#carry-one-tater-tot

[hellfirenacht]

Anomaly Part 4

Summary: You can talk to anyone in school with no problem. At least, anyone who’s not named Eddie Munson.

Tags: Anxious-ish!Reader but not shy, one sided pining, no use of y/n, fem!reader, one sided enemies to lovers, fem!reader

Word Count: 2.2k words

Master List

“The only reason she didn’t smack you was because she broke her arm.” Gareth said before downing the rest of his soda and crunching it on the table. 

“I didn’t do anything to warrant a smacking.” Eddie said, crossing his arms. This had gone on for the past few minutes, where the guys had been hounding him about being seen with you and an ex-cheerleader. “I was a gentleman and carried her books to the cafeteria.” 

“She looked terrified to be seen with you.” Gareth was reaching for one of Jeff’s tater tots and yelped as his hand was smacked away. 

“So what else is new? Everyone’s afraid of Eddie except us.” Grant shrugged which caused the rest of the table to laugh before Eddie shot them a look that made them all shut up. 

It was a blessing and a curse being the Freak of Hawkins High. Eddie knew that most people were afraid of him here, and that’s what he liked. Having people scared of him, or at least apprehensive of him, made it easier to keep an eye on his club. People moved out of the way when he moved through the hallways now, unlike his first four years of high school when he was pushed around. 

Maybe it was because after that first senior year, Eddie had hit another growth spurt and looked more adult than most of the students. Wayne had once made a dry joke that if he cut his hair and wore a nice shirt for once he’d be mistaken for a teacher. Eddie had taken that personally and had spent his last few dollars on a metal WASP pin that weekend. 

Eddie knew he looked dangerous to the average student, and a criminal to the average teacher. When Eddie looked in the mirror, he just saw himself. 

“Did she say why she saved your ass from being expelled?” Dustin piped in, stealing one of Gareth’s tater tots while he was still trying to take Jeff’s. 

“No, but she said she fell to distract everyone over the fact that Miles shit himself during the pep rally.” Eddie deadpanned. 

“That’s the closest you’ll ever get to talking to a cheerleader, congratulations, Eddie.” Jeff said, with a mouth full of tater tots, finding it easier to shove them all in his mouth at once rather than spend the rest of lunch fending off Gareth. 

“Ex-cheerleader.” Eddie said without thinking. He wondered if Stacy blamed him for what happened. She didn’t seem pissed at him though, then again you seemed to dislike him enough for the both of you.  

“Exactly.” 

Quickly losing interest in this whole topic, Eddie pulled out his cassette player, removed the batteries, gave them a good shake and put them back in before pushing play. The rest of the club went back to talking about other things. As for Eddie, he had been listening to the same damn song for a week to get the riff right. With the rest of the club growing sick of the song, it gave Eddie an excuse to bow out of the conversation for a moment. 

He glanced back over at the table you were at for just long enough to see you and Stacy having a heated debate about something. What was it that got you so passionate right now? 

You looked frustrated, but you usually did when he was around. 

The rest of the day passed by at a snail's pace, with the days getting longer outside now and with how close he was to the end of the school year it was hard to keep momentum up. Eddie had come into this school year swinging, determined to pass those last few classes and get the hell out of here. But like anything that wasn’t D&D or music, the longer things went the harder it became. 

Senioritis was already bad, but for a 3rd year in a row? This was getting ridiculous. 

He thought back to this past summer where he sucked it up and signed up for summer school. Two classes over two months to show that he could count to twenty without taking his shoes off and say that Hitler was the one who killed Hitler and that gave him two shiny credits under his belt so that this year he only had to worry about Science and the PE class he had been skipping since middle school.

As much as it sucked, it was quick and easy and Eddie really just wished that regular school was as easy as summer school was. At least in summer school he was with the rest of the burnouts and future flunkies. No one there gave two shits about popularity. 

The final bell rang and he made his way to the parking lot towards his van. If there was one thing that his dad did right by him, it was leaving Eddie his van. His band and this piece of junk was his ticket out of Hawkins as soon as he had that diploma. 

Eddie passed the buses, taking the long way around as it was a surprisingly warm day for early Spring. 

His mind was distracted, wandering to the next time Corroded Coffin would practice- he needed to tune his guitar first, and check to make sure the amp was going to live to see another show, call Ronnie and-

THUMP

“Watch it!” Eddie turned and snapped as someone shoulder checked him as they rushed to the bus behind them. It was reflex, the past two years he’d dealt with this bullshit less and less and he wasn’t about to let it go now.

Eddie stopped as he made eye contact with you. You were gripping your arm and staring him down, caught between a snarl and a deer in the headlights. He met your gaze unflinching, until you blinked first and looked away. 

“Sorry.” you said before running onto the nearest bus. 

Shit. You probably hadn’t meant to actually shoulder check him. You had apologized, albeit reluctantly. If there was one thing he could give you credit for, you never went out of your way to be outright cruel to him. You just... didn’t like him. He could live with that for the next few months. 

Still, the sight of you running onto the bus stirred up the memory of the first time he remembered seeing you this past summer. You were always the first person on the bus in summer school. Guess that hadn’t changed. 

---

As long as you kept your headphones on and had a window seat, the bus wasn’t the worst thing in the world. You missed the freedom of being able to drive to and from school, stopping at gas stations for snacks or going to downtown Hawkins just to loiter around the shops. 

The first day on the bus was as peaceful as one could hope. Your personal mixtape was buzzing in your ear, you stared out the window as your peers were dropped off groups at a time at different stops. Some had parents waiting for them, some didn’t. You knew yours wouldn’t be. As soon as you hit freshman year, they swapped to the night shift deeming you old enough to take care of your own dinner, on your second round of summer school you saw them even less. 

Eddie was also held back, that wasn’t exactly a secret in the school and he could hardly pass as a pimple ridden teen anyway. That was also one of the reasons you seemed to gravitate to him. But while everyone knew about Eddie’s schooling history, having come to Hawkins late in your high school career, it allowed you a bit of extra discretion. Stacy was the only one who knew this was your second round of senior year. 

Your arm throbbed under your cast on the way home today, your face burning from embarrassment that you had almost had a nice conversation with Eddie earlier, but now he thought you shoulder checked him. You thunked your forehead against the window with a sigh. 

Eddie didn’t talk to you until the following Wednesday when the two of you were cornered by your teacher after the bell rang. You could see the look in Ms. Benson’s eyes what she wanted to talk about, but why was Eddie involved?

Ms. Benson handed Eddie his last paper, a C- scribbled at the top. Passing, but barely. Salt in the wound to you, and you looked down at your cast, picking at it. 

“You’re phoning it in, Mr. Munson.” she said. “I know that you don’t need this class to finally graduate but I don’t like mediocre work.”

You didn’t like that he was getting lectured when you were right there. Where was the decorum? The dignity? You wanted to crawl into the linoleum. 

Ms. Benson turned to you before Eddie could say anything. “You didn’t turn your paper in.” she said blatantly. She might as well have turned to Eddie and told him directly that you were a lazy dumbass. 

“I broke my wrist.” you said, more to the signature of Allie from gym class than to your teacher. If you had done literally anything else in class this year, then maybe that excuse could have worked, but you hadn’t and it didn’t. 

Ms. Benson took a look at you both and let out a long sigh. “I’m giving you both a chance to fix this.” she said. “I’m willing to offer you both extra credit to give you either a bonus on your final papers or replace a missing one.”

It was a good deal, a very very generous offer. Too generous-

“And what’s the catch, Ms, B?” Eddie asked skeptically. 

“I need volunteers for Spring Day.” she said. “You help with that, and I’ll give you the extra credit.” 

Spring Day was basically a free day where kids could either skip school or come for a slack off day. There were games, events happening at the gym, fields, and library, catered lunches, and plenty of ways to sneak off. 

“Sorry, no can do.” Eddie said. “I was banned from Spring Day. I have a hot date with in school suspension and you know how Higgins hates it when I cancel on him like that.” 

“I already cleared it with him.” Ms. Benson said, shocking Eddie. “As long as you stay away from the balloon pop booth.”

You saw Eddie smirk out of the corner of your eye. “I was framed, I swear.” 

“Of course you were.” She said dismissively. “So,I expect both of you to show up after school on Mondays and Wednesdays to meet me to help set this up. We only have a few weeks, and the budget is tight.”

Well, there was clearly no choice now. Just like that, you were now being volun-told to help with the one day a year you didn’t feel guilty about doing jack shit. 

“...Go away now.” Ms. Benson said, and you and Eddie didn’t need to be told twice. You turned tail and damn near ran out of the room. 

You were at your locked, struggling with the damn lock when you heard a voice next to you. “Do you think humiliation was also part of the extra credit, or are we just lucky?” 

Eddie had followed you to your locker, he was the last person you wanted to see after that. “I guess.” you mumbled, awkwardly shoving books in as you grabbed your lunch. 

You could handle feeling judged by teachers and your fellow students. That was the norm since you were a kid. God, Eddie was on his sixth year! Why did you care what he thought about you? Wouldn’t he understand better than anyone at this school what you were dealing with? 

You closed the locker harder than you meant to and Eddie winced. Shit. You had to say something to ease the tension. 

“...What did you do to the water balloons?” You asked, looking at him. Eddie smiled wide at you. 

“Allegedly I added some fun food coloring to the water.” he shrugged. “I didn’t think this school hated red and black so much.” 

You cracked a smile despite yourself. “It’s not exactly school colors.” 

“It’s not.” Eddie agreed, messing with one of his rings. His eyes darted past you, and you looked over to see Stacy walking over. 

“Eddie.” she nodded with a pleasant smile. Maybe too pleasant? No, that’s weird to think about your best friend. 

“Stacy.” Eddie nodded back. 

You had a weird feeling that there was a conversation going on, that you were in the middle of. You tried to shake off the thought, Stacy knew everyone. Stacy had a way of making everyone feel important, plus she was super pretty. You couldn’t blame Eddie for looking at her, and you tried to squash that glob of jealousy. Stacy was your best friend, she wouldn’t make a move on the guy you’ve been pining over. 

Stacy turned to you. “We’re sitting outside today with Nancy. She wants to interview me for the school paper.” 

“Wheeler?” you asked. “Uh, sure.” Stacy had so many damn accolades you didn’t bother asking which one she was being interviewed for. You’d read about it later. “Uh, see you on Wednesday, I guess, Eddie.”

“Yeah, see ya.” Eddie agreed as Stacy lead you away. 

“Wednesday?” she whispered with a glint in her eyes. “The second we turn the corner you’re talking.”

----

2 posts in one day?! Yeah lol. This fic is pure stream of consciousness so even I barely know what's happening. I have a vague idea of story beats bot otherwise this fic is always hot off the press lol.

Tag List:  @eddiemunsonfuxks @kirsteng42 @strangereads @pedroschka @generoustrashpeach

@sheneedsrocknroll92 @cyanfairywren @crocworkships @tomtomslongdong @aphrogeneias

@ghcstpyre @totheforestandtheocean @stevekeeryswife @dreamyyy222222 @ajnerdess

@sp1dyb0y1008 @projectcampbell @emxxblog @thebadbatchfan

@transparentenemypenguin @ghoulsgraveyard @spread-the-hope @exploding-bonbon @paleidiot

@2spock @c14r3v1b3srs @yujyujj @saramelaniemoon @morganlolitta

@veemoon @mrsrdlw @eddieheart @bambibiest @mylovelycrazyworld

@sassidykassidy @cultish-corner @thedoubleexposurephotography @bambibiest @wheels-of-despair

@amieinghigh

[artdcnaldson]

I have some fluffy fuzzy thoughts to share... I feel like Patrick is one of those people that babies just unexpectedly LOVE

Like imagine he's at a gathering with Art's family and someone asks him to hold their very new, very small, very breakable baby while they're in the bathroom.

Patrick freaks out expecting high pitched wails and a lifetime ban from Donaldson family BBQs.

But turns out his big strong hands are good for holding little people as well as rackets...

ohhhh <3 this is so, so important to me <3

Because Patrick is the type to loudly and frequently say he hates kids. His experience with children comes down to his older brother's hellspawn that make the pretty young au pairs he hires gray prematurely. Nasty, dirty, loud, annoying, persistent. The kind of kids that need to be told No, but never are.

Art's family is different. It takes a village, and all that. His cousin Beth is a teen mom, with a cute, fat little baby that has the same blonde curls as its mother. It has two front teeth already, a gummy little smile when Art's grandmother feeds it bites of some tater tot hotdish that would send Patrick's bubbe into cardiac arrest.

Art happily holds the baby in his arms and he seems comfortable enough. There are so many young kids running around that Patrick figures he has experience with that sort of thing. In his eighteen years of life, Patrick has managed to hold one baby, at age fourteen, when his older brother had his first kid.

The baby blinks up at him, its eyes wide and brown like Beth's are. Beth— who's off making fruit salad and dumped her kid into the first pair of open arms she could find. It's outfit is stupid— a little set of overalls with pockets that have muppets sticking out. What the fuck do babies need pockets for?

"It keeps staring at me," he complains, trying to move in front of Art to break the creepy eye contact, which doesn't work.

"Stop calling him it," Art insists, face twisting with annoyance as he bounces the baby in his arms. "His name is Noah."

Patrick sighs. "Noah won't stop staring at me. It's freaking me out, so make him stop."

Art laughs at that, grinning in that annoying way he does when he thinks he knows what Patrick's thinking. So what if most of the time he does? "What? He's a baby, I can't just make him stop. You're being weird."

No. Weird was the way that Art's family acted. He knew the detachment in his family wasn't normal, but the closeness, the joking, the passing babies and kids and hugging was weird. It was weird that they had potlucks where they would eat servings of each dish and smile even if it tasted really bad. It was weird that Art's other cousin, George, stood up with his wife and proudly announced they were trying for a baby. For all the Zweig's knew, babies arrived in cashmere swaddles carried by some endangered species of bird.

"I have to pee, dude, just hold him for a sec—" Art says suddenly, and before Patrick can do anything, the baby is shoved into his arms. It— he— is heavier than Patrick expects, so dense for something so small.

"Art—" He whisper-yells, but Art's already darting away, leaving Patrick to awkwardly cradle the baby to his chest.

Noah babbles as Patrick swears under his breath. No one seems to look his way— it's too loud for anyone to really care. Beth at least glances over to check on her kid, sees a yawning Noah being bounced in Patrick's arms. He thinks he gives a help me expression, but it's ignored.

Noah likes him. He rests his chubby little face on Patrick's Hollister polo and babbles contentedly once Patrick manages to nervously walk across the room and settle on an old, sunken in leather couch.

Tentatively, Patrick reaches out, lets the baby wrap his hand around his index finger. Noah yawns, his little face wrinkling and scrunching as he gets comfortable. The baby is asleep on Patrick's chest by the time Art returns.

The blond grins as he sinks onto the couch beside him, holding out a plate of baked goods. "Hungry?"

"I can't move," Patrick whispers. "He's knocked out, dude."

Art lifts a marshmallow lucky charms bar to Patrick's mouth and lets the other boy take a bite. "You're good with kids. Girls think that's hot."

"Shut the fuck up."

[love-and-hisses]

Happy happy birthday to this sweet former foster! This is Periwinkle, who was Tater Tot in 2020 (she was one of the Vittles, a cobbled-together litter of 15 kittens!) She is 4 years old today!

Shelly says: "We can’t believe our girl is 4! Tater Tot, now Periwinkle, is without a doubt the strangest kitty we have ever had. She is spooky, stinky and judgmental, possessing amazing ninja abilities as well as teleportation skills. She does not care to be held or cuddled but will occasionally grace your lap with her presence and purr ferociously for a few minutes until she jumps up and leaves abruptly. She will carry on lengthy conversations with you and is always disappointed at your lack of understanding. Obsessed with hunting, particularly hair ties, she loudly brings her “kills” to you as presents during the night. She is an enigma, but we love her more every day."

You can see her on Instagram at sirbrinkleypickles ! (Thanks Shelly!)

[moonspirit]

TOP 10 favourite AA fanfics? (if you have one)

Oh hello xD That's a great blog name! Does that mean more questions will follow ._.?

Anyways, my reading speed has taken a nosedive as of late; too many things have been going on and I'm trying to stick to my own writing schedule too... so my recs remain mostly the same as the previous times I've been asked. Still, here are a few of my faves:

Bury Me in the Shadows of Spring & My Yellow Light in Your Soft Whispers by @annawayne . Features some of the most compelling story-telling I've ever seen. The former is a historic AU set in the 1920s and holy shit the immersion? Anna comes armed with a deep, impressive knowledge base of history and so the fic takes you straight back in time, as if you were standing in the time period itself. BMSS is a story carrying very heavy themes, and the dive into the character's psyches is simply stellar.

As for the latter, a post-canon fic set 10 years after the Rumbling, MYLYSW is a story that takes an in-depth study into the ways that an intensely traumatic event can affect people - both the victims and of those around them. It's a wonderful telling of grief, heartache, unresolved ghosts from the past, with stunning imagery and descriptive writing. :3

Black Water & everything else in @distortedclouds 's collection. BW is, as another reader very aptly put it, the single best take I've seen on Annie's relationship with her father, and how it affects Aruani's relationship. Clouds' mastery in prose and narration is on a whole other level, and every chapter literally hurts your bones. Aside from that, all the other fics in the collection are simply wonderful reads, with everything ranging from fluff to angst to smut and everything in between! My wife is very talented you see :3 Unparalleled!

Little Bird by @aquietjune . Simply a fantastic Annie-centric post-canon story, with writing skills that simply leave you in awe. June takes a deep dive into many of Annie's issues and problems that are still left unresolved, though the world may be rid of titans. Her dedication to period-appropriate research, and the how's and why's of in-world problems make the story a truly delightful experience, and coupled with her talent of being able to tell so much in so few words, this remains one of the best post-canon fics I've ever read. Please also check out her other works, she has an uncanny ability to make you laugh until your sides hurt xD

Coveted by @honeytheriot . One of the first aruani fics I read after the S4 P3 P1 dropped in March 2023, and holy shit xD Every chapter is a smut-filled goodness and delight, and honeyriot makes it WORK with her writing!

Children of War by @/SeaTempest . Primarily a Jeanpiku fic with Aruani as a side-couple, this fic features some of the best writing I've ever seen. Smooth prose and convincing post-canon world-building, plus very good character monologues?? Hell yeah. Hasn't been updated in a while, but has plenty of content, absolutely worth a read.

Tater Tots & Heavy Thoughts by Anonymous and everything in this collection. TT&HT is a modern AU Aruani fic primarily from Armin's POV, dealing with some very dark and heavy subject matter. The writing is really good, and while I haven't caught upto later chapters, I highly recommend it. The other fics in the collection are great too :3

There are many more tbh, but my head is mushy for the moment xD However, I'll add some fics I've been following as of late!

on the path that led me to you by @the-last-thread-of-my-sanity & By Each Crime and Kindness (I'm bound to you) by @aruanimess - two Cadet Aruani fics taking place that are an absolute delight to read! Wonderful writing, wonderful characterization, lots of fluff, and the impending doom of angst~

Who painted the sky? by @dudewhy3 & Hiding in Plain Sight by @midnightraine131, two Modern AU fics that take a look into the issues Aruani deal with from their past, in a modern real-world setting. Engaging and fun, with sprinkles of heavy angst now and then.

A Force To Be Reckoned by @luciensdefenseattorney . Inspired by Bridgerton, this is a wonderfully written and highly engaging Aruani fic set in the regency era. You just want Armin and Annie to kiss and find out all about each other already.

Legends by @mimiwrites2000-fun . Canon-divergence and wonderfully written, this is an Aruani fic spanning 32 chapters and counting! Lots of emotional, heart-wrenching moments, Mimi is a writer who embraces angst with a passion and doesn't shy away from hurting you T^T

[oatmealdaydreams]

we keep this love in a photograph

Let me know if ya wanna be added on or taken off the general taglist!

Prompt: Day 4 of @oobbbear Fiddtober, Family!

Pairings: gen

Warnings: none

Summary:  Fiddleford thinks about family, and just who his family is.

Notes: this is based on the song Photograph by Ed Sheeran. I haven't listened to this song since 2016, lmao.

[Masterlist] | ao3 link

[drabble under the cut]

So you can keep me Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet You won't ever be alone Wait for me to come home

~ "Photograph", Ed Sheeran

=====

Fiddleford looks at a wrinkled, old photograph in his hand. 

There are creases, torn bits and slightly singed edges. Years of being held in an overalls pocket leak from it. Its picture is somewhat faded, sepia-hued, but still just as precious as it was when first taken. The memory-worn photo fits with a sense of familiarity in Fiddleford’s hand. In the picture itself, there poses a mother and her son, both with curly hair covering their eyes. The boy is young, only a tot, with a toothy grin on his little face. The mother has a tired smile, holding her son on her lap, geometric earrings dangling from her ears. He thumbs over the edges of the polaroid as he reads the note below the photograph. 

‘Love you, Daddy!’ is written in dark ink, messy kid lettering. 

There are two scribbled signatures under the sweet message: a sloppy T and a curvy EM. A fond, nostalgic half-smile spreads on Fiddleford’s face as he thinks of his son, of his ex-wife, of when it was just the three of them. A little family, one he helped make and raise before he…before. The smile fades slightly as he vaguely recalls leaving them for an extended period of time. 

He still has his son. His ex-wife left him, survived his robot, and is now…somewhere. He doesn’t know. It’s best if he doesn’t know, he supposes. It’s been so long. 

He looks up from the beloved polaroid, glancing out at the docs. The water glistens with the afternoon Sun, orange and golden in a pleasant way. Tater, his son, sits on the docs with his legs over the edge as he fishes quietly. There’s the smallest smile on his face that Fiddleford hasn’t seen in a long one. It’s nice to see it again.

Out on the lake is a boat, the Stan O’ War, carrying a pair of kids and their great uncle around. Stanford Pines seems oddly in his element sailing on the lake, his twin niblings chatting away with him as he throws the line out to fish. His eyebags have faded significantly from the last time FIddleford saw him. He looks…better. The old inventor feels a vaguely familiar warmth in his chest at seeing his friend relax. He looks happy. When was the last time Fiddleford saw him happy, at ease, content? He lightly shakes his head as he pockets the polaroid. 

Fiddleford walks down to the docs, joining his family for an afternoon of fishing. 

Fiddleford looks at a wrinkled, old photograph in his hand.

Taglist: @lost-in-thought-20 @thegoldenduckie @not-sure-what-im-feeling

[ninnosaurus]

Within The Shell - Prologue? Pilot?

I don't know... What to call this? Prologue? Pilot? What I DO know is that I've finally finished the first "introduction" to my giant ass topside/family AU co-created with @thatonegothicgirl and Quill, who is sadly not around on the internet anymore. This is my first time writing with THIS many characters so please, be kind. While I DO have the Bayverse as the realistic walking-talking models, I will be adding some bits and pieces from all iterations I like. Like and reblogs are always appreciated <3

And a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to my beta reader @mystics-tmnt-blog !!!

Tatum looked at her phone as hunger gnawed in her stomach before leaving her room to the main staircase.  Her father told her that after he and his family revealed themselves and moved topside, they had all gone to live their separate lives. They vowed no matter what, to dedicate at least one dinner where they all met.

Today was one of those days. And by the sound of her father shooing Tanwyn out of the kitchen, it was sushi night.

   "Tanwyn, if you don't stop eating the seaweed you will sleep on the porch!”

She heard her dad swear and her younger sister bursting with screams and giggles before Raphael came around the corner, carrying Tanwyn like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. Tanwyn playfully screamed and kicked some more as he carried her to the couch.

   "Dad! Dad, stop! I'm sorry!" Tanwyn wiggled and laughed in his grasp. Raph shook his head. “Nah. I warned ya, Tanner.” 

Tatum looked towards the hallway leading into the living room where she heard her sister yelp before getting dropped onto the couch by the older turtle before he walked back into the kitchen, chuckling at her antics.

   "Dad?"

Raphael hummed as he looked up towards her.

   "I wanted to know when we're eating." 

The older turtle glanced at his watch.  "The others will be here in two hours, if your sister stops stealing the ingredients." 

Before his daughter even got the chance to protest the long wait, he raised a finger, "if ya help me, it'll go faster."

Tatum contemplated his words before accepting his offer to help. Raph noticed her mood was less than light hearted.

"You doin' good Tater-Tot?" Raphael's voice was calm. A low comforting rumble, like distant thunder.

The youngling mumbled. "Yeah, 'm good."

  "Ya sure? I know I'm not the best at talkin' but I'm here if ya need me, ya know." He nudged her with his right arm as she wiped her hands on a stray towel, surveying the assortment of sushi.

"I know dad. It's nothing serious, I'm just not in the mood for a huge party."

Raph hummed in reply before leaning down to lightly bump his head on hers, a sign of love. "At least stay an' eat, okay?" Tatum reciprocates the gesture with a happy sound while nodding to his request.

   "Where's mom?"

He looked up at the ceiling, trying to remember. "She's out gettin' desserts with your siblings and aunt. And I think she’s pickin’ Max and Daisy up."

   "Uncle Dee isn't coming?", balancing a full tray on her arm as she opened the fridge. He chuckled. 

   "Y'know how he is. He'll waltz in just in time to eat." 

Being Mr. Punctuality himself, Leo and Loukas were the first to arrive. Always on the dot, his brothers would suspect he would sit in his car until it was time. He toed his shoes off, put them neatly on the rack and went into the kitchen with Luke before he kissed Leo’s forehead and went off to pester the kids currently fighting about what to watch on the TV.

Leonardo passed RJ who was currently grabbing plates from the cupboard; "Hi, uncle Lee!" 

Leo smiled; "Hey, kid." 

He smiled as he held up a plastic bag from one of his favorite Japanese stores. "I brought snacks!" Jenny came to greet him with a hug, and he hugged her tight. "Where's Tanner? I got her something."

   "She's in the living room." Jen looked into the bag. "What did you get her?" Seeing a variety pack of 12 of seaweed snacks. "She's going to love them, Lee!"

 He followed her into the living room where he greeted Raph with a pat on his shell and a head bonk. Raph tilted his head towards the direction of the fridge. "Ya want something to drink? Managed to find that expensive diva wine you like." 

 Leo rolled his eyes and walked towards the fridge. "Thanks!" He opens the fridge and searches until he finds what he's looking for before walking to the living room where Loukas was seen bickering with Harley about something.

 Luke's head turned towards Leo, he shook it; "No thank you, I'm good!"

Shortly after Leo arrived, the hurricane known as Mikey and his younger storms whirled into the house. Amber handed Daffodil some boxes of baked goods and asked her to put them down in the kitchen, with Daffy trotting off to the kitchen with the goodies. When she saw Daffy was out of ear shot, Amber turned to her eldest.

Rue rolled her eyes at the look her mom gave her. "What?"

  Mikey and Amber shared a look with him very slightly shaking his head.

"Nothing, sweetheart. Come on. Let's go help your sister." Amber put her hand on Rue's back to lead her out.

Before Jamie could sneak off behind their parents backs to meet their cousins, Mikey grabbed their arm; not too hard, but with authority only a dad possesses. 

  "Hey, hey, hey! Hold on, what did I tell you?"

Jamie groaned; "I am not allowed to trigger Tatum. I am not going to fight with Tatum. I will not even look at Tatum."

Letting them go, Mikey patted their back before tapping the tip of their nose with his finger. "And don't sass me.. You know me and your mother don't like it when you two fight. Off you go."

Entering the living room, the youngest was met with "Mikey!" from his eldest brothers with Leo throwing an arm over his shell to bring him in close and Raph tossing him a beer. 

 "How you doin', Mikey?" Leo chuckled as he saw Mikey close his eyes and hummed in contentment at the first sip of his drink. "Exhausted." He replied before blowing air out through his mouth. 

"We've been- Well. We've been having-" He gestured with his hand like he was looking for a proper word, "bumps! On the road with Rue."

  Raph and Leo looked at him while he talked to them about alcohol, teenagers and how his daughter kept getting herself into trouble.

 

The kitchen was buzzing with life with the arrival of Alice, who was currently having a chat with Amber.

“Is Donnie coming tonight?” Amber looked at Alice who just shrugged with one shoulder.

“Maybe. He hasn’t been picking up my calls today.”

“Not at all?”

Alice shook her head. “Jen was kind enough to come pick me and the girls up.” A yelp from the living room made them both turn. Amber sighed in annoyance as she heard the voice of her youngest scream something. A barked out “hey!” and several angry stomps from her husband shortly before an angry Jamie was plopped down in the kitchen. Mikey pointed an angry finger at them. “You. Stay.” 

Amber looked at her kid before she knelt down in front of them. “Jamie…”

 Just as Jen and Amber were about to be seated at the dinner table, loud music could be heard down the road. The brothers looked at each other and laughed. Donnie was about to arrive and make his entrance.

   "Always on time to eat." Leo mumbled before taking a sip of water.

The youngest kids ran towards the windows facing the driveway. And just like predicted, within a few minutes Donnie was seen parking diagonally over Raph's driveway. Effectively blocking both Mikey and Raph's cars from backing out, Mikey stood up as he saw it and gestured "what the fuck?!" towards Donnie who only greeted his brother with a laugh and a bow

   His own way of being the middle child shit he was known to be.

Donatello walked through the kitchen where he greeted his wife.

“Hi, my love.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. It was chaos at the hospital.”

Alice just hummed in reply. “Didn’t think you would come at all.” Her tone made his blood feel cold. Stepping up next to her he nosed the top of her head. 

“I’m sorry. I love you.” 

She tilted her head up towards him, smiling. “Come on, it’s time to eat.”

In the dining room, Donnie walked up to his daughters. Each of the twins getting a “hi, honey”, him being greeted with a “hi dad” as they looked up at him.  Sometimes it felt like they hadn’t seen their father for months, even if it’d only been a day or two of him working overtime. 

As Alice and Donatello sat down, they all greeted him with waves, hellos, shell pats, and offered him a glass for his wine.

Silence fell over the table. It was… thick. Heavy. Everyone could feel something brewing and hiding under the surface of smiles and “I love you”s. But they also knew the dinners were sacred. The heavy ice lingering above the table is forgotten if only for today. Yes. If there was one thing Donatello never missed, it was the yearly family dinner.

TAGS! @redsrooftopprincess @thelaundrybitch @avery73 @sophiacloud28 @iridescentflamingo @the-cauldron-witch @thegirlwiththeninjaturtletattoos @scholastic-dragon @avery73

I think that's all of you!

[guess-my-next-obsession]

Meet Me In The Hallway, Chapter Eight:

pairing: frankie morales x f!oc (Dylan Jones)

rating: E (18+ only, oral (m&f rec), come play/eating?, unprotected piv but really just like c!warming?, mostly just a bunch of dad!frankie fluff)

wc: 3.3k

series masterlist | frankie masterlist

“I’m going to Disney, I’m going to Disney, I’m going to—“

“Drive me crazy,” Frankie mumbled under his breath as he carried his five year old on his hip out to the car, her sparkly pink Mickey ears already on.

“Can we stop at McDonald’s for breakfast, daddy?” Rina asked as Frankie set her in her booster seat and buckled her in as Dylan came outside and lugged her suitcase behind her.

“Sure,” he said, placing her favorite blanket over her lap before giving her his tablet in hopes of distracting her from the road-trip ahead of them.

“Frankie, could you—“

Frankie was over in an instant, taking Dylan’s suitcase from her so that he could lift it into the trunk of the SUV.

“Is that everything?” he asked, resting one hand on the opened latch of the trunk and the other on his hip.

“Think so,” she replied with a small smirk growing on her lips at the sight of him standing there in full dad-on-vacation mode. “I heard talk of McDonald’s?”

Frankie laughed and nodded, the two of them moving away from the car so that he could shut the door. Leading her over to the passenger side, he opened her door for her and watched her climb in, chancing a tap on her ass that was thankfully met with a giggle.

“Keep your hands to yourself, Morales,” she grinned, letting him close her door before walking around the hood to the driver’s side and hopping in.

“Alright, ladies. McDonald’s?” Frankie asked as he started the car and checked his rearview mirrors.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah—“ Rina went on with a new song to drive Frankie crazy with, his head shaking as Dylan turned to him with a laugh.

“Put some music on,” he commanded gently, showing her how to use his stereo’s bluetooth setup before backing out of the driveway. “Only way to shut her up for the next two hours.”

“Rina, what do you wanna hear?” Dylan asked, turning in her seat to talk to the little girl who was busy playing a game on her father’s tablet.

“Ummmmmmmm…Moana!” she decided, giving Dylan a bright smile.

“Coming right up.”

Frankie couldn’t help his smile as Dylan queued up half of the Moana soundtrack without a care in the world, the two of them singing “How Far I’ll Go” at the top of their lungs all the way to McDonald’s.

“Alright,” Frankie chuckled as he pulled into the drive-thru line, turning the dial to silence the music. “What do you beauties want?”

“I want a McGiggle,” Rina said. “And orange juice.”

“A McGiggle?” Frankie chuckled. “McGriddle, baby. And okay, do you want a hashbrown too?”

“Duh,” she said, earning another chuckle as Frankie turned to Dylan, his hand coming to rest on her thigh.

“What about you, baby?” Dylan flushed at the term of endearment and rested her hand on top of his.

“I’ll take a McGriddle and orange juice, too. No hashbrown, though.” Frankie gave her an offended look, tugging his hand dramatically from her to rest over his heart.

“How dare you?” Dylan laughed and reached for his hand, bringing it back to her lap. “This is a watershed moment for us. No hashbrown?”

“I just don’t like ‘em,” she giggled. “I like all other versions of potatoes—well, not tater tots—“

“Too close to a hashbrown,” he guessed and she nodded. “Well, I guess I can overlook this one flaw.”

After grabbing their food, the trio headed out onto the interstate with Disney music as the score for their journey. Dylan’s fingers were laced with his, his eyes constantly flickering to watch her as she sang along to the music, her eyes scanning their passing surroundings with a content smile. Unable to stop himself, he lifted their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of hers just to watch her smile.

“This was a good idea,” he said softly, smiling at her. “Rina’s so happy, I’m so happy.”

“I’m so happy, too,” she cooed, running her free hand over his forearm. “Can’t wait to see her meet Mickey and Minnie. She couldn’t shut up about them last night.”

Frankie thought back to the night prior, the Disney movie marathon/slumber party Rina insisted on forcing the three of them to sleep on the sectional in the living room. Rina chose to cuddle up with Dylan rather than her father, but he wasn’t hurt by it in the slightest. In fact, the sight of the two of them snuggled up together actually almost brought him to tears.

Rina never had a mother, only a grandmother who tried her best to fulfill that spot, but now she had someone who was actively trying to be that for her even when Frankie never pressed for it.

“You guys were fucking adorable,” he said. “I took a picture of the two of you cuddled up and snoring without a care in the world for me.”

“You think you don’t snore?” she teased. “Please.”

“It’s charming when I do it,” he smirked. “There’s a certain grace to the way I snore—“

“Oh, shut up,” she laughed before turning the music down. “Ri, your dad said we were snoring last night.”

“Daddy, you snore! Not me,” she said, looking at the back of his head sternly.

“What about Dyllie?” he asked, looking into the rearview mirror.

“She snores too.” Frankie laughed and squeezed Dylan’s thigh until she was giggling and pushing his hand away.

“It’s fine,” he said, rubbing over her leggings to soothe his pinching. “We can snore together and be happy.”

“Sounds good, Morales.”

Rina hadn’t stopped squealing since they put the car in park at the Wilderness Lodge Resort, and for once, Frankie was cheering her excitement on, hoisting her onto his shoulders as they made their way up to the hotel room accompanied by the bellhop in charge of their luggage.

“Daddy, when can we go on rides?” she asked, drumming on her fathers hat.

“I don’t know. You didn’t take a nap on the way here so you might need one,” he said, glancing at Dylan as she walked beside them, the hope of getting her alone for just a minute outweighing his desire to head out to the park.

“I promise I won’t get grumpy, daddy,” she whined, hugging his head in hopes of charming him.

“How about you take a little, tiny nap and then we can go? Just thirty minutes,” he bargained, earning a defeated sigh.

“Fine.”

“Alright, here’s the suite,” Dylan said, pulling out the keycard to unlock the door before turning to the bellhop to give him a tip.

Frankie set Rina down and let her burn some energy out by running around the two-bedroom suite while he helped lug their bags into their respective rooms.

“Daddy, can I share a room with Dyllie?” Rina asked as she jumped on the sofa, making Frankie laugh.

“I don’t know, bebé. I thought me and Dyl would share a room.”

Dylan held in her laugh at the arguing that ensued over who she’d want to share a room with, Frankie’s mini me putting her hands on her hips just like her father always liked to do.

“Dyllie, how about you pick,” Rina said, full of sass.

“I did promise your dad I’d share a room with him,” she said, walking over to scoop her off the couch and onto her hip. “You know how he gets scared of the dark.”

“That’s true,” she sighed, tipping her head onto Dylan’s shoulder. “Okay, daddy. You can have Dyllie.”

Frankie smiled and walked over, stealing his daughter into his arms to carry her off to her bedroom with a kiss on her temple. “Thank you, bebé.”

After making sure Rina was changed into her PJ’s and tucked peacefully into bed with her favorite movie, Moana, playing in the background, Frankie made his way into the living area of the suite, finding Dylan in the other bedroom unpacking her bag onto the spare bed in the room. Walking up behind her, he slid his hands around her waist and hugged her tight to his body, his lips pressing against her shoulder.

“Hey, baby,” he mumbled against her skin.

“Hello,” she purred, reaching back to scratch at his curls. “Rina down?”

“Mmhm,” he hummed, letting his hands wander to her hips. “You wanna fool around?”

Dylan laughed, turning around in his arms.

“We don’t have very much time,” she warned with a smile, earning a shrug.

“Enough time to take care of you,” he said. “All I care about.”

“What if I wanted to take care of you?”

“We could do both,” he suggested, leaning in to kiss her softly. “A little 69.”

“Mmm,” she hummed against his lips and nodded, giggling as he pulled away to shut and lock the door. “Eager, are we?”

“You have no fuckin’ idea,” sighed, returning to her to practically pick her up over his shoulder and throw her onto the bed. Dylan was a giggling mess as he tugged her leggings and panties off and let them fly over his shoulder before stripping himself down. “Rina cockblocked me last night, I’m a desperate, desperate man, baby.”

“Well, come here,” she curled her finger at him, welcoming him between her thighs.

Frankie’s warmth covered her like a blanket, his arms slipping beneath the dip in her spine to hug her close to his chest as he kissed her languidly, his hips rocking slowly into hers. As she parted her lips to let out a moan, he slid his tongue over hers, tasting the sweetness he’d been dreaming about all night and morning.

“You taste so good, baby,” he mumbled against her cheek as his kisses trailed lower, her body covered in chills from the tickle of his beard against her neck.

“Roll over,” she demanded, pulling his face away from her neck to look into his lust drunken eyes. “We don’t have time for you to worship me right now.”

Frankie let out a breath of a laugh and nodded, rolling onto his back while she tugged her shirt over her head and let it drop onto the floor.

“Come have a seat,” he said, gesturing at his face. Dylan chuckled and obeyed, swinging her leg over his head to straddle it while her body draped over his, her cheek resting against the soft curve of his stomach. Frankie palmed the globes of her ass, spreading her open and groaning at the sight of her above him, his cock twitching as he pulled her down onto his tongue and tasted her.

“Fuck,” he mumbled against her heat, pulling a soft moan from her chest as the tip of his tongue made careful but firm circles around her swollen bud. “So sweet, baby.”

Gripping his throbbing length in her hand, she squeezed him at the base just to feel him moan against her, the sensation making her eyes roll back in her head.

“Jesus, Frankie,” she sighed, warmth already spreading from her center down her thighs and up her spine. Stroking him, she lowered her tongue to collect the bead of arousal that leaked over his thick head, causing him to squeeze where he was gripping her ass, his hips bucking up to try and press into the warmth of her mouth. “Your dick is so fucking pretty, baby. Could have you in my mouth all day long.”

“Shit,” he groaned, pulling his mouth away from her to voice his plea. “Suck it, baby. Please.”

Dylan could feel herself weep onto his tongue at the desperation in his voice, a wanton moan slipping from her lips as she eagerly obeyed, taking him into her mouth.

Frankie groaned, his eyes fluttering closed as she worked her way deeper and deeper down his thick length until she was gagging on it and stroking what her mouth couldn’t reach. While some men might have been content to sit there and relish in the pleasure, her skill only made Frankie try even harder to bring her to the same heights she was bringing him, and judging by the way her thighs were shaking around his head it seemed as though his efforts were paying off.

Pulling off of him with a pop just to stroke his slick cock in her hand, Dylan’s hips started to grind down on their own accord, chasing the high that was right there.

“Frankie, baby,” she whined. “I’m so fucking close, don’t stop.”

“Me too,” he panted in between sucks to her clit.

Dylan lowered her lips back to his cock, sucking and stroking in tandem just to hear him whine beneath her.

“Baby—” he warned, cutting himself off by bringing his tongue back to her. Dylan felt her entire body tensing with her impending release and pulled off of him again with a whine.

“I’m gonna fucking cum,” she moaned, stroking him in her palm, the slick squelch of her palm against his thick shaft filling the room. Frankie’s toes started to curl and Dylan’s thighs attempted to clamp shut as they both reached their highs at the same time, trying to remain as quiet as possible. “Fuck, Frankie.”

She watched as his release poured over the head of his cock and onto her fist while she continued to pump him, her mouth watering at the sight. Lifting herself off of him and flipping herself around to face him, she lined him up with her entrance and surprised him by sinking down to his base and keeping him there while she licked her hand clean.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he panted, keeping his eyes locked on hers as she took each finger into her mouth and sucked off his release with a sinful smile, his cock throbbing inside of her as her walls twitched around him. “I think you just killed me.”

Dylan smiled, sated and completely relaxed as she leaned forward to lay her head against his chest while he drew lines up and down her back.

“You took the whole happiest place on earth thing literally,” he joked, earning a rumble of laughter.

“Had to start our first trip together off right,” she mumbled against his skin as she pressed soft kisses to his chest. “Do you think we were too loud?”

“Nah,” he said, breathing in a sharp breath as she lifted herself off of him and climbed off the bed. He watched her walk away to the en-suite, admiring the jiggle of her backside for a second before he was standing up and joining her in the bathroom.

“Quick shower then wake up the princess?” Dylan asked as she turned the water on, Frankie’s arms hugged her waist from behind while he nodded.

After the couple had showered off their romp, they woke Rina up and got her dressed in her first costume of the trip: a Belle dress with a matching tiara that her grandmother had bought for her just a few months before her passing. Frankie was choked up over the sentimental meaning of it, keeping his daughter in his arms or on his lap as they rode the Monorail from the hotel to the Magic Kingdom park.

Dylan couldn’t help but fill her camera roll with pictures of them smiling and laughing together or tender moments when Frankie couldn’t help but to kiss his daughter’s temple and squeeze her tight. Rina, oblivious to her father’s emotional state, eventually started to groan at his affection, and Frankie being the understanding man he was begrudgingly agreed to give her some space, letting her sit in her own seat to watch the passing sights while he leaned his head on Dylan’s shoulder with a childlike pout.

“My baby’s growing up,” he said, earning a coo and Dylan’s arms wrapped around him to console him. “She doesn’t want me to be all mushy anymore.”

“She’s just excited,” she reassured, kissing his forehead. “I’m sure tonight she’ll be climbing into bed to snuggle with you.”

“We’ll see,” he said, still frowning as he sat upright and turned to his daughter, her face alight at the world around her. “She’s just too cute. How am I supposed to not want to squish her little face?”

Dylan laughed and reached to hold his hand, her thumb rubbing gentle strokes against his skin. “She looks so happy.”

“I know,” he smiled, turning to his girlfriend. “I’m happy too. Being here with the two of you is the best vacation I could ask for, even if our wallets are going to be aching after this weekend.”

“I love you,” she cooed, leaning over to press a chaste kiss to his lips. “I’m more than happy to drain my bank account to be here with my favorite people in the world.”

After a long day of riding rides and staying late enough at the park to watch the fireworks, Dylan and Frankie found themselves slugging back to the hotel with Rina fast asleep in Dylan’s arms, her head nestled on her shoulder.

“I could take her,” Frankie offered as they walked through the lobby to the elevator. “I know she gets heavy when she sleeps.”

“No, I don’t wanna wake her up,” she said, giving him a sleepy but sincere smile. “She looks so peaceful.”

“She’s gonna sleep like a rock tonight,” he said, pressing the button to the elevator with the hand that wasn’t carrying the bag full of Rina’s new stuffed animals. “I don’t know about you but I’m fucking exhausted, baby.”

“I am too,” she yawned. “Maybe we can save our plans for the morning?”

“Or the middle of the night,” he winked.

“That works too,” she chuckled and leaned back against the wall of the elevator while Frankie’s phone chimed in his pocket. She watched him pull it out, read the message, and frown at whatever it said, piquing her concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Santi…texting me some bullshit about wasting money,” he sighed, locking his phone and stuffing it back into his pocket before letting his head fall back against the wall. “He thinks he’s my fucking dad.”

“Yeah, I don’t really know why he’s so concerned about what you’re doing with your life and your money and your family,” she said, trying to keep her voice soft so as to not disturb the sleeping angel in her arms.

“He just thinks I owe him what he deems success because he was there for me during the hard times,” he said. “But I’m not the same guy I was even a year ago, you know? I…have new dreams and plans and—I just wish he’d give me some fucking credit. I may not be where he wants me to be, but I’m doing okay.”

“And it’s not like he’s making six figures,” she added. “He manages a fucking body shop.”

Frankie let out a breath of a chuckle and nodded. “Don’t say that to him, you’ll bruise his ego.”

“Maybe it needs some bruising,” she shrugged. “I just don’t like that he’s on your ass like this when you’re doing fine. You pay all your bills, you take care of your daughter, who fucking cares if you take a little trip after the year you’ve had?”

Frankie gave her an adoring frown as the elevator reached their floor, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“I’m so glad you came into my life, Dylan,” he said, pressing his lips to her head. “Into our life.”

“I love being in your life. Both of you guys. I…it feels like I won the most insane and best prize in the world here,” she said, leaning against the doorframe of their room while Frankie unlocked it with a grin.

“We’re both winners,” he smiled, meeting her eyes. “I love you, Dylan.”

“I love you, Frankie.”

[wellthebardsdead]

Clow Good end 1 pt2 (Infernal Stalemate/Paved with Good intentions)

Part 1 here

———

*6 months later*

Clow: *arrived to withers party in a burst of hellfire, tail swishing slowly and icy horns glinting in firelight as he walks between circles of his friends reminiscing and enjoying company he’d been without for a while* godfather- I- all I did was get rid of your engine and give you your heart back and you’re giving me that honour?! I-

Karlach: *now several months pregnant after Clow used his new found powers for the first time to help her* only?! You’ve really no clue how much everything you’ve done means to us do you you dingbat! Yes we want you to be our tater tot’s god father! We’ve already decided their middle name will be Do’Urden!

Wyll: and our next ones middle name will be Clopin!

Clow: *visibly tears up and sets his drink down* c-can I have a hug please?

Wyll & Karlach: *both smile seeing how far he’s come since they first met*

Karlach: oh sweetums you didn’t need to ask- *pulls him into a hug with Wyll, before immediately pulling away and grabbing the collar of his shirt, pulling it down as she sees a bruise* has he been hurting you?!

Wyll: gods- *looks to the other side of his neck* did he choke you?! What is-

Clow: *visibly blushing knowing what they’re actually looking at* no he didn’t choke me- th-those are- *coughs* l-love bites. He and Haarlep got carried away again.

Karlach: Again- I, so he’s not hurting you then?

Wyll: you can tell us if he is Clow we-

Clow: he’s not hurting me, I promise, not without… my consent at least. *looks down with a shy playful grin* they take good care of me… I promise. *smiles and hugs them both again before walking off to continue mingling* I’ll see you both later.

???: Clow?…

Clow: … *turns around to see Gale standing behind him* …

Gale: I know I’ve no right to tal-

Clow: *pulls him into a gentle hug and smiles as he lets go and steps back* you don’t have to be sorry… my plan still worked out in the end… we get the hammer, Mystra gets the crown. My soul gets sacrificed. I expected to be enslaved for eternity or violently tortured and compressed into a soul coin but… Raphael had other plans.

Gale: I… sacrificed?… you were going to give me the crown?…

Clow: Mhm. I knew I couldn’t give it to Raphael in the end and he certainly lets me know how upset he is about it. And you needed the orb gone. So, give up my life to fix yours and save millions more. I never really had a life or concept of freedom to begin with and… it’s been good. Raphael treats me very good. It’s been an adjustment being a devil at his side and all and no longer needing food or having a great concept or grasp of passing time. But… I’m getting there.

Gale: you… You only just got your freedom, a chance to live life on your terms and I took that away from you. Now you’re stuck with that fiend how- how are you not angry? At me? At him?!

Clow: *sighs* Look. you did what you thought was right. And so did I… besides… *smiles and swishes his tail* I love him… *gives him another hug* goodnight, Gale. *walks off*

Gale: *standing there mortified that he could just be okay with all this* goodnight… *looks over at Wyll and Karlach before nervously approaching* Karlach… do you know anything about the sword of Zariel?

Karlach: just that it’s surrounded by an ever growing scab, why?

Wyll: what’s wrong Gale?… *looks past him to see minthara creeping up on him*

Gale: I think… I might need the blade if Raphael and Clows relationship isn’t all he’s telling u-

Minthara: *grabs Gale by the nape of his neck and yanks him back* You three listen to me and you listen very well. I did not cast aside my distaste for water and spend hours swimming until I collapsed to search for his body after you attempted to kill him just for you to try and ruin his life again. He has a good thing now, an existence he is happy with, and so help me I will end you if you attempt to take that from him. *lets go and storms off after Clow with a huff*

*a few hours later*

Clow: *returns to the house of hope and immediately runs and jumps into Raphael’s arms as he sees the devil waiting for him* I’m back!

Raphael: I’m glad~ how was your little party?

Clow: good, everyone is doing very well!

Raphael: that’s good- *gives him a kiss and whisks him away back to their room* welcome home, my love…

[suicidalgamergirl]

Intervention With A Vampire

Or AA’s Juicebox.

****

The bus dropped her off and she started walking to her apartment. Entering the main building, she placed her small bag of groceries aside and checked her mail. There was a birthday card.

Another reminder on how old and alone she is. She should be grateful, but her interactions with her ex, had turned her into a bitter old hag.

Least helping a bat out didn’t seem too bad. Maybe she can make videos of feeding the bat. Perhaps she’ll make some new friends.

She entered her apartment and put the fruits she purchased in the fridge. She placed the card on the counter. She then felt there was something amiss. She looked around and saw the balcony door left open.

Shit. Someone was here.

She rushed to the balcony. The bat house was empty. Did the bat flee? Was there an altercation?! Did someone hurt the poor little fellow?! White bats were extremely rare, especially during Covid restrictions. Poor bats were culled due to said illness.

She went back to her purse and put out a box cutter. She looked around as she closed the balcony door. Something in her made her feel like someone was here in her place. She couldn’t shake off the feeling. She had to do something. She had to think quickly. There was no one in the other rooms in her apartment.

Except her room.

Carrying her box cutter, with the blade out stretched, she entered her bedroom.

There was someone right there. On her bed was a well dressed gentleman. He had silvery white curled hair and seemed to be paying attention to her journal. Said book she writes in as she tries to quell her depression thoughts and shares her journal with her social worker.

Great another man. Another man who will just act like Ken. Another person who thinks she’s nothing but a fat fuck, a worthless 32 year old woman who who will never satisfy anyone, due to her fucked up insecurities.

She had to do something.

****

The vampire hunters were at a dinner. Some had eggs benedict, others had scrambled eggs with tater tots and brown toast. Layla hummed to herself, looking at her tablet and scanning news reports for a bloodless victim.

There were no such reports.

Yet.

Rolan, looking at his teammates. He should be glad with the news of no bloodless victims.

But now their hunt was at a standstill.

And the Vampire Ascendant was free roaming in this city.

****

He scans through her writing, his crimson eyes taking in every page. Unlike other journals he had seen, this one lacked pictures of the owner. He can feel the emotion in the words, the owner is clearly in a great deal of pain, they feel scorned and rejected.

Humans, always so caught up in their own little world, spending their short lives distracted by inner thoughts

"What the?!" a voice cried out.

Raising his head, he lowered the journal and turned towards the voice. In front of him he saw a plump woman with short hair, dyed in two colors. She appeared almost like the vampire hunters in his domain. Although, none of them would be brave enough to approach him alone, with such a pathetic weapon. He almost laughed, then caught himself and smirked instead.

This must be the journal’s owner.

“I dunno who you are…” she stated in the situation as she held the box cutter, “but I’m not going down without a fight!”

Such passion she was boasting. She was acting the complete opposite of what was written in her journal. He loved his meals being spicy. Oh, how delightful it’ll be just to taste her savory blood on his lips.

She stared down at him. She noticed his curls were oddly similar, like she had definitely seen them before.

No, it couldn’t be.

She recalled the white bat she saw sleeping in the bat house. He had the same exact curls on said bat’s head.

She lowered her box cutter, but kept herself very defensive. He seemed interested in her flustered cheeks.

Of all the trashy paranormal romance novels she had been reading after she ditched Ken, due to his infidelity. That white bat she helped rescue was no albino fruit bat as she thought it was…

But an actual vampire bat.

Realization of a vampire on her bed, who was calmly reading her journal made her flustered in embarrassment.

[luulapants]

WHOSE IDIOT WON

(Regarding my bff's chess proxy war in which she and a boy in class battled idiots against one another.)

Short answer: the boy in class's idiot won.

Long answer: let me share with you the cast of characters. Some names have been changed.

Ani, the boy in class. A member of the advanced placement program. Overachiever. Loud talker. Enjoys getting into arguments with other students, especially when he knows he'll win. Calls people stupid a lot.

Liz, my bff. Did not get into advanced placement because she has a lifelong problem with authority and resented being given the exams. Now resents not being in advanced placement but won't admit it. Death glare that makes adults deeply uncomfortable. Enjoys getting into arguments more than anyone on this earth.

Tom, Ani's idiot. Acts stoned, but won't actually start smoking pot until middle school. Always seems to be in slow motion. Carries tater tots in his cargo pants. Once tried to carry wet melon slices in his cargo pants. Shockingly NOT the glue eater in kindergarten but became best friends with the glue eater, presumably because he liked his ideas.

Carrie, Liz's idiot. Perpetually trying to create the kind of drama that will make her feel like she's on television. Creates problems on purpose just so she can have a sobbing moment of confession to someone who knew what she did and doesn't care. Would call 911 if someone said the word "sex" to her, then insist to police that she didn't know what the word meant.

To this day, Liz insists that her critical mistake was trying to teach Carrie chess on the infamous glass chessboard with clear and frosted pieces that are impossible to tell apart. More likely, her critical mistake was that Tom was ideally suited for an activity that required him to quietly sit and stare and mull over things for ten thousand years, while Carrie sat through two minutes of instructions, thought "this is boring" and started fantasizing about breaking the chess board and then crying while apologizing.

[trivialbob]

The other bag of candy we have for tomorrow isn't large. It's all the same item too. So I bought another package, to have a mixture to hand out.

As soon as I opened the bag (to put the little bars in a container) that Halloween smell hit me. Assorted chocolate bars.

It reminded me of being a kid, wearing a super cheap plastic Frankenstein's monster mask held on with a thin band of elastic. I carried a pillow case because it held more loot and wouldn't break open like plastic bags. I'd also be sniffling behind that mask because it was cold outside. Good times :)

The scent also reminded me of something three decades later: Looking through candy my sons had amassed on Halloween night and collecting the daddy tax. I usually took some Smarties and Twizzlers.

Holy cow, that candy I bought--like everything else--is a lot more expensive that it was a few years ago.

While at the store I also got a side for dinner. Ore Ida Tater Tots (yum!) are now $5.99. Not long ago they were $3.99 and sometimes on sale for $3.49. I fondly remember one big sale where they were $2.99. Oh those were the days.

Instead I went with the store brand and save two bucks.

We might get some measurable snow tonight. It won't last long, but I'm getting excited for winter. I did more yard work and mulched leaves. When I was done I was sweaty, dusty, and hungry.

Those store brand tater tots paired nicely with a pub burger I grilled outside.

[msweebyness]

Class of Heroes AU: Another HC Post

Ya girl had another random burst of inspiration, and this was what resulted from it. As always, credit to @imsparky2002 and @artzychic27! Enjoy!

The heroes regularly have ‘Feelings Circles’ (I like these, okay?) where they all come together and can share whatever they feel they need to, from emotional issues to academic problems to crisis management. They pass around Ondine’s dinglehopper as the ‘speaking stick’ and everyone leaves feeling better than they did prior. They give these gatherings quite a bit of credit for the closeness and trust between them.

Marinette owns eight different swords, each one given a name relating to how she got it. They are all mounted on the wall of her room and she uses them interchangeably.

As a member of the royal family of the Pride Lands, Mireille's roar is loud enough to cause shockwaves that shake the entire school as well as shattering windows.

Lacey is the only fairy in Neverland whose wings emit a sound like bells when they flutter. This has earned her the nicknames 'Jingles' from Simon.

Alya has learned to cook all of her friends' favorite foods in order to comfort them if they're feeling down.

Kim, Denise, and Ivan (much like in the MonsterVerse) have been christened the 'Buff Squad' by a few of the others. They have frequent group workouts and lifting sessions (which their partners love watching).

They will also happily carry any of their friends to their destination if they're tired or just not feeling up to it. They're just nice like that.

Aurore, Nino and Lacey have a special Fairy Squad handshake, where they stand back-to-back and flutter their wings in unison.

When Max is very stressed or extremely zoned into a project he's working on, he will communicate through Morse Code.

Ondine loves the song Baby Shark, completely unironically. She listens to it all the time. She likes it so much that the others actually sang it for her on her birthday.

Rose usually has her head in a book, and by this point, she's completely memorized the school halls so she never bumps into anything.

Alix has something small she's taken from each of her friends that she keeps in a special box to remember them if she ever ends up alone on the streets again.

Reshma has a giant pet Venus Flytrap that she grew herself. It's name is 'Precious'.

There are only two things, three words that can wake up Nathaniel from his sleep: "Marc" and "Tater Tots".

Leave thoughts in the comments and reblogs!

[crusty-chronicles]

Uhhhh i kinda just wanted to put some ideas I’ve had when reading ur ging hcs since I was kinda imagining y/n towering over ging just cuz 🤷

Like giving ging nicknames like papa Smurf, minion, short stack or patty cake, in an endearing way of course or just the reader suddenly picking him up if he’s being stubborn over stupid shit and dragging him around despite the little collar backpack?? Thing he put in us so we don’t get lost . Maybe like crouching in the ugliest way possible or getting on the ground to see eye to eye cuz I was thinking like he would have to Crain his neck up since he would only be able to see our Tatas or something idk this is kinda dum 😍🗡️

No, you are so right. Gings just exudes short king vibes and in this specific scenario, he's gotta have a himbo or Amazonian S/o. You ever see a mastiff just drag the owner across a yard? That's Ging if he doesn't use nen to keep you still. This is y'all and I will die on that hill.

Can confirm he goes flying if Y/n sees something cool and runs towards it. Like he'll be talking to vendor and all of a sudden he's being dragged through the town because you saw a butterfly.

He learned his lesson so everytime you go out, he's constantly using nen so he's prepared when you pull. (Definitely dislocated his shoulder a few times.)

Can totally see them calling Ging fun sized when they want to embarrass him. Also Papa SMurf???? Has me cackling. Definitely when Y/n finds out about Gon.

I feel like in this specific scenario, Y/n has too much golden retriever energy to really tease Ging about his height. Like it does not compute for them that he's a little stinker.

However- they will use cutesy terms when describing him.

"Ging? You mean my little guy? My tiny tater tot? My grumpy little armrest?"

And he hates it.

Does not like when you stand behind him because he is in titty range and it's emarrasing. In private tho? He's cuddling. The masterlist header? That's him.

If he ever gets upset and you pick him up, he's seething.

"Put me down and let me kick this guy's ass!!!"

"No, he didn't do anything."

He will bite if you don't put him down.

You ever see Chucky kicking his little legs???? Ging when you carry him away from fighting randos.

Also this-

You cannot tell me his Airheaded S/o wouldn't do this for him. And you cannot tell me the zodiacs wouldn't make fun of him for it. But this is the one time he does not give a shit.

They're just jealous🙄🙄🙄

He's also very shocked that you managed to do this without cutting yourself. But hey, at least there's a brain in there.

Gets pouty if his lunch doesn't look like this.

"Are we breaking up or something?"

"I'm sorry, I broke my alarm so I didn't wake up." 🥺

"Well get it fixed! Hell, I'll buy you a new one! My sandwiches aren't gonna cut themselves into hearts!"😤😤😤

[wonderlandleighleigh]

It’s 1989, Nora Maisel is five years old, and she breaks her arm after being shoved unceremoniously off of the monkey bars at recess. 

“Who did it?” Joel snaps as he arrives at the hospital that afternoon, shedding his winter coat. “I’ll kill ‘em.” 

“You’ll…kill a five-year-old girl?” Julia Maisel asks her father-in-law, utterly perplexed. 

“You know what I mean,” Joel says, flapping his arms. 

“No one knows what you mean,” Esther tells him as she steps up behind him. “You are, as usual, incomprehensible.” She kisses her father’s cheek before hugging her sister-in-law. “How’s Nora?” 

“Shook up, but she’ll be okay,” Julia assures them. “She’s very excited about having people sign her hard cast.” 

“Just don’t let Lenny draw dicks on it,” Joel quips. 

Esther rolls her eyes. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you over all of that ugly bitterness.” 

“Behave, or I’ll find straight jackets for both of you,” Ethan warns as he steps out into the waiting room. “I know they have ‘em here somewhere.” 

“How is she?” Esther asks. 

“She’s a trooper,” Ethan waves a hand. “She picked out the brightest pink cast they had, and she’s thrilled.” 

Julia chuckles. “I’m gonna go back and sit with her.” 

“Ma is back with her, so she’s not by herself,” Ethan reminds her. 

“Midge is already here?” Joel asks, confused. 

“She was my first call,” Ethan tells him. 

“Why?” 

Ethan flounders a little. “Cuz…cuz she’s Ma.” 

“Dad here?” Esther asks. 

“He took Noah to get something to eat in the cafeteria,” Julia smiles. “They’re on the hunt for tater tots.” 

“Not exactly healthy,” Joel grumbles. 

“The last time you had the twins, you fed them twizzlers for dinner,” Ethan reminds him. 

“I’m here!” Kitty chirps as she dashes over with Ella in her arms. “Is Nora okay? What happened? I just got a message that said she was here.” 

“Some little jerk pushed her off the monkey bars at school,” Esther explains. “She broke her arm.” 

“But I’d like to reiterate that she’s okay,” Julia jumps. “Really. She’s a tough little cookie.” 

“Of course she is, she’s a Maisel,” Joel points out. 

“The point is, she’s gonna be fine,” Julia says calmly. 

“Oh, good, I’m so glad,” Lily says from behind them, making everyone jump. 

“Hey, Lilbit,” Ethan says. “Thanks for coming.” 

“Of course,” Lily grins. “I brought snacks.” She lifts up a shopping bag of pretzels and various other snack foods, which Julia takes and starts rummaging through, obviously hungry. “Lan called from LA. He says he’s sending Nora get-well-soon chocolate.” 

“Lan called you?” Joel asks, perplexed. 

“And Chaim called me,” Kitty says as she sets Ella down on a chair with a stuffed animal. “He’s completely stuck at the paper until tonight, but he’s sending some form of adorable plush toy to your place.” 

“Aw, that’s sweet of him,” Julia grins as she munches on some chips. 

“And Mei left a message on my pager,” Ethan says. “She sends lots of love, and she’s also gonna send soup, apparently.” 

“God I love that woman,” Julia sighs. 

Joel wrinkles his nose at the mention of his estranged second wife.

“Hey, the gang’s all here,” Lenny says as he carries Noah up to the group. 

“Hi!” Noah chirps, waving a hand. 

“Hey, buddy!” Ethan grins, lifting his son. “You find those tater tots?” 

Noah nods enthusiastically. “Pop-Pop helped me put hot sauce on them!” With that, he blows a breath right at Ethan’s face and giggles as his father recoils a little. 

Lenny looks a little guilty. “Sorry, kid. Your son inherited your mother’s love of spicy food.” 

“It could be worse,” Ethan shrugs as he tries to get some non-toxic air. “He could have inherited her self-destructive nature, or her penchant for dirty jokes.” 

“Eh, he still might,” Lenny shrugs as he kisses Kitty, Esther and Ella. “Hi, girls.” 

“Hi, Daddy.” 

“Hey, Dad.” 

“Pop-Pop!” 

“Lenny,” Joel grouses. 

Lenny nods. “Joel.” 

“One brave kid comin’ through!” Midge calls as she carries Nora over to the group, her arm in a hefty, electric pink cast. 

“Hey, there’s my baby,” Julia beams, taking Nora from her mother-in-law. “How do you feel, Nora?”

“I’m tired, and I’m hungry,” she says, settling her head against her mother’s shoulder. 

“We’re all a little hungry,” Julia commiserates. “Who’s up for Chinese food?” 

Ella perks up then, looking up from her toy. “Dumplings?” she squeaks. 

“You bet your cute little tush, dumplings,” Lenny chuckles, lifting her up and kissing her cheek noisily. 

Kitty laughs softly. “We’re in.” 

“Same,” Esther grins. “I finished up all my meetings for the day this morning.” 

“Miss big-shot lawyer,” Midge beams, tugging her into a hug. 

Lily looks at her watch and then seems to do some math in her head. “I can study more later.” 

“You work too hard,” Ethan complains. “And you don’t come for dinner enough.” 

“That’s what I keep telling her,” Lenny agrees. 

“Excuse you, I’m studying for something very important,” Lily defends herself with a laugh. “I’d like to be Doctor Bruce before the next century starts.” 

“I wanna be doctor, too!” Noah chimes in. 

“Two doctors in the family, I’ll just kvel so hard I’ll die,” Midge jokes.

“I’m gonna call the paper and let Chaim know where we’re going to dinner,” Ethan says, handing Noah over to Esther. “Maybe he can sneak off early and meet us.” 

“Fat chance, Mr. bigshot New York Times editor that he is,” Lenny jokes.

“Good Chinese or the place with the sewer water eggrolls?” Midge offers. 

“I am not feeding Ella sewer water,” Kitty tells her.

Midge nods. “Good place it is.” 

“Ella, will you sign my cast?” Nora asks, doing her best to lift her broken arm.

“Sure I will!” Ella chirps. “I’ll draw a big pretty heart.” 

“Yay!” 

“Is it weird to anyone else how much they like each other?” Joel asks. 

“No, they’re cousins, why wouldn’t they like each other?” Julia asks. 

“I dunno. Just…they’re very different,” Joel shrugs. 

“I have seventeen cousins,” Julia reminds him. “And when you put us in a room together, you can’t drag away from each other.” 

“Anyways,” Joel mutters. “I gotta get to the club, so I’ll miss dinner.” 

“We’ll eat a few dumplings for you,” Esther promises.

“Bye, Zeyde!” Nora says. 

“Bye, Nora, feel better, Sweetie.” 

Everyone else says their goodbyes and watches Joel go, and once he’s out of earshot, Esther turns to the rest of the group.

“Anyone else a little weirded out that he was here?” she asks quietly. 

“Big time,” Ethan agrees as he steps back over. “Chaim is meeting us at the restaurant.” 

“Why was it weird?” Midge frowns. “Joel cares.” 

“He hasn’t shown up to any family event or holiday in the last year,” Julia points out. “Ever since Mei went out to LA to be closer to Lan, he’s totally dropped off.” 

“Well, maybe he’s trying,” Midge offers.

“Don’t defend him, Ma, he’s not worth it,” Ethan reminds her. “Who’s hungry?” 

Julia’s hand shoots up first, followed by the kids and Lenny. 

“Then let's get a move on. They’re already gonna be pissed that we’ve got ten people and no reservation.” 

And they do.

[cynicalrecoverysociety]

Journal-y Update Post

So this week has been rough as hell. Started the week knowing it was going to be hard because of meetings and my mom's birthday and then my cat got sick which made everything 100x worse. I was going to start a new program on this Monday and just . . . No. Love myself. Wait one week pls. So I am. And I spent the whole M-W eating out 1-2 times a day. Chinese on Monday night after the vet, Lamberts and Costco food and Chinese leftovers on Tuesday, Costco leftovers and Red Lobster and Coldstone on Wednesday. On the bright side it was mostly due to celebration for my mom's birthday so I wouldn't call it a binge or a bender. I did order way too much Chinese food on Monday but the fact that we stopped and ate the other half the next day was proof it wasn't a complete loss of control binge. It's a slip, not a slide but it's time to regroup. Today marked the end of Meetings Week and my cat is better (special food worked like a charm). Monday is the start of my 90 Day Journey. Goals mostly include continuing my current workout regimen by following the Blogilates workout calendar but actually do the stretching on Sundays. Log all the food I eat in my journal. Turn down offers from my mom for fast food delivery. When life gets tough Mom's answer is to offer food nonstop. Over the weekend my mom offered me fast food no less than six times. I turned her down six times. Asking her to stop is ineffective. So I just have gain the ability to think about a tater tot without thinking I need to eat one immediately. The ability to turn down stuff like that will serve me well in the long run. Studies show that the most effective way to not give in to temptation is to reduce the number of times you are tempted and I've done that pretty much as much as possible. The rest has to be the ability to say no. I have a few other non-health goals like don't call in unless I'm physically ill. I've historically done really well on these kinds of programs, I'm just really objective oriented so having a timeline and a goal that is very defined works well and usually once I go back to "normal" I'm about to carry though at least a few of the good changes into my daily life. Is this too much too soon? Am I going to massively fail and overwhelm myself? Am I going to soar like an eagle and crush my journey? Only time will tell.

On Monday, I start filling this bad boy out. On today, I drink vodka and celebrate the end of The Bad Week. If you read this far you must be a beloved mutual. Comment below what your favorite color is and the last movie you watched. Mine is grey and the Barbie movie.

[docholligay]

Palentine’s: Haruka and Mina, eating from each other’s plates

“So what I’m saying is,” Mina stuffed her mouth full, “I think we should broaden our borders and horizons and all that.” 

“So, like, go to America?” Haruka thought for a moment, and then smiled as she picked up her fork, “I mean, I like America. If there’s whatever the hell they call senshi over there, why not?” 

Mina shook her head. ‘I don’t know if there is, anywhere else. I mean, it seems stupid that the entire globe exists and the Moon only dropped us on an island country of less than 400,000 square kilometers, but maybe there’s a homing beacon, I don’t know. Anyway,” she plucked a tater tot off Haruka’s plate, “I don’t just mean soldiers like us. There’s people who can fight all over, and with things going how they are, it might not be a bad idea. I’ve always wanted to go back to London.” 

Haruka leaned back and took a drink of her beer. “I don’t like London.”

Mina rolled her eyes. “That’s because Squidward--”

“Don’t call her that, Mina.” 

“Oh excuse the hell out of me,” She took another tater tot, “Miss Kaioh, there, you happy? Only takes you to places with the absolute worst people the entire country has to offer. I promise there’s plenty of normal-ass people in London.” 

Haruka scratched her head. “I guess we have to talk it over with Usagi.” 

Another tater tot, and Haruka lightly smacked Mina’s hand. “Those are mine!” 

“Oh what, are we not friends now?” Mina put an aggrieved hand on her chest. “I didn’t know that you were so in need of some deep fried food, you deprived creature.” 

Haruka reached over for one of Mina’s fries, and Mina dove at it like a very determined seagull, biting it out of Haruka’s hand. 

“Oh okay, so--”

“Haruka,” she swallowed the fry, “You have an unimaginably rich wife. I, on the other hand, am a  struggling working girl, who makes her own way in the world, ekeing out an--”

“I’m paying for dinner!” Haruka laughed. “I always pay for dinner!” 

Mina flagged down the waitress. “I don’t see what that has to do with anything. I’m getting another pitcher.” 

It was strange, sometimes, for Mina to think about when they’d first met. Even more than that, when they’d truly been thrown together. How she couldn’t stand Haruka, how she thought she was a self-pitying, dramatic, mess of a human being who was just trying to trip into her own destruction. 

And, okay, that wasn’t wrong, exactly. Mina was a good read of people, even without the Gift, and Haruka wasn’t exactly hard to figure out. The trick was that Haruka could be other things as well: Generous, brave, tender when she let herself be. It was a good reminder to Mina that though stripping people down to their base elements helped for snap decisions, the real tricks lived in the complication. 

“Can we get a plate of kaarage too?” Haruka tossed the menu back down on the table. 

“Ruka?” Mina leaned back for a moment, “What’d you think of me when we were first living together?” 

Haruka shrugged. ‘I didn’t, really. I had a lot going on. It was a place to sleep.” 

Mina took a fry off her own plate, swirled it in mayyo and contemplatively bit into it. “You broke up with your girlfriend, Haruka, you didn’t have a lot going on.” 

“C’mon,” Haruka looked at the table, and then took a swig of her beer, “You know it was more than that.” 

Well, maybe. Haruka was more things than Mina had taken her for initially, but resilient was never one of them. Still wasn’t, honestly. She put all her eggs in Michiru’s basket and never learned how to eat scrambled, so she’d ended up starving. It didn’t have to be more than that, but it was, and that was part of the bargain with Haruka. Everything took on as much meaning as she could carry. 

“I thought you hated me.” She still didn’t look at Mina, poking at her burger, but she chuckled, “because you did.” 

“I didn’t HATE--”

“Oh come on!” Haruka shook her head, but she smiled, “You only let me stay in your apartment because you needed a roommate and Usagi threw me at you. You couldn’t fucking stand me.” 

Mina thought for a moment. What would be the point in lying to her? She hadn’t exactly hidden the fact. 

“Well, I didn’t really know you, I guess. And, uh, by the way, you were being supremely annoying. So, jot that down. I’m taking another tater tot, even the memory fills me with horror.” 

The pitcher and chicken were dropped, and Haruka poured another. 

“I’m glad we’re friends now. I guess.” 

“As long as you keep buying beer, bud.” 

“Okay, you know what?” Haruka reached over and took the burger off her plate, smiled broadly, and took a big bite as Mina watched. 

“Ugh!” her face pulled into a grimace. “I hate avocado.” 

“Have we learned something today?” Mina grabbed Haruka’s burger and took a bite, “By the way, this bacon is great. Anyway, so as I was saying before you interrupted, I DO think you’d like London. If you went with me instead.” 

“Well Michiru speaks English.” 

“I speak English! I speak fucking amazing English! People mistake me for a native speaker! I did a summer exchange in London! Why does no one ever remember this? I don’t expect my actual life to lack narrative continuity.” 

Haruka grinned, and took another fry.