#but also I love him and he should have the spiderwebs cleaned off him

[thehamletdiaries]

After watching this production of Hamlet, I, of course, made my way over to Stratford-Upon-Avon's Hamlet statue and just hung out with him for a while (and brushed all the cobwebs and spiderwebs off him).

There was something about this moment...having just watched a production of Hamlet where the Hamlet actor, well, wasn't Hamlet..going to this statue that very much is Hamlet and feeling like "oh, there you are".

[brandstifter-sys]

These Dreams

Chapter 1: Blots                  (Ao3) (must be signed in)

For @dukexietyweek 2023 Day 1 -Tattoo Shop/Florist

Word Count: 1020

Rating: T

Characters: Remus, Virgil

Warnings: ftm Remus, genderfluid virgil, innuendo, dreams

Remus dreams about being a tattoo artist, and he meets someone who catches his attention

---

Remus absolutely loved ink, and he loved meeting new people. He also loved a good mystery. Maybe that's why he was drawn to the florist next door. The man was the furthest thing from sunny and bright, and yet he was always making bright bouquets for weddings and stuff. He wore long sleeves year round and he was always looking over his shoulder as if someone were looking for him. 

Remus was so intrigued that he would stop by the flower shop after work just to talk to the spooky cutie. Even if he did get a little snippy, Remus could say with confidence that he liked this guy. He was down to cuddle! If he ever got that lucky. 

It was a slow day in his parlor. Remus didn't have any appointments booked, everything was clean and restocked, and he was bored, watching videos on his phone. He could let his mind wander if he wanted, but it liked to go to dark places. 

And then the front door opened with a chime. Remus stowed his phone immediately and went to the counter to greet the newcomer. He was not disappointed to see that adorable cub of a man and his patchwork hoodie. 

"Well hello!" Remus cooed and leaned on the counter, "what brings you to the stab station?" 

"That's not the business name," spooky guy said flatly and crossed his arms, "And I'm here to set up a consultation." 

"Oooh, fancy words!" Remus giggled, "I can squeeze you right now!" 

"You mean 'squeeze you in,' right?" 

"That too!" he said, "Come with me to my office and we can work something out." 

Remus practically bounced from behind the counter and led him into the main studio. There were a couple of chairs with inks and needles, and a couch. Remus was happy to flop on the couch. 

"So you're looking for ink, huh?" Remus asked and patted the seat next to him, "Is this your first time?" 

He shook his head and took off his hoodie. His forearms were covered in ink—intricate spiderwebs. Remus was in awe, and on guard. 

"I see you have some spider webs there," he mused. 

"Yeah. I like spiders. I'm trying to cover them up more. I didn't do enough research on the meaning behind them," the man winced, ready to cover up again, “I’m not—I’ve never been—” 

"So you want to get some colorful sleeves to hide the webs before someone mistakes you for a bastard.” 

"Yeah. I uh, have a design and color scheme already," the man grumbled and pulled out a piece of folded paper from his pocket. He handed it to Remus and rubbed his arm. 

Remus unfolded it and grinned at the two pages of images. He loved the grays and purples and he could even see a few spider webs that wouldn't be obnoxious or red flags. It would be the perfect cover! 

"Did you draw this yourself?" Remus gawked, clearly impressed. 

“Yeah, I figured it would be better to have a plan so I could get as much done at once as quickly as possible.” 

“If you don’t have to be anywhere for a few hours, I can do it now!” Remus grinned, “On one condition!” 

“Condition?” the guy hesitated and reached to take his sketches back.

“Yeah, you have to get me a coffee afterwards,” Remus shrugged and kept the paper out of reach, “I think that’s fair.”

The man relaxed and cracked his neck. A coffee wasn’t so bad, and it didn’t have to mean anything. 

“Let’s get started,” he said with a hint of eagerness in his low, droning voice. 

“Take a seat in the first chair, and take some pain killers if you haven’t already—there should be some in the drawer and some water bottles,” Remus said and motioned to the chair in question. He bounced to his feet and skipped over to a counter with a printer set up. He was going to make this the best tattoo ever! 

The man brought his hoodie with him and sat down, not going for the medicine. Remus could appreciate some healthy masochism. He was guilty of being a masochist himself! 

He made a reverse copy of the images on some transfer paper and bopped over to his new client. 

"Okiee dokiee, let's start with lefty!" he giggled and set the right sheet on the counter. 

The man held out his arm and let Remus place the transfer paper on his skin. With a few shifts, he had it in place and held it down. 

Remus grabbed a soapy, damp rag and coated the paper, making sure it would transfer to his skin. His client was shaking slightly, which was understandable. Getting inked could be nerve-wracking. 

“It’s okay,” Remus hummed, “It’ll sting a little, but not like a thousand hornets, but you already know that. Are you just nervous because I’m hot?” 

It was just a little jab to get the guy to crack a smile and relax. Remus was not exactly happy when he went even more rigid. At the same time he was thrilled.

“So, I didn’t get your name before,” Remus said and peeled off the transfer sheet. The man looked up at him with stormy eyes and a cute blush.

“You didn’t ask,” he muttered, “it’s—”

  Remus woke up flailing. He was tangled up in his sheets as he tumbled from his bed. He was going to break his damn alarm clock one of these days! It was inevitable, especially when it decided to interrupt his dreams before they ever got to the good parts!

Remus managed to escape his cocoon of sheets and turned off his alarm. He would have to get to class in an hour, unless his professor canceled. He found his phone and grinned at the notification. Janus had to handle a medical issue and class was canceled! 

Remus immediately went to his desk and grabbed his sketchbook. He could study, but he wanted to draw the tattoo the guy in his dream wanted. Scratch that—he needed to draw it, because he refused to forget it! 

[paper-pixies]

Me when I reblog an ask game hoping you’ll reblog it >:D I have questions about your guys for you <3

Let’s do 31 for Asylum/Bloodlust, 23 and/or 12 for Shilan, and 98 for Adriite to start :)

Oh nooo don't trick me into reblogging an ask game by putting it on your blog first....how awful.....anyway....

31. How would they describe one another? [Asylum/Bloodlust]

“Bloodlust is… well, he’s incredibly loyal to me. He may not be a complete buffoon but he certainly isn’t the brightest, and he does what I tell him with exceptional efficiency, so what more could I really ask for? He does my dirty work and cleans up the messes so that I rarely have to engage with the less savory parts of this lifestyle, knowing that I will reward him when the task is done. And yes, he may be something of an uneducated brute, but that’s exactly what I keep him for and, well, no one else is so absolutely devout as he is. He’s like my loyal hound, always obedient and eager to please, and I do love him for that. I mean, is there really any other sort of relationship worth having with a man?”

“Describe Asylum? I mean she’s a goddess, what more do you want? She does whatever she wants and gets whatever she wants and doesn’t give a shit about what anyone else tries to tell her to do. She’s fuckin’, crazy smart too, just always twenty steps ahead of everyone else, like she’s already got everyone in her spiderweb even if they don’t know it yet. She’s just in control of everything and if she’s not in control of something then it’s because it’s not important enough for her to waste her time on. She’s powerful as hell and damn scary, too. She put up with a lotta fucked up shit from people in the past and now she makes sure everyone knows they should be afraid of her. If she’s pissed at you? You’re already a dead man, doesn’t matter what you try— if you’re lucky maybe she’ll beat the shit out of you herself. She’s beautiful, just the most fucking beautiful woman to ever live, puts every topside and Midcrest bitch to shame without even trying. I swear she’s a gift from the spirits and we’re all just lucky enough to get to be alive at the same time she is.”

23. Who said "I love you" first? [Shilan]

As the one who takes most of the big steps in their relationship, Taylan said it first. And pretty soon into their relationship, too. Now that that door has been opened though, Shiloh absolutely says it more.

12. What is something their S/O does that makes them flustered? [Shilan]

Taylan doesn’t get flustered that much but despite his pacifism it does get him when Shiloh does/offers violence. Obviously, he would never want his partner to kill people ever if possible, but maybe sometimes when Shiloh says they would kill anyone who got in the way of their being together, maybe that makes Taylan a little flustered. And don’t get him started on the times Shiloh has jumped in to fight off some Forest monster or other to keep him safe.

Shiloh is easy to fluster purely because they just think Taylan is so incredibly attractive, so him showing any extent of skin will pretty much do it. Which is completely just a Shiloh thing, their clan isn’t stressed about covering up and it isn’t a thing with anyone else besides Taylan, they truly just think this man is so stunning that it’s likely to instantly get them even if Tay isn’t intentionally trying to fluster them in the slightest. It took them a while to get used to seeing him without a shirt lol

98. Who would burn the world down for who? [Adriite]

Ace, easily. Pyrite has too strict of a moral code to ever allow herself to do something like that for any one person, whereas Ace has been on the brink of snapping more than once and has always been more willing to prioritize those close to him above anything and everything else. Of course, it would take quite a bit for Ace to take that path if Pyre was actually with them. Just having her around is often enough to help Ace keep himself in check, but he’s also well aware of the fact that she would absolutely despise him if he ever did anything like that for her sake.

[engagemachine]

4, 7 and 8 pretty please??

4. What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy?

Okay, so this totally made me imagine a scenario where perhaps Ressling is over discussing something with the Joker. Of course this is a rare occurrence, Ressling never comes over, but maybe it's an urgent situation requiring immediate attention. He and the Joker are both in the kitchen, talking in hushed voices. Taylor doesn't have to be shooed out of the room to understand -- she knows she needs to make herself scarce, even though Mr. J shoots a glance in her direction anyway that she interprets as scram.

So she goes to her room. Paces and back forth, bored, wearing tracks into the carpet. After a while, she flops down onto her bed, on her back, and stares at the tangle of cracks in the ceiling that spiderweb like veins, like an intersection of rivers.

She keeps waiting for the familiar creak of the front door to open, the way the panes in the window rattle when the door is pulled shut. But it never comes. It's been over an hour, Taylor thinks, which is like, practically a million years when you're hungry.

She climbs off the bed and pads across the room, peels open her door slowly, poking her head out into the darkened hall and perks her ears. She can still hear Ressling's hushed voice; it's less quiet than before, but it's as if they're still talking like they're conscious of the fact that she's present. Like they don't want her to be privy to the conversation at hand.

She frowns at this realization, and then her tummy growls as if in response to this injustice.

Okay, now she's really hungry.

With that decided, she sets her shoulders back, straightens out her shirt, and then marches straight into the kitchen.

She avoids Mr. J's eyes--and Ressling's--as she goes to the fridge, starts pulling out bacon, tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce. She had planned on making BLTs for dinner. No reason why she should have to wait just because Ressling couldn't be bothered to make a phone call, had to come in person instead and ruin her evening.

The conversation peters out when she pulls out a pan from underneath the stove. She ignores the icy bite of silence that follows. Her back is to them when she reaches into the cabinet to retrieve a cutting board, and then slides open the silverware drawer to get a knife for the lettuce. She goes back to the stove and sets the frying pan down, turns the heat to medium.

"What--" she hears the sudden snap of Mr. J's voice, and it makes goose bumps ripple over her arms, "--do you think you're doing?"

She spares him a glance only briefly, tossing it over her shoulder when she says, "Making dinner. Someone has to."

Ressling shifts from where he's been standing by the door. Nobody says anything for a long, stretched-out moment. Taylor lays a strip of bacon down in the frying pan and listens to its satisfying, greasy sizzle.

Finally, Ressling says, "I'll come back," and the window rattles in the pane when the door closes. Taylor thinks: finally.

However, when Mr. J comes to stand behind her, trapping her against the stove, Taylor's verve dies just as quickly as it had come. He reaches around her to turn off the stove, the bacon only half-cooked, and she's frozen in place. Can't move.

He's just standing there behind her. Unmoving. The heat from the frying pan wafts over her face, making her flinch, and she turns her head to the side, her ponytail brushing up against Mr. J's jacket.

"You," he says, that weird lilt to his voice, the high-pitched manic one that always makes her a little nervous, "need a lesson in manners."

[aaaaand END SCENE... something very bad happens with the hot stovestop and Taylor's arm probably :(( ]

7. Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time?

Taylor's favorite way to waste time is probably watching movies/TV -- especially if it means curling up with Mr. J, and it's something she really looks forward to. Maybe she doesn't have time to do it every day (her being the little housewife that she is, always cooking and cleaning and taking care of things) but she loves getting to relax and unwind, especially when Mr. J is there with her. It's something easy that they can do together.

I don't know what the Joker's favorite way to waste time would be... because anything involving Taylor -- even if it's cuddling on the couch -- he wouldn't consider a waste of time. I don't mean to make that sound romantic or sweet, but that's just how it is. Every morsel of affection he gives her ultimately benefits him, draws her deeper into his web.

8. Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging

Spending waaay too much money on candy and sweets, probably. Taylor tries to go to the grocery store with a little list of stuff they need, but inevitably, she ends up buying some sweets and treats for the two of them. Maybe she feels a little guilty when she's handing her money to the girl at the register -- Mr. J still gives her a weekly allowance, so she can't overspend everything on just candy -- but it's also so good to have sweet things in the house to snack on.

As for the Joker... indulging Taylor is probably his favorite indulgence, the way she practically swoons under his touch, gets little hearts in her eyes any time he calls her some pet name. Being affectionate with her sates some intrinsic part of him, the animal nature inside of him that wants to pet her, stroke her, and make her purr.

[sixeyesgojo]

New Year's surprise

Summary: You spend New Year's Eve with your favorite people. Something catches you by surprise...?

Pairing/Characters: Team Gojo + You

Word count: 2,3k

Content warning: -

A/N: crossposted on AO3 // published on New Year’s Eve + written for Megumi’s birthday // I tried to make it funny back then but now that I am reading it again... crrrrriiiiiiiiiiinge. I also used honorifics here to show the banter and relationship between the characters.

ou have been looking forward to this stress-relieving day for a month now. It was a well-deserved break for all this work you've been doing lately.

Last week particularly wore you out from using your cursed technique, the ability to manifest and manipulate light, repeatedly as the curses kept getting nastier and more annoying. Being one of the handful of Jujutsu Sorcerers was a pain sometimes. Just like Nanami, you hated working overtime but it was bound to happen as the branch you were working in was not exactly what the youth of today wanted to do - let alone even know of - understaffed as ever.

Not that you minded being on missions but sometimes you feared that your co-teacher, the most praised and famed Gojo Satoru, wouldn't properly teach the kids in your absence. You weren't even a teacher to begin with but some time after graduation, your teacher Yaga Masamichi - now principal of Jujutsu High in Tokyo - had asked you the favor of supporting that idiot Satoru... just in case. It's not like you could decline anyway, nobody else was up for the job, so you accepted. As time passed, you truly grew to love this job, especially this year's first-years had you enamored with them.

So it happened that your dear friend and ex-classmate suggested a Christmas party, which also served as Megumi's surprise birthday party, at your house. Coincidentally, this friend happened to have white hair and regularly wore a blindfold to work. Coincidentally, he was deemed the strongest. Coincidentally, his name was Gojo Satoru. “Do I not get a say in this, Satoru?” you had asked, your back facing him. His blunt answer was a simple “nope.”, which earned him a whack to his right shoulder. “I've already told the first-years about the time, date and location,” the man grinned sheepishly. And he knew you wouldn't be able to decline if it was about your beloved three students. You had no choice.

“Well, Satoru, since it's come to this,” you leaned in close to whisper in his ear, “why don't we use this opportunity to throw a surprise birthday party for you-know-who?”

The white-haired sorcerer grinned, “Sounds like you've been planning this all along, if you ask me.”

You shrugged your shoulders nonchalantly. “Nobara; but give me one or two days - I'm still quite busy,” you said. He gave you a thumbs up before replying, “Then I'll handle Yuuji. Give me a second.”

He clapped once. Then, the man was gone from your sight. Like a poof.

Being able to communicate without words was one of your favorite things about Satoru's and your friendship.

And so, a little over a month passed ever since you and Satoru made that agreement. It was easy for Satoru to convince Yuuji but you had known from the beginning that it took a little more coaxing for Nobara. In the end, you also successfully managed to lure her in. Even though you had to postpone it, it ended up being a New Year’s Eve party instead.

Damn these higher-ups, giving you a 4-day mission a day before Christmas Eve. You have looked forward to this party too, it saddened you greatly to have it postponed. Fortunately, your students and Satoru decided to wish you a merry Christmas via video call. It was truly a delight on such dark days. Besides juggling your two jobs, you've also been preparing for the party diligently. After all, you didn't want it to be a flop.

It wasn't exactly easy to convince the higher-ups to let you and Satoru take a day off from missions and frankly, you didn't convince them at all; you both just ditched them, probably pushing them onto Nanami or whoever was on hand (sorry?). As for lessons, Satoru managed to persuade principal Yaga that you and him were planning an “important extracurricular class”. You weren't sure if Yaga had actually bought the excuse or just let it slide. It did not matter anyway, who would dare to stand in the mighty Gojo Satoru's way? Moreover, you rivaled this man in both stubbornness and authority. Nobody stood a chance when the two of you planned to see a plan through.

You've been cooking (and baking) since morning while Satoru was dancing around your house to decorate it. After all, he was no help in the kitchen and his long limbs made it easy to reach high places, so he was forced to placed in charge of decorating by you.

“Satoru, when are the kids coming again? What time?” you called out from the kitchen. A head popped up by the door, “8PM, so two hours from now,” it chirped. “Megumi will come half an hour later, as planned,” he added. “Good. That's plenty of time.”

It was not plenty of time. You should have known. Something was bound to go wrong. Especially with the way this idiot was skipping through your home with his lanky, long limbs. Of course, he'd knock over some things, including a big filled vase in the living room. There was screaming (from you) and roaring laughter from the culprit; chaos ensued as you chased the tall man around your house with a broom. “GOJO SATORU, WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS,” you yelled. “What happened to ‘plenty of time’?” he laughed, simultaneously running for his life.

“You dumbass, I would have been done with cooking a while ago if you didn't knock my shit over so I had to help clean this mess!” you shrieked and stopped running. Satoru looked back - he knew the look on your face: you were done chasing him around. Gulp. You took a step back with your right leg. “I ain't a pokemon trainer but I'll make sure to at least catch you, Gojo-sensei,” you said, just loud enough for him to hear, as a string of concentrated light appeared in your hands. The man on the run knew you weren't able to hurt him thanks to his Infinity but he knew damn well, you could at least restrict him.

Like a lasso, you threw rope in his direction. A clap. More claps. He was teleporting away from you. Yeah, things like this frequently happened with the two of you. “Multiply,” you murmured and your rope did as you commanded. It took the form of a spiderweb... or a fishnet.

“Stop running, so it will be easier for me to catch you, Toru-chan~”, you called.

“Ain't no way,” he said as he ran and turned his head to stick out his tongue. You clicked your tongue. Inhaling deeply, you positioned your leg even farther back. This kind of felt like the Olympic Games or something.

Using the force, you threw out the glowing net. In reality, you knew it was just a second but the moment seemed to stretch in your eyes. “Would it be a good catch today?” You almost heard the fishermen say at the riverbank.

The moment your net connected. The sound of a plop on the ground. Yes, it was indeed a good-looking catch, you mused. Not that your net actually touched him, thanks to his ability, but at least it caged him like a cocoon for the time being, only leaving out the head.

“You look so smug,” Satoru commented, pulling a face. The cocoon vibrated against him, compressing made difficult due to Infinity. “Of course, I just caught a big shiny Magikarp,” you retorted. “Wait, are you calling me useless-”

Ding dong. The sound of the doorbell had your eyes almost popping out of their sockets. A sigh left your lips and you stuck the light to a wall as you trudged your way to the entrance door to let in Yuuji and Nobara. At least you could expect some real and less chaotic help now.

The first thing that greeted them after putting down their presents in the living room was the sight of their white-haired teacher dangling from the ceiling by a mysterious, seemingly sticky and shiny rope thing. “Sorry to ask, sensei, but… did we interrupt something here? Or would it be better not to ask?” Nobara asked, Yuuji was agape. “Yeah, we were-” Satoru started but you quickly shushed him.

You shook your head, “No, but Gojo-sensei couldn’t refrain from pranks, so here we are.”

“Oooookay,” Yuuji said, still flabbergasted.

“So guys, we aren’t quite done yet. Me and Gojo-sensei require a little help… especially in the kitchen,” you said as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Sure, I’ll help in the kitchen then,” Nobara volunteered. The pink-haired boy raised his hand, a sign that he also wanted to help: “I can set the table.”

“Perfect! Nobara and Yuuji, come with me. We have 30 minutes until Megumi will be here. As for you, Satoru, you better clean the mess you made,” you commanded as you shot the cocooned man, who was smiling innocently, a sharp glare. With that, you and your two baby ducklings left the living room.

You showed Yuuji the cupboard where he would find everything he needed, from cups to plates, bowls and whatnot. Nobara helped clean the dishes while you finished up what you were doing before. A few finishing touches were left. Christmas music started playing in your house as you heard someone pace in your living room. Satoru was probably hanging up the remaining Christmas lights in your spacious living room. After all, it was clear as a day that the man would be able to free himself after a few minutes.

You and Nobara made it just in time: 28 minutes. Your pink-haired student, Yuuji, did a surprisingly excellent job, setting the table as beautifully as you had imagined. The dishes were laid out on the table, just waiting to be eaten.

The eagerly awaited guest arrived no sooner than expected, unlike a certain someone, even bearing presents as it seemed. “Christmas is over, why did you decide to play Christmas music?” Megumi remarked, not sounding like he was over the moon.

“Woah, Megumi, you look as grumpy as always!” his male teacher noticed.

“Lighten up a little, will ya?” Nobara added, while the adorable Yuuji gawked at the bag of gifts Megumi had brought with him. “Oh, stop it, you two. Megumi is just not that good at outwardly expressing his emotions,” you defended… and the student didn’t know whether that was an insult or not.

“You brought presents? So cool!” Yuuji was delighted, still looking at the bag and not even paying attention to whatever was happening, until Nobara tugged on his arm to lead him to the dinner table.

Dinner was a little chaotic; everyone was excited, some things were spilled, a lot of words were exchanged, a little banter happened, gales of laughter echoed through your four walls. It was joy. Chaotic joy.

Finally, it was time for the presents. After everyone received their presents, a malicious grin appeared on Satoru’s face from what was to come. Yuuji’s face also had a tinge of mischief to its expression. Yours and Nobara’s face were straight up devilish, the eyes in particular. All of you were looking at him.

An uneasy feeling rose in the dark-haired boy’s stomach. “Run as fast as you can,” it told him and his foot twitched a little, which was not missed by Satoru at all.

“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere!” Nobara exclaimed, then ordered Yuuji to restrict Megumi (which he did) as you put one of Satoru’s blindfolds on your poor, baffled student. Satoru forcefully stuffed Megumi’s mouth with one - then two - mochis to prevent him from making any noisy ruckus. All he heard was feet shuffling through the room. After what felt like an eternity of nervosity to him, the blindfold was finally lifted and Yuuji loosened his grip on his friend.

Unitedly, the four of you, who had planned this surprise for him, wore party hats and chanted, “HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO YOU, FUSHIGURO/MEGUMI.”, holding more presents for him into his face. “Ooh, he is embarrassed!! Look at him, look at him~” Satoru teased and Megumi looked away, a blush spreading on his face. “Am not,” he attempted to retort before being ushered to open the gifts by Yuuji. One by one, they were unwrapped, revealing a nonfiction book from Yuuji, a comfortable hoodie from Nobara, a pair of brand new headphones from you and–…

“Gojo-sensei, I do not mean to impose but…”, you breathed out. “...is that a maid costume?”, Megumi finished what you wanted to ask. “Hell yes, I thought our Megumi would look so nice in it!” Satoru had that shit-eating grin on his face.

Silence.

“Sensei, can you hold him so I can give this perv a good beating?” Nobara asked as she turned to you. “Sure,” you replied with an innocent-looking smile. You heard someone cracking their knuckles. “I’ll help you,” Megumi said. So the sound came from Megumi. “Wait, wait, guys!” your same-aged friend fretted, head whipping in Yuuji’s direction, silently asking for some help. The latter rubbed his head, debating whether he wanted to be a part of this mess or not. He ultimately ended up trying to help his teacher but couldn’t tear away the glowing restraint you put upon your co-teacher.

However, before anyone could land a hit or be saved, a menacing roar could be heard. It was followed by multiple phones ringing and someone banging on your door. “Please, Y/N-san, it’s very urgent! A grade 1 curse is in the city… with a few of its friends!” It was Ijichi. For a moment, everything stood still and you looked at everyone. Satoru spoke up loud enough for Ijichi to hear, “We’ll head out.” He nullified your light technique.

You looked at the man and nodded, heading out with him.

“Wait, sensei, we are coming too,” Megumi said, his face determined as he, Nobara and Yuuji followed the two of you outside. “Fine by me, but don’t die on me,” you said.

[darkverrmin]

Truly and Wholly

a/n: it's me again, with your weekly dose of fluff

Geralt walked into the crowded tavern. Well, more like, stumbled into it. Taking down ghouls wasn't a complicated task, but it sure was an exhausting one. The people at this town were very nice to them ever since they first arrived, probably thanks to Jaskier's music. So Geralt didn't feel self conscious as he opened the door and walked in. It took him a few seconds to notice that everybody was gaping at him.

The tavern was crowded, townsfolk and travellers filling up the air with laughter and chatter. Jaskier was playing one of his newest ballads and people were singing along. But their voices grew quiet as the white-haired Witcher stepped into the room. Geralt looked around for a brief second, slightly confused. It's not like this was the first time these people saw a Witcher. Eskel was here just a couple of months ago and he was greeted very well. So why are they staring now?

Oh.

The potion.

Geralt realized it still hasn't wore off. Meaning that his eyes were still black as an abyss and his skin was pale, covered in a spiderweb of dark veins. In that moment, feeling very self conscious, Geralt lowered his head, staring at the floor.

And then he noticed Jaskier, standing just a few feet away. Panic started growing in the Witcher's gut.

Jaskier turned his head to look around the room, confused at the sudden quiet and whispering. And then his eyes met Geralt's. Geralt froze in place.

In that second, all he could see in the room was Jaskier. His Jaskier.

Seeing him... Like this.

Geralt wanted to disappear. He didn't want Jaskier to see him like that, under the influence of his potions. He was terrified of the bard's reaction. But it was too late to look away now.

Geralt searched Jaskier's face for any sign of fear or disgust. But there were none. The bard's expression changed from confused to surprised and then there was a huge grin spreading itself on his face. His smile was sincere and warm, his gaze loving and open.

"Geralt!"

Before Geralt had time to realize what was going on, Jaskier crushed him in a tight embrace.

"You're back" he whispered against the Witcher's armour. He pulled back to stare at Geralt's face and Geralt immediately turned his head away, trying to cover himself with a curtain of white hair. But Jaskier just casually brushed his hair away and kissed his cheek. "Are you hurt?"

Geralt blinked at him. "Just a few scratches".

Jaskier raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "I doubt that. Finish your business and let's go upstairs, I'll help you get clean. Gods, you stink". Regardless of that, Jaskier wrapped his arms around the Witcher's neck and kissed his nose. "Glad you're back so soon" he whispered "I was staring to lose my mind out of boredom. I've been playing for three hours, Geralt, the people here are craz-"

Geralt was still processing the situation. A tavern crowded with people staring at him, Geralt under the influence of his potions, Jaskier seeing him like this for the first time. Jaskier leaping at him like everything is totally normal, holding him close and kissing him as if he doesn't look fucking terrifying.

Geralt also noticed that the silence around them slowly started to vanish. People resumed their conversations, some were still staring at them, whispering between themselves. But Geralt could hear their exact words, and they weren't unkind. An elderly couple said they looked "nice together" and a few girls giggled and called them "cute".

Suddenly Geralt stopped feeling like he was the center of attention. He felt himself blending in. The anxiety in his gut cooled down and his mind focused on Jaskier, pressing his nose in the crook of his neck and shoulder and lazily tangling a strand of white hair around his finger.

The mayor, the person who gave Geralt the contract, approached them. Geralt looked down at him over Jaskier's shoulder. The mayor still looked slightly startled, but he managed a shaky smile. "Is it done? Did you get them?"

"Yes". Geralt nodded, barely noticable. "The ghouls won't bother you again".

Arms still wrapped around Geralt's neck, Jaskier turned his head to look at the mayor, smiling. "Told you this wasn't a big deal for him".

The fear on the mayor's face was replaced by pure joy and a bright smile. "And you were right! I'm so glad you stumbled upon our small town, it's an honor for all of us here! Please feel free to stay for as long as you want! I gave Jaskier the coin earlier, as I promised".

"Thank you."

"Thank you, dear sir! Have a great night!"

And with that, the mayor left them alone.

Jaskier turned to look at Geralt. "Room. Now".

***

Upstairs in their room, Jaskier swiftly stripped Geralt of his armor and dirty clothes. Geralt caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. The potion was starting to wear off, his eyes returned to their normal colour. But his skin was still pale and covered in veins.

"Get in the bath. C'mon".

Geralt obeyed silently. Jaskier sat on a stool behind him, carefully untangling and washing his hair, humming to himself in the process. Geralt almost fell asleep under his touch.

After finishing washing Geralt, Jaskier helped him to dry off with a towel and pulled him towards the bed, settling together comfortably under the covers.

Jaskier cuddled against Geralt's chest and kissed him softly on the mouth. "No waking up at sunrise tomorrow. I insist you get a proper night's sleep".

Geralt tangled his fingers in Jaskier's hair, brushing the soft locks away from his face. He moved his other arm under Jaskier's middle, encircling his waist.

"Jask".

"Mmm?". Jaskier's face was buried in the crook of Geralt's neck, warm breath tickling his skin.

Geralt swallowed nervously before speaking. "Weren't you scared today?"

"Scared of what?" Jaskier mumbled into his skin.

Geralt pulled away to look at his lover's face, staring at him as if he was stupid. "Me".

Jaskier knitted his eyebrows in confusion before opening his mouth in realization. "Oh. Oooh. You mean your Witchery-potions?"

Geralt rolled his eyes, failing to suppress a smile. "Yes".

Jaskier pouted at him and Geralt was surprised that it looked both stupid and adorable.

"Why should I be scared of you?" Jaskier asked softly, fingers brushing against Geralt's hipbone. "It's you".

"But my eyes. My skin-"

"I know, I know. You told me about it before. That's how your body reacts to it. So what? It's still you".

Geralt was dumbfounded.

Jaskier moved his hand to stroke Geralt's cheek, a worried look in his eyes. "You thought I'd be scared of you? Because of your eyes darkening?".

Geralt nodded weakly. "I thought you'd be disgusted".

Jaskier let out a small laugh. "I'm not disgusted of you, even when you're covered in monster guts. Okay, maybe a little. C'mon Geralt, sometimes the smell-"

"Your point".

"Right, right, sorry. Bottom line, I'm not disgusted nor scared of you. Never. Today I was so happy to see your face, I didn't care- veins or no veins. And if those potions are something that helps to keep you alive and well- please take them whenever you need to".

Jaskier paused, leaning in to kiss Geralt's lips. "You're beautiful to me. All of you. Always".

Geralt felt like he was struck by lightning. He didn't know how to respond with words, so he put all of himself into a passionate kiss, stroking Jaskier's face and hair.

And suddenly, the Witcher knew exactly what he wanted to say. He pulled away slightly, murmuring against Jaskier's lips. "I love you"

Jaskier kissed him again before pulling back. "I love you too, dear. Truly and wholly".

[scribblingfangirl]

CANDY CANES & SPIDER WEBS | Julie and the Phantoms - Luke Patterson

not my gif!

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Author’s Note: First things first, let’s not start the scene in reverse but with the mention that: Yes, I am aware that Halloween was a few months ago, but since I’m stuck studying for two upcoming exams and procrastinating on my Billy Russo fic I mindlessly wandered through all of my unfinished and forgotten WIPs and found this one - and it spoke to me! So, I hope you have fun with this little, weird and late Halloween thingy.

word count: ~ 1.2k

summary/prompt: alive!AU (2020) - Luke has to wear a Dirty Candy outfit and gets scared by a fake spider 

warnings: english is not my first language, therefore, typos and long sentences (this was not beta-read), tw: a teeny tiny mention of being puffy (said in a joking manner and later on confirming that she (you) feels amazing in her (your) body) [if that’s inappropriate for many people I will of course take this fic down and/or change it to something else]

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The entire school was decorated. From the halls and classrooms (yes, much to the suffering of a certain brunette lead guitarist, even the music room) down to the cafeteria and the gym. Black cloths were covering the windows, fake spider webs were put up in all sorts of nooks, crannies and corners, bowls with candy could be found all over and the lights were dimmed. The music was so loud the vibrations did not only move the floor but the bones of the students as well. Well… maybe it wasn’t just the volume, but the fact that the music came from a certain band called Julie and the Phantoms and it was almost impossible not to move your body to their tunes. Or maybe they just felt bad for the lead guitarist who was struggling to jump around in his... rather sparkly Halloween costume. 

Earlier during the week, the principal had made an announcement, saying that everybody had to wear at least some sort of Halloween costume to be invited to the schools annual night of terror. Of course, Luke being Luke was not even thinking about the possibility of separating himself from his beloved sleeveless shirts and/or his flannels. Which is why he was very adamant on dressing up as you on Halloween. 

“Going as your significant other is going as someone else as well!” 

“Fine…but only if I get to choose your outfit.”

“Deal.”

Much to his dismay, he seemed to have forgotten that, in contrast to himself, you did not only own band-shirts, flannels and vans, and looked rather dumbfounded when you handed him the mountain of clothes you chose for him.

“That’s…. no. A definite no from me. This sparkles and has sleeves.”

“I’m sorry, what? There must’ve been a miscommunication. Last time I heard you wanted to go to Halloween as your girlfriend… and well, said girlfriend does not walk around like a wanna-be rockstar from the 90s all the time but is also a member of a girl group called Dirty Candy. So, say hello to a wonderful blue glittering crop top and matching see-through blouse! At least you get to keep your sneakers and the colour matches your eyes. Now chop chop! You promised Julie to fit in one last rehearsal before tonight!”

You could've sworn that you heard him mumble “And that’s why you don’t mess with your enemies” before he closed the bathroom door behind him. Five minutes later you were almost crying from laughter.

“I can’t believe it actually fits you, at least more or less!” you giggled, looking him up and down as he twirled uncomfortably in front of the mirror, staring disbelievingly at himself. “Wait… does that mean that I’m puffy or are you just small?”

“Do not worry Y/N. Even though you obviously actually are the Witch you're dressing up to be, I love you the way you are”, he answered quickly, pecked your lips and ran out of your room, hoping to bypass the looks from your parents. “See you tonight! And don’t be too jealous when I make Dirty Candy look good for once!”

You opened your windows and watched him struggle into the car. Before he could drive off you frowned, as you realized that he never actually answered your question. “Hey! Wait! You are small, right?!” But he just dismissively waved out of the car window as he disappeared from your view.

“He called you puffy?” a shocked Fynn shouted at you over the loud music.

“No, I said it as a joke, but he didn’t exactly call himself small” you shouted back. 

"I mean, come on girl! My body is amazing!"

“Nevertheless, that screams for revenge!”

Expectantly you raised your eyebrows and smirked, it was Halloween after all. A night of mischief. “And… oh mighty Flynn. What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Wait and see, wait and see”, she chuckled evilly. “I hope you’re not afraid of spiders.”

An hour later the gym was filled with the steady beat of Flynn's music as she took over as DJ for the rest of the night, while the four band members fled into the safety of the music room.

“They can’t do that! My poor six-string! So broken! So dirty!“ Luke whined as he wiped off the fake blood someone had accidentally spilled onto the guitar when they were pouring it out and smearing it all over the room and windows. 

Alex nodded absentmindedly. “This is a mess… I don’t want to be the cleaning personnel tomorrow. All this, just for one lousy night?”

Reggie threw an arm around his friend and patted his shoulder soothingly. “I’m sorry Willie couldn’t make it tonight, but you know what? Julie and I can be just as fun!” he said, linking his other arm with one of Julie’s and dragging both of them outside, into the corridor leading to the gym.

Turning around to face Luke you let out an exasperated sigh and threw your hands to your hips at the scene in front of you. He was sitting, legs crossed (which worked surprisingly well somehow, considering he was struggling to rock out on stage just a few minutes prior), surrounded by the other guitars and basses inspecting them for more fake blood mishaps. “Really Luke? How come you care more about instruments made out of wood and metal, than about a real, warm and loving person waiting for you?”

He didn’t even look up. “I care about you!”

“You wouldn’t even kill a spider for me, but for your six-string, you would touch real spiderwebs”, you protested, suppressing a giggle, when Luke promptly stood up to take some steps towards you and walked right into some fake ones, moving his arms all over the place to get rid of them. "You look like a blue disco ball."

“I do not and I would for you!” he corrected you, as he finally was able to get rid of the majority of the spiderwebs and made a motion to hug you. “The spiders should know better, anyway. I’m the one with the big hands and feet and they’re the wee ones with all the breakable legs!”

As his arms were almost enveloping you, you quickly put a fake spider onto a piece of spider web on his shoulder that he had missed and pushed him away. “Ew! Don’t touch me, you’re sweaty and... bloody! Go wash away the sweat and the spiderwebs first. And while you’re at it, gently pick up the spider on your shoulder, please? Before you throw my clothes into the cleaner and kill the little wee one with the breakable legs.”

“Sp… spider?” It seemed as if he turned his head in slow motion and when he saw the black thing just slightly outside his peripheral vision, he screamed.

He probably didn’t even think clearly when he started to jump around, frantically patting himself on his shoulders. After a while, he just took off the blouse and crop top, threw them on the ground and started to stomp on it. Breathing heavily he then said: “Did I just scream like a woman?”

“Don’t flatter yourself”, a giggling Flynn said, coming in through the door, followed by Reggie, Julie and Alex who were doubling over at the sight of the topless guitarist. “You might have been wearing the clothes of a woman, yet you still screamed like a little girl.”

Now you couldn’t hold back your laughter anymore either. “Do not worry Luke” you mocked him, “I love you just the way you are. Small and full of fear.”

[fleetingpieces]

Finding you

This was supposed to be a short drabble with some angst and lots of fluff, but ended up being a long one shot with lots of angst. Oops.

Trigger warning: violence, slurs and abuse. Please look after yourself :) Fuck.

Remus froze by the door, the keys still dangling in his hand. The sight in front of him was one that never promised anything good; the smell of smoke and beer was strong, making the air in the room feel heavy and loaded. He could already feel the cold sweat at the back of his neck. He considered opening the door again and just leaving the house, but then one of the men sitting in the living room glanced up, and his eyes landed right on Remus, smirking, making Remus’ muscles lock in disgust.

Remus knew the two men all too well. He knew their names, but never thought of them if he could avoid it; they brought too many bad memories. The dark-haired one -who was still looking at Remus- was the worst; the one with dirty blond curls was just a stupid pawn. Both of them were sprawled on the couch, talking loudly as if they were in their own house, their dirty boots propped on the coffee table that Remus had cleaned that very morning.

Their visits were becoming more and more frequent, and Remus didn’t miss how they always coincided with Lyall’s worst episodes. He was pretty sure they actually encouraged them for their own amusement.

His sorry excuse of a father followed his friend’s gaze then, finally noticing Remus still standing by the front door. Remus gulped as Lyall’s bleary eyes became darker.

“Where the fuck were you?”

“At work.” He tried to come out strong, but the sound of the keys clinking in his trembling hand betrayed his attempt.

Lyall stood up and took a couple of wobbly steps closer to Remus, bracing a hand on the shelf on the wall to support himself. Behind him, the man with raven black hair looked Remus up and down slowly, licking his lips. Remus felt dirty being watched like that.

“I told you I was having people over. I ordered you to come back to make dinner for us,” said Lyall, glaring at him. Remus felt his blood boil.

“Well someone has to bring money to pay the bills, since you are too busy being a lazy ass drunkard.”

He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips, it was not smart of him to talk like that right now. But he was just overwhelmed by the unfairness of it all.

“Don’t talk to me like that, you fucking brat!” Lyall yelled, swinging his arm violently over the shelf he’d been holding, and throwing everything on top of it to the floor.

Remus watched horrified as the silver frame that had his mother’s picture fell through the air, arching as if in slow motion. It landed viciously on the hardwood floor. When he heard the loud crack it made, Remus felt his heart shattering as well.

The sound sprang him into motion for the first time since stepping into this godforsaken house. He rushed over, kneeling on the floor next to the small shards scattered all over the floor. One of them dug itself into his knee, but Remus barely even noticed it. He was looking at the frame, the glass had cracked into a million pieces, forming sharp spiderwebs that spreaded over Hope’s smiling face.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Remus yelled, holding it close to his chest with both arms, protecting it like his life depended on it. Maybe it did.

He was using all of his strength to fight the tears; he would not cry in front of these men. Standing up slowly, he glared at Lyall. Remus could have sworn that he saw regret in his eyes for a moment, but it was gone the minute Remus spoke again.

“You disgust me,” he spat.

Lyall’s eyes glinted, and if Remus hadn’t been holding his mother’s picture he would have raised his arms to protect his head. As it was though, Lyall’s fist connected with his jaw, making his head snap to the side painfully. He’d punched him with the full strength of a drunken adult, which made Remus see stars dancing in his vision and stumble back, while the two guys behind them cackled loudly.

A few tears escaped Remus’ eyes then, both from the pain in his face and the even greater one in his chest. He could still remember a time when the man in front of him was actually his father. A time when they would laugh together, and Lyall would teach him to play ball. But that had all been when Hope was still in their lives. Lyall had not been the same after the accident, and in consequence, Remus had lost both of his parents the day Hope’d died.

Cold fear crept up Remus’ spine as he stared at the rage seeping out of Lyall’s eyes. He knew where this was going, how everything would turn out if he didn’t do something; and he was pretty sure that he didn’t have any more antiseptics or gauzes hidden in his room, he’d used them all the last time.

He took a careful step back.

“Where do you think you are going?”

Remus didn’t stay to give an answer, he turned around and bolted to his room. Lyall was too drunk to catch him, but Remus could hear the clumsy steps and the string of curses following behind him. As soon as he had one foot inside his bedroom, he slammed the door shut, throwing the lock on.

He took a couple of steps back, not daring to take his eyes off the door, but he still flinched when Lyall started pounding on it.

“Open the fucking door!”

His back bumped into the opposite wall, and he leaned his weight against it. He was shaking way too much to stand on his own.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

What should he do? There was no way he could open that door, but Lyall was pummeling it so hard that the hinges were groaning. Remus glanced around frantically, and his eyes landed on his dresser. Pushing himself off the wall, he rushed over and shoved it in front of the door, panting with the effort.

There was a pause in the rapping, leaving behind a silence that felt heavy on Remus' shoulders. His breathing was coming in short and painful bursts; the air around him didn’t seem enough to fill his lungs. He needed to calm down, but he also needed to get the fuck out of there, he didn’t believe for a second that Lyall had simply decided to let it go.

Remus took out his phone and called the only person that was on his mind at that moment. Luckily, the line rang only two times.

“Hello?”

“Sirius..”

“Re? Hey, what’s up?”

Remus took a shaky breath in, willing his voice to be steady, but he could only manage a hoarse whisper.

“Can you come pick me up?”

“Right now? I can’t, my bike broke down yesterday, remember? I didn’t have time to get it fixed yet.”

Remus did remember. James, Sirius and Remus had gone to an old dirt road that Sirius loved to go to because it meant he could use his bike at top speed and pretend he was in a Motocross race. But Sirius had also tried to teach James how to ride it, which had clearly been a terrible mistake. James had somehow managed to crash into a tree going 20 km an hour; and even though he hadn’t been injured, the handlebar had broken. Sirius had almost cried when he saw the state of his motorbike, and Remus had been teasing both him and James since.

“James’ parents took the car too, but I could take a bus to your house,” Sirius suggested, saying it as a question, but Remus shook his head even if Sirius couldn’t see him. He knew it would be too late then.

“No, no. It’s ok. Don’t worry, everything’s fine.”

His voice broke at the end, and Remus had to clamp a hand over his mouth to reign in a sob.

“What’s wrong?” Sirius asked immediately. The worry in his voice was evident, but Remus’ throat had closed up, he couldn’t reply. “Re? Remus, what’s going on?”

The pounding on the door started again, making Remus jump while he scrambled to hang up. He didn’t want Sirius listening to this.

“REMUS! I swear I will knock this fucking door down!”

Remus didn’t doubt that he meant it. He had to get out.

Grabbing a bag from his wardrobe, Remus hastily filled it with essentials, starting with the picture frame he was still holding against his chest. He wrapped it up in a t-shirt to protect the rest of his stuff from the broken glass, there was not time to get rid of it now.

All the while, the curses and fists against the door didn’t stop; Remus could tell that the other two men had joined in to try and get into his room. Right then, he was so fucking thankful for that old, heavy dresser.

The wood sounded like it was cracking when Remus had finally gathered everything he needed and threw the window open. Trying not to think about the distance to the ground, he swung both legs over the windowsill and jumped as quietly as he could.

Remus rolled on the floor a few times, a sharp pain shooting through his knee. He’d completely forgotten about the shard of glass that had undoubtedly buried itself deeper just now, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. He had to go before they noticed he was gone. He didn’t think they would go after him, but he couldn’t take any chances.

Greeting his teeth, Remus ran down the street until he turned the corner; then he slowed down a bit until he was walking at a fast pace, mentally preparing himself for the 45 minute walk to James’ house. The fresh night air felt like a blessing against his face as he tried to calm his nerves, but Remus knew he wouldn’t feel completely safe until he was at his friend’s house.

He was about halfway there when his phone rang.

“Remus!”

“James?”

“Rem, what the hell is going on? Sirius has been walking around the house like a maniac, babbling nonsense about you acting weird, and needing our help…”

“It’s fine James, don’t worry. I’m actually on my w-” Remus tried to explain, but James kept talking at full speed.

“...and then Mum and Dad came back and Sirius just stole the car keys and ran out, yelling for me to call you and tell you that-”

“Wait, what?” Remus yelled, stopping abruptly in the middle of the sidewalk.

“Yeah, he just said he was going to get you. He looked pretty worried when he left, but he didn’t explain anything.”

“No. No no no no no.”

Remus panicked. If Sirius went to his house, where Lyall and his friends were surely mad that Remus had ran away… He shuddered to think what they would do. And Sirius absolutely lacked common sense and self preservation, he was too reckless.

“Remus? Remus please, talk to me.”

“I need to call him. He can’t go there, I need to-”

“I tried, but the prat left his phone. He just ran off as soon as my parents came in.”

Remus felt as if his world was starting to collapse. He couldn’t stand the idea of Sirius getting hurt because of him. He couldn’t stand the idea of Sirius getting hurt, period. He looked around frantically, as if he would find something that could help him in the deserted street.

“How long ago did he leave?” he asked James. He could hear the desperation in his own voice, and the confusion in James’.

“Just a few minutes, but-”

Remus hung up. He turned around and sprinted as fast as he could, back to the hell house. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, but he couldn’t stop to explain everything to James. The only thing on his mind was Sirius.

Images of everything that Remus had been going through at home came rushing in, but with Sirius’ face instead of his, bloody and broken. The mere mental image caused him so much pain and rage, it was unbearable.

Sirius was the most important person in his life, the thought of losing him scared the shit out of Remus. He was like the sunshine in Remus’ longest night. He’d picked up Remus’ pieces when his Mum’s death had torn him apart, and stayed by his side when Lyall started spiralling down. He always knew where to find Remus and how to bring him into the light.

Remus had never told any of his friends what was going on at home, he couldn’t stand the idea of them looking at him with pity, knowing he was a coward that couldn’t stand up for himself. Especially not Sirius. Sirius who was all courage, smiles and warm feelings.

Feelings, Remus groaned internally.

He’d been trying to get rid of his feelings for Sirius for months now, but they only seemed to be getting stronger. Remus had been terrified when he’d realized he was in love with his best friend, he’d had no idea what to do. He still didn’t. Telling his friends that he was gay would have been a good start, but after Hope had passed Remus had lost the nerve to do it. He couldn’t tell Sirius, he couldn’t risk losing him.

His lungs were burning by the time he reached his house, but the sight of the Potter’s car parked hastily with the front wheel on top of the curb gave him a boost of energy.

The front door was open, the yelling reaching Remus’ ears and sending another pang of fear through him.

“Where’s Remus?!”

As Remus stepped in, what he saw inside froze him in place for a moment, just like a mere hour earlier. But the sight in front of him right now was scarier in a very different way.

The man with the dirty blond hair was sprawled on the floor, unconscious. The other man was just standing there, cracking his knuckles and laughing perversely at the two men standing in the middle of the room. Lyall seemed to be out of it, a beer bottle clutched in his hand and his eyes full of hate.

And Sirius.

Sirius was shorter than Lyall, but he was standing just a few inches from him nonetheless, yelling in his face. His hair was in a messy bun, strands falling in his face, and Remus gasped when he saw the split lip, blood trickling down Sirius’ chin. Even in this shitty situation and with everything going on around him, Remus thought that he was beautiful.

Then he cursed himself, focusing again.

“Sirius!”

The three men went quiet as they turned around, the tension in the room shifting on its edge to land on Remus, almost crushing him. He could feel their gazes and everything they carried, the hate, the anger, the lasciviousness. Remus blocked all of those, focusing solely on Sirius, making sure he was ok.

Remus was not ready for Sirius’ reaction when the boy took a good look at him though. Remus could only imagine what he looked like: sweaty, with blood on his jeans and maybe a swollen face. He watched as Sirius’ scowl got deeper and he spun around, shoving Lyall hard.

“What the fuck did you do to him?!”

Lyall staggered back but managed to stay up.

“It has nothing to do with you!”

Remus, who was already used to it, saw it coming before Sirius did. As Lyall threw his arm back, Remus’ feet moved on their own, and before he realized it he was standing between the two of them, looking right at Lyall’s surprised eyes as his fist connected with the side of Remus’ head.

The force of the impact threw him back, making him fall into Sirius’ arms. The warmth of the other boy’s hands against his sides seeped through his clothes, warming him up to the very core, and Remus glanced up. There was so much concern in Sirius’ eyes that it disarmed him; he was lost in the stormy grey, forgetting about everything else for a second. Remus desperately wanted to place a hand on Sirius’ cheek to reassure him, or maybe kiss his lip better…

“I know what you are!” Lyall’s screaming brought Remus back to the cold, hard reality. “You try to hide it, but everyone knows you’re a damned faggot! It’s your own fault if you got hit, protecting your nancy boyfriend like that!”

Remus paled, his thoughts turning cold as he felt Sirius’ whole body tense up behind him.

No. Please, no. Not now.

“He’s not my boyfriend, leave him out of this,” Remus said, trying to sound calm, but his voice was shaking. What was Sirius thinking? Remus didn’t have the courage to turn around and see, so he stepped out of his grasp instead.

The dark-haired man started laughing loudly then. Remus had almost forgotten he was even there, but his head snapped to him when he felt an icy hand close around his wrist, tugging him forward harshly.

“So it’s true? I’ve been wondering for a while, you know; thought I could teach you a thing or two,” Rick said, lust filling his voice. No, no, don’t think about his name. It doesn’t matter, he’s inconsequential, Remus tried telling himself.

The man pulled him closer, pressing his body against Remus’ back, inhaling the scent from his hair. One of the hands was still holding his wrist with bruising strength, but when the other slipped under his t-shirt, Remus felt paralyzed.

“What are you doing?” Lyall asked. He looked slightly less drunk now, but was stunned in place, his eyes wide. Remus looked up at him pleadingly.

“Nothing, we are just having some fun, right boy?” the man said in a mocking tone.

Lyall didn’t move and Remus wanted to scream at him to do something. Hell, he was screaming at his own body to do something, but the connection between his brain and his extremities was numb, like the rest of him.

“Let go of him,” a quiet voice said. Remus fixed his eyes on the source of it, and was met with pure, concentrated rage. He’d never seen such fury in Sirius’ eyes, and even the dark-haired man took a step back.

“You’ll stay out of it if you know what’s good for you, kid. Unless you want to take his place?”

The words hung in the air as they made their way into Remus’ brain, and once they sunk in, everything in Remus’ vision turned red. He was not going to let that asshole touch so much as a hair on Sirius's head. He brought his elbow up, digging it deep into the man’s stomach, who doubled over. Sirius rushed forward then and pushed the man with his shoulder, making him stumble backwards and crash into the small table.

Not wasting any time, Sirius grabbed Remus by the hand and tugged him gently but hurriedly to the door, making a quick exit before the man could recover. He only stopped for a second next to the still stunned form of Lyall, looking at him with revulsion.

“Hope would be ashamed of you,” he spat with a venomous glare. As Sirius dragged him outside, Remus looked back and was pretty sure he could see Lyall’s face crumble before he covered it with his hands.

Sirius didn’t stop until they were next to the car. He opened the passenger door for Remus and carefully helped him climb in, even buckling the seatbelt for him. Remus let his friend handle him; he felt like his mind was miles away, the events of the night had not settled in yet, but they were approaching him like an oncoming train.

They rode in silence. Sirius was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white, and he kept stealing glances at Remus, but none of them said a word.

James, who'd been pacing by the front door, rushed down the steps when he saw them approaching through the long driveway to the estate. They weren't even completely out of the car before James threw his arms around Remus' neck.

"Oh god, oh thank fucking god. Are you guys ok?" 

He examined Remus' appearance, scowling at what he saw. When Sirius joined them near the entrance, Remus tried his best not to look him in the eye, which made James glance between the two of them, confused.

"My mum is going crazy. She's going to bombard you with questions as soon as you step in," he said, trying to get a grasp on the situation himself.

Remus shook his head quickly.

"Please, I don't want to talk about it. Not right now," he whispered.

James was about to argue, but a look from Sirius shut him up, so he nodded instead.

"Ok. Ok, I'll go talk to them," he said, and without any warning, he lunged forward again, hugging Remus tightly. "I'm so glad you're ok. You scared the living daylights out of me." 

It took Remus two seconds to figure out how to move his body again so he could hug James back just as tight. What had he done to deserve friends like this?

James squeezed him one last time before turning around and going into the house, leaving Remus and Sirius alone. Silence fell, broken only by the chirping of the crickets in the big garden that surrounded the house from all sides, and the faint sound of the sea a few miles away. 

When Sirius extended a hand towards him, Remus couldn't help but flinch back. He felt bad instantly as he finally looked up at Sirius, surprised by his own reaction, and saw how Sirius stopped his hand mid-air with a pained expression on his face.

Remus wanted to explain, but what could he say? That even though his brain felt muddled, he couldn’t stop thinking about every time Lyall and his friends had beaten him up?

He didn’t need to say anything though, ‘cause Sirius’ face softened like he understood exactly what Remus was thinking. Not taking his eyes away from Remus’, Sirius extended his hand again, deliberately slow, and held it between them as an offering. He was giving Remus a choice. He didn’t move a muscle until Remus tentatively laced their fingers together, and then Sirius smiled softly, tugging at his hand gently to lead him inside.

Sirius led him up to the first floor, ignoring the hushed voices coming from the kitchen, which Remus was grateful for. He didn’t have the strength to face Mrs and Mr Potter right now.

He didn’t realize Sirius was not taking him to the guest room until he dragged Remus into his own bedroom, closing the door behind them.

As Sirius finally let go of his hand to drop Remus’ bag on the bed, and Remus realized that he was actually there, that he was safe, the numbness in his body receded and the weight of everything crashed into him, as if the train had finally run him over. The events of the night, the months of abuse, the fact that Sirius of all people had seen it, that Sirius knew. Oh God, Sirius knew the truth, he knew everything! 

It was impossible for Remus to keep himself together any longer.

He slumped on the floor with his back against the bed, hugging his legs. When it became obvious that he would not be able to reign in the tears, he buried his face in his knees, as the sobs quietly shook him. He was sure Sirius would hate him now, and there was no way that Remus could recover from that.

Just a little longer, he thought, for only a few minutes more he wanted to pretend like none of this had happened and that he could have his friends for a bit more. That he could survive this. He hugged himself tighter, trying to keep his pieces together.

“Remus.”

Remus tensed up, but didn’t move. Not yet, please, not yet. I’m not ready.

Warm hands rested lightly on his wrists, kindly prying his arms apart to undo his curled up position.

“Re, look at me,” Sirius whispered.

Reluctantly, Remus slowly raised his head. 

“How long has this been going on?” he asked in a quiet but steely voice. Remus wasn’t sure anymore if the anger was directed at him or not, he had never seen Sirius like this. He turned his head to the side, letting his gaze fall on the floor.

“A while,” he replied quietly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sirius almost yelled, and the pain in his voice startled Remus into looking at him again.

“I..I didn’t want you to pity me. I didn’t want you to see that side of me,” he said with furrowed eyebrows.

“Remus I’m your best friend! I would have helped you!”

“And what could you have done, Sirius? I have nowhere to go!” Remus replied in the same heated tone. Anxiety gripped him again as he understood that he eventually would have to go back there, to that nightmare. Standing up, he started pacing up and down the room, the movement keeping him sane and functioning. “He’s gonna kill me when I go back,” Remus muttered more to himself than anything else.

“You are not going back there,” Sirius said in a hard voice, standing up as well. Remus stopped his pacing to huff a humorless laugh, staring at his feet.

“It’s not like I have a choice, Sirius. At some point, I’m gonna have to-”

“No. I don’t give a flying fuck about what you think you have to do. You are not going back to that house. And if you think Effie or any of us will let you anywhere near that man, then you are sorely mistaken. You’ll be staying here with us.”

Remus knew Mrs Potter cared for him and treated him just like she did Sirius, but there was no way he could impose on her like that. He didn’t feel like arguing about that now though, so he just stayed quiet. Both of them stood there, breathing heavily, Sirius with clenched fists and not taking his eyes off of him, while Remus wrung his hands nervously, still gazing at his feet.

It was a few long minutes before Sirius broke the silence again.

“Is it true?”

Remus knew instantly what Sirius was talking about, but he thought if he pretended not to hear, perhaps Sirius would drop it. He bit his lip, completely missing the way Sirius looked down at his mouth before going back up.

“What that prick said...is it true?” Sirius pressed.

When he didn’t answer again, the sound of steps filled the room before long fingers slipped under Remus’ chin with a care that he had never received before, lifting his head up until gold eyes were locked with silver ones.

Sirius searched his eyes, looking into his very soul, waiting for Remus to say something. Remus knew there was no point avoiding it, Sirius knew him far too well, and it was nearly impossible for Remus to deny him anything when he was staring at him with such an expectant look. He was so stupid when it came to Sirius.

“Yes,” Remus finally replied in a tiny whisper. Sirius’ fingers tensed the slightest bit, which threw Remus into a fit of nervous verbiage. Swallowing over the lump in his throat, he kept talking fast, “I understand if you feel uncomfortable or d-disgusted with me. Take your time, I...I just-”

“Remus, just shut up,” the tenderness in Sirius’ voice contrasted so much with his harsh words, that it left Remus feeling confused. With the rough fingertips still burning under his chin, Remus tilted his head to the side, trying to understand, but he couldn’t figure out the emotion swimming behind the molten silver of Sirius’ eyes.

Sirius hesitated, but then his hand slowly brushed Remus’ face, going up his jaw, until it was cupping his cheek.

“For a smart guy, you can be pretty clueless, you know?” Sirius said with a half smile.

“I...I’m not sure I follow,” Remus said with slightly wide eyes.

Sirius laughed quietly, shaking his head with fondness. He bent down to press their foreheads together, and Remus felt his breath hitch in his throat.

“How could I ever feel disgusted by you? Are you really that blind?”

Remus pulled away an inch with raised eyebrows. He was a bit dense regarding people’s feelings towards him, he knew that much as he always assumed the worst, but the way Sirius was acting...

“You...Are you saying that..?” Remus left the question unfinished; he wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Sirius was giving him a small, shy smile. Sirius Black, shy. Remus thought for sure that he must have been imagining things.

Brushing one of Remus’ curls behind his ear, Sirius struggled for a bit to find the words.

“Re, for the longest time I’ve been holding back. I...I wanted to tell you how I felt, but you were going through so much with your Mum, I just felt like I would be taking advantage when you weren’t doing so great. I didn’t want to add any more pressure into your life, I wanted to wait for the perfect time.”

He laughed bitterly.

“I know I’m not doing much better right now, but I just...I can’t let you sit there thinking that I would hate you for this Re, I...I fucking love you.”

Remus was speechless. All this time, he’d thought he was just a fool for falling for Sirius, for allowing himself to be so close to him when it hurt knowing he could never have him. Remus glanced down when he felt cool fingers lacing themselves with his, and then up to the boy in front of him.

There was so much love pouring out of Sirius that Remus thought he must have definitely been blind not to notice before.

Sirius stared into his eyes, silently asking a question. Remus nodded minutely, and not even a second later he felt soft lips brushing against his, slow and deep.

Remus' hands tangled into soft black locks, shivering at the idea that he was finally allowed to do it after spending so long wishing for it. Sirius’ own set to explore Remus’ body with a hunger that spoke volumes of Sirius’ restraint, caressing Remus back before settling on his hips.

When they broke apart, their breathing agitated, Remus hid his face in the crook of Sirius’ neck, dizzy with the feelings rushing through his body.

“Thank you for coming for me,” he mumbled against Sirius’ skin, eliciting a shiver from the other boy.

Sirius smiled softly, dropping kisses to Remus’ hair and temple. He slid his hands to the small of his back, bringing Remus closer to his chest.

“I will always find you, Moons.”

[mindfulvenus]

Haunted House_Tooru Oikawa

(Halloween Special)

After all, it was his idea to go.

Halloween, at least at Aoba Johsai, was pretty fun. Most students were allowed to dress up for the occasion, this meaning that the school dress code was sort of lifted for the event. There were students dressed as ghosts, zombies, and superheroes.

Not to mention, there was always a little Halloween festival that went on. The first, second, and third years would all collaborate on what they wanted to do for the festival. The first years made a haunted house out of their classes and the hallways. The second years had food stands with waiters dressed up as skeletons and ghosts. And the third years just decorated their halls and did a costume contest.

As usual Oikawa Tooru won because all the girls from the first years to the third years adored him. But the thing that annoyed you the most was the fact that he’s been dressing up as a vampire for the past three years now but some how still wins.

Tooru does change up the look though. This year he had a black cape that had a red fabric inside it and of course he wore a suite and tie. To even add more detail to his costume he wore fangs in his mouth.

“Damn, this is the third time... what’s so cool about a cliche vampire anyways!” Iwaizumi exclaimed annoyed to you as he was dressed up as a werewolf with a red collar and a headband with perked up dog ears.

To be completely honest most of the third years dressed up a little more plain compared to the other grades but they stayed with the good old original costumes. You were dressed up in a traditional schoolgirl outfit with the blue sailor collar with a red bowtie at the collar and a platted skirt. Your hair was flattened by a straightener you used to completely your cliche look.

“Yup!! All the girls loved my flawless outfit but don’t be whining Iwa-chan just because you lost~!” Tooru teased sticking his tongue out at Iwaizumi and putting his hands up to his ears mocking him.

“Oh y/n-chan you look as cute as ever though!! But why the bland choice of an outfit? You could’ve dressed up as a witch with a broom!” He swooned and mumbled incoherently imagining the idea of you with a witch costume on.

“Well I could say the same for you Mr. “I’m going to be a vampire for the third time in a row... and I didn’t feel like dressing as a witch anyways. It’s a lot of work y’know.” You said matter-of-factly and a little irked my his teasing remarks.

“Ok, ok I’ll stop teasing. You look good though... and I just thought I’d let you know!” Tooru complemented you with a faltering smile with fangs that appeared to be just a little bashful.

You, Tooru, and Iwaizumi soon went over to see the second year’s food stands. It was full of tons of delectable foods and sweets such as halloween themed sushi and bento boxes.

Sweets mostly consisted of candy apples and cup cakes that were dressed in halloween decor. You took a candy apple and so did Tooru, while Iwaizumi took a cupcake. You all scarfed down the sweets with smiles all on your faces and headed towards the first years section of the festival.

“Well next is the first years, right?” You murmured with your mouth full and sticky from the candy apple.

“I’m actually a little spooked to see what their haunted house looks like if I’m being completely honest.” You said chuckling to yourself why throwing the stick away in the trash can.

“It can’t be that scary, their only first years anyways. What’s the worst that could happen!” Oikawa scoffed looking brave and courageous, as if nothing could scare him.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that one. Kindachi and Kunimi both missed practice the other day to work on the haunted house because they needed more first years for help. I also heard that almost all the first years worked on it so I mean it must be pretty damn good and scary.” Iwaizumi spoke in a tone that nonchalantly meant “don’t underestimate them”.

“Whatever Iwa-chan it’ll be fun and I’ll be there with y/n-chan to protecter her anyways.” Tooru teased Iwazumi even more.

You were a little thrown off because you never agreed to go into the haunted house let alone with Tooru. You had a gut feeling that things were gonna get a bit crazy but just shrugged that off.

“I just wanted to let you know, vampire prince, that I never agreed to go but I’ll go with you into the “haunted” house.” You stated with a little attitude while smiling at him.

He through you back a dramatic gasp with his hand laying on his chest as if you were accusing him. You guys then made it in front of the haunted house which looked pretty scary already from the exterior. There was scary music that was full of screams playing in the backgriund . There was also a fog machine that made the whole hall including the classrooms very hard to see in.

“Y’know since you guys are looking down on our lower class men you should both go in together and test your courage.” Iwaizumi said while turning around.

“I’m going to head back since the third years need some help cleaning up and lifting things so see you around and try not to do anything stupid you two. Especially you Oikawa.” He hollared a little in a harsh tone towards the end of his speech.

You and Tooru just looked at each other as sweat started to drip down both your foreheads.

“Well let’s head in then!” You exclaimed nervously as you started to walk forward into the entrance of the spooky environment. Tooru kind of stalled looking the house up and down and then swallowed thickly following you.

As you guys entered the haunted house the fog grew thicker and you could make out the skeletons and spiderwebs that decorated the floor and ceiling. You could tell Tooru was all talk the moment you guys entered. He’s been hovering over you from behind, and honestly it was starting to get quite annoying. At the same time though it was cute.

“Tooru c’mon it’s not that scary see... Nothing bad has happened yet and I highly doubt it would be that scary.” You reassured him as he look at you with slight fear and worry in his eyes.

“If I die, I’m haunting you first.” He objected while turning his head the other way as if he was scoffing.

He then look terrified but you weren’t sure for what reason. Turning around you realized that what he was looking at was a person dressed up a a zombie. They actually looked terrifying and their makeup made it really look like they were a rotting corpse.

You were super shocked to see this and let out a surprised shriek. Tooru followed and suddenly, grasped your wrist, dragged you back to the entrance. As you guys were hustling towards the entrance you could hear the zombie going after you.

The adrenaline really kicked in and as soon as Tooru spotted the light ahead he ran even faster. Out of nowhere, a skeleton pooped up and started running towards you and Tooru making Tooru run in the opposite direction away from the entrance.

By this point he had long let go of your wrist because he had been a little too shook to hold onto it. As you were still running towards the entrance trying to find your own way out. Tooru kept running towards your direction without out even thinking.

The fog was so thick which made it way too hard to see through and at this point, before you knew it Tooru had ran right into you knocking you to the floor. You and him were both a mess of heavy breathing and adrenaline rush from the fright. Tooru then came back to his senses and realized that he was right on top of you.

He then looked down at you and his cheeks were bright red and he had a very very nervous smile on. He was almost like a deer caught up in headlights, he felt frozen as he started to admire your facial features. You then came back to your senses, even more startled by the fact that Tooru was hovering right over you while looking you in the eyes. Tooru then caught himself from staring too long and got up standing right.

“Hey sorry about that here let me help you up.” He said rushing through his words as he reached his hand out for you to grab.

“Oh it’s no problem, thanks.” You replied taking his hand which lifted you right up on your feet.

“Oh, hey your bleeding on your elbow!! We should get you to the nurses office as soon as possible!” Tooru shrieked in a concerning tone as he grabbed your hand.

You then looked over to see what he was talking about and then you saw that your whole elbow was scrapped up and you were bleeding a river that ended at your wrist. This totally freaked you out and you agreed with Tooru.

“Here use my cape to cover the gash, it might lessen the blood flow if you put pressure onto it.” You then grabbed the side of his cape and firmly pressed it onto the wound. You and him then walked at a steady pace side by side to the nurses office.

As soon as you guys arrived Tooru handed you his cape as he went searching through the cabinets looking for gauze. You sat on the infirmary bed watching him frantically look through every cabinet with Tooru’s cape draped over you.

He eventually found the gauze and walked over to you, sitting right next to your spot on the infirmary bed.

“Can I see the injury again so I can fix it up?” He questioned as his hands hesitantly hovered over your elbow. You removed the cape from the wounds and Tooru gently rubbed off all the dried blood on your arm and around the scrape.

He continued to disinfect it and neatly patched it up tying it up in a bow shape to make it look cute. He was very tender while he was touching you, his hands felt soft and calming.

“Hey, y/n-chan, sorry for leaving you out their on you own and for not being brave enough for you. I was support to protect you and in the end I ended up hurting you. I’m sorry...” He looked at you apologetically as he put his hand on your arm squeezing it lightly.

“Tooru... it’s all good don’t worry so much about it! It was just a little scratch anyways, nothing I can’t handle! Besides you patched me all up so thank you! You said, your words were full of thankfulness and care.

“Y/n, your so strong and you have so many other traits to you that make you an amazing person. Your positive, cute, and kind...I have got to say that I admire you a lot...” Tooru spoke a little loud than a whispered averting your eyes as his cheeks became a dainty color of pink.

“Tooru... your an amazing person as well. You persevere through the hardest times in life that you face. Not only that but you are a caring soul, you like to help other. So thank you for being there and caring!” You looked at him giving him a closed eyed smile. The weight of the bed shifted a little as you left Tooru go in for a tight embrace.

“Y/n I truly like you. And I mean “like-like” kay?”

You return the embrace as you smiled into him. The moonlight shone brightly on both of you as you were taking in each other’s prescience, wanting time to stop and forever exist in this moment.

“I “like-like” you too, Tooru Oikawa.” You lightly chuckled as you held onto Tooru for the rest of the night.

———————————————————————

a/n: Happy Halloween everyone! I hope that everyone had a good Halloween and that it was a little fun at least. Anyways I bring to you all who are staying indoors a Haikyuu x reader that is Halloween themed!! I didn’t really proofread so sorry is there were any mistakes!

[marveloussupernerd]

Drunk Confessions - IwaOi

Warnings: swearing, drinking, this is cute asf

Summary: Oikawa can’t have Iwaizumi, so he gets drunk off his ass to try and forget. The only problem is, Iwa comes to take care of him in his drunk state. Thank goodness Iwa likes him too

Oikawa Tooru was LONELY.

Having an insufferable crush on your best friend for the past five years made it hard to not feel lonely.

His heart felt so full when he was with Iwa, but at the same time so empty.

If he didn’t have a crush on his best friend, wow how things would be different. He had plenty of fangirls (and some fanboys even) who wanted to date him. He wouldn’t sit alone on a Friday night and scroll through his best friend’s snapchat stories and feel his heart break every time he hung out with people and Oikawa wasn’t invited.

Yeah, this sucked.

Well, his parents were away for the weekend, so what else could he do to fill the empty hole in his heart? He’d play a game: how many shots does it take until I forget his name?

He couldn’t even be positive Iwa was attracted to boys. He had never told him explicitly. Shot.

He knew everything about Oikawa, even the small things that would make him cringe. He knew how to cheer him up. Was that just a friend thing? Who would he even ask? Shot.

“Yamaguchi!” He cheered over the phone, facetiming the first year.

“I, how did you get my number?” The boy asked awkwardly.

“You and the glasses kid are childhood friends, right?”

The boy smiled. “We’re boyfriends now actually!”

“Fuck my life.” He hung up. Shot.

The radio was playing Ed Sheeran. Dammit. Although he’d never admit it, Iwa listened to Ed Sheeran a lot, usually while he studied as background music. Perfect by Ed Sheeran. That would be their song.

Shot.

Everything was Iwaizumi Hajime. The blanket he always stole when he came over. The blue cup he used and dubbed his own. The dent in the wall from the one time he tripped and fell down the stairs. The spiderweb cracks in the back window from when he threw a baseball a little too hard when they were kids—his parents never got to fixing it. Dammit.

Shot after shot for everything that reminded him of Iwa. But it only made it worse. He didn’t fill up the spot in his mind that Iwa occupied with the alcohol, but instead filled up his mind until Iwa occupied it all.

His fingers were tapping on his crush’s contact before he even comprehended what he was doing.

“Oi, Oikawa, what is it? It’s almost midnight.” It was dark wherever Iwa was, his face hardly lit up by the screen.

“Iwa-chan,” Oikawa slurred excitedly. “Just wanted to seee what was up!”

There was silence for a brief moment.

“Did you drink?” His eyes were serious.

“Mhmmmm.”

He sighed, shaking his head. “Your parents are out of town, aren’t they?”

“Mhmmmmmm. Don’t worry about me Iwa, I’ll be okay! Just wanted to see your handsome face before bed,” he chuckled. The words brought a ping of pain to his heart, but he ignored it, pouring himself another drink with one hand.

“Hey! Cut it out. I’ll be over in a few. No more drinks til then, alright?”

“Okayyy. You know I can’t say no to you.”

“You know what? I’m staying on the phone with you til I get there,” Iwa decided. He held the phone in his hand and it shook slightly as he walked, his face being illuminated with streetlights every few seconds.

“Awwww so protective of me.”

“Fuck off,” he grumbled. Then a pause. “How much did you drink tonight?”

“Seven? Eight? I dunno.”

“You shouldn’t be drinking alone. It’s not healthy or safe,” he scolded Oikawa gently.

Oikawa frowned. “I know. But you seemed to be having fun on your story so I didn’t wanna bother you.”

“Idiot. You’re never bothering me,” he said under his breath.

“Awww, Iwa Chan, you’re so sweet! You’re making me blush.” Oikawa moved haphazardously to the couch, collapsing onto it.

“You’re ridiculous. I’ll be there in just one minute, alright?”

“Okay. The door’s-“

Why was the line silent? Iwa clutched his phone tighter. Did he lose service? No, the picture was still there. Did this idiot really pass out? God. He should have been there for him. If anything happened to Oikawa he’d- well, he’d be pissed with himself. He ended the call and sprinted to his friend’s house.

He pushed the front door open urgently, shutting it behind him in one quick motion, and made his way to the living room. “Shittykawa!” He called, plopping on the couch next to the sleeping man.

“Oi,” he flicked Oikawa’s forehead, causing the boy to jump awake, startled. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Iwa!” Tooru exclaimed, pulling the man in tight for a hug, keeping him locked in his grip. “Missed youu.”

“Missed you too. But you can’t freak me out like that. I thought you died or something.”

“I knew you had a soft spot for me!” Oikawa exclaimed, poking his chest playfully.

“I always have,” Iwa smiled, shaking his head. “But I’m only telling you this because you won’t remember in the morning.”

He forced his way out of Oikawa’s grip and started cleaning up the spilled alcohol on the table. “Wanna tell me why you were drinking to make such a mess?”

“The guy I like doesn’t like me back,” Oikawa pouted.

Iwaizumi paused, then quickly picked up where he left off. “I didn’t realize you were gay.”

“Duhhh. I don’t just swoon over your muscles for nothing.”

“Sh-shut up,” Iwa stuttered, feeling a blush creep onto his cheeks. “Sorry about the guy though. I thought everyone liked you.”

“I know. I’m as shocked as you are. Hey! You know the kid with the glasses from Karasano? He’s been friends with their pinch server since they were kids. They’re dating now. What bullshit.”

Iwaizumi had no clue who Oikawa was talking about but nodded. “Uh huh, bullshit.”

“It sucks to see someone living out the life you want to live,” Oikawa groaned, flopping dramatically on the couch.

“You like glasses guy?” Iwaizumi felt himself stiffen.

Oikawa started cackling. Not the response he was expecting. “No.”

“Pinch server? When did you even hang out with these Karasano guys to know them well enough to form a crush?” He shouldn’t have felt so offended by Oikawa liking someone, but Oikawa never told Iwaizumi his feelings. Girls would always swoon over him, but he didn’t seem to care. He never told Iwa about his crushes, and so hearing it now made him even more uncomfortable.

He had always hoped that Oikawa never talked about crushes because he liked him back.

“Hey, you’re not even listening to me!” Oikawa pouted. Iwaizumi turned his attention to him and smiled, putting his hands up defensively.

“I don’t know them well enough to form a crush.” Oikawa repeated himself.

“Okay? Who do you like then?” Was it probably bad to be working this information out of a drunk Oikawa? Yes. But he needed to know so he could move on.

“Iwa-Chan.” His voice was gravely serious.

“Yes?”

Oikawa shook his head. “No, like that’s who I like. You won’t tell him, right?”

“Are you stupid? I’m literally Iwa-Chan.” He almost cringed at calling himself by the nickname, but he knew it was the best way to get the information to Oikawa’s brain.

Oikawa looked sick very suddenly, his face paling. He stood up and stumbled to the bathroom, Iwaizumi following quickly behind him, getting there just in time to see the intoxicated man throwing up. He rubbed his back gently, trying to get his stomach to calm down. They sat like this for a few minutes until Oikawa felt okay enough to break the silence.

“Iwa,” he grumbled. “Please forget I said that. Literally pretend I said nothing. Please. I don’t want to lose you as my friend because something so stupid slipped out.” His eyes were teary as he looked up at his friend, face still pale as a sheet and sweaty.

“No, I-“

“Please!” He called out, tears falling now. “Please. Please try and forget. I can’t wake up tomorrow morning and have no memory of tonight and all of a sudden you’re gone and-“

“Tooru,” Iwaizumi said firmly, hands reaching to cup his face to make him look up at him. “You never were good at letting me get a word out.” He joked, a small smile on his face. He used his thumb to gently wipe away the tears that fall down Oikawa’s cheeks. “I love you too, Oikawa.”

“You don’t have to say that ‘cause you feel bad.”

Iwaizumi leaned forward and kissed his forehead. “I’m not. I’m in love with you.”

Oikawa tackled him into a tight hug, almost knocking them both over. He then began to pepper kisses all over his crush’s face, while Iwa tried to pull him off. “Stop!” He laughed. “You just threw up. I don’t want kisses right now.”

“Booooo. You’re no fun.”

“I’ll kiss you tomorrow, ‘Kay?” Iwa said softly, brushing some of Oikawa’s hair out of his face. “We need to get you to bed.”

“Stairs plus me is not gonna work.” Oikawa said matter-of-factly

Iwaizumi grumbled. He was still as stubborn and annoying as ever when he was drunk. He stood up and knelt down, back to Oikawa. “Fine, get on, but only this once.”

“Awwww, is my Iwa Chan giving me a piggyback ride?”

“Better than you falling up the stairs.”

Oikawa leapt onto his back, causing Iwa to sway a little bit at first, but he quickly steadied himself and began slowly walking towards Oikawa’s bedroom.

“Wow, look at those muscles!” Oikawa swooned, poking around at Iwaizumi’s biceps. “What a man.”

“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Iwa chuckled, letting the man poke and prod up his body.

Finally he got to Oikawa’s bed, letting him go to collapse onto the piles of pillows and blankets. Oikawa squealed as he landed, letting out a few giggles.

“You’re too adorable,” Iwa commented, looking at the man in front of him fondly. He then also collapsed on the bed, joining Oikawa. They had shared a bed plenty of times before, but this time was different. They weren’t just best friends. Maybe they were boyfriends? Iwaizumi would ask in the morning. His heart was racing thinking about it.

Oikawa tore him out of his thoughts, readjusting and flipping face first onto Iwaizumi, head nestled in his neck.

“You comfy?” Iwaizumi teased.

“Asshole. Yes I am.”

“Okay. Good night Oikawa.” He wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him closer.

“Your heart is racing. Is that because of me?”

“Shut up and go to bed before I knock you out myself.”

Oikawa’s brain felt like putty in the morning. What the hell had even gone on last night? Bad decisions, that was what. He kept his eyes shut tightly, not ready to wake up to the blinding sun quite yet, and reached his hand around to feel for water on the nightstand.

And then he accidentally smacked someone in the face.

“Asshole.” They grumbled. That was... definitely Iwa Chan’s voice. And... did he have his arms wrapped around Oikawa? What happened last night?

He forced his eyes open to figure out what position exactly he had put himself in, and was shocked to see himself buried into Iwaizumi’s chest, laying on top of him, with the man’s arms wrapped around him.

His heart told him to stay cuddled up in his embrace, but his brain told him WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING.

“You’re up,” Iwa grumbled sleepily. “Feeling okay?”

“What in the fuck did I miss?”

Iwaizumi chuckled. “You got really drunk last night.”

“Well, duh.”

“And uh...” Iwaizumi couldn’t meet Oikawa’s eyes as he spoke.

“Uh what?”

“You might have drunkenly confessed to me.”

“Oh, fuck.” Oikawa hid his face, unable to meet his friend’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Tooru. I’m in love with you too.”

Oikawa sat up quickly, shocked, straddling the man beneath him now. “You what!?” His hand rushed to his head to hold it, the quick motion causing his head to pound.

“I love you too.”

“For real?”

Iwaizumi sat up, face only inches away from Oikawa’s. His eyes softened, and he reached out to touch Oikawa’s cheek gently. “For real,” he whispered.

Oikawa’s eyes were trained on Iwaizumi’s lips. He was going to kiss him. He was going to kiss his best friend, his crush, the man who he loved and who loved him back.

“Oh, hell no.” Iwa held his face back, palm of his hand squishing against the boy’s cheek, refusing to let him get closer. “You threw up last night and never brushed your teeth.”

“Okay!” Oikawa stumbled out of bed, almost falling flat on his face as his head spun from getting up. “Mhm, going to go brush my teeth. Wait for me okay?”

“I’m waiting. Make sure you get your tongue too!”

“I love you Iwa Chan!” He called. Iwaizumi could hear the faucet running.

“I love you too.”

[bansheeoftheforest]

*kisses you* /p

As per my headcanon, Jekyll owns a garden. And I like to imagine that he experiments a bit on some of the plants, ranging from "more colors" "Stonger smell" To "This snapdragon could swallow you whole, but would rather eat raspberries out of your hand like some weird horse"

Jekyll should also own a horse, at the very least every stable in London should know him by name since hes probably too busy to actually take care of a horse 😔. I was about to ask what name Jekyll would give a horse but then I realized he would probably name it after some alchemy person

*slams hands on table* ZOMBIE HORSE. Or ohhhh! Skeleton horse >:3. What would a chuch grim horse look like? Like shadowmere from Skyrim? In fact if shadowmere wasn't made from Sithis Juice™ I'd bet he's a church grim. Theres a stong chance she still could be actually. Shadowmere my beloved <3 hey have you ever played Oblivion? The Khajiits look like the cheeto mascot and being a vampire sucks. But its v fun and I love destroying everyone with that one powerful staff

I think Jekyll would like spiders. They're v cute ::::)

Speaking of, moths are grand and I adore them. I think Luna moths and Comet moths should know each other

Do you like mushrooms/fungi? Do you have a favorite, I adore all mushrooms but I think the Barbie Pagoda, the "Toadstool" Mushroom, and whatever the heck the one that zombifies bugs is called, are my favorites

Favorite video game 🔫

Oh wow I'm really going to try to reply to all of this on my phone Huh.

Anyways! I love that HC and I accept it wholeheartedly, I feel like it would make a lot of sense for him to have a lot of plants bc so many of them can be used in alchemy. Plants are so lovely and I'd like to say that I have a lot but the plants my family have are all like 15 years old and also half dead BC all of us forgot to take care of them. I spontaneously bought a Bride orchid a few months back. It's very dead </3 I'd like to imagine that he has a sun/plantroom in his house and that he would have a lot in the society too, if not for the fact that he doesn't really have time to tend to them, but my version of Jekyll definitely has a lot of plants<3

He definitely should own a horse and that horse is a Clydesdale named Mayhem /j but I like the thought of him having horses. Specifically either those really ragged horses that only farmers use BC they have no better BC he thinks they deserve a good life (and very much will be offended if anyone dares to try to suggest he buys a new horse) or he would have those really, really fancy white purebreeds. Either way he would definitely be a horse girl and one of those that would be obsessed with buying accessories for them. All his horses, tended to by stable boys, hired or otherwise, would all be spoiled rotten <3 (new drinking game; take a shot everytime I use a <3)

I remember watching videos about commanding in skeleton and zombie horses into minecraft and i thought it was THE SHIT when I was a kid! Skeleton horses my beloved!! Henry can have a zombie horse, as a treat. You know Henry with Shadowmare would be absolutely terrifying and so cool... Although I will probably spoil your fun by saying that, at least in folklore, a church grim (of any race or species) would probably just be a black-coloured, ragged looking animal with a slightly ghostly... Vibe to it? Nothing completely demonic about them, they just have That Wrong Vibe and look like a stray/neglected most of the time, I think that’s v fun <3

I’m a fake Elder scrolls fan bc I have only played Skyrim, sadly. I have watched some videos about Oblivion but it was mostly “trying to beat Oblivion with only X” videos and stuff, but I HAVE Seen the khajiits from there and just... Im glad that I’m used to how they look in Skyrim XD

Jekyll would be someone to like spiders and his lab would probably be covered in spiderwebs, not bc he doesn’t clean but bc he would feel bad destroying the beautiful webs. Maybe he would try to genetically enhance a spider to be the size of a puppy? I feel like spiders would be much cuter if they were larger, at least the thicc hairy ones. The spinely ones still freaks me out tho XD

Moths are so fucking beautiful but they are dumb as bricks. A few months ago a moth accidentally came into my room, scared the shit out of me, and then got stuck in the blinds and went back and forth with the length of one of the... Blades of the blinds? Strips? Sounding like a fucking jet engine until my sister caught it and put it outside again. The most common moths I have seen are emperor moths and I think blood vein moths? Very cute when they don’t scare the shit out of me <3

I’m not an expert on them but I think they are cool, as long as I don’t have to touch them most of the time-- fungi, at least, actual edible mushrooms are fine tho. I remember when I was in like... First grade, my class went on a field trip with a lady who owned a funky bus that she used to teach kids about nature and shit, and she taught us a lot about mushrooms and the parts of mushrooms, I think she talked about toadstolls a lot and did the classic “don’t eat the red mushrooms, you will die” speech, and she also gave us speeches about how everything in Australia (which is fun, since we are on the other side of the world) is out to kill you. It was fun <3 ANyways I’m a basic bitch, so I’m going to say that chanterelles and champignon are my favourite mushrooms bc those are some of the only ones I know and they taste v good. I think we are entering chanterelle season here so I’m going to try to convince my parents to buy some to make a stew out off <3<3

It will come as no surprise when I say Skyrim, right? Skyrim and Assassin’s creed Origins/Syndicate. I absolutely love Skyrim and I love AC, I forced my sister to buy Origins bc it was the first AC game I got interested in bc I was in the middle of an Ancient Egypt phase and I fell in love with the franchise. I bought Syndicate premium edition (with all DLCs and extras) for 75sek/7$ bc it was on sale bc it’s such an old game and I absolutely love it, I have been so tempted to make a Syndicate / TGS crossover bc it is basically in the same time period and I would very much like Henry to be the frye twins secret poison supplier. My bff bought me Odyssey when it was on sale for my birthday but I haven’t gotten around to play it yet bc I’m still not finished with Syndicate, and my sister bought me Valhalla for my birthday last year but our computer is a potato and can’t run it. I ruined my Skyrim with too many mods and I haven’t had time to play a lot of games lately, sadly </3

[mellie1409]

Alohomora (ft. knj) - 5.2k

Badum badum badum

That's the only thing y/n can hear in the deep silence the dinning hall is submerged in. Her own heartbeat marking the rhythm of a frantic and desperate song. This is the moment she had so long been waiting for: the moment she would be chosen a family for her to join. A family that would take care of her and love her as one of their own and protect her at all costs for this one short year she would be spending here, at the most magical and hopeful place on planet Earth, at Hogwarts.

Y/n straigtens her back as the hat is lowered onto her head. A sudden smell to old papyrus surrounding her and becoming more intense as the weight of the hat increases on her head. And when suddenly professor McGonagall lets go of the hat, it unexpectedly starts moving.

'I see' he says turning to the left and then to the right, scanning in the process the room and all his different choices for y/n. 'Hmmm, a golden heart disguised because of fear, high expectations for the future... Interesting, well, I'll put you in a house, where they will push you to reach your full potential, to prepare you for your final decision. But before revealing it, do mark my words: the choice has already been made in your heart, by some achieved courage you'll reach your final destination.'

Those words resonate into the dining hall as if someone had fired a gun, a race gun that gives the queue for everyone to start talking at once. It was normal for the hat to mumble about someone's abilities, but to make a prophecy? That only happens when someone's life was about to take a huge turn. Which secrets is she hiding? Did it have anything to do with her far away origin?

Only when director Dumbledore stands up, does the hall fall back into a heavy, thick silence. 'Sorting hat, please do continue as we can't spend this whole starry night in here.' He speaks with his elderly voice aiming for the enchanted roof that was replicating a night sky full of stars.

'Well then! ' the hat grumbles 'Her house will be...

...Slytherin! '

This time, instead of starting applauding like they would do with every other selected kid, a thick silence covers the room like a mantle. Not even a fly can be heard as she slowly approches Slytherin's table and takes a seat next to the people of her age, the 3rd year.

She sits next to a blackhaired boy, although his hair seems to change color every few minutes by some kind of spell Y/n hasn't heard of before in her life.

As the ceremony continues, the coloured hair guy turns to her with a cheeky smile and whispers: 'Hi! I'm Jimin, nice to meet you, I'll be your guide to this castle and if you want to know how to get to a place, just let me know. I know every corridor and stair in this school' he says while winking his eye.

Y/n doesn't know how to respond after the strange encounter with the sorting hat but she just smiles back awkwardly at him as she turns around to continue watching the sorting ceremony.

┈

The day after, they start their classes. And y/n's first class is also her favourite subject: defense against the dark arts. After breakfast at the dining hall, she takes realizes she has forgotten her pencil case at her room, so she quickly leaves her classmates behind to go grab it.

What she hadn't thought about was the fact that she did not know the school. So as soon as she tries to look for the class she is supposed to be in, she finds herself lost and wandering around corridors and rooms she doesn't know.

At a certain point she distinguishes someone at the other side of the gardens. He looks like Jimin with the colour changing hair, but when she calls his name, the figure ignores it and disappears through a different door.

It takes her 15 more minutes to find her class and by the time she comes in running, the class has already begun. As she notices Snape is writing on the board with his back to the class, she silently tries to get to her sit. That is until a voice makes her stop on her tracks: 'To what do we own the honour of you joining us in this apparently not so interesting class today, Miss y/l/n?

Freak, she thinks to herself. She chooses to remain silent as she knows it's the best choice with a teacher such as Severus Snape.

'Well I do hope that cleaning the potions room this afternoon during your free time will be more interesting than this class for you. And now please tell me, what si the first rule in defense against the dark arts? '

And like this the class starts for y/n with a punishment for being late. What a great start of the school year...

As the clock hits 5 o'clock, y/n leaves Slytherin's common room towards the potions room were Severus is waiting for her. Although when she comes in, she can't find him anywhere. She does find a howler from him there. She opens it carefully: 'MISS Y/N! As you can see, this room hasn't been cleaned since last year's trolls disaster so I expect from you to clean it and sort out all the potions alphabetically. Enjoy! ' and the howler desintegrates in a moment.

Y/n takes a deep breath, says some encouraging words to herself and starts working. She starts by taking away all the dead spiderwebs, no way she is touching the ones that are still being used as she is scared of almost all living creatures on earth.

She then continues by sorting out all the potions' ingredients she can find on the shelves: fluxweed, knottgrass, lacewig flies...

┈

Namjoon is running around the castle like a mad man. He needs to win this game, he wasn't going to be paying next round of butter beers! So he looks frantically for it, not caring about who he was passing by or about the fact that his red and golden tie was half way undone and his shirt untugged.

As he reaches the next door he opens it and asks:' has anyone seen a... '

He doesn't gets to finish the sentence as he sees a strange scenery in front of him. A cute, although he wont admit it, and beautiful girl is sitting on the second to highest shelf of the potions' room holding on for dear life.

'... toad maybe? ' she answers silently looking terrified at the ground. As Namjoon looks down he realizes indeed, there is a toad lying on the floor, staring at the girl like it was wondering what about him was so terrifying.

'Well, well, of it isn't the prophecy girl behaving like a little squirrel right in front of me I wouldn't believe it! ' he says with a ironic voice.

'Ugh great,very witty mister toad, as if I hadn't heard that already. And you are...? '

'Namjoon, Kim Namjoon to be exact. Gryffindor member and 5th year student in Hogwarts. ' he answers quickly. 'Now I recommend you clean this up quickly as I hear your beloved professor Snape walking down this corridor. Good luck miss squirrel!! ' and like that he leaves running with the toad he had just picked up.

┈

A creacking door, thats all it takes y/n to wake up at midnight. 'Who on earth is walking around at this hour?!' y/n thinks to herself. Without hesitating she stands up from her bed trying not to wake up her roommates in the process. She changes her clothes to more appropriate ones and takes off trying to find the source of the sound.

As she spots someone leaving the common room, she decides this is the right time for an adventure. So she takes her shoes from the rack and puts them on as quickly as the leather laces allow it.

As she slowly looks into the corridor she spots someone turning right into some ascending stairs. She follows him and carefully looks at the stairs while staying behind the wall. It's then that she can distinguish who it was thanks to the moon lighting. She holds in a gasp as she recognizes the color changing hair of Jimin, and what surprises her even more is that, there are two color changing heads! How is that possible?

She decides to find out what is going on and follows them around the castle for what seems like a pretty long time. Until they stop at the kitchen entrance to say some silent words, a password, y/n can't reach to hear. As they get into the kitchen and the door closes back up, y/n approaches the entrance and tries to listen what is going on behind the door.

'... sure no one was following you? ' a voice asks.

'Of course! Who do you think we are?! ' Jimin answers offended.

'Well, I think you guys senses must have been toned down because of the cold, because there is someone listening right behind that door! ' another voice speaks up.

The door opens so suddenly, y/n doesn't even have the chance to turn around to run away.

As she grows accustomed to the lighting of someone's candle, she starts counting the figures standing right in front of her: one, two, three... seven! There are seven of them!

'Miss Squirrel! 'Namjoon exclaims 'what are you doing here? '

'You know her?! ' someone asks.

'What are YOU doing here?! Shouldn't you guys be sleeping? ' she asks angrily after having surpassed her surprise mode.

Namjoon snorts: 'well excuse me if I didn't want to be sleeping like a lame third year student. '

'Hey!' Jimin reacts 'who are you calling... '

'Can we please focus?! We are gonna get caught if we stay here longer! ' a mint haired boy answers. Y/n recognizes him from the common room, a slytherin 5th year student. 'Miss squirrel, or whatever your name is, go back to bed, you shouldn't be here... '

'Eh excuse me, my name is y/n and no way I'm letting you guys go, in fact I think we should all go to bed or we could visit Snape if you prefer that. ' she retorts sarcastically.

It's at that moment they all hear some faint steps coming in their direction. As they all start panicking they jump into action. Someone y/n can't distinguish, grabs her wrist and sturts tugging into the opposite direction of the sound, y/n so scared she doesn't even resist.

They guide her through a small door and a dark corridor lighted only by the candle the first person is carrying. As the adrenaline rises in her blood, y/n doesn't know if what she is hearing are foot steps or her own heart beating in her ears.

The corridor seems endless, but after a left turn, a right one and a left turn again, they find themselves in front of a staircase with a door on top.

A black haired boy that seems to be the oldest instructs them to put the hoods of their capes on and then proceeds to open the door.

The cold air of the night hits y/n like a truck, the air being punched out of her lungs. It's then that she realizes how tired her legs are and how short of breath she is after running what felt like kilometers. Right! They were running because they were being followed!

She turns around with panic written all over her face only to find Namjoon looking strangely at her. God? Had she always been so cute? 'Don't worry miss squirrel, we are safe here. ' he simply comments.

He smoothly passes by her and leaves her jaw dropped behind as they all start walking towards the back entrance of a pub: the Leaky Cauldron.

She collects herself and follows them hesitantly: it was written in the school rules that they weren't allowed to be there after midnight... Also, teachers used to go there to drink! The were gonna get caught!

As if he had read her mind, the other colour haired boy turned to her: ' Don't worry, J-Hope knows the owner and he owns us a favor. We can go through the back entrance and ask for some butter beer to take away. Do you like butter beer? ' he asks casually.

'Yeah...'

'Great! I'm Taehyung by the way, Jimin's younger twin brother, although most people doubt it because he's a Slytherin and I'm a Hufflepuff, but I promise you we were born out of the same womb. In fact... ' he continues talking casually while y/n thoughts go a thousand miles per hour.

So they were twins! That explains a lot! They look alike but at the same time, they are so different. Taehyung is talkative and innocent while Jimin was known for being a little... dirty minded.

' I was always the one to eat second cause...' Y/n snaps back to reality as Taehyung continues narrating his whole infancy to her while they wait for J-Hope to come back out of the pub.

'... and so he was selected for Slytherin while I went to Hufflepuff. A pretty big family drama, but we're okay now so... '

'Omg Taehyung, leave the poor girl alone she is gonna regret not staying with McGonagall in the castle' Jimin says while putting some butter beers down on the wooden table.

They are know in a tree house in the middle of the woods. Sitting around a round table on the floor, very oriental, in y/n's opinion.

As they all acomodate, y/n looks around at the small room the house consists of. It has glass windows to keep the cold outside and even a small stove they use to keep the room warm!

As the last of the boys sit down, the oldest turns to face y/n and starts explaining: ' Hi, I'm Jin and I'm the oldest member of this friend group: the Bangtan boys. We are seven wizards from Korea who moved here to England to study at the best school in the world: Hogwarts. Let me introduce you to the members. The mint haired guy is Yoongi. He is a Slytherin, as you already know. Then it's J-Hope, a 4th year Hufflepuff. And then Namjoon. I'm guessing you already know each other... '

'Yeah... ' you answer shily without looking at him from fear of the redness of your checks getting caught.

'Great! Then there's the twins' he continues' Jimin and Taehyung. And last but not least we got Jungkook, our youngest member. He is a second year student, who is a ravenclaw. And me myself, I'm a Gryffindor. Why don't you introduce yourself to the rest? '

'Well... Hi, I'm y/n. I'm a third year Slytherin student and I'm also from abroad, from Bangladesh to be exact' she tells them while looking at everyone.

'WELL! Cheers to international friends my loves *hiccup* Jungkook screams while lifting his nearly empty pint of butterbeer.

As everyone starts laughing, they all lift their own pints and exclaim: 'Cheers! '

It is then that y/n feels alive again, with a wonderful, new friend group and many stories to tell. Now it is her time to enjoy, and no one was going to ruin it...

┈

Namjoon has been walking around the castle trying to find some new adventures to live for an hour, when he suddely hears a noise. An unusual noise for him to say the least, always used to the laughter that filled his common room, hearing this now made his heart upset. He starts to follow the sound and when he turns into a dead corner he finds himself in front of a sad scenery.

Sitting on the floor is y/n. With her knees between her arms and her nose buried in them. Crying like there was no tomorrow, sounding so desperate Namjoon has to take a deep breath not to instictively give her the tightest hug of her life.

He slowly aproaches her and he speaks out loud, trying to hold back the arrogant tone he, last time, used with her: 'Y/n, I don't know what's up and you don't have to tell me if you don't want, but please let me help you. '

'There is really nothing you can do, Namjoon. But thank you though, I appreciate it. ' she says while sniffing her nose.

A bit amazed, he wonders what it can be that it's making her so upset. From what he knows and has heard, she is a good student and, although many may not see it, she has a big heart for others. Right then, an idea starts taking form in his mind.

'Then take my hand, I wanna show you something. ' He speaks in a soft voice as he opens his left hand for y/n. Indecisively, she accepts it, slowly standing up from the cold, hard floor.

As he leads her through corridors and moving stairs, the cold air of the night seems to help y/n settle down. Instead of thinking about her problems, she relies on his hands to guide her and closes her eyes so the only thing she can process is the touch of his gentle, soft hands tugging at her so she keeps up the pace.

After what feels seconds but at the same time hours, she suddenly feels him stop. As he turns around, he realizes her eyes have been closed all the time. Slowly, not wanting to scare her, he whispers: 'y/n, you can look now. '

As she opens her eyes, it takes her some time to get her eyes used to the darkness in this corridor. Nevertheless, as they grow accustomed to the little lighting, she starts to distinguish an old, wooden door carved beautifully but terrifying at the same time. So intrinsic that focussing on the details seems to absorb every last bit of energy in her.

She snaps back to reality when she hears Namjoon speak again. 'Y/n, I've brought you here because I wanted to show you two things... ' he pauses. 'There is a spell that can open all doors, all except for ones. Only you can open the doors to your heart and only by following your heart, you'll reach the right path for you. '

She opens her mouth to speak, words dancing on the tip of her tongue. 'I don't think you'll understand what my situation is. ' she finally answers.

' That's why I brought you here' he replies. 'You are the only one that can open your heart, but in this room there is a window to it. Something that will help you realize what it is that you desire. '

After saying this he gives her a soft, reassuring smile. He stands behind her and instructs her to lift up her magic wand. As she does, he whispers a spell in y/n's ear. So soft only she could understand. A word that sends electric sparks through y/n's spine and as she shivers, she pronounces it out loud with a trembling voice: 'alohomora'.

Like a resort that comes loose, the door opens to the inside revealing a circular room. Marvelled by it, y/n slowly, but steadily walks in. Taking a deep breath she savours the smell of wood and as she looks around she realizes the room is empty except for one covered object.

As she reaches the object, Namjoon has surpassed her and reaches out to take the silk sheet off the tall item. And as if magic, an old, majestuous mirror stands in front of her.

'This is the Mirror of Erised' Namjoon speaks ' it shows us the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. Go ahead and take a look y/n. This is your window, go look inside. ' he encourages her.

Y/n sets a step back to have a full vision on the image the mirror is displaying. But the only thing she sees is a scared girl clutching her wand for dear life. Until... Until the image starts to change.

She grows older, into her late twenties. Her outfit changes color, it becomes a long, white dress... A wedding dress! And she is looking at someone, she can't distinguish who, his face is so... common, it could be anyone. But she looks in love, she is smiling with her whole body.

Suddenly the image looks at her. As y/n slowly starts to walk to her older self, so does the image and as she elevates her hand to touch the mirror, the image disappears and she is left looking back at her young self.

This whole time Namjoon has been looking at her reactions, trying to read y/n as if she was one more of his books. He couldn't see what she was seeing in the mirror's reflection. But when she suddenly touched the mirror, he knew something was wrong. Like she had cut herself glass she takes her hand back. With wild eyes she gives him one last look. And just like that, she starts running.

Aimlessly she runs and runs around the school hoping to loose Namjoon and finding some quiet place for herself. When her lungs start to feel like they are on fire and her heart threatens to jump out of her chest, she stops on her tracks. She can recognize where she is: the stables where the pegasi sleep. As she approaches an empty stable, she lies on the ground and closes her eyes hoping for the morning to never come as she needs to think about her most difficult life choice.

┈

The next few weeks, y/n spends the time wandering around the castle. She manages to stay hidden from Namjoon, while his words of the last time still stay with her like a splinter in her heart.

She also wants to stay away from the Mirror's room. She is afraid of what she had seen as she knows, one day, she would have to face the truth and fight for her dreams. This all, if she chooses for her own destiny of course, and that is a choice she didn't want to make just yet. But as the end of the school year neared and so her return to her hometown, she is aware her time is coming.

Days pass by and y/n doesn't change her technique: she hides from Namjoon everytime she hears his voice and only talks to the other Bangtan boys when she truly needs some help with her classes.

But one day, after a long class of defense against the dark arts, she finds herself wandering around the castle yet again. Although this time, she chooses a different path, she doesn't knows why, but she feels a driving force that lures her into a very specific place of the castle. It isn't until she is standing in front of that same wooden door that she realizes: the Mirror of Erised is right behind there.

She takes her wand and murmurs that one spell she hadn't forgotten. 'Alohomora' and like that, the door opened once again, to her biggest fear but also her biggest desire.

She walks in and silently closes the door behind her. And she stands again in front of the mirror, but this time, she was facing it alone. As the image starts to change, she distinguishes the same scenario she had once seen: herself in her late twenties, happily getting married to an unknown man.

But after some short time, the image changes. This time she has a few white hairs. She is still with that man, but this time, they are surrounded by three children. A kid, a toddler and a baby she is holding.

She gasps, and takes a step forward and, just like the first time, when she goes to touch the mirror, the image disappears.

She is left alone with her heartbeat and the words that Namjoon once told her that still resonate in her head: You are the only one that can open your heart, but in this room there is a window to it.

Is this what she truly desires? She isn't sure, but one thing is for sure: she would be coming back to look into that mirror.

Like this, the room of the Mirror of Erised continues appearing in front of her as she wanders around the school. Day after day she spends hours watching her happy reflection have a life full of laughter. Never touching the mirror as she is afraid that the image will disappear and so her dreams.

But slowly, the images start to change. That man starts to get charasteristic face features. At first, she doesn't recognize him, but then she slowly starts seeing similarities between the image and someone she knows. Of course she doesn't want to believe it and as time passes by and the image gets clearer she decides the mirror is wrong.

Still, she continues visiting the room. She spends her free hours there, in the sweet silence that accompanies that beautiful life movie she was able to watch and live through the mirror. And even accepts that, maybe it was him the one she desires.

It is that, that she is thinking one day when she suddenly hears a noise behind her. She turns around and watches the door open to let a person in. She can't distinguish him in the darkness at first, but when he comes into the light the mirror reflects, she recognizes the dorky, gryffindor boy that had brought her here for the first time: Kim Namjoon.

He looks surprised at her, not having expected her to be here as he thought he had scared her off the last time he had seen her. She looks pale and tired, as if she hadn't slept a single minute for the last two weeks. And so thin her chubby cute cheeks had disappeared and the only thing remaining where her cheekbones under her beautiful chocolate-coloured eyes.

Y/n quickly recovers and turns around to go back into her reflection, but as she frantically looks into the mirror she realizes it's gone for good. She doesn't know if it's the image having disappeared or if it's her not being alone for the first time in some long weeks that makes her break down.

Right as she let's goes and falls into the ground, Namjoon catches her and while holding her tight he sits them both on the floor. As he sushes her and rocks her from side to side he just mumbles things to try to calm her, focussing on his tone and not on what he is saying.

They spend hours like this, holding onto each other for dear life, Namjoon whispering sweet nothings into her ears as she cries her heart out onto his chest. And it is his soft whispering that starts to calm y/n down. As she sniffs and looks back up at him, he can see the sadness gathered in the pearls at the corner of her eyes.

It break his heart and his voice trembles when he speaks loud for the first time since he walked into the room: ' y/n, I'm here for you, I want to help you. But I can't do so unless you tell me what it is that it is making you go under like this. Talk to me, tell me what it is that you see on the mirror. '

She is unsure, she knows no one can help her. Her destiny has been decided for her a long time ago. But she has been carrying this secret for way too long. The weight of it making her heart age by the minute. And so she turns around, still in Namjoon's embrace, to look at her reflection once again.

With a shaky voice she starts to talk: 'I see... I can see my life. I am happy, very happy and all of my dreams are becoming true. I marry a man of my choice that I love and have kids with him. We grow old and spend the rest of our lives together. '

As she speaks, Namjoon heart starts to break, he shouldn't have expected nothing, but yet here he was, that's what he was here for. To see if that was what he desired. His hopes started leaving him with every word she pronounced until...

'And the man I'm with... He is the most gorgeous man I've ever seen. With bronzed cheeks and deep, black, dragon eyes... ' she turns around, and as she looks into those same eyes, she speaks up: 'it's you Namjoon, it's you that I can see myself living my life with. You and only you make me happy. I've come to realize that the last few days, but... '

But she can't finish her phrase as suddenly two soft, plump lips are crushing into her, into a sweet but desperate kiss. She is startled, her eyes open as she never would have expected such a response from him. But as he sweetly starts moving his pillow-like lips against her, her eyes fall close and she starts to follow his rhythm. Soft at the beginning, but frantic by the end, trying to connect to each other not only as much as possible at physical levels, but also emotionally. Their tongues dancing to an eccentric song that only them can hear. But as the oxigen starts to desappear and their lungs start to fill with fire they break their kiss to lean onto each other's foreheads.

Breathing heavily, Namjoon speaks up: 'y/n, I love you. I've loved you since the first day I met you, I just didn't know until now. I came here because I was confused by what I was feeling and wanted to look into the mirror. But now I know, I don't need no mirror to tell me you are the most important thing in my life.'

Still short of breath, y/n can't process what she is hearing. So, the life she so much desired was still a possibility? Still her family would never accept it. What was the point of trying then? Softly, with tears wielding in her eyes, she answers: 'Namjoon...oh Namjoon, God knows I love you more than my life and would do anything to be with you. But our love is an impossible love as my destiny has already been chosen for me. '

Namjoon can't believe what he is hearing. What could possibly be her destiny that she wasnt allowed to be with him? Lovingly, he looks at her: 'y/n, I don't care what kind of trouble you are in, I want to help you, but for that, you need to talk to me and tell me about it.'

'I just... Okay, I guess you need to know the truth if I have to hurt you anyways. '

Namjoon wants to speak up to this comment, but he doesn't want to scare her off, so he silently stares at her as she sits back and starts her story.

[suttttton]

groundhog day?! 👀👀👀 i love time loops alsdghkagsdh blease

Groundhog Day is about our dear Elias getting stuck in a time loop between the day before the Unknowing (when he’s briefing everyone) and (more or less) the apocalypse. It starts after he dies in the original apocalypse, so he initially thinks it’s his second chance to create an apocalypse where That Doesn’t Happen. Then when he gets sent back again soon after the second apocalypse starts he thinks maybe the Eye wants Jon to fully embrace Beholding?? Then when that still doesn’t work he’s like??? Okay maybe the Eye cares about the rest of these people for some reason and I need to get them all to become full-fledged avatars??? And that goes on for. A while. Just Elias trying every way he can think of to start the apocalypse and continually failing.

Eventually, his desire for power dissolves beneath the weight of his desire to not be caught in this time loop anymore. He decides that the way to break the time loop is to simply not start the apocalypse. Easy. He abandons everyone at the Institute without a word of explanation and goes into “retirement”. And then eight months later Jon just??? Appears in his basement??? In real bad shape, covered in spiderwebs, desperately needing a statement. So Elias finds one for him, and wouldn’t you know it?? The Webpocalypse starts.

Luckily, the time loop resets again. Now Elias knows that he can’t just leave Jon to his own devices, he needs to steer him away from getting marked. But the thing is. Why would late s3 Jon ever, in a million years, listen to Elias’ advice? So Jon just keeps throwing himself in front of danger and Elias has to keep running after him, having the worst time trying to stop the apocalypse and completely regretting all of his previous choices. It’s great.

Also slowly, slowly, slowly, Elias falls deeply and inescapably in love with Jon. This fic has a lot of really fun, borderline crack scenes (and a lot of really terrible scenes where Elias brutally murders people we like), but I’m really, seriously hoping that i can pull off this complicated one-sided romance thing. What do you do when the person you love is a living testament to your sins? (Answer: You give up everything for them)

This answer is already really long but I’m going to put an excerpt under the cut anyway because I just wrote this scene a few nights ago, and I like it. It’s from one of the final loops, in which Martin gets stuck in the Coffin, and Elias goes in after him to keep Jon safe from the Buried mark. When they get back, Elias hands Martin off to Jon and immediately leaves in order to avoid admitting to Jon and himself that he is doing Really Bad, actually:

Elias drives himself home.

He unlocks his front door.

He stares at the mirror in the entryway for a long time, thinking.

He decides that cleaning up should be his first priority.

He realizes with a bit of manic humor that, although this is his second time in the Buried, it’s his first time washing the dirt off. But it doesn’t matter. He’s seen it so many times by now. He knows, more or less, what to expect from the process.

His entire body aches, but he refuses to fill his tub with that black sludge. Instead of sinking into a warm bath, he stands, letting the water rush over him, turned up as hot as he can stand it. He doesn’t look to see what splatters against the shower floor.

He scrubs at his skin, hard, but the washrag comes away black. There’s no perceivable difference to the level of dirt on his skin. He keeps scrubbing, to no avail.

Eventually, he starts to feel light-headed. Passing out in the shower sounds like a bad idea, so he shuts the water off. Pats himself dry with a towel he’s sure is now ruined. He goes to the kitchen, pours himself a glass of water. Between sips, he holds it to his forehead, enjoying the coolness. He wonders if he’s feverish, or if it’s just the leftover heat from the shower.

He drains the glass, then pours another and takes it with him to the guest bathroom. He starts to fill the tub with hot water, knowing now that his legs won’t support him for long enough to get the dirt fully cleaned off.

He steps in and, as expected, the water turns black almost immediately. He drains the tub, fills it again. And again.

In past, watching Jon do this so many times, it’s taken as many as 15 tries to get the water to finally clear.

Elias passes 15 and keeps going. Twenty. Thirty. He’s absolutely exhausted, and the water is still utterly black, opaque. A nightmare.

Elias swallows, wonders if this is a problem specific to this loop. He checks in on Martin and Jon, expecting to see them dealing with the same mess. But they’re already tucked into what looks like a very soft bed, curled around each other. Martin is clean. Safe. Loved.

Something hot and thick curls into Elias’ throat, and he swallows, trying to clear it. It doesn’t make sense. Why would the Buried release Martin, but not him?

This is all so pointless.

The thought takes him by surprise, the kind of depressive candor that he doesn’t normally allow himself.

Honestly, though, what does he think is going to happen? Okay, he saved Jon from getting marked by the Buried, at the cost of himself. The Web will just find another way to mark him. Same with the Slaughter. All he’s done is buy Jon a temporary reprieve.

The world will end. The loop will repeat. He can’t stop it.

He’s so tired.

A sob forces it way from his throat, much as he tries to suppress it. He tries to keep a lid on his composure. He can’t fall apart, he doesn’t want to fall apart.

But it’s like falling, like gravity. Now that he’s started, he can’t stop.

He tucks his head into his elbow, leaned against the side of the tub, and for the first time in longer than he can remember, Elias cries. There’s simply nothing else he can do.

Then something grabs him, beneath the black sludge he’s sat in. A hand that isn’t a hand, curling around his ankle.

Elias jerks away, out of the tub, filthy water sloshing onto the floor around him. His heart is hammering in his chest, painfully loud. He presses both hands to his mouth, biting back a scream, trying to smother the panicked hissing of his breaths.

After a few moments of nothing happening, nothing crawling out of the tub after him, Elias stands. His hands shake as he towels himself off, and he can’t bring himself to turn his back on the tub. He backs out of the room, makes his way back to the kitchen.

He pours himself another glass of water, makes himself a sandwich that he can barely force himself to eat. The adrenaline subsides, eventually, replaced by nausea and a hopeless kind of exhaustion. He drags himself to his bedroom, collapses on his bed. His blankets will all need to be replaced, and that’s such a trivial concern it almost makes him laugh.

He sleeps. The nightmares shouldn’t be able to touch him, but they do anyway.

[nalledimessi]

Decorating & pumpkin craving

Pairing: Hope, reader and a little bit of Elijah.

Word count: 1577

Warnings: No warnings

Drabbles topics: Decoration, bones, bats, spiderwebs, scarecrow, cauldron bubbles, poison apples and pumpkin craving.

Author’s notes: I know I need to use just one word per day but because everything else enter on the decoration I decide to include them on this one. Yes, I know. I think I´m obsessed with Elijah now, but who isn't?. All the errors are mine. English isn't my native language. Hope you enjoy it. I don't know the gif, credits to the owner.

You have just arrived from the grocery store and you where about to take out the bags from your car trunk when Elijah’s black Mercedes Benz park in your driveway.

 -Hey, I’m not saying that I don’t like to see you but what are you doing here?- you ask him once he was next to you.

 He lend and kiss you softly -It’s always lovely to see you too [Y/N]- he step away and look to his car -I was wonder if you could lend me a hand- to then set your sight back to you -I just hope not to infringe what we have until now-

 -You know I would help you with anything I can- you declare to him opening the trunk of your car to take the bags to your home.

 He took all the bags from the trunk in one single hand and close the trunk with the other one -I would like to know if Hope can stay with you for the day?-

Since you have start dating Elijah you where aware that no one outside the family was allowed to take care of the 6 year old, that means, you have spend time with her and Elijah but never alone. This isn’t only a big step for you and Elijah but also means the rest of the Mikaelson family because they trust you enough to take care of Hope.

 -[Y/N]- he call you -I would understand if you declined- he said caressing your hand, worry in his eyes.

 -Don’t worry- you smile -we are fine- you reassure him -now, bring Hope inside- you kiss his cheek and take a few bags from his hand and walk to your home.

 You leave the door open for them while you went to the kitchen and arrange the groceries, when you finish to place the items in the first bag, Elijah and Hope were with you.

 -Where do you want this?- he ask you.

 -Can you leave them on the pantry, please?- you question him.

 -Sure- he said making his way to it.

 -Are you hungry, Hope?- you ask , she nod at your question -do you want me to make you anything in particular?-

 -Can I have I have Reese’s puff cereal?- she ask.

 -Sure, I just got a new box for you- you said to her cheerfully when Elijah come from the pantry and given you the box of cereal. -Are you staying for brunch?-

 -I’m afraid I won’t, I need to go back and deal with something- he said taking the milk out of the fridge and give it to Hope while you give her a plate and a spoon.

 -Want to watch the cartoon on the living room?- she nod and after serve a portion of cereal and milk on his plate she leave the kitchen.

 Elijah hug you once she was out of sight and rest his head on your shoulder -Are you sure you would be fine?-

 -I’m sure- you turn around to face him -I was planning on decorating the house and that included pumpkin craving, I couldn’t ask for better help than hers-

 -All right- he give you a kiss -I know when I’m not needed- he respond teasing you.

 -You tend to distract me- you answer playfully.

 -It’s mutual- he kiss you again -I should go- he said between kisses.

-Yeah, you should- you pull away from him and pat his chest -before we start something we can’t finish-

 He growl before giving you a peck -I will try to be back before dinner, I will call if anything change- then he took your hand in his and both went to the living room. 

 -Bye Uncle Elijah- Hope reply.

 -Don’t cause any trouble- he order to her going to her and kiss her on the forehead.

 -Come on Elijah, I will walk you to the door- you took his hand and guide him to the door, once you were outside you closed the door behind you –we will be fine, we won’t go anywhere and what we have is more than fine- you reassure him.

 He pull you to him from your waist –You´re remarkable- he sad before kissing you.

 -Thank you for remarking on it- you answer once you where apart –now go before I change my mind and get you inside with us- you give him a small peck.

 He just nod and walk in direction of his car, you went inside before he take off.

 You sit next to Hope on the living room –I was planning on decorating the house for Halloween with bones, bats, spiderwebs, scarecrow, a cauldron bubble with poison apples and then do some pumpkin craving, do you want to help me?-

 -Yes!- she answer excited.

 -Alright- you said to her, standing up from the couch –finish your cereal and I would bring everything from the garage, I will be right back- you explain to her.

 Once you were back with a big box to the living room and dropped over the coffee table, Hope have already finish and even leave the plate on the sink. Hope start to take everything outside the box and start babbling where to add each thing.

 You chuckle –Calm down- you ask her placing your hand on her shoulder –one thing at a time, choose one- you mention to her.

 She look between all the Halloween decorations and took the a bag full of bones –This ones-

 -Alright, where do you want to put them?- you question her.

 She thinks for a minute –All the way from the driveway until the stair-

 -Good choice, let’s go- you open the entrance door and turn to Hope –what are you waiting for? - making her run to place the bones where she want, you just watch her.

 You pass most of the afternoon decorating the house with Hope help.

 You hang up the last of the bats. -What do you think? - You ask Hope after you get down from the metal stair to reach the ceiling on the porch.

 -It’s awesome!- she chirp making you laugh.

 -We finish just in time for snack time- you declared to her –do you want cookies and milk?- you ask her once both where inside.

 -Yes!-  running to the kitchen and taking a sit on the counter.

 Once you were on the kitchen you took a few out of the cookie jar placing it in front of her to then take out the milk from the fridge and two glasses along.

 -Have you thought what you want to crave in your pumpkin?- you question her taking a sit next to her.

 -I was thinking I want to made a bat for uncle Elijah and a ghost for me- she ask hopefully.

 -I think your uncle would fine that very hilarious, but we can do it- you smile to her.

 After you have finish your snack, you explain Hope how to clean the pumpkin and then how to craving it. You deposit inside each pumpkin a candle and place them outside next to the door, when you realized was almost dinner time when your phone start to ring inside the house.

 -That should be your uncle- you said to Hope, watching her sit back in the couch and turn the tv on -Hello- you answer after a few rings from your phone.

 -It’s me. It seems I won’t be able to joint you at dinner but I would send whatever my ladies want- Elijah explain.

 -You don’t have to do it, we can do something to dine, right Hope?- you ask her knowing she have hear Elijah.

 -Yes- she answer without looking at you.

 -I promised both of you dinner and at least I would send it to you- He said serious.

 -Al right, wait a minute- you turn to Hope –Hope?-

 -Pizza- she propose.

 -I will send it right away- he rush to answer –anything you desire?-

 -You, here with us- you respond biting your lip.

 -I promised I would arrived as soon as I can- he vow to you. –Brother!- you hear Klaus calling him. –I need to leave you, my dear.-

 -Be careful- you ask to him.

 -I will- you hear him answer before the call end.

 The pizza arrived not later of that, you decide to eat dinner on the living room while you watch a movie, Hope snuggle next to you, you realized  Hope have fallen sleep until the movie end. You turn the tv off, verified that every door and window was closed and then pick her up from the couch to take her to your bedroom.

 Elijah stops at the sight of your now decorating house. All over the way from the driveway to the entrance was decorated with bones scattered, a scarecrow coming out of a cauldron bubble and what it looks like poison apples on the middle of the yard, in the entrance several spiderwebs where place and over the roof several bats hang on the ceiling and a bat pumpkin craving with his name under it, one ghost with Hope’s name and a Frankenstein with your name, making him smile.

 He vamp speed until your bedroom where he found you sleeping with Hope snuggle next to you, one of your arms protectively over her. He admired the sight in front of him for a few seconds before he took his dress jacket and shoes to cuddle behind you.

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 2)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit (more to be added)

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman (more to be added)

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1

It had always been a quaint little house that his little brother and the boy’s father had lived in. It was a little thing with two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen that faded into the living room/dining room situated in a little neighborhood with a small park and a medium sized grocery store. At one point in his life, Janus had wondered why his brother preferred to live in such a small space rather than in their mother’s much grander house that edged on a mansion, but as he’d grown, he’d come to understand.

Mom was a bitch.

And even more of one than he’d thought apparently. Really? The father of your child? The father of your 15-year-old child? He knew there wasn’t exactly any love between the two of them, but he’d hoped there was at least enough respect not to murder the man.

God. Virgil was going to be crushed when he found out.

He shook off the thought. There was no time for emotions. First thing first. He needed to get Virgil out of here before mother deigned to remember his existence. Then he’d deal with the emotional fallout.

“Virgil!” he called into the house. There was no answer.

Janus frowned. It’s fine. He was probably just listening to his music like the angsty teenager he was, right? Except… Janus was pretty good at picking up when something was amiss given his current career and something… seemed… amiss, though he couldn’t place what.

That in mind, he paused to listen. He couldn’t hear any sounds in the house, so he started to walk forward a bit. He ducked his head into the kitchen and froze. The window above the dinning room table had been broken, leaving glass shattered across the floor. Fuck.

Had mom remembered Virgil’s existence. He hadn’t thought she’d outright send someone to kill the boy, but what if she had?

Janus took a breath and then quickly set about investigating the rest of the house. Other than the broken window, most of the house looked normal until he got to the only room in the house with the lights still on: Virgil’s room. The purple and black spiderweb comforter usually on his bed had been flung to the floor across the room and both of his lamps had been knocked over along with some decorations. Also, there was some radio like device on the floor and a bottle of pepper spray which, judging by the smell, had recently been used.

There was also still drying blood on the carpet, though thankfully not enough to indicate there’d been a murder. Janus swallowed. Okay.

Maybe mom had sent someone after him, but that didn’t mean he was dead. He smoothed his face out even though no one was there to see it and took out his cell phone. He found his mother’s contact in his phone and pushed the call button.

“Yes?” she answered on the third ring, her tone already bordering on annoyed.

“Good evening mother,” Janus spoke smoothly even though he could feel the blood rushing in his ears. “I heard about the tragic,” he made a point to subtly color his tone with sarcasm, something he’d learned from her, “death of Remington Gates about half an hour ago.”

He could hear the single eyebrow raise even from over the phone. “Yes,” she replied, “and?”

“Well I was just wondering if I needed to clean out my room at the house or if there would be another solution for the man’s son?”

“Ah yes, well,” she said, “that has been a… frustration.”

“Frustration?” Janus asked. Curious tone. Not scared. Curious, not scared.

“I had sent one of my men over to pick him up and bring him to me shortly after Mr. Gates’ death. However, he apparently resisted going with a stranger.”

Janus shivered at the thought of what one of his mother’s people would do to a kid who fought him when he was trying to follow her orders, but at least he (probably) wasn’t dead. “So, he’s been taken by your man and is on his way to your house now?”

“No.”

“No?” and as much as he tried, just a bit of panic seeped into his tone. He wasn’t sure if she noticed.

“No,” she confirmed, with an angry tsk. “Honestly, I know he’s my blood, but one would think Kinsley could handle a 15-year-old child.”

“Wait… then, where is he?”

“That is the million-dollar question,” she scoffed, “The last I knew Kinsley was whining about washing pepper spray out of his eyes before he could track him down.”

“So… he’s on the run?” Janus asked. On one hand, good for Virgil. On the other hand… where the fuck was his baby brother?

“Unfortunately, yes.” The way she said ‘unfortunately’ made it clear that she was far more unhappy about her orders not being fulfilled immediately than worried about the fact that her teenage son was missing.

“Perhaps,” Janus hedged, keeping his voice level. “You should send someone more competent. I would be willing to step in if you believe it’s necessary. Not to mention, he knows me.”

“You’re volunteering?” she asked.

“If it would be of help to you,” he said smoothly.

“Very well,” mother said. “I’ll send you Kinsley’s information. You can work with him.”

Shit. “Must I?” he asked in a bored tone. “It sounds as though he is quite incompetent.” He waited with his breath held.

“At least meet up with him to get the information he has but then you can send him back or shoot him for all I care. He’s proven himself to be useless.”

“I will do as you instruct,” Janus replied, relieved.

“I know you will,” and then she hung up.

Janus collapsed on Virgil’s bed when he was sure the call was actually disconnected with a groan to wait for the information on Kinsley to come through. While he waited, he pulled out his second phone. He considered it, knee bouncing up and down and then opened the text app.

‘Virgil is missing. Help?’ he texted and sent his location before stuffing it into his pocket again.

A few second later, details about Kinsley popped up including his current location using the tracker on his phone. He was in the park down the street.

Janus didn’t know if he was following Virgil or guessing but getting him out of the way would be a good starting point either way.

He pushed himself to his feet and after a moment’s thought, grabbed the stuffed spider Remy had given Virgil when he was eight off the boy’s bed. He’d… probably want that wherever he ended up.

He shoved it into the inner pocket of his coat and then left the little quaint house behind to head to the park down the road.

He glanced at his phone and brought up a picture of Kinsley. In theory he could just text the man and ask where he was as he’d likely been informed someone else was coming to find him, but it would be much more satisfying to surprise bash his face in.

He needn’t have bothered looking at the picture though as Kinsley was fairly easy to spot seeing as he was the only grown man crying with his head in a water fountain.

Janus could help but let his lips curl in amusement. Serves the bastard right. He walked straight up to him and grabbed him by the back of the hair. He squealed as he was pulled back and tried to fight back blindly.

“I’m your replacement,” Janus said coolly, and the man froze at his tone. “Where’s the kid?”

“Fuck. I don’t know man. He ran off. I’ve been trying to check the park, but my eyes,” he whined.

“Oh, boo-hoo,” Janus growled. “Maybe you shouldn’t have let a 15-year old pepper spray you.”

“He was prepared somehow, alright. Already knew his daddy was dead and was ready to fight.” How the hell had he… didn’t matter right now.

“Tell me exactly what happened,” Janus demanded, yanking on his hair harder.

He made a pained sound. “I broke through the window and found the kid in the bedroom. He refused to go with me and said screw his mom because she killed his dad. I smacked him good to get him to cooperate, but that just seemed to piss the little bastard off because the next thing I knew he was pepper spraying me.”

“And then?” Janus asked calmly.

“Then he ran. I don’t know where. I’ve been trying to find him. Assumed he ran to the park. Kids like parks.”

“I see,” Janus said and then slammed his face into the edge of the water fountain. “You know,” he informed the unconscious body. “I was given the option to shoot you.”

“Before you do that,” a voice said casually. There was the unmistakable sound of a gun’s safety clicking off. “I’d like to have a word.”

Janus turned slowly to look in the direction of the voice and, at first, thought he recognized the man, but then realized he didn’t have a stupid mustache and also the man he was thinking of probably would have (maybe) had enough sense not to point a gun a Janus when his brother was missing.)

Great. It seemed the other side also sent people looking for his brother. He’d thank Logan, but actually, screw Logan. He eyed the man pointing a gun at him idly. “Do you even know how to use that thing?” he scoffed. The moment indignation flashed across his face, Janus ducked down and charged at him, twisting his arm behind his back and kicking the gun away when it fell.

Yet, as soon as the element of surprise was gone, it became clear that Janus was physically outmatched as they grappled with each other for an edge. He was brought to the ground but rolled out of the way and kicked him in the stomach. Yet that didn’t deter him. Instead he kept coming at Janus, grabbing his arm and twisting it. Janus clocked him in the face and drew blood.

“Fucker!” the man spat but didn’t retreat at all. They continued to wrestle on the ground a bit when they were interrupted by another voice.

“Ooo! A fight! I wanna join!” Then another body slammed into both of them knocking the wind out of Janus as Remus threw Roman off of him only to pin him himself. “Hi JJ!”

“Remus, get off of me!” Janus said, shoving.

Remus did not seem inclined to oblige. “Hey, Ro.”

“You two know each other?” Roman asked, wiping off the blood coming from the side of his mouth.

“We’re double secret partners,” Remus replied with a wink.

“Oh…” Roman said seeming to get what he was implying.

“Great,” Janus said. “Now will you get the fuck off of me?”

“I don’t know,” Remus said in a sing-song tone.

“Remus,” Janus said lowly.

Remus blinked at the sudden darkness of his tone and then his eyes widened as he remembered what was happening. He was off him in seconds. “Right,” Remus said. “Jay, this is Roman. Ro, this is Janus. His brother’s missing.”

Want to read more? Click below!

AO3 Part 3 My Master Post

[atths--twice]

Faith’s Second Birthday

It's Halloween again! 🎃 Time to celebrate the birthday of a certain little girl. Two years... where has the time gone? ❤️

This story... I have had some of it planned for months and some presented themselves to me, demanding to be added. I thought it was finished, but no, it needed more. I hope you all enjoy it. I do so love writing these happy family stories. God... they so deserve to be happy.

October 30, 2020

Scully looked out the kitchen window as she rinsed the blueberries for Faith’s dinner and smiled as she watched Mulder and Faith at the edge of the lake. Faith was wearing her fuzzy green Halloween costume, the alien-faced hood of it lying down her back, as she had asked to wear a black headband with a sparkly black bat attached to it, which Mulder was only happy to oblige.

Faith laughed as Mulder knelt in front of her, blowing bubbles as she tried to catch them, a few of them landing in her hair. She laughed harder when one popped on her nose and she covered it with her hand. Mulder kissed her cheek with a smile, before he blew more bubbles.

Drying her hands, Scully left the blueberries draining in a colander in the sink. She glanced at the timer on her phone and smiled as she slipped it into her pocket. Twenty five minutes until dinner would be ready. Perfect.

She grabbed the baggie of the ends of bread off the counter and stepped onto the porch. Double checking that Bella was sleeping inside, she closed the door and slipped on her shoes, walking down the stairs to join Faith and Mulder.

“Mama!” Faith called, looking at her and smiling. “Dada. Buhbos. Pitee.” Scully picked her up and kissed her, breathing in her nearly intoxicating scent.

“Yes, love, they are pretty. Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes. Should we maybe take a little walk? See if we can find the ducks?” Faith’s eyes lit up and she nodded.

“Ducks. Yes, Mama. Down.” Scully laughed, setting her down as Mulder stood up with a grin.

“Well, let’s go then, my girl. Let’s go find those ducks.” He put the cap on the small bottle of bubbles and placed it into the pocket of his black fleece vest. Smiling, he took the baggie of bread from Scully and put it into his other pocket.

They each took a hold of one of Faith’s hands and began to walk toward the small log near the house where they had found a small family of ducks. Mulder glanced at Scully and winked as they walked over the stones and the sand, and she smiled as she took a deep breath of fresh air.

It had been a great idea to come to the lake. After Mulder’s birthday, which had gone wrong from nearly the moment they woke up, a change had been exactly what they had needed…

_________

A little over two weeks ago

Faith woke up in a grumpy mood on the morning of Mulder’s birthday. She was very clingy, wanting only Scully to hold her, with no desire to see Mulder. He did not take offense to it, knowing she would feel better once she had woken up a bit more and had eaten her breakfast.

Scully was making breakfast while Mulder was outside with Bella. As the pancakes and bacon were cooking, Faith had picked up Grey’s water bowl and spilled it all over the floor, unbeknownst to Scully, who nearly slipped, catching herself against the counter and banging her knee into the cupboard. Tears sprang into her eyes as she heard the cat food hitting the linoleum floor and falling all around her.

“Uh oh,” Faith said, squatting down and beginning to spread the food across the floor.

“Don’t touch it!” Scully yelled, louder than she had intended, her knee throbbing. Faith looked up at her, her eyes widening and then filling with tears as her bottom lip stuck out. She began to cry, her head dropping down and Scully limped over to her, ignoring the excrutiating pain in her knee.

“I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry. Come here.” She bent at the waist, stifling a moan as she picked her up and snuggled her close. Faith buried her face in her neck, crying hard as Scully held her tightly, trying not to cry herself as she took a deep breath.

“Hey,” Mulder called, coming in through the door with Bella right behind him. He stopped in his tracks as he locked eyes with Scully, his eyebrows raising. At that same moment, they both realized the food on the stove was burning. He walked toward it, but Scully stopped him.

“There’s water all over the floor. Faith spilled Grey’s water and I slipped in it. She also dumped out her food and I yelled at her not to play in it. I didn’t mean to make her cry, but…” She shook her head and closed her eyes, hating that she had caused her to cry. Her knee aching, she kissed Faith’s head, shushing her softly.

“Well… Bella is making quick work of the cat food on the floor. I’ll be careful as I walk to the stove.” He walked past them as Scully opened her eyes and limped a few steps to the table and sat down in a chair. Rubbing Faith’s back, she closed her eyes again, the smell of burning food beginning to fill the room.

“There, at least one thing is taken care of, well by me anyway. Bella’s gotten all the food.” Scully opened her eyes and looked at him as he moved the pans of food to a different burner. The air around him was smoky as he turned on the vent above the stove, hoping to clear it away.

He looked over at her and smiled softly, walking over and squatting down in front of them, putting his hand on Faith’s back, rubbing gently along with Scully.

“Did you fall or just slip?”

“Slipped into the cabinet and hit my knee pretty hard.” She straightened her leg with a wince and he nodded as Faith sniffled and clung to her shirt.

As he pulled up the leg of her pajama bottoms, she winced again as she looked over Faith‘s back and saw the damage that had been done, already imagining the bruise she would have in a few days. Mulder let out a low whistle and looked up at her.

“Let me wipe up the floor and then I’ll get the first aid kit. You bashed it pretty good. It’s bleeding, but not too terribly. It’s gonna be a good bruise, though.” He left her pant leg as it was and stood up, grabbing the paper towels.

The floor clean and her knee bandaged, they sat on the front porch, the house airing out as they ate dry cereal; the last of the milk having been used for the now burnt pancakes. Faith was still rather clingy, laying back against Scully as she sat with her leg up, a bag of frozen peas on her knee to bring down the swelling.

She watched the hanging ghosts and witches blowing in the breeze, as she rubbed Faith’s arm. They had scaled down the decorations, neither of them really in the mood after the year they had. There were still the kid friendly ones: yard flamingos, scarecrows, cats, witches and bats. But the hay bales, pumpkins, and spiderwebs, were not added to the fray this time. The animated witch Mulder had purchased and then hated, getting scared every time she had laughed, had been placed back in the plastic tote, Faith absolutely terrified of it. Mulder had been ecstatic of course, shoving the witch away with a gleeful smile.

“So much for your birthday breakfast,” Scully said with a sigh, as Faith reached into her snack cup and took out some Cheerios, shoving them into her mouth.

“Hey, how is this not a fabulous birthday meal?” he asked, eating right out of a large box of Lucky Charms. “I’m eating only the marshmallow pieces, Scully. It’s perfect.” He shrugged with a smile, popping some into his mouth and chewing loudly. She smiled back with another sigh, shaking his head.

“Mama. Eat,” Faith said, sitting up and turning around, attempting to push some Cheerios into Scully’s mouth.

“Oh, thank you,” she said, moving them over her lips and into her mouth. Mulder chuckled as she glanced at him, chewing up the Cheerios and he held out an offering of a pink heart marshmallow. She leaned closer and he placed it into her mouth with a smile.

The phone rang inside the house and Mulder stood up to answer it, bringing the box of cereal with him. Faith leaned back, eating more Cheerios as Scully moved her knee, adjusting the bag of peas with a groan.

“Mama, owie,” Faith said, touching the bag of peas as she sat up again.

“Yes, my girl. I have an owie. But, it’s okay.” She hummed as Faith lay back against her again, closing her eyes with a small smiile.

“Okay, here she is,” Mulder said as he walked out and Scully opened her eyes, looking up at him as he handed her her cell phone. “Louise.” She took the phone and he picked Faith up from her lap, holding onto the cup of Cheerios and walking away a few steps.

"Louise? Hello,” Scully said. “How are you?”

“Dana, hello! I am doing well, how are you?” Scully laughed as she looked at the bag of peas lying on her knee.

“Well…” She laughed again and fell into conversation with Louise, hearing how her family was and telling her of their rather catastrophic morning.

“Sounds like you three could use some time away from that little house. You know the lake house is just sitting there… as always. No one has been out there in at least a month, and that was just me checking on a small tree that had fallen over. You all are welcome to borrow it again. A change of scenery might be just what you need.”

“The lake house?” Scully asked, looking up at Mulder and his eyes widened. He nodded and Scully smiled. “That sounds perfect, Louise.”

And so, they had packed up, taking Grey to stay with Denis and Violet, leaving them their house keys so they could stop by and feed the fish. Bella sat beside Faith in the backseat as they drove away, waving goodbye to Denis, Violet, and Jaf, the large wooden giraffe in their yard.

Sticking her head out of the half open window, Bella sniffed at the breeze, her tongue hanging out at intervals, as she whined happily and Faith laughed as she watched her. Scully closed her eyes as Mulder took her hand and she breathed out a contented sigh.

“This will be great,” he said and she nodded with a smile.

And it had been. Arriving on Wednesday afternoon, they had all gone to the house before Mulder went to the store for supplies and Scully opened the windows to air it out.

For two weeks, they had that change of scenery they desperately needed. Bella was in the water often, running down the dock and launching after the ball or stick Mulder had thrown for her. She would tire herself out and lay on the porch, napping as she dried off in a patch of sunlight.

The water was far too cold for them, and especially for Faith, though she did enjoy putting her feet in and splashing around, her eyes wide when the cold water hit her face.

They rented a boat and rode around the lake, Bella barking at birds flying by and Faith toddling around in a purple life jacket. They stopped and Scully showed her how to bait a hook and they ate lunch while they hoped for a nibble. Catching nothing, Scully reeled in the line and they headed back to the dock.

They went on walks, collected rocks, pinecones, leaves and anything else Faith found interesting. Mulder made another trip into town and bought some painting supplies. The next day they sat at the outdoor table on the porch and painted the rocks they had collected. Leaving them to dry, they walked down to the water and splashed along the shore, Bella chasing the ball that was thrown for her.

When the rocks were dry, Mulder placed them into his pockets and Scully picked up the backpack and the bag containing their picnic lunch. They walked to the spot, the one they had avoided since they had arrived. Mulder squeezed Scully‘s hand as the long log came into view and she drew in a deep breath as she squeezed back.

When they arrived, Mulder took the rocks from his pockets and placed them on the log, laying them in a line as he told Faith about her grandma. He laughed at some of the stories and was quieter at others. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and looked at Faith.

“Faithy, she would have loved you so much. She would have given you anything you ever wanted, made you your favorite dessert and driven all the way over just to give it to you and see the happiness on your face. Her house would have been filled with toys just waiting for your arrival.” He smiled at Faith and Scully sniffled, thinking of how much her mother would have loved having a granddaughter to spoil. Mulder looked up and she nodded, letting him know she was okay. He nodded and looked back at Faith.

“So, my love, we will leave these rocks here to remember her and let her know we are thinking of her- always.”

He handed Faith the rocks she had painted and placed his own at the base of the log, showing her what they were doing. She squatted down beside him and laid her rocks next to his own. Scully picked hers up and bent down beside Faith, rubbing her thumb over the dark blue painted rock with the white heart in the middle that she had made. Whispering “I love you,” she placed it beside Faith’s and sniffled once more. Mulder glanced at her, his eyes concerned, and she nodded again.

Stepping back, they walked to a less rocky spot and laid down a couple of blankets, the log within their view as they ate.

A couple of days later, Skinner and Rachel had driven out on Thursday afternoon to stay for a long weekend. It was a much welcome change and their weekend was filled with laughter and fun. Wine was drunk with dinner and then out on the porch once Faith had gone down for the night. Bella lay at their feet, as they laughed and shared stories, the crickets chirping in the crisp night air.

Rachel and Skinner both doted on Faith, doing whatever she liked, taking her wherever she wanted. Scully smiled at Mulder as Faith was taken from them, given cookies, or read a book she had heard five times in the past fifteen minutes.

Sunday afternoon, Scully and Skinner stood on the porch watching as Rachel, Mulder, and Faith played by the water. Faith picked up rocks and threw them in the water, laughing at the splash they created. Scully glanced at Skinner and slid her arm through his, where it was resting on the railing. He turned his head to look at her and she smiled.

“So,” she said, clearing her throat and he hummed, as though reading her mind.

“Yes?” he asked and she put her head on his shoulder with a sigh.

“She’s great, Walter. More than great.”

“I know she is,” he agreed gruffly and she laughed, raising her head and looking at him.

“So…” She raised her eyebrows and he let out a heavy sigh. “It’s been a year… and I mean… a year .”

“No shit,” he muttered and she laughed.

“Well, what I mean is, this year has been like five pressed together.” He nodded and she smiled. “If the two of you can survive the craziness of this new life, I’d say you can get through anything.” He hummed again, looking over at Rachel as she laughed. “So, I suppose my question is: what are you waiting for?” She squeezed his arm before moving her arm, and clasping her hands together.

“Hmm,” he hummed, shifting and letting out a sigh. “You sound like me asking Mulder if twenty five years was enough time to know someone.” She laughed and shook her head.

“To be fair though, we weren’t dating for twenty five years.” He snorted and looked at her, both of them laughing.

“Whatever you need to tell yourself,” he said and she chuckled softly, both of them quiet for a moment.

“It’s not that he didn’t ask me or that he didn’t want it, I just… I didn’t feel it was part of our journey until…”

“Until you did,” he said quietly and she nodded, her thumb rubbing the wedding band around her finger.

“Yeah…” she agreed and he hummed in response.

“You know, since the quarantine started in earnest, I haven’t been working as much, at least not in the office. I could have, but… I’ve lived rather simply most of my life. I didn’t travel much or spend a lot of money. I’ve made good decisions with investments and I’m comfortable. Many of the people working at the VA office needed their paycheck more than I did and so I gladly stepped aside.”

“I would expect nothing less of you,” she said, looking at him with a smile and he nodded.

“I had more time at home as a result, obviously, and I could hear Rachel speaking to her patients. We didn’t discuss her patients and we still don’t, but I couldn't help but hear her speaking to them. While I didn’t pay attention to the problems discussed, what I did hear was the kindness and also the firmness she carries. She doesn’t coddle anyone and yet she lets them feel and cry, sometimes crying with them, and more often than not, crying when the session is finished. She’s an amazing therapist, Dana.” He looked at Scully, his expression serious and she smiled.

“Yes, I know. I honestly don't know where we would have been without her help.” She looked at Mulder making funny faces at Faith and she shook her head. “We may not even have had her if it hadn’t been for Rachel’s help, helping him to face the past to secure our future.” She looked back at Skinner and he nodded with a smile.

“Most of her patients were fine with the teletherapy and Zoom calls at first, but as time went on, some of them weren't. They wanted the one-on-one meetings they were used to, but sitting in a room with someone, or many someones throughout the day, was not ideal. Or safe.”

He looked over at Rachel again, smiling as Bella ran out of the water and shook her body, spraying all of them with water, causing Rachel to gasp loudly. He laughed softly and Scully watched him, seeing the love in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he looked back at her and she grinned.

“So, anyway…” he said and she laughed as he shook his head. “She didn’t want to lose the patients, not for her , but for them, not wanting them to lose ground on their progress.” Scully smiled and sighed, glancing at Rachel as she smiled and took a rock Faith was offering her, and slipped it into her pocket. “Taking precautions, she made plans to meet with the few who wanted to meet in person. Twice a week now, she goes to her office and sits outside in the parking lot of the empty businesses surrounding hers, and talks to them face-to-face. They each bring a chair and wear masks, sitting far enough apart for it to not be a threat, but she’s there . She shows up for them in these worrisome times. “People need someone to talk to, Walter.” That’s what she told me that first day and every day since as she’s getting ready to leave, making sure she has everything she needs. She brings bottles of water, individual packs of tissues, and even prepackaged snacks for them.” He shook his head and sighed.

“Dana…” he said, turning toward her, touching her arm and taking a deep breath. “I knew that I cared for her, that I loved her, but that first day she packed up the basket of items to take… watching the care and thought she put into it… something changed. When she left, I picked up my laptop and began looking online for engagement rings.”

She clutched his arm, taking a deep breath and letting it out, as she scrunched her chin and smiled. He covered her hand with his own and grinned with a nod.

“I… that makes me so happy,” she said quietly, shaking her head. “I like her for you so much. I like her in general, but especially for you.” He patted her hand before she moved it, continuing to smile happily.

“So, I take it you found the perfect one, after telling me all that,” she said and he nodded with a grin. She hummed as they turned back to look at Rachel, Mulder and Faith. Shaking her head again, unable to stop smiling, she put her arm through his again and squeezed.

“Come on,” she said after a couple of minutes, wanting to join the others. Tugging at his arm and stepping back, she smiled as they walked down the stairs and past the pumpkins they had all carved the previous evening. They had all laughed as Faith pulled away, not wanting to touch the insides, declaring them “yucky,” though she had been intrigued by them when they were finished.

__________

“Ohhh, ducks!” Faith said, pulling Scully’s thoughts back to the present. Faith began to walk faster, but still stepping carefully over the rocks, and they smiled at each other as they watched her.

Mulder took the baggie of bread from his pocket and opened it, taking out a piece and breaking it into smaller pieces. He threw a few of them out to entice the ducks to come toward them. They started quacking softly as they got up, eating the bread as they came closer.

“Hi, ducks. Hi,” Faith said, squatting down and waiting for them. She put her hand out and Mulder placed a small piece of bread onto it. “Eat ducks. Heah.” She showed them the bread and soon they were in front of her, taking the bread from her gently. She laughed and reached out for more bread.

Scully smiled and shook her head as she watched her. Tomorrow was her second birthday… where had the time gone so fast?

“Okay, last few pieces here guys,” Mulder said. “Or girls, as most of you seem to be. Here, honey, there’s just a few more.” He handed Faith a couple more pieces and the ducks gathered around her.

Scully shook her head again, watching her, smiling at how cute she was in her costume. Now that she saw how much she loved it, she was happy they had given it to her early, despite not actually going trick-or-treating this year.

“It doesn’t matter, Scully,” Mulder had said when he excitedly showed her the costume online. “She’s our Halloween baby, she needs to get used to wearing costumes.” She had smiled and nodded as he had ordered it.

Little did he know that as he was distracted with his glee, she had bought something for them. Not a costume, but something fun for them to wear that she knew he would find humorous.

“Okay, that’s it. No more bread, ducks,” Mulder said, standing up and brushing off his hands. “Let’s say goodbye, honey. We’ll see them tomorrow or the next day. Say bye, Faithy.”

“Bye ducks. See waytah.”

“I know she’ll outgrow the way she says things, but I hope it isn’t anytime soon,” Mulder said with a grin. “I love hearing it. It’s so cute.”

He put the empty baggie into his pocket and scooped Faith up, as it was now getting dark. Scully put her arm around his waist and he put his around her shoulders, and they headed back to eat the dinner that was very nearly ready.

_______________

A few hours later, Scully sat on the floor, her arms resting on the coffee table as she looked at her phone with a sigh.

“Hey,” Mulder said softly, stepping into the room after letting Bella out one last time before they went to bed. “Whatcha doing?”

“Ohhh…” She sighed again and smiled up at him as he sat down on the couch. She leaned back and set her phone down. “I was just sending an email to everyone. The ones at Faith’s party last year I mean and I…” She shook her head with a sigh as he began to stroke her hair.

“An email about what?”

“They each sent an email earlier and I was sending out a group one; thanking them for their early birthday wishes. I told them that I wished we could all get together this year, but…” She shook her head and sighed again.

“Hmm,” he hummed and she pushed herself up to join him on the couch. He put his arm around her and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“Two years, Mulder. How did two years go by so fast? The first year seemed fast, even though there were months that seemed never ending when we were so exhausted. But…” She laughed softly and he nodded against her head.

“I know, honey,” he said quietly and she snuggled closer to him, putting an arm around his waist. “But… although we won’t be having a party this year, the reason to avoid too many people being a devastating one… these past few months have been… calling it a gift sounds wrong, but I can’t think of a better way to describe it. We’ve had to plan things differently and limit our contact with others, but… it’s been good. Hasn’t it?”

“It has, yes. But that’s not what I meant.”

“I know you didn’t.” He kissed her head and she hummed. “I’m just saying that although I know this time has been crazy and scary, we’ve been good and I’ve loved our time together. Even the moments when, though you might not say anything, your eyes were angry and annoyed.”

“As if you never looked at me with the same eyes?” she asked, squeezing his side.

“I would never,” he answered and she pulled away, turning her body to climb into his lap and straddle him, his hands landing on her thighs and her arms wrapping loosely around his neck.

“You’re such a liar,” she whispered with a smile and he shrugged with a smug grin and a raised eyebrow. She shook her head, her fingernails scratching at his neck, his breathing became faster.

“It led to some amazing sex,” he admitted breathily, his hands moving to her hips, his thumbs stroking under her shirt as her heart began to race.

“It did indeed,” she agreed, her voice low, and he groaned as she rocked into him, desire coursing through her.

“What do you say we uh… we move this somewhere a little more… uh… to the bedroom?” he asked, swallowing hard.

“By this, you mean…” she teased, rocking into him again, yelping as he stood up with a mighty push and held her tightly, walking toward the stairs.

“You know exactly what this is,” he said and she grinned, kissing him deeply as they reached the base of the stairs, halting their progress. “Woman, stop distracting me.” She laughed happily as they stumbled up the stairs and into the bedroom.

______________

Scully smiled happily, humming as she made breakfast the next morning, adding rainbow sprinkles to the birthday waffle batter. Mulder walked up behind her, grabbing her hips and pulling her close and kissing her neck. She laughed and smiled at him as he stepped to the side and she stirred in the sprinkles.

“What time will Skinner and Rachel be here?” he asked, popping a strawberry into his mouth.

“Noon. They’re bringing lunch to thank us for the weekend they spent here and… they’re picking up the cake. Rachel said Skinner picked it out.” She looked at him and he raised his eyebrows.

“Is that right? Hmm, it will be interesting to see what he’s chosen.”

“It will indeed.” She continued to stare at him and he bit his lip with a nod.

“Hmm… seems to me, those two should just get married already.” He held her gaze and she pursed her lips, trying not to smile and give anything away. “Mm-hmm.” He nodded with a smile, not inquiring any further, but obviously aware that something was up.

They ate breakfast, a rainbow polka dotted number two candle set in Faith’s waffle, glowing brightly as they sang happy birthday to her. Her eyes shone as she attempted to blow out the candle, both of them helping her in the end.

Whipped cream, strawberries, and syrup were added to her rainbow sprinkled waffle and she wiggled as she ate it, a huge smile on her face as she dipped her fingers into the whipped cream and put them in her mouth. Eggs and some sausages were added to her plate and she ate it all up, happy and smiling.

After breakfast, they gave her her birthday gifts: books, clothes, a stuffed yellow duck, and a plastic barn and farm set.

“Cow. Piggy. Sheep… baaa!” she said, taking them out and holding them tight as Scully smiled at her with a happy sigh.

Just before Skinner and Rachel were due to arrive, Scully took out the surprise she had bought for her and Mulder to wear that day. Faith was once again wearing her beloved alien costume over rainbow leggings and a black long sleeved shirt. A puffball headband with small black cat ears finished off her rather unusual costume.

She looked the part, ready for her Halloween birthday, now it was their turn.

“Mulllderrr,” she sang out and he walked in from the kitchen.

“Yeeees?” he answered and she smiled at him, her hands behind her back.

“Pick a hand,” she said and he raised his eyebrows, rubbing his hands together excitedly. He stood in front of her looking from one hand to the other, taking his time with his decision. She smiled, enjoying his excitement.

“Hmm…” he narrowed his eyes and pointed to her left hand.

“Are you sure?” she teased and he searched her face.

“Yeah. I’m sure.”

“Good choice,” she said, bringing her hand around and giving him the black T-shirt she had bought for him. He took it and unrolled it, laughing when he saw the picture on it.

It was the face of a grey alien with big black eyes, the yellow neck of a shirt showing within a blue arched frame. Underneath it, one word was written: believe.

“This is fantastic. I love it.” He took his shirt off quickly and put on the new one. Grinning, he looked at it and then at her. “Thank you.” She nodded, her right hand still behind her back.

“Close your eyes,” she said and he grinned again, doing as she asked.

Taking off her own shirt, she traded it for the one in her hand. Smoothing it down, she brushed her hair back and glanced at Faith, who was playing with her new barn. Grinning, she looked back at him.

“Okay, you can open them.” He opened his eyes and howled with laughter, causing Bella to bark excitedly as she ran over to them.

The shirt she had bought for herself was also black, but hers had a green alien in a small spaceship. Under the picture it said: “Not sure I believe.”

“Oh,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes and stepping closer to her. “This is too perfect.” He laughed again and she smiled.

“Yours is the only one that’s accurate, what with it being grey and all. Or, you know, maybe. I’m not entirely sure because…” She pointed down at her shirt and shrugged as he laughed and he shook his head.

“A perfect costume for the current state of the world we’re living in; low-key and easy.” She nodded with a happy smile as he bent to kiss her. “At least until next year when we will be wearing a matching family costume.” He kissed her quickly before she pulled back and gave him a look. He grinned with a nod and she shook her head.

Skinner and Rachel arrived a few minutes later, bringing in bags of food. They laughed at their shirts, Skinner shaking his head and rolling his eyes. As Rachel took out two pink bakery boxes from a bag, Scully saw a glint of light on her left hand. Her eyes swung to Skinner, who grinned with a nod.

Lunch was put on hold as the story of the proposal was told, Scully asking for all the details, smiling as she looked at the thin platinum band with a large diamond in the middle and smaller ones down the braided sides. It was beautiful and fit her perfectly, both in personality and in size.

Rachel’s eyes shone as she looked at Skinner and began to tell the story of how he had come to her office when she was done with her social distance therapy sessions. She had been surprised to see him, even more so when he set up a picnic meal in the back of his car, the same way he had one year ago.

They had eaten, talking about their day and as he got up to clear everything away, she stood up as well and when she turned around, he was on his knee and reaching for her hand.

Scully’s eyes filled with tears and she took a deep breath. Rachel smiled at her, the words of the proposal not said, but staying private as it should.

“Needless to say, I said yes,” she said with a laugh, holding up her hand and showing off the ring. Scully took her hand in hers, once more admiring it. Looking up at her, she smiled and shook her head.

“I’m so happy. Truly happy for you both.”

“Thank you,” Rachel said with a sniff. “It was hard to say no. I mean, he brought the fettuccine.”

“Oh, did he?” Scully said, with a laugh. “The magic fettuccine? The Maggie Scully fettuccine?”

They all laughed and a bottle of wine was opened to celebrate the happy news. Faith laughed and had the full attention of everyone as they ate and celebrated her birthday. They sang happy birthday many times during the meal as she asked to hear it, smiling happily and clapping her hands.

Lunch was cleared away and Skinner picked up one of the bakery boxes, moving it to the kitchen island. Scully looked on curiously as he used a knife to cut away the tape on the side. He glanced up at her as he lifted the lid and when she looked down at it, she gasped.

“Oh… that’s beautiful. The butterflies…” She looked up at him and he nodded as she squeezed his arm.

“I know she’s a Halloween girl, but…” He shrugged and Scully shook her head.

“No, it’s perfect.” She squeezed his arm again as she looked at the cake with a smile, remembering the weekend they had spent together.

As they had all been out for a walk one day, a small cluster of very colorful butterflies flew past and then around them. Skinner had been carrying Faith, her small legs becoming tired.

The butterflies flitted around them, coming close to Faith and then flying away, dancing on the breeze. Faith had been mesmerized by them, her eyes never leaving them.

“Buhafy’s! See? Buhafy’s. Pitee.”

They had watched them until they had flown away and they had continued on their walk.

Faith spoke about them, asking to see the pictures Rachel had taken and shown her, pointing at them and saying the colors she saw when the picture was zoomed in closer.

“It’s a perfect cake,” Scully said again, smiling at it.

It had sky blue fondant with bright rainbow colored butterflies and white clouds, also made with fondant, placed on the sides and the top. Skinner took the cake from the box and placed it on a stand that Scully found in a cupboard. Once it was set down, a rainbow, the same color as the butterflies, was added to the top with stabilizing skewers. Happy birthday, Faith! was written upon it, in white frosting with a happy font and the polka dotted number two candle from the morning was added as well.

“Before you take the cake over, you should see what Rachel picked out,” Skinner said quietly, nodding to the other box. Scully smiled as she reached for it and took off the lid.

“Oh, these are adorable,” she exclaimed as she looked at the Halloween macarons in the box.

There were orange pumpkins with and without faces, white ghosts with black eyes and pink cheeks, a couple of ghosts holding little pumpkins, and what looked like a ghost family gathered beside a pumpkin.

“I love these. They are nearly too cute to eat.”

“You’ll change your mind when you try one. We had a sample at the bakery and the filling tastes like pumpkin pie,” Skinner said and she licked her lips. He smiled and picked up the cake stand as she smiled back, following him to the table.

Catching Mulder’s eye, she glanced at the cake and he nodded slightly with a smile as the candle was lit and once again, they sang happy birthday as Faith yelled “Buhafy’s!” pointing and smiling widely.

No one blew the candle on the cake, instead Mulder took it out and held it closer to Faith, blowing on it gently as she tried to do it on her own. They all clapped and the candle was set aside.

“Dada, buhafy’s. So pitee. Puhpo buhafy’s. Geen buhafy’s.”

“Oh my girl, I love you so much. Yes, the butterflies are so pretty.” He kissed her forehead as Skinner placed a purple butterfly in front of her. She picked it up and kissed it, everyone groaning at the cuteness of it.

The cake was taken back to the island to be cut and served, Faith now showing Rachel the butterfly in her hand. Scully picked up a plate, putting some of the cookies onto it, deciding Faith should have a choice of what she wanted to eat. As she reached for a large knife to cut the cake, her cell phone rang. Seeing that it was Alan, she instead reached for the phone with a smile.

“Hello?”

“Double scotch! Hello!” he said and she chuckled.

“You’re terrible. How are you?” she asked, shaking her head and.

“Good, good. Hey, I was wondering if I could get you to do me a favor. Could you meet me outside?”

“Outside?”

“Mmhmm- you know that place that’s the opposite of inside?” he teased.

“Oh, Alan. I’m… I’m so sorry. We aren’t home right now. We’re-”

“Just… come outside, okay?” He hung up, the conversation ending abruptly and she stared at the phone in confusion, ready to call him back.

“Who was that?” Mulder asked, coming to stand beside her and grabbing a cookie from the plate.

“Alan. He said he wanted me to meet him outside and I told him we aren’t home, but I don’t think he understood. I think he may have a gift for Faith and wants to drop it off, but…” She shook her head and pressed the button to call him back when Mulder stopped her, setting her phone on the counter. She looked at him with a frown and he smiled.

“Maybe we should just do as he asked,” he said quietly, taking a bite of the cookie with a shrug, and she tilted her head.

“What are you talking about?” He stared at her and smiled again. “Mulder…

“Come on,” he said, shoving the last bit of cookie into his mouth, brushing off the crumbs, and reaching for her hand.

“What did you do?” she asked as she took it, still confused at what was happening.

“Me? Oh, I didn’t do anything,” he said, squeezing her hand as she noticed that Skinner had taken Faith from her high chair and was holding her, Rachel standing beside him.

“Did you two do something?” she asked and they both shrugged unconvincingly.

Mulder picked up another cookie, a pumpkin, and handed it to Faith. She grinned and showed it to Rachel.

“Puhkin, Raycho. See? Ohage puhkin.” Rachel grinned and nodded, looking at the pumpkin with her.

“Come on,” Mulder said again, tugging at Scully’s hand and they all walked out the back door and down the porch stairs.

Staying on the small path along the side of the house, they walked towards the front yard. Arriving there, they found no one. Not a car, or Alan standing in the street with a gift for Faith. The only cars in sight were Skinner's and their own in the driveway.

“See? He must’ve thought we were home and is now standing in front of our empty house.” She let go of Mulder’s hand and crossed her arms with a sigh as she looked around and shook her head. “I need to get my phone and call-” But then, she heard something to the right and she turned her head at the sound.

A black car was driving slowly from the direction of the cul-de-sac, brightly colored balloons tied down all over it, and music playing loudly from inside; all the windows rolled down in order for it to be heard. As they got closer, she realized it was “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder.

Behind the car was a line of people, spaced far apart, and all of them wearing masks and Halloween costumes of some sort.

Alan and Ryan led the group, dancing along with the music. Alan was wearing jeans and a black shirt that said ELECT MORE WOMEN in rainbow letters as bright as the balloons on the car. He also wore a long rainbow colored wig to which he had added a bobble headband with photos of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Ryan also wore jeans and a dark blue shirt that said Vote Your Ossoff in white letters with a white outline of the state of Georgia beside it. He was also wearing a wig, a short metallic blue bob, which was quite comical when paired with the  scruffy beard that could be seen under his mask. He also wore a bobble headband, but the bobbles on his said Biden on one and Harris on the other.

Elise, Tyler, and Raina were next, all dressed as bunnies. Elise wore a short sleeved light yellow dress with a white pinafore apron over it. She also had a tail and white rabbit ears. Tyler wore a silly black vest covered in orange carrots over a denim shirt, wire glasses, and rabbit ears. Raina was in a full bunny costume, her mask made to look like a rabbit mouth and nose. She hopped along and danced happily to the music. The baby, who had been in utero last year, was now six months old and dressed as a carrot; Elise holding her in her arms.

Louise was next, dressed all in red as the Queen of England. White pearls were around her neck, a purse on her arm, white gloves on her hands, and a large fancy hat on her head. She waved at them regally as she walked closer.

Cassidy, Sean, and Jacob were last. Jacob, the same age as Faith, was dressed as a monkey; his zip up costume similar in style to Faith‘s. He held a felt banana in his hand, chewing on the end of it as they all walked and danced.

Sean was dressed as a chef, wearing an apron and a chefs hat over his clothes. Cassidy wore a hot pink and black tulle skirt over a pair of pink leggings. She was visibly pregnant, and wearing a black shirt with Bun in the Oven written in pink sparkly letters.

As the small parade arrived in front of the house, they stopped, keeping a safe distance from one another and the group watching them, as the music was turned down. Everyone clapped and cheered, waving at Faith as she stood by Mulder and Scully, hiding a little and holding onto Scully’s leg.  

“Happy birthday, Faith!” they all called and she leaned further into Scully’s leg, watching them with interest, but also a little bit hesitant.

“What are you all doing here?” Scully asked, smiling at the sight of them.

“As if we wouldn’t be here for a mini celebration. It’s her birthday! Also, we are in the middle of a pandemic. This might be the most exciting thing most of us will do for a few days,” Alan said, pushing a stray piece of his wig back, as they all laughed and nodded in agreement.

Scully shook her head as she looked at them with a happy smile. At Elise and their new sweet little baby, Louise as she adjusted her hat, and Cassidy as her eyes crinkled from a smile Scully could not see and she rubbed her pregnant belly lovingly.

“Thank you. All of you for this-”

“Oh… did you think this was it? Oh, come on now,” Alan said and nodded to the driver of the car, who she just noticed was dressed like a Blues Brother. He nodded and Alan looked back at Scully, giving her a wink.

Scully looked at Mulder and he shrugged with a smile. Turning to Skinner and Rachel, her eyes widened as she watched them toss their sweaters onto the bumper of their car and put on their own masks.

They joined the group, Skinner wearing a Superman shirt and Rachel a Wonder Woman. She winked at Scully as the music started and Raina clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing up and down as everyone faced them. In that moment, as the music started, she knew for certain that it was Rachel who had a large hand in planning this little party.

Don't think about it Just move your body Listen to the music Sing, oh, ey, oh

Just move those left feet Go ahead, get crazy Anyone can do it Sing, oh, ey, oh

Show the world you've got that fire (fire) Feel the rhythm getting louder Show the room what you can do Prove to them you got the moves I don't know about you,

But I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah And we can do this together I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

Scully laughed with tears in her eyes, as she watched them perform a little dance they had somehow rehearsed, their choreography absolutely perfect. Mulder picked Faith up and laughed as he too watched them, bouncing her happily.

When you finally let go And you slay that solo Cause you listen to the music Sing, oh, ey, oh

'Cause you're confident, babe And you make your hips sway We knew that you could do it Sing, oh, ey, oh

Show the world you've got that fire (fire, baby) Feel the rhythm getting louder Show the room what you can do Prove to them you got the moves I don't know about you,

But I feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah And we can do this together I bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

“What do you say, Faithy, you want to join the party?” Mulder asked and she pointed to the group of people with a smile, her pumpkin cookie long since eaten or dropped somewhere. He glanced at Scully and raised his eyebrows.

“Oh, hell yes. I just need a…” She stopped speaking as he took two masks from his pocket with a wink. “Oh, yeah. You definitely played some part in all of this.” She started to put on her mask, but he stopped her, bending close for a kiss.

“I’ll never tell,” he whispered and she grinned, kissing him once more before putting on her mask as he did the same. Winking at her again, they joined the group, though they kept a safe distance.

Oh, ey oh Oh, ey oh I feel better when I'm dancing I'm better when I'm dancing, aye, oh ey oh

Feel better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah Better when I'm dancing, yeah, yeah, Don't you know We can do this together Bet you feel better when you're dancing, yeah, yeah

I feel better when I'm dancing I'm better when I'm dancing, hey Feel better when I'm, yeah, yeah

Cheering and clapping rang out as the song ended and a new one began, the music happy and fun. Scully looked around at all the people who had made the drive over to celebrate a birthday in the street. Not one of them looked perturbed to have done so, their happiness shining through as they laughed and danced.

She watched Skinner and Rachel dancing close together, her head thrown back in laughter as he then spun them around. She smiled at them and then she caught Louise’s eye.

Stepping closer to her, she put out her hands. Louise reached for them and Scully clasped her gloved ones tightly.

“Thank you,” she said, just loud enough for Louise to hear, knowing she knew she meant for more than just this moment of celebration, and Louise nodded.

“You’re welcome, my dear. A change of scenery is always good. It helps us to recenter and recharge.” Louise’s eyes crinkled and Scully nodded. “You know, amidst all of this the fun, I do hate to be a stickler.. but, it is customary to bow when one meets the Queen.” Scully stared at her before she laughed and curtsied slightly, apologizing for her insolence.

“Forgiven,” Louise said in a bored voice, though her eyes shone with happiness.

“Mama!” Faith called and Scully squeezed Louise’s hands once again before she walked over to Mulder and Faith.  

“Happy birthday, my sweet love!” she said, wrapping her arms around them both, her heart incredibly happy.

“Happy day,” Faith said with a smile and Scully sighed.

“Yes,” she said, looking at Mulder and she could see the smile in his eyes. “Yes, my love. It’s a very happy day.”

As the Happy Birthday song began to play again, the three of them seemed to move as one, their foreheads coming to rest together as they swayed slowly in their own little bubble, as the sounds of the birthday celebrations continued on around them.

Yes, it was a very happy day indeed.

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Oh, I hope you enjoyed this story. The tooth rotting fluff is my absolute favorite. I love them being happy, getting out of that little house, being at a lake, blowing bubbles, going for walks, finding ducks, and celebrating and remembering Maggie. I love the little parade party and the group of friends these previous hermits have made in the past couple of years.

And as always, I love Rachel. I love her so much and I especially love her for Skinner. She is the light HE needed, just as much as Mulder needs it from Scully. They balance each other out and thinking of him no longer alone in that sterile apartment makes me very happy. I hope you like her too, because she is 100% in their lives now. 💙

Oh... the song I used is Better When I'm Dancin' by Meghan Trainor. It's such a fun song and I can see Faith loving to dance to it.