barely get a side hug from her without feeling like he was holding a block of wood, what makes him belive he has a chance of cuddling.

His neck nearly snaps the moment someone manages to cuddle Henny and she relaxes!

HOW!?

Mari

Mari is used to giving affection. Receiving? Not so much.

If her siblings want a hug, she is right there holding them for however long they want. Hugs will especially be put out when they have a hard day.

Cuddles are a very rare thing any of the triplets do, especially with the introduction to their new hero lives.

Mari, being the one sibling that spends most of her time after everyone, rarely has time to sit down and receive any affection.

If someone she trusts from the team does however offer affection or cuddles, Mari will ask if its a joke before completely surrendering.

This Green Lantern will fold at any moment some one gives a warm hug. Her fellow Green Lantern's learned this the hard way.

Maxwell

Despite giving off vibes that say 'I'm tired' and 'I will bite you if you come more than 6 feet to me and my sisters', is a cuddle bug.

He is a bit spoiled with the amount of hugs he receives from his sisters. From warm hugs, side hugs, tight hugs, good pressure hugs, all is good.

Cuddles are his favorite because these only come when all his family is around.

With his sister's being torn apart from their Lantern duties and worrying about him in different ways, there seems to be more of a growing space between the three of them.

If anyone from the team offers to cuddle with him, he'll agree to it.

The team is becoming family and family cuddles are good in his book.

Madeline

Claims to hate cuddles, but she is just as big a cuddle bug as her brother.

Madeline fully uses her 'little sister' advantage to get as many cuddles as possible, but of course never outright. She has to give a good reason why she wants them. Cuddle time used to be her favorite family time together.

Now a days, she gets frustrated with the lack of hugs being passed around. Cuddles were just as rare.

With Mari gone half of the time and her own Lantern duties dragging her away from Max, Madeline's frustration only grows.

As of now she doesn't trust her colleagues enough to ask for affection... but the Young Justice

Tough Love is what come out of this Red Lantern and the others eventually deal with it. She is the baby of the group after all.

Harley Quinn Show

Thorn

Two Words: Cuddle Monster.

Back in her dimension, she was always around someone she loved and loved hugging and hand holding.

Cuddles were something her mother's introduced during the small times of temporary freedom.

Now in this dimension, Thorn was a bit hesitant to have bonds with these other versions of her parents. With time these small walls quickly crumble and the hugs start becoming more and more frequent.

Cuddling the first time with her parents, makes her cry remembering what she lost and gained over the course of a couple months. She is thankful for her past mother for giving her a new family to love.

[imthepunchlord]

I'm actually really excited to see Marinette, Juleka, and Rose on a hero team together, and we will hopefully interact more as civilians since, for a long time, I felt that going off more realistic friendships, those 3 would have been an interesting trio. Marinette does have common interests with both of them. Marinette and Juleka both have an interest in fashion that goes hand in hand. Marinette wants to design and make clothes, and Juleka wants to be a model (though apparently, in season 5, she says she wants to become a mortician when she grows up, which was probably just said cause she's goth, but maybe she could do both). Marinette and Rose actually seem to have a lot of common interests, like pink, cute things, and stuffed animals, and both are pretty artsy (Rose is in the art club, and in Darkblade, she is said to enjoy scrapbooking). Plus, the show implies Rose and Juleka have known each other and been friends for a long time (with Rose being the only one to know about Juleka's photo curse in Reflectka), so it wouldn't surprise me that Marinette could have befriended one and the other was brought in later.

What's kinda funny is that I've talked about this before with my Discord buddies. As a lot of friends that become and stay friends is usually through shared interests. Not to say it's always so but that's the usual.

And a friendship between Juleka, Marinette, and Rose does make sense as, yeah, they share interest. Also Rose's interest in perfumes overlaps with fashion.

Alya and Marinette, I actually couldn't think of much they had in common. Most of what they talk about is Adrien and plans to confess, and occasionally hero stuff. From what I see of her concept art, Alya did seem to have some interest in fashion (not as much as Marinette and maybe early Chloe?). Shame that was removed as that really could've solidified their friendship.

Additionally, there are other friendships I'm surprised I don't see.

Nino's interested in film and Mylene has an interest in acting, shouldn't they be close buddies? Adrien also has a knack for it so that could be another trio. The movie also had Nino as a skateboarder, so that could open up him being friends with Alix too.

Nathaniel likes comic book heroes like Alya, that's something that could've connected them. Could've been funny to see Alya pestering Nathaniel to draw their herosonas.

Video game wise, Max should be friends with Adrien and Marinette.

Speaking of Adrien, he does basketball and fencing. Shouldn't we see who's on those teams? Also does he know and worked with other teen models? He can't be the only one in Paris. And given he's rich and friends with the mayor's daughter, shouldn’t he be apart of an elitist group? Know others in Paris than just Chloe? Especially as it is canon that the rich parents want their kids to know other rich kids.

[possibly-in-wonderland]

Okay, I'm sorry (not) that this keeps being brought up but it really affected us.

CW: Vent, Grooming, SH, Suggestive, Incest (mention), ED, Relapse <Didn't, but almost did

This is still about that creepo dude.

Hold on...forgot what I was gonna say.

...

Right, there it is <Literally took me five minutes to remember.

He singled my friend (who I won't name despite them also mentioning it on their blog) and I out so much.

"Me and Alice will be your support." Not "Your friends can be your support."

Me and Alice.

Me and Alice.

Me and Alice.

We're one of the only adults in the server aside from about four other people. We're also the only one that interacts the most because we don't have much else to do during the day. And naturally we interacted with him a lot since he was also fairly active. And since we're an adult, he thought it would be okay, apparently, to openly be gross towards us.

Again, he called Ash, OUR HEADMATE, NOT THE CHARACTER, hot. TWICE. WE ARE NOT WHO YOU SEE IN THE MEDIA WE'RE FROM. We forgot about one of those times but it was here on Tumblr. Again, Ash was mega uncomfy and just kinda, "hahaha...yeahhhh." Like, buddy (derogatory), you KNOW why Ash formed. We vented about it. Grooming trauma came up, Anya felt worthless, BOOM. Ash. The guy that calls our vessel hot and attractive to HELP OUR SELF CONFIDENCE FROM BEING GROOMED. Source Ash (at least from the first few seasons of the show) is highly egotistical, self-confident, etc. And our Ash doesn't fall far from the tree.

We don't care if our closer friends compliment us like that because we're comfortable with them. We have a friend that calls us her, "scrumptious slice of blue raspberry velvet" and genuinely we don't care. We think it's funny and endearing. If it made us uncomfortable we would tell her.

Alice said it the other day, we're pretty sure we were fucking groomed again because we didn't listen to our gut feelings. At 19. Nine-fucking-teen. And the worst part about it? It wasn't just us that were a victim like it was in the past.

It threw us through wringer so bad that someone who said "never" to self-harm fucking actually went through with it because it was confused about what was going on and needed release. We almost fucking relapsed with our ED because "it feels like it's the only thing we could control right now" and I think that's why I'm out (or at least part of the reason) to help prevent it. Damage control, if you will.

Not to mention something else I forgot to add that has nothing to do with me, anytime some friends, who are MINORS, were in voice chat alone he'd fucking hop in immediately.

Like???

Please, everyone, stay vigilant.

P.S: Not only did he delete his blog, but we're speculating that he made a new one (that also got deleted) and the likes were public. Now, idgaf what people do or anything bedroom-wise so long as, y'know, safe and consensual. Not in my jurisdiction to judge anyone. But liking incest and ageplay and whatnot then fucking dming a fucking minor talking about, "Oh, I'm a concerned parent what happened wah wah wah" BACK THE FUCK UP. WHAT THE HELL. WE'RE SO ANGRY ABOUT THAT I CAN'T EVEN DESCRIBE IT. DO YOU KNOW HOW VIOLENT OUR THOUGHTS GOT YESTERDAY?? HOW WE DAYDREAMED OF GOING TO DUDE BRO'S FLAT AND JUST TORMENTING HIM? Again, we don't know for sure if it was him, but there's heavy speculation.

Not only did he delete his og blog, but when you go to the channel that hosted his horror series now all the videos have been deleted and it just says nothing.

If anyone needs us, we're gonna be listening to To Catch a Predator by ICP because holy Christ on a pogo stick, dude.

[jaymari-lyn]

Okay, so since nobody is talking about it, I will

This apparently is supposed do be the opening of the first scene in season 5 and it brings up a lot of questions.

The first one being, who is the child? Cold wind and groaning trees makes sense since Hawkins is now sort of combined with the Upside-Down, but some child singing is a little odd.

By now, all the 'kids' in the show are well in their teens, so considering them 'children' wouldn't make a lot of sense. So, first my head goes to a flashback sequence.

It could possibly be a flashback of Eleven and the other kids from the rainbow room, but since last season was really focused on it, I don't it's going to be as central this season.

What I think it could be is a flashback to either Will in the Upside-Down back in season 1, OR a flashback with him and Mike as little kids.

If it's Will in the Upside-Down, it would make a lot of sense since we know Will used to sing when he was down there. So we could possibly be getting a flashback to Wills week in the Upside-Down, because this whole season is supposed to be about him, as well as a full circle moment back to season 1 for a lot of characters.

But another theory I like is that it's a flashback to Mike and Will when they first met. The cold wind and groaning trees could just interpreted as less creepy, and just more like fall Indiana weather, and the child's voice could be Will singing to himself on the swingset. I could be wrong, but it seems like Will used to use music as a way to cope or keep himself busy as a kid (with Jonathan while Joyce and Lonnie would fight, plus the Upside-Down, like I said earlier). If Will was all alone on the swingset with no friends as a kindergartener who probably missed his mom and brother, he might sing as a way to make himself feel better. We've seen bts photos of a playground with a swingset, so it is plausible. Another thing is maybe Will singing is what originally got Mike's attention, because let's be honest, he is super oblivious, and this is even before he gained his Will-is-upset instinct, so he most likely wouldn't notice Will unless he was doing something that would make him stand out. One more thing that I want to add is that Wills singing as a kid might have been what made him start getting bullied. Besides his appearance, what other things would have made the bullies or even Lonnie, for that matter, think he's gay? He may be on the smaller side, but lots of boys are, so why Will specifically. Back in the 80s singing (and take this with a grain of salt because I wasn't alive back then) probably would have been considered "girly", so that could have been one of the factors that got these assholes to start bullying him. And, you can notice that after season 2, Wills connections to music sort of dissappears. His love for it isn't really brought up that much, and we never see or hear about him singing in season 3 or 4, so it could have been him getting sick of bullying and trying to change himself to appear 'normal' to a heteronomative society that doesn't accept gay people. This flashback would also be, in turn, a great way to start introducing back Mike and Wills friendship, as well as their obvious live for one another.

Another thing , though, that can debunk that theory, is that it has to be a familiar song. The only one that really comes to mind for me is "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?", which didn't come out until '82, so it wouldn't line up time-wise for Will to be singing that when him and Mike were todlers in the 70s. If that's the case, I don't know what familiar song he could be singing.

If you guys can think of any other songs that would work time-wise, please let me know.

Personally, I think music is going to play a huge part in this final season, between Will's connection to it, and the fact that it's the only way to get away from Vecna once he is in your head (since music can reach aprts of the brain words can't)

But let me know your thoughts! I'd love to hear them!

[officialleehadan]

Making a Plan

Hello darlings! Today's story was brought to you by Rene! Darling, thank you so much for all your support!

Prompt: Capability Seen with Mr. Gold

+++

Natalie did not know, and did not want to know, how her shady apparently-godfather-probably-mobster -apparently-superpowered boss appeared at the foot of Annabelle’s driveway. Rather than risk her defenses, he very sensibly texted Natalie, who sent Ben down to collect him.

The decidedly saucy kiss Annabelle gave Mr. Gold when he greeted her was somehow weirder than almost everything else that had happened so far.

“It’s been a long time, ma chere,” Mr. Gold said and kissed both her hands next while Annabelle laughed at him. She kissed his cheek and guided him over to the table. “How you stay so beautiful, I will never know.”

“You’ve always been a flirt, and you’re sure not French,” Annabelle told him and delivered a slice of pie, strawberry, Natalie noticed, without asking. “What have you found out that we couldn’t discuss over the phone?”

“That the heroes and the villains are working together,” Mr. Gold said grimly, and set his suitcase on the table before he gave Natalie a quick, but also-unexpected hug. “Natalie’s power has been noted, and there are a great many interested parties who would like to claim it, and her.”

“Villains aren’t a problem,” Ben said with a shrug that was far more reassuring than it should be. He was really pretty scary when he wanted to be, but in a way that Natalie very much appreciated considering he was pointed at the people who wanted to hurt her or worse. “But the heroes, they’re a problem. Villains won’t work as a team the way heroes will.”

“Blackmail has a few of the easier ones off our path, and so do several of my contracts,” Mr. Gold said and passed a stack of papers to Natalie, and Fidget beside her. A quick shuffle through them proved them to be the same contracts he gave to everyone he worked with, but with superhero names, and their real identities, filled in where most people had regular names. The contents of each contract differed, but most of them seemed to be a strange sort of non-compete contract. “And a few I’ve chased into unwise contracts to keep them from bothering me. They cannot break those contracts they so-unwisely signed.”

“You’re a scary, scary old man,” Natalie said with significant admiration, and paused. “They can’t get me, but what about my family? Mom and my stepdad, and my sister and her family? They’re not protected, are they?”

“As it happens, they won a very exciting family trip, all expenses paid, to a private island,” Mr. Gold said with a very sly grin that lifted Natalie’s heart and her worries. “Very secluded. Very private. Extremely secure.”

“They bought that?”

“I had a word with your mother. We’ve stayed in contact. When I tell her she needs to take her family and go to ground, she listens.”

Right. Natalie forgot that Mr. Gold was her father’s best friend, back in the day. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about that either. It was weird to think that her father, many years dead, was some sort of bigshot hero.

Actually, that raised a question.

“How did people not know about me before all this?” Natalie asked Mr. Gold, and handed his papers back to him. “Pop was a whole big thing, right? Generally the little Powers don’t go down as heroes. If Pop had a Power, isn’t it something like an eighty percent chance his kids to too? Does Emilie have a Power?”

“Not that Jan could find,” Mr. Gold said, naming one of his security dudes whose Power was to sense other people’s Powers. “He told me about yours when it woke back in your teens. Unfortunately for you, your Power works on you as well as everyone around you, and you have been growing stronger. Recently, your presence has been noted despite my precautions.”

“I feel like I should have known about this a while ago,” Natalie muttered, somewhat resentful of the whole thing. “Don’t suppose there’s anyone around who can turn off Powers?”

The kitchen went silent, which was, in her experience, never a good thing.

“Nulls are rare,” Ben said at last, very reluctantly. He rested a hand on her shoulder and she leaned back into him. “And they’re dangerous. No one in the community, on either side, likes to work with them. They make everyone nervous. I don’t know one I’d trust not to sell us out.”

“I do, but she lives in Indonesia,” Mr. Gold said slowly. He sat back in his chair and took a pensive bite of his pie. Natalie smiled up at Annabelle, who presented her with another heavily-doctored chocolate milk, and a very reassuring kiss on the top of the head. She was working on a nice buzz, which wasn’t great for her decision-making, but did a great job of keeping her from freaking out. “Natalie, I think we may be joining your family on vacation.”

“…I don’t know if that’s better or worse than getting nabbed by villains or heroes or whatever” Natalie told him after a bracing chug of her very boozy chocolate milk. “Mom and Emilie are going to freak out, but that’s something I can handle I guess. You’re gonna get your friend to meet us wherever?”

“I’m going to try,” Mr. Gold said and sighed. “Annabelle, will you continue to provide your services until Natalie’s Power is neutralized?”

“If it comes with a vacation on a private island, no problem,” Annabelle joked, as if she hadn’t already reassured Natalie that she was in this until the situation was handled. Natalie had not realized how badly she needed someone mom-shaped to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay. “If your friend doesn’t come through. There’s someone I can call, but he’s hard to find, and he hates the whole community.”

“That might be what we need, since I’m the teddy bear everyone is fighting over,” Natalie sighed, and closed her eyes to try and get a handle on her emotions. It didn’t work very well. “But why the hell not? I guess there are worse places to hide out than a tropical island, and I look great in a bikini. Let’s go for it.”

+++

Capability Seen: (FULL COLLECTION)

Clink Zap

Twenty Questions (Subscriber Only!)

Not a Drill

Chase Music (Subscriber Only!)

Hide Out Freak Out (Subscriber Only!)

Call Home (Subscriber Only!)

Office Revelations (Subscriber Only!)

Introducing Flame

Classic Scifi (Subscriber Only!)

Trust Falls

Firing Pin

Zap Zap Girl

On the Road Again

Picture-Perfect

Cherry Pie

Scuttle Arrival (Subscriber Only!)

Making a Plan (NEW!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[imjustavenuxwithaboomerang]

el tejano - habbey oneshot

(this is inspired by the song el tejano by lauv and sofia reyes. you don't really need to know the song/lyrics to read it, but it would probably give context for certain details)

The grating sound of a creaky window being opened filled the dorm room, replacing the sound of Deuce aggressively typing up an essay that was due later that week. He didn’t look up, as he knew it was his closest companion, sneaking through the window. Was there even a curfew on weekends? No, but what Heath didn’t know wouldn’t hurt. 

Heath climbed into the room and threw himself down on his roommate’s bed, sighing dramatically. Deuce kept his eyes on his laptop and paid him no mind. Heath sat up and sighed even louder, which sounded more like a strangled scream.

Deuce chuckled to himself and rolled his desk chair towards the bed. He reached out to stop the chair from hitting the footboard and smiled at his best friend.

“Well, someone sure wants my attention,” Deuce said smugly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Ask me how my day was!” Heath kicked off his shoes and brought his legs up to sit cross-legged. 

“And you can’t just tell me, because…?”

“Because…suspense,” Deuce rolled his eyes, “and because no one else asked how my day was going the entire time I was out,” Heath said with a slight pout.

“Fine,” Deuce turned around to sit backward in his chair and crossed his arms over the back, “How was your day, Heath?”

Heath flailed his hands in excitement, “Great question!” Deuce held back a laugh, “I went to the park, made friends with some zombie dogs, and saw a flyer for this new nightclub place for teens. I went because, duh, and it was decorated to have this beachy vibe and I love the beach.”

Deuce nodded along, “Mhm…”

“And I stayed there for the rest of the night. but, there’s more!” Heath clapped his hands together. 

“How can there be more if you stayed there all night?” 

“I met a girl! I, Heath Burns, met a girl!” 

“Huh, good for you, man,” Deuce pushed himself off the bed and attempted to keep writing his paper.

“Wait, wait, I gotta tell you all about it,” Heath climbed off the bed and headed towards his side of the room, just barely saving himself from tripping over his sneakers. 

“Fine, but I gotta finish this,” Deuce gestured to his open document, “I promise I’m listening, go ahead.”

Heath plopped down into his own desk chair, “So you know Nirvana right? That human band?” Deuce hummed and nodded. “Apparently, there are Spanish covers of their songs, which is a sentence I never thought I’d say, but they were, like, the majority of the playlist.”

Deuce furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Heath, “Nirvana of all bands has multiple covers in Spanish?” 

“Yuh, and me and the girl just danced to them and talked all night. What did we talk about?” Heath didn’t wait for Deuce to answer, “Great question”.

Deuce chuckled to himself as he finished a paragraph. 

“I learned a lot about her, like, she’s from the Himalayas, and she actually knows some of the same people we do. She knows Cleo and Lagoona and even Clawdeen, isn’t that so interesting?” Deuce nodded absentmindedly. “She even asked me if I watched that human show, um…” Heath searched his brain for the title, “Friends! That’s it!” 

“Oh, that show about the six friends in the coffee shop or whatever?” Deuce leaned back in his chair looking over his last couple of paragraphs. 

“Yeah! I told her that Phoebe was probably my favorite character so far.”

“The blonde one?” Deuce asked.

“Mhm, and she actually agreed with me and we laughed and laughed.”

“How did you of all people, no offense, get a girl to talk to you and dance with you? For such a long period of time?” Deuce started a new paragraph and slightly laughed at the idea of Heath fumbling over his words trying to ask a girl to dance.

“Well actually, you jerk, she came up to me. I had just ordered some salsa for my chips, I had chips, I didn’t think it was important to mention, and she walked up to me. She asked if she could sit with me and try some of my food.”

“And you let her, because only you would share your food with an absolute stranger,” Deuce said, saying the last part under his breath.

“I heard that, and yes, I did. She sat down and asked me if the salsa was mild. I stupidly said that it was hotter than mild because I thought it would impress her but turns out she has problems with hot food. Deuce, I almost scared her away!”

Deuce couldn’t keep his laughs quiet anymore and let a loud guffaw leave his mouth, “See, this is why I didn’t believe that you were able to keep her interested enough to dance with you.” 

“Rude, but I quickly took it back and said it was a joke. She stayed, thank gods, and then one of the Nirvana covers came on, she pulled me to the dance floor, I, of course, had to keep my fire under control, and the rest is the greatest love story to ever take place.”

“Sounds like an amazing night, Heath. What was her name?” Deuce finished up his final paragraph and hit save. Should he have proofread it? Sure, but he might as well give the end of Heath’s story his full attention.

“Yeah...about that, once the club got closer to closing time, she left pretty quickly, and I never…actually caught her name…” 

Deuce stopped moving. He did not hear that right, he couldn't have, “You don't,” Deuce closed his eyes in preparation for disappointment, “know her name?” 

“No, I do not,” Deuce could practically hear the sheepish look Heath had on his face as he spoke. 

Deuce did a sharp inhale and pinched the bridge of his nose, “I mean this in the nicest way possible, dude, you're hopeless.” 

“Yeah, I know. But what matters is that she seemed to be having fun and I know I had fun,” Heath got out of his chair and started to change into his pajamas. “That’s a win in my book.” 

“A win is a win,” Deuce reluctantly said. 

Heath finished getting dressed and sprawled out on his bed, “I wonder if she’s thinking about me right now.”

“Maybe, Heath, maybe.”

In a dorm room, on the other side of the school was a blue-skinned girl and her friends gathered in a circle. Giggles left the friends’ mouths as the girl spoke.

“He assured me that the salsa wasn’t actually that hot and so I tried it, it was really good, and we just hit it off right away,” it was hard for Abbey to keep her excitement in check as she recounted the story of the boy she had met that night. 

“And then what happened?” Lagoona chirped.

“Then the music changed and I dragged him to the dance floor,” Abbey took a second to chuckle to herself, “He was such a bad dancer,” another chuckle fell from her lips.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Ghoulia reached a hand to Abbey’s knee in comfort.

“No, no, it was endearing. I loved how bad he was at dancing because he knew he was bad but he was so confident about it. It made me laugh.”

Ghoulia hummed and took her hand away. 

“Ya know, orange skin, red hair, I think I know the guy you’re talking about,” Cleo, who had been trying to act like she didn’t think Abbey’s story was absolutely adorable, finally chimed in to the conversation, “What was his name again?”

“Oh, I never actually asked for it. I didn’t tell him mine either. Guess that wasn’t my smartest move,” Abbey said, giggling to herself. 

“You utter fool,” Cleo reprimanded her but couldn’t stay mad at her very happy friend. 

“Yeah, I know. But I had so much fun, guys, and I think he did too. I swear I saw his hair become fire for a second when we were dancing.” 

Cleo definitely knew who the guy was by now but she held her words. Why ruin the moment by letting everyone know that Abbey was dancing with Cleo’s ex’s best friend? Besides, it was bound to be funny when the two would inevitably run into each other when classes started in a couple days.

[sonicasura]

Here's part two of the Fractured Soul AU. I'll be going over some domestic shenanigans between Ichigo and Kafka alongside what's happening in the Bleach world. Let's get started.

When Ichigo Kurosaki was split in two by Grand Fisher, something had been left behind. A black haired comatose boy on the edge of death. The uninjured Masaki would take him back home. He stayed asleep for months as the Kurosaki household looked over him.

The child would soon awaken but not the person either parent was hoping. Ichigo Kurosaki's legal is changed to Kaien S. Kurosaki and the truth of his accident would be hidden for years. Until he met a strange Hollow so familiar to him years later.

Not all of Kaien Shiba had been devoured by the Hollows. It instead haunted the Kurosaki family for years until Ichigo's accident. These fragments steadily merge with the dying child in order to fill the fatal holes of his soul.

A process that would prevent the two split beings from ever becoming one again. Kaien takes Ichigo's position for the events of Bleach. Substitute Soul Reaper who protects Karakura Town alongside his friends.

His spiritual pressure remains immense despite being a split soul thus characters like Orihime still get their powers. Unlike Isshin, Masaki was very quick to take action when it became apparent her kids were developing spiritually awareness. She has Urahara make them special contacts so they can see spirits.

The Matron of the Kurosaki household wants to give her children the option to live a mostly normal life or not. Until the choice is made, she wants to make sure they can run from danger. The accident still haunts her and those memories will be brought up once more.

Like his Hollow counterpart, Kaien's Zanpakuto is also Zangetsu with Tensa Zangestu being his Bankai. The differences can be found in their weapon forms. Kaien's Shikai is a trident and bow combination while his Bankai wields a short sword alongside a compact bow. Ichigo wields the signature blades we all know in both Shikai/Bankai.

Kafka had quite an interesting time when it came to raising his reptilian son. As expected, Ichigo was somewhat feral and mischievous in nature. He has a habit of marking his territory by clawing up surfaces.

Kafka got a few scratching posts for him so he wouldn't destroy anymore furniture. Even a few dental stim toys as the kid had a habit of chewing on stuff if frustrated. Like pens which often led to his face getting covered in ink.

Ichigo has minor care for personal space. If he likes someone then expect constant touches in the form of nuzzles, rubbing, and him leaning on the person. Kafka often found himself with his son deeming the man as a personal pillow.

Like a lizard, he's prone to shedding. It's usually a few scales but eventually Ichigo has to go through a molting period twice a year. His dad makes sure to get stuff ready as the Hollow is very uncomfortable and a bit spicy during these times.

Ichigo still has a hunger for souls but it's less harsh due to his human nature. He feeds on kaiju uni-organs as they have a lot more spiritual energy. The higher fortitude or larger the core, the more concentrated the Reishi is.

It took about eating three 8.0 and higher fortitude kaiju uni-organs for Ichigo to become a Vasto Lorde. When it began to happen, the Hollow immediately started to panic. He has no idea what he really is after all so the change was taken negatively.

Ichigo fled to Kafka as fast as possible, desperately suppressing whatever this burning sensation was. The older man helped ground his son when the boy couldn't hold it back anymore. Let's just say no kaiju approached the entire city for weeks because the howls Ichigo let out were charged with spiritual energy.

An unintentional display of dominance as the young teen doesn't know about a Hollow's evolution. Despite the danger, Kafka remained by his son's side until the transformation was complete. Both were however super exhausted afterwards.

The himbo's kaiju side prevented him from passing out as any other person this close would be unconscious in seconds. Lucky Nekomata would be closed for a few days afterwards. Kafka rather have his son feeling better than worry about the shop.

After becoming a Vasto Lorde, Ichigo retains only a few reptilian traits like his tail. He still has to molt but the process became hybridized. Each year around the start of winter, his horns begin to shed before eventually falling off similar to moose.

New ones regrow after a few weeks but boy did it spook him the first time. Ichigo only full body molts around the spring once per a year. Any shedded material from the Hollow doesn't disintegrate so Kafka had a collection before he was able to donate the stuff. (It's an equal split between Urahara, the Defense Force, and Soul Society's Science Division.)

All of Ichigo's clothes are custom made by the himbo. Shirts/jackets have slits for shoulder spikes pants have a slit/tail sleeve, fingerless gloves, and socks/shoes for his lizard feet. Kafka does end up reworking them when his son becomes a Vasto Lorde.

Ichigo's hunger is a lot more manageable due to his evolution. He no longer has a taste for souls and prefers eating kaiju instead. Some Soul Society related scientists theorize it's because of his kaiju core diet in the Adjuchas stage is what caused this change.

Ichigo does help around the restaurant other than going on grocery runs. This includes assisting in cleaning after hours, prepping food before opening, and making sure the cats in the feline section are taken care of. Lucky Nekomata allows people to interact or adopt cats similar to cat cafes.

Quite a number of kitties end up on the streets due to kaiju attacks and Kafka is an unfortunate cat magnet. Ichigo often finds his tail being targeted by the felines, especially if they're kittens or orange. Don't get him started on the fuzzballs using him as a personal bed/jungle gym.

Ever since Kafka became a kaiju, both frequently exercised their more primal natures. The himbo often returning with a fresh kill for both of them to eat. Shared habit in making nests to sleep in and massacring mattresses in the process.

On some occasions, the two are often seen frolicking around the wilderness. A sight often sometimes caught by Defense Force surveillance drones or the rare recording civilian. Rarer sight is Kafka scruffing Ichigo whenever his whelp decides to be a little shit.

Don't tempt the himbo at all. He will shift his size and lay on his son like some animals do. The man shall make it more embarrassing by grooming his kid like a mother cat does to her kitten.

You can say it's quite the sight to see a Vasto Lorde get scruffed and disciplined by their non-Hollow parent. The studies on Hollow behavior are definitely getting a unique renovation. Although Kafka is threatening scientists with a tree if they decide to get nosy about Ichigo's possible love life.

Especially when he finds a mate who doesn't mind having a Hollow for a lover. (For those wondering, the series creator Tite Kubo confirmed that Hollows can reproduce and have offspring. Canon Ichigo does have a kid after TYBW so take that as you will.)

This is what Vasto Lorde Ichigo looks like. Sadly his canon design doesn't have a tail.

@gigilalaka @ashiraismyname @kaijuice-z @foolmariofest

@margoteve Tagging ya in case you're interested.

[astoopidfool]

Expanding Chapter 5 - Indulge

| Rating: T | Words: 3,465 | CW: Racist joke made by a POC in response to MC | On Ao3

| Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | | Chapter 6 |

x-x-x

Branson

Holy fuck, two months. Two months have gone by and he’s still here. Things haven’t changed much but he can’t say that it’s the worst. Ever since the first day there he’s had enough to eat. They’ve given him his space, never going into the room he’s been given without asking him first. Despite everything, they have yet to yell at him and always give him the opportunity to explain himself.

But it doesn’t matter because sooner or later, they’re going to change their minds. He doesn’t know how or why, but they’re going to. So Branson is going to continue doing whatever the hell he wants. His decisions to do, or not do, doesn’t make any damn difference. He continues skipping classes at school and hanging out with Smith and the others.

Whenever he gets the opportunity, he stays out of the house. He’s even resorted to hanging out in the food court inside the mall. Smith works at the movie theater that’s only access is through the mall entrance. Evan and Tommy gave him a debit card with money on it, but he never uses it. It’s another thing to control him with. Smith sneaks him free soda and snacks any time he’s working. Branson asks if he’s worried about them catching him, but he seems unconcerned. Claims people do it all the time. Branson doesn’t want him getting fired for doing something nice for him, but he’s not going to argue over it either. Smith is old enough to make his own decisions.

One day at the mall, Branson is scrolling through his phone in the far back corner of the food court, sucking on the soda that  Smith brought him at the beginning of his shift, when Smith slides into the seat across from him with a mischievous grin on his face. Branson looks up through his lashes and cocks an eyebrow. “What's up?” He asks. “Aren't you supposed to be working?”

The other teen shrugs as he leans forward on the table, arms braced. Waggling his eyebrows he states, “I’m on break. But that’s not the point. Listen, my coworker just told me that there’s this party this weekend at her cousin’s house. Apparently his parents are gone for the weekend, and since he’s twenty-one he plans on buying a fuck ton of booze and shit and told her to invite everyone she knows. Her cousins parents are super chill, I guess, don’t give a fuck what he does as long as the police don’t get involved.”

Branson leans back in the chair and crosses one arm over his stomach as he asks, chewing on the end of the straw so his words are a tad distorted, “Okay, and?”

Smith rolls his eyes. “C’mon dude, seriously? There’s a party. With no adults. And probably a ton of hot girls. I mean, my coworker has no brains at all but has the best tits I’ve ever seen so her friends are probably the same. We could get drunk and get laid.”

“I don’t drink.” Branson firmly states, face hardening a bit at even the idea of tasting booze.

Smith groans and flops dramatically onto the table, head resting on one flimsy bicep nearly sending Branson’s empty popcorn boat flying. “Live a little my dude.” He heaves a sigh. “Even if you don't drink, there's going to be weed, edibles, and even some THC drinks I think. Or would you rather stay home with the homo's and hope they don't come for your virtue?”

Snorting, Branson bends his straw back and lets it flick forward, spraying his friend with sticky soda syrup. Being so close, it hits him straight in the face and Smith sputters, sitting back so quickly he nearly loses his balance on the back legs of the chair. “Fuck!” He splutters. “Rude ass mother fucker.” Branson laughs, throwing back his head and letting it come from the belly.

Eventually he settles down and says, “Yeah man, I'll go. You know I'm always good for it. I'm pretty sure I heard Evan and Tommy doing god knows what over the weekend and it's scarred me for life. The less I have to be at that house the happier I'll be.” What he doesn't say is that all he heard was Tommy telling his husband that he misses him; that having alone time is more difficult with a teenager than a toddler. And then Branson heard their door slam and the two of them laughing and speaking in hushed tones. He'd put headphones after that in hopes of drowning them out. When Tommy left for work a little while later, Branson couldn't look him in the eye, and the entire rest of the time with just Evan at home, Branson avoided him. A shiver runs down his spine at the memory. “Send me the deets.”

“Sure thing. Fuck.” Smith pulls a jingling phone out of his pocket and sighs as he wipes at his face with a leftover napkin someone hadn’t bothered to throw out. “Gotta get back to work.”

“Make sure you actually text me instead of just using that piece of junk as decoration.” Branson salutes him with his cup. “Oh. And get me another soda.”

Sliding from his seat like his body is made of Jell-O, Smith salutes him and sarcastically replies, putting on a southern drawl from a hundred years ago, “Yes mast'a, sir. Anything else this negro can get for ya, mast'a?”

“Oh, piss off, Smith. I swear to god if you keep that up I'm going to hurt you.”

Snickering, Smith yanks the empty cup from his hand and makes a point of sashaying his way back to the movie theater. It's Branson's turn to roll his eyes.

He spends the rest of the night working on homework and drinking way too much fizzy drink. When Smith finally gets off work, the two of them meet Nikki at a park nearby to shoot the shit and smoke weed. By the time Branson makes it home, he's got four missed calls and about a dozen texts from his jail keepers. “Branson, is that you?” Evan yells from the kitchen, his head appearing around the corner a minute later. There's a deep frown of concern on his face. He's got a bread pan in one hand and a towel in the other, the majority of its length keeping the bread pan from burning his skin. Branson peeks a streak of flour that starts at the top of the apron and disappears behind the wall where the rest of Evan’s body is.

Once again there's no animosity coming from the man. He seems to be genuinely concerned and it makes Branson uncomfortable. No one has shown this much care towards him since he was thirteen or fourteen years old. It was like, once he turned fifteen, it was expected that he fend for himself most of the time. Bristling because he doesn't know what face he should be putting on, his stoic mask comes up and he says, “Yeah, who the hell else would it be?”

The rest of Evan slinks out from behind the wall and his face darkens a bit, expression firming. Branson braces for what's next. His mind is present enough to allow him to register that his foster dad is absolutely filthy; had he been baking because Branson wasn’t answering the phone? Tommy tells him all that time that Evan bakes when he’s stressed.

This has to be it. The other shoe is dropping and Evan is going to explode at him. Please let him explode. Branson knows how to deal with anger. Much to his disappointment the older man takes in a long, deep, breath and blows it out slowly. He hugs the bread to his chest a little tighter. “Branson.” His tone is stern, but there’s no anger. “I get that you want to hang out with your friends. I understand that you’re almost eighteen and want your freedom. But that freedom can’t come at the cost of me and Tommy’s mental health.”

A tiny, itty bitty, piece of Branson’s wall breaks. Though Evan is clearly angry with him, he’s not yelling. In fact he’s being pretty damn vulnerable with him. Branson knows that there’s a part of this man that wants to just let go and shout but… He’s starting to think that it’s not out of anger. Never out of anger.

Evan wants to yell because he’s worried.

Before he can stop himself he scoffs and adjusts his backpack on his shoulder. Running a hand through his hair - it’s getting greasy, and he really needs to shower, but he feels weird doing it with two gay men awake and wandering the house (though that niggle of apprehension grows quieter every single day) - he bites back, “Yeah, like you actually care. Y’all just want to fucking control me. I’m not a fucking kid.”

“Yeah. You are.” Evan states, standing straighter, shoulders going back. Branson braces because usually the fists start flying when an adult squares up with him like this. He bristles at the implication of his child status, though. He may not legally be an adult, yet, but he sure as shit wasn’t no child. “Listen, I know that you grew up fast, and that your situation has been less than stellar, but for all intents and purposes, you are still a kid. And the adults around you should be protecting you. You shouldn’t have to be protecting yourself.”

He snorts. “Yeah, whatever. I’m going to bed.” Despite every instinct he has he turns away from the man in the apron baking bread at this unholy hour. Distracted, he startles and then goes preternaturally still when a large, warm, hand settles on his head. He’s not much shorter than Evan, but at this moment he feels like a prey animal and a vulture has its sights set on him. Every muscle in his body thrums, ready to bolt at the first twitch of danger. How long can he stay still like this and not be hurt? If he plays dead, wild animals will supposedly leave him alone.

His foster guardian isn’t a wild animal.

“Branson, I’m sorry. I just…” He strokes down Branson's neck and applies the smallest bit of pressure, his large hands warm, and work worn. The hands of a man used to doing hard work. Branson’s not ready to admit out loud that that feeling brings him comfort. Or, at the very least, it’s beginning to. Tommy and Evan don’t touch him too often, still treating him like a skittish feral animal they’re trying to lure in slowly with food and words of affirmation, and promises of love and a warm bed, but every time their skin comes into contact with his, another piece of his walls chips away. They never touch him for long, respecting boundaries he’s never even voiced once, but oftentimes it’s enough. After a few seconds, Evan retracts his hand and says, “You don’t have to pick up the phone every single time we call, but I need you to understand that things have happened in our lives, horrible things, that make us more anxious than most when our phone calls or texts get ignored. We’re not gonna come storm your school again, or some shit like that, but we do have a police officer in our back pocket and we’re not afraid to send her out after your teenage ass.” A small lift of his lips when Branson turns his head ever so slightly to look over his shoulder.

“I’m not going to put a leash on you. I’m not going to helicopter parent you. Tommy’s not going to do that either, but in return, we need you to show us a little bit of care. Tell us that you’re not coming home after school, that you won’t be home until late. If something happens, send a text. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the god damn night. If you’re in a situation and you need one of us, pick up that phone. It’s yours Branson. I-if things don’t work out with us,” Branson catches the hitch in Evan’s voice even though he tries to hide it, and he doesn’t like it, “we’ll keep paying for it until we can either transfer it to the new family you’re staying with, or until you can afford to pay for it on your own. Even if you get the hell out of here, and you never want anything to do with u-us again, we’re going to be there for you. Because to us, Branson, you’re already a part of the family. Whether you believe it or not.”

He can’t take it. Lowering his eyes to the ground, he scuffs the floorboard with his shoe as silence hangs between them. Then, those stubby fingers are in his hair again, tousling it as Evan chides him, “And take a fucking shower. God, why are teenage boys so fucking against hygiene? At this rate you’re never gonna find a girlfriend. We also need to schedule you a haircut. Do you have someone you go to regularly? Maybe Athena can help. Or May.” Or a boyfriend is left unsaid but Branson knows he thinks it. It comes with the territory of being queer, not assuming everyone is straight by default.

His ears perk up. “Who’s May?” He asks. They’ve never talked about her before. He wasn’t interested… like that.. At least he doesn’t think he is, but the two men rarely seem to talk about anyone besides Maddie, Evan’s sister, and his brother-in-law, Chimney.

Evan’s returning to the kitchen, back to Branson. Pausing midstep, he turns and shoots him a cheeky grin teasing, “My adopted younger sister. Don’t get any funny ideas, she’s way too old for you.”

Branson blinks. Adopted sister? He thought there was only Maddie. So was Evan adopted, too? That can’t be right. Maddie is his blood sister and Evan’s mentioned his parents a few times. He’s talked about leaving their house when he was old enough and how his relationship had been rocky until three or four years ago after he’d nearly died being crushed by a fire engine. It’s still rocky sometimes, they’d been a bit divided on his decision to live the rest of his life with a man, but they get along mostly fine. Living in Pennsylvania they don’t get out here much, so Branson doubts he’ll meet them any time soon, even if the siblings do talk with them. Finally, a confused scrunch set in his brows, he asks, “Adopted sister?”

Another silence, this one heavier, the pause longer. When Evan speaks, his voice is soft, forlorn, “Yeah um. Sort of an inside joke. I’ll… Tell you about it later, okay? You’ve got school tomorrow and you’re not skipping it just because you’re tired.”

Knowing a dismissal when he hears one, Branson mutters quietly, “Um, sure. Night. I guess.”

“Night kid.” Evan’s aura fades as he steps back into the kitchen and Branson stands frozen in the living room for a long second, unsure how to process what he’s just gone through. There’d been no yelling, but somehow the feeling of shame and disappointment hurt worse than a slap to the face did. He inhales deeply, shuddering as it fills his lungs; he’s emotionally drained for no reason. He’s going to shower and then he’s going to bed.

Please let the rest of the week go by quickly. He doesn’t think he can handle any more heart to hearts.

x-x-x

To his utter dismay, the week drags by slower than they farm sap from trees for maple syrup. (Don’t ask how he knows how slowly sap is procured.) By Friday evening he’s just done. Since Tuesday, he’s done his due diligence in at least texting Evan if he won’t be coming straight back from school but that’s about it. Thankfully all the other useless texts have slowed way down. He usually gets one from both men telling him good morning, and to behave some time before ten. It’s been weird adjusting to either one, or both occasionally, both of them being away for up to forty-eight hours a time. One would think he’d use the time to bond with them one on one but he still can’t quite muster it. As for other messages, he gets almost nothing. They’re all too busy to spend time attached to their smartphones.

“Are you ready for tonight?” Smith asks, puffing on a cigarette he stole from Easton. Heidi leans into his side smiling like the cat that got the cream. Branson is almost 100% positive that she’s into him. Her eyes constantly follow Smith and she walks around with hearts in them, always orbiting in his space when they're together. Too bad for her that Smith likes them model thin and dumber than a box of rocks. Heidi is short with plenty of handles to love, a doughy face, smaller than average breasts, and a GPA that belies her rebel ways. If he remembers correctly, she ranks among the top five students in their class. She's easily pressured into doing things which is how she came to be a part of their little hodgepodge group of misfits.

“Ugh I can't fucking wait.” Heidi plucks the cigarette from Smith's hand and takes a drag. No one else seems to notice the way her face pinches as she breathes out. She doesn't like smoking but does it anyway. Branson muses. He doesn't understand that idea. Why would he do something if he hates it? If someone doesn't like him because he doesn't do something then fuck them. It's not his problem. He doesn't need to be liked by everybody. Or anybody.

Or so he tries to tell himself. No one wants to be on the outside always looking in.

Heidi hands it back. Smith watches with a raised eyebrow. If anything, Smith gets annoyed by Heidi but he's too nice to say anything. She's also Nikki's hanger on and Smith doesn't like pissing the red headed pixie off. So he deals with Heidi. Watching their interaction with severe disinterest Branson replies absently, “Same. I need a break from hell.”

Smith flicks the filter of the cigarette before leaning back into the leg of the bleachers. Nikki skipped school today and Easton is out sick. (Meaning he probably got drunk last night and is too hungover for school so he's staying home playing video games all day.) “Is Nikki gonna show?” Smith is definitely crushing on her, or at the very least lusting after her, but seems to keep a polite distance because he's under the misguided belief that Branson wants to move on her. He doesn't. “She skipped just for shits and giggles today, right?”

Branson nods. “She's gonna meet us there.” The bell rings. “Anyway, see you whore's after last period. Meet you back here.” He stands and shoulders his bag, adjusting it before skulking towards the building.

He makes it through his final period, spending most of it with his head on his arm and his eyes closed; who needs chemistry anyway? He isn't smart enough to become a scientist so why should he need to know how one chemical reacts to another?

As he weaves in and around other students he pulls out his phone and shoots a text to Evan and Tommy. Going out tonight. Won't be back. Hitting send he slips the phone back into his pocket, ignoring the vibration that comes a minute later. If they ask any follow up questions, it's none of his business. He does his handshake nonsense with his bestie under the bleachers before they make their way to Heidi's beat up Sedan. She's in charge of transportation tonight as the party is on the opposite side of town.

Once on the road they get the party started early. Each of them swallows down a pot brownie that Heidi's sister made a few days ago before Smith lights up a joint, rolling down the window only so they don't blind themselves with smoke.

Their music is loud and by the time they're halfway there, Branson’s muscles relax and he finds himself just vibing. There's worry in the back of his mind but the weed is doing it's job, making it a distant whisper instead of a thundering holler. His phone vibrates a few more times but he's too out of it to really take in what they say. He knows a few of them are from Evan and Tommy, but his brain doesn't prioritize those. They prioritize Nikki's messages and that's all.

Today he's going to let loose and let himself go. Nothing else matters. He can't do any more heavy conversations