#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 👍

[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

Agatha Harkness Taglist Sign Up Sheet

[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

[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.

[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.

[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...

[jo-harrington]

Corroded Coffin Fest - Day 25 - Gareth

Summary: Gareth takes a stand.

Word Count: 996

Rating: T

Warnings/Themes: Origins, Teen angst, Growing Up, FOI references (Ronnie) but also some non-compliance to FOI (just...gonna skip the painful bits)

Check Out the Main Post for @corrodedcoffinfest here! Even if you didn’t start on Day 1, you can still join!

Tagging: @the-unforgivenn at her request.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

No one ever doubted how much the Emersons loved their son.

Especially not Gareth himself.

Their house was practically a shrine to him.

Shit, his parents' lives were dedicated to him.

They were well-off enough that his mom stayed home to take care of him until he started school, and then only worked part-time so she wouldn't get bored.

Meanwhile his dad made sure that he was at every activity and chaperoned every field trip.

There were pictures of him on almost every available wall of the house. Ones from tee ball and cub scouts and kindergarten graduation and the first time his dad took him fishing.

They all showed a happy kid.

Of course, there were also ones where he wasn't happy. Those got tucked into albums.

Ones of him crying or throwing a tantrum.

But there was one particular picture of him at 13, looking incredibly pouty. He had a study date with his crush, Libby Nelson, and his dad had brought a camera to proudly snap a picture of them together.

He was embarrassed enough when his mom ran a comb through his hair a hundred times, and when his dad ironed his shirt for him, and when they asked if he wanted to get flowers.

"We're just working on geography homework," he whined.

But after the picture fiasco, after Libby had laughed at him and he had blamed his parents, he decided enough was enough.

He started picking his own outfits to school to wear to school. The other kids picked on him, but he never felt more at ease in his skin.

Then he started listening to the metal station on the radio, despite his mom's complaining that it was all noise. Those lyrics meant something to him.

Eventually he figured he didn't want to do piano lessons anymore, something his mom had enrolled him in.

"But you play so beautifully," she protested. "You've got a gift for music."

"Yeah well," he sniffed, "maybe I want to play the drums now."

He never thought they'd actually get him a drum set.

His parents thought it was just a phase. Rebellious teen years and all; they'd had their own experience with it. But their parents had been too hard on them. They decided to be different with Gareth. Supportive.

They got him the drums, let him set it up in the garage, put up with the endless hours of migraine-inducing drumming, and apologized to every neighbor that complained.

They played it by ear and watched as their son continued to become someone unfamiliar....until eventually that angry noise in the garage turned more controlled.

He'd play along to the radio, mimicking it.

Sang along with his favorite bands until his voice cracked and he cried.

"He's gotta find himself," Mr. Emerson told his wife, who wanted to step out into the garage to console Gareth. "It'll be ok."

It got better when he moved on to Hawkins High.

He made friends with a sophomore named Jeff. They had similar taste in music and jokes, and if it wasn't their class schedules, they'd be inseparable.

Through Jeff, Gareth met and developed maybe...definitely not...sort of a crush on a senior named Veronica Emerson Ecker. Ronnie.

She'd been nice enough, always remembered his name after Jeff introduced them, and apparently played the drums too.

Gareth was head over heels.

"We practice over at this guy Dougie's house," Jeff explained. "If you wanna come watch us practice sometime?"

"I don't think my mom would like that," Gareth dismissed disappointedly. "She doesn't like me listening to metal. I don't think she'd let me go see a band play."

Jeff hummed and then offered another option.

"Hellfire Club?" Mrs. Emerson screeched when she picked Gareth up and saw him wearing the handmade shirt with a demonic face front and center. "I thought you were joining Chess club!"

"I might have lied to you," he muttered.

The first meeting he'd attended had been a disaster--everyone at school knew who Eddie Munson was, but meeting him had been a different story--and he damn near quit.

But he didn't.

It had been fun enough and Eddie hadn't been so bad. He encouraged Gareth to give it another shot which Gareth was grateful for.

He was determined to go back next week.

If his parents let him.

He got a lecture the whole drive home, and then again once his dad got home from work.

"It's like we don't even know you anymore Gareth!" his mother sobbed at the very end.

"Maybe you don't!" He shouted. "I'm not your little guy anymore! I'm 15! I'm all grown up now."

His parents laughed but he kept going.

"I don't fit in with the other kids and I don't want to. I like metal and playing the drums and I like Dungeons and Dragons. The kids in Hellfire are really cool. Dougie...well he's kind of a jerk but he gave me a copy of The Hobbit. It's the best. A-and my friend Jeff is there and he plays in a band too.

"I think maybe that would be cool," he finished sheepishly. "Playing in a band someday."

His shoulders heaved and he watched his parents with desperate eyes, hoping they'd understand.

They had to.

His mom leaned over and whispered in his dad's ear, who simply nodded.

"Growing up is tough," Mr. Emerson said softly. "We're always gonna worry about you; we just want you to be happy, pal. So if you want to be a part of this club, we're not gonna stop you."

All three of them let out a breath of relief, and then his parents were on their feet to embrace him. His dad clapped a hand on his shoulder and his mom suffocated him with a hug.

He was about to go to the garage to play, when his mom held him at arms length and asked, "are you really sure about this Hellfire Club thing?"

"Mom!"

"Ok! Just checking!"

[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

[whumpsmith-participates]

Medwhump May 2024

Day 17 - Forced to stay awake / Scars

TW: guns mention i guess

@medwhumpmay

Living with and working for your kidnapper can get pretty lonely, pretty isolated... But sometimes Erick got a little break from that isolation, getting to hang out with other teens his age. Like the one time they spent a summer in Jaime's hometown in Kansas and he got to meet all her friends.

It was a sleepy town, small enough for everyone to know each other, and not quite big enough to have its own high school. The townspeople mostly consisted of someone's aunt, uncle or grandparents, with a few exceptions. During school semesters, kids of all ages were crammed into a schoolbus or two or three and shipped off to the next town over to attend school. Their parents and neighbours worked hard to keep their little economy running, leaving the shops on main street relatively succesful, but not offering a lot of leisure either.

To Fetch, it was the perfect place to hide out at when he had to lay low, while also giving him the chance to be a little bit closer to his daughter. They'd done it once before. It was a coincidence at the time. Jaime needed to be brought home, and Fetch could pick up a job in the next town over. For the sake of keeping up appearances, he allowed Erick to get closer to Jaime and her friends, putting a temporary end to his isolation.

It only lasted for the summer, though. After that it was back to either San Diego, or touring the country from one job to another, and back into isolation for Erick...until next summer when Fetch conveniently pissed someone off again and they had to lay low someplace.

"Are we staying at the same place as last time?" Erick asked, excitedly peering at the sign indicating it was only fifteen more miles until they reached the town.

"No, it was sold apparently," Fetch said, "damn house flippers...no we're staying at an old friend's house."

"You have friends in that town?" Erick asked, raising a brow.

"Not really," Fetch admitted, "but he was the only one who didn't side with my ex in the divorce and he has spare rooms, so."

"So...an acquaintance?"

"Don't get smart with me," Fetch grumbled, "walk me through the ground rules."

"Keep location tracking on when I go out, stick to the curfew, don't tell Jaime and her friends about your work, avoid suspicion at all costs," Erick droned.

"Good," Fetch said, "and don't go thinking I won't kick your ass for breaking any of them because we're staying with someone. I can always take you out into the woods if I have to, so don't make me go through that effort."

"Yes, sir," Erick said.

When they arrived at the address where they would stay, Erick could tell right away why Fetch got along with their host. He was a farmer, living alone in a pretty generous farm house. He didn't talk much, which involved not asking too many questions either. He looked worn-down enough from working his land, and probably slept like a log throughout the night.

After they unpacked a bit, they got some dinner at the diner in town, during which Erick got to text Jaime to let her know they'd arrived.

"She said she'll be right over," Erick said, after reading through a string of enthusiastic replies.

"Tell her if she hurries she can catch dessert," Fetch said, already looking at the menu again.

And sure enough, about ten minutes later, Jaime came bursting into the diner, ignoring the waitress as she rushed past her to hug her dad, and Erick next before plopping down next to him.

"I'm so glad you're here! Are you staying all summer? No wait, don't say anything, I don't wanna think about you guys leaving yet!" she rambled, "Erick you wanna hang out later? Everyone will be so excited to see you!"

"Um..."

Erick glanced at Fetch, but he just shrugged.

"Be home by ten," he said.

"We'll let you know if we run late!" Jaime said, grabbing Erick's arm and getting up, "let's go!"

"You don't want dessert?" Erick asked.

"There'll probably be snacks anyway, and it'll save daddy some money on the bill~" Jaime said, "let's go, let's go, let's go!"

Erick shot Fetch an apologetic look as he got up and followed Jaime out of the diner. It was just like last summer. He just kind of went wherever Jaime dragged him to, and it usually turned out to be fun.

Today it was the town's tattoo parlour. Erick remembered all the afternoons they spent in the alley behind the shop, enjoying the shade, trying to lure roaming cats to pet them, and chasing off some guys who had planned to set the dumpster on fire.

But they weren't hanging in the alley by the parlour, they were hanging inside. The sign on the door said 'closed,' but Jaime ignored it and pushed the door open anyway.

"Look who finally found his way back?" Jaime announced.

"Oh god," Erick sighed, before following after.

Sure enough, the whole group was there. Even though it had been a year, Erick recognised them all right away; Finn, Jaime's best friend with the habit to dye his hair in crazy colours; Cal, Finn's boyfriend of ambiguous ethnicity and an equally ambiguous (and delicious!) repertoire of recipes; Caitlyn, possibly the tamest member of the group and a nice contrast after all the others; and last but not least, Rowan, whose uncle owned the parlour and the apartment above it.

"AAAH IT'S ERICK!" Caitlyn shrieked, getting up from the couch by the wall to hug him.

"Bitch my ears!" Finn whined, before getting up as well, "good to see you, man."

"Erick come check this out!" Cal called him over.

Erick fist-bumped Finn, dislodged from Caitlyn's hug and followed the sound of a soft hum. In a corner in the back of the shop, Rowan was bent over one of the chairs, holding a tattoo gun, though before he got a chance to see what Cal wanted to show him, he was hit by a terrible smell.

"Urk! S-sorry, what is that smell?" Erick asked, covering his mouth and nose with both hands.

"Oh yeah, that's the pig skin," Rowan said, holding up his work.

He held up a literal slab of skin with a half-finished, realistic-looking galaxy tattoo.

"Oh wow, that looks great," Erick said, "but I'm gonna keep my distance."

"You get used to the smell in a minute," Rowan said, putting the skin back on the chair and continuing.

"Is that why we're hanging in here?" Erick asked, "I thought Mr Green didn't want us thrashing the place."

"Guess he finally trusts us," Rowan said with a shrug, "we'll go chill upstairs once I'm done with this piece, so we can eat some snacks too."

He moved to dip his needle in some fresh ink, when he managed to knock it over instead.

"Crap."

"I'll get you some paper towels," Cal said with a laugh, before walking off.

Erick dared to come a little closer, the smell slowly getting less bad. The pig skin had more tattoos on it. It seemed like Rowan had been practicing vibrant, starry skies, each one looking much better than the last.

"I should call it a night," Rowan sighed, putting the tattoo gun down.

"It's looking really great, though," Erick said.

"Thanks!" Rowan said, lighting up a bit, "when do I get to ink you~?"

"I'm good," Erick quickly said.

"Oh come ooon," Rowan said, "you're such a beautiful blank canvas! Prime real estate! Jaime, tell him!"

"Imagine how epic a Star Wars tattoo could look with his new technique," Jaime said.

Erick was almost convinced, almost. But he didn't even want to begin to imagine how Fetch could possibly react to a random tattoo. He seemed more than okay with Jaime's piercings, though Jaime could get away with murder in his eyes, while with Erick...it depended on his current mood.

"Maybe when I can actually afford to pay fairly," Erick said, "besides, I'm not that blank of a canvas."

"Honey you totally have a vitamin D deficiency," Caitlyn said.

"...maybe, but that's not what I meant," Erick said, "I got, like, some scars and stuff."

"Scar cover-ups are something I wanna learn too," Rowan said, "can I see?"

"Um..."

"You gotta show us now," Jaime said, "do you have a cool story behind it too?"

"I wouldn't really call it cool, perse," Erick said, hesitating a bit, "it really hurt at the time...sometimes it still does, like before a rain storm."

"Classic scar stuff," Rowan said, "trust me, I know."

He rubbed his leg a bit, which he once managed to impale on some scrap metal in the junkyard. Erick winced a bit as he remembered the story. Frankly, Rowan could be so clumsy, he was surprised he didn't have more scars like that.

"I still wanna see it," Rowan said, "for research, inspiration maybe."

"Alright, alright, just don't ask," Erick said, before rolling up the right sleeve of his shirt.

He was turned towards Rowan so he could...be inspired or something, though Jaime shoved Caitlyn aside to also take a look. Just hidden underneath the sleeve of his Tee, Erick had a round scar with three spikes coming from it, nothing more but an odd shape, unless you knew what you were looking at.

"Jeez, Erick, what'd you do?" Jaime asked.

"Well..."

"It looks like a bullet wound," Rowan said, leaning in a little closer.

"Yeah, as if," Jaime said.

"Well...."

"ERICK!?"

Jaime punched his other arm.

"Tell me you're lying!"

"I haven't said anything yet," Erick pointed out, which only earned him another punch. Meanwhile on his other side, Rowan gently traced his fingers over the scar, feeling the outline without putting too much pressure.

"No, that's definitely a bullet wound," he concluded, not helping.

"Tell me what happened!" Jaime said, grabbing Erick and shaking him a bit.

"I said don't ask!" Erick argued.

"Technically she wasn't asking," Finn pointed out.

Erick threw him a look, while Jaime shook him again.

"Tell me!" she said.

"Calm down!" Erick said, "it's nothing serious, it was just an accident."

"How do you accidentally get shot?" Cal asked.

"We live in America," Rowan said, "but still, how? I didn't even manage to accidentally get shot yet."

"Yet?" Erick repeated, "wait, sorry. It's really stupid, I promise."

"If it's embarrassing you have to tell us," Finn said with a smirk.

"Okay, okay, stop crowding me," Erick said, swatting Rowan's hands away as he was still observing his scar, "it was a warning shot that ended up bouncing against a steel support beam and hit me instead."

"A warning shot for who?! What idiot waves a gun around like that in the first place?!" Jaime said.

Erick but his lip, he could probably still save this with a half-truth, he just had to be careful not to mention too many details.

"Your dad..."

"HAH! Your dad's an idiot!" Finn immediately said, while Jaime facepalmed.

"Of course he is," she said, "he always brings his Glock when he's travelling because you never know what can happen in the middle of nowhere— Wait! Did something happen?! Are you guys okay?!"

"No, we died in a highway robbery," Erick deadpanned, which earned him another punch while the others laughed.

"I'm serious! If something were to happen to either of you..."

"We're fine, your dad knows what he's doing," Erick quickly assured her, "besides, nothing scares off wannabe robbers like a man crazy enough to shoot his own companion, even if it was an accident. We got away with just one very painful scratch."

"Jesus fucking christ, Erick," Jaime sighed, beginning to calm down a bit, "next time dad shoots you, at least text me, okay?"

"I didn't wanna worry you," Erick said, "besides, your dad was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing..."

"I have the right to be worried, you dumbass!" Jaime said.

Meanwhile Rowan returned with a coloured marker, beginning to draw on Erick's arm before he could stop him.

"I could ink a nebula in the background, and then use the elevation of the scar to enhance the 3D effect of an asteroid, or what about the Death Star blowing up?" he murmured.

"Stop tempting me," Erick said, though he didn't pull his arm away, "this washes off, right?"

"Yeah, I'll get you some rubbing alcohol after I take a picture," Rowan said, "thanks for letting me do this. Pig skin doesn't ever come with scars to practice on."

"So long as you stick to marker," Erick said.

Meet the squad! Aaaaa I love the squad! I wish I had intro pages for all of them, but this is actually the first time I wrote with them! Up until now they'd just been rotating in my head, like a good stew hmmmm

More fluff than whump, but TBH I (and thems) needed a break.

Masterlist Main account

Taglist for the dynamic duo (however brief their interaction was in this one): @lavndvrr

[pettyrevenge-base]

Friends called me a Fake Engineer, I bought their dinner.

My daughter 17, asked me to post this here. And Im the Dad who does as the women in my life tell me, which is how I ended up in a restaurant tonight with snobs. So the characters, my wife, wife’s coworker 1 and her husband arrogant engineer 1(AE1), wife’s coworker 2 and her husband my CPA, and Lastly AE2 and his wife. Each couple has two teenage children with us.

We are at a Japanese steakhouse in America where the chefs cook in front of you. CW1 and AE1 invited all of us for their youngest daughter’s birthday. Since their daughter is close with our daughter. So the parents are at one table and the teens at another. At the teen table my daughters (17 and 14) order sushi appetizers, mocktails, and shrimp with scallops. At our table the Sake is flowing along with a few top shelf drinks. My wife and I order our appetizers, drinks and dinners. We are all paying for ourselves and I see AE1 and AE2 seem to in competition for who can spend the most. My CPA and I chuckle at them and stay out of the fray. Until AE2 hears my daughter order and says to her, “careful now your daddy is only and agricultural engineer. He doesnt make as much as us real engineers.” For context they are structural engineers with Bachelor degrees, Im an agricultural engineer with a PHD. I work for governments, private investors, and several agro corporations. I own my own consulting firm. I help build sustainable reusable gardens. And this work allows me to travel to poorer countries and help them use what they have to start growing their own food. Apparently these men thought All I did was travel to impoverished places and teach people to dig in the dirt. They believed I did all this work for free and therefore made very little money. Im not “rich” by any stretch, but Im comfortable. We dont do extravagance, so we have savings and my wife works. However in 2023 I was awarded a handsome contract to design tower gardens in several states. Its a seven figure contract over three years. Back to dinner These guys ask me about the most ridiculous things. Like “is it good to grow onions and carrots in the same garden?” And were laughing at me and my work until their wives told them to stop. I chalk it up to drunken arrogance and dont even bother to answer. My CPA was laughing so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Apparently, he is AE1’s CPA as well. And knows the ins and outs of both our finances. AE1 taunts CPA to tell the table what he brought home last year after bonuses. CPA pulled up the figures on the phone and tells us. Its about 1/3 of what I brought home in 2023. The CPA says “I have yours up want me to share?” I decline. And he nods. Que another round of taunts. I go to the restroom and find the waiter. I pay for the whole check and leave a generous tip on top of what they added for a big party. After our sobert the waiter thanks me in front of everyone for the tip and wishes everyone a good night. AE1 and AE2 stare at me for a moment. I smile nod and tell CPA to tell them my income last year. After which I simply said goodnight. Petty absolutely, gratifying damn right.

Source: reddit.com/r/pettyrevenge

[chained-to-the-mirror]

I looked through my notes and apparently last time I sat down to write my thoughts was in February. I had been struggling with my body image and had a nasty nightmare. I’ve not had very nasty nightmares now, but the body image thing is ever present.

I recently bought swimwear for the first time since my early teens. (Let it be noted that I’ll be 43 in a month.) It was inspired by a friend who is coming to visit and wants to go swimming. I was so nervous to even try on a swimsuit… but I did it. I now have two swimsuits/swimwear. I wonder how it will be to actually go out in public wearing them - not easy, probably, but hopefully it will be at least somewhat enjoyable in the end.

Also a new thing is that I’ve been wearing shorts now. It’s almost 30 degrees here and suddenly I’ve noticed I don’t care what others think. I even wore an almost sleeveless top! Who am I?! I think this is due to age, and running out of fucks to give. I mean, does anyone really care what I’m wearing? I don’t think so. I just want to be as comfortable as possible. 

I’m putting my outfit from yesterday here - I would never have been able to wear this a year ago, no matter how hot it got. I’m surprised at myself. Also shocked at how comfortable I was eventually! There was no panicking, no distress. I see all the flaws, but it just matters less and less. I undoubtedly sound like a broken record, but I’m just so surprised.

I don’t think I would be at this point without my dear friends. They keep me sane, truly - and they never seem to get tired of shooting down my negative self talk, which matters more than anyone would guess. I love them all very much.

Another thing that’s helping is plants. I’ve become a full time plant parent, and it feels good to see things growing under my care. I’ve never been able to really do this successfully until now. I’m currently sitting on my balcony, surrounded by my green babies, and I feel calm. It’s no small thing, to feel calm! The plants also help me practice being patient. My huge tomato is testing me - there are so many flowers, but no fruit. Not even beginnings, apart from one that’s smaller than the tip of my pinky. I’m told it takes time, but I just worry. I am doing my best though, and that will have to be enough.

I don’t know where I’m going with all this, except nowhere. I suppose this is my blog, and I can go nowhere as much as I wish. I was going to write something the other day, but when the time came, I found I had no words anymore. Much like now! But I was thinking a lot about my active ED years for some reason. I used to be one of the moderators on a pro ana forum - one of the nice ones, one that helped me keep myself together for a long time. I was close to several people on there - I wonder where they are now? I kept in touch with a couple even after I was discharged from my first hospital stay, but these days I have lost contact with them. I hope they have found their own ways out. We were all sick, and brought together by being alone in our respective sicknesses. 

I kept a journal on the forum - it was full of misery and wallowing, so I’m sort of glad I have no access to it anymore. In fact, I don’t even know what became of the forum after I left. I’ve tried to find it again, but nothing comes up on google at least. It was always a very private, invitation only forum. Everyone supported everyone, in both sickness and recovery (whichever way any of us went at the time). I think I’m - ironically - alive because of those girls. (I say girls, because it was all girls. I think there may have been one boy at one point, but he was not very active.)

It’s such a weird experience, and I can’t really explain it to anyone who hasn’t been a part of a place like that. I tried to explain it to the nurses and the doctors at the hospital, but I don’t think they got it. They saw it as harmful, and probably fairly. In fact, the whole thing made me realize how futile group therapy would be for eating disorders. It can go wrong in so many ways! I’ve only had personal therapy so I can’t be sure of course, but it just feels suspicious. At least for me. I think that you have to be mostly in recovery to really be able to get any help from a group. I think that I might be able to, now - now that I’m mostly recovered. But of course it’s not something that’s available for me anymore. The EDs are not even in my diagnoses - not the main ones anyway. You’d have to dig pretty deep.

I guess this is what I wanted to get out. I’m not proud of my involvement in a thing like the pro ana movement, but I can’t fully bring myself to be sorry either. These things happen for a reason, and the reason was to keep me alive. I’m grateful for that.

It’s time to stop writing. My plants around me are telling me to wrap up the day, and they are right. I only need a shower and then I can fully relax. Thank you to anyone who read this, it’s a mess!

[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.

[blade-liger-4ever]

RWBY X Transformers Partnerships 2: Taiyang "Tai" Xiao Long and Ironhide - Combat Veterans

"So, you have a daughter who loves violence and uses a brawler style, too?"

"Yeah, though Miko's technically adopted, but Ah'm not one to frag around with that bit o' nuance. How 'bout the music taste o' yours? Does she like heavy metal, too?"

"Yang's more into rock 'n roll, but I think they'll end up trading interests once Miko starts training with her new Semblance."

"Heh, yeah. Hope you don't mind her explosions."

"Hey, I was blowing crap up before I enrolled at Beacon. I can handle it."

"Alright, but jus' wait 'til she sneaks along fer a mission and ruins the enemy's day, Tai. You'll see then."

"......Ironhide, why was that so specific?"

Tai's no stranger to waking up to the sounds of explosions. Usually it's the memory of an old mission from his days with STRQ, or the echoes of his daughter training in the backyard.

So feeling the explosions taking place roughly twenty miles away from his home is very much a Bad Sign, in his book.

Throwing on some proper clothes in ten seconds, Tai races through the building to check on its occupants. Ruby's still unconscious, and Yang's stumbling out of bed because of the racket while Mercury and Neptune charge down the hall from their shared guest room. After he's calmed down the three teens, Tai orders the boys to stand guard while he goes to check things out. Tai still isn't sure what to think of the boyfriends his girls (girl and niece, his mind reproaches him) brought home, but seeing as Tai put the fear of the Lord into Neptune, and he and Qrow cross-examined Mercury to the point the ex-assassin asked if they wanted him behind bars or watching the house in case of threats, Tai felt this was a good decision as he drove out to investigate the disturbance.

That resolve wavers once he sees a red and black robot that's a good forty feet tall beating the paint (literally, he realizes) off of three scrawnier robots while half the forest behind him is scorched earth.

Holding back, Tai watches as the red and black robot battles the other three, their fighting style admittedly lackluster compared to their single, giant opponent's unpredictable brawler technique. In spite of the situation, Tai finds himself noticing the red and black robot using a myriad of styles both familiar and unfamiliar to him. A blur of color races by on the ground, and looking down, he sees a girl close to Ruby's age in bright, Huntress-styled clothing dive behind a tree. Her hands glow with purple fire, and no sooner has Tai deduced that it must be her Semblance than does the girl jump out from behind the tree, give a war cry in a language he's never heard before, and throws a massive fireball at the last standing scrawny robot. It hits him square in the face, and gives her apparent ally the opportunity to shoot him through the chest.

Before Tai can fully register that the victorious robot's arm and hand turned into a gun, the girl gives a different shout in English. Watching the scene unfold before him, Tai witnesses the girl runs toward the robot, who crouches down and holds out a hand for the brightly colored teen to throw her arms around his index finger. The innately paternal gesture makes Tai's concern melt away immediately - whether you're a giant or not, human or robot, to treat a child that tenderly is a sign of the individual's safety to be around.

Certain that the enemies are dead - or at least as dead as giant robots can be - Tai calls out to the two strangers. After some cautious introductions, Tai learns that the robot is called Ironhide while the girl is Miko. It takes some more wheedling on his part, but he eventually gets Ironhide to admit that the two have been separated from friends, and seeing as there's not much else for them to do, Tai invites them to stay at his place. Ironhide and Miko discuss this in the girl's strange language, but they noticeably perk up over something, and before he knows it, Ironhide turns into a pickup truck and questions if they have satellites on the planet.

Confused in a way he hasn't been since learning the Branwen twins could turn into birds back in his first year at Beacon, Tai confirms it. The journey back and explaining to three teenagers freaking out - both in fear and excitement - over the existence of apparent sentient robots is a whirlwind for Tai, but he powers through it enough to find out from a still-explodey Miko that Ironhide is using the house's satellite antenna to broadcast a message across the planet to contact the Autobots.

Somehow, the term "Autobots" is the last straw for the senior Xiao Long, and corralling his charges into Ruby's room, Tai has Ironhide stand outside the open window and explain himself to the humans, Miko on the Autobot's shoulder the entire time. In layman's terms, Ironhide informs them in short order about the 'Bots and 'Cons, Cybertron and the war, and the battle that transpired before they were transported to Remnant, the name having been given to the two "aliens" during their discussion. Miko worries if Remnant has energon, but no sooner has she finished the comment does Wheeljack break through the comm with the news that he has an alternative, and as Tai watches a white-red-green sports car drive up the path to the house, he's stunned to see Qrow of all people step out before this vehicle transforms, too.

"Man, I need some STRONG coffee to deal with this."

Tai and Ironhide, being some of the older and more experienced members of this growing alliance, understand each other from a warrior's perspective. But more than that, they recognize in each other a paternal figure, and oftentimes are seen training with the kids, both human and Cybertronian. Once he's made sure that Tai is a competent fighter and skilled in the use of a Semblance, Ironhide allows the man to teach Miko how to use hers so she can better defend herself. Tai can always feel Ironhide watching him, making extra certain his girl is safe, and Tai likewise knows that Ironhide is aware of his presence when he's interacting with Yang and pushing her to get back into the world and accept her prosthetic arm. Although it's hard hearing Ironhide's drill sergeant attitude at the beginning, Tai recognizes that what the older 'Bot is saying to his daughter is necessary, something he later thanks him for doing as he can't bring himself to say such things to his Sunny Little Dragon. In return, Ironhide expresses his own gratitude for Tai's willingness to go toe-to-toe with Miko and not hold back in their training; normally Ironhide would do what Tai is doing with the girl, but he's too big to be able to do more than encourage and push.

This helps them bond during the Autobots' time on Remnant, and they're arguably some of the closest among the human-Autobot partnerships in the alliance. They hang out together, watch over and guide the kids, and enter the fray together, each one managing to keep Miko in their sight. Although Qrow is his brother in all but blood (even when the details of Ruby's true parentage are brought to light), Tai feels a closer bond with Ironhide. Maybe it's the violent streak they share, or the fatherly nature they express to the kids in their care, but somehow, Tai feels like he's gained a more genuine brother in Ironhide. And while the older 'Bot won't admit it in public - or in some private places - Tai knows the sentiment is reciprocated.

After all, only veterans would understand a connection as deep as their bond.

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Here's the second part, folks! I gotta admit, I almost handed Ironhide over to Yang, but then I thought, "Why not give him Tai? They're both fathers, it'll totally work out."

And they honestly do, too! At the beginning, their team name was hard for me to find; I had been contemplating using 'dragon' in the nickname, but then I decided on using 'combat' as a part of it. Surprisingly, it didn't take long for "Combat Veterans" to enter my mind, and it truly sums them up: veterans of combat who've seen it all, but don't let it break them.

Now if you're hoping to get outside of Vale soon, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I have a few more partnerships in mind for the remaining characters in Patch, as well as at least three more 'Bots who arrive to answer Ironhide's signal. That said, once I'm done here, I'm likely gonna head to Atlas for some match ups - or I'll take a break after getting Ruby done. I don't know.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, readers! See you around!

[dragonflylady77]

Snowball fight at the old junkyard

Ch1 - Snow gear is not color-coded for Billy Hargrove

Billy & Steve | Teen & Up | 1397 words

Billy Hargrove is soft for Steve Harrington, Billy and Max are good siblings

Square: B3 - Snowball fight for @billyhargrovebingo

Summary:

“Come ooooon. It snowed again! ! Today is gonna be so much fun.” “Leave me the fuck alone, Max. It’s too fucking cold.” “Steve is gonna be there…” Billy hates that Max knows that will work, hates that he is weak when it comes to Harrington but he doesn’t hate that Max knows.

Read on Ao3

***

“Come on, Billy! Get up!”

Billy groans and burrows further under his blanket. He’s fully dressed in bed, wearing his warmest jumper and he’s still cold because Neil refuses to spend money on anything warmer, Billy can just toughen up apparently.

Max won’t relent. “Come ooooon. It snowed again! ! Today is gonna be so much fun.”

“Leave me the fuck alone, Max. It’s too fucking cold.”

“Steve is gonna be there…”

Billy hates that Max knows that will work, hates that he is weak when it comes to Harrington but he doesn’t hate that Max knows. It’s been good, rebuilding something with Max. After last November at the Byers, he stayed away, kept his distance like he’d been ordered, took Max to school and brought her home before curfew and stayed in his lane. Then, after Christmas, he’d noticed she was trying to be friends again. He’d let her, because he was lonely as fuck and he had no one in this godforsaken town. Max was family, as fucked up as theirs was, and being close again like they were in Cali felt right.

He groans again because fuck it’s cold, and sits up, still wrapped in his blanket. He has a warmer one in the Camaro but he doesn’t want Neil to find it because the asshole will take it and then Billy will surely freeze to death next time dear old Dad kicks him out of the house.

Max is still babbling about the day, her excitement palpable. Billy is glad Neil took Susan to Indianapolis for the weekend.

“I’m up, I’m up. Can you quit your yappin’, I got a headache.”

“Steve is bringing a jacket for you so you don’t freeze to death.”

“What?” Billy stares. No way Max said what he thinks she said.

“Don’t worry, I told him we come from Cali and we don’t have snow stuff. He rolled his eyes and everything. He’s bringing me one as well. He’s got, like, twenty winter jackets at his house, and he also said he’s bringing snow boots. I’m so excited!”

“Oh my fucking god, Maxine.” Billy was dying for a smoke but reaching for his packet of cigarettes meant taking his arm out of the blanket and he wasn’t ready for that.

“I made you coffee and I got you Steve, you can’t be mad at me.” Max smiles tentatively at him, still looking a bit unsure.

“Try me,” Billy says, but there is no bite in his tone. They hear a car stop outside and stare at each other for a moment.

“Your boyfriend’s here…” Max sing-songs as she steps away from Billy’s doorway to go answer the door.

“I’m gonna kill you, Max!”

“Whatever!” she calls from the front of the house.

Shaking his head, he gets off his bed and makes his way to the kitchen, keeping an ear out for voices. The rest of the house is warmer than his bedroom as usual.

The footsteps are getting close and Billy turns around from pouring his coffee to take in Max and their visitor.

Billy is glad he wasn’t sipping his coffee because he would have choked on it.

Harrington is wearing a dark purple parka and stiff looking black pants. His hair is standing up, like he’s been running his hands through it a lot, and Billy can see snowflakes stuck in his hair and on his eyelashes.

He looks good enough to eat and Billy is starving.

“Hey Billy, you about ready to go?” Harrington asks and Billy can’t help return his smile. He is quick to hide it behind his cup.

“Yeah, just need to power up first,” he replies, taking a sip of his coffee, only for it to go down the wrong way when Max walks in with her arms full of colorful garments and dumps them on the table.

Harrington rushes over in a flash, prying Billy’s cup out of his hand and setting it on the counter before rubbing Billy’s back while he coughs and tries to get his breath back. Max just stares and Billy is sure there’s a smirk on her face but he’s too busy trying not to die to pay close attention.

Once the crisis is over, Billy walks over to Max to look at what she brought in and turns to Harrington. The look on his face must be enough because Harrington puts both hands up and laughs.

“I’m sorry, man, I am not in charge of fashion design. I bought what I thought would fit from what I found at home.”

“Thank you, Steve,” Max says when Billy is still glaring at the vivid colors. “We are very grateful. I, for one, would rather not freeze to death.”

With a long sigh, Billy follows suit and looks through the stuff Harrington brought over and picks the darkest jacket he can find, it’s emerald green with a black trim. The only pair of pants that fits him is turquoise and he draws the line there. If he dies, so be it.

Once the siblings are all set, they follow Harrington to the front porch where he left the snow boots. At least there the colors are more muted and Billy doesn’t have to compromise.

They agree to meet at the old junkyard and Harrington leaves to pick up Henderson, Wheeler and Baby Byers while Billy and Max go get El and Sinclair.

Billy is still dying for a smoke but Max made him promise to not smoke in the car when the windows are up and it’s too cold to have them down. He can still feel the warmth of Harrington’s hand on his back.

Soon they’re all getting out of their respective cars and trying to decide on teams. The kids keep arguing about who should be on whose team and Billy tunes them out, he is pretty sure they don’t want him here anyway. He has made his peace with Sinclair and they’re on friendlier terms than the other boys probably know, but that doesn’t mean Billy is welcome to group events like these.

Billy leans against the Camaro, and gets his packet of Marlboro Reds from the pocket of his parka. He takes a long drag on his cigarette, a small moan of pleasure escaping his throat when he feels the nicotine hit he’s been craving and feels eyes on him. He looks up and Harrington is staring right at him.

Billy takes another drag, his chest warming up when the big brown eyes drop to his mouth before flicking away. He knows better than to think it means anything.

“Right!” Harrington says loudly, cutting through the chatter. “You four,” he makes a circle encompassing the four teenage boys, “against me, Billy, and the girls.”

The boys immediately start complaining, while Max and El make their way to Billy and start discussing strategy. When Harrington joins them a minute later, the boys are nowhere to be seen. Billy shakes his head.

“Oh, Harrington, I don’t think that was a good idea, there is no way this team of misfits can beat four teenagers boys born and bred in the snow.”

“Steve is a teenage boy born and bred in the snow,” Max pipes up, El nodding her agreement and Billy chuckles.

“Unless one of you came over earlier and prepared a stack of snowballs, I don’t see how we’re gonna win this thing.”

“It’s about having fun, Billy,” Steve says, leaning on the car next to him and bumping shoulders with him. Steve leans closer until Billy can fell his hot breath against his ear. “Besides I know where the boys hid the stash they made yesterday after school.”

“Oooh, Harrington, devious. I like it.”

They split in two groups, the girls going one way while Billy follows Harrington around the edges of the junkyard. They hide behind a minivan and Harrington shows Billy how to make the optimum snowball. He puts his gloved hands around Billy’s to show him how to pack the snowball until it’s compact enough.

Billy leans against the minivan and closes his eyes to focus on his breathing before he does something stupid. Like kiss the guy.

“Billy?” Harrington whispers, his voice tinged with concern. “Hargrove. You okay?” He squeezes Billy’s hands again.

Billy slowly opens his eyes, only then realizing how close Harrington’s face is to his.

chapter 2

[cinnamonspicewritingroom]

More Than Diamonds

Pairing: Prince Friedrich x Princess! Reader Description: Britain has gained themselves a new royalty nearing the debutante ball of 1813. Princess Amelia of Siam was sent as the new Ambassador of Siam. In Britain Princess Amelia was able to find her family, but will that be all?  After the failed courting between Daphne and prince Friedrich, it was a surprise to everyone that he stayed in London. However, Prince Friedrich is anything, but a coward. He came to Britain to find a wife and one failed courting will not chase him out of the country with a tail between his legs.  What both Amelia and Friedrich never thought to happen is, the friendship that blossomed between them and their growing feelings for one another. Friedrich was never a coward, but he is when it comes to Amelia. Everyone said Amelia is a genius, but not when it comes to love, because she is truly lost on what to do with these butterflies in her stomach. Tags: Slow burn, Coming of age, Time-Travel, Back to the past, Friends to Lovers, Royalties, Oblivious!FLxObvious!ML, Jealous! Friedrich, Slightly Possessive! Friedrich, Black cat gf, Golden retriever bf Timeline: S1&S2

Chapter 6: The Royal Cousin

Growing up Hyacinth extremely loved the idea of Princess and Prince. She loves how elegant and beautiful Princesses are and how brave Princes are, but what she could never have thought was to actually have one as a cousin. Very different as well from what she thought. Not that Hyacinth thinks that cousin Amelia is not elegant or beautiful, actually she is and kind as well, but she is extremely… Busy. 

From what Hyacinth understands, Amelia is here because of a job, as an ambassador they said. A rather very manly job to do. Amelia also goes to the office and has meetings instead of going to promenades and tea parties like other Princesses do, but those are not what she is surprised about. Hyacinth was surprised they could hold a 3 minute conversation in English, without realising they were talking in English. 

Right now her cousin, the Royal Highness is sitting on the sofa, next to her is her Lady-in-Waiting, Lady Lynn. The both of them are too flabbergasted to talk. Her mother, Violet, was too shocked that she actually stopped crying and none of her siblings dared to talk. 

“Y’know- From all the people I expected to mess up, I thought it would be me Lynn. I even bet 300 pounds on myself.” Marquis Hugo broke the silence with both females groaning in despair. “Shut up, Hugo. I will just continue talking in Siamese.” Amelia and Hugo looked at her weirdly.

“It’s a bit too late to start talking Siamese. The cat’s out of the bag.” Amelia sighed and she turned to Violet. “I’m sorry about what happened. We truly did not mean for our meeting to go this way. Are you alright, though?” Violet zoned out for a moment before she shook herself out of her stupor. 

“I am fine, thank you-” “Lady Amelia! Are you actually a Princess? Like an actual Princess?” Hyacinth bounced, stopping in front of Amelia. “Hyacinth– Come here-” Daphne tried to pull the younger back, but Amelia stopped her. 

“No- no. It’s alright.” Amelia turned to the pouting pre-teen. “Hyacinth, right? Do you want to sit down while I answer your questions?” The brunette teen nodded excited. Both Lynn and Amelia moved to create space in the middle of them. Amelia even motioned for Hugo to grab the snack they brought earlier. 

“So, what do you want to know about Hyacinth?” With that the brunette launched her questions.

“Are you really an actual Princess, Lady Amelia?” Hyacinth repeated her previous question, although calmer this time. Amelia nodded as a response, a smile apparent on her face. 

“I am, my father is the current King of Siam, Rama II of House Chakkri and my mother is his Royal Concubine.” While Hyacinth is ecstatic, Violet is confused. “I am sorry, is your father not Chim? The boy who Felicia met when visiting the embassy back in 1790?” Amelia nodded. “That’s him. Chim is father’s personal name, he was more well known as Rama II though.” Violet murmured along the lines of ‘to think he was a prince’. Amelia wanted to laugh. 

“You know, back then in 1790, It was just 8 years after my father was declared crown prince, my grandfather was previously only a military leader before he crowned himself king in 1782.” This of course flabbergasted the Bridgertons, he declared himself king?? “As a new crown prince, my father needed to go back and forth to the embassy to learn about establishing relationships, but Great Britain is… A foreign land, and he barely speaks English. Plus, not to be rude, the British are not the friendliest people. Due to being a different race, my father was treated differently, only my mother was nice to him.” Amelia reached for Violet’s hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“I truly hope you can forgive my father for falling in love with mother and the whole fiasco of mother running away to Siam.” Violet was a bit reluctant. “Mother was planning to visit after the social season. You don’t want to ignore her the whole time she’s here right?” This got her to soften. 

“I’m sorry, It’s not like I am angry at Felicia… I just… 23 years without a single letter or news…” “And now you got one and any letter or news you want of my mother we can always give them to you. Like, this one.” Hugo extended his arm to Violet, handing her a letter. “This is from Felicia of House Chakkri, to Dowager Viscountess Bridgerton.” Violet grabs the letter, this time with a smile.

***

Amelia usually does not do well with extended family. She has too many half siblings, most who ignored her existence or even hated her for being born- or being the daughter of the woman their father loves. However, she could say the Bridgertons are not bad for extended family. They are… Warm and welcoming, reminded her of her own mother. 

Amelia was sipping her tea as she watched Hugo playing with Colin and Gregory, while Lynn was braiding Francesca’s hair while talking to Violet, Hyacinth, Eloise and Daphne, either about Felicia or the life of women in Siam. Without Amelia realising, her head started to tilt sideways and her eyes grew heavy. Not even a moment later Amelia was sleeping in the midst of the crowd. 

***

“This is my first time seeing someone asleep like this,” Anthony commented disapprovingly. “To fall asleep in public like this-” “I would like you to refrain from publicly criticising Princess Amelia. She barely got any rest last night.” Lynn said from behind them. She quickly approached when she realised Amelia was asleep on one of the single sofas. Her arms and legs crossed as she slightly leaned to the right. 

“So,  Amelia didn't sleep well last night? To be tired this early is quite concerning.” Benedict questioned with a slight head tilt. “I would love to say she did, but I can’t as her rest could barely be counted as sleep.” Lynn replied from behind Anthony, who frowned at the revelation, she could not possibly be that busy can she? But he is not sure by the constant bags underneath her eyes. 

“What do you mean, surely she got some sleep right?” Benedict glanced at Lynn who hummed as she took a pillow to tuck beneath Amelia’s head. “If you count 2 hours of nap per day as sleep, then yes. I do not even remember the last time Milady slept on her own bed and not the sofa in her office.” Lynn glumly sighed, reminding herself to ask the servant in the embassy to clean the sofa, while they are out of town tomorrow.

“I heard the parliament meeting ended early yesterday?” Lynn asked Anthony, who nodded. 

“It did, at 2 pm.” Lynn narrowed her eyes at him as she frowned in envy. 

“Hugo, did you hear that?” Hugo turned around from teaching Gregory how to wrestle. 

“I told you, the parliament meeting ended at 2 pm yesterday.” Lynn pointed at Anthony. 

“How come?” Hugo asked Anthony, but it was Lynn who answered for him. 

“Because Marquis Dolloway wanted to join our meeting. He is friends with Prince Edward. He probably wanted to come and ended the parliament meeting early after hearing we will be meeting with Russia for diamond mine dealings.” Hugo deadpanned. 

“Really? Because of him our meeting ended at 1 am?” Lynn nodded, making Hugo cursed in Siamese. 

“1 am? Did you all even sleep? Gosh, look at those bags under Amelia’s eyes.” Violet approached Amelia who was sleeping on the sofa, by this point everyone was paying attention to the conversation. 

“We do, when we are able to, ma'am. I would say the Princess took the most toll. Her presence is needed in all the meetings so far.” Lynn second Hugo’s words. 

“I am surprised she was able to think in all those meetings with approximately a total of 10 hours of sleep weekly. That is 1-2 hours of sleep daily.” Lynn and Hugo shook their heads as Violet gasped, dear lord, she is busier than any man she has ever known.

***

Amelia felt her body being shook and quite far away, she could hear faint voices calling her name. Instinctively, Amelia’s hand went underneath her pillow to search for her gun, yet she found none. 

“If you are searching for your gun, we are not at home.” Lynn’s voice made her bolted right up. “Lynn, where are we?” Lynn gave her a look then sighed. Aside from the hair, everything else is fine. 

“We are at the Bridgertons. You fell asleep for exactly 2 hours and 13 minutes. The dinner will start at 7.30 pm. There are still 17 minutes left, so I need to fix your hair.” Amelia groaned, feeling mortified. She fell asleep? In public? Buddha, help her. 

“Wait- Where am I right now?” Lynn pulled Amelia up and made her sit at the edge of the bed as she started combing her hair. “This is one of the guest rooms. Now please do not move. We need to be quick.” Lynn quickly put her hair in previous hairstyle.

“Alright. Hair is done, now the gloss.” Lynn focused on putting on the gloss, making it even and saturated naturally. Once she was done, she stepped back to analyse Amelia’s appearance and release the sigh she had been holding. 

“Alright… You are done. And we still have 7 minutes to spare. Let’s go quick, oh- and your shoes are by the door.” Amelia nodded and quickly wore her shoes before following Lynn out of the room. 

***

Benedict Bridgerton is a gentle soul, despite being the biggest in size compared to his brothers, he is practically a softie at heart. Looking at his cousin, Amelia who is 10 years younger than he is and looking extremely small and fragile makes him want to spoil her the way he did to his younger siblings. 

“Excuse me, can you please pass the pepper?” Amelia quietly asked, eyes glancing up at him making it look bigger. “Sure,” Benedict gave her a smile and reached for the pepper. “Here you go.” Amelia replied to him with a smile and proceeded to sprinkle pepper on her food. 

The whole night the Bridgertons were barraging the Siamese with questions until it was time for them to return as tomorrow they will depart at 5 am so they could arrive in Wales at 9 am. 

***

Amelia wanted to curse. Sitting for a prolonged period of time in a carriage could do that to you. The United Kingdom does not have a 21st century woman who studied engineering as their princess, thus they have yet to develop a steam engine that works with transportation and mining, meaning? They have no transportation option aside from carriage, different from Siam, who established their railway system in 1810 developed by yours truly, Princess Amelia. 

“Man, it’s really uncomfortable sitting in a carriage this long.” Hugo complained as he tried to move his hips, searching for a more comfortable position yet failing. 

“Should we try? To create a deal with Britain for the railway system.” Amelia raised a brow at Hugo, who started to consider the idea in the midst of his suffering. 

Not only are the Siamese in pain, they are also tired, sleepy and hungry. It was 8.28 AM in the morning, they had approximately half an hour to go before they arrived in Wales. 

After constantly trying to sleep or reading, they finally arrived in Swansea, the capital city of Wales. During her time as Davika, she remembered reading that Swansea was sort of the capital city of Wales before it became Cardiff in 1955. 

Even though Swansea is an agricultural centre, Wales will soon be a major urban centre especially for the steel and coal industry. Therefore, Amelia would like to dip her foot in it and be one of the first investors for the industry before it reached its pinnacle. 

The Siamese first stop was the Inns for them to drop their luggages. Amelia will be sharing a room with Lynn and Hugo’s room is right next to them. Her lady maids will also be next door, just on the other side. Each 2 guards will share a room together making all the 6 guards separated in 3 rooms directly across Amelia’s. 

“Does the Inn provide breakfast or have a restaurant? Or any restaurants near here that are open for breakfast?” Hugo asked, half lying on Lynn’s bed as she and the ladies maids sort Amelia’s luggage. 

Amelia did not respond as she just lay down on her side of the bed about to fall asleep. 

“I think I saw one nearby. Princess, you want to go?” Amelia only responded with a hum. Hugo turned to Lynn, eyes pleading and nodding to go so he can finally replenish his energy. 

“We will be going in 15 minutes.” Lynn said to inform Amelia who gave her a thumbs up. Lynn told one of the ladies maids to inform the guards and for one of the guards to tell the coachman to get ready. 

***

It was the third day they were in Swansea and they were doing pretty great with collecting vendors and convincing them to be under contract with the Siamese, specifically to work for Amelia’s other business ventures. What they did not expect was to see this person here, in one of the luxurious restaurants in Swansea. 

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Amelia has met him plenty of times, mostly to talk about work and be in the same meeting room together. 

Amelia quickly turned around when her eyes saw him with another man, he is tall, fit with dark skin and short hair. Her eyes trailed at his outfit, noting all of them are personally tailored and well made. She knows a Prince’s social circle is filled with wealthy and well connected people, but the quality of his outfit really gave it away. He is either a Marquiss or a duke.

“Let’s go quickly.” Amelia whispered to her entourage, but unfortunately she was quickly spotted by him as he approached her. 

“Why, I did not think I would meet you here in Swansea of all places, Princess Amelia.” He could not see her facial expression, but he knew she looked extremely annoyed. Amelia quickly fixed her business smile and turned towards him. 

“My, my. If it isn’t Prince Edward. How are you doing, your highness?” Edward really wanted to laugh with how annoyed she looked, while his companion truly looked interested in the three foreigners. For the first time, someone who is not throwing themselves at him or the prince. 

“I am doing well, Princess. I hope you are as well.” He took her glove clothed hand and kissed her on the knuckles. His companion could see the disgusted look behind her polite smile. 

“Ah, alright. Well, we must go-” Her words were cut off as the prince lightly touched her by the elbow and turned her to face his table. 

“May I introduce you to my friend? He was not present during your introduction in the parliament’s meeting nor on the debutante introduction.” He gestured at his friend who only smiled at her charmingly, yet Amelia could see that it was fake. Before Amelia was able to answer, the prince was already leading her to his friend.

“Simon, I would like to introduce you to the newest Siamese ambassador. Her Royal Highness, Princess Amelia Chaiya Kanika.” Amelia curtsy at him. “Nice to meet you.” She flashed him a business-like smile.

“Princess Amelia, this is my friend, His Grace, Lord Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings.” Like Amelia, the duke flashed him a fake charming smile and took her gloved hand in his, before he brought it to his lips. “Nice to meet you, Princess Amelia.” He was holding his laughter when he saw her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. 

He noted that she discreetly tried to rub off the spot he kissed on her glove with her dress and his eyes met with Prince Edward who also saw what was going on. 

“Let me also introduce you, my colleagues from Siam. This is Lord Channarong Aran Lamon, you may call him Hugo. Over here, his title is equivalent to a Marquess.” Hugo bowed his head as Simon did the same. 

“And this is Lady Amara Busarakham Yontarak, you may call her Lynn. She came from what is equivalent to an earldom family.” Lynn did a quick curtsy as Simon sent her a charming smile, which she replied with a deadpan stare and a nod.

“Well, now that we are done-” Prince Edward cut off Amelia and pushed her on one of the vacant chairs and Lynn and Hugo followed suit. 

“Why be a stranger, Princess? After plenty of meetings we attended, you can say that we are friends right?” Prince Edward poured scotch for Hugo and asked for 2 lemonades for the ladies. 

Words: 2845

More Than Diamond's Master List

IMPORTANT NOTESA/N: Hello, how are you guys? I hope you are well. Regarding this story that is following Julia Quinn's hit series, Bridgerton, I would start by saying I read the book first before I watch the Netflix series, thus I apologize if there are some differences with the Netflix version, but I will try to make it as similar as possible. I would also ask the readers to be kind when criticizing this story as this is my first time to actually publishing my work in the open. For the story, as you can see there is a time-travel tag. Our reader was sent back to the past with all the knowledge from the future. If you are also confused with Davika's education, I actually based her using Spencer Reid, a character from Criminal Minds. I also made Friedrich to be a year younger than Benedict when in actuality, he was born in 1794, 2 years younger than Daphne. If you are not interested or felt like those 2 themes ruined a historical romance story, then please do not leave any bad comments as you can just stop reading this story. Thank You Very Much! Much Love, Cinnamon Meilleure's Writing Room