#but none of those versions match the one I was told as a kid

[the-painted-siren]

Going absolutely bonkers trying to find an old nursery rhyme my mom told me when I was little

I swear it went something like “going on a treasure hunt, x marks the spot” and it had something to do with snakes and spiders crawling up your back

It’s so important okay? It’s for Lloyd and Misako headcanon purposes

[woso-dreamzzz]

Injured (Alexia's Version) V

Alexia Putellas x Child!Reader

Summary: Alexia comes to ballet class

For some reason, Alexia feels nervous.

She's played some big matches. She's won some big trophies. She's scored some big goals.

But none of those moments ever made her as nervous as she feels now.

Your ballet school had sent home a leaflet just last week about having a parent-child day where parents could join in on practice with their kids.

Alexia had signed herself up without thinking before the realisation had sunk in about what she had done.

She hadn't danced in years, not properly anyway and left it all behind to pursue football. She wasn't quite sure she still remembered how to do that style of dance, let alone your style of ballet.

But, still, she had signed up and the awestruck look on your face when she told you was worth it all.

"Alright mummies and daddies," The too-happy voice of your teacher exclaims," We're so excited to have you here with us today. Why don't you go and grab your little one and find a spot at one of the barres?"

The whole class is sitting cross legged on the floor and Alexia can pick you out easily with your favourite leotard and the little braid Olga had given you this morning.

Alexia smiles at you, gently taking your hand as you pull her over to the spot at the very end of the mirror, just like your preferred space at your barre back home.

"Alright boys and girls! Now, first position!"

Alexia knows that one. She's pretty sure she's one of the only parents that actually does because she shifts into position while others look around in confusion.

"And now, plié."

It's fairly simple stuff but Alexia's not surprised. You're still little but you're doing exceptionally well. She catches sight of your determined little face as you bob up and down.

This is one of the better ballet schools for younger kids. Back when you first started ballet, Alexia didn't really care where you went so Eli had organised it.

Alexia feels glad that her Mama spent so much time researching because now that she's started visiting and chatting to the other parents, she knows that some ballet 'schools' are barely schools for young children, not really focused on teaching them actual ballet like this one is.

Throughout this whole exercise, you remain composed and calm the entire time. You easily shift in and out of the positions you need to be in and your teacher has nothing but compliments for you whenever she comes past.

You smile brightens each time and Alexia has to stop herself from leaning down to give you kisses all over your face.

"Alright boys and girls! Water break!"

Your focused face disappears from your features as soon as the water break is called and you whirl around to look at Alexia.

"I..." You seem a bit nervous, shuffling your feet. "Are you having fun, Mami?"

Alexia crouches down in front of you, gently pushing away some flyaways from your face. "I'm having so much fun, bambi."

"Really? I know it's not football but-"

"I don't need football to have a fun time with you," Alexia assures you, a soft kiss being pressed against your forehead," Do you know what we're doing after this?"

You nod. "Floorwork," You say seriously," Floorwork and then cool down and then home time." You chew on your bottom lip for a moment before you shyly ask," Would you like to be my floorwork partner, Mami?"

Alexia smiles. "I'd love to."

Floorwork sounds more intimidating than it is. All it really boils down to is the class going in pairs one corner to the other doing things like skipping to the beat of the music.

Alexia supposes it's a bit like conditioning in a way and holds your hand nice and tight as you both skip from one end of the room to the other.

Nearer the end, the teacher switches to turns and Alexia's a little glad that she's not the only parent that makes a bit of a fool of themselves.

To her credit, she, at least, manages to stay on her feet which can't be said for one dad who trips over his own laces and nearly smashes his face into the floor.

"Well done today, boys and girls!" The teacher says as everyone packs up," And well done to mummies and daddies too! I'll see you all next week!"

Alexia keeps a grip on your hand, swinging your arms as she heads out to the car, packing it up with both of your bags and buckling you into your car seat.

"I had a lot of fun today, bambi," She tells you as she heads down the familiar road towards the house," It was very interesting to see what your classes are like."

"You did very well, Mami," You say earnestly, nodding your head," I wish parents could always been in my classes. It's more fun when there's grown ups."

Alexia laughs. "If there were always grown ups then you'd never get anything done! The mummies and daddies will keep falling over and the whole class will just be everyone laughing at us."

You shake your head. "I wouldn't laugh at your, Mami. Promise."

Alexia smiles at you in the rear view mirror.

"I'm glad, bambi."

There's silence for a moment and then," Do you want to practice at my barre at home? For when parents can come back to class?"

"That sounds perfect."

[tae-rhymeswithslay]

TMNT: COLOR CODED Casey Jones

colorcoded au by @camilieroart

im so sorry, it doesn’t really look like him, but I tried 😭. I chose a skating pose, but it took me wayy too long to realize that none of the official drawings of Casey have him in skates, so i just followed those. I also tried to combine his normal clothes with his battle outfit bc i just couldn’t decide which one to draw him in

I literally have SO much to say about this Casey! this little rant is probably gonna go on for way too long lol (feel free not to read)

props to @camilieroart for writing this amazing au bc ive been obsessed ever since i saw it in passing on instagram.

Casey has always been my favorite tmnt character. Ever. Hands down. There was something about him that I just adored. As a kid and even now. That being said, finding a version of Casey that was so much like me was like an early Christmas. I was already sucked in to the AU since like, last year when I found it for the first time. But I only recently read through Casey’s backstory and found out that he was korean, which only made me double down on how much I loved his character in Colorcoded.

(I really hope this next part doesn’t come off as narcissistic, its really just me full of admiration for this character and AU)

It was incredible to see a version of my favorite character like EVER (not even joking) that looked a lot like me and came from a background a lot like mine. Beyond just his skin tone being dark and matching mine (which I think I commented about already) this Casey seriously feels like looking into a mirror of myself from a few years ago. Both visually and mentally. It’s refreshing to see Korean characters that aren’t reduced to the asian standards of beauty, but still look like their ethnicity, because we absolutely DO exist. From my darker skin color to even my wide nose shape which I share with this Casey, I was told constantly as a kid (by other koreans mind you) that I didn’t ‘look korean enough’. So it’s nice to see those features that made me so insecure growing up presented in someone I admired during that same period of time. Even Casey’s hair looks so much like the cut I had/was forced to get (lol) growing up, down to the M shaped bangs. Though I wasn’t allowed to grow out my hair like Casey has in the back, it was something I always wanted to do as a kid. I even got into ice skating BECAUSE of Casey, like, I adore him so so much.

Though I’m lucky enough to have a family much healthier than Casey’s, I still found myself relating a lot to him in terms of his Korean-American identity. Growing up, my parents wanted me to learn as much English as possible as opposed to Korean, but they switched mindsets when it came to my younger sister (Yeah! i’ve also got a younger sister too, and by just EXTREME coincidence, she also has a similar sounding name Hae-in 해인) so she speaks a lot more Korean than I do. I still struggle a little bit when speaking conversational Korean, even though it’s technically my ‘first’ language lol. My family even calls me by my english name and my sister by her Korean name. I’m not sharing my legal name online, but i’ve got the same deal as Casey where I’ve got an English legal name, but also an unofficial korean name which was REALLY surprising to read, because literally none of my korean friends have the same name situation. Beyond little nit-picky things (that don’t even count as mistakes, really) in his conversations with his sister, you got the Korean conversations down really well (like, the cadence and grammar and stuff, idk how to explain it, but it really sounds like a conversation i might’ve had with my little cousins, just translated)

TLDR: i absolutely ADORE this Casey and I see just SO much of myself in him. He is wonderfully written as a character and you nailed his korean-american identity to a T (according to me and my personal experiences at least)

SORRY FOR THE RANT

:)

[knickynoo]

marty loves his father just so so much. to the point where his father's death, even in a timeline that they were already going to have to fix, was the point where Marty is the most emotionally devastated in an entire trilogy full of tragedies. how immediately we see him stand up for his father when he so much as thinks Old Biff is calling him a loser in the Cafe 80's. how proud he is both times he sees his dad finally stand up to Biff, the moment he always wished would happen his entire life. the sheer emotion in his voice when he says "my father's alive!" marty loves his dad so much.

cannot believe I forgot him literally jumping in front of a moving car to save his dad with zero hesitation, as if it wasn't the main catalyst for the entire plot of the first movie. I love this kid and he loves his dad - pants anon

Hello again, Pants Anon. Nice to hear from you. Also, yes. I love thinking about this.

I've written a dozen posts about my thoughts on the core of the trilogy being love, but I don't think I've ever focused in on Marty and George before. It's true, though. Marty's love for his dad runs so deep in parts I and II.

The scene of him stumbling around the graveyard and finding his father's tombstone is absolutely the most emotionally intense version of Marty we get in all three films. He's already seen and experienced so much terror by that point, and we've seen him in tears and scared out of his mind at several moments, but none of it compares to the way George's death shatters him. It's a Marty who has truly hit his breaking point, and MJF's acting in those scenes is so good.

It makes sense of course—how else would a kid react to the sudden news of his dad's death but by screaming and crying like that—and at that point, Marty doesn't know what's caused the timeline to skew, so that sense of despair is real. But I feel like even if he knew what was up, even if he knew he and Doc would end up fixing things, George's death still would have hit him that hard.

As for the scene in front of the Baines's house, there's that part of me that goes, "Well, wouldn't anyone rush into the street to push their parent out of harm's way? Marty was just doing what most people would. It's instinct." Then there's the other part that does see Marty's reaction as a conscious act of love. He could have panicked or frozen up and just let things play out the way they were supposed to, but he made that split-second choice to "sacrifice himself" instead.

Which, by the way, is one of the themes of the movies that makes me lose my mind. So much of this trilogy centers on sacrifice. Doc and Marty in particular are constantly having like...a tennis match back and forth of, "No worries, I'll just go ahead and die for you," "No, no, I'll die for you." "I insist that I die for you." They just take turns putting their life on the line for each other.

Out of the plethora of lovely qualities Marty has, the intensity of his emotions is high on my list of why I like him so much. There's just such a depth to the love he has for people. It's what drives so many of his actions throughout the movies.

It's love that urges him to put himself in the path of a car in order to save his dad.

It's love that pushes him to storm up to Biff in the cafeteria in an attempt to protect his mother from the unwanted advances, even though Biff is twice his size.

It's love that makes him sit at the diner the night of the lightning strike to agonize over how to write a letter that can save Doc's life

Rushing at Biff in the hotel to (once again) protect his mother from abuse, falling apart at his dad's grave, willingly going to the Old West when he's been explicitly told not to? All acts of love.

I really don't even think the kid has a choice in the matter when it comes to people he cares about. No matter how scared or unsure he is, the enormity of his love for his family and friends automatically overrides it.

I truly think that's what makes Back to the Future, and Marty as a character, so special.

Thanks for the ask!

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

I'm a diehard Stucky shipper and I think the chemistry between Sam and Bucky is at least as strong as between Bucky and Steve, albeit in a different way. That relationship has so much potential and What If would have been a perfect place to explore it. But instead of Sam and Bucky bantering and bickering their way through adventures in the multiverse, we get Peggy Sue Saves All the Universes! I only hope that this is all a big red herring to trick us, and that Marvel has something incredible in store for Sam’s Cap. Unfortunately, though, they have a track record of treating the good characters with disrespect while elevating the arseholes to hero status.  

Sam and Bucky's relationship was definitely the saving grace of TFATWS. Probably the reason it makes sense for us as the audience to see Bucky hanging out with Sam so much is that we've seen in previous movies that Sam's morality is pretty much the same as Steve's. If we are to assume Bucky not only grew close to Steve because he was a sickly kid who got bullied but also based on the fact that he was good and righteous and fair... then it makes sense he would end up gravitating towards Sam as well. And their banter is hilarious.

That's perhaps the reason why it's such a hard pill to swallow to see Marvel acting like Saint Maggy is the female Captain now, since we know (because we've seen it, cause they wrote it that way!) that her morality does not match with Steve's nor Sam's or Bucky's. Those three are cut off from the same cloth.

We didn't get much about Sam in the series, so What If could have given him more time to shine. An ep focused on him, or Riley, his experience in the army, an ep where he's the one to break Hydra's control on Bucky instead of Steve... The options are endless and What If is supposed to be exactly that. But from what I've been told (I haven't seen S2), What If has become an excuse to push Saint Maggy down our throats. They changed the parameters of the series, but I didn't see a big push to bring her character back, so they just did it to... what? Outshine Sam?

We've seen a few female replacements for previously male heroes (Kate, Riri, She-Hulk, Jane). None of them try to be the female version of the male heroes. But with Captain Brexit? They have scenes in the series that are a literal copy and paste of the dialogues in the movies!! All Steve scenes, of course.

All that while Sam doesn't have one single scene as Captain America in the series (he was given the shield five years ago) and at least in one ep Bucky is used and discarded afterwards while the "heroes" of the episode do nothing to help him. Yikes.

To end this on a positive note... Cap 4 was delayed for 2025. That's plenty of time for them to see the reactions to What If, the ratings (I don't know if they were good or not, my petty side is hoping they're awful) and maybe, just maybe they'll learn their lesson that the MCU audience wants Sam Wilson as the is the only Captain America in Marvel.

[thaliaisalesbian]

i get myself twisted in threads

Chapter 4: and there you are

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, ao3

Jonathan can’t help but keep glancing back at Steve, enough that the kids are all whispering about it. Despite being the one most well-versed with the Upside Down, he insisted on being behind all of them.

He can’t help but wonder if it’s because Steve is worried about slowing them down if he’s in the lead.

Jonathan knows the woods well enough, but not the way Will does. Steve’s just been living in them, lately.

When he looks back again, Steve and El are talking, and Dustin looks a little put out. He’d been next to Steve, a few minutes ago, but they hadn’t really been talking.

It’d be funny in any other situation; Dustin seems to think he has a claim on Steve that means none of the other kids can be close with him. 

“Where are we going, Steve?” Nancy calls from where she’s at the side of the group, between Mike and Max.

“El thinks if we get close enough to the Upside Down version of the lab she might be able to get us out.”

Why hadn’t any of them thought of that?

“Should she be doing that?” Mike snaps. “I thought you didn’t want her using her powers!”

Jonathan doesn’t know what it is Mike has against Steve, but it’s been like this all morning—at least, it’s morning if they’re still matched with Hawkins time.

It'd been different when he’d been a brat about Steve and Nancy dating—he'd had a little more reason, then. These days he’s mostly mean to Steve just because he can be, it seems like.

“I don’t.” Steve says. “Unless she has to. Getting us out of here seems like a ‘has to’ situation.” Mike grumbles a little, but he doesn’t have anything to say to that.

Eventually, they have to stop to take a break, and Jonathan tries not to think about what his mom must be thinking right now. She and Hopper might even be combing through the woods, looking for them. And the other kids—what have they told their parents? 

They’re all in so much trouble when they get home.

“How much farther do we have to walk?” Dustin asks, too loudly. Even the t-shirt mask doesn’t muffle his voice much.

“Keep it down, okay?” Steve sighs. “We’re about halfway there. We’ll probably be back in Hawkins by sunrise tomorrow.”

“How do you know that?”

“I mean, I don’t. I’m guessing on the time frame there.” He shrugs, and when the leaves rustle, tightens his grip on the bat, stepping in front of the kids.

“It’s me, I’m sorry.” Max steps out. “I told Nancy where I was going.”

“That’s okay, Max.” Steve tugs her braid. “Jonathan, do you want to switch for the next half, or are you good up front?”

“We can switch.” When the kids are distracted, he watches Steve slip some of his crackers to El. She doesn’t seem to notice that she's gotten extra.

Steve’s much thinner than he was last time Jonathan saw him. He doesn’t need to be giving the kids extra food. They’ve got enough crackers to last them for the rest of the day, at least. And at this point, he doesn’t think any of them would actually complain about the hunger—they’ve kids, but Jonathan knows that at least Max has clocked how skinny Steve is now. Will, probably, too. They’re the least likely to make a scene of it, which is good for Steve.

“Worried about your mom?” Steve leans against the tree next to him, and if Jonathan didn’t know that he’d been sleeping in them, he’d be wondering how he does it. The trees mostly look like normal trees, but some of them are so infected with rot, and covered with all of those vines, that just looking at them makes him feel queasy.

continue below or finish on ao3

“Yeah. She’s not going to take this well.”

“Can’t blame her. Hopper’s going to be pissed, too.”

“Well, I think the first priority is going to be making sure you’re okay.”

Wrong thing to say. So, so wrong. Dammit, Jonathan, this was going well. Maybe he could have said something about needing to talk, later, when they’re out of here.

“I’ll be fine, I told you.” Steve won’t look at him. 

Jonathan doesn’t believe him. Not for a second. He's got to be hurting right now; he probably hasn't slept in days.

“I know, but you’ve got demodog bite wounds on both legs. I wouldn’t be standing.”

“It’s fine. I hardly feel it anymore.”

He doesn’t believe that, either, but he lets it go. Fighting with Steve about this isn’t going to get them out any sooner, and he feels like every time he tries, he’s just going to mess it up even more.

“Alright, kiddos, let’s move.” He thinks Steve winces a little when he pushes off the tree, but it’s hard to say if it’s part of the motion or actually from pain.

Steve makes contact with each of the kids at least once before they start moving again—messing with their hair, adjusting masks, squeezing their shoulders.

It’s like he has to remind himself that they’re here, that they’re real.

Oh, god. 

Has he been hallucinating them? Or hearing them? Had he heard their voices when they were searching for him?

Maybe Jonathan should have said something to Hopper about that conversation, when they were checking things out. Maybe Steve would have heard him. Maybe he’d be more willing to let them help him.

Will drops back to walk with him as they start moving again.

“Mom’s not going to let us out of the house for weeks.”

“We’ll deserve it.” He agrees. “Are you—”

“I’m okay. Really. You’re here, and so is everyone else. Steve’s never let anything happen to one of us before, he won’t now.” 

Will's unwavering trust in Steve is heartening, but it's the kind of thing Jonathan is worried about. 

That Steve is going to end up getting himself killed for them.

“That’s good, Will.” is what he settles on saying, because he’s not going to tell his kid brother that he thinks Steve has a different plan than the rest of them.

One that doesn’t involve all of them leaving the Upside Down.

Steve sets a faster pace than Jonathan did. He’s not sure why they haven’t come across any demogorgons or demodogs yet, but he doesn’t want to risk it.

Maybe the group of them isn’t as appealing as just him. Are they smart enough to know when they're outnumbered?

He doesn’t really care, so long as none of the kids get hurt.

No one else is getting hurt on his watch.

He knows he’s not a good enough liar to fool Jonathan and Nancy about how much pain he’s actually in, so he’s staying away from them for now. El probably knows, but she won’t say anything.

At least not yet.

He’s had more than a few migraines while he’s supposed to be watching her, and she seems to understand now that not every one means he needs someone to come and take care of him.

The first few, she’d called Hopper or Joyce to come over; they’d usually make him stay the night.

As if Hopper wasn’t going to make him do that anyway.

Despite the faster pace, they don’t take any more breaks. The kids are all hungry and complaining, but the truth is they don’t have a lot of food left. He doesn’t want to waste time getting them to the lab—getting them out of here—if he can help it.

It’s already been a lot easier than it should be, like something knows what their plan is and is going to have something waiting there for them.

Or maybe he’s just being pessimistic.

“We are near.” El doesn’t grab his hand this time, and he glances down at her. “You will go first.”

“No, El, I can’t do that. You and the other shitheads will, okay?”

“No. You. You pushed them out.”

“El—” He doesn’t want to tell her that it’s better if he’s the one left behind. That he should be the one left behind. It will just be easier for all of them if he is. He knows they’ll miss him, but they’ll have each other. They’ll probably forget about him by the time they graduate high school. “El, you’re still all kids, you’re going first.”

“Then you.”

“And then Jonathan, Nancy and I will follow, yeah.”

“No. Then you. Promise.”

“I can’t do that, El.”

“Promise. Now.”

“I can’t. We don’t know if there will be any demogorgons there, and if there are, then I’ll be fighting them, and I won’t be able to keep my promise.”

She watches him for a long moment, thinking about what he’s said. She doesn’t look happy about it, but she nods.

“There.” El points ahead of them.

Well, at least from here it still looks abandoned.

Nancy adjusts her grip on her pistol a little as they get closer to the Upside Down version of the lab. The whole walk over was just… way too easy. She knows it’s got Steve set on edge too, from the tension in his back, and when she glances behind her Jonathan has his bat raised already.

“Okay, El, do your thing.” They stop right outside the gates. Hopefully it’s close enough.

It takes a few minutes, the kids circling around El as if to protect her while she’s got her eyes closed.

El’s gate doesn’t look quite like the one they came through, but that might be normal; it’s not like she’d been attention to how the gate looked when Steve was still on the other side. Steve helps Will and Dustin through, picking them up when it’s a little too high for them to reach, Jonathan boosting Mike and Lucas.

Steve’s just grabbed Max when Jonathan yells, and Nancy doesn’t think she hears much of anything past the first word.

She’s shoved to the ground, and then Steve and Jonathan are both standing over her, bats raised.

Getting to her knees takes longer than it should. She can just see the kids’ faces through the gate, all of them screaming, but she can’t hear them either.

“El!” Steve hits the demogorgon closest to him—one of three; they’d barely beaten two yesterday— “Get out of here!”

“No! No, Steve! You first!”

“El, go!” When she doesn’t move, Nancy pulls herself up on the fence and staggers over. If it were Mike, she probably wouldn’t be able to pick him up easily, but El is still small enough that it’s not too difficult to get her through the gate.

“No!” El screams, kicking at her. “NO! STEVE!”

But it’s too late. None of the kids are tall enough to get back through alone.

Nancy turns around just in time to shoot the demogorgon that’s trying its best to eat Steve.

It’s still not enough.

She’s never shot with a pistol in each hand, but if she hits one of the boys they’ll all be dead anyway, so she might as well try.

Steve and Jonathan alternate hits on the demogorgons without getting too close, and she falls into their pattern, shooting at the ones Jonathan is going for. She takes a step back, so close to the gate she can feel the change in energy, and hopes they can hear her.

“Keep backing up! El can’t hold it forever!”

Nancy’s not sure El is holding the gate open anymore; she doesn’t know if picking her up broke her concentration enough to stop her.

When the smaller two demogorgons start backing off, she fires her last rounds and turns into the gate.

“It’s closing!” The kids are there, pulling her off the ground when she falls through, and yelling at Steve and Jonathan.

It’s probably a good thing they did this way out here.

What would the town think, if they’d seen this?

It would be a disaster. EL would be taken away. Steve would be taken away, probably for testing.

She can’t do anything but watch, wondering if this is going to have the same outcome as the last time they did this.

God, she really hopes not. She doesn’t think Steve would survive another month in there.

On the other side of the gate, Steve is still swinging, but he’s slower than he was yesterday.

Jonathan manages to pull him through, arms around his waist. El sticks her hand out and the gate folds in on itself.

“Nancy, how fast can you run?” Jonathan gasps out.

“Why?”

“Or one of the kids, it doesn’t matter, just go.” Jonathan is mostly supporting Steve, she can see that now, when she couldn’t through the gate. “Find Hopper, find Mom, someone. The faster the better.”

When she steps around to look at them probably, she sees that Jonathan isn’t just supporting Steve—he’s hiding how bad it is from the kids.

“Go in groups.” She turns to the kids, trying to stay calm. “Will, El, Max, you go to the cabin. Hopper might be there, and you can call from there, too. Dustin, Lucas, Mike, go to our house. You know where my stash is?” It’s not like she can tell her parents why she needs guns, or extra cash for times like… well, like this.

Mike nods. “Good. Take it all and go to the store and buy a first aid kit. A big one.”

She’s pretty sure the hospital won’t be able to take Steve—and she doesn’t want to risk him being taken away from them for good. The bigger one is definitely too far away, even with a car. He’d probably bleed out.

And they can't explain his injuries easily, either. They don’t have bears around here to blame it on, they don’t have any natural creature around here that could cause this damage.

“Where are you going?” Dustin asks. He’s not even trying to look around to see Steve.

“We’ll meet you at the Byers.” The cabin might be closer, but taking Steve back through the forest, having to navigate branches and roots while he’s like this, it’d be too hard. It would slow them down so much. Staying on paved surfaces will be easier and safer.

Nancy waits until the kids have all set off before pulling Steve’s other arm around her shoulders.

“The kids—” She doesn’t know how he’s awake, much less talking, despite how slurred it is. But it means he’s alive. If he’s talking, he’s breathing, and he’s alive. So he can talk all he wants. 

“They’re fine, Steve.”

It’s going to be a long walk. Hopefully Hopper or Joyce will be able to meet them at some point, but she doesn’t know where they are, or how long it will take the kids to get into contact with them.

Nancy’s not even going to let herself hope that they get here before she and Jonathan manage to get to the Byers’.

<- 3 5 ->

[gracielukey]

Sige.

1

Pairing: Miguel O'hara x Filipino Spider-Woman Reader (not yet established.)

Summary: You just sucked into the spider society when you were accidentally got involved in an Anomaly.

word count: 2177

Warning: none

I am not a writer.. like absolutely not one at all 😭 this is my first ever like fanfic this year.. and like no proof read bcs ADHD said I can't have nice things

not a native speaker aswell.. so might use some words incorrectly also like bad grammar.

You found yourself being thrown all over the place by your universe's version of Doc Ock, Again. he went on explaining how and why he called himself that his achievements and how people like her ruined his life, name; basic villain monologue.

It was in the middle of the day, it was scourging hot especially in the summer heat. Both of you were tired, you honestly expected yourself to die in the hands of heatstroke in a couple of minutes if you were being honest.

"Uy.. Doc. What if uwi nalang muna tayo.. ang init eh! As in mamatay ako sa init if itutuloy natin toh.. like ikaw din naman claro naiinitan. Gusto mo I-Libre pa kita ng ice cream!"

(Hey doc, what if we go home for now.. its like super hot! To the point I'd die because of the heat if we continued this. Like It's clear you're also feeling the heat. If you want I can but you an ice cream!)

you told him, like it was just another Wednesday thing. The fact you weren't taking him seriously struck a cord. Why couldn't you take him seriously? Is he just one of those villain of the weak you keep talking about when he was studying you, more like stalking but it's all in the name of defeat you; it isn't stalking. he laughed trying to keep in the anger that was building up inside of him.

"Are.. you even taking me seriously?" his metal tentacles slowly rising him, in a way to intimidate you. You replied immediately with a no. A deadpan face plastered all over.

"Bakit kita seseryosohin?" (Why would I take you seriously?") placing your hands on your hips, he growled in anger. He lost it. He laughed maniacally, he started attacking all over the place. Swinging, you wrapped your web all over his tentacles before pinning him into the ground. Hardening your webs and making it a saw like string. You cut it off before webbing Doc Ock, only leaving his mouth and nose not covered in web before dialing the police.

It has been like that everyday. Ever since 4 months ago. the current craze was Lato-Lato which made you and your friends go on a rabbit hole of things you guys did as kids that's how you ended up in that situation. you were catching spiders with your friends to make a betting game on which spider was better.

Minutes later, you found an amazing colorful spider. Despite knowing that anything colorful is a sign to not get close to it, you got closer.. closer.. before having it all up to your face. Getting the empty match box ready, you placed your hand with the match box in it, in front of the spider. It went inside the box, that was easy enough. 'I didn't need to push it inside?' You placed the match box inside your pocket, not realizing you didn't close it properly. You walked back to your friend group, hoping the spider you picked as a the face for the fight would win.

Not knowing any better, you happy got back to your friends, excited to show them the spider you found.

"GUYS TIGNAN NIYO! ASTIG NG MUKHA NG GAGAMBA O!!" (GUYS LOOK! ITS A COOL LOOKING SPIDER)

you hurriedly showed them the spider you found, but when you tried taking it out your pocket, its turns out the spider long left the match box and instead has been waiting for you to put your hand back in the pockets, ready to bite. While looking for the match box, it crawled on your hand and bit you by the hand.

"GAGO— PUTANG INA" (BASTARD— SON OF A BITCH)

you immediately started shaking your hands trying to get the spider off. Your friends huddle around you, looking concerned as you pointed to the spider that was running away. You screamed in pain as one of your friends laughed, you wanted to slap them, you were preparing to slap them but instead, you.. webbed their face?

Everyone froze in fear, especially you. The one you webbed started freaking out immediately screaming to get it of their face. You rushed in and tried taking it off but they just screamed and told you to get away from them. They didn't hate you, just scared that you might web them again. You backed off and the others immediately helped them.

You sat down looking at your palms, you tried doing what you did earlier, in hopes you were just imagining it. But no, you didn't. You accidentally webbed the person you webbed earlier, AGAIN. Earning an annoyed groan from them.

"Ginagago mo ba ako?"(are you fucking with me?) They said, in a muffled tone since they were webbed.

It seems like the atmosphere has gotten better. They all started laughing instead of being afraid of you, same with the person you webbed.

After that day, they helped you get better with your abilities. You all made an oath to only keep this new found ability of yours at the back of everyones head. Your knowledge in martial arts came in handy when you started becoming more confident in your abilities, stopping Robbers murderers, and abusers.

Word spread fast when marites and chismosos exist. Because of it, you had to make a costume. Thankfully, one of your friends is a cosplayer. An amazing costume maker at that. You drew the design and they helped stitch the costume. Since the weather in the Philippines was hell, you guys decided to make a costume that could hide your identity but breezy enough to let you not die of a heatstroke.

After your short stand off with Doc Ock, you were hit in the face by a big.. human like.. vulture? It spoke in a glitch that you couldn't understand. Even it's own body started glitching out. It flew all over the place, knocking down lights and even got stuck at the cable wires that connected each post light together. It got shocked into oblivion, causing the chase to end short.

You wrapped yourself in clothes before pulling it down, hoping that you wouldn't end up in the same fate as that disgusting bird. You wrapped it in web before hardening it and letting it become solid like cement. You didn't want to see that disgusting bird ever again.

It's like the lord agreed with your opinion on it being disgusting, a lady drove out of a portal..? She hopped off her sports motorcycle and smiled at you before webbing the end of her motor and the vulture.

You stood there, confused as webbed up the vulture even more. Especially because of the fact she just came out of a portal. She then looked back at you, before talking.

"Spider-woman."

*you tensed up before speaking up*

"m uhm me too!-"

You waved at her nervously. She was clearly a spider person like you too; so you took off your mask revealing your nervous smile. The stranger then giggled at your nervousness.

"I'm not here to hurt you honey, just tryna retrieve an anomaly okay?" She walked up to you before patting your back. "Actually, I'm here to invite you as well." she fetched something by the compartment of her Motorcycle; then tossing the bracelet your way. You catch it before looking at her with a puzzled face.

"What.. am I supposed to do with this Gizmo?" You said while examining the object. She then walked up to you and wrapped it around your wrists.

"I want you to wear this as a temporary thing before you give me your final decision. I want to invite you an elite spider society but I want you to know it before joining. What do you say?"

you looked at the gizmo on your wrist before nodding carefully. She then smiled and pulled your wrist, she rode her motorcycle, then patted the back seat, waiting for you to sit behind her.

"Oh uhm okay!" You sat behind her, wrapping your hands around her waist like muscle memory. You heard her tapping her wrist watch before a portal opened and sent you into a tunnel like area. You clung onto thinking if you let go you might die. You wanted to scream while being tossed all over the place but you just hugged her even tighter before you could even process anything, she already landed onto a base filled with many spider people like you.

A spider person greeted the stranger that brought you here then took the vulture that was wrapped in cement and then went away. You looked even more confused. What is going on?

You felt someone walk up behind you. Turning around you accidentally bumped them. Your face on their chest before you took a couple of steps back before slowly looking up to see a face filled with so much darkness.

He then looked down at you before looking back at the Stranger. "Jessica.. you recruited someone? Again?" he said before sighing and then rubbing his temples.

You stood there frozen while looking at him then Jessica. "uh—" the tall male figure then turned his head to face you. You immediately closed your mouth.

"Mhmm they seem to have the talent for it! Besides they got wrapped into it. We can't just leave them confused like this. Isn't that right honey?" You looked back at Jessica immediately replying with a loud yes and a salute.

You heard the big man's deep chuckle. It sent shivers down your spine. "Jessica I'll handle it from here." She nodded before riding her Motorcycle then drove away.

He started walking. He didn't even say for you to follow but you did. You followed him like a lost puppy.

After awhile, you guys arrived at this dark.. office? There was a platform in the middle.. which he stepped onto and you followed, you got startled when it when it started to float.

The man turned to you before looking down once again. "I know who you are, You're Y/FN Y/LN. Earth-9BZ16." you looked at him wide eyed. Is he a stalker or something? And earth what?

"I am.. uhm—" he turned to face the screen then dragged a video of you fighting before stopping. "You have Potential. I never planned on recruiting you but since you got tangled up in this mess, I'm here to offer you a position."

"oh uhm— Okay!" You stood there nervously trying to understanding what's happening.

"You see all of these spider people?"

"Yeah?"

"My and everyone else in this Society's job is to ensure that their canon event happens. Like yours and many others." he pulled a screen flashing everyones canon event happening. Including yours when your Aunt Marites died. You cried as she died in your arms from a villain attack while you were focused on evacuating everyone else. She was so busy on trying to look for you so you could escape as well.

Tears started to pool on your eyes when looking at it. "Not cool man.. you can't just show me hard events that happened to me and say it's a canon event." You said before sniffing and wiping away your tears.

"I had to give you an example of a canon event." You rolled your eyes before taking in a sharp breathe.

"Why do you ensure that we get trauma? Why can't we just let these.. get like you know. Not happen. For character development?" You said sarcastically

"Precisely." Oh. You didn't expect that.

"What if I don't want that to happen." You snapped

"Would you rather for one person to die or an entire universe to die?" He pulled a video, a universe collapsing. Not showing who's universe it is.

"I.. how do you know that that's sure to happen? Huh?" You looked back at him with eyes filled with confusion.

He sighed before zooming out of the video. Before replaying the scene again. It showed a video of him running and having a child in his arms, she was crying in his arms, 'Dad..Daddy! Please—' she then disappeared, dissolving into bits of glitches. His face was filled with distraught and shock.

The video cuts there. You look at him. with sadness in your eyes. You were scared of that reality, you felt pity for him. He closed the tab before looking back at you. "Now do you understand why we have to keep the canon event from happening?"

the video kept flashing in your mind, your eyes swelled up from how much a selfish act can make a universe disappear. "y..yeah." You replied weakly.

He offered a watch, the same thing the spider people walking around including him and Jessica were wearing. "Will you join us, to keep the universe, Multiverse. Safe?"

You placed your hand on-top of the watch before looking at him with determined eyes. "yes. I will."

He then placed took of the bracelet Jessica placed on your arm before putting the watch on your wrist. "Good."

[vivanightcity]

Name: Adiel Miller

Age: 27

Gender: None, they barely align with ‘human’ fuck having a gender. 

Pronouns: Any and all, with a personal love for ‘it/its’, a sort of reclamation of the dehumanizing language it was raised with. (Practically, you can mix and match, or just pick one and use it, it’s all good)

Lifepath: Streetkid 

Occupation: Doll at a dollhouse that works with a number of corpo hotels and short term rental style hotels in Downtown. Can be found in a number of BDs still knocking about though. 

Cyberware: Doll chip, prototype long term behavioral chip, scratchers and big knucks (reinforced nails and knuckles that are concealable and look like standard human parts) 

Sexuality: People hot. That’s about it. 

Born and raised in NYC. Their parents worked themselves to the bone to get by and take care of him, but it was always a struggle. Maybe the city wasn’t as bad as Night City is now, but it was still a far cry from safe or easy. When it was around 15, and already getting into trouble and running around acting like he had a damn clue, Arasaka (subject to change what corp, I just thought it tied in with their vibe) started contacting parents of minors with records. Offering them an opportunity. A bright future and a new start for their son, get them out of trouble and away from bad influences before things get worse. All it took was signing away its bodily autonomy and they got a good payout and one less mouth to feed. 

They were testing out some more long term behavioral chips targeted at wealthy families, a hopefully safer and more useful version of what was already in use in juvenile correction facilities. A fully customizable range, as much or as little control as wanted across a host of 'problem' behaviors. Even focused on pushing manners and etiquette. It could dissuade kids from indulging, make them obey their parents without question, or just give them a ‘helping hand’ in sitting still and focusing on school. A replacement for conversion therapy, fat camps and drugs, all in one easy package that could be installed when your kid went in for routine work. They never needed to know! But of course that sort of work needed thorough testing before going to market with people who could afford it, and having empirical proof of its efficacy was always good for marketing. 'This wonderful neuralware could make even the worst kids act like a child you'd be happy to have next to you at for press conferences and family dinners'.

A controlled environment, classes to show the improvement rate of those with the chip and those without. Little corrections to strength of influence, fine tuning and fixing it up as they went. So what if some other kids never came back from the surgery room? Price of progress. They’d do big demonstrations pretty frequently, every few months, showing off test scores, video comparisons of posture, attitude, vocabulary use, antisocial behaviors etc. etc. Then the suits visiting would get a chance to interact. To test the parameters themselves, screaming abuse or even pushing whatever sorry sack was chosen for the demo around, proving that these kids - most of which, like Adiel, had some history of violence - would never argue back to those they were told to obey. 

Few short years later, Adiel was around 18, everything seemed golden. Working as intended. Even kids they took the chips out of, or turned them off in the case of some earlier models which couldn’t be safely removed, didn’t seem to be suffering the same level of addiction and withdrawal as seen in traditional behavioral chips on the market. There wasn’t NONE, but it was a manageable amount comparatively. At that point, they turfed everyone out, loosed unto a world they’d been isolated from for a few years, and in the case of a fair number of them, stuck with various degrees of control still implanted in them. ‘A reward for their help’. Saying it would help them stay on the straight and narrow, when really, in the world around them, it just set them up to be manipulated and controlled.

They put protections on the hardware, and the software was heavily encoded. No one Adiel has gone to for help has been able to safely remove it, and the rumor was that someone who tried triggered some sort of anti piracy/corpo espionage failsafes and them and the ripperdoc ended up mulch. Even after it entered the market during Arasaka’s big push in the early 2070s to get back in with the NUSA and free states money, it took money to access the kind of docs who had it on the shelves, and even when he scraped together enough it turned out what they had going was different enough from the market release that it was still a risk. 

So it’s still there. Nearly ten years and a cross country relocation later. Despite everything it went through because of Arasaka, they are the reason he moved to NC. When the city became the international hub it was, and Arasaka’s new north american headquarters, Adiel figured it was their best chance. Get back on their radar, get a foot in that door, and get the damned thing removed or turned off so they could get back to some semblance of a normal life where they doesn’t have to avoid everyone in white coats, expensive suits, or decked out in arasaka combat armor. Eventually, Addy was able to get hired. Went in for a physical and for them to check its doll chip and make sure he didn’t have any sort of spyware installed, made the mistake of telling the doc checking it over what was up, and got sent away with the promise they’ll look into it… Only he woke up the next day to a termination message. No more arasaka job, no more answers, no more way in. 

And that leads us to here. Burnt out from working non stop to get to NC and then get in with Arasaka, only for it to fall apart. Found working as a doll and sticking to hobbies far away from armed guards, docs and corpos, was the best way to control when he was near people who could fuck with him. Then the fancy suits were already paying for their time, and they didn’t have to remember doing what they said. 

One of the only good things that came out of his time with Arasaka was the opening of doors and access to education and the time to explore. Where it grew up there weren’t any stars visible. Even outside of the city the most you could see were satellites that were near enough to shine through light pollution. Getting to see stars, not only as they used to be, but through flicks and even BDs from orbit. To feel so small was freeing. Getting there is something it longs to do. 

Any sort of hobby or task that can be repeated methodically, over and over, to practice and perfect, is the kind of thing Adiel leans into. Repetition, focusing so completely onto the task over and over, helps to calm it down, to think things through. Worryingly, he’s not sure if this was always the case, or if it’s yet another side effect. One that can have it so completely wrapped up in a drill that they don't stop to rest or eat or anything until made to. Shifting that focus sucks, and getting pulled out of it can be jarring and stressful. 

A side effect of the behavioral chip is a sort of mirroring. His posture, inflection, language use, it seems to shift and alter depending on who it’s talking to. Reacting to the people around it to fit in. Well. He thinks it’s a side effect, it could also just be a survival method because of how he grew up. 

[masterwords]

i'd rot in hell with you

Summary: Adrian Bale fucked everything up with his bomb. Pre-show musing on the Boston bombing that put Gideon on leave.

Pairing: none...but you know how my platonic Hotch & Morgan look so if you want to read it as a pairing, no one could blame you.

Warnings: bombs, severed limbs (not belonging to anyone we know), hospital

Words: 2.1k

Notes: Written quick and dirty for a Halloween request asking for Hotch passing out. I had about a million different ways I wanted to write him passing out, it's a favorite of mine, but this is the first version that I finished. We're in the thick of wrestling season with the kids now so my time is limited but I'm working my way through every request in my box.

Read on AO3: i'd rot in hell with you

**

“Go fish.”

Hotch coughed. It was a hacking, awful sound. Like there was gravel or glass in his throat. His eyes closed when he coughed, closed like it helped hide how much pain he was in. Derek looked away while he coughed, felt around on the little tray with his hand blindly until he found a card from the pond and pulled it toward him. They'd started with poker, but Hotch wasn't with it enough for that. The drugs they had him on for the pain, the intense coughing fits, the headache. Those all made it hard for him to concentrate and Derek was losing every thread of patience that was still intact basically playing both hands.

So they switched to Hearts. And then Crazy Eights. And then Old Maid. And now, they were at Go Fish. It seemed to be about the only thing at Hotch's speed. Derek didn't think he could find a card game to play if this hadn't worked out, but Hotch liked to play cards to keep his mind off of hospital things. It was a time worn tradition already. In this case, he could hold his hand of cards up, and he could squint to try and find matches or what was asked for, but that was about where his abilities ended.

That was fine, as long as Derek didn't have to grab his hand, sort through it, and try to remain impartial anyway. If that happened, he might be inclined to switch to a rousing game of 52 card pick-up.

“...Jack of Spades?” Hotch asked. He whispered it, groggy and slurred, a partial question. His lungs just wouldn't push out enough air for more, and his blinking was slowing, eyes staying closed longer each time. Derek knew his hand inside and out at this point, things were moving so slowly.

“Nope. Go fish, sucker.”

Well, that was outside of Hotch's capabilities. He waited until Hotch pointed at the card he wanted, sort of just indicated it with one finger and Derek slipped it face down into his hand. They had a system now. Three games in, things were going well.

Gideon called twice while they played but Derek was ignoring those calls. Hotch told him to answer them, even swiped at the phone on the table like he could outmaneuver Derek in his condition. “Back off,” Derek had warned, and Hotch attempted to glare at him, but it only looked like he was going to pass out.

Again.

“You need to talk to him.”

“Like hell I do.”

(x)

As bombs go, this one was pretty damn bad. They thought they had it. Adrian Bale was going to surrender, he was going to give himself up and come out with his hands in the air. With a false sense of security, Gideon deployed S.W.A.T and the few members of the bomb squad they had on hand. Hotch, in his tactical vest over one of his new suits, followed behind. There were other agents that swept in behind him. All in all, there were too many eggs in this basket and Hotch was trying to push it along as quickly as possible. He had misgivings about the ease with which Bale surrendered.

Bale would be his. The rest of them would secure the building, check for hostages, Hotch would secure the suspect. With cuffs in his hands, he jerked Bale out of his position in the middle of the lobby and toward the door. Far from gentle, he shoved him forward, forcing him to skip steps and nearly fall down the stairs. From behind Bale he couldn't see the man's smile, and when he transferred Bale to Gideon and started back for the door, to help SWAT with their final sweep, he heard Gideon's frantic shouting.

“GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!”

Well. He hadn't really even gotten in yet, but the force of the blast and the glass flying through the air took the ground out from under his feet. Like it just fell away from him and he was soaring through the air. As a child, like most children, he'd wished he could fly. Had even tried it once or twice with disastrous results...he'd long since given up that dream, and here he was flying backward in what felt like slow motion. He landed first against his tailbone and then his head slammed against the ground with nothing to soften the blow. The world went soundless, sightless. Everything went black.

That happened fast, and then the world came rushing back in a swirl of sulfur and smoke. And screams. So many screams he was certain he was in the flaming pits of hell. His skin was slicked with sweat and soot, there were shards of glass in his hair and those screams became his entire world. They flooded, in an out, piercing the strange silence that told him his ears would not be right for hours, maybe days after this.

But he stood. Had to, really. The building was smoldering, office furniture being reduced to coal. He stood up, steadied himself and stormed back into the building shouting for people he knew had been inside. Glass crunched beneath his feet, he slipped a few times in debris, in blood. There were people who cried out to him, but they were beyond his help. Just bodies, most of them, making the last noises they would ever make. Nothing really alive. There was an arm at his feet, and he felt the bile rise in his throat. Just an arm, a hand with a wedding band fused into the melted skin. He stumbled toward the corner, pressed his hand to the heat-soaked wall and threw up.

(x)

Hotch slept with that sort of hospital unease that made Derek nervous. He could see the pain lines deepening when he shifted. His back was messed up, but he wasn't dying and there were so many other people that were...they were just sitting around waiting. He was hooked up to machines and IVs with bandages around his head and his chest and his arms...more gauze than Derek had ever seen on a person. He looked like a mummy from all the old movies his sisters liked to torment him with. He'd never been a fan of scary movies. The gauze was yellow stained with iodine and brown with blood, he was a mess of bruised and bandaged flesh.

But he could smile, dammit. And he did. About what, Derek couldn't really figure out. What did he have to smile about?

When he finally answered the phone, he'd waited until he was certain Hotch was asleep. Not just fighting sleep, lost somewhere in that hazy middle ground where time doubled up on itself and he was both sleeping and awake...he was out.

Gideon was angry at him, but he sounded off. Strange. Bad.

Derek almost felt guilty for pushing him away, but he was absolutely certain that Gideon should feel guilty right now. While he'd been sitting watching a ventilator breathe for Hotch, while he watched him gag and cough when it was pulled out, Gideon was just...out there. He wouldn't come to the hospital. At first it made sense, he'd stayed at the scene, he was taking care of the mayhem but that wasn't it. He was avoiding it now. It had been over a day, things had settled, the rubble was nearly cleared and still he was avoiding the hospital. Even went so far as to ask Derek to meet him outside to talk. “He's sleeping?”

“Yes.”

“Out front, five minutes.”

He was hesitant, but the nurses coming in to change his bandages and administer another breathing treatment made the decision for him. Hotch didn't want him watching any of that. He didn't either.

But he also didn't want to talk to Gideon. Seeing him standing there, his complexion was almost gray. He looked like a ghost. “What can I do for you?” Derek asked it, like Gideon wasn't his boss. And maybe right now he wasn't. They were all sort of hanging by a thread, there was an IA investigation and they were all effectively suspended until it concluded. People died on their watch, and IA didn't care that Hotch was very nearly one of the casualties. He wasn't even out of the woods yet. That smoke inhalation was no joke, his lungs were trashed.

“I'll be taking some time off,” Gideon said, so matter of fact that it seemed almost shocking. The man had never been one to beat around the bush but Derek wanted to punch him in the nose. Make him bleed. “After last night, I...I might have...”

“Yeah. Okay. So what, it's just me and Hotch now? Except he's in a hospital bed barely able to breathe on his own so...what...the BAU is mine?”

“For the time being. You'll have Doctor Reid and Agent Jareau.”

Derek laughed. He couldn't help it. The sound was desperate and a little unhinged. Gideon didn't seem to mind. “Yeah. Thanks man.”

(x)

Hotch was standing right in front of him, but Derek could tell he really shouldn't have been. He looked dazed and a little wild. Around them glass fell like pounding rain, and he was talking to Hotch, but Hotch really wasn't hearing him. He was just staring at him.

“Come on, you need to go get checked out,” Derek said, reaching out to touch Hotch. He shifted away and shook his head, returning to Earth for just a moment.

“No, I'm not hurt, we need to see if there were any survivors...”

“Hotch, you've been in here for ten minutes looking. There's no one left that needs a medic...just body bags. You need to be seen before you...” He started to say pass out, but almost like it was a stage cue, Hotch took a step forward and the lobby...what was left of it anyway...seemed to stretch like taffy before his eyes. Everything went gray and his knees buckled. He fell to the floor so fast Derek didn't have time to react. He just crumpled, collapsed like a house of cards. His head hit with a sickening thud for the second time that evening and Derek screamed for help. Hotch had a pulse; he was breathing but God it sounded bad. There was this high-pitched whistling sound coming from his lungs, a horrific gasping sound and his ribs expanded so big on some of his breaths in that Derek thought they might crack. How long had he been in this building? Derek hadn't been there long, but it sounded like Hotch had been huffing the smoke for hours.

“HELP! I NEED A MEDIC!” What a ridiculous thing to say, at the site of a bombing. Of course. Everyone needed a damn medic. “Hotch?” he asked, tilting Hotch's chin upward, like he could open his airway. He had no idea if he should do that, if he was helping or hurting, he was just scared. “Hotch?!”

Hotch's eyes opened, his soot laden lashes fluttering like dusty moth wings against his cheeks. “Derek...” he whispered through barely moving lips. “I'm...”

“Shhhhhhhhh...” Derek said, pulling Hotch into his lap. If those medics were going to take their time, he'd just damn well sit here with Hotch and wait. There was nothing else he could do that he thought was even half as important. “I'm here. Not goin' anywhere. Just relax. Help is on the way.”

(x)

“Gideon's gone,” Derek said when Hotch seemed lucid enough to listen. Not talk, he could barely string two words together that made any sense at all. They either disappeared into a coughing fit, or they were complete concussed nonsense. “He's on leave. I dunno man. I don't know what the hell is going on. Everything has gone to shit.”

Hotch shivered beneath the thin blanket and let out a small cough. When he spoke, his voice was wet and teary. “Do you need to leave?”

Derek swallowed hard and shook his head. He should, he was probably supposed to. Expected to. If he looked at his phone he would find messages from JJ, from Reid, from Strauss. They had no one at Quantico to answer for this right now and the Director would be on the war path. He couldn't find it in him to care though, not yet. Maybe not ever. “No. I'm here. You just sit tight. We'll go back together or not at all, huh?” He wouldn't go down with the BAU's ship, not right now. He was tied to Hotch. His loyalty was here. This was the ship he went down with.

Hotch smiled. It didn't quite look happy or reach his eyes, but it was something. It was all Derek needed to make him sit back down on Hotch's bed and start shuffling those damn worn out cards for another intense round of Go Fish.

[sleepy-achilles]

The Family of Destruction- The Bone Street Krew

Baby Leon? Yes please.

Also baby bloodline members. Timeline? Gone. None of their ages would match up with their current ages so I don't mention any age at all in this. Just either ignore the fact cassie should be born but obviously isn't and yeah. We love screwing up timelines just to get ideas outta head.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Leon shovels in another mouthful of cereals as the others rush around behind him. Everyone's in a rush, but Leon? Leon isn't. Leon is quite happy in his skeleton pj's eating his black and white cereal.

John looks over at his baby brother as he shovels another colourful mouthful of cereal into his mouth. "I thought he hated those sugary things?" John asks. Shawn pauses with a piece of toast hanging from his mouth as he looks over at the youngest boy. This causes taker to bump into him. "Jesus-shawn!" Taker huffs as he spills his coffee and shawn drops his toast. "He does.." Shawn whispers confused. "What?" Taker grumbles as he tugs his, what was a nice clean white t-shirt, off and uses it to dry his skin. "Leon's eating those cereals you both hate" Shawn states. It's takers turn to pause and look at the boy.

He frowns before moving into Leon's sight. "You alright?" Taker asks. Leon looks up at him confused. Taker watches as he lowers the spoon and brings his hands up. 'Yes, why?' His small fingers sign. "You told papa you hated those" Taker states, nodding at the nearly empty bowl. 'Wanted the energy for today' Leon signs. Taker smiles as Leon does his child version of rolling his eyes. The boy had seen Shawn doing it so many times at taker that he decided he also wanted to roll his eyes whenever taker did something worthy of it. Problem was, Leon was a kid and hadn't developed thr skill of rolling them yet, so instead he just moves his eyes all around. Taker chuckles and tickles the boy causing him to giggle.

"You need to hurry and get changed if you want to meet with daddy's friends" taker tells him as he throws his t-shirt into the laundry basket. Leon nods and finishes his last few spoons before running off. "So?" Shawn asks holding out another t-shirt. Taker kisses him in thanks and pulls it on. "Wants energy for today" taker states looking at John who's cleaning the floor. "Are you coming with?" Taker asks. "Can we spar?" He questions. "Of course, with us or the kliq" Shawn hums. "Okay" John smiles.

-----

Leon rests his chin on top of takers head as they move through the arena. Papa and John went off to find the kliq. Leon closes his eyes as his dad hums a tune and taps his fingers gently against Leon's legs. "Hey hey hey!" A voice booms, causing Leon to jerk upright. He opens his eyes and smiles at the group of men. "If it isn't little Leon michaels" Rikishi smiles as taker lifts the boy off his shoulders. Leon rushes over and allows the man to lift him up. "I've got my twins with me today" Rikishi tells him. Leon frowns slightly. He didn't have a problem with the twins really, it's just when grouped up with their other family members they liked to single Leon out. Especially Roman. Leon always got on with Solo though, no matter if the others were around. Both were quiet aloof boys. It was easy maths to them.

"What is it? Bring your kids to work day?" Taker jokes. "Why? Shawn bring his boy too?" Paul mumbles. Leon frowns at his so called grandfather. "Oi, none of that now" godfather warns. "You damn well know John is as much my son as he is shawns" Taker snaps. "Look at you, stepping up when..well its a strange one isn't it? Normally you'd be stepping up in the fathers spot but he has a father. The mother ended up being a deadbeat" yokozuna comments. "Aye..none of this infront of Lee." Taker mutters. "Well, Romans also here too Lee, plenty of boys for you to play around with" Rikishi states lowering the boy. Leon's frown grows deeper. He would not be having a fun evening anymore.

---

John sticks close to shawn as they walk through the halls. He knew randy was around after the harts stopped to tease Shawn. Owen, he was always kind to John, stopped to let him know what other kids were running around. He couldn't wait to see randy. They got on great, but first he really wanted to meet with his uncles and go a few rounds before the show.

----

Leon tilts his head back and watches in awe as his daddy throws Mideon around. Fuji looks at the small boy with a slight smile. He was going to do great things for this business. "That could be you one day kid" godfather states. Leon looks at him with wide eyes. "Talk or not. Your daddy basically doesn't talk so it can be done." He adds as Rikishi, Godwin and crush get involved in the fight. "See the way he already has taker under his thumb? This kid will be the top of the company before any of us can even blink" yokozuna chuckles. Leon smiles and looks back at his father to see him handing out chokeslams.

He then spots his Papa with uncle Kevin and John. Leon pushes away from the table and runs towards them.

Kevin chuckles and picks the boy up. Leon hugs him tightly. "Always know just what I need don't ya?" Kev mumbles rubbing the boys back. "Cmon boys! We promised John a sparring match before the show" Shawn calls. Rikishi smiles at the blonde. "Your lucky you're takers boy" he tells him. "Aw and nothing to do with me being a pretty face?" Shawn teases with a pout. Taker smiles. "Yeah, you've gotta give him credit. His pretty face has been a gift to us since we adopted him" godfather teases. Taker groans and rolls out of the ring. "Stop making it sound like your his pimp" Taker huffs hugging shawns waist. "I wouldn't complain, he'd be a great pimp" Shawn admits. "You know it. I'd actually look after him unlike his current pimp" godfather states moving closer.

"Vinnie ain't all bad. Especially with the hell I give him" shawn smirks. "You need us to stick around and show John how to really fight?" Yokozuna asks. "Nah, me and kev have it covered. Besides like you said, we want him to learn how to really fight" Shawn smirks. "Cheeky" godfather huffs. "Just the way we like him" Rikishi chuckles climbing out of the ring. "I will be taking that though" godfather states pointing at Leon. "Yeah? Who you using him to scare off this time?" Kevin asks handing the boy over. "Paul. Love how he makes the big guy tremble" godfather smirks. Taker rolls his eyes and kisses shawns cheek. "Have fun and I'm warning you, stop teaching him your dirty tricks" Taker warns Shawn. Shawn smirks and kisses the tip of takers nose. "Never" he whispers before moving to the ring.

Taker chuckles and shakes his head as he moves up the ramp.

---

Leon tilts his head as he examines the cards. "Give me a little bit of luck Lee" Rikishi huffs. Leon smiles at the man and tilts his head to the side. "Oh really?" Rikishi asks. "Im all in baby" he adds. Taker looks down at Leon and groans. "Leon I swear if you don't quit giving me up" it's impossible to play cards when your own son enjoys watching you lose. "Go find some of the other kids to play with" Taker sighs dropping cards. Leon frowns and shakes his head. "Cmon, gotta teach them poker young" godfather states. "Ah, are my boys being shits again? I'll sort them Lee, just give me the look" Rikishi tells him. Leon just shakes his head again before jumping down.

"So where are you going?" Taker asks. Leon looks at him and raises his hands. 'Canteen. Water.' He signs. They've been working on full sentences with Leon. Both in speech and sign. Ones going a lot further than the other. "Alright, you know the rules. Grab me one too, okay?" Taker asks. Leon nods before moving to the door. Vega opens it for the small boy. Leon looks at him and smiles. 'Thanks' "Anytime squirt" he chuckles.

"Hes a smart kid" godfather states as Leon waddles off. "Too smart." Taker huffs leaning back as the boys start to light up now the kids gone. "How's child number three coming?" Rikishi asks. "Shawn's excited. Just have to arrange it all. He wants a girl, has a name and everything" Taker answers. "You know, a girl might be the missing piece you both need" Godfather tells him. "Yeah? You reckon?" Taker asks collecting the cards. "I do. Don't get me wrong, John and Leon? Great kids, I love them both to death, you are also amazing with them both. But I have a feeling you are made to be a girl dad" godfather explains. "You never know. Anything can happen" Taker shrugs. "You sent your boy off to get drinks and didn't offer us any? The disrespect" Rikishi suddenly speaks up. "Oh come off it, you have two running around, you expect my small boy to carry enough drinks back for us all?" Taker teases. Rikishi rolls his eyes at the other. "Them? Do anything I ask? Please, I have more chance winning the lottery" he huffs.

---

Leon stares at the fridge. He knows the others will want water but how is he supposed to carry basically eight bottle back? He frowns but begins to take the bottles out and group them up. He could atleast stick two in his short pockets. The shorts shouldn't fall down and if he walks carefully enough the bottles won't fall. He could fit one under each arm and hold two in his hands. He thinks about those in the room.

'Daddy, Rikishi, godfather, yokozuna, fuji and Vega. That makes seven I need. Eight if I count that John will be joining us soon.' Leon thinks to himself. John always ended up joining them as the show started. "You alright there Lee?" Goldust asks kneeling next to the small boy as he grabs another water bottle. Leon nods. "Would you like help carrying those?" Goldust questions. Leon shakes his head. "Alright, well, I'll be sat at the back table with manny if you do need help, okay?" Goldust asks. Leon just nods and smiles at the man before he walks away.

Leon can do this. He sticks two in his pockets. He sticks two under his arms and then looks at the remaining four. This shouldn't be difficult. He shuffles the bottles into a slight curve and leans down, carefully scooping them up into his arms before standing. As long as he's careful, he should be able to do this.

Goldust smiles at the small boy as he begins to make his journey back to the lockerooms.

-

Leon keeps his eyes focused on the bottles, especially when he feels the ones under his arms begin to slip. It's times like this he wishes he did wear a hoodie.

Leon's too focused elsewhere to spot trouble coming. A foot sticks out infront of him causing him to trip. He lets out a soft grunt as the bottle fly and he hits the floor face first. "Oops" a familiar voice laughs. Leon lifts himself up slightly to see the twins laughing at him. He can't fight the way his bottom lip wobbles as blood bubbles in his sore nose. "It was too good to resist!" Jey laughs tilting his head back. "What idiot would carry all those and not ask for help?" Jimmy questions, kicking one of the bottles. Leon lowers his head. He was doing so well. He can practically hear his father and uncles laughing from here.

A new pair of shoes appear infront of him and the twins laughter dies. Leon slowly looks up confused to see Roman stood with his hand out. Roman doesn't say anything as he leans forward, forcefully grabbing Leon's hand and pulling the smaller boy up. "Roman?" Jey asks confused. "Hes bleeding." Roman states. "So?" Jimmy asks. "You took it too far." Roman snaps. Leon feels confused. A emotion he'd find out he'd always attach to Roman reigns, even as they grow old. Leon watches as Roman picks up four of the bottles and holds them out to Leon. "Are these for your papa?" Roman asks. Leon slowly shakes his head. "Dad then? Cmon" Roman tells him.

It throws Leon off. There's not positive emotion towards Leon or the twins. It's almost like Romans being forced to do this. Leon remember last time Roman taught the twins how to do the old foot out thing, that's when Leon realises, the difference was Leon could lessen the fall as his hands were free. He couldn't do that this time. Leon accepts the bottles and watches as Roman picks up the rest. "Go annoy someone else." Roman barks at the twins. "Whatever" jey huffs before walking off. "Actin real weird today Roman" Jimmy mutters before following jey. Roman doesn't say anything as he turns and leads the way.

-

"Ah I don't know I think their just tryna impression either Roman or dwayne. You should both of them in the ring, it's good." Rikishi states. "I bet. Doesn't excuse the fact your twins can be real assholes sometimes" vega points out. "I know that. I've been speaking to them about it" Rikishi sighs. "Must be nice. I speak to Leon about anything and he just sends me a death stare" Taker mutters, and he quite literally means a death stare. Too many times his throat has tightened. Takers just glad Leon follows his rules about the powers.

Speaking of Leon.

The men look up as the door is pushed opened. In walks roman with water bottles and behind him Leon. "Jesus, what happened?" Taker asks standing and rushing to Leon. Roman looks back at Leon who begins to move his fingers. 'I tripped.' "You tripped?" Taker asks taking the water bottles off Leon and pinching his nose. Leon nods as best as he can. "Is that true roman?" Rikishi asks. Roman stares at Leon shocked. Why would he defend the twins? Leon just glances at him. "Yes. He was trying to carry all these bottles on his own when he tripped over a bunch of cables. He could protect himself and hit the floor face first." Roman states. "And here you were calling him smart" yokozuna teases. Godfather shakes his head.

"Why didn't you ask for help with the bottles?" Taker asks. 'Wanted to do on my own.' Leon signs. "You don't have to do everything on your own though Lee." Taker sighs. He's hoping Leon doesn't bruise. Shawn will kill them both. "What do you say to roman?" Taker asks. 'Thank you' Leon signs. "Than-" "I know." Roman mutters glancing down. Roman couldn't lie, he studied Leon like he was some freak show. Like he was big foot and he just needed to know more. He asked his Grandpa to teach him some basic sign after figuring out that's what the smaller boy used to speak.

Taker examines the taller boy before nodding. "Have you seen the twins?" Rikishi asks. "No sir" Roman mutters. "Can you go find them for me please?" Rikishi asks. "Of course" Roman nods before putting the bottles down and moving back to the door. He stops next to Leon and looks down at him. A act that would change as they got older. Leon would go from the runt of the litter to the biggest. Roman would only grow to 6'3 whilst Leon would get one up on him and be an inch taller at 6'4. Not that it mattered to roman. He would always have the years before when he was bigger than him.

Roman doesn't say anything as his gaze leaves Leon's and he leaves the room. "I mean, future enemies or what?" Yokozuna asks. "Will you quit it with your dream universe that our kids will all fight each other for top dog" Rikishi huffs. "Hes not wrong. They probably will" godfather huffs as he hands taker a tissue. Taker thanks him and places it against Leon's nose, tilting his head forward. "What are we gonna tell your papa.." Taker sighs. "What did you lot do to him?" John asks walking in. "You see Johnny, takes wasn't pay attention and opened the door straight on the runt" Rikishi jokes. "The least shocking thing, but papa will kill you if thats true" John admits kneeling next to Leon.

Leon frowns at them. "Its just teasing Lee." John tells him. "Thats what you think" Taker whispers as he checks Leon's face for swelling or broken bones. "Roman says he tripped." Rikishi answers John's question. "How? The least clumsiest kid you'll ever meet" John asks. "Trying to carry eight water bottles will do that" vega comments. John looks at Leon who's frowning. Taker lowers the tissue to see the bleeding stopped. "You good bud?" Taker asks. Leon nods. "Good" Taker huffs brushing Leon's hair from his face. "Thats good" Taker repeats causing Leon to roll his eyes. Taker chuckles and stands. "I've got a match, can i trust you lot with my kids?" Taker asks. John smiles slightly at the question. It always made him feel whole when taker referred to him as his kid.

"Of course we can" vega huffs as Rikishi picks Leon up. "Yeah, since when couldn't we look after them?" Godfather asks squeezing John's shoulder. "Last time I came back to a complete mess" Taker states. "Not our fault" yokozuna huffs. "Whos fault was it?" Taker asks. "Look, your kids are pretty convincing kids. They could tell us to Rob the big man and we'd do it" Rikishi admits. "Dont give them ideas" Taker warns. He kisses Leon's cheek and ruffles John's hair before walking out. Godfather smirks and looks at the boys. "So what shall we get up to first?"

---

Taker finally gets backstage and is greeted by a very unhappy looking Shawn. "Oh god what happened?" Taker groans. "We have a nice fine coming our way. That's what." Shawn snaps crossing his arms. Taker whines and tilts his head back. "Not only have they ruined the harts ring gear but they destroyed many things in the arena whilst playing their own version of go karts." Shawn tells him. Taker sighs and looks to see the bsk peaking at him around the corner with his sons tucked with them. They all look guilty but taker can't be mad when he sees the genuine smiles on the boys faces. The play glint in Leon and John's eyes. Taker smiles softly and looks at shawn. "Its worth a few fines if you ask me." Taker tells him softly as he takes shawns hands into his.

Shawns frown fades into a soft smile. "Im telling Kevin and Scott this information" Shawn whispers before kissing him softly. "Oh god I can already see the competition for the highest fines" Taker groans.

Leon looks at John with a smile. John nods and looks at Rikishi. "Leon has a idea" John whispers. "A good one?" Godfather asks. "A wicked one" John smirks. The boys look at each other before back at the two troubling boys. "Ah screw it, tell us" Rikishi smiles.

------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTES

I think I focused too much on the children here but I've been writing a lot of adult family of destruction stuff and I've been focusing a lot on Leon and Roman. So obviously I remembered the fact the bsk and the bloodline are really connected so that means if taker brings his kids to work, so does Rikishi, sometimes even cousins and stuff. The rock eventually brings roman instead. But you get what I mean.

I just adore the idea of roman and Leon being childhood rivals and growing up to be adult rivals. Which I keep writing about and never posting. I apologise.

Enjoy :)

[maybeamiles]

Okay so you know how I said I was gonna do some worldbuilding? Well HERE IT IS. A very rough version of the founding myth of Illios (aka the nation where my story takes place). If you want some author's notes they're below the cut.

The archipelago of Illios is an unusual formation. Shaped like a crescent moon and surrounded on all sides by much larger powers, two of its three largest cities lie at the ends of each point of the crescent. It is said that long ago, before the mythical flooding of the (name) sea, the region was the tallest of a set of impassable mountains. Then a seafaring people driven from their homeland settled there, and became the people of Illios we know today. 

Of the many myths that tell of the nation’s history, perhaps none is more important than the tale of its founder, King (whathisname). It is said that when he was a child, he slew a great mountain lion that had wandered into his home village. He grew to become the leader of his home village, and half the children born in the village had to seek spouses outside their hometowns because of the risk of inbreeding caused by his promiscuity. 

His village grew to great renown and prosperity under his rule. It is said that he was the first to encourage Illios’ seafaring trades, and when his youngest daughter was set to be married, he called all the neighboring kings to his city. The young girl was an unparalleled beauty, with eyes and hair that matched the gold her father had amassed. She was believed to be the most beautiful girl in the world.

As the neighboring kings began to argue and bicker, saying that their sons deserved to marry the princess, offering gold and jewels as bribes and promising their undying loyalty should they be the object of her father’s favor. But when one young man was found murdered, things took a turn for the worse. 

To keep the peace, the king made every man swear a blood oath. His daughter would choose her husband from among the men, and if anyone ever took her from her chosen beau, the others would come to her father’s aid to retrieve the girl. And of course, a king from another island kidnapped her. 

The war raged for years, until the king had conquered every last piece of the islands that now make up the nation of Illios. He instated himself as its high king, and his rule brought about a new age of prosperity for the people of the land. Many tales are told of his conquest, and it is said that, at the end of his life, he ascended to godhood. 

Of course, historians believe that the man was far more complicated than the myths suggest, but you will find in Illios that the royal family tends to have children with golden hair or golden eyes, and throughout the country, children born with those features will often be said to be descendants of the old king, and blessed with carrying the nation’s future. As for what the king himself would think of his country? Who’s to say?

More wip-notes below the cut.

Okay so I'm tempted to name this guy Priam, cause he's inspired by both Priam (with his MANY kids) and agamemnon (with the whole conquering thing). But also ehhh I've got too many troy references already and at this point it's starting to feel a bit disrespectful. Like I am a thief and I like stealing names from pre-existing things for my own worldbuilding but everything I engage with that does steal is a bit more tasteful about it than I am. So I want to work on that.

The concept of ascension is something I just dreamed up recently, and I wanted to come up with a myth that might be told about the founding of the nation most of the story takes place in. I might have some time to explore what this King was actually like, what his motives might've been, and what he thinks of his country now. Playing into a rough concept of gods walking invisibly among their people. I'm also NOT a mythology person or a historian, or a religious studies scholar, or anything else like that, so a lot of this is like, my personal philosophy + what tickles my brain + what I get from reading things in my spare time.

Lots of stuff might change so I don't mind posting this before the story actually releases cause it's not really spoilers at all.

Also gold and divinity are gonna be HEAVILY associated in this story cause I think it's really fucking pretty, so yeah. That's a thing. Enjoy.

[thealtoduck]

Being raised in the same circus as Dick and being reunited with him…

Dick Grayson x Male Reader

Warnings: Superhero violence, fluff, death of parents, reader and Dick are dumb…

Summary: You were a firedancer as a child at the same circus as the Flying Graysons and years later you reunite with your childhood best friend in odd circumstances…

(A/n: The Batfam lineup in this is only Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Barbara, Jason and you. The others are not there yet. + Not based on the Titans show, this version of Dick is just hot.)

——

You were the child of a fire breather and a acrobat at Haly’s Circus so you were raised to know pretty much both of those skills and became the circus firedancer and the occaisional helper of the Flying Graysons, that would be how you met Dick.

The two of you were inseperable as kids, you always showed each other new skills your parents taught you as part of their acts. Which would lead the circus director to make you helpers to each others performances, because what’s better to make the audience say ”Awww” than two wholesome kids being best friends.

The two of you even planned to make an act together but it never came to be…

After the death of his parents Dick was taken away and the two of you didn’t even get to say goodbye.

After that the director trained you and some others to become the new trapeze artists but none of you could ever match the skills of the Flying Graysons, though you came somewhat close having trained and performed with them before.

Tragedy would strike the circus again during one of your parents performances leading to you becoming orphaned.

So you left the circus at 16 years old to get away from the pain and moved to a small apartment in Gotham using the money your parents left you. You got a job as barista and a side job as a gymnastics teacher for kids.

Though the barista job didn’t last long, one of the parents of the kids you taught wanted to hire you as a model for their clothing magazine which just so happened to pay a lot more than a barista, so you took it.

A year later it would be revealed to you that one of the children’s family you taught had their house broken in to and burguled, their dad had been stabbed and the mother and child had been tied up.

So you loving these children as much as you did started to learn boxing so you could defend them if ever necessary.

After a year of training in boxing you took a page out of Batman’s book and became the vigilate known as ”Flamebird”. Taking name inspiration from you’re training as a firedancer/breather and trapeze artist.

You would end up teaming up with Batman, Robin and Batgirl, though at first Batman was rather suspicious of you but he came to trust you. There was only one member of the batfam who you hadn’t met, which was Nightwing, who had started around the same time as you (or at least so you thought).

You wouldn’t meet Nightwing until Joker had set up three time bombs spread out in Gotham. Batman teamed you up with Nightwing to find one, Batgirl and Robin to find another one and he’d find one himself.

You met up with Nightwing and introduced yourself ”I’m Flamebird, it’s nice to finally meet you”. ”Likewise, Batman has told me a lot of good stuff about you” he said sweetly. ”Really? I’d assume he dosen’t like me” you stated honestly. ”Well, most people assume he hates them so i guess your doing better than them” he explained.

After the quick introduction you two got to work to track down the bomb, you managed to find Joker’s thugs trying to unload it and sneak it in to a hospital. So the two of you started taking the thugs down.

Suprisingly you and Nightwings skills seemed to compliment each other very well as if you’ve been training together for years. When he went right, you went left. When you went over, he went under.

When there was only two goons left Nightwing got to work on disarming the bomb, while you had his back and focused on taking out the henchmen. You finished them off and checked if you could help Nightwing disarm the bomb.

The two of you managed to disarm it and grappled away from the crime scene as the GCPD arrived on the scene. Batman, Robin and Batgirl had also managed to disarm their bombs and Batman had also managed to capture the Joker himself. So you and Nightwing didn’t have to stress to get anywhere else that night.

”How are your flips so effortless and easy? That took me years to perfect” Nightwing commented.

”Oh, i just copy the technique a friend taught me a long time ago, once he perfected his he taught me everything he could so i could perfect mine” you said as your memory drifted back to Dick, Nightwing nodded with an interested face.

”How did you learn to be so efficient with the batons? It’s like your dancing” you commented. ”Honestly same goes for me with the friend thing, he taught me to do it through firedancing” Dick explained.

”Wow, firedancing, that’s really cool” you said as if you weren’t a firedancer yourself. ”Yeah, it’s awesome, me and my friend used to want to put together an act, where we firedanced, while swinging trapeze and we also wanted the trapeze to be on fire” Dick told you which suprised you.

”Really? Me and my friend wanted to do literally that exact same thing” you said suprised. ”Really, God, what a coincidence…” Dick said amazed. The two of you sat in silence for a few seconds until it clicked and you stared eachother deeply in the eyes.

”Dick? Is that you” you asked and Dick eyes widened and he asked ”Y/n?”. You reached up and pulled your mask off and Nightwing did the same and he revealed the face of an older Dick Grayson. ”Dick, it’s you” you said happily and jumped in to his arms.

After hugging for a full minute Dick said ”God, do we have a lot to talk about?”.

He took you to Wayne Manor at the approval of Bruce who after the night full of terrors, had decided you could be trusted with their identities. + Dick had already revealed himself so the rest wouldn’t be so hard to figure out, so he may as well save face and act as if he wanted you to know.

Dick borrowed you some clothes so you could change out of the suit, while you changed he got Alfred to make you both some tea and cookies for the long night of explaining that was ahead.

Once you both had finished the teapot had been emptied and refilled about 3 times and there wasn’t even any cookie crumbs left. It was also very late so Dick offered you to stay the night, which you gratefully accepted.

The two of you decided to have a sleepover like the ones you used to have when you were kids, which meant that the two of you were sharing the bed.

As you lay down next to each other Dick said quietly ”I’m so glad to have you back”. ”Couldn’t have said it better” you said with a smile, then the two of you fell asleep close together as if you hadn’t been seperated for 10 years.

[nanaminokanojo]

"Petty" | Oikawa Toru X You

CHAPTER COUNT: 1/1 CHARACTERS: Oikawa Toru X You | Haikyuu Characters (mentions) WORD COUNT: 3,300+ GENRE: fluff | romance | aged-up characters | university au | oneshot TRIGGER WARNING: profanity | strong/mature language | alcohol use SPOILERS: n/a

collection masterlist

photo/fanart credits to @/oikawalovesyouu on Twitter

"He's self-centered but he's insecure so naturally, he's petty."

Oikawa couldn't shake that comment off his head as he slammed yet another ball into the opposing court, aggressively wiping on the sweat on his forehead. The university gym was already deserted with all his teammates gone yet he was still doing jump serves as if he wasn't already so good at it. He just needed an outlet.

In his head, he was already thinking of counter arguments to what he heard being said about him. It was one sentence. One! And yet he was working up all his brain cells to think of a lengthy rebuttal to every single word in that single statement.

First of all, he wasn't self-centered. He doesn't just think about himself, or so he likes to think. He was sensitive enough to read the room most of the time and he can actually bring the best out of his teammates to the highest degree. An insensitive, selfish prick wouldn't be able to do that without proper observation and lack of awareness for others.

Secondly, he didn't think he was insecure. He didn't have to lift a finger to get the attention he wanted, and it was human to feel envy for those who are better than him because there will always be someone better. It’s just an inevitability he has to deal with.

And lastly, he wasn't petty. He's always been reactive, he knew that, but that was just reaction if not retaliation to those who want to belittle him. That's what he thinks anyway.

But why you had to say those things about him as if you were a female version of Iwaizumi – his best friend who seemed to get off of being too cruelly honest and straightforward about what he thought of Oikawa – was something he didn't understand.

Of course, he was aware of your blatant frankness. He loved that about you. You were just very insistent on your individuality and you had very strong opinions which you stood by without regard to anything. Most of the time anyway. He actually got a kick out of people's reactions when you say something without filtering your words especially when you were children, but like they say, it's never funny when one becomes the receiving end of anything negative.

The larger dilemma was that you were the only girl he sincerely liked, so much so that he was willing to lay down his pride just to have you and call you his. Solely and irrevocably his. But if you thought of him that way, then maybe you actually hated him. It bothered him to no end.

"What the hell did I tell you about over-exertion?" Oikawa heard that familiar deep voice from the direction of the entrance, and before he knew it, the ball crate was being wheeled away from him. "Enough. It's off season."

"Just letting off some steam," Oikawa stated, smiling Iwaizumi's way despite himself.

"You can do that at Kuroo's party," the other male said with finality. "Be out in fifteen." His last words were laced with a threat, and Oikawa didn't have a choice but to do as he was told. The former was right. If it's just to vent out, he could definitely do that at the party.

He couldn't be more wrong in his life.

The moment he entered the premises of Kuroo's house, the first thing he saw was you. You came in just after he did, but you bumped against him without even apologizing as you walked ahead, waving at someone else. You saw him there, but you walked off anyway as if you didn't.

"What the actual fuck?" he couldn't help but blurt out when he saw just who you were talking to.

You've always been agreeable to him as his childhood friend, but you were ignoring him on top of saying bad things about him to your friends. And now, you were talking to Ushijima Wakatoshi whom you knew he disliked with a passion.

The male simply got on his nerves for the fact that he was better at him in the sport they both played. Oikawa also hated how much the guy hounded him to join their team back in high school, talking about how he would be better off. Like how is it better to be in the same team as Ushijima was when he would just outshine him?

His mind started to run amok with questions. What could you possibly want from Ushijima? Better yet, what did he want from you? Since when were you even close to him? Oikawa almost wanted to throw up seeing how you were being buddy-buddy with the cold fish of a guy, actually managing to melt his severe expressions into a soft smile. Were you going out with him now? He couldn't take it.

Without thinking, he grabbed the shoulder of the person who was holding a tray of drinks, taking two shot glasses in his hand, and telling the person to stay where he was standing. He was able to down six shots while standing there, but before he could drink more, Iwaizumi came into view.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded gruffly, telling the poor guy with the drinks to scram.

"Not now, Iwa," he snapped, walking towards the direction of the stairs, rudely telling everyone to get out of his way.

He stayed there for almost an hour, trying to calm his nerves but ending up going feral over this couple who were making out as they pushed the door to Kuroo's room where he was lying down on the bed. To say that he killed their mood was an understatement as he harshly told them to fuck off. Nobody dared cross him being the famous star athlete that he was at the university you both attended. It was, however, useless if he finds himself losing even outside of court to Ushijima who was his equivalent in the neighboring school when it comes to volleyball. It left him with a bitter taste at the recesses of his mouth.

When he finally emerged from the room, deciding to get more drinks, he was still in a foul mood, glaring at anyone who would get in his way towards the kitchen. But his plan was all but forgotten when he saw you standing by the archway that led to the kitchen, leaning there as you nursed a plastic cup against your chest.

For the first time that night, he was actually seeing how beautiful you were, dressed in a crop top and tight-fitting jeans which were tattered in most places. As per usual, you were stuck in your own bubble, bobbing your head to the music as if you weren't aware of all the adoring looks you were getting. Well, you were a person who didn't know her strengths and denied them when he tells you. It was just unfair how he always has nice things to say about you but you didn't think the same way about him.

He closed the distance between the two of you, placed his forearm above your head, towering over you, that infamous smirk plastered on his face.

"Hey, baby," he said in a low tone, leaning down until your faces were just inches from one another.

"Hello, darling," you returned, smiling slightly. "I've been looking for you, but Iwa said you ran off somewhere."

"Have you now?" He eyed you seriously. "Weren't you just ignoring me a while ago for Ushijima?"

He wasn't able to elicit the reaction he wanted from you, and instead, you smirked at him. "Eh?" you responded in a dragged out note. "I wasn't with Ushijima for the sake of ignoring you, Toru. The world doesn't revolve around you."

He stood back in indignation, your opinions of him coming out to the surface. "So why were you with him?" He was aware that his tone made it seem like he had any right to be questioning you of your actions. He had been vocal about his attraction to you, but it wasn't as if he was your boyfriend. Still, he couldn't care less at the moment.

"None of your business, sweetheart," you told him, your words at odds to the saccharine smile you flashed him. He found himself disconcerted especially when you reached up and started fixing his fringe. "What are you acting so jealous for?"

Ah, he thought. It wasn't his place to be feeling that way but he didn't want to respond to your question in any way. So, like he did earlier, he stormed off, sticking to his original plan to get wasted.

He didn't want to say things he will regret even if you were being hot and cold. For a while now, he had the feeling that you were toying with him, but whenever he was around, your actions towards him were always the opposite of your words about him as of late. One time you'd be telling him to go away, but as soon as he does, you're grabbing his arm, telling him to sit still beside you. You'd be complaining to him one second that he was being an annoying brat and then sit on his lap peppering his cheeks with kisses. You'd be with another guy but tell him you're looking for him. You were confusing to say the least.

Oikawa didn't know what happened after he walked away from you. But when he finally came to, he had a throbbing headache and he wasn't in his room. He looked around him, straining to keep his eyes open as he took in his surroundings, shooting up from the bed when he realized he was looking at the familiar layout of your bedroom.

He had been there a million times ever since you were kids, and he had been a witness to all the changes your little corner of the world had gone through. He couldn't help but smile despite his feelings and headache at the thought that what was once a room that looked like it was made of cotton candy was now in scales of black and white, surrounded with things that were just so you.

But after all the changes, you still had that framed photo of you and him in grade school, where he was kissing you on the cheek while you grinned wide for the camera. You were wearing the matching shirts your crazy moms got you, and he knew you still kept them somewhere in your room.

Yes, he told himself, I was there before anyone else. You’ve always been the closest to him even when Iwaizumi came into the picture. Even then, he didn’t seem to understand you well enough to actually lay emphasis on the fact that you’ve known each other since you were in diapers.

Just then, you walked into the room, holding a glass of fizzy water. You were wearing only his old volleyball jersey, padding barefoot on the floor. You specifically asked for it when you both graduated from high school and you've been sleeping in it since then.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," you greeted, sitting down on the empty space of the queen bed which he noticed was also slept on. "Drink up."

"What am I doing here?" he asked after downing the whole glass in one go, setting it on the nightstand.

"I took you home. Your mom would have killed you if she saw how fucked up you were last night." You brushed his hair from over his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Like my head's about to explode," he muttered.

You clucked your tongue. "Why did you have to drink so much anyway?"

Instead of answering you, he laid back down on the bed, turning away from you. He had every intention to ignore you after that, but it wasn't long before he felt you coming closer to him, propping your chin on his arm while you draped yours over his waist.

"You're sulking, Toru."

He took the pillow from under his head to hide his head under it. "I don't wanna do this today, Y/N."

"Do what? What exactly are we doing?"

The audacity to ask, he said at the back of his mind, biting his tongue. He didn't say anything and just stayed still.

"Hey, I asked you a question," you continued to badger him. "You've been acting off since a week ago. What's up?"

He refused to satisfy you with a response thinking you ought to realize what it was exactly that you two had been doing, dancing around each other yet skirting around the real issues between you. You couldn't be that oblivious of his affections and you weren't exactly passive either.

Nevertheless, you always had a way of turning things to your favor, and before he knew it, he was falling off the bed after you kicked him off it, nearly landing face down if it weren't for his fast reflexes.

"Y/N!" he whined, remaining seated on the floor as he clutched on his head. He half expected you to laugh at his predicament, but when he met your eyes, he regretted it, seeing the serious expression you had.

"You should know by now that I hate it when I am denied things I want to know especially those which involve me," you told him, cocking your head to the direction of the bed. You sounded menacing, so far from the gentle voice you always used when talking to him. "Stop being a brat. Get back here and talk to me properly."

"You're the one who kicked me!" he protested as he stood up, doing as he was told nonetheless, sitting up and leaning on the headboard.

"So, what's your problem?"

"I'm jealous of Ushijima," he returned promptly his brown eyes also taking a severe quality to it as he eyed you.

You arched a brow at him. "What's new about that?"

"At least before, he didn't have you, too. Now..." He sighed. "You're friends with him now? What was that about last night?"

"Are you serious right now? I had business with the guy."

Oikawa scoffed. "What business are you talking about that he's all smiles at you like that? He only ever smiles around his girlfriend –"

"Exactly," you countered, openly savoring the look on his face when he realized just what he was saying. "He ordered a huge consignment of rare live flowers for his girlfriend so I informed him it had been delivered. Our family as ikebana* artists and horticulturist do that for a living."

"What?"

You shrugged. "You're assuming things again."

Oikawa blinked, feeling defeated at your sound reasoning, but he still has bones to pick with you. "That's not just my problem with you. What are we really, Y/N? I don't get how you're ignoring me and suddenly being sweet. I'm getting mixed signals here. And don't think for a second that I didn't hear about what you told your friends about me."

He narrowed his eyes at you, smirking when he saw how your eyes rounded, finally able to take you off guard like you usually did to him. For once, he wanted you to lose your footing and come clean about what you really thought about him…how you really felt.

"Hmm. What exactly did I say about you?" you asked, the caution in your tone obvious.

"You know it, Y/N. Don't you dare make me jump all the hoops!" he stated, losing his temper.

You shook your head, not understanding where his choleric attitude was coming from. You knew better than to level your irritation with his, and you were so used to his antics that you found yourself almost unaffected by his crusty demeanor. "I really don't know what you're talking about, Toru."

He glared at you. "You told them you think I'm petty because I'm self-centered but I'm insecure. Ring any bells, sweetheart? And don't lie, I heard it myself."

You ran your hand over your face, frustration emanating from you. At the same time, you wanted to laugh because he looked like an angry kitten instead of the fully grown man he supposedly is.

Oikawa didn't know where your exasperation was coming from when he's supposedly the one feeling it but then you nodded.

"I did say that."

"How could you?" he complained, aware that he sounded like a juvenile dipshit but he didn't know how to react to your lack of denial for it. In the end, he just wanted you to say you didn't mean it even if he already got hurt from hearing it.

"How couldn't I, Toru? That's the truth," you stated, no bars held and your voice ringing clear in the air between you. You were really merciless when it came to voicing out what ran inside your head.

"Well, shit, Y/N. Why didn't you just tell me to my face?" He was about to stand up, but you pushed him down, sitting astride his lap so he wouldn't move. He refused to look at you but couldn’t move at the same time cause he didn’t want to hurt you in any way although he didn’t exactly want you close at the moment. "Get off while I'm being nice about it."

"Iwa and I never fail to tell you every day," you started, placing your hands on either side of his face, gently making him look at you.

"You both hate me?" he asked weakly, unable to imagine life without the two of you beside him.

"No." You shook your head. "Toru, no. Of course not. That's just how you are, isn't it? We never asked you to change. We just couldn't help noticing it, and if we don't tell you, who will?"

Oikawa Toru. So used to being fawned over that he doesn't know how to react when he is being criticized. He could admit to that, but it still hurt hearing you say that.

"Sweetheart, I did say those things about you, but you didn't stay long enough to hear the rest."

He pouted, looking away from you. "And what is it?"

You tilted your head so you would be in his line of vision, grinning the moment you realized you had him. "That despite all that, you're a generally kind person who cares a lot for your friends, your team, for me, and even if you don't know how to show it, deep down, you're a sensitive soul. And I adore that about you."

"Really?"

You scoffed. "I love you, Toru. I thought we had an understanding."

"As friends, you mean?"

You rolled your eyes at him, but didn't say anything further, closing the distance between your lips, kissing him fervently and intensely in case the message didn't come across just yet.

He gasped against your lips, caught off guard as usual, but kissed you back with as much fervor, dominating you shortly after your mouths made contact. He nipped and sucked on your lips before shoving his tongue into your mouth, immediately finding yours and delving in to taste you. Oikawa grinned when he rendered you into a panting mess, reveling in the way your hands possessively held him close.

"I waited so long for this," he said against your ear.

"Make up for all those times you missed out then," you told him with a smug grin.

"Heh. You asked for it."

He flipped you both over on the bed making you burst out in a fit of giggles, kissing you stupid, his hands touching everywhere he could reach, your clothes and his mixing in a pile on the floor while he made sweet love to you.

Oikawa Toru. He's self-centered but he's insecure so naturally, he's petty. But he was not just that. He's also the guy you loved to smithereens because you knew that those other facets of him – the good ones – exist.

-the end-

TERMINOLOGIES:

*ikebana (活け花) - traditional Japanese art of arranging flowers

My first try at Haikyuu...god d*mn you, both, @kenkinori and @ushiwaikuroo !!! XD

Before anyone comes after me, the characters are aged up as specified in the story. The beauty of literary creativity!

Thank you so much for reading. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated! Hope you enjoyed it.

© ORIGINAL WORK BY nanaminokanojo. CHARACTERS ARE INSPIRED BY FURUDATE HARUICHI’S “HAIKYUU!”. [20210704]

PHOTO/IMAGE/GIF/FANART CREDITS TO THE RESPECTIVE OWNERS.

[emwritesfootball]

Dirty Little Secret | Dominic Calvert-Lewin

It's midnight PST which means I'm so far past the deadline for @footballffbarbiex's Summer Writing Challenge but I don't really care. Please enjoy the millionth version of 'sneaking around with a rival' but with DCL. This one's for the babes: @sweetlikesugar9 @dclsbaby @domspeach

Word Count: 3,610

Warnings: light mentions of smut, sneaking around

- - -

Your phone felt heavy in your pocket. You wanted so badly to pull it out and reread the text you’d been sent an hour ago, but then Jordan would be suspicious and you didn’t want to try to cobble together some half-assed explanation that would ultimately end in disaster.

“Are you listening to me?” Jordan asked, huffing your name in frustration. “I swear, you’ve been spacy for the last week. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you lied, rolling your eyes. Jordan gave you a disbelieving look, so you elaborated, “Work has been kicking my ass and I’m annoyed, okay? I know it’ll pass, but I’d just like it if you let me handle it on my own.”

Jordan’s face softened. “I’m sorry. And I won’t, alright?” When you nodded, he continued, “But you know that if you ever need me to step in and use my name, I will.”

“I know,” you said, giving him a teary-eyed smile. “You know how much I don’t want that, but if it comes down to it, I’ll let you know.”

“It’s just...you’re my little sister, and I worry about you.” Jordan wrapped his arms around your shoulders and pulled you into a hug.

“Yeah, yeah - I appreciate it.” You paused, finally remembering the conversation from earlier. “Wait, you were saying something about England?”

Jordan smiled, launching into the conversation. “I just got the call from Southgate today. He told me I’ll be part of this upcoming England squad.”

“What?! Jordan, that’s incredible!” You squealed, wrapping him up in a tight hug. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Thanks. I was hoping I’d get the call-up, but with each camp, you never know. And I get older every year and-”

“I don’t wanna hear it,” you scoffed, waving him off. “You’ve done so much for the club and you deserve this. Take the win and move on.”

“I hate it when you’re right, you know.”

You giggled, shoving him playfully. “It feels weird to be the one dispensing life advice to my older brother, so don’t worry, it’s just as weird for me, too.”

You left Jordan’s place a little while later, promising to help him plan an England get-together once the rest of the squad was announced.

Once you were back home, you finally pulled up the text you’d been both excited for and dreading about replying to.

Dominic: When can I see you again?

Just as you started typing, the three dots on his end popped up and you couldn’t help the rush of excitement that pooled in your belly when his latest text came through.

Dominic: I just got good news. Come over and celebrate?

You: I’m on my way

***

The moment Dom opened his front door, his lips were on yours. He pinned you against the door, kissing you hungrily as his hands slid up your shirt. You moaned into his mouth, loving the way his body fit against yours as he swallowed the sound.

“What…” Your thought was cut off as Dom sucked on the sensitive spot on your neck. “What was the good news?”u

“Later,” Dom hummed, nibbling on your earlobe. “I wanna celebrate first.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” You giggled, the sound quickly turning to a breathy whimper as one of Dom’s hands slid between your legs. “Fuck, Dom! It makes sense - please just take me to bed.”

Dom smirked, grabbing your hand and leading you to the bedroom. He threw you down on the bed, kneeling between your legs as he started to undress you. It had only been a little over a month since the two of you started sleeping together, but neither of you could get enough of each other.

Your name was on his lips as he sucked a mark into your hip, watching as you dug your heels into the mattress while he kissed his way up your inner thighs before sucking on your clit and making you cry out. “You’re always so responsive for me,” he praised, chuckling as he slid two fingers inside you. “So sexy.”

“Please, Dom!” You whimpered, burying your fingers in his curls. “Please make me cum already!”

He responded to your pleas, flipping you over onto your stomach and driving his cock into you. One hand was around your throat, the other smacking your ass as pure filth spewed from his mouth with every thrust. Dom made you feel dirty in the best possible ways and it wasn’t long before you were cumming around his cock, feeling his cum coat your inner walls as he released his own orgasm inside you.

“So, what’s the news?” You asked as you cuddled with Dom, your head on your chest with one hand tracing patterns across his forearm.

“I can’t believe I almost forgot - I got called up to the England squad for this upcoming run of matches.”

He said it so casually that you almost didn’t register what he’d said. “Wait, what?”

“I got another call-up!”

Your stomach bottomed out and you thought you were gonna be sick. “Dom, that’s amazing!” You said, hoping he didn’t notice how preoccupied you sounded.

“Thank you!” He pressed a kiss to your forehead, a much more intimate gesture than the two of you usually did, but you didn’t question it. “You’ll come see me play, right?”

“Of course,” you promised, hoping you sounded sincere.

When he drifted off to sleep, you were still up, your mind racing as you tried to figure out how you were going to tell Dom that you were Jordan Henderson’s baby sister.

***

Anfield. Last Spring.

You flashed your Friends and Family pass to the staff, feeling a bit awkward as you looked for Rebecca and the kids. It wasn’t often that you used the ticket Jordan purchased, preferring the season tickets you’d gotten with friends ages ago on the off-chance you were recognized. The only time you did was for Derby matches, and today was no exception; the ‘Henderson 14’ burning a hole in your back as you took your seat.

The whistle blew and the match began. You were as nervous as you always were during Derby matches, your heart in your throat every time Jordan got the ball. You were always worried something would happen to him on the pitch, what with the countless injuries he’d had over the years.

You cheered along with the rest of the spectators when Mo put one in the back of Pickford’s net a couple minutes outside of the 20th. Richarlison scored moments before the end of the first half, tying it up before the start of the second.

There was a penalty call early on in the second half and your heart stopped as you watched Jordan step up to take it. He hadn’t been in good form to take a pen all season, having missed three of his four pens so far, and you peeked through your fingers, hoping the ball would slot right into the back of the net.

...

It didn’t.

It didn’t, and you were devastated. Suddenly, you didn’t want to be wearing your brother’s jersey anymore. You felt sick as all the friends and family of your brother’s teammates gave you sympathetic pats and hugs while the match wore on.

When Mo scored his second of the night, you screamed until you were hoarse. It wasn’t long after that and the final whistle was blowing and the match ended 2-1 in favour of Liverpool. You hugged Jordan tightly when he finally appeared, giving him a small smile. “Sorry about your pen.”

He stiffened and you instantly knew you’d hit a nerve. Sometimes, he was able to laugh these things off, but tonight apparently wasn’t one of those nights. “Fuck off.”

“You’ll get the next one, I’m sure.” You winced internally as the words came out of your mouth and Jordan’s expression darkened.

Your name was an angry growl on his lips as he said, “If you’re trying to make me feel better, just don’t. I don’t need your sunshine and rainbows opinion - if I want it, I’ll ask, got it?”

His condescending tone ignited your own nerve and you got in his face. “Go to hell, Jordan,” you hissed, your eyes involuntarily welling with tears at the angry confrontation. You turned on your heel and stormed off, ignoring Rebecca’s pleas for you to come back.

You sat in your car, waiting for the tears to subside. It wasn’t often that you fought with him, and to make matters worse, you’d been staying with him for a bit while you looked for a place of your own, so you couldn’t even avoid him at home.

Instead of going home, you headed to your favourite pub. It was low key, and you knew there probably wouldn’t be too many people in there so you could drink in peace. You changed out of the jersey, throwing on a t-shirt you found in the backseat of your car, not wanting to draw any more attention to yourself than usual.

“Can I buy the next?” A man’s voice asked, and you turned to find Dominic Calvert-Lewin sitting on the barstool next to yours.

“Sure,” you said, giving him a small smile. “As long as you let me buy the one after that.”

“You’ve heard, I take it?” Dom gave you a sheepish smile, ducking his head and looking away.

“I was there. Thought you had it for a minute there when that pen didn’t go in.”

“Me, too. I had a couple good shots in there, but none of them ended up going in.”

“I saw.” Dom gave you a look at your comment and the two of you burst into giggles. “Sorry, I just had to say it.”

“Clearly, you know who I am,” he started, his gaze raking over your body. “Can I at least get your name? You look so familiar...”

You debated giving him your middle name or a fake name altogether, but ultimately gave him your real name, conveniently leaving out your surname. He rewarded you with a full-blown smile that you felt all the way down to your toes; a smile that made you think about what it would be like to kiss those lips.

A couple hours later, and you didn’t have to wonder what it felt like to kiss him. His lips were on yours in the back of the Uber as the two of you headed back to his place. Another hour after that, and you were discovering all the other things his mouth and hands could do, loving the way his body felt against yours.

When you left in the morning, you felt like you had a secret that was only yours to keep - and Dom’s, of course - but this was you sticking it to your brother by sleeping with one of his rival club’s players while also getting some much-needed sex.

A week later, you were grinning down at your phone as you read Dom’s latest text.

Dom: So, when can I see you again?

***

Jordan’s House, Present Day

“We’ve got everything we need, right?” Jordan asked, frantically looking around his kitchen. The counter was fully-stocked with all the alcohol he could possibly need, there was enough food to feed an army, and everything was as it should be.

“Yes,” Rebecca confirmed, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a kiss. You shut your eyes and made a face, still not used to seeing your brother be intimate with his wife. “Everything’s going to be great. The team should be arriving in about an hour, so don’t go too crazy waiting for them, okay?”

Jordan nodded and you laughed, knowing he wouldn’t be able to do that. “Well, if neither of you need me, I’m gonna go nap in the guest room,” you announced. “Wake me if I sleep through my alarm?”

“Sure.”

You went up to the guest room, setting your alarm to give yourself half an hour to get ready for the party.

***

The party was on by the time Dom walked through the door. Someone put a beer in his hands and he made the rounds, catching up with players he hadn’t called teammates since the last call-up.

“Hey!” Hendo shouted, waving at Dom from his lounge chair by the pool. “Calvert-Lewin, as I live and breathe. How are you?”

Dom brought it in for a hug, laughing. “I’m good, I’m good.”

“I’d ask how you’re coping with losing to us yet again in the Derby, but I’m sure you had no problem finding some willing girl to console you.”

“Now that you mention it, I’ve been seeing this girl for a few months now. Hooked up with her the night we lost to you and haven’t really looked back.”

“Good for you. She coming to the matches?”

Dom shrugged. “Not sure yet. Haven’t really done much talking, if you know what I mean.”

Hendo smirked. “Nice.”

Just as Dom was about to say more, Rebecca came running over. “Jordan, have you seen your sister? I think we’re running out of drinks and she said she’d run to the store if we needed her to and well, we need her to.”

“Is she not up from her nap?” Hendo asked, his brows furrowing when Rebecca shrugged. “Okay, can you go see if she’s awake? I’ve kind of got my hands full.”

“Yeah, I-”

“Mummy!” One of the kids ran up to Rebecca, drawing her attention away. “Dom! Good to see you! Can you go wake my sister-in-law?”

“Sure. Where is she?”

Hendo gave him directions and Dom was off, searching for the guest bedroom.

“Hello?” He asked, lightly knocking on the closed door. When he got no response, he turned the handle and opened the door. “Hendo’s sister?”

***

Shit. You’d slept through your alarm and now someone was waking you up. And to make matters worse, they were calling you ‘Hendo’s sister’. “What?” You asked groggily, shifting.

“Your brother needs you.”

The voice sounded familiar but you were too tired to figure out why. “Okay. Can you turn on the light?” The sound of the switch being flipped and the light hit you. “Oh, fuck, that’s bright!” You covered your eyes, blinking rapidly to try to get used to the light.

You heard your name being whispered incredulously and you realized it was Dom standing in front of you.

***

Dom couldn’t believe it. Here you were, standing - well, technically sitting in bed - in front of him and you turned out to be Jordan Henderson’s little sister. “You’re…” He trailed off, unable to say the words.

“Yeah.” You looked down at your hands, not wanting to see the look on his face. “Jordan Henderson is my older brother.” You heard the door shut and you looked up, not expecting him to still be standing in front of you.

“Why didn't you tell me?” Dom asked, his expression blank as he crossed his arm and leaned against the door. “You’ve had plenty of chances to tell me and you haven’t. Why?”

“I just… I don’t know.” You sighed, looking up at the ceiling as you struggled to find composure. “Everybody treats me differently when they find out who my brother is, so I don’t exactly go around telling everyone I meet that my brother is… who he is.”

“But we’re sleeping together! Hell, I’ve got you in my bed more than half the nights of the week and you still didn’t think to tell me?!”

“Dom!” You hissed, fear coursing through your veins. You didn’t want anyone to overhear him even though you knew they were probably too busy with the party. “I didn’t think to tell you because I didn’t think we were that serious!”

Dom looked furious. His jaw clenched and he stormed over to you, kneeling on the bed and taking your face in his hands. He kissed you hard, pinning you underneath him and all you could do was loop your arms around his neck and kiss him with everything you had. “How’s that for serious?” He asked, breathing heavily as he pressed his forehead against yours. “I’m here, kissing you in your brother’s house where anyone could discover us, and you don’t think I’m serious.”

“I-I get it now,” you stuttered, smiling at him. “Can we just wait a little while before we tell Jordan about us?”

“Just as long as we tell him before we have to go back to being rivals, okay?”

“Okay.” You gave him one last kiss. “Now you’re really gonna have to leave because I’m pretty sure Jordan didn’t send you here to come into the guest room and kiss me senseless.”

Dom chuckled at that. “He definitely didn’t. Pretty sure Rebecca was saying something about needing you to run and grab more alcohol, too? But the point is that we need to get you out of this bed and to the right people.”

***

You couldn’t stop staring at him. Dom was right across the room, chatting it up with Rice and Mount, laughing with the two footballers. He caught your gaze, giving you a subtle wink before turning back to say something to Rice. You watched him pull his phone out, your own vibrating in your back pocket moments later.

Dom: Meet me in the guest bedroom… Five minutes

You tried to keep the smile off your face, but it was impossible. “Who’s the guy?” Came Rebecca’s voice over your shoulder.

You gasped, hoping she didn’t see Dom’s name at the top of the contacts list before you shut it off. “Uh, nobody? Just a guy I’m sleeping with.”

Rebecca gave you a look. “Just a guy?” She rolled her eyes. “Not with that lovey-dovey look in your eyes, he’s not.”

“Okay, fine,” you sighed. “He’s not just a guy, but I’m not ready to introduce him to you and Jordan, okay? He’s just...not someone I would usually date and I don’t want Jordan to lose his shit, especially with these matches coming up.”

“I see,” Rebecca said wisely, giving you a knowing look. “Just don’t wait too long, because Dominic Calvert-Lewin looks like the kind of man who won’t wait around forever.”

“How did you-?” You asked, incredulous. “Nevermind, I don’t wanna know.”

Rebecca laughed. “Don’t worry - I won’t tell Jordan. That’s something you’ve gotta do.”

***

Two Weeks Later

“We can’t keep doing this,” Dom murmured in-between kisses in one of the empty rooms of Wembley. “Tomorrow’s the last match in this run of friendlies and I wanna catch Hendo on his good side when the two of us aren’t rivals.”

You giggled, the sound morphing into a moan as he kissed your neck. “After the match tomorrow, okay? I promise.”

Dom pulled away, a serious look on his face. “I’m serious. If you don’t tell him after the match tomorrow, I’m not sure I’ll be able to continue this.”

The pit of dread grew in your stomach. You wanted to tell Jordan but you’d never shown an interest in or dated any footballers before, let alone one of his rivals. It was going to be hard to convince him that you were serious about Dom, and for the first time, you realized you were serious about him.

~~~

The day of the match, you were in the stands in your ‘Henderson 8’ kit. The ‘Calvert-Lewin 18’ was underneath, your body tense with the anticipation - fear? - of telling your brother that you and Dom were seeing each other.

All your nerves went out the window the moment Dom came on and scored after less than five minutes of being on the pitch. You were on your feet with the rest of the stadium, cheering on your man as he celebrated with your brother.

The friendly ended England’s way and you were celebrating it like they’d won the World Cup. Without a second thought, you launched yourself into Dom’s arms, both of you giddy as he spun you around before setting you down on the ground and kissing you breathless.

“What the hell?!” Came Jordan’s voice, snapping you and Dom out of your own little world.

“Jordan, it’s-” you started, but your brother was furious.

“No, I don’t wanna hear it. The two of you?!” He glared at Dom. “At my party, were you talking about my sister? To me?! You’ve got some nerve, Dominic.”

Dom held up his hands. “I didn’t know she was your sister at the time, I swear!”

“It’s true: he didn’t,” you backed up your man, threading your fingers through his in a nonverbal show of support. “I knew who he was when I started sleeping with him, but he didn’t know who I was.”

Jordan rolled his eyes. “I don’t know what I hate more: that that’s actually believable or that I’m starting to be okay with this.”

“Really?” You asked, your eyes wide. You and Dom shared a look.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to completely love this - at least not for a year or more - but you better not hurt her, Dominic. I’m serious.”

Dom squeezed your hand, nodding with a serious expression. “Yes, sir.”

You held back your giggle at Dom’s response, not wanting to ruin your brother’s good mood. You let go of Dom’s hand to go over and hug Jordan, a bright smile on your face. “Thank you!”

“Don’t thank me; just make sure he doesn’t hurt you so I don’t have to hurt him.”

An hour later when you met Dom, you couldn’t stop smiling, making sure to stop in front of Wembley to kiss him one more time before he took you out on a proper date in public.

[the-tiniest-one]

Parenting Rock Lee with Might Guy :)

Note:@xemaliahrssx here ya go! I hope it tastes just like you dreamed it would!

Sitting at the kitchen table, watching Guy and Lee devour the dinner you made, had you feeling nostalgic... You watched with your head rested on your hand. It was the little family moments that you appreciated more than anything else these days. "Yeah! and then I caught him in a cross block!" Lee said, describing their latest mission, his mouth full of food.

"Haha yes yes (y/n) you should have been there, our Rock Lee is becoming a real force to be reckoned with, much like his handsome sensei" Guy said with a wink in your direction.

"Handsome indeed" you said with a grin.

Thinking back to the days when you were a little more of a workaholic made you laugh. If you told your younger-self all those years ago that you would be Konoha's worst helicopter parent in just a few years, you'd have never believed it. Guy was a perfect match for you in that regard. You two were a well oiled machine when it came to parenting.

While Lee could do no wrong in your eyes, Guy was a bit heavy handed in his discipline of Lee's skills as a shinobi. You kissed every bruise and scrape, while Guy was teaching him how to prevent them in the first place.

Rock Lee has had more than his fair share of the short-end-of-the- shit-stick his entire life. BUT One could be forgiven for not recognizing the true level of hardship the boy has overcome in his short tenure as a shinobi. Lee is a true underdog.

Lucky for him, you've always been a bit of a sucker for an underdog.

You thought back to those early days......

Even before Lee evolved to a mini version of your childhood crush, you felt the need to protect him. Watching him fumble and practice jutsu in vain day after day.....early in the morning and into the night. You would watch him from a distance while training your own team. One early morning, you decided to check in on the boy with long black hair. He kicked at a post, counting off as you looked on...10....11.....12.....his kicks were weak even for his young age. As he got closer to 50 he fell back, overwhelmed by the pain of repetitively beating his shins into the wood without chakra to safeguard his bones.

Clearly angry at his situation, the thought occurred to you that maybe he wasn't using chakra because he couldn't....the boy had tears streaming from his eyes. It broke your heart to watch a kid who couldn't be more than 10, cursing his life.

"A kid working that hard shouldn't have to feel that defeated..." you said to yourself.

You felt conflicted. Torn between wanting to step in and takeover his training...but feeling the weight of responsibility that would come with encouraging a child to chase a pipedream that would only lead to disappointment. You knew all too well what happens to weak ninja. The reality was that it would be cruel to encourage the boy to peruse a life as dangerous as that of a shinobi. You were no slouch when it came to taijutsu but ninjas are able to compete with one another because of the advantages that come with developing kakai genki.

Could a boy with no use of chakra stand a chance against the generations of those families of ninja who use fearsome jutsu and tactics like lightning...wind....wood or even hereditary gifts like the dreaded sharingan or byakugen? The real answer was sad and harsh. No. He couldn't.

You wouldn't be so irresponsible as to tell the boy he could be anything but a failure.

If he perused that path, he would die young.

So you stood back, restraining the desire to comfort and nurture the little boy out of what you told yourself was mercy. Day after day, week after week....you watched on....until it became too much. You couldn't sleep anymore, couldn't function on missions the same way. Always thinking back to him still out at those training grounds.....always struggling.

....

One morning it was pouring rain. You called off training that day for your team and headed out to the place you knew he would be. He was there of course. He was doing his best to catch a cold while practicing hand signs to no avail. After watching him for a few minutes you finally asked, "What's your name kid?" speaking loud to project over the rain. Startled he looked up to where you stood, perched on a post a few feat away. "I...Im Rock Lee" he said timidly. You laughed at his shy but sweet face, "Im y/n" you said.

"Your kicks look like they could use some work", holding your palm about chest high, to show him where his blow should be landing. The boy grimaced...clearly angry with his lack of direction in training. You laughed and the both of you worked on his kicks for the duration of the morning.

"I think you'll be a splendid ninja someday" you said as you offered him a bit of lunch you packed. The boy looked up at you with the most heartbreaking fear in his eyes, "I can't use chakra" Lee said barley above a whisper, clearly ashamed to tell you the truth.

You ruffled his hair. "Look kid, life is shitty sometimes. But I can tell you are someone who will never quit. No matter the odds, and that is something worth more than all the talent in the world." He instantly smiled up at you, melting your heart for what would be the first of a million times. Laughing and showing you also first time you saw that shiny smile that you would come to love more that anything on earth.

From then on he was your responsibility. Your chest burned with pride in his concrete determination. Feeling instantly the protective burn and feral instinct to insulate him from anything that would hurt him.

....

It was about a year later when things evolved. You and Lee had become close. He, being an orphan as you found out he was, had taken your invitation to live in your spare bedroom. It wasn't long before you were nagging him to be sure and eat breakfast before class, take baths every night. You were often hearing your mothers voice echo in your own as you guided the child to a structure he lacked.

You even went to his parent meetings at the Academy, much to the surprise of Iruka (because he himself was 2 years older than you and had known you since you were smol) laughed when you asked to see Lee's reports.

----

Then one hot summer day you got the order... your team was dispatched on your first extended mission with your new genin. 3 months on a C rank mission to Suna. Your heart sank as you remembered Lee's graduation exam was in just a few days. Before you left, you kissed his forehead and promised a tearful Lee who had become just as attached as you over the last year, that would bring him back a graduation present.

You just knew he would finally pass.

....

Returning to the village near midnight you couldn't wait to see Lee. After giving report to Lord Third, you quickly made your way home. Quietly cracking the door to his bedroom, you peaked in to see his sweet little face. The snoring boy looked peaceful.

"He cut his hair?" you thought puzzled..."he must have done it himself, it looks a little odd." You laughed at the thought of him using a bowl to cut his hair.

Then your eyes traveled to the headband still around his forehead, "He passed!!!" you quietly celebrated, careful not to wake him up. You placed the promised gift on his dresser, a brand-new set of num-chuks you'd had made in Suna.

The next morning you were up before sunrise making a celebratory breakfast when an extreme round of knocking came from the apartment's front door.

You quickly answered, immediately flustered when on the other side was none other than Might Guy....the same Guy you'd had the hots for over a decade.

"Y/N!, I must have the wrong address! I was looking for one of my students!" Guy said in his familiar boisterous cadence. Laughing nervously you started to respond, when behind you Lee pushed his way through the doorframe. Your eyes widened at the sight.

The haircut made sense now, Lee stood side by side with his sensei. He was wearing Guy's jumpsuit... they could have been father and son.

Looking at the two of them standing side by side in front of you for the first time gave you the most jarring sense of dejavu.

"Guy sensei! Look what Y/N brought me from her most dangerous mission!" Lee brandished the weapon, beaming up at his teacher who laughed and winked in your direction. "Ah, a great choice! Only the most skilled ninja know how to use such a fine weapon! We must enlighten you at once Lee my boy!" With that the handsome jonin and your sweet Rock Lee were off to train.

You had known Guy since he was still struggling to gain entrance to the Academy, you knew that the man who radiated confidence today, only earned that ability through blood, sweat, and tears.

You apprehensively accepted that Might Guy was a good match to be Lee's sensei.

"Be careful!" you called, more than a little apprehensive at the thought of your sweet baby boy training with such an admittedly impulsive man. Feeling a small tug of sadness as you watched the two of them disappear down the street.

"Lee's getting tall..." you though as you closed the door.

....

Over the next few years Lee had grown into a strong young man. You felt such extreme pride in everything he did. Even though you being in your mid-twenties were not nearly old enough to be Lee's mother, he had taken to occasionally calling you mom.

Lee was never embarrassed of you as he grew into a teen like some of the other kids his age. He was always just as willing to give you a hug before a mission as the day you met him.

It would be a lie to say that the relationship you and Guy shared hadn't also matured along the way. Although you weren't Lee's biological parents, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that you were. Everything you had admired about Guy, his hot-bloodedness, his devotion to youthful perseverance, his love of his village had been passed down to your surrogate son.

It was only natural that you and Guy would become a team in raising Rock Lee. Over time after a few years of dinners, training sessions, birthdays, holidays etc...Guy decided to propose to you.

It was a literal dream come true. You couldn't say yes fast enough. But as required when two shinobi become married, when you went to sign the paperwork to make your marriage official, requesting a stamp of approval from Lady Tsunade....she extended to you a folder with a second set of forms.

Guy beamed as you read the contents. Adoption papers with Lee's name printed at the top in bold.

"He will always be our son. Since we are making it official... why not add one more?" Guy said with a laugh. The tears began welling in your eyes. "He's 17" you laughed, "I love you" is all you could think to say in response to the most kind gesture you have ever witnessed.

Guy held his trademark thumbs up high as he replied, "Lee will always need his mom, no matter how big he gets!" His words like music to your heart...

You'd never felt so complete as you walked hand in hand with Guy, on your way home to surprise your sweet son with the news.

Upon telling Lee what the two of you had done, he looked from the papers back to you. Confusion spread across the sweet ravenette's features. "But I do not understand" Lee said with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Have you not always been my mom?"

The innocent look in his eye and profound sincerity in his voice made tears well in your eyes for what felt like the tenth time that day. You laughed and swept he and Guy into a hug that didn't last long enough. "What's for dinner?" the two men asked in unison and in that moment you knew you were the luckiest person in the world.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

OH ANTONI 🥺🥺🥺 my poor baby. I hope he will find it within himself to come clean to Jake or SOMEONE about this :((((

(((ALSO CANT WAIT FOR MORR))))

One Two Three Four Five Six

CW: Wound cleaning, burns, touch aversion, aftermath of torture, BBU, conditioned fucky headspace

"Lift your chin for me," she commands, and he doesn't really remember that he could choose not to obey.

Antoni dutifully shifts, his eyes moving to roam over a line of framed photographs along the wall behind her. A wedding photo, faded with time, a much, much younger version of the woman currently dabbing a cotton ball dipped in something cold and stinging to the fresh burn on his throat with a man he's never seen. The two of them are smiling, holding hands, looking right into the camera.

Bright white wedding dress turned cream with yellowing paper, with time, covered in lace. Powder-blue tuxedo. Brilliant smiles.

She touches the cotton ball to his skin and he hisses, hands tightening where they grip the edges of the chair he's sitting on. The sting rockets through him, only a pale echo of the original pain, but it's enough.

It's enough.

Fuck, that's hot.

He catches the sob before it can leave his throat, forces the burn behind his eyes to stay there and not turn into tears. He will not cry over this again.

Not now.

"There we go, just a bit more," She says, her voice gruffly compassionate. She presses a small rounded bandage against his throat, her fingertips are warm against his neck.

His skin crawls at even this slight, indirect touch, but he doesn't protest.

He wouldn't dare.

"All done. That's not s'bad, I think with a good bandaging it won't scar half so bad as all its little friends down south," She mutters, more to herself than him, really.

Where her fingers touch, he feels the echoes of other hands around his throat. Thicker fingers, heavy with rings. Smiling down at him.

Beg for me, love.

"Please-" It's automatic. He's drifting, in and out of this old kitchen that still looks like it must have looked thirty years ago, when the man in the wedding photo would still be here maybe cooking or cleaning or chatting up a storm to anyone who popped by for a visit.

"Hm? You say something, sweetheart?" Miss Ruth looks at him, and those dark eyes are shrewd. They know more than anyone is supposed to, they know things Nat hasn't told her. Hasn't had to.

"Ah, no," He whispers. "Just. I am very tired."

"No doubt. I'll finish these up and you can get back to your own bed and no doubt you'll be glad to get there." She looks him over, and his eyes dance to hers and away again. Back to the photos.

He sees a family photo, the two people from before and a daughter and son. Everyone is smiling, looking carefully just off to the side. They wear matching outfits.

"Get a look at 'em?"

There's a 35th wedding anniversary picture with a big banner behind the happy couple. The two people, much older, stand in front a cake nearly as tall as they are, surrounded by others. Everyone in the photo smiles in sort of the same way.

The next photo is a birthday, he thinks. There's a boy and a young baby in the photo, and the man from wedding and anniversary photo isn't there. Miss Ruth, holding her grandbaby he thinks, is wearing all black. The photo was taken in a church, and there's a spray of white lilies just visible at the edge of the picture.

Another, with Jaden, who Chris plays basketball with. The kid who more or less effortlessly opened his life for Chris when Chris badly needed a friend his own age, or closer to it, to remember what being a kid was like.

He is reading, in images, the story of this woman's adult life. Marriage, and death, and birth. Children. Life going on.

A life he won't have, that he gave up every possibility of having, because of... of whatever is inside him that Mr. Davies knew about, that the people who just hurt him could see in him even though he cannot see it himself.

He must look like someone who deserves to be hurt.

"Young man." She taps on the back of his hand and he flinches, blinking at her, struggling to pull himself out of his reverie. Her words filter through his mind, shift into the language all his thoughts are moving in, come back out in hers. He swallows, feeling a lump in his throat that refuses to move.

"I'm... sorry," He says softly, with difficulty. "I did not hear."

"I can tell. I asked did you get a good look at whoever did this to you." Her eyes roam over his chest, his stomach. The circle of new burns, placed so carefully compared to the haphazard placement Mr. Davies had favored, no pattern at all. "Looks like they took their damn time, anyway, to get you so much."

"N-... no." Antoni's eyebrows furrow, and he tries to think, but all he can remember is their hands holding the lit cigarettes, the quiet one touching his face, ruffling his hair. He can't... he can't remember their faces at all. "I am sorry."

You're fucking gorgeous, buddy, you know that?

"Hm." If she's disappointed in him, nothing changes about her expression, still held in a kind of skeptical compassion as she wets a new cotton ball in liquid from a small frosted plastic bottle and touches it to each burn, one by one, in the circle. It's like a ritual, the sting, washing away a bit of sin with each hint of pain. He clothes his eyes and breathes carefully through it.

When he is done, each circle covered with a bandage that is shades darker than his skin, she steps back to look him over, critically. She steps away and he takes in deep breaths free of her air, the powdery scent of her. He breathes in her absence, no one nearby.

She returns with a washcloth and he takes it, scrubs at his face until his cheeks are red but clean, until you can't tell anymore that he cried while they burned him.

Good boy.

"You can stay here," She says, voice low now. "Sleep it off for a while. I've got a guest room."

"No. No, I will go home. Thank you. I will... I want to go home." He looks out the kitchen window right at Nat's house next door. No lights are on... yet. But there isn't much time before they will be.

"Fair enough. You plan to tell 'em what happened to you?"

He looks back at her, searches for the judgement, finds none.

"No," He says. Confesses, really, his sin. "I will not."

I will lie to them.

"That's your choice to make, I suppose." She lays a hand on his arm. He doesn't pull away from her. He wants to unzip himself from his skin and step out of it, let them all have what they seem to want to touch so much.

Instead, he holds himself perfectly still, until she pats him a few times and steps away again.

"I've done what I can do. You come back over here tomorrow or the day after and we'll look 'em over again and make sure they're healing up nice, you got me?"

"Yes," He says. He is good. He can be good.

"Right. Off you go, then, before your people wake up and you get to come up with a story about why you're in an old widow's house at 4:30 in the morning, hm? You're pretty enough, but you're no Wilbur." She laughs to herself, a dry and crackly sound, and he thinks that her laugh was the sort that could set a whole crowd to laughing, when she was young.

It still is.

The corners of his mouth twitch in an answering smile.

"Yes, ma'am," he says, and pushes himself off the edge, standing up again. No one has seen his scars, no one but this old neighbor woman who looks at them like they are simply part of living, not something to be pitied. "I go. S-... thank you."

"Paugh." She scoffs, waves a hand in dismissal. "Go on, now. You've thrown off my morning coffee time. Tell your young man that Jaden will be over this afternoon."

She all but shoos him out the door, and the air is clear and clean and quiet. The only dirty thing is Antoni himself, smudged and mussed, still feeling in his scalp the prickles of Quiet One's hands, still feeling on his arms the sharp pressure of the shirt tied around his wrists.

Still aware of every single burn under the slight pull of the bandages pressed over them, the gentle sting that feels like a return to how he was always meant to be.

Even the walk from one yard to another feels like too much. Antoni's eyes move over the empty darkened windows of the houses all around him. How obvious he must be, if three people saw him in the darkness and knew him for a pet pretending to be human.

He shouldn't have left, shouldn't have gone on those walks. He'd left himself open and vulnerable, hadn't he? His scars are deeper than skin, and they must shine like the streetlights to anyone who knows what to look for.

Antoni stops at the porch, where he carefully lifts a loose bit of board from the porch railing, finds the small box hidden inside. The slightest scrape of metal on metal as he pulls off the lid makes him freeze, but no one is awake to hear it. He takes the contents of the box, moves it quickly back to its hiding place, replaces the board.

Like nothing ever happened.

Everything can be made as good as new, as long as it isn't him.

He slips inside the safehouse, where everything is still quiet, in the silent inhale that comes before the exhalation of morning. The clock in the kitchen reads 4:45, fifteen minutes until Jake's alarm will go off, until he - and likely Chris - will stir.

Fifteen minutes for Antoni get upstairs and look so deeply asleep that no one will realize he was ever gone.

No time to shower.

He will have to sleep with the grime of their hands still ground deep into every single pore. He will sleep with Deep Voice's we know what you are in his ears, with Quiet One's fingers tangled in his hair, running over his skin. He will sleep with Lookout's eyes locked on his chest as he presses the cigarette in.

Antoni hasn't worn a collar in years now, but he buckles it on, just one notch too tight like Mr. Davies would have, and climbs under the covers, pulling them over his head.

He breathes in as deep as he can, to feel the constriction. Breathes out, and runs his hand up over his chest, over the bandages that cover his burns.

They knew what he was.

Everyone always will.

Good boy.

The ashtray falls asleep humming a lullaby, afraid that if he pulls the blankets back down he will see bars on the windows.