#because I hadn’t seen it! I’m glad I’ve now sort of seen enough | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

vanoincidence · 4 months ago

Text

Mare (Not Like the Horse) || Van & Ariadne

TIMING: a few weeks ago. LOCATION: frozen yogurt! not the bad one! PARTIES: @ariadnewhitlock & @vanoincidence SUMMARY: ariadne and van go out for frozen yogurt! the ladle has other plans. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

She hadn’t hung out with Van in forever. Not in as much of a forever as it had been when they hardly talked for years, but a forever nonetheless. So she’d reached out, and she’d ended up just deciding to stop by – except that wasn’t an option because of something that was up with Van’s house and so she’d asked if she wanted to go and get ice cream, and that seemed to work, and so Ariadne was stood outside the ice cream shop, nervously bouncing on the balls of her feet until she spotted Van and gave her friend a wave.

“Hi. Do you want me to pay for the ice cream? I can! I want to – I – it’s nice to see you.” Ariadne offered Van a smile. “How have you been? I – any luck with Cass? I – it’s hard to talk to her.” But she supposed that talking about that wasn’t going to do either of them any sort of good.

“I want to get like, three flavors, at least.” That was better to talk about, and easier, and it made more sense. Besides, didn’t the two of them deserve to have some sort of good and happy and nice hang out? “I like gummy bears a lot, still. I don’t think there’s a single flavor of ice cream they don’t taste great on.” __

Van was grateful that when Ariadne had reached out about going out for ice cream, it hadn’t been the shop that she and Thea had gone to and ran from. She hadn’t seen any articles about the missing employee or the destroyed bathroom, but maybe it’d been kept under wraps. Van tried not to think about it as she kicked the end of her board, grabbing between the axle as she walked up towards Ariadne.

“What! No, I can like, totally do that. I’ve got a lot of tip money.” The tip jar had been overflowing, and she wasn’t sure why, but even after splitting with the person on shift with her, there was still a good amount to be had. “I can pay for yours, you can pay for mine. We’ll pay together and it’ll be like we paid for each other, y’know?” She hoped that made sense. It did to her, at least. At Ariadne’s question, Van frowned. “No, I– I haven’t seen or talked to her. I tried to go over to her cave, but I totally chickened out.” She wasn’t sure why. What Cass really needed right now was a friend, not for someone to cowardly recoil.

Her gaze flickered to the signage on the outside of the shop and Van nodded. “Three flavors is always best, and then we can try whatever else.” She had her lactaid at the ready, and so she followed Ariadne inside. “They get all hard and stuff and they get hard to chew… I think I like mostly cereal toppings, or even the cheesecake bites and stuff best.” She smiled at Ariadne. “I’m glad we’re doing this! It’s been like, forever.” A lot had happened. Her house had blown up, Ariadne had been attacked(?), and Wynne had escaped yet another cult-like existence. Nora was back, and so was Regan. Wicked’s Rest was under the spell of yet another nonsensical wave of issues, but at least she could enjoy ice cream with an old friend.

“Well, okay…” Ariadne hesitated for a moment. She didn’t want to argue with Van, and even though she was pretty positive it wouldn’t turn into a big argument, it was best to just fully not risk it. That was the most logical and most sensible thing. She’d had enough not-so-great times recently that she figured she really could use a real good one. It was really nice to fall back into step with her friend – even if it wasn’t exactly like it used to be, it was still good, and maybe she and Chance could both invite Van over sometime. If Ariadne remembered correctly, Van and her cousin had always gotten along well.

“I just don’t know exactly what to do about all of this.” Which felt like some flavor of failure, but not one that she could quite put a name to. At least not yet. Though maybe there was a certain part of her that didn’t want to put a name to it yet. Which was stomach-twisting in its own sort of way. “I just wanted to offer to pay, that’s all. I’m glad you get tipped well. I don’t get people who don’t tip.” Maybe that was a sort of person Ariadne could give nightmares to. It seemed a bit extreme, but so did not tipping. Like, what was up with that? “But okay, we can pay for each other. But you should totally get like, a bajillon toppings. Don’t skimp at all.” She offered Van her best and brightest smile, though said smile wasn’t quite as bright as usual.

She nodded. “It has been too long. Way, way too long.” And it was a relief that Van wanted this. Ariadne couldn’t think of the last time that the two of them had really and truly hung out, just them. “I guess they do get tough to chew. I think that’s why I like them?” She shrugged. “But cheesecake bites? That’s a genius move, Van.” She pushed the door to the shop open. “You should go first. Uh, best hu— people, first. You know?”

“I don’t think we’re supposed to.” Van didn’t like that they didn’t know how to approach the situation with Cass, but how were they supposed to know when their friend was shutting them out? Granted, there were probably good reasons that she was doing it, but it still sucked. Van was trying not to take it personally, because nobody liked it when somebody’s hardships were made about something else. Still, Van hoped that Cass would call her up one day like old times, or just appear in front of her like she typically did, snacks in hand.

But maybe she and Ariadne wouldn’t talk only about Cass today. Maybe this was really a means of catching up. It was a little refreshing, even if Van did want to focus on a way to break Cass out of whatever trance her dad had her under. Still, it was hard to do on an empty stomach. As soon as she smelled the jammy strawberries sitting in their metal container, it was over for any scheming.

“People who don’t tip like, totally suck.” That was an easy opinion to fall back on, after all. Ariadne had brought it up first. She looked over at the blonde, tongue in cheek as she explained her reasoning for liking gummy worms. “That makes like, no sense, but I totally support you.” Her own jaw ached at the idea of chewing down cold gummy worms, but at least there’d be more for Ariadne! “Cheesecake bites are like, super good. Cookie dough, too.” She grabbed one of the bright paper cups and stalled next to the assortment of machines displaying their flavors of the month. “Um…. fruity or cake-y.” She looked over at Ariadne for confirmation of what she should get, “I really like the tart flavors, but sometimes I mess up and get the 0 sugar cake batter one and it totally ruins everything because it doesn’t taste good, and then I can’t throw it away because I already got it, you know?”

“Yeah – at least I hope so. I’d like to know what to do, but I guess it’s not always possible.” Ariadne didn’t like that train of thought, but she felt strangely comforted by Van thinking at least similar thoughts. She didn’t want to be selfish, didn’t want to make whatever was going on with Cass all about her, but Cass was her best friend and there was something that felt weird and off and she wanted to fix the problem but she didn’t know exactly how she was supposed to. She’d read so many books about how to be a good friend when she was little, and even a few as a refresher when Cass had somehow ended up being her best friend. But maybe she’d messed up, but also maybe Cass would come running back. She couldn’t leave her door unlocked, on account of almost being murdered and not wanting people like Jade to track her down, but the second Cass wanted anything, she’d be there. No matter what.

She also probably owed it to Van to tell her about the whole… well, dead thing. It was weird to keep it a secret still, even though that was the safest route, and even though Van might not get it, but Cass knew, and Wynne knew, and both of them were friends with Van and so it made sense for Ariadne to just suck it up and tell her.

“They do.” She nodded firmly. “I – yeah. You’re right. It doesn’t make sense.” But Van wasn’t judging her, so it was fine. “Those also sound super good. Oh yeah, ick! But I get it, I don’t like to waste stuff, and it’s like, I’ve already spent the money… but still. I don’t get zero sugar things. It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Ariadne made her way over to the wall of flavors. “The real question is, which one should we start with?”

“Zero sugar is good for some people, I guess, but the aftertaste is totally weird.” There had been a lot of times where she thought she got discounted candy only to find out they were only on discount because nobody wanted them and because there was no sugar attached. She wasn’t proud of the person she’d become then, throwing them out, but at least after getting a job at Sly Slice, she could put them in a communal area and somebody would take them.

“I always put candy on the bottom so like, when I’m upset that it’s gone, there’s another little thing there, you know?” Her dad was the one who taught her the trick. He would take her out after her mom would tell her no sugar, but he’d keep it between them. Usually, she’d run it off at the park while he played online solitaire.

“Maybe a layer of the cake one, and then…” Van looked over the flavors, “cookies and cream is new, I think. I kind of want to try that one, and then maybe add some crushed strawberries.” She looked towards Ariadne with a smile, “what about you?” This was all so normal, and she was grateful for it.

“Yeah, some people have to have it, and I get that, I don’t want to be rude or anything about that, so… yeah.” At least it didn’t seem like Van was going to judge her, and if she did, then Ariadne figured that she deserved it. Not in a self-deprecating way, but just something more matter of fact.

“That’s genius!” Ariadne grinned. “I’ll try that out. Or like, layer it. Candy, then ice cream, then candy, then ice cream, and so on…” It was like the coolest sort of sandwich (literally and also just like, awesome). She was glad that her parents had always supported her love of sweets, present even before the whole dying thing.

“Those flavors are so good. I think I might do… bubblegum, and cotton candy, and then like,...chocolate vanilla swirl.” It was a lot of very sweet flavors, but that worked well, and it was fun. “I think I’ll get some blueberries too. In addition to the candy and stuff.”

“The layering makes it way more fun, I think. I like to put the mochi in too, but I’m not sure if they have it.” Van craned her neck to get a better look at the dessert bar that was at the end of the line. There weren’t many other people inside, which meant if they wanted to load their toppings and pay for it, then they could do that.

“Bubblegum and cotton candy…” Van nodded, trying to imagine what the combination would taste like in an ice cream form. She didn’t think she could form the thought in her head. “Chocolate vanilla swirl sounds good, though! You can’t go wrong with that, I guess.” Van scooped some cookie dough into her cup before moving towards the cookies and cream dispenser. “Blueberries are always sort of a hit or miss, I think. Sometimes they taste like water.”

“Yeah, I get that. I’ve put popping boba in mine before – I like boba in bubble tea the most – got one of my professors to try that – but it can be fun on ice cream. Just anything sweet.” She wanted so badly to just say, yeah, ‘cause I need sweet stuff to live now, sort of. But when would the right moment for that be?

“It’s a weird combo, I know – but it’s super sweet which, like I said, is good… is stuff I like.” Ariadne made a small face. She scooped a few sour patch kids into her cup and turned toward the bubblegum dispenser. “You know, between the two of us, we’ve covered quite the variety of flavors. Not coffee though, but that’s too bitter of an ice cream for me. What do you think about it?”

“Strawberry popping boba is good. I like when it’s sour, though.” Her boba order, sans frozen yogurt, was way too convoluted to explain to Ariadne here and now. Chance knew it, she thought. It was weird, thinking about the things that Chance knew about her that Ariadne didn’t because of the time that had split them apart. Well– that and a slew of other things.

Van had no room to judge Ariadne for liking overly sweet things. After all, she dipped her beef jerky sticks into nacho cheese. “Coffee is way too bitter for ice cream, I think. I don’t know.” She scrunched her nose, thinking about the copious amounts of coffee ice cream her grandma would always get, only because she knew Van wouldn’t want any. “Give me a red bull slushie though and I’d be all over it.” She quickly filled the rest of her cup with the other frozen yogurt she wanted before moving to the small array of fixings. She started to shovel some fruity pebbles onto it, pointing with her pinky finger to the raspberries. “Do you like raspberries, too– oh, be careful– hey, um, sir–” Van rose her voice slightly after noticing that the ladle out for them to use had a sharp edge to it. “Can we get another spoon?”

“That makes sense. Sour stuff is good.” She nodded, double confirming. It was something that Chance knew, because he knew a lot more about Van than she did, even though he wasn’t actually from the town. But that didn’t make her feel too bad – Chance was great, and so was Van, and it was good if they were friends.

She even still had a bag of gummy Life Savers in her bag, just in case. “Yes. I think so. But some people like it. I guess.” Like some boring adults. No offense to them, Ariadne apologized in her head. “That sounds cool! Do they make those in like seven-elevens and stuff?? I know they have cherry and Coke and blue raspberry and stuff like that… not such an expert on energy drinks though.” She nodded. “Yeah, I like most any berry. Raspberries are good, and they make a wicked good jam.” Ariadne sighed, looking over at the ladle, though she reached to touch the ladle, except her hand brushed against the sharp edge and then there was glitter and her hand shot back and against her shirt and she turned on her heels. “I – uh. Gonna go get – uh. Bandaid. Outside.”

“I actually don’t know… I don’t think so. The health department probably like, makes sure people can’t make those. I bet I could make it if I got my own slushie machine or something.” It sounded like a nightmare, and she wondered if she’d ever have the energy to clean it out considering every time she went to a fast food joint, the ice cream machine always seemed to be broken, but only because they didn’t feel like cleaning it. Van put the idea away for another day.

“I like rhubarb jam a lot, but I don’t think you can just… eat it like you can berries.” It’d been awhile since she had any, and her mouth tinged with the promise of some later in the year if she could get her hands on it from one of the farmer’s market stalls that offered it. Her mind wandered to the jam, but faltered as she noticed the glitter practically spill from Ariadne’s hand. Van opened her mouth to speak, but Ariadne was darting towards the door. “What? A bandaid? Wait, I have some– why are yours outside?” Van followed after the blonde, digging into her bag for the kuromi bandaids. “They’re purple!” They were outside now, and Van was trying to look around Ariadne to offer the small packet.

“Yeah, that makes sense. I bet you’d make ones even better than the store.” Which she meant, she wasn’t trying to over compliment her friend. Even though she knew that it could easily sound that way.

“Yeah. I think you can have it in pie and stuff, but I don’t know if you can just munch on rhubarb. But I’m not an expert, and I haven’t had that much rhubarb jam, so…”

Van followed her outside. “I – yeah. Uh, you know, for like, safety reasons?” There was glitter all over her hand. She wasn’t even bleeding that much but in her anxiety and rush to get out of the store she’d smeared it around. “I do like purple. Mixing red and blue slushies to make them purple is the best.” Ariadne looked down at the ground. “It’s – your ice cream is gonna melt.” She wasn’t sure what else to say, because she very clearly hadn’t spilled glitter paint all over herself – Van was right there. “It’s – I’ll be fine.”

Maybe if they were girls from any other town on earth, they could talk about rhubarb jam and pie. They could discuss their favorite frozen yogurt toppings and let their belongings spill over a table as they leaned over their bowls, sharing in the delicacies they created.

But this was Wicked’s Rest, and it offered no kindness.

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” Van’s concern was visible on her features as she twisted around to look at the other girl’s hand. There was no red, and instead, it matched the glitter that she had seen on the ladle. “It’s um, inside. It’s totally fine. Are you…” Van stared at her hand, not quite sure how to formulate the question. “Did you….” Was this some raver thing? Was Ariadne a raver? “Are you fae or something?” She kept her voice low with the question, not knowing if fae actually had glittery blood, but the word glamor being a part of their vernacular had her thinking that maybe it went together. Maybe Stephenie Meyer had met fae, and not vampires. Vampires here didn’t glitter.

“Okay.” She sniffed, because she didn’t want to possibly lose Van, not when they’d only recently finally actually reconnected.

But their town wasn’t always kind. Their town had killed her. If she’d grown up somewhere else she would still be human. Probably. Ariadne really didn’t know much of anything about how things like this worked, and except for visits to her grandparents and to Chance, she hadn’t been out of the town much at all. “Fae? I – no.” She shook her head. Van knew about fae? That at least might make some of this a little easier. “I’m – I – I’m dead. Uh.” She hit her palms against her face. “Sorry. I mean. I am dead. But not? It’s – some people say it’s called undead. I’m not a vampire though. I’m… well, something called a mare. But I promise I won’t hurt you!!” Once she’d started talking everything threatened to spill out. “I have to give nightmares to, uh, eat, but I can eat normal stuff and sugar’s really good, I think, or maybe I just like that, but I don’t ever give you nightmares. I just give them to people who are mean. But yeah. Someone fed on me, and made me this. It’s – I –” she blew a strand of hair from her face. “I get it if I should just go now.” She couldn’t help but think of Jade had looked at her – how, to some, she really was a monster.

Maybe she shouldn’t have brought up fae. Maybe she wasn’t supposed to know about fae, and because she mentioned fae, something could happen. Hadn’t that been what kind of happened to Nora in Ireland? Wasn’t that why Regan had to go back? Van bit the inside of her cheek as she waited for Ariadne to clarify. But the answer was no, and her friend seemed confused. “You’re… dead? I mean, me, too. Like, I feel dead.” Okay, maybe the wrong way to put it.

She knew dead people. She knew Caleb. She had been attacked by dead things. She had run-ins with them in different capacities. She’d been warned against them, and had befriended them. Was that the kind of dead that Ariadne meant? It was strange, realizing just how much she’d grown from the point in her life where she couldn’t even think of the word magic. Now, she was accepting all different forms of… maybe not magic, but oddities. “You… horses aren’t dead.” Horses could die, but that didn’t make much sense. To be a person who looked like a person and not a horse that bled glitter? Van’s head kind of hurt trying to wrap her mind around it.

Zombies and vampires made sense– those she could understand, mostly because they were so prevalent in media. Horses were too, she guessed. But then Ariadne went on to continue explaining, and mare wasn’t a female horse, but short for something else. “Oh…” Van nodded as if it made all the sense in the world, as if she knew what the word always meant. “So not like, a horse. Okay. That makes a lot more sense, I think.” Ariadne was clearly flailing over the information she was providing, and maybe a few months ago, Van would’ve let her go.

Instead, Van stuck out the bandaid with an unsure smile. “I’m sorry– Um. That I called you a horse. You’re not a horse. Unless you wanted to be.” How long had Ariadne been dead for? Was she supposed to ask that? Was she the Bella in this situation? “Do… you like, need this? You’re glittery, right? To hide it? Are you hurt?”

Ariadne did a double take for a moment at Van’s comment. There was no way that her friend was dead and she hadn’t noticed, right? Then Van was asking about horses and once again Ariadne found herself unable to explain just why she had the same name as a horse. Except that in her case, it was a shortened version of what she was (a nightmare).

“It’s short for nightmare. I think. Because that’s what I eat.” She made another face. “I – well, I’ve only been this for a couple years…”

Van wasn’t leaving and that alone made Ariadne want to burst into tears. She wasn’t sure what she’d done to deserve the magnificent friends that she had. “Chance, uh, knows. I told him a bit ago.” She wasn’t too keen to get into all the details right now, but figured it was important that Van knew that Chance knew. “No, I don’t want to be a horse. I like being… uh, a person.” Not human. Because she wasn’t human any longer. “Yes please. I’d like the bandaid, to hide it, yeah. I – it’s just a small cut, it’s not so bad.” She took the bandaid. “I like My Melody. But I like Kuromi too – that’s who this is, right?” She offered a cautious smile to her friend. “You sure you’re okay?”

If Van hadn’t known Ariadne for as long as she did, knowing that she was kindness personified, then maybe she would’ve focused on the whole eating nightmares thing, but Ariadne had clarified that she only did that to mean people. Van couldn’t really understand why eating somebody who was cruel’s nightmares wouldn’t be helping them, but there was still room to learn exactly what Ariadne meant, right?

“A couple of years.” Van frowned. That meant that Ariadne had died right under her nose. Not that she would’ve been able to do anything, obviously. They only recently reconnected, and even then… “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure if that was right, either. Apologizing for somebody’s death that had happened years ago. But she was still standing there, seemingly alive. Now, Van had to wonder if something would try to take her out in a way that spread misinformation of danger. She thought of Jade for a brief moment, but pushed the thought away. She considered giving her a picture of Ariadne and telling her to stay the fuck away, but wouldn’t it be better if Jade had no idea who Ariadne was?

“Chance knows,” Van echoed, trying to fit the pieces of just what happened to Ariadne together. She didn’t figure she’d get that part of all this right here and now, and for once, she was okay with it. It wasn’t every day that a friend of hers told her they were dead. Then again, it had happened with Caleb. So maybe it was a little more common than she thought. “Yeah, being a person is like… way cooler. Horses kinda still freak me out.” She thought about the horse that Regan had taken her to to cure the whole hay eating thing. Would Ariadne befriend that horse, too? Van handed the bandaid over to Ariadne with a nod.

“Yeah, kuromi. I– there were My Melody ones, but I used them all like, forever ago.” She liked Kuromi better, and it was why she was trying to save them. “Me? I’m okay! I’m not the one who–” she stopped herself from saying she wasn’t dead, and instead pivoted, “that got cut on that weird ladle thing. That’s like, a total health code violation thing, right?” She scrunched her nose. “I’m taking this like, really well, right?” Ariadne already knew what she was, so it only felt fair. “Like, um, way better than I would have before, I think. I’m not saying give me a gold medal or anything, but it’s growth!” A real, genuine smile pulled at the corners of Van’s lips as she grabbed Ariadne’s hand that’d been cut, inspecting it to make sure the bandaid covered the wound in its entirety. “Um, thank you for telling me. Do you… we can talk more about it later, but I think we should get you your weird bubblegum cotton candy mixture, right?”

“Yeah. A couple of years. So I – I’ll always be like, almost-twenty. In looks. I do age. Just not – yeah.” Ariadne wasn’t sure if she was making even the tiniest bit of sense but she did know that Van was listening and that was enough of a win (more than enough). “You don’t have to be sorry – but thanks.”

She wasn’t sure if she should go into the complicated details about how there were people who tried to murder her. Re-murder. Whatever the term was (she still wasn’t sure). But Ariadne didn’t want to stress Van out any more than she already probably was. If the occasion called for it, or if Van decided to ask, then she’d admit it, but not until then. The two of them were having a nice time and she’d already muddled it talking about her death. She didn’t need to scare Van, tell her about the fact that people out there liked to hunt people who weren’t human just because.

“So I just – I know you’re friends, and I didn’t want you to think you had to keep it a secret from him. He only knows like, recently. Wynne knows too. And – Cass.” She didn’t want to bring up Cass too much right now, what with all the complexities that came hand in hand with all of that, but Cass was Van’s friend too and Ariadne wanted to make sure that Van knew she could be open with other people. “Yeah, horses can be freaky.” Though she would’ve given anything to be able to be near any animal or bug or – not the point, right now.

“That makes sense. Kuromi is more your vibe – which I mean as a compliment, F-Y-I. I figure you’ll take it as that, but I just want to make sure!!” Van had been so understanding, Ariadne really didn’t want to ruin the moment by offending her. “It probably is, yeah. And thank you for taking it so well. It – well, it means everything to me.” She giggled at Van’s next words. “I think you should get a gold medal, if I was judging, I’d give you one, so…” Van grabbed her hand and that made her smile grow. Van wasn’t disgusted by her. Van, who was something exceptional and extraordinary, wasn’t repulsed. “Yeah – we can talk more whenever you want. We should go and get the ice cream, yeah.” She moved toward the door, hand-in-hand with Van. “I’m really glad we’re friends.”

#para: mare (not like the horse)#para: ariadne #wickedswriting

5 notes · View notes

creativia10 · 2 years ago

Text

Looking out for Hunter

Eda pulls Camila and Darius to the side after Belos' defeat to figure out where Hunter should stay. Since they are his unofficial family now.

Warnings: referenced child abuse (that occurred before the story)

Let me know if I missed anything

Word count: 1454

Notes: Inspired by how I've seen different mentions of who is Hunter's family now.

There was a lot going on after the defeat of Belos. The collector had a lot to fix after his games. But Eda pulled Darius and Luz’s mom to the side for something they needed to discuss.

“Hey, I’m sure we’re all tired from everything that has happened with Belos and the collector. Before we all disperse though, There’s something important we need to figure out.”

Luz’s Mom and Darius glanced at each other and then at Eda in confusion. Which made sense considering they didn’t really know each other. Probably wondering what they could possibly have in common that Eda would need to talk with both of them.

“So, one thing that needs to be taken care of before the end of the day, is that a boy needs a place to stay. Seeing as he no longer has an official guardian now that his evil uncle has been defeated.”

Their eyes widen in realization.

“I don’t know where Hunter went after he fled my house, but I’m going to assume it wasn’t back to the castle. Given his reaction to learning the truth about Belos. Somehow I get the feeling it was not the best living arrangement. Now, from what I’ve heard, you two could both be potential guardians, along with myself. So, what were we thinking?”

They thought for a moment.

“Well,” Luz’s mom said, “He is always welcome at my home, of course.”

Darius huffed, “If I’m being honest, I had already assumed he would be staying with me.”

“Oh really?” Eda asked. “Why’s that?”

Darius shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe because I was the closest to a safe adult he had in the castle. I’m fairly certain I’ve known him longer.”

Eda hmmed.

“I did try to offer him a place to stay before when he first said he couldn’t go back to Belos. But he was still freaking out about what he learned in the emperor’s mind at that point. So I don’t really blame him for not understanding the offer at first, even if I was worried.”

“What he learned in the emperor’s mind?” Luz’s mom asked.

“I also know,” Eda continued, not really acknowledging the question,

“That Hunter stayed with Luz’s mom here when they were stuck in the human realm for a while. It’s also pretty easy to tell all those kids are fond of you.”

“You can call me Camila, and I’m glad to hear that. They’re good kids, even if I don’t always understand some of their eccentricities from this world. They remind me of Luz a lot in some ways.”

Eda nodded, not too surprised by that.

“So,” Eda continued, “Given we all may hold some sort of parental role for this kid, should we like share custody or something? And like, who is best for him to stay with? Not saying you’re not a good fit Darius, I just thought we should discuss this since we all want to look out for him.”

Darius hmmed.

“I hadn’t thought about it in an official sense if I’m being honest. More so just being there for him and making sure he has somewhere safe he can go to.”

Eda nodded. “That’s fair enough. The only reason I even brought it up is because I could tell it was a thought we all considered.”

Camila cleared her throat.

“It’s probably best to ask Hunter where he wants to go,” She said.

Eda paused and nodded.

“You’re right. He gets a say in where he goes. It’s the least he deserves after the way the poor kid grew up.”

She looked to the side, “Hey Hunter!”

Hunter froze, having been talking to some of his friends. Then he turned to face her.

“Can you come over here for a sec? We wanna talk about something with you.”

Hunter’s eyes widen.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad,” Eda said, voice a bit gentler.

Hunter still looked concerned, but he cautiously made his way over to them. Camila and Darius both shoot him encouraging smiles to help reassure him.

“We were just wondering where you would want to stay,” Eda said, “Since your old residence is probably not an option anymore.” She then winced, realizing that may not have been the most sensitive way to put it.

“All three of us are willing to have you stay with us, so it’s up to you where you want to go.”

Hunter pursed his lips and looked between the three of them still seeming nervous.

“Hey,” Eda began, bending down to be more at his level.

“Whatever you chose, none of us are going to be mad at you.” She didn’t actually know that, but she knew they all cared about him, so hopefully it was true.

“Your wants about this are important,” Eda continued.

Hunter didn’t seem entirely sure about that. Which Eda had expected at this point, unfortunately.

“We will also still be there for you no matter what, in any way you need,” Camila added.

Hunter shuffled a bit and bent his head down.

“I uh,” He continued, glancing at each of them often even with his head bowed.

“I want to live in the world I grew up in.”

Camila nodded and also knelt down.

“Oh, that’s alright mijo. That is perfectly understandable. Just know you can always visit as much as you want. You are always welcome.”

Hunter nodded and smiled a little.

“Thank you,” he said a bit quietly.

“Of course. May I hug you?”

Hunter blinked and then nodded slowly.

Camila smiled and then opened her arms. She waited a moment to make sure he was ready before she came forward and wrapped her arms around him

Hunter gasped, seeming just as surprised as the first time he was hugged. He then moved his arms with a slow robotic clumsiness to hug her back. After a moment some tension melted and he leaned into her embrace.

Hunter was probably going to get a lot more hugs now. Good.

Hunter sniffed and wiped his face some when they separated.

“So, who do you want to stay with then?” Eda asked again. Hunter still seemed distraught about answering that, looking between Darius and Eda.

“I-I don’t know.” Hunter fidgeted some.

“I just, I grew up being told and constantly reminded of how Belos saved me and I owed pretty much everything to him. Like it was more of an obligation.”

Sometimes Eda forgot that her rage against that monster Belos could come back. Even when she had curb-stomped him into the ground.

“And now not only one but three of you are offering this and seems like you actually want me there to take care of. Not just to use as a future guard or servant. I don’t want to chance this offer going away at all. And I’m not saying you guys would lie about this or anything. I’m just not used to this care for me as myself. I’m so afraid I’m going to mess this up.”

Camilla cooed at that.

“We’re not going to take away our offers to take care of you,” Eda said.

“And even if we did, for housing, it wouldn’t be because anyone suddenly decided you weren’t worth caring for anymore.”

Darius gave her a look at that.

“Yeah, I could have said that better,” Eda admitted, “but I wanted to make sure he knew that.”

“It’s okay if you don’t know what you want,” Camila said, “I’m sure this can seem like a big decision.”

How was Camila so good at this? That’s what Eda was wondering.

“How about we start with where you’d want to go tonight?” Camila asked. Hunter nodded, relaxing slightly.

“I’m not sure if this is going to make sense, but part of me wants to have as close to normalcy as I can, but without the awful stuff. The Owl house seems cool, and I definitely want to come back sometime, but it’s also wild. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course! I’m just uh, not used to it? So,” He turned to Darius,

“If you really are offering, I think I’d like to stay with you tonight. You’re the only one I really knew in the castle who eventually treated me better, and not like you had to obey me.”

Darius smiled at him.

“Of course, you can stay with me, Hunter,” He reached over and ruffled Hunter’s hair.

Hunter squawked and half-heartedly pushed at Darius’ hands to get off of his hair. They both ended up laughing though.

It wasn’t a normal unofficial family dynamic by any means. But as long as this great kid got shown the love they all knew he needed, it didn’t really matter.

#toh spoilers #toh hunter #toh fanfic #toh #toh eda #toh camila #toh darius #dadrius

23 notes · View notes

tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 1 year ago

Text

I watched the TV show Hold the Front Page last week. It’s weird that it took me so long. A year or two ago, I’d have been all over that shit the moment it aired. Josh Widdicombe; one of my favourites from TV, no matter how boring his stand-up is; and Nish Kumar, one of my favourite wonders of the world; combined with local news, a thing of which I very much approve.

I saw the promos for it when it came out, and I thought it looked interesting, but not quite enough to watch it. TV shows like that have been somewhat spoiled for me, compared to a year or two ago. Not that I ever thought they were real. I knew that panel shows and shows where people off panel shows go and do shit like this were staged things where everyone prepares beforehand and then goes out and pretends they didn’t. But I didn’t mind. I enjoyed the interactions, I enjoyed the shoehorned bits of stand-up, it was still funny.

Now – I’ve said before that it reminds me of when you eat good quality chocolate for too long and then try to go back to Walmart chocolate. What once tasted fine has become too sweet and overprocessed. Is a quite tenuous and barely-working analogy for when I listen to enough live comedy, suddenly the editing and production in TV shows that I always knew was there feels more intrusive than before, even baseline-level panel shows feel over-produced. So I haven’t been picking up new ones the way I used to.

But this is one I should have done. I recently heard Nish Kumar talk about it in his stand-up, the bit where he almost gets to “meet” Boris Johnson and shouts a lot of things at him, and I wanted to see the TV recording to compare it to his story. Then I decided that if I’m going to watch that bit, I may as well watch the whole episode. And if I’m going to do that, I may as well watch all six. I can’t add a show to my spreadsheet unless I watch every episode.

It’s on my spreadsheet now. I have to admit that a couple of episodes in, I thought I probably wouldn’t get through it. The awkwardly manufactured feel was so off-putting that I just wanted to turn it off and listen to Nish Kumar talk shit on The Bugle with no script. I mean, scripts are fine. In scripted shows. But it does annoy me more than it used to to watch a show that pretends to be unscripted, while clearly being scripted.

There’s one time in an episode of Hold the Front page when they say that Game of Thrones is Nish Kumar’s favourite show, and therefore he was excited to meet someone who worked on the set. In the latest Bugle episode, Nish Kumar mentions that even though he seems like the sort of person who’d be into Game of Thrones, he’s never seen it. Someone’s lying, and obviously it’s the TV, he’s telling the truth on The Bugle. It’s fine. I don’t think it’s horribly unethical or anything to lie about whether Nish Kumar has seen Game of Thrones. It just makes the show less interesting to me, that it’s not real. Not that I think every word said in a stand-up show is true either, but at least it was made up by one person, not a faceless team of writers who based it on market trends.

Though there are times when I’m glad it’s not real. They set up this premise where Nish and Josh are trying to get on the front page of various local papers, and they’re competing with actual journalists to do it. And I always like a competition, I watch shows that aren’t supposed to be competitive and manage to find the competitive side. But still, with this, I kept wishing they hadn’t brought in the competitive angle. Just have them go into the headquarters of a local paper and find out how it works. The competitive thing makes them look like dicks, because they keep getting in the way of hardworking journalists who are trying to do their jobs, without some celebrities and their camera crews interrupting with harebrained schemes. I can get into the competition of things that don’t matter – Taskmaster is funny because it doesn’t really hurt anything. Two guys going into an important institution like a local paper and mucking around, wasting the time of people with proper jobs, is a shitty thing to do.

Having said that, luckily I know it’s not real. Obviously all six papers are happy to be included, and the thing we see on screen of them being annoyed about it is a lie, because overall they get featured on TV and that’s a good thing for them. Obviously it’s all edited to maximize the parts where we say “look at these scamps mucking around and getting in the way of proper journalists”, because I guess the people doing the editing thought that would make them seem endearing, not annoying.

Also, it’s weird that they at no point acknowledged Josh Widdicombe’s background in journalism. They kept making jokes about how these are clueless guys with no idea what goes into writing a news article, ignoring that Josh Widdicombe worked as a sports journalist for The Guardian before being a comedian.

That’s why he’s on The Last Leg. People make jokes about how it’s weird that Josh Widdicombe is there despite not having a disability, and the joke is usually that his disability is asthma or vegetarianism or some shit, but there is an actual answer. The answer is that he was a comedian who used to be a sports journalist. The Last Leg started as Channel 4’s coverage of the London 2012 Paralympics – those three guys covered it during the Games, and it was so popular that the next year, Channel 4 gave them their own weekly show.

When decided who would cover the Paralympics, Channel 4 wanted people who were funny, who understood journalism, who understood sports, and who understood disability. So they picked Josh, an able-bodied comedian who used to be a sports journalist. Adam, a comedian who was disabled and had a bit of a connection to Parasport, hadn’t covered it as part of his career but did attend the Paralympics in 2008 and did a lot of charity work for Parasport. And Alex, a sports journalist who wasn’t a comedian but was disabled.

Anyway. Hold the Front Page weirdly ignored all that, because it didn’t fit their contrived storyline, but I did find the episodes got better as the show went on. The last episode featured some of the 2022 Edinburgh Festival, and it was interesting to see that on display.

But none of that is the point of this post. The point of this post is the screenshot of what I'm fairly sure is, despite nothing on TV being real, Nish Kumar's actual laptop:

Awwwww!

I have a sticker on the back of my laptop (old picture of my old laptop, but the same sticker is on my new one too):

I have that sticker because of the laptop from which Nish read during the episodes of The Mash Report when he had to record from home due to lockdown:

But obviously, since nothing on TV is real, that's not his actual day-to-day laptop. But I think I believe that that one from Hold the Front Page is. Nish Kumar goes around in real life with a Bugle sticker on his computer. Fucking lovely.

I've been thinking for a while that once I have enough money saved so I feel slightly comfortable, I should go to the Bugle merch page and buy a sticker to put underneath the "This is less than ideal" on my laptop. The price of a sticker is the least I owe them after all the hours of free entertainment they've given me. Maybe this is my sign that it's time to do that.

7 notes · View notes

miniscrew-anon · 9 months ago

Note

I'm pretty sure I've written this scene like 3937163526 times but whatever lmao here you go

Shadow strutted into Four’s room as usual, creaking the door ever so slightly so Four knew he was here. Even so, Four still jolted when he noticed him out of the corner of his eye.

“It’s late, Rain,” Shadow remarked as flopped down onto the bed next to Four. Four groaned as he rolled over to make room. It was nearly 3, in fact. Did that mean it was actually early? He wasn’t sure.

“Mm…couldn’t sleep,” Four replied lamely. Clearly a lie.

Shadow scoffed. “You know I can see when you’re online, right? Don’t pretend you even tried.”

Four sighed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I dunno, lost track of time or something.” He set down his phone and rolled over to look at Shadow. “You weren’t sleeping either,” he pointed out.

“I was working, man! You were just lying here.”

“Working until 2 in the morning?”

“Fair point,” Shadow admitted. He’d gone down another internet rabbit hole. Something wasn’t right about this place, and Four knew it too. He just needed to figure out what.

“I guess…well, I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately,” Four said.

“Yeah, I knew,” Shadow replied. “You’ve been more distant, taking longer to respond- you’re not taking care of yourself, Four. Have you even been eating enough?” He llifted a strand of hair out of Four’s face. “What’s going on?”

Four didn’t reply for a few moments. “I…I’m not sure,” he decided. “Got caught up in…other things, and well, it’s just been so busy, I just kind of forgot, you know?”

Shadow nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do know.” He pulled Four close, realizing how thin he felt. “Just take care of yourself, alright?”

Four chuckled. “Yeah, okay.”

“Promise?” Shadow teased.

“Okay, okay, I promise!” Four laughed, chucking a pillow at Shadow.

“How’re the…roommates?”

“Housemates, I guess. They’re fine. I haven’t really been up to the third floor, but I am praying that the guy doesn’t have any more rooms. Nine people in a house is enough.”

“No kidding. Who even are they?” Shadow hadn’t seen much of them, he made a point to keep his presence as quiet as possible.

“Well, other than the homeowner…” (Now that guy was someone to look into. What kind of person just lets 8 other people live in his house? Maybe he had a secret desire for kids or something, but these were grown men. He was hoping it wasn’t some sort of weird fetish.) “There’s the kid. Pretty much just hangs in his room all day.”

“You say kid, how old even is he?”

"Dunno. Young. There's Hyrule, he's the doctor." Shadow figured that was good. The guy seemed trustworthy enough.

"What about the weird one? He a drug dealer or something?"

"Probably not. He's got some weird friend that hangs around here sometimes, but they don't bother anyone else." (If he was a drug dealer, Shadow would probably ask Four to come live with him. The risk of being arrested is not something either of them wanted to take.) "The others are pretty alright. There's Wild, he's a but…

"Mm. Yeah, there's some weird figures here, I've seen that much." Shadow nestled into Four's hair, the blond leaning back against him. "Be careful, Rain, okay?"

"Of course."

They stayed in silence then, Shadow holding Four close to him.

"I'm glad you're here," Four whispered to him a few minutes later.

"Me too."

honestly I'm pretty sure this was gonna go somewhere but I got too tired to insert a plot so this is the soup you get 🍲

--secret third thing anon, too lazy to edit this because tumble hates formatting

I love this so much!!!

Shadow casually tracking everyone Four lives with is just so mwah chefs kiss - I love when he’s that special brand of protective and intrusive that’s all him. And him being sus of Time is just perfect. Because seriously - who just invites eight random guys off the street into his home filled with expensive and fancy stuff?

Secret thank you! You’re always welcome to drop things into my inbox! I love hearing from you ❤️

#secret third thing anon #the soup is hot everyone should come get some #townhouse au #hsh au #st0rmyverse #hsh four #hsh shadow

4 notes · View notes

diaryofabeautyfiend · 2 years ago

Text

Freedom Is A Kiss

Dean Winchester x ofc

Read with caution ⛔️ dub con with a demon/p in v/angst/supernatural typical violence/drinking/soulmates

It is said that you don’t have just one soul mate but a soul family. There are souls with whom you’ve traveled through space and time for millennia. You may all change roles and dynamics but, at the core, your souls have always been a unit. Sometimes though, there is one soul that your soul is drawn to. One soul that matches yours so perfectly and so completely that you might consider them your most perfect mate. But, since this is real life and not some fairy porn romance, not everyone finds their mate. Hell most people don’t even believe in that sort of thing. But it's as real as any of the horrible things we hunt. And, damn me to hell, Dean Winchester is mine.

Most people aren’t even aware there is such a thing as a soul bond. But I can see the energy of the bond between people. The bond between lovers is the strongest connection there is. And, the only way to lock it into place is if both lovers acknowledge and accept it. If it’s ever broken, the pair rarely survive.

How do I know all of these things? Well I come from a long line of psychics. My mother Pamela had the unfortunate experience of doing business with the Winchesters. Didn’t end well for her. She’s fine now. We chat. In fact, she’s the one who led me to these boys. Not without many words of caution. But, they always seem to be in a bind so here I am. And I’ve been here for five years since I’ve graduated.

I was supposed to be a lawyer. I went to law school. Passed the bar. Had an offer at a big firm in New York too. But, duty called or some shit like that. My mom talks to me usually in my dreams. We mostly catch up just like any mom and kid would if they lived far away from one another. One night she came to me so vividly that I swear she was corporeal. “Baby girl, you have to get to South Dakota. Find Bob Singer. He needs you to help him find his boys.” She practically screamed at me. I left two hours later. Never went back.

I hadn’t seen Bobby Singer since I was a kid. After Mom left to chase greener pastures, I stayed behind with my dad. For my safety she never told anyone about me. Bobby was the only hunter who knew.

As soon as he saw me that fateful morning, I watched the relief wash over his face. “‘Mom sent me.” I said as I shouldered past him.

“Damn glad to see you, kid.” I helped him find Sam and Dean. Helped him fight a jinn. That was the first time I ever stabbed something. I wish I could say it was my last. When we freed the boys and got them back on their feet, Dean stared into my eyes and with actual gratitude and something like recognition in his eyes and said, “Thank you for your help…..I’m sorry” he laughed softly, “I don’t even know your name.”

“Jessamine. Like the flower. But everyone calls me Jesse. You knew my mother. Pamela.” He laughed and then smiled at me in a way that stopped my heart. That’s when I knew. I knew that he was my soulmate because I recognized him too. In every conceivable way he was mine and I was his. Too bad Dean Winchester doesn’t believe in soulmates.

So, for the last five years, I’ve been following behind him and Sam saving people and hunting things like it was also my birthright. I rode couches and slept in seedy motels until they found the bunker. Now I stay here to “do research”. Sometimes I babysit the angel who blinded my mother and Lucifer’s kid. Fun times. The boys never let me hunt with them anymore. I got kidnapped by the king of hell one time and they never let me out with them again.

It’s just as well. The longer I ignore my bond with Dean the more it tears me apart. I can see it eating at him too. He looks at me differently now. Less like a sister and more like someone he would actually want to fuck. One night we even got drunk enough that we almost tumbled into bed together. Almost. I’ve never seen him sober up that fast. His rejection sent me spiraling into a depression that I couldn’t shake. It doesn’t make it any better that Cas and Jack can see my bond with Dean clear as crystal. I forbid them from telling him. It would only complicate things. Dean doesn’t think he deserves happiness. He’s said as much more times than I care to count. So I just sit back and let our bond slowly eat away at both of us.

In any case the boys were on their way back from taking down a vamp nest. Nothing major. Just another day at the office. Jack and I finished cataloging a few things Rowena left behind and I’m headed to bed when I hear the familiar clang of the door. Instead of going out to greet them I scurried off to bed. Dean's scent after a hunt is too much for me to handle. I have to control myself but it’s getting too difficult. Best if I just keep to myself.

While I brush my teeth I could hear Dean’s gruff voice and the sound of bottle caps hitting the glass table. Doesn’t sound like things went well. I hesitated but turned down the corridor to my room when I ran smack into Cas. He stared down at me with a grave expression. “Save it, Cas. I’m a big girl. I can handle myself.”

“How can you take this? I’ve seen true soulmates turn themselves inside out for each other. How can you just let it fester? It will never go away, Jesse.”

I had to. These boys were my family and I loved them, something fierce but nothing good comes from being in love. Not in this world. It’ll end bloody. “Just drop it.” I said quietly, not noticing him looking over my shoulder.

“Drop what?” My spine stiffened. My eyes plead with Castiel to steady his face. He was such a shitty liar. Before he could open his mouth I turned to Dean yawning.

“Nothing. I’m going to bed. Glad you both came home in one piece.” I tried to walk away but Dean was in the mood to fight. That’s how he dealt with stuff sometimes. I noticed Sam had already retreated to his corner with Eileen. He probably got the brunt of it on the way back.

“Out with it, J. If you have something to say, say it.” His eyes were hardened glass clear and laser focused on mine. These are the times when my knees are weak and I can’t muster up my quick wit. Every instinct in my body was urging me to touch him, feel his warmth, soothe him.

“I have nothing to say. You know I get antsy when you two are gone for too long. And save the speech about this being the lifestyle. I know it is. Is it a crime to give a crap about you?” He softened a little, letting his face relax.

“No. It’s not. Come on. Have a beer with me. I feel like less of an alcoholic when you drink with me.” A smile tugged at his lips not quite reaching his eyes. I fought the bond hard and won this time thank goodness.

“You don’t need me. Not when Casa Erotica 27 dropped this morning” I sang. The dopey grin on his face told me I was in the clear.

“I love how you know me so well.” He kissed the top of my head and practically skipped to his room. I let out a sigh and went to my room still aching for him. Sleep wouldn’t come easy for me tonight. It rarely did.

The next morning I went to the kitchen to make some coffee and Sam was already awake. Eileen must have already left. She preferred to keep her place in Lebanon, KS to escape the constant talk of hunting though her upbringing was just as bad as Sam and Dean. I couldn’t blame her for wanting a place to retreat to when things were quiet.

Sam was already at work looking for the next job. The two of us have developed a routine in the morning that consisted mostly of grunts and raised eyebrows to communicate. I knew how he took his coffee and eggs. He always had the lemon water waiting for me at the table. Sam was easy to get along with and I appreciated his willingness to be quiet in the morning.

He finally broke the silence as he cleared the breakfast dishes. “I think I found something in Lincoln. You up for a drive?” I was shocked but kept my cool. No way Dean was going to agree.

“What are we looking at?”

“A string of bizarre deaths all classified as ‘broken heart syndrome’. But get this, all of the victims are relatively young. Usually occurs in women. But every one of the victims are male and under 50.”

He turned his laptop towards me so I could see the article in the local paper. “Weird. So what does this have to do with me?”

“Their partners have all gone missing and were later found sucked dry.” He said warily.

“Vamps?” I continued to read looking for answers.

“I was thinking an Incubus. They don’t leave a lot of evidence behind other than the body of their victims. They rarely strike in the same place twice. There are ten victims…5 couples. I thought maybe if you were near the bodies, you could get an echo or something. Maybe sense what happened.”

I was definitely up for a little adventure. “Yep. I can be ready in twenty.” Sam and I left the kitchen to get ready while Dean was still asleep. No sense in waking him. A few minutes later I heard the two of them arguing.

“Absolutely not. Not after what happened last time.” Dean barked.

“The Crowley situation has been dealt with. It’s ancient history. She’s ready to get back out there with us. And, frankly, we need her help.” Sam was always good at getting Dean to see reason. But, when it came to me, he rarely backed down. Cas said it was an instinct due to the soul bond. While that might have been part of it, I think he feels guilty for not being able to save me.

“No. Find another way.” I stood in the doorway and cleared my throat to announce myself.

“Don’t I get a say?” Dean rested a protective hand on my shoulder and bent to look me in the eyes. His hold was disarming. I could barely focus on what he was saying.

“Look, Jesse, I trust you. You’re a damn good hunter. But I was out of my mind when we couldn’t find you last time and I promised I’d never let that happen again.” It was true. He slaughtered every demon who held me by himself. Damn near killed Crowley too.

“I can take care of myself.” I said deadly calm. Our eyes were locked neither one of us wanting to back down.

“Ok. Fine.” He scrubbed his hands over his face and turned to Sam. “You never leave her alone for a minute do you hear me? Get what you need and get back here.” Sam nodded and we both headed for the stairs. I looked back at him before closing the door. His brows were drawn and his breathing harsh. We didn’t speak a word to each other. Didn’t need to. He was terrified and he had no idea why.

Baby roared to life and we pulled away music blaring. I caught Sam glancing at me every few miles out of the corner of my eye. “You ok?” he asked.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’ve never seen him so worried. Kind of feels like how much I worry when Eileen goes out by herself.” A knowing smile played on his lips.

“Dean and I aren’t the same as you and Eileen. You’re in love with her. It’s different.” I shuffled through the cassette tapes until I found something loud enough to drown him out. I popped in Alice In Chains and turned it up.

Sam shut off the radio completely leaving nothing but the rumble of the engine and road noise to fill the car. “I thought Jess was my soulmate until I met Eileen. It was like we recognized each other. Not that it surprised her.” he smiled to himself “Of course she knew all about actual bonded soul lore. The only person Dean ever went postal for was me. That is until Crowley’s flunkies caught you. I have never seen him like that.” For several minutes I didn’t respond. Just kept staring at the road flying beneath us. “But if you don’t want to talk about it…” he went for the volume knob when I spoke up.

“I know he’s my soulmate. Cas and Jack can see the bond but I knew before Jack said anything. I can see it too. Smell him. Sense him when he’s miles away. I can sense his moods. Sometimes I think I can hear his thoughts. Probably can. You know what would happen if he acknowledged this thing even existed. I can’t take the rejection.” Sam didn’t respond. He knew exactly how Dean would take this information. He would push me away out of fear. Fear of the target that would inevitably be placed on my back. Fear that something would happen to me every time I left the bunker. But, more than anything, fear of the pain I’ll endure for simply loving him. Being in love with Dean Winchester was a full contact sport and no one made it out unscathed.

We didn’t speak about it again. I knew I was placing an unnecessary burden on Sam. He didn’t meddle in my personal life. Never says a word when I try to sneak in in the wee hours after a hookup. He lets me live my life and that is why I feel terrible about him keeping this from his brother. But he knows it’s for the best.

We made it to Lincoln in a little more than three hours having changed at a gas station just outside of town. He gave me my badge with an unremarkable name typed on the ID. Only Sam and I knew Agent Wilson was after Ann and Nancy Wilson from the band Heart.

The medical examiner went through his preliminary autopsy with Sam while I examined the body on the slab. He was male, 25 and newly engaged to his high school sweetheart. His fiancé was found a dried out husk on the floor of their bedroom. He was five feet away, hand extended like he was reaching for her. His heart gave out less than ten minutes after her T.O.D. near as the ME could figure. I placed my hands on his temples and waited for the vision that would slam into me. I waited to feel his horror and pain but I didn’t feel any of that. I felt intense pleasure and like I was satiated. I wasn’t seeing through his eyes but the eyes of the killer. I watched the whole horrific scene play out and promptly vomited into a trash can.

Sam and the doctor watched confused from the doorway. “First time seeing a dead body.” Sam explained as I grabbed napkins from above the sink. I tried to listen to their conversation but everything was muffled like I was under water. The two men finished their conversation and Sam lead me quickly back to the car.

“What did you see?” He asked slowly as I regained my composure. I recounted the whole sordid tale not leaving out any details.

“I get the feeling. I think I know where it’s going next or where it just was. I don’t know, Sam. I think I opened a link to it.”

His brows knitted together with worry, “You could have inadvertently. Can you still feel it? Can it be closed? I mean, before the thing realizes.”

I tried severing the link when I went hurling back into another vision. I could smell the victim's perfume. Heard her partner screaming. She was warm beneath me. This wasn’t the past. This was happening in real time. I went back. Back as far as I could to see any details of their location. Anything that could pinpoint where they were. It would be too late. I saw an address on an envelope and snapped back to consciousness. “516 Meadowdale. Go!”

By the time we got there, they were already dead. “Do not touch anything. I’m going to call this in anonymously and we’re getting the hell out of here.” Sam dialed 911 as we were speeding towards the freeway.

I was utterly drained and couldn’t keep my eyes open. Every time I fell asleep I was seeing through the monster’s eyes. He was reliving his kills over the last few days. The psychopath was getting off on them.

We made it back to the bunker by nightfall and I headed directly to my bed. Dean was waiting for us to get a full report but I couldn’t stand. “What happened?” He asked Sam. I kept walking.

I didn’t even bother taking off my boots. Sleep came fast and I was deep in another vision when I jolted awake. Dean was sitting in a chair at the end of my bed watching me. “What time is it?” My voice sounded like it was dragged through gravel.

“A little after 2am. Another nightmare?” He handed me a glass of water which I drained in two long gulps.

“Yeah. I assume Sam told you everything?” He nodded, planting his feet firmly on the ground ready to scold me.

“He did. We have to figure out how to get you unlinked from this thing. Sammy’s on the phone with Rowena now. If anything changes. If it becomes aware, you need to let us know.” He hesitated to touch me but he tentatively took my hand in his. “You scare the shit out of me sometimes, kid.” I wondered if he could sense me like I could sense him. If he even realized he could. He pressed his lips into a hard line and then pressed his mouth to the top of my head inhaling my scent as he did.

“I scare myself sometimes too.” I said quietly. “What do we know about the demon?” All I wanted was to change the subject and get out of his hold. I didn’t want his sympathy or fear to overwhelm me. I could link with the demon and I could find out where it would strike next. I scooted to the edge of the bed and tied my hair back readying myself to head to the war room.

“Whoa whoa slow down. Sam’s working on putting together the victim statements. We have time. Rest.” Dean grabbed for me but I was just out of his reach already making my way down the hall. “J, stop. We’ll handle this.”

I was absolutely livid that he wouldn’t let me hunt this thing with them. I was our best shot at preventing anymore killings. “You sidelining me, Winchester?”

“And what if I am, Barnes?” I kept walking and he stalked after me. “Do not walk away from me. You need to rest.”

“I can’t! Every time I close my eyes I’m letting my guard down. The deeper I go the more I can feel, see and hear. It’s only a matter of time before it catches on. You need me.” I left him brooding in the hall making my way to the rest of the boys. I pulled up a chair and grabbed a folder out of the pile in front of Sam. The newest victims' smiling faces stared up at me from a picture, frozen in a happier time. A small bag of personal effects was stapled to the front of the folder. No way I could touch it. I’d relive the whole thing. Sam and Cas stared at me waiting for me to say something. Anything. Dean walked past us into the kitchen grumbling under his breath. Fuck him. I let him throw his temper tantrum and gave Sam and Cas a look pinning them to their chairs. “What do we know?” I asked, keeping my eyes focused on the pages.

“None of the couples have anything in common except they’re all from Lincoln. There has to be something connecting them. He’s not choosing them at random.” Sam scowled at the table. We’d keep looking. Until the wee hours if we had to. “Anyway. Rowena gave me a spell to cloak you from the demon. It’s simple and I have everything we need here.”

“Let’s go.” I said dropping the folder. Cas and Jack would keep looking into the couples. We got a few family member interviews that the sheriffs office already conducted. Maybe that would shed some light.

Sam gathered the spell ingredients while I cast a protective circle. It was a simple incantation and some muddled herbs nothing major or life altering. Sam recited the spell while I closed my eyes and opened the psychic link with the demon.

meos, sed videam. Odi odor, sed sensus. cor pallii, sed benedictum Dominum sentio

Sam’s voice was distant, a mere breath on the wind as I went deeper. Everything was cloudy, almost veiled but I could see clearly. It was on the move. Through its eyes I could see the sign “Now entering Kansas: The Sunflower State.” He was headed south but I had no inkling on where he’d end up. I tried going through its memories to gather information. I went back to the date of the last murder and saw Sam and I running from the victims house. It knew who we were. I stayed in the trance much longer than I should have. The demon started to feel a pounding in its head. It wouldn’t be long before it realized why it was in pain. I pulled back quickly, my eyes flew open to see three horrified faces staring back at me and one pissed of Dean calling my name. “Call Eileen. Tell her to pack a bag. It’s headed south. It was still at the scene of the last murder. It knows us. Sam, no stops. Get her here fast.”

Sam nodded and left to call Eileen right away. Before I could head back to the war room Dean stopped me. “What the hell was that? Do you have a death wish?”

“No. But if I’m the best way to find this thing why wouldn’t you use me?” He was unusually protective of me this time. Then again, I rarely fight this hard to hunt. “What is going on with you, man?”

“Why are you pushing this so hard? It’s like the demon owes you money or something.” We sized each other up, both of us more than ready to fight. No way I’m backing down. He’s right though. I’m taking it personally. I felt…the demon felt like it was looking for something specific. Like the more love the victims felt for one another the more he enjoyed the game. Got off on it when they begged for their soulmate's life. Soulmates! It was then that I realized it was looking for bonded pairs.

“All the victims were soulmates.” I said before I took off for their files. I held their personal effects in my hands and let the whole horrific scene play out like a crappy slasher flick. The guy fought like hell but the demon was stronger. It immobilized him and made him watch his wife get sucked dry. His eyes held hers the whole time pleading with it to take him instead. I couldn’t see the demon’s face but could see his body, it’s hair draping strategically over it’s features. When she drew her last breath, the guy wailed and thrashed trying to get out of the demon’s hold. The sick bastard just left them there. Vanished into thin air and left them there. It wasn’t long before everything went hazy. I dropped the bag and collapsed into a heap on the ground sobbing into my hands. I was right. I saw their bond bright as sunlight and then I saw it go dark. And now the thing was coming after Sam and I. It would take Eileen. No way I would let that happen. Later I’ll go somewhere quiet and open the link again. Maybe it got somewhere that I could recognize.

Cas and Jack were at my side checking me for injuries. I didn’t realize it at first but blood was dripping from my nose. I batted them away. They had no reason to fuss. When I went to grab another folder Dean stopped me. His face was twisted in pain and his hands trembled. “No more. I can’t watch that again. I don’t care if you solve the whole damn case. This ends now.” His nostrils flared and his chest heaved. He was like a coiled spring waiting to tear apart whatever had me in its grasp. “You were screaming like it was happening to you, Jessamine.”

Jessamine. He only calls me that to tease me or when he’s beyond pissed. Last time he called me Jessamine was when I had a few too many and took Baby. She was fine. It was all “Jessamine Lorien Barnes, if you ever touch my baby again I will not hesitate.”

I got to my feet looking towards the table for another folder. “It could go after Sam and Eileen!” I pushed past him to the table but he was quicker.

“It could come after us!” The whole room went still as death. He knew we were bonded. Knew it and never had the balls to acknowledge it. The sting of rejection left an acrid feeling in my stomach.

“You knew about us?” Tears stung my eyes but I willed them not to spill.

“Of course I did. Why do you think Crowley took you instead of Sam? The damn thing is like a beacon for every creep we fight. And if we actually did solidify the bond it would be endgame for us. You would never be safe. This can’t happen. We will never happen. You know better than anyone how things end with me. Look at what happened to your mom.” He paced back and forth ranting but I couldn’t listen any longer.

“I get it, Dean. I understand.” I was t minus seven seconds away from bawling like a schoolgirl. I had to get out of there. “I um…I’ll leave it alone.” The first tear spilled before I could look away from him. His guilt washed over me and made me feel ten times worse. I quickened my pace and slammed my door shut then I let it all out. He didn’t outright reject the bond but it felt like agony nonetheless. I knew they could hear me wailing. Knew Dean was hovering outside of my door. Mercifully enough they let me be.

Once I collected myself and I could no longer sense Dean I slipped out of the bunker and drove up to a nearby diner. This was my go to place when I needed time to myself. The coffee was strong and the burgers were greasy. Perfect for wallowing in my self loathing. I pulled a book out of my bag and slid into a booth in the back where I wouldn’t be bothered. My favorite waitress was on tonight. She knew my order and asked me only pertinent questions. The thrum of the diner offered me peace and, before I knew it, I was adrift in my own consciousness.

I drained three cups of too strong coffee and polished off half of my burger when I was jarred by a vision. Normally I had to touch something but this one felt different. It felt like it was sent to me. I saw through the demon’s eyes an address to a house where it watched from the bushes. It was showing me its next victim. It was daring me to find it. I had absolutely zero doubts that I was walking into a trap but I didn’t care. I had to end this. I lowered the veil so it knew I was watching. I could feel its amusement tickling up and down my spine. Once the vision ended, I paid my check, entered the address into my GPS and started driving. Everything in my gut told me to turn back or to at least call one of the boys for back up. My pride got the better of me and I drove on.

I thought of my interaction with Dean during the entire drive. I knew he would react the way he did about being my soulmate and I still couldn’t handle it. I had really never given much thought to being Dean’s person. Sure we were great friends but anything more had never crossed my mind. The longer I suppressed the bond, the harder it became for me to be around him. Like my baser instincts were taking over pushing me towards him. I suppose there are lots of ways to be family. They didn’t always have to be romantic. But, the more I thought about it I didn’t want to just be his close confidant. I wanted to be his. Wholelly, unequivocally his. Something deep within me told me that we were meant to be. Dean didn’t believe in “meant to be” or “happily ever after”. I hadn’t really either until now. I sure as hell don’t believe in happy endings. Hell, I suppose any hunter who ends up with another hunter is bound by shared trauma more than tender loving feelings. I understood his fear. Both he and Sam are constantly in the cross hairs of all manner of beings. Eileen was a strong hunter but Sam worried just as I’m sure she worries for Sam. But isn’t that what a relationship is? Your pain is their pain right? Dean seemed to shoulder the world’s pain. He couldn’t possibly find space within himself to shoulder mine too. Dean was also notoriously private about his feelings. If he thought for one second that I was possibly taking on anything he held, he would push me away even further. Hell, maybe he did know which is why he constantly kept me at arms length. There were times though that he couldn’t seem to leave me. Those were the nights we drank and laughed together. He said it was how he forgot all the crap in his brain and it was just better to do it with someone else. I think he can’t fathom doing it without his other half. I had to put these intrusive thoughts out of my head and get my game face on. There was no time for lamenting.

I finally arrived at the address the demon showed me and the place appeared abandoned. It wasn’t lit up warm like the vision it sent. Now I know it was probably a memory and I was very much walking into a trap. It knew I was here so there was no turning back. I sent my location to Sam and held my breath as I walked up a long driveway to a sprawling broken mansion. “Hello?” I clicked on my flashlight and surveyed the place. The furniture was broken and dusty and covered in fallen faded police tape. The whole place smelled of decay. I could feel the demon’s presence as I got closer to the upperrooms of the house. “I know you’re here. May as well show yourself.”

“If I told you where I was that would take all the romance out of it now wouldn’t it? Come find me, little mouse.” Its voice was low and enticing. I kept searching rooms until I got to what I assume was the primary bedroom of the house. The demon sat in a chair next to a ruined bed illuminated by dozens of candles.

“With all this kindling around here are you sure candlelight was the way to go?” I asked, hoping my sardonic tone masked my fear. The meat suit the demon infected was beyond normal conventions of attractiveness. The human host was tall with mysterious dark eyes and muscles in all the right places. “You called me here. What do you want?”

“You and your friend were so interested in what I was doing I would be remiss if I didn’t invite you to play with me. And I am nothing if not well mannered. Tell me, little mouse, did you enjoy what you saw?” Strong hands stroked the arm of the tufted chair and I found myself wondering what those hands would feel like stroking my body. I could feel my resolve slipping. I let my hand slowly drift to the hilt of my demon blade as I walked closer to where it was waiting. “Now now. You won’t be needing that.” My hand was pinned to my side and I kept walking though I willed myself to stop.

“I’m not here with my mate. He rejected me. So if that’s your kink I’m sorry to disappoint.” My voice was shaky as I lowered myself onto its thigh. My core was hot and sticky to the point that I could no longer hide my arousal. The smell of the host’s skin sent me spiraling and I leaned into its touch.

“He didn’t reject you, sweet little mouse. Your bond is strong as ever. That Winchester boy will come. And when he does, he’ll watch me take you just like all the others. Then I’ll watch his heartbreak take him too. It will be too delicious. Who knew how simple it would be to take down Dean Winchester?” it chuckled against my throat. Its lips brushed over my collarbone and down to my decollete. My body betrayed me at every turn. I couldn’t help but press myself down onto his thigh to relieve some of the ache building there. I whimpered as it put its hand at the small of my back and encouraged me to move. “Yes, that’s a good little mouse. Look at how hot and bothered you are and I am barely touching you. What would happen if I touched that sweet little pussy? Hmm? Would it be as wet as I think?” Its hands slipped into the waistband of my panties and brushed against my clit causing me to cry out. “Mmmh even wetter. That boy doesn’t know what he’s missing.” My mind was screaming to stop but I physically couldn’t help myself. I rocked against its hand allowing my orgasm to build. Just when I thought I would break it stopped. “Now, slow down, Sugar. Let’s wait for the rest of the party to arrive.” It lifted me off of its lap leaving me panting and frustrated.

I have no idea how long I was in that room before I heard the front door burst open. The demon laughed when he heard Sam shouting my name. I was naked and splayed on the floor watching the demon divest itself of its clothing. The host’s cock was already dripping, waiting for the perfect moment to sheath itself in my waiting core. It lined itself up between my legs and began its slow tortuous ministrations on my aching cunt making me moan loud enough to hear over the sounds of splintering wood. “Yes, little mouse. Call out to your mate.” Crack went another door and I heard Sam again. My whole body shook from another orgasm. “Call his name, little mouse. Let him know where you are.”

“I’d rather say yours” I managed to say. “You’re the one making me cum.” I couldn’t move my hands to touch it but I could stroke its ego. The way the host’s face lit up let me know I was on the right track.

“My name? Oh, little mouse. I have many names. But for tonight, you can call me Master.” It spread my legs wider fucking hard into me bringing me into another mind shattering release.

“No, demon. Your real name. I’m calling you out. You have to answer” It’s whole body went stiff and it grabbed my chin to stop me from talking. Demons have very few rules but telling you their name when called out is one essential rule they cannot break.

“Saleos!” It grunted. “Crafty little mouse. Say my name then. Scream it for your mate to hear. Let him know how good I’m making you feel.” It rutted into me so hard I could barely speak. But when it lifted the host’s head and stared into my eyes I could see its pleasure building and I knew I had it.

“Saleos huh? Don’t want to blow your load before he’s able to see right? Better hang on for me. Or is my pussy that good?” I wrapped my hands around the back of its neck and pulled it close to kiss and began to whisper instead. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica…..” The demon inside started to twitch and flicker but I held on tight continuing the words that I had committed to memory. The black smoke plumed from the nostrils mouth and eyes, weakening it enough for me to grab the knife it hadn’t thrown far enough away. I plunged the knife between the hosts ribs and saw the black fade from its eyes just as Sam and Dean burst through the door. It’s naked body fell limp and heavy on top of me. I managed to push it off and quickly grab a few shreds of a ruined bedsheet.

Sam turned away to give me a bit of dignity. “You ok?” he muttered.

“Fine. Can you give a girl a second?” he left the room but Dean remained wordlessly staring.

“Save it. Whatever speech you’re about to give me about my safety I do not care to hear it.” I managed to find my clothes and surprisingly none of them were torn. Dean seemed to be in some kind of trance. “What’s wrong, Dean? You act like you haven’t seen a naked woman before.”

“Did it…did it finish…I mean did…I don’t know what I want to say right now. So many thoughts are running through my head and all I want to do is rip those panties off of you. I literally cannot focus on anything else.” He stalked toward me like a lion about to devour its prey. He unfastened his belt and tore his shirt over his head revealing his tattooed chest already glistening with sweat. The scent of his arousal was so overpowering that I had no choice but to comply.

“Uh uh.. I didn’t give it a chance to finish.” I whispered too stunned to speak any louder.

“But it made you cum.” He pressed against me letting me feel just how much he needed to be inside me at this very moment.

“I couldn’t help…” A brutal kiss stopped me from saying any more.

“I can do better” he growled. “Sammy, get lost for a while!” he shouted. Sam’s heavy footsteps retreated out to the Impala as fast as he could carry himself. Dean kissed me again soft and slow, still managing to get the rest of his clothes off without breaking away from my lips. I was already soaked from the demon but when Dean looked me over I was a goner. A fresh wave of arousal hit me and his nostrils flared when he scented it. With one swift movement he grabbed my hips and slammed into me. We both moaned at the sensation. He moved inside me like he was possessed himself. “I was so scared, J.” his head fell forward onto my chest, whining as he drew closer to his release. “I thought I lost you.”

“But you didn’t and I’m sorry I scared you.” I retorted breathlessly. We didn’t speak anymore. The only sounds to fill the decrepit room were the sounds of our moans and the slap of our bodies. His pace became erratic and I knew he wasn’t going to last much longer. I placed my hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look down at me. We said nothing but stared long and deep into each other’s eyes as we both met our end then he collapsed, satiated and warm onto me. We held each other in the darkened room simply feeling each other’s feelings and thoughts. This was right. It felt like we belonged together. I knew at that moment that I loved him. Could feel that he loved me too. But something was off like he was conflicted. I didn’t want to ruin it by asking so I let him lay on my chest for a while longer.

After several moments we heard Sam calling from the foyer, “Are you two going to be much longer? I’m bored and hungry.” I laughed but Dean didn’t so much as crack a smile.

He stood up grabbing his clothes and throwing mine over to me. There was a hint of regret playing at his face which started to enrage me but I shut it down and finished dressing. “Do you want me to ride with you? I’ll let Sam drive my car home.” I was searching for anything that let me know he was happy with this. He gave me nothing.

“Why don’t you take Sam with you? I’ll meet you at the bunker.” He never made eye contact with me once. And it wasn’t lost on me that he said “the bunker” instead of calling it “home”.

“I’ll go alone.” I murmured. No response. “Hope you enjoyed yourself.” I said as grabbed my shoes and headed for my car. He didn’t follow me and I didn’t expect him to.

“You two good?” Sam asked with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. But then he saw my face and the tears that were about to spill. “Ok, not good? I’m confused.”

“I need to get out of here.” My voice broke as I fished my keys out of my pocket. “Move, Sam. I have to go.”

“Jesse, look at me. You are a wreck. Let me drive you.” he grabbed my keys but I pushed his hand away. Dean started to descend the stairs looking down at his feet instead of towards me.

“Please, Sam. Let me go.” I pleaded with him. He finally relented and I took off before Dean could stop me if that was even his intention. Once I was in my car I plugged in my phone, put it on “do not disturb” and found a song loud enough to drown out any memory of what just happened. Fuck Dean Winchester. Fuck him and his stupid self loathing. I pounded my fist on the steering wheel in time to the drums in the song I had blaring through the car’s speakers. I needed a drink and a shower and to start looking for a new place to live because I was done. Fucking done with his bullshit. I didn’t want to talk about it to anyone. I just wanted to get lost.

Once I made it into the bunker I grabbed a bottle of something brown and headed for the shower. Cas and Jack were smart enough not to say a word to me as I stormed past. Sam and Dean made it a few minutes after I did. I hurried out of my clothes and started the shower. Not only did I lock the door but I barricaded it with a chair that I grabbed from in front of the desk in my room. I turned the water on as hot as my body could stand and used my loofah to scrub every place Dean and Saleos had been. I scrubbed so hard at my thighs that the skin began to turn red and split into fine scrapes. I watched the blood well on my skin through blurry tears.

I got myself together and went back to my room to start throwing things into a bag. I had a few credit cards that I hadn’t used. What was left on them would be more than enough to get me a few towns over. I chugged from the open bottle relishing the sting in the back of my throat. I had no real plan other than getting as far away from Dean and this ridiculous bond as possible. I could hear him and Sam arguing from the other room but he didn’t come after me. He must have wanted me gone as much as I wanted to leave.I drained the rest of the bottle feeling the effects of the liquor starting to take hold. It only made me feel bolder and ready to throw some punches. I trekked back to the main room where everyone, including Eileen, were silently drinking. Eileen and Sam signed to each other but no one interjected. I didn’t say anything as I headed for the stairs. Dean watched me, making me angrier with each step that I took.

Jack was the only one to get up from his seat. He put his body between me and the stairs and placed his hands on my shoulders, “I don’t know what happened but I won’t let you deal with it alone. If you have to go, fine but I’m coming with you.” He held my shoulders tight, his eyes pleading. “You don’t have to do this alone, Jesse.” How did this kid know exactly what to say to make me feel guilty?

“Thank you for always taking care of me but I have to go, baby boy. I love you so much.” I hugged him tight, swaying a little from the effects of the alcohol.

“Stop her, Dean! You're in love with her. Don’t you feel it? The woman you love is walking away from you.” He begged and begged while I took the slow trudge up the stairs to the door.

“She wants to go, let her go. She wants to act like a little girl, that’s her right.” Dean grumbled. “All of you stay out of it. This is none of your business.” A laugh bubbled up from somewhere deep in my belly.

“Fuck you, Dean.” I flipped him off before yanking the handle on the door.

“No! This is absolutely our business. We are a family!” Eileen hugged Jack around his shoulders trying to shush him. I couldn’t take it anymore. It was now or never. Do or die. Walk out the door and reject the bond once and for all or stay here and live with this hot and cold act that Dean does.

“You’re right, Jack. We are a family. And sometimes it’s ok when Mom and Dad fight. But we aren’t fighting are we, Dean? Wanna know what happened? Sam and Dean walked in at the exact moment that I ganked the demon all by myself.”

“Because that’s how you wanted it!” Dean shouted, taking the stairs two at a time to get in my face. Like that would intimidate me.

“You’re right! That’s how I wanted it. I let that black eyed piece of shit fuck me and I finished the job. But instead of being fucking concerned about me.. instead of giving a shit about how I was feeling you let your primal instincts take over and you fucked me. Had to mark your territory didn’t you, baby? Like you have some claim on me. And now he regrets it. So he’s letting me go to assuage his guilt. Does that sum it up?” I stood back and waited for him to say something. Anything to let me know that he cared even a little.

“Yeah that sounds about right. I feel fucking guilty. I regret that I couldn’t control myself. I feel fucking guilty that I wasn’t there to stop that fucker from violating you. And I’m pissed that you didn’t let me do this with you because I promise it wouldn’t have gotten that far. I went absolutely insane when you sent that SOS to Sam. Broke every traffic law on the books to get to you. And that’s what I had to walk into? Had to see that..that thing on top of you? Inside of you? The bond took over and I reacted and I feel like shit for taking advantage of you. Happy now? Go if you want. I won’t stop you. But you walk out…you walk away from me…from this, say out loud that you reject the bond so we can both move on.” We stared at each other, neither of us willing to relent. The problem was we were both incredibly stupid and stubborn and neither of us had the guts to really say what we felt. I guess he did just then but in general. I wanted to tell him how much I loved him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and let him hold me the way I knew he wanted to. His hands were curled into fists causing the veins to pop out on his forearms. He was holding himself back just as much. Like I said, we’re idiots. His eyes narrowed and he moved closer to me, “Say it.”

“I love you.” I blurted out. It seemed to take all of the wind out of his sails. From some distant corner of the room I heard Sam laugh and Eileen smacking him for doing so.

“I love you too!” he shouted back. “Don’t ever leave me again. It hurts my feelings when you do!”

“Fine! I had no idea where I was going anyway.” He tried not to smile but he lost that battle.

“Holy hell you two are idiots.” Sam shouted from the lower level. “Someone order a few pizzas before Jesse sobers up. She gets cranky when she’s hungry.”

Jack happily bounced up the stairs and took my bag while Dean and I continued to stare at each other. And we stayed that way for several more seconds before I walked past him to plop into a chair next to Cas. The angel put his arm around me grinning like a fool. “This relationship is going to put us all in harm's way isn’t it?”

“Oh none of us will survive it.” The

#dean winchester #dean winchester angst #dean winchester smut #dean winchester fluff #Dean Winchester x ofc #supernatural #sam and Dean Winchester #spn

18 notes · View notes

hesjustlines · 1 year ago

Text

The Pit

A short story about the things we don't acknowledge that swallow us up

I have a pit. It’s in the garden. I suppose it’s actually a family pit since it’s a family garden, but really it’s mine. No one else goes out to the garden so no one else knows about the pit. Sometimes I wonder if they can see it at all. It’s not hidden. It’s right in the middle of the planter box. There isn’t anything in there, obviously, but it had ginger and mint when we moved into this house and it took ages to dig it all out and get it to stop coming back. The pit is sort of like that. It started off as a hole. Holes are normal for gardens, I just thought a rabbit dug it. I was a little annoyed because I was half-heartedly growing lettuce. It ended up not mattering because a rabbit hadn’t dug the hole and nothing grew anyway. I knew a rabbit hadn’t dug the hole when I saw it two days later and it was bigger. Actually, bigger isn’t the right word. Well, it is, but the important word is deeper. The hole was deeper. It had been about the size of a quarter when I first saw it and it was the size of a plate when I went back. It was deep, though. Too deep. It looked like it never ended, even though the planter box really isn’t that big.

I told my mom about the pit. She told me to wash the dishes. I told my dad about the pit. He grumbled about moles (even though moles make mounds, not pits). I told my little brother about the pit and he said he wanted to see it. When I showed it to him he said, “yeah,” which doesn’t mean anything at all, and then he went back inside. I told my aunt about the pit. I said, “there is a pit in the garden,” and she said, “I’m sure there is,” and usually that wouldn’t mean anything either but she said it like it did so maybe it did.

I have a pit. It’s still growing, it’s up to the size of those rainbow parachutes they used to use for gym classes. I used to think it grew by eating things, like maybe if a rabbit fell in it would feed the pit and it would be bigger the next day, so I tested it. Not with a rabbit, that would’ve been really awful. I used some dinner I didn’t feel like eating. My mom asked me a whole bunch of questions about why I wasn’t eating so I was glad to go to the garden. I threw the entire plate into the pit. I never heard it land. When I checked the next day, the pit was definitely bigger. It seemed a little too big because all I gave it was some chicken and rice. In my science class we learned about sample sizes; if you’re testing something you have to have a big enough sample size to get accurate data. Basically, one plate of food wasn’t enough. I saved my sandwich from lunch every day that week and fed it to the pit when I got home. It did not get bigger.

I have a pit. I’m getting a little scared. The pit outgrew the planter box and now it’s just sitting in the yard. I don’t think it ends. I don’t know why it got so big because I haven’t been checking on it as often. I was going to check three days ago but then someone called me and I was too upset to do much of anything after they hung up. So now the pit is huge. I sort of want it to stop growing. I sort of don’t.

I have a pit. If I stand at the edge of it, it feels like nothing. I don’t mean that it doesn’t feel any different than the space around it, I mean it really feels like nothing. I stand by the pit a lot. Sometimes I think if I fell in it wouldn’t even be a bad thing because it would just be nothing. Then I think about how boring that would get and I go back inside even though I don’t really like it there and want to leave most of the time.

I used to have a pit. I’m not sure what happened to it. I just woke up and thought I would peek at it just from my window. I’ve never seen anything fall into it so I thought maybe I’d try and catch something. It was really dark, though, when I pulled back my curtains. Usually I can see the pit even when it’s dark because it’s just so big. Come to think of it, I can’t really see much of anything. It’s a lot darker than usual even though it doesn’t really seem dark. Weird.

#original content #writblr #original writing #short story #childhood trauma

2 notes · View notes

kennieswrld · 1 year ago

Text

Break-Up’s (an analysis from a current three time breakup champ)

this was an old draft i felt was good enough to see the light of day, he was an asshole. but so am i.

It always start’s with me thinking, “Thank fucking god that was over” and “Who needs them? I was fine before them, I’ll be fine without them”. But, am I fine without them? No. Was I fine before them? Probably not.

It’s so weird to wake up without sending a “gm <3″ text to that someone because they’re just... someone again. I know that sounds ‘fake deep’ and ‘woke’ of me to say but the quickness of love is absolutely insane. I can’t believe that only 2 months ago I was head over heels for a person I don’t even feel like I know today. I would’ve taken a bullet for them if needed and now I would certainly be the one to put a bullet in them (not actually! please! this is metaphoric!).

Sometimes I wish I could’ve just withheld myself the night we met and just wallowed in the self pity I was wading in before you rang my dingy apartment doorbell. I wish I had left more space between our first meeting and second so maybe you would’ve thought I was more mysterious and withdrawn. I wish I wouldn’t have put out on our first night together so you would’ve at least stayed with me for a week longer while waiting for our first consumation. I wish I would’ve seen the warmness leave your eyes when you stopped loving me like I did you. I wish I never went to the mental hospital on our second week of knowing each other and could’ve just stayed with you for those two nights.I wish this would’ve worked. I wish you didn’t tell me, “we are two different people”. It’s all I think about now. I was born “different”. I have never fit in anywhere and I’ve been around the fucking world, it just feels like this is my fault.

The first two relationships were laughably bad. I made mistakes and so did they obviously as saying I keep in touch with neither of them. But I weirdly expected more from you, which is odd as saying we met and dated and shared “i love you’s” in a timespan of 4 hours. I had never felt that sort of electricity before, and I damn well hadn’t felt those emotions a day in my life. I really believed you when you said you loved me just as I was honest when I said I did you, it’s just hard to wrap my head around the fact that you never did and that’s okay.

I wish I could make you the bad guy like I did the two boys in my first two relationships, but I can’t. I wish I could be the person you are looking for, but I can’t. I wish I could change my lifestyle to fit yours, but I can’t. I wish I could make you love me back, but I can’t. And I think this is the hardest part of it all. I don’t want to become a stranger to you, but I also don’t want to become anything with you. For a while at least. Why? Because you fucking moron, I still love you. But I need to focus more on me. I was ready to drop my entire life to be with you for the instant dopamine I felt when meeting your alluring dark eyes, and that’s not what a person who is ready to love someone correctly should be doing. I need to stop acting out of emotion so much, but I’m glad for what you gave me for the short time we spent together (even when we were in those weird tensions). You showed me that I was just fucking broken and that’s completely okay and nothing wrong with it. And I thank you for that, but God how I wish you could just be a stranger again. Just so when we meet again one day maybe those feelings will come back tenfold. Even if I bitterly tell people you weren’t shit, you were the shit to me.

I love you, even if you didn’t love me back.

#lifestyle #relationships #blog

2 notes · View notes

professorsaber · 1 year ago

Text

McFly July 8. Driver’s License

AO3 is down as of this posting, so I’m retroactively putting this on Tumblr as well—my McFly July entry for the 11th is a sequel to this one, so I want anyone reading that one to have context!

Thursday, March 7, 1996 3:40 PM

Emmett Brown sat on the sign at the Hill Valley DMV.

Clara hadn’t yet learned how to drive an automobile, and her learner’s permit had almost expired when she woke her husband in the middle of the night and told him she needed to get an actual driver’s license now.

In the subsequent few weeks, he had given her a—no pun intended—crash course in how to drive. She had been a harder student than Marty, which was not only unexpected but almost impossible to believe. Her moods since that night had been incredibly erratic, and she had been prone to snapping at him at seemingly random moments—especially when she was behind the wheel.

It was all very strange.

She had taken the actual, DMV-supervised, behind-the-wheel test twice now. The second time she had done everything right—except when she hit the curb while trying to park the car when the test was over. That had been heartbreaking, even for Emmett. His wife, uncharacteristically, had broken into tears.

The first test was worse. The instructor had grabbed the wheel while a car was passing them in the opposite direction, and flunked her for it. Clara said she was certain there was enough room, and she had nearly—again, uncharacteristically—gotten in a fistfight with the instructor. Emmett had certainly been sympathetic, seeing as he not only trusted his wife’s judgment but had seen the instructor fail every single student she had that day. But he’d been able to convince Clara to drop it.

This was Clara’s third test. And, since the state of California apparently thought everything was baseball, a third failure would mean she’d have to start over from scratch.

He hopped off the sign and began pacing. He checked the watches on both wrists.

“What the hell is taking them so long?” he muttered to himself. He glanced at the payphone hanging by the door. They’d had to wait for an instructor long enough that he’d had to call Jennifer to pick up their children from school. She’d taken them back to the ranch with Marty, but she had to be wondering where they were.

He looked up, and saw his Ford Contour pull into the lot. With bated breath, he watched Clara pull the car expertly into a parking space—and stop three feet short.

Oh no, he thought. She’s failed the test!

Then, Clara turned off the car, got out, and raised her hands in triumph.

“Emmett!” she shouted as she ran to him. “I passed! I passed!”

“Thank goodness!” he said as she pulled him into a hug.

After they’d gotten everything sorted with the DMV, and after Emmett had used the payphone to call his children, Clara had insisted that he be the one to drive them home.

“Sorry,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “I’m suddenly so exhausted.”

“I understand,” he said. “I was so sure you’d failed the test. Because you parked so oddly.”

“I didn’t notice,” she said. She looked out the window. “I’ve been terrible these last few weeks.”

“Oh? I haven’t noticed.”

Clara gave him a look. “Emmett, I owe you an apology. And—oh, lord, pull over!”

Emmett slammed on the brakes. They had stopped along a country road. Clara opened the door, took off her seat belt, and threw up on the side of the road.

“’Mfine,” she said, waving away Emmett’s outreached hand. After some dry heaving, she sat back in her seat. “Sorry.”

“I didn’t realize you were sick.”

“Not sick,” she said. She sighed. “You’ll be glad you’re sitting down for this.”

TO BE CONTINUED ON THE 11TH

End notes:

Yes, to be continued. Some of you may already know what's happening with Clara, and if you do please let me know if I've handled it insensitively. But I've never actually ended something on a cliffhanger before, so when I realized I could do that here, I had to do it!

Also, Clara's DMV experience was pulled from mine—except for what's happening with her.

#mcfly july #back to the future #bttf fanfics #bttf fic #my fics

1 note · View note

lgcparker · 1 year ago

Text

𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞 𝚏𝚞𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚜 𝟽 : 𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚗𝚒 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠

He had filmed a show with Type Zero back in China not too long ago, so being filmed was something he had become somewhat desensitized to, but that being said, as he sat in on the stool he had been ushered too, and caught the eye of staff he had not seen in some time, an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu began to swell in the back of his mind. While there were some changes, it had been almost exactly a year ago when he had sat in front of the camera and introduced himself as a hopeful trainee.He hadn’t won that season, though some could argue that he had— he had debuted— and and this point, he was the only one remaining from the two trainees who had joined Type Zero after that season.

Hands placed firmly on his own knees, Parker bowed his head and addressed the camera and the staff energetically: “Hey everyone! My name is Parker Su and I’m the main vocalist of Type Zero. I’m glad to be back!”

“How have you grown since your last appearance on Future Dreams?”

“Well, I certainly haven’t grown height-wise,” Parker joked easily, only letting the joke sit for a moment before he actually answered the question. “Honestly, I don’t think I can point out every way I’ve grown. It’s kind of like how you can’t tell if your hair has grown too long until one day you realize you can’t see.” In contrast to his joking manner only moments ago, Parker’s disposition remained calm and considerate as he truly attempted to give a reasonable reply. “I think I’ve grown quite a bit when it comes to dancing— I know that dancing and acting were two things that I was asked to improve on during season five.” There was a quiet moment and he averted his gaze down, hand reaching to touch the back of his own neck before he glanced up a bit slyly. “I hope my acting has gotten a bit better, but I really don’t know.”

“What have you achieved up until now?”

“Achieved?” The young man brightened considerably, his smile large and broad, with a shadow of that bashfulness from before still lingering. “I mean, I managed to debut, and have my first comeback with Type Zero! Honestly, I think that’s a really amazing achievement; it’s been a dream. Ah— also we just finished debuting in China, and my family was from China at one point before they moved to America. That was also a really proud sort of milestone, I guess.” Parker’s smile never wavered, and in fact, he seemed to have moved somewhat forward off his seat as he spoke, as if his body couldn’t contain his own enthusiasm. “I have and continue to be able to do this awesome stuff because well— “ he paused and gestured forward to the camera lens to address the viewers more directly, “ because the fans watching, and the company. I don’t think I could thank anyone— everyone— enough.” With that he bowed deeply, truly meaning his words.

“What were your motivations in joining?”

There was a moment when Parker paused, truly paused, his real response on his tongue but there was some of it that seemed wrong and unfair to bring up. He didn’t know if he was allowed to mention Nathan or Dowoon, and their departure, and if he were honest he didn’t want people to think he was using their names for clout. Especially Nathan. Parker wasn’t stupid enough to think there weren’t a subset of the younger man’s fans who would twist his intent, but if Parker were honest, part of why he agreed to participate was to help and keep his group afloat. It seemed like the very least he could do… All things considered. “Isn’t that obvious?” He grinned and extended his arms wide to the room. “I missed you!” Once his laugh subsided, Parker did his best to remain in good spirits for the audience and she tipped his head to one side and spoke through his smile. “Of course I would love the opportunity to have a solo debut, but I really wanted to challenge myself further.”

“What do you want to achieve during this season?”

“Like I mentioned, I really would love to have a solo debut. Singing is almost like a personality trait for me! Music and expressing emotions through music is everything I wanted. That said, I also realize that while I might not be the youngest contestant, I am definitely the most junior person this season.” The laugher from before has melted once more and what remained was a more genuine, and calm Parker. The same Parker who listened to his vocal coaches and dance teachers corrections without fighting their critiques and suggestions. “Some of the people for this season are really great singers, dancers, and rappers, and I want to be better. Not necessarily better than them, but better than the me doing this interview right now. I have a lot to improve, so I really want to achieve that.” With a nod, Parker takes a small breath through his nose and seems to come back to the playful boy from before. “I also wouldn’t mind bringing back my Miss Independent performance— is Haemi-sunbaenim going to be judging this season?”

#lgc:futuredreams #( p.s. ⤏ solo )

1 note · View note

anthonysstupiddailyblog · 2 years ago

Text

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (420): Thu 11th May 2023

I’m happy to report that I’m down to 13 stone 7lbs, a quarter of the way towards my ideal goal of 12 stone which I hope to hit before I go to Edinburgh (though I may challenge myself to hit the target before my birthday on June 30th). I had thought that the diet wasn’t working because every time I’d weigh myself it would say I hadn’t lost any weight even though I’d eaten hardly any food, exercised a decent amount and drank plenty of water. However as usual I overlooked something namely the fact that the tiles on the floor are uneven and we’re giving me incorrect numbers. I out the scale on the flat surface in the living room and was delighted to get the correct result and reinforce my confidence that the rewards would be waiting if I was good and worked hard. As long time readers of this blog will no doubt know I’ve attempted so many diets over the last ten years or so but always end up making excuses to abandoned them just like your mother did to you dear reader. However I think at long last I’ve been disciplined long enough to start seeing the benefits and am now psychologically as well as physically motivated to see it to it’s conclusion. I haven’t seen Nana since before me and Dad went to America so we arranged to go and see her in her new home tonight. I missed the bus by seconds because of course I did…I hate buses, I wish they were capable of feeling pain so that I could stab them. Instead I rode my motorbike over and arranged to meet Dad in the car park opposite Nana’s home. I arrived early and popped into a nearby supermarket to get some food and sat for a few minutes in my bike eating sushi. This gave me an idea for a Jackass stunt: Extreme Sushi. Basically all the Jackass crew squeeze together and then a bunch of Hell’s Angela on Harley Davidsons start riding around them in a circle and all of them have sushi platters in the back of their bikes and the jackasses have to risk life and limb in order to get some…and if that’s not funny enough we can just get them to do it naked. Dad told me that the last few times he’s been there Nana has been mostly unresponsive and just stares at the ceiling. To mine and Dad’s surprise as soon as I went in and sat down next to Nana’s bed she said “Alright son?”. Even though I was glad she recognized me she did seem to just zone in and out the whole time we were there and occasionally just threw out some random words and sentences. It’s really heartbreaking to see how suddenly the dementia has overtaken Jenny. When I went to see her just before Christmas she was still capable of holding a conversation even if she got a bit confused at times. I’m just five short months she’s decayed into a constant state of confusion and talks mainly in gibberish. It’s hard to see Nana in this condition. When I took her to Graceland 10 years ago I’d hoped that it would be the start of a series of crazy adventures that I’d take her on to help her live her best life but sadly it hasn’t panned out that way. I can only hope that she is as comfortable as possible and that whatever time she has left with us is free of pain and trauma. When I got home I booked my trip to see Iggy Pop and mine and Dad’s accommodation for when we go to see Devo. I still need to book our train and since it’s his Father’s Day present I might splash out and book us some first class tickets. My sister paid for his tickets to the LA Lakers game for Father’s Day so I’ve told him that I’ll sort out the tickets, accommodation and travel for this gig. Plus both of us are big Devo fans and for a while it looked like this show would never happen so it feels like it will be a unique treat for him.

0 notes

tutorcolin · 1 year ago

Text

leocresswell:

Leo made mental notes of the way the bloke sounded and how he’d flinched when he’d coughed to add those to his chart after he left. His comment about Leo looking familiar wasn’t surprising. Patients within a certain age bracket usually said that. Leo thought the bloke looked familiar too. But in that distant sort of probably saw each other in the halls of Hogwarts sort of way. “Probably just from the few times you were awake,” he told the patient with a smile. Awake was overstating what he’d been but Leo didn’t want him overly worried about what he’d been like. Leo’s smile brightened a little when the patient asked if he’d been trying to fight Leo and he chuckled softly. “In your defense I have been pointing my wand at you a bit. But no harm done. To me or any of the other staff. And I promise there will be no need for you to duel anyone while you’re here. You don’t even have a roommate to steal your pudding,” he added with what he hoped was a comforting smile. Mostly because they hadn’t been sure how contagious he was. Something Leo kept to himself. Hopefully now that he was more aware of his surroundings he wouldn’t be so quick to try to fight. Not that the bloke had done much but flail and mumble. It was just Leo had felt bad that he’d been scared enough to think he needed to fight back. Leo used his wand to get readings from the magical device monitoring the patient to see what his vitals were. “Vitals are looking much better. As I said healers will be by soon. They’ll ask how you’re feeling. If there’s any pain it’s important to let them know. I can’t give you potions without their approval. But if there’s anything non medical you need, I can try to help with that.”

Okay, so he had seen this bloke a few times. When he’d been awake. In the hospital. Which Colin was having a hard time even remembering happening. Frankly the dreams felt more vivid than anything he could remember happening while he was awake.The few times, the bloke said. Which was a concerning thought. Maybe. Colin wasn’t actually sure how long he’d been here. Or even why he was here. Still, he managed a smile in response to the one he got from the nurse. He appreciated that the bloke didn’t seem to think he was a whacko. Or he did and was just too professional to say so out loud. He let out a chuckle of his own at the bloke’s comment about pudding, which turned into a cough that had him wincing again. “Lucky for me, ‘cause I don’t think I’m in much shape to duel anyone. Plus I don’t think I’d resort to that for a pudding,” he added, since apparently he’d talked a lot about dueling. He was glad, he supposed, to hear his vitals were better, though he wondered what they were better in comparison to. Had they been bad? He did his best to nod at the bloke’s words about the healers, but his neck felt stiff. “Am I…” Colin wasn’t sure exactly what to ask. “How long have I been here? And, uh, what exactly’s wrong with me?” Those felt like fair questions to ask. “I remember I had a cold. And then I’ve been having these dreams…like I was being attacked.” He trailed off, his brows pulling together. He’d really thought he was in danger.

It had just started as a cold, not nearly enough to miss any classes or tutoring sessions even when the pepper-up potions he got didn’t seem to do the trick. It was just a particularly nasty cold, it seemed. At least that was what Colin thought it was until he apparently passed out in the middle of the university’s campus. He doesn’t remember that happening. Nor does he remember a lot of the next couple of weeks that followed. At some point he woke up and realized he was at St. Mungo’s. He has some fuzzy memories of healers looking at him with concern, snippets of conversations about his high fever and tremors and it was possible he’d been coughing up blood at some point. He also has hazy memories he’s certain aren’t real, of Death Eaters and foreign agents coming into the room and pointing wands at him, challenging him to duels. From those dreams he’d wake up mumbling that he could take them, to give him their best, that he wasn’t intimidated. He had dreams of storybook monsters chasing after him and pummeling his internal organs, and he’d wake up trembling and scared and declaring he was not scared and all and he could take them too. There was another dream, just once, of his mum and dad waving to him from a warm, happy place, telling him they’d see him later, that it wasn’t time yet for him to join them. Colin woke up from that one trembling and sweating and squinting up at an angel with soft brown eyes. Colin couldn’t quite understand what the angel was saying, but his voice was soft and soothing and he drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

The dreams came back, but when Colin woke up from his next one something felt different. “Just give me my wand, I can take you!” he mumbled as he woke with a start and locked his eyes on a bloke in nurse’s robes. Wait. Nurses robes? “Wha—” Colin frowned and looked around, aware of his surroundings for the first time in a while. The white walls, the stark lights, the odd magic machine he was hooked up to that was beeping next to him. The hospital. He was in the hospital. Right. Along with that realization came the realization that his whole body ached, that he was damp with sweat, and that he felt exhausted. And he wasn’t alone in here either. There was, in fact, a nurse looking at him. Colin coughed weakly, flinching from the way that made his body ache, and then asked, “....You’re not here to duel me, are you?” Maybe no one had been here to duel him at any point. Hm.

#leo #UGH stupid cramps #glad thye're slightly better but STILL UGH

62 notes · View notes

luminnara · 4 years ago

Text

alpha!erasermic x pregnant!reader | ABO fluff

Request: Hiya! i’m wondering if you can do an alpha! erasermic x pregnant! omega! reader? maybe when both alphas leave their lunch at home and she goes to bring it to them. the reader and both alphas collectively have custody of hitoshi and eri, and the reader is heavily pregnant. preferably a female reader please, and none of class 1-a have met her. this is my first time requesting stuff so i hope i did okay! 😅

You did wonderfully! I love writing cute fluffy stuff like this, and it’s my first time writing any kind of erasermic thing even though I love them so much, so hopefully I did okay! Idk where exactly this sits timeline-wise, don’t worry about it, it’s omegaverse and I can do what I want lol. I took this prompt and sort of RAN with it, too

*also Mirio has his quirk back in this because it’s fun, and the reader has kind of a dodgy past because i wanted to add a little SPICE*

Warnings: a/b/o, pregnancy, the implications of Aizawa’s scarf and all of its uses

You sighed, resting a hand on your swollen belly. “Those two...”

You had only just gotten Eri out of bed, and, upon heading into the kitchen to fix her some breakfast, you saw two lovingly-prepared bento boxes sitting on the counter. Shota and Hizashi must have forgotten them in their hurry to get to UA earlier that morning, and while you knew they could very easily grab something to eat in the cafeteria, you hated the thought of these meals going to waste.

Besides, your inner omega was a bit miffed that they hadn’t taken your home cooked food to work with them. Was Lunch Rush’s food so much better than yours that your alphas would rather eat at school? You refused to believe that, even if his quirk was cooking. There was no way that he could make your alphas a meal that could compare to the kind you always cooked for them, and maybe it was the pregnancy hormones making you extra bristly about it, but you were determined to march right on over to UA and bring them their proper lunches.

Even if you were heavily, heavily pregnant. They’d probably have something to say about you leaving the house and waddling around Musutafu with only Eri as company, but you were tough enough to fend for yourself. And besides, it was only a quick train ride to the station outside the school, and if you did get yourself into any kind of trouble, the city was chock full of pro heroes and their sidekicks, many of whom you were on a first name basis with.

“Eri!” you called, grabbing a bag to carry the boxes in. “Are you dressed yet? We’re going to visit UA!”

You could heard a thump, followed by the sound of little feet thudding as she ran to meet you. When she appeared in the doorway, her eyes were wide with excitement, her long hair falling around her shoulders messily. “Yes!”

“Go brush your hair and then we’ll go,” you laughed, ushering her towards the bathroom.

“Why are we going?” the little girl called.

“Hizashi and Shota left their lunches,” you explained. “We’re bringing them so that the food doesn’t go to waste.”

“Can we visit Deku and Togata?”

You paused to think. You hadn’t actually met any of Shota and Hizashi’s students before, your alphas always preferring that you stay home and away from the sometimes dangerous school they taught at. Well, you knew Hitoshi, of course, and since he had yet to move into the dorms on campus, he still lived at home with the rest of the family. At least he had remembered to grab his lunch. Would your adopted son be embarrassed to see you appearing at his school? Hitoshi always carried himself in a very collected manner, and the thought of being able to show up and pinch his cheeks and coo at him made you laugh.

And you knew that everyone in Class 1-A would be over the moon to see Eri. The little girl that had been rescued from Overhaul was popular amongst the young heroes-in-training, from what you’d heard, and if you were going to go all the way to UA, you’d be damned if you didn’t let her see her friends there.

“Of course we can,” you said with a smile as she came running back in, her hair significantly less tangled. “Ready?”

“Ready!” she beamed up at you.

“Do me a favor and carry this?” you offered her the tote you’d tucked the bento boxes into and she took it from you eagerly, bouncing towards the door.

You grabbed your purse, made sure your keys were inside, and followed her out, taking her free hand. Together, the two of you made your way to the nearest train station, a few neighbors waving hello as you passed. There were no villains to be seen or head of, and the pros you saw out on patrol all looked happy and relaxed. They all knew who you were, some of the betas and omegas approaching to chat about your pregnancy and ask how things were going. The alphas hung back, calling greetings or offering waves, none of them wanting to get too close to a pregnant, mated omega and risk the wrath of your alphas if their scents happened to cling to you.

The journey went smoothly, Eri sticking close to your side the entire way. You were both excited to be going to visit UA--Eri, because she would get to see Deku and Mirio, and you because you hadn’t been to the school in years--and as you stepped off the train and the gates finally came into view, you let out a happy laugh.

“Ready?” you asked Eri, leading her towards the entrance.

“Mhm!” she nodded eagerly, pulling you forward. “Let’s go! Let’s go let’s go let’s go--”

“Hang on, hang on,” you waddled after her as quickly as you could, fishing around in your purse. When you finally found what you were looking for, you pulled out an ID card, holding it up towards the sensor atop the UA Barrier gate. “You have your card?”

“Yep!” Eri said, grabbing the card hanging from the lanyard around her neck and mimicking you.

“Special ID accepted,” a robotic voice chimed. “Welcome to UA High, (y/n) and Eri.”

The gate opened and you led Eri through it, the big school looming just past it. The special ID cards you both had were a result of Shota insisting that you be able to get to UA if you ever needed to. With the upgraded security measures, and so many of the students living in the dorms, it wasn’t easy getting onto the campus without either a student or guest card. You probably technically weren’t even supposed to have one, but no one was going to argue with Aizawa and Yamada when it came to ensuring their omega would be able to get to them in case of emergency.

This wasn’t exactly an emergency, but it was still an important mission, so you had absolutely no qualms about using your special ID privileges today. You just hoped nobody else would be mad about it.

“Hey, is that Eri I see?” a voice called.

You turned to see a blond haired, blue eyed boy jogging towards you and recognized him as Togata. He was dressed in a PE uniform, and as he stopped in front of you, you could see that he was panting.

Eri immediately set the bag down and rushed toward him, running into his open arms. “Lemillion!”

Mirio laughed as he scooped her into a hug. “What are you doing here? Aizawa didn’t mention anything about a visit!”

“Aizawa forgot his lunch today,” you said, nodding towards the bag Eri had dropped. “So we thought we’d bring it and visit.”

Mirio straightened up a bit when he realized you were there. You had to be absolutely covered in your alphas’ scents, and even if they never told any of the students about you, there was no way that Mirio hadn’t figured it out by now. Besides...your bond marks were very big and very visible, one on each side of your neck just below your scent glands. There was no way Mirio didn’t know what that all added up to.

You had never officially met him, but you’d heard plenty about all of UA’s Big Three, and after he and Deku saved Eri from the Shie Hassaikai, you’d heard even more about him. He was selfless, going so far as to sacrifice his own quirk to keep Eri safe and get her away from Overhaul, and for that, you’d always feel a little indebted to him. He’d luckily been able to get it back, but Aizawa had told you that there had been a long period in which nobody was sure it could even be returned to him.

“Oh, s-sorry!” he bowed to you. “I don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced! I’m Togata Mirio, I was there at the Shie Hassaikai raid--”

“I’ve heard plenty about you,” you laughed as he straightened up again. “I’m (y/n). I’m the stay at home omega that keeps Shota and Hizashi from starving all the time.”

Mirio’s laugh was probably one of the most raucously happy sounds you had ever heard. “We’re all grateful for that! As for me, personally, I’m really glad Eri has such a great mom now, too. And you’ve got more on the way!”

“Sure do,” you groaned, a hand on your lower back as you tried to lean and stretch it out some. “Due date’s in just a couple weeks. Can’t wait to get ‘em outta here.”

“Well, at least you already know how to do the parenting part!” Mirio was still all smiles as Eri grabbed for his hand and he took it, picking up the tote bag as well. “Come on, it’s my free period so I’ll take you to 1-A’s classroom.”

“Thank you, Togata,” you said, hand on your belly as you followed him into the school.

“It’s no problem!” he beamed at you over his shoulder as he led the way. “It’s almost lunch, too. Perfect timing!”

“Is it really?” you glanced up at a clock on the wall, and sure enough, it was nearly noon. “Wow. Guess we took longer than I thought. But...ugh, I didn’t bring any food for myself or Eri...”

“That’s no problem! Lunch Rush always has tons of options in the Grand Mess Hall.” at your slight glare, Mirio added, “...But I’m sure even his best cooking is no substitute for a homemade meal!”

“That’s right,” you growled, waddling along down the hall.

When the three of you reached the 1-A door, Mirio used his permeation quirk to stick his head straight through it rather than knocking, and judging by the resounding scream of surprise that nearly shattered the windows, he had scared Hizashi half to death.

Mirio pulled back and opened the door, revealing a room full of groaning students, all clutching their ears. Hizashi was the only one who seemed unbothered by the sheer volume of the scream he had let out, clutching his chest instead.

“Why can’t you knock like a normal person, dumbass?” a blond boy snarled.

“Bakugou! You shouldn’t swear in front of esteemed upperclassmen!” a black-haired boy with glasses said.

“It’s not just me you’re swearing in front of!” Mirio said, still smiling, like always. With a nod of his head, he tugged Eri into the room.

Everyone lit up, and you even caught Bakugou’s harsh expression softening some at the sight of her.

“Eri!” a freckly, green haired boy exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.

“Deku!” the little girl yelled happily, letting go of Mirio’s hand to run towards him.

You watched as he knelt down to greet her, the rest of the class all getting up, or at the very least leaning over in their seats to say hello. All except Hitoshi, who looked up, made eye contact with you, started to roll his eyes, and then sighed.

Oh, you were so going to embarrass him today.

Hizashi was still trying to catch his breath, but now, with the students all distracted by Eri, he finally had a chance to notice you. You could see his nostrils flare as he recognized your scent, his head whipping around to spot you standing there in the door.

“BABE!” he rushed toward you, pulling you into a hug.

“Hi, Hizashi,” you laughed into his shoulder, clinging to his jacket as he rubbed his scent gland over your hair.

He immediately pulled back, holding you at arm’s length as he looked you over. “What’re you doing here? Everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” you chuckled. When he glanced down at your swollen belly, you added, “we’re fine.”

He let out a relieved breath. “Okay. Okay, good. Had me worried there for a sec.”

“They came to bring you lunch!” Mirio said, holding up the bag he had carried in for you. “I ran into her and Eri outside while I was out for my daily jog.”

“Togata here was very helpful,” you said. “He even carried that bag for us.”

“Gotta help everyone who needs it, whenever I can!” the teenager gave you a thumbs up.

“Thanks, Mirio.” Hizashi said, putting an arm around your shoulders and pulling you up against his side. “Means a lot to me that my family stays safe.”

“Family?”

You turned to see all of Class 1-A staring at you.

Hizashi cleared his throat, the sound practically echoing. “Everybody, this is my mate.”

The room suddenly erupted.

“Who is she?”

“Is she a pro?”

“Can’t believe anybody would put up with him...”

“Bakugou, quiet! Don’t be rude!”

“But, wait...” Deku said, still kneeling with Eri. “I thought Eri’s been living with Mr. Aizawa..?”

The students all glanced to each other before their eyes swiveled to you and Hizashi.

“Oh, Hizashi,” you teased. “You never told them?”

“I, uh...” a slight pink tinged his cheeks as he blushed.

Luckily, before he had the chance to stumble over his words any longer, he was saved by the appearance of a very tired, very disgruntled, Eraserhead.

“What the hell is going on and why the hell are you screaming in my classroom?” he growled from the doorway.

Hizashi turned the two of you to face him, and you saw the anger immediately drain from Aizawa’s face.

“...What are you doing here?” he asked, his bloodshot eyes full of concern. “Everything okay?”

“Hi, Papa!” Eri chimed from her spot next to Deku.

“...Hello, Eri. Why are you also here?”

“You both forgot your lunches,” you said, practically scolding them. “I worked hard on those!”

“So you came all the way here just to bring us lunch? You realize we have an entire cafeteria here, right?”

“Don’t even think about it,” you growled.

“You shouldn’t be walking across Musutafu without at least Hitoshi with you. It’s too dangerous.”

At the mention of his name, everyone’s heads swiveled to look at Shinso. He sighed, slumping back in his chair and dragging a hand down his face.

“You know, if you wouldn’t forget the lunches that I so lovingly put all that hard work into, I wouldn’t even have to go all the way across Musutafu to bring them to you.” you said haughtily, nose up in the air as you stared your alpha down. “And besides...you know better than anyone that I can take care of myself, and Eri, no matter how pregnant I am.”

Aizawa sighed. He knew there was no arguing with you when you got in a mood like this, and besides...you were already there.

And you were right.

Before he could even come up with something to say, the bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch, and soon, you were walking down the hall between your two alphas, Eri riding on Deku’s shoulders as Class 1-A flooded out along with you.

You ended up sitting in the mess hall with the students, sandwiched between Hizashi and Shota. Shota didn’t seem entirely pleased with it, mentioning several times that he’d much rather be in the teachers’ lounge where it was quieter, but Eri was far too happy to be with Class 1-A for him to actually tear her away from them. She was across from you, sitting next to Deku and a brown haired girl you learned was named Ochako. Mirio had left to go find his own friends, the other two members of The Big Three, and you could see him just a few tables over, laughing loudly with a blue haired girl with a boy with pointy ears looked like he was trying to will himself out of existence next to them.

“It’s so exciting that Mr. Aizawa has a whole family!” Ochako said.

“And with Present Mic, too,” Tsu, the frog girl, said from her spot next to her.

“How long have you been together?” the pink girl, Mina, asked.

“Don’t ask so many personal questions! We should respect their privacy.” Iida said, in true class rep fashion.

When Shota only offered a grunt in reply, too focused on his lunch to actually talk with his homeroom class, and with Hizashi already stuffing his face, you took it upon yourself to chat.

“Oh, I don’t mind the questions!” you said with a good natured laugh. “I met Hizashi and Shota when we all went to school together. Then we lost touch, because I...well, I sort of...chose a different life path than they did.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Hizashi slurped up his soba.

“Here.” you looked up to see Hitoshi had brought you and Eri each a tray of food, setting them down in front of the two of you.

“You’re so good to your mother,” you cooed, reaching up to grab his cheek.

He dodged you expertly, ducking out of the way and going to sit with Bakugou and his friends on Deku’s other side. You narrowed your eyes at him, making sure he knew that he couldn’t run forever, and as Denki watched the exchange, he spoke up.

“...Wait. You didn’t become a pro hero?” he asked.

“I took the hero course here at UA.” you explained, grabbing your chopsticks. “I ended up dropping out before graduation. This is actually my first time back since then.”

“So...” Deku seemed nervous. “Were you, uh...”

“A villain?” you asked.

When he nodded quickly, you laughed and offered a nod of your own.

“Yeah, I suppose I was. My quirk used to be wild, and hard to control...I got so frustrated when I wasn’t making any progress with it that I decided to just leave school. I was mad at everyone, and I fell in with people who felt the same way. One thing leads to another, and next thing you know, I’m running from the loudest, most obnoxious pro hero in the city.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Hizashi, who was doing his best not to choke on his lunch.

“And he never caught me,” you said adoringly, leaning against his shoulder.

“I never caught you on my own,” he corrected.

“Made my ears bleed a few times, I think.”

“Yes, and I don’t regret that.” he pressed a cute, fluttery little kiss against the tip of your nose. “You were absolutely going to kill me.”

“Not absolutely!” you protested.

“I had to rescue him.” Aizawa spoke up, his voice gruff and tired, like always. “Had to cancel your quirk and keep you tied down until the others could get to us.”

You smirked at your first memory of his scarf and what it could do, and as you did so, he realized that he had just admitted to tying you up with it in front of his idiot students.

“And that’s when I fell in looooove,” you grabbed his arm, batting your lashes at him obnoxiously.

“Not another word.” he growled.

The students were all staring at you with wide eyes. All except Hitoshi, who was rolling his.

“I guess you could say I was reformed,” you said, grabbing some noodles. “Then one thing led to another, and...here we are.” You patted your belly.

“That’s so romantic,” Mina sighed, leaning her chin on her hand.

“What’s your quirk?” Ochako asked.

“I could show you!” you said eagerly, moving to stand.

“Absolutely not.” Shota held onto your arm and forced you to sit down again. “You are due in two weeks. No nonsense until after the pups are born.”

It was your turn to roll your eyes now.

“Fine,” you mumbled with a sigh. “I never get to have fun anymore.”

“But pups are so exciting!” the invisible girl, Hagakure, said.

“Yeah!” Mina agreed.

Then, the rest of the girls bombarded you with questions.

“How many are you having?”

“What day are they coming?!”

“Can we meet them?”

“Mr. Aizawa, please can you bring them in to the dorms??”

“--But Mr. Aizawa, this is the safest place in Japan. There’s no way anything bad would happen to them--”

“--And besides, (y/n) has a super strong quirk, right? She said so!”

“Come on, just let us see the brats when they’re old enough to travel.”

The sound of Bakugou’s voice had everyone staring at the blond boy.

“...What?” he bristled. “It’s not like I care, I just want the girls to shut up.”

“Uh huh. Sure, Bakugou.” Kirishima snorted.

“...maybe.” Aizawa relented, eager to shut them all up.

That was enough for the girls, and they immediately began talking chattering about the cutest baby clothes, the best toys, and then the differences between their own upbringings. You enjoyed listening to them throughout the rest of lunch, and by the time the hour had ended, you were sad to be leaving.

“Hang on, hang on,” Hizashi said as you took Eri’s hand to leave. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Home,” you furrowed your brow. “Why?”

“We told you,” Shota said, standing with his hands in his pockets. “We don’t want you wandering around the city.”

“And I told you, I’m fine--”

“Just stay here for the rest of the day.”

“...What?”

“We’ll all go home together later.” Hizashi smiled. “You and Eri can hang out in the lounge. I bet Midnight would love to pester you about the bump, too.”

You smiled, walking towards your alphas. “Alright. Alright, yeah. That sounds nice.”

As Class 1-A lingered at the end of the hall, watching for as long as they could get away with, Denki elbowed Hitoshi in the side.

“Dude, your mom is--”

“Don’t you dare say hot.” Shinso growled.

“Actually, I was gonna say badass, but that too--”

The purple haired boy glared at him. “Shut up, Denki.”

“What? It’s a compliment!”

#erasermic #alpha!erasermic #alpha aizawa #alpha hizashi #aizawa fluff #erasermic x reader #abo #omegaverse #bnha imagines #bnha x reader #shoto aizawa #aizawa x hizashi #hizashi yamada #present mic #present mic x reader #hizashi yamada x reader #aizawa x reader #shota aizawa x reader

4K notes · View notes