#cindy said :) tantrum time

[winchesterwild78]

The Ranch

Master List

Characters: Jensen-cowboy, single dad, x Reader-city girl moved to country to get away from it all

Warnings: language, angst, mention of death.

A/N: A short little story featuring our favorite green eyed cowboy, not an actor in this, lives on a ranch in Texas, is a widower with 3 kids. Reader is a city girl who moves to the country to get away from her ex and start a new life. She takes a job on the ranch and things develop between her and the cowboy. Internal dialogue in italics.

So much love and thanks to @cheynovak for the idea. ♥️ All work is my own. No disrespect to anyone, this is a work of fiction. Real names are used, but again this is a work of fiction. Sorry the 1st part is so long, just setting up the story.  Do not take my work

Minors DNI 18+

“I already told you, we are through. I can’t keep doing this with you. I feel like I’m banging my head against the ceiling and anytime I talk to you about it, you tell me I’m overreacting or you ask me some bullshit like is it that time of the month. Who the fuck does that? I’m done, Alex.” 

“Please, Y/N, don’t throw away 4 years over a little disagreement.” You scoffed, “A little disagreement?! Is that what you call it? No, fuck that. All I did was bring up marriage and you acted like I asked you to rob a bank or something. We’ve been together 4 years, we live together, was it really too much to ask when we might get married? I want to get married, have children. All the things you said you wanted too. I guess you lied just to get me to move in with you.” 

You stormed into your bedroom, grabbed a suitcase and started packing. Grabbing clothes, toiletries and other important things and throwing them in the suitcase. You were beyond pissed. Alex walked in the bedroom, “Come on, you’re not really leaving. You’re just pissed and throwing a tantrum.” “Fuck you, Alex!”

Pushing past him you went into the living room and grabbed family pictures and stuffed them into your bag. You took the apartment key off your key ring and placed it on the counter. “I told you, I’m done.” You grabbed your stuff and walked out, closing the door behind you. 

Loading up your car you just drove. You had no idea where you were going, but you needed to get away. After hours on the road, you pulled into a little diner that had a hotel near it. It wasn’t the biggest, fanciest hotel, but you were exhausted. 

Climbing out of the car you went to the office of the hotel. Ringing the bell a sweet older lady came out and greeted you with a smile. “Howdy, young lady. Do you need a room?” “Yes, ma’am. If you have any available.” “Yes, darlin’ I have a few left. Is it just you?” “Yes, ma’am, it’s just me.” She had you fill out the guestbook and handed you the key. “Why don’t you head next door and grab a bite to eat. You looked starved.” She smiled sweetly at you. You nodded, thanked her and left.

You grabbed your bag and headed to your room. Unlocking the door you noticed it was a typical hotel room, but it was clean and looked well taken care of. You put your bag down and laid on the bed. It was so comfortable, you could just fall asleep right then. 

Your stomach grumbled, so you decided to check out the diner. Grabbing your purse and jacket, you stepped outside and walked towards the diner. When you entered, a bell above the door rang and you were greeted by the waitress, “Howdy, just sit anywhere you’d like.” You nodded and took a seat in the booth near the back. 

The waitress who greeted you walked over and smiled, “Hey hon, what can I get you to drink?” She asked as she handed you the menu. “I’ll have water with lemon, please.” “Sure thing, hon. Take your time and I’ll be back.” You looked over the menu and because you were so hungry everything looked so good. You decided on a burger and fries, just keeping it simple. 

The waitress, Cindy, came back with your water, “Do you know what you want?” “Yes, ma’am, I’ll have a cheeseburger with fries please.” “Anything else?” “No, that’s it, thank you.” “Okay, coming right up.” She walked away and put in your order. 

Everyone here seems so nice. It’s a nice place too. Out in the country, far away from the city, and away from Alex. I wonder if anyone here is hiring. 

“Excuse me, Cindy?” Cindy walked over to you, “Yes, honey, do you need anything?” “Yeah, I’m new to the area, kinda relocating here. Do you know anyone that’s hiring or anyone that has a room to rent?” “Well, the only person I know of off the top of my head that’s hiring is Ackles’ Ranch. They have a live in ranch hand position they are trying to fill. Have you ever worked on a Ranch, honey?” “No, I haven’t, but I’m a fast learner.” 

“I tell you what, I’ll give Jensen a call and tell him to be expecting you tomorrow morning. Maybe he would be willing to give you a trial basis.” “Oh my goodness, thank you so much.” “You’re welcome sweetie, now eat up.” She set your food down in front of you. 

You ate your food, paid your bill and thanked her again. Cindy gave you the address and phone number for the Ranch and told you Jensen, Mr. Ackles was expecting you tomorrow morning. You took the information and thanked her again. Leaving the diner you went back to your room to shower and get ready for bed. 

Excitement coarse through your body. Surely you could handle working on a Ranch, right? After your shower, you climbed into bed and fell asleep quickly. Before too long your alarm was waking you up. Turning it off you got out of bed and started to get dressed. You pulled on jeans, a t-shirt, and your boots. Grabbing the Ranch information, your purse and your keys, you headed to your car. 

Your body tingled with anticipation as you drove towards the address. After about 30 minutes, your car pulled up to two large, wrought iron gates, one with a large “A” and the other with a large “R” on it. A small sign to the side said “Ackles Ranch”. You buzzed the call box and waited.

“Hello, can I help you?”, a voice came over the speaker. “Yes, hello, my name is Y/N, Cindy called Mr. Ackles and he’s expecting me.” “Okay, come on in.” The gates opened, and you drove up the long driveway. 

Finally arriving at the main house, you were taken back by how beautiful it was. You parked your car and stepped out. As you turned to look around the beautiful land, you saw a man riding up to you on a horse. The horse was breathtaking, chestnut colored coat, well taken care of, and the rider was just as breathtaking. He hopped off and the first thing you noticed was his piercing green eyes. 

The man walked over to you, his legs slightly bowed, but he was tall and broad shoulders. You bit your lip. His jeans hugged him in all the right places, and his shirt stretched across his chest like it was clinging on him for dear life. His biceps, large, peaked out the bottom of the sleeves. He had sandy brown hair, and a beard that was perfectly shaped. He was absolutely breathtaking. 

The man extended his hand, “Good mornin’, my name is Jensen, you must be Y/N. Miss Cindy told me you’d be coming.” You shook his hand, “Yes, hi, I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, Jensen.” 

As soon as you shook his hand, 3 adorable children came bounding out of the house, “Daddy! You’re back!” He dropped to his knees and hugged the children. It melted your heart and made you smile. His son looked at you, “Daddy, who’s she?” Jensen looked up at you and introduced you to his children. “It’s so nice to meet you guys.” You smiled at them.

The kids went to play, as Jensen led you in the house to talk. During the conversation you learned he was a widower and he and his late wife had started the ranch when they got married. He has all sorts of animals, but the ones you would be in charge of the most were his children. You laughed when he said that. He smirked at you, thankful you had a sense of humor. “Now I’m gonna be honest with you, I need help around the ranch, but I also need help with the kids. Do you have any experience with either?” “Well, I grew up in the city, so I’m not too familiar with duties on a Ranch, but I did a lot of babysitting. When my mom would go away on business I would be responsible for my younger siblings. They are 8 and 9 years younger than me. I would feed them, get them to school, wash clothes and clean the house, while mom was gone. I might not know much about animal care, but I’m a fast learner.” 

“Well, what about family, or a husband? Will they be okay with you living here with me and the kids? The position comes with a room too.” I haven’t lived at home for a few years, and I’m not married, no boyfriend either.” Jensen nodded, “well, Y/N, I’m willing to give you a shot, what do you think?” “I’d love to. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I’m always willing to learn.” “That’s all I ask. Now, let me show you the Ranch and your room.” 

The two of you stood up and you followed him outside. He jumped in a truck and told you to hop in. He drove to the biggest barn first and showed you the horses, then he drove to the smaller barns and you saw the other animals. The land was huge. 

Jensen drove further back on the property to a huge lake. “This is our favorite spot. The kids love to swim here, but they know not to come near this without an adult.” “It’s beautiful, Jensen.” You smiled softly. 

A little while later, you and Jensen arrived back at the house. He introduced you to the small staff in the house, and formally introduced you to his kids. They were excited you were staying. He took you on a tour of the house and showed you the kitchen, dining room, the kids’ rooms, his room, and the last room he stopped at was your new room. 

He pushed the door open and stepped to the side, letting you walk in. You gasped softly. This room was practically bigger than your last apartment. “So you have your own private bathroom too. I hope this room is to your liking. If you find you need anything, let me know.” “Jensen, the room is perfect, you have an amazing home, thank you.” Jensen smiled softly and nodded, “I’ll let you get settled. Clif already brought your stuff up. Lunch will be ready in about half an hour. I hope you will join us.” You nodded, and he left. 

You explored the room. There was a large walk-in closet, a king sized bed in the center of the room, with tables on either side, a matching dresser and chest. On the opposite wall you noticed two large glass doors. You walked over, unlocked them and stepped out on the balcony. You noticed two chairs. The view was breathtaking. It overlooked the backyard, and you noticed the kids outside playing. Jensen’s son looked up seeing you, smiled and waved. You smiled and waved back. 

Stepping back into the room, you decided to unpack. Walking into the bathroom you looked around, not believing this was really your bathroom. It was just as beautiful as the bedroom. It featured a double vanity, a stand up shower with glass doors and a separate soaker tub. The floor was a beautiful tile that could be heated. You were in complete awe of this room. 

You had finished unpacking and as you sat down on the bed your phone rang. Looking at the screen you saw it was Alex. You sighed and answered. “Hello, Alex.” “Y/N, baby, I’m sorry. Please come home. We can get married, have babies. Whatever you want.” You let out a long sigh, “Alex, it doesn’t work that way. You don’t want to get married and have children. You made that clear. I’ve waited and never pushed. You knew when we got together that’s what I wanted. We talked about it, and you said that’s what you wanted too.” 

The line was silent, “Baby, I do want to get married and have kids. I just wanted to be selfish and keep you to myself for a while longer. I love you, Y/N. I don’t want to live without you.” Silent tears started falling from your eyes. You still loved Alex, he was the man you’d wanted to have children with, but he broke your heart. You took a breath, “I know you do Alex, but that’s still not enough. I need to go, I’m expected back at work. Good bye, Alex.” 

You hung up and sat on the bed and cried. A soft knock on the door pulled you back to reality. You wiped your face and stood up, walking over you opened the door, and Jensen was standing there. His face instantly fell when he noticed you’d been crying. “Y/N, are you okay?” “Yeah, sorry. I'm just dealing with some personal stuff. I promise it won’t affect my job.” He placed his hand on your upper arm, “Hey, it’s okay. We all have things we have to deal with. I’m here if you need to talk.” His hand on your arm sent goosebumps all over your body. You took a deep breath, “Thank you, Jensen. I appreciate it.” You offered him a soft smile. “Okay, I came up here to let you know lunch was ready if you were hungry.” “Yeah, that sounds perfect.”

You followed Jensen to the dining room and found his children already eating. He motioned for you to sit down, he pulled your chair out and you sat down. Jensen took the seat at the head of the table, opposite of you. Lunch was filled with excited chatter, the kids asking you questions, trying to get to know you, and you answered them as quickly as they were asked. 

Jensen spoke up, “Guys, let Y/N eat. You have plenty of time to get to know her. You three need to finish eating too. You have chores to finish.” Jensen’s son looked over at you, “Miss Y/N, do you have any kids?” Before you could answer Jensen spoke up, “Zep, what did I just say?” He looked at his father and hung his head. You softly touched Zep’s arm, “No, I don’t, but I’d like to have some one day.” You smiled at him and looked up at Jensen, who offered you a soft smile. 

After lunch was done, the kids cleared their plates and you walked into the kitchen. You weren’t sure if your duties included washing the dishes, but it was something you were used to, so you filled the sink with water. 

Jensen walked in the kitchen and saw you at the sink. He smiled to himself, and he felt his heart warm a little. “Hey, Y/N, you don’t have to wash those. I was about to do it.” You looked over at him, his piercing green eyes looking into your y/e/c eyes. Your breath hitched. “Well, how about I wash and you rinse.” You smiled at him, and he nodded. 

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence that filled the room. Jensen cleared his throat, “I appreciate you answering the kids’ questions. They can be relentless. If you ever get uncomfortable with their questions, just tell them to chill.” “They are fine Jensen, kids are naturally curious, and I’m fine with sharing my life with them.” He nodded and smiled. 

The two of you finished washing the dishes and he showed you where everything went. Once the kitchen was done, Jensen told you to feel free to explore and relax. 

Deciding to just explore the house you walked into the family room and noticed all the pictures on the walls. You saw pictures of Jensen and the kids, pictures of other people, whom you assumed to be the rest of the family, and then you saw pictures of a young, beautiful woman. Her smile was bright and her eyes sparkled. 

You realized this was Jensen’s wife. There were pictures of their wedding day, pictures of her holding the kids and family pictures of the 5 of them. You never asked Jensen what happened to his wife, you just knew she had died. 

You were too busy looking at the pictures to notice Jensen standing in the doorway watching you. “Her name was Danneel, we called her Dee.” Jensen said as you picked up a picture of his wife. You jumped a little, “She’s beautiful.” You smiled at him.

“Yeah, she was beautiful, inside and out. We miss her so much, especially Zep. He was a mama’s boy.” “I’m so sorry, Jensen. If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” Jensen sighed and you could hear the shake in his breath. “It was just a terrible accident. She was climbing a ladder, trying to put something up in the horse barn, she slipped, fell and hit her head. I was gone into town to get supplies and by the time I got home and found her, she was gone. The twins were 4 and JJ was 7.” You touched Jensen’s arm, “I am so sorry, Jensen. That sounds awful.” A tear slipped out of his eye, and he quickly wiped it away. “Thank you, Y/N. It’s been a rough few years, but every day it gets a little easier. I know the pain will never go away, and some days it’s harder than others, but she gave me 3 amazing children and for that I’m grateful.” 

“They are great kids, and have an amazing father too.” You smiled at Jensen and sat on the couch. He took a seat beside you. The two of you sat and talked the rest of the afternoon, getting to know each other and you learned how he ended up on such a gorgeous ranch. “So, Y/N, what brings a city girl to the country, and if you don’t mind me asking, what made you so upset earlier?” 

You bit your lip and took a deep breath. Figuring you needed to be honest with him. “Well, my ex Alex and I had been together for 4 years. When we first started dating we both wanted the same thing in the future, marriage and children. The past year I’d brought up marriage and kids a few times and it would always end in a huge fight. I just got tired of waiting and being strung along. So I left. I was upset earlier because he called me, begging me to come back. He said we could get married and have kids. I told him no. It broke my heart. I love him, and saw myself married to him and having his children. Now, it’s over, but I promise it won’t affect my job or ability to take care of your children.” 

Jensen grabbed your hand, “I know it won’t. I’m sorry you went through that. For what it’s worth, he’s a fool.” Your eyes shot up to him and he smiled. A blush creeped across your face. No! Don’t you dare. He’s your boss, a widower, and has responsibilities. He’s just being polite and you just went through a breakup. “Thank you, Jensen.” 

The rest of the day was uneventful. You played with the kids, and noticed Zep was glued to your side. He was such a sweet boy, and he looked just like Jensen. His sisters were just as sweet, JJ was excited to show you their favorite things to do outside, and Arrow was very reserved when it came to you. She definitely had some walls up. Not that you could blame her. 

Later that night after the kids were tucked into bed, Jensen invited you out to the back deck to sit around the fire pit. Before you went outside, you grabbed a throw blanket and your water. As you opened the sliding glass door you noticed Jensen sitting with a glass of whiskey in his hand. The fire burning brightly and the flames casting dancing shadows on his face. 

You stepped out and he stood. “Glad you decided to join me.” He smiled as he sat down. “Thanks for inviting me.” You sat down in the chair beside him. You watched as he took a sip of the amber liquid. As he took the small glass up to his mouth, you saw his lips part slightly, and the amber liquid ran into his mouth. You saw him swallow, and his Adam's apple bobbed as the liquid ran down his throat. As he pulled the glass away, you saw his tongue lick his lips slightly. He looked over at you and you quickly looked away. 

He smirked as a blush creeped across your face. Jensen grabbed another glass and poured you some, “here, to help take the edge off.” You nodded and took the glass. Jensen lifted his glass to you, “To new beginnings.” He clinked your glass. “To new beginnings.”, you said back to him. You took a sip of the amber liquid and felt the burn down your throat. 

*Jensen’s POV*

I can’t believe she accepted the invitation to join me out here tonight. She’s been so great with the kids today, and with me. I really think this is going to work out. She’s definitely guarded, but who can blame her. When she blushes it’s so adorable, especially when I catch her watching me. She’s a very beautiful woman too, and she is so sweet and kind. Damn, her lips on that glass, her tongue licking her lips. Wow! Oh, shit, Jensen, get it together. You’re her boss.

A few hours later, the fire was dying, and you were tired. “Well, Jensen, thank you for a wonderful evening, but I think I’m going to head to bed.” Jensen stood up, “Yeah, thank you for the company. It was nice to have an adult to talk to. Sleep well, Y/N, and if you need anything I’m right down the hall.” You thanked him again and walked in the house. As you entered the kitchen, you turned and looked at him again. He was still standing and ran his fingers through his hair. You sighed and climbed the stairs. 

You went to your room, got ready for bed and crawled in the huge bed. Before too long you were drifting off to sleep. For the first time in a long time, you felt like you were exactly where you were supposed to be. 

Part 2

Tags are open, if you want to be added, let me know.  

Tags: @nescaveckdaily  @kr804573 @k-slla @jackles010378 @jawritter

@xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @roseblue373 @cheynovak @jassackles  @chriszgirl92

@suckitands33 @arcannaa @n-o-p-e-never @ladysparkles78 @smoothdogsgirl

@hobby27 @manicjk @stoneyggirl2 @deans-spinster-witch @snowayumi 

@shadowqueen1318 @shanimallina87

[thedrunkenreadersreviews]

A brief tantrum on the portrayal of faeries.

Well, we gotta go with the green fairy for this one. Pour a very demure and mindful amount into a glass (I am so sorry).

*Sip*

Well, it has been a hot minute. And I am slowly climbing out of a reading slump brought upon me by the great letdown that was Masters of Death (more on that later). But as I was staring at my shelf (which became known as the Void for the time being) I found myself utterly enthralled by my various versions of The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black. The Juniper edition just ties that whole section, dedicated solely to all the books set in the world of Black's Faerieland, together nicely. And while I sat and stared and admired how finely I decorated the area with little mushrooms and fairy lights, I found my smile slowly fading as I thought to myself "Is this it?"

*Sip, sip*

There is a YouTuber by the name of "WithCindy" who is funny as can be, reviews books, talks about other major issues, and is just overall entertaining. Now while I don't always agree with Cindy, there is something they said when reviewing ACOTAR (which, I cannot recommend enough, their videos on that whole series are just perfect!) that I think about a lot.

Cindy, when first starting ACOTAR, asked their reading buddy,

""What makes them fairies?'"

To which the agreed-upon consensus became:

"'Basically, they're magical and have big dicks.'"

*Sip, sip*

How disappointing. Maas is not the only one to write faeries in this way, she is just one of the most popular. But many authors using faeries do this and I have become rather melancholy when thinking about faerie portrayal in literature. Which is why I think I cling to The Folk of the Air so tightly.

FIRST, let me say if you enjoy books like ACOTAR and favor that portrayal of faeries, that is wonderful! And I'm truly happy that you found something you enjoy as that is what reading should be for and I have no beef with anyone who enjoys this type of depiction of faeries.

With that out of the way: It is what I have been yearning for when it comes to faeries for so long. I crave the scary, tricky, terrifying creatures from Irish and Nordic Folklore. I want to see them be cruel and cunning, I want them to look grotesque and imbued with nature.

*Sip, sip*

Cardan, for context, IS a faerie. Like, in every way. He has powers, he cannot lie, there are wards to be used against him, he has a freaking tail! And he is not some thousand-year-old militaristic war leader with a six-pack who knows how to swing a sword. My boy is a noodle. A seventeen-year-old, moody, grumpy, noodle. And I love it! (I don't care for how so many fanarts depict him as a buff dude with a six-pack, like no, he's a skinny boy, but damn these artists are talented as Hell so I can't complain too much lol) I love how he doesn't use his powers to their full extent until book 3. I love how he is so into makeup and dressing up and caring about how he looks before he gets sloppy drunk and then smears his eyeliner all over his face. I love how he is beautiful and dangerous and sometimes downright haunting when he tries to be. I love how he doesn't always know best and how he has to find out that he can be a fantastic ruler/good person if only he tries. I love how he feels excluded from things and longs to be included in them. I love how since he doesn't have the ability to lie, he does so by telling the truth. I love that when he had a crush on the weird girl he got so angry and disgusted with himself and yet just let her tie him up.

I love how in this world, you don't know what the faeries will do next. You don't know what trick they'll play or what riddle they'll provide.

I want these faeries. I miss these faeries. They are magical and horrifying and I love them.

*Sip, sip*

The Replacement, The Call, Emily Wilde's trilogy, and Holly Black's Faerie world. I'm on the hunt for more. I hope to find more. And I hope---my goodness, do I hope---that more are created.

Because faeries are awesome.

Cheers.

*Sip, sip*

[the-kg-theorist]

Theory: Cindy has BPD?

(I already made this theory, but rewrote it and changed it a bit now)

TW: Mention of child abuse.

Before I start this theory, I'll just warn again, I'm clearly not a qualified professional to diagnose, this is just a theory. Before we really start, I'll give an explanation about BPD:

— BPD is a personality disorder, the traits of this disorder include erratic behavior, relationships, and moods. People with BPD frequently fail to control their strong emotions, which can lead to impulsive or harmful behavior. It may affect how people see themselves and other people, which may result in unstable relationships and self-perception.

And one thing that is important to mention is that child abuse has a correlation with BPD, Not everyone who suffers child abuse develop BPD, but some do. And I'm saying this because Cindy probably suffers from child abuse, Playing house with Cindy in the first game, she simply narrates a house where the wife cheated on her alcoholic husband while he was in prison and got pregnant with the lover's baby, and this is not a normal thing for a 5 year old to do, unless they're is imitating what happens at home, which is probably the case with Cindy, a part of Cindy's personality is her mother's, and it's also not normal for a child to know what Cindy knows, and Cindy probably copies everything her mother does to her, in this case, Cindy insults other people, puts other people down and likes to see people, mainly girls, suffering, So, it is implied that Cindy is suffering child abuse.

That's said, let's now look at the symptoms of BPD:

— Extreme mood swings, feelings of emptiness, explosive anger, unstable relationships, impulsive behavior, intense fear of being abandoned, unclear/distorted view of own image, paranoia or feeling cut off from reality, and self-harm.

Out of 9 symptoms, Cindy has 6. Let's analyze one by one:

• Extreme mood swings: Playing house and losing patience and throwing a tantrum because the player doesn't want to play anymore, freaking out after finding out the Janitor killed her dog.

• Feelings of emptiness: In the creature feature mission, after Cindy sticks gum in Penny's hair, she feels weird after doing this and even says: "God I feel empty"

• Explosive anger: Exploding when the player asks for a divorce during the game of house, and having an explosive outburst of anger after discovering the truth about what happened to her dog.

• Unstable relationships: Changing boyfriends all the time, always breaking up with them after getting tired and always going after other boy to be her boyfriend. And also cursing her own friends, since Buggs and Jerome are her friends, and Cindy called them losers.

• Impulsive behavior: When you throw the bucket of blood at her, instead of her thinking about cleaning herself, she simply runs away in despair and dies after being run over and impulsively kill the janitor to get revenge on her dog

• Intense fear of being abandoned: She is always the one who breaks up with her boyfriends for fear of being abandoned, probably, and this is evident, when Billy left her, Cindy was so angry that she started bullying Lily because of Billy.

• Unclear/Distorted image of herself: Cindy always sees herself as the right one in the stories for her own reasons, for example, she thinks it's right to bully Lily because of what Billy did, and also Cindy thinks she's the prettiest and smartest girl, probably because she always think she's right.

Analyzing all this, I would say that Cindy probably has BPD, even though there are just few symptoms, because, BPD really starts to manifest itself and cause problems in late adolescence or early adulthood, Therefore, Cindy will likely begin to manifest more BPD symptoms in her late adolescence. That's the end of the theory, feel free to correct me if I said something incorrect.

[bullet-prooflove]

Mika - Brian Zvonecek x Reader

“Hey, did I just find your wife passed out on your bunk?” Herrmann asked, jerking his thumb towards the bunkroom. Brian glanced up; his son Mika nestled deep into the confines of his chest. At three months old your son was already a handful; Brian still couldn’t believe the two of you had made something so perfect. He brushed that flock of dark hair away from Mika’s forehead with gentle fingertips.

“He’s been keeping her awake all night while I’m on shift.” Brian explained, shushing the baby as he grumbled. “She brought him over to get some air and ended up falling asleep, I thought I’d let her get some rest before I give back this tiny tyrant.”

“He takes after you, you know.” Herrmann said, chucking Mika under the chin. “Always curious, wanting to know what’s going on in the world. I bet he’s been a terror, a tiny terror.”

Brian laughed, his fingertip trailing over that tiny rosy cheek.

“Sometimes he is.” He said quietly. “Sometimes like now, he’s an absolute dream.”

“Lee-Henry was an angry little thing.” Herrmann confessed to Brian, the left side of his mouth quirking up. “He used to keep Cindy up at all hours, screaming and crying, tantrums. We thought we were going to have to get him exorcized.”

“Trust me it’s Annabel you should be worried about.” Brian told him. “She tried to mouse trap me the last time I babysat. It felt like I was in a Home Alone movie.”

“Yea well, you’ve got all of that to look forward to.” Herrmann informed him. “This being a father thing isn’t easy, but you make it look like a breeze.”

“I think I underestimated how many big changes come with such a little guy.” Brian said, swaying gently from side to side. “It means a lot you know, coming from you. I just…”

Brian trailed off, blinking quickly as he gazed down at his son. He swallowed hard against the well of emotion in his throat. His eyes stung as he smiled down at the baby in his arms.

“I just wish that my dad could have met him you know?”

Herrmann’s hand came to rest upon his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

“You’re a great father Otis.” Herrmann told him. “I think your dad would be proud.”

Tagging: @justmeandanoverdrive @cosmic-psychickitty @shay-o-fiction @k-k0129 @brianbabygirlzvonecek @ikbenplant @ortega29 @undead-dancing @crazy4chickennuggets @neapolitantoebeans @@he11queen @cixrosie @bradshawsdarlin

Love Brian? Get added to his tag list!

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[onelastfic]

White and black for Nenet and JJ

⚪️ White- When was a moment in your OC's life that they felt the most vulnerable and exposed? Were they alone or surrounded?

For Nenet, it was most definitely the fall out of her awakening her god powers. The way she awakened them was traumatic enough but the aftermath definitely didn’t help. Everyone was in an uproar. Gods threatened by a potentially new Chronos in the making, monsters pissed about what happened to one of their own, Nia as a new ruler trying to keep control over the newly forged Titan/God diplomatic relations, Ra and Basteta fighting over custody of where Nenet should go, and then you have a young severely traumatized Nenet that is so caught up in what the adults wanted that she barely processed (or refused to process) her trauma with no grip on her newly acquired powers.

For JJ, it was also the fall out of Nenet awakening her god powers. Though his was more of a secondary traumatic stress experience. JJ saw how effected his twin sister was from the events. He witnessed her temper tantrums and angry outbursts; some of which were directed at him. He blamed himself for not being able to help his sister is such a difficult time. This is a big part of why he’s so caring and empathetic now.

⚫️ Black- When was a moment in your OC's life that they felt the most in control and secure? Was it gained through negative or positive means?

For Nenet, it would be Bruce teaching her martial arts after she got her god powers. After the ordeal Nenet felt so helpless, vulnerable, and weak. Bruce took her under his wing and taught her all he knew about martial arts. Nenet was a natural born fighter before but she grew when learning from Bruce, physically, emotionally, and mentally. From this, Nenet got her sense of personal power back as well as a better grip on her powers. Though Nenet definitely backslid when Bruce left and still hasn’t really recovered from it now that he's back. She basically been compartmentalizing any negative emotions/experiences to avoid feeling “weak” though those emotions have a tendency to bubble to the surface with various kinds of outbursts.

JJ was most secure when he finally asked Cindy out. Sure, he was nervous as hell and thought of ALL the potentially worst case scenarios that could have happened but he would’ve never done it if he didn’t feel one ZILLION percent secure that he could handle the fall out. And he’s doesn’t regret it either… especially since Cindy said yes. He’s really glad that she said yes.

[cabra-con-botones]

GRRRR I want to talk to you about all the things I have in mind about them aaa

•

I think Cindy would have an interest in flowers (putting some of them in her head, the flower depending on her emotions too, like in this drawing I made), she loves to love and be loved too and to be very traditionally fem, but she likes other stuff like martial arts (I think she has an interest about asian things in general, also she likes to kick butt from time to time).

I always imagined her family owning an Asian food restaurant (just like the ones she likes to visit on her dates with Tulio), and maybe being the daughter of immigrants (or maybe only one of her parents being one).

She's strong and independent but she's very attached to the idea of having a "perfect love story", this being the thing that makes her fall to her knees when she met Tulio, felling in love more earlier and harder than him (she thinking about them being a formal couple vs Tulio trying to treat her like she's just "a summer relationship" and nothing more.

•

Amapola has a lot more character than being a love interest and I don't think about her often, but she's silly. I liked the green note you mentioned about her making Bodoque nearly jump off a volcano lol, it's one of my favorites.

And also it's very interesting that she works in the mines, she has a lot of knowledge about things related to the environment. But other than that I don't have anything more to say about her(?

•

AND NOW I CAN TALK ABOUT MY BABY OF ALL TIMES CACHIRULA *holds her like this*

The thing you said about her design is soo true. Baby I love you but you are a little bit ugly lol

I think she would look better if she was more inspired of the "female child villain" and had a design more childish looking(? From some time I thought she was an adult, maybe making her look more like Darla Dimple from Cats Don't Dance would help?

Also I think Estrella de Lana kind of forced her to look more adult (thinking about the fact Cachirula wears makeup in a way that doesn't really look natural for a child?) and pushed her to be more evil, because Estrella is probably her legal guardian and could be the main reason why C is like she is.

She needs a better parent figure (cofcofJuanín pleaseadopthercofcof)

In my mind she would be close to being a type of child genius, making her the one who built the robots or at least making the blueprint (is that how one says it? Blueprint??? You know the thing one makes before doing a building or, in this case, a robot).

She's a very lonely child in my opinion, wanting friends who love her like she is (a normal thing for a child to want), forcing animals to be her companions in the island and not caring about them not wanting to be her friends, thinking that if they do they are "betraying her". She probably thinks friends won't ever leave her and do everything she wants, throwing tantrums don't go how she planned to go.

I many theories about her and her parents, and one about her possible relation with Juanín, but if I talk about them rn I would explode (plus my phone battery is low 😭)

It's very hard to me to not talk about hours and hours about her is just that I love the movie a lot and she's easily one my top 2 favorite character of the show (the top 1 being Tulio obviously, I love my bbg)

Everyday I get so sad that the few female 31m characters we had weren't as well developed as the guys and/or were made as a love interest to a main guy character

Cindy I am avenging you. Why was she just made into a crazy ex gf character? Why wasn't she given her own personality and development that wasn't connected to Tulio 😭 From what it seems we can tell she's a very devoted person who loves love. She loved Tulio even when he kept on hurting her like ?? Like I want to see them expand on why she's like that!! What are her hobbies what are her quirks who are her friends

Amapola does have a character (even if half the reason she's there was to be Bodoque's love interest) she's smart and cares about the environment. She isn't really impressed with Bodoque. But I wish she'd be able to shine on her own without Bodoque. She's cool with cheating in gambling and told Bodoque to jump into a volcano bc he lost a game. Like that's so interesting especially for her character!! (And also really funny) I want to see more stuff like this from her let her be fucked up!!! Give her quirks, I want to see her be expanded on! Like is she willing to do that again to other people that annoy her? How many times has she done stuff like that before bc with how casual she was its💀���

I just wish there were more female main characters planned 😭 patana is the only one and she was only added bc they had to have a female character 😭

At least Corchetis was expanded on a bit, but she isn't that popular

Cachirula was a female villain introduced in the movie and she seems interesting!!! Like an orphan girl left with a fortune and using it for fucked up things. I feel like she would've been more popular if she had a more typically appealing design (basically not having a peanut head)

Does this all make sense or am I loosing it

[mukamibabe]

Hi!

Maybe a scenario on Karlheinz and Richter getting addicted to their s/o's blood? Like they had her blood once and ever since became addicted to it.

ok... because i'm not sure if you meant karl and richter separately or not so.. i present you with all three options: karlheinz, separate, richter, separate and then both! karlheinz and richter being addicted to their s/o's blood. i.. just got another thought of them ,, 'accidentally' getting addicted to eachother's s/o's blood's(?). ? i dont feel like im phrasing it right. and if that was terrible grammar? i don't have an excuse other than - sometimes i'm dumb sdhfksdf anyways. i may post that last idea in another post, kinda depends if anyone wants it/?? but for now!!:

also. it killed me to actually write short scenarios for once lmao also if the cuts bother anyone just let me know?? im not new to tumblr etiquette but its been a while jdskfhsd if anyone has issues with it please tell me bc i have no idea

karlheinz + richter sakamaki getting heavily addicted to their s/o's blood. (both separate and also. not lol)

umm, for content warnings i guess, there's really not much to any of this but is more like.. a mental dive into like.. their sanity during this ?? ahfdss i almost want to say it gets yandere-ish, but honestly i'm not sure. dialovers has really confused me with such lmao

if this isn't to your liking/what you preferred, i'll rewrite to your liking!! still not sure if i'm making sense but its 4 am. yea i know i write everything at 3-4 am buuut.. everything still comes out ok right??? DSjfhdsf idk i feel like it also came out more of like. a poem or something. hfhghd just let me know ok?? thank you for the requests as always <3

edit: this might seem a little sloppy ? maybe? hopefully not ??? i ended up writing this a while back and coming back to something after a while .. is tricky. i still really hope this is okay!! i need to get content out hjgfdsf busy times ;;

karlheinz

He wasn't sure how it happened. He could recall when, however. As cheesy as it may be, Karlheinz' first taste of them was, for some reason, one of the things he'd craved the most since a long time. After he had gotten just a taste of their blood for the first time, it almost drove him mad with how much he wanted more. Not only because controlling that itch is difficult (though not exactly a struggle for a more powerful vampire such as himself), but also because he couldn't put a finger on why. Why did their blood taste like nobody else's he's had? It was almost annoying with how Karlheinz' thoughts were busy running constantly, the taste stuck in his mouth yet, there was none of it.

It was dangerous. For both of them.

If the king started to lose himself even more, which he already was, for some reason he couldn't piece together, which then added yet another thing to his mental, and physical torment. Something in him snapped that very first bite, and ever since, the man has felt himself lose his grip on both himself as well as reality. Even if he had indulged, the more frequently he did so, the more likely death was to approach his beloved.

And for whatever reason, even daring to think about living without them was painful. He felt as if he should keep them isolated, protected from his desires that only got greedier day by day. Was it fear? Karlheinz did not believe so, but what he did believe was that this had to end. Before he truly went mad. Before they die. In which Karlheinz would tear them apart, savoring their delectable, deadly blood for the last time. Perhaps it'd be better that way. If they no longer existed in the world, it would make things so much easier for Karlheinz.

This likely wasn't love, Karlheinz knew so already. But did it matter? As long as he could keep them to himself, with no one to interrupt.. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad. For it to just be the two of them, his sweet little thing that makes the man want to succumb constantly. 

To be rid of them was definitely the best option, if both Karlheinz and his precious prey held any value for their life. This sudden downslide of his sanity was a first, and every possible way he could think of for handling it did not please him. If Karlheinz kept them, they’d be completely drained after a point of time. If he disposed of them, there’d be an emptiness to Karl that couldn’t be filled. Letting them live but keeping a distance from Karl would not work, either. The thought of anyone else drinking their blood was almost... painful.

There was another option, however, if such thing was possible. 

To turn them. To stake his claim over them forever.

There were to many options. None of which he wanted to pursue, really. He wasn’t sure about any of it. He wasn’t sure how they managed to beguile him in such a way.

What he did know was that this obsession he had over them- the way they had him completely spellbound, somehow- was frustrating. And, it was definitely not going to last for long.

richter

In the perspective of this brooding vampire, love at first sight was nonexistent. The way he treated his prey almost said otherwise, though it certainly wasn’t love. Nor did it have anything to do with sight; rather, it was taste. He had always been an obsessive man, an obsessive lover. It was almost inevitable for everyone he managed to get close with. The number of such is low, for sure, especially for being someone his age, but regardless, this has happened before.

Unlike his awful brother, Richter could expect this. He foresaw it the moment he even considered drinking their blood. It wouldn’t be the first time, and, if they are able to survive his obsession, which was already pretty intense, then hopefully it’d be the last. It also wouldn’t the first time he’s said such a thing.

To his own dismay, he knows this should end. He’s not concerned for himself, but his beloved, rather. As odd as it may seem, the man has loved before. His view of love may be just as strange as the rest of his family, but did it matter? His love also just so happened to be one of the reasons he was thriving, both figuratively and literally. Blood was a powerful thing, and after so many years, Richter could admire it, at least slightly. At the very least, he was thankful. 

However, in this case? Their blood was purely his. He knew this, yet, he worships it. He worships them, for being his, for being such a bewitching creature. Maybe it wasn’t just them, perhaps it was just his nature to dive deep into any sort of attraction he develops. Maybe it was something else completely. 

He knew what he had to do. It would be merciful. The ‘humane’ thing to do. 

As if he had morals. 

His love was not safe near him, and truthfully, it was a genuine concern whether or not they’d survive Richter’s never-ending hunger for everything they had to offer him. Blood, body, soul. But, he wasn’t strong enough to do so. They were his weakness. 

And he planned to keep them for as long as possible.

+ bonus karlheinz & richter 

Again. 

Of course.

Fate was not kind to Richter, and he was aware of this. Yet, it seemed the world was not content with allowing him to not compete for love. 

If this was even a matter of ‘love’. It was definitely arguable- he enjoyed their company, sure, but whether their company beat their blood taste? There was a clear winner, for now, anyways.

Yet again, the younger Sakamaki must fight for what he desires. Because, naturally, his elder sibling yet again had no need to fight for anything. It was them. The one Richter had grown ..attached to, putting it lightly. And what does Karlheinz do? Swoop in and try to seduce them into his own arms?

It was horrid. But, unsurprisingly, not the first, and definitely wouldn’t be the last. It seemed to be the way the world worked- Obviously fate favored Karlheinz over Richter. Surely.

Karlheinz did not believe so. Was there an issue with seeking out what you desire? Karlheinz knew what good blood tasted like, had sampling plenty throughout his life. He just had an eye for it, you could say. Apparently, this was something he had in common with his brother- the dark haired man had a knack for picking out good prey, something Karlheinz couldn’t deny. So, why wouldn’t he try to get a taste? 

In Karl’s eyes, if they truly were a good little pet, they wouldn’t need to even think of any options. Why refuse him? He could show them a world so much better than any way his brother might have already.

Unfortunately, as lovely as it may be, at least for Karl, the two brothers can’t fight forever. Eventually, one of them will give up, despite both of them sharing yet another similar characteristic- determination. Ambition. Stubbornness, even. 

It’d be a constant tug-of-war over the prey, and at some point, their toy might lose themself before they choose one brother over another. Neither Sakamaki will allow for it. They belonged to them. Not both, exactly, but with the rate in which things were happening, neither were going to give up any time soon.

Perhaps all three would just have to get used to endless sharing.

[killalluchihas]

good vibes/bad juju - 10

Summary: While on a mission abroad, Gojo gets KO’d by an unknown sorcerer. Within a week, every sorcerer in Japan knows about it.

[Chapter One Here]

[Previous Chapter] [Next Chapter]

chapter ten: three things Yoshi is assigned her first official mission as a sorcerer.

Three days after meeting the clan guy, Yoshi meets him again.

“This is a joke, right?” she asks out loud, staring directly at the same asshole that put a bounty on her head. He’s at the entrance of the school, looking smug as shit next to a silent man (A servant? Chauffeur?) and Ijichi, who might just be the only reasonable sorcerer in all of Japan.

(Gojo, of course, she never assumed was reasonable in the first place.)

“What’s wrong, girl?” he taunts, “You need two sorcerers to verify your rank, and I haven’t been convinced of your competence just yet.”

Yoshi stares at him for a moment, reflecting on what she knows of clans, of Maki and Megumi, of everything he said to her on the rooftop in Queens, and everything he’s done since then. Thanks to Gojo and the school, the bounty had been lifted. But then Yoshi got the wifi password, opened up her messaging app, and found out her apartment was burned down.

no one was hurt, Wendy texted her yesterday. but there’s nothing left! rip my wardrobe. lucky I had that crappy date with sam, huh??

Clearly, burning down her home hadn’t been enough to soothe his ego. Making the trip to Tokyo’s campus, forcing his way onto Yoshi’s mission—he had a score to settle now.

Behind Yoshi and Ijichi, poorly hidden by a short dividing wall, Nobara is whispering furiously to the other students. If they weren’t here to spy on her, Yoshi would call out the clan guy for being such a petty piece of shit at this point. It wouldn’t be a good example for the students.

“I’m concerned… that there may be a conflict of interest here,” Yoshi says, choosing her words with care. “This was supposed to be a solo mission.” The clan guy deserves far less politeness, but openly defying a prissy rich heir is much the same as taking a toy from a spoiled four year old. Both will throw tantrums.

Yoshi looks at his smug face, and finds herself missing her little team of baseball brats more than ever. Even Cindy, that little shit, who played in the outfield so she could pick dandelions.

“I’m sorry, Yoshi-san. But the decision was beyond my control, and the sooner you get to Nagano, the better,” Ijichi bows several times to her as he says this. The man looks so stressed, Yoshi almost feels bad for him. The incidents in Nagano did seem very serious, and it’s why Yoshi agreed to check it out.

“And I’ve been trying to contact Gojo-san all morning,” Ijichi continues, “But I’m afraid he’s still abroad, and he did not say when he’d be back—“

“Did you really think you could hide behind that man?” Ijichi shuts up as the clan guy laughs mockingly. “I wonder what he promised you? Gojo might be strong, but he’s no savior.”

Ah. Now the clan guy is interrupting her because she won’t pay him any attention. Yoshi exhales sharply. “No need to state the obvious,” she grumbles, looking pointedly at the ginkgo tree above them instead of at the clan guy. “Are you driving, Ijichi-san?”

“We’ll take my personal car,” the clan guy answers first, signaling to his servant with a flick of his hand.

The silent man bows respectfully, and Yoshi really, truly, wants to not be here. He starts walking towards a slick black sedan, one that looks exactly like the fancy car he used to stalk her in New York.

Yoshi stays put, staring at clan guy’s ridiculous traditional clothes.

He looks back at her, suspicious. “Having second thoughts?”

“No. I just need a minute,” she calls to him, turning away from the clan guy before he has a chance to look annoyed. Yoshi jogs back through the torii gates, towards the brick wall where her students are hiding.

Nobara curses Megumi out for being too obvious, and the glasses girl smacks them both as Yoshi stops in front of the kids. The onigiri kid is there too, which Yoshi hadn’t noticed at first. “We were totally not spying!” Nobara declares with aggressive sincerity. “I just wanted to know who the asshole was!”

“Shake,” the shorter boy adds solemnly.

“You can’t be serious about this, Yoshi,” The older girl’s eyes are fixed on her, her jaw clenched in anger. She’s part of the same clan, and probably grew up alongside the heir before leaving. “At least take one of us with you. No woman should be alone with that guy.”

Megumi and the onigiri boy flinch ever so slightly, not quite looking at glasses girl or her uncle. Nobara doesn’t react at all, except to lean her shoulder against the other girl’s.

There’s a lot that glasses girl could be implying with that statement, and Yoshi, unfortunately, can’t ask her about it right now. But it’s alright, because the students won’t be on this mission.

Yoshi stares at the four of them with cool black eyes. She didn’t actually think about what to say before walking over here. She only did it to waste the clan guy’s time, but the kids looked invested in what she had to say. “First of all… it won’t happen, but if I die because of that guy, tell Gojo I’m taking him down with me.”

“Tch.” Glasses girl scowls, but she only does it to cover up her smile and Yoshi isn’t fooled. “Do you mean my uncle or Gojo?”

“Good question,” Yoshi acknowledges, and proceeds to not answer. “Second of all, take this and leave it in the break room or Shoko’s office.” She unstraps one of her slap bracelets and flicks it at Megumi.

“Why?” He grumbles, catching the bracelet before it hits his face. “What is this? Are these—sutras?” he realizes, squinting at the markings. They weren’t sutras he recognized, but most sorcerers don’t rely on talismans these days.

“It’s how I sent Todo to Kyoto,” Yoshi tells him shortly. “The school is hidden, so I—“ Yoshi hesitates when she sees the instant curiosity in the four students.

“How do you make them?! Can anyone make them?” Nobara demands. “Do they have to look this ugly?”

“Later,” she says quickly, holding up her hands to stop them from asking anything more. “Thirdly, thirdly!” Yoshi speaks up over their protests, “Third of all, I don’t have much time here, so listen—I left some stir-fry in the fridge.”

The students gawk at her. Man, the look on their faces is hilarious.

“Are you joking? Is this some American thing I don’t understand?!” Nobara demands shrilly.

“I was going to wish you luck,” Megumi mutters. “Nevermind.”

“Okaka men-tai-ko,” the onigiri boy snaps, looking shocked into annoyance.

“That was so anticlimactic,” Nobara moans. “Why did you save that for last? Wait! Are you gonna kill Gojo-sensei if he eats your leftovers? Let me know, I wanna see you fight him.”

“No, I want someone to eat it,” Yoshi explains, delighted by their continued exasperation. Nobara collapses on Megumi’s shoulder dramatically. Glasses girl pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’ll be gone for at least a day or two, and I don’t want to be wasteful.” She steps back, waving at them. “I’ll see you later. Don’t be idiots, okay?”

“You get less cool every day, Sensei!” Nobara shouts back. “Go kick some ass!”

Yoshi almost breaks character to laugh. When did she ever say she was cool?

When she reaches the campus gates again, the clan guy looks ready to kill her. “What were you doing?”

“I’m a teacher,” Yoshi answers, slow as molasses and duller than dust. “Those are my students, I needed to tell them I’d be gone for a while.”

“Fucking women,” he rolls his eyes, marching off to his car. “You’re wasting time. They know you have a mission.” The driver opens the backseat of the limo and the two of them shuffle inside.

“Well they know now,” she points out, keeping a straight face as she looks around the car. “Because I told them.”

Yoshi’s never been in a limousine before. It’s not one of those stretch limos with room for ten, but she hadn’t expected the interior of the car to be laid out with seats that faced each other.

“You’re doin’ it on purpose,” he scoffs, sitting diagonally across from her. At least it’ll be easier to not look at him this way. “Don’t provoke me, girl. You won’t like what you find.”

Yoshi watches as the campus gateway grows smaller and smaller in the rearview window. “Or what, boy? You’ll burn down my house?” she asks baldly.

His face spasms spectacularly at being called a boy, he has no chance to taunt her about her apartment. “You’re not goin’ to come back from this mission,” he says wrathfully.

“Mm, that seems to be the consensus—“

“—But if you keep openin’ yer mouth, I swear I’ll bring ya back in pieces.”

It’s a chilling promise. Or it would be, if Yoshi were the one saying it. But normal people—be it sorcerers or civilians or ancient evil curses—toss around promises like dollar store candy. They’re lazy, worthless words. Stale before they’re even handed out. Never meant to be consumed.

Oh, he’ll definitely try to kill her on this trip. She has no doubt about that. The threat is real, technically.

Yoshi scratches her ear, bored. The threat is real, but she’s heard better threats from the homeless guys in Washington Square Park. He expects to take her off-guard while she’s busy fighting some powerful curse, and that’s just idiotic. “You can try,” she muses. “But I might take a piece out of you, too.”

“You’ll die,” he says, so self-assured in this that he doesn’t even look annoyed anymore.

“Or I’ll win,” Yoshi replies. She turns, finally giving him her full attention, only to glance up and down at him and say, “I like my odds.”

The clan guy glowers at her, but doesn’t deign to reply. Her luck is good today: he says nothing to her for the remainder of the car ride.

—/—/—/—

Halfway into the driest car ride of the century, Yoshi takes out her phone. After searching through her contacts for a few minutes, she finally comes across the name ‘Maki - glasses’ and texts her.

Yoshi: it’s ‘xenon’ or something

Yoshi: right?

Maki - glasses: what

Yoshi: your family name?

Maki - glasses: oh my god you idiot

Maki - glasses: how has he not killed you yet?

Yoshi: ...so it’s not xenon

—/—/—/—

[Previous Chapter][Next Chapter]

A/N: I mentioned this in an ask, but I figured I should say it here as well... Yoshi has a hard time remembering names. She genuinely doesn’t know Naoya Zenin’s full name because it’s only been said a few times to her.

[carewyncromwell]

Is that a Cinderella AU part I see? Yes, yes, it is! And one hopefully not as dark and devoid of hope as the last part...

Charlie’s castle carpenter tunic is based on this design; Bill’s castle guard uniform, referenced in a previous part, is based on this real uniform from 16th century France, though with a Royaumanian-worthy blue/red color scheme. My headcanon is that Charlie (who’s described as stocky in the books) is 5′5″, only two inches taller than his “unofficial twin,” Carewyn, while Bill is a friggin’ giant the tallest of the Cursebreaking squad at 6′1″ (one inch taller than Ben Copper at full height and the same height as his actor, Domhnall Gleeson!). The entire Cromwell family is on the smaller side, with Charles as the tallest at 5′10″. Oh, and yes, the Cromwells are all a piece of work, but Charles is indisputably the worst apple in the bushel. 😒

Previous part is here -- whole tag is here -- Katriona “KC” Cassiopeia belongs to @kc-needs-coffee -- and I hope you enjoy! 

x~x~x~x

Carewyn was discovered outside by her aunts Pearl and Claire and uncle Blaise and brought inside. When they interrogated her about why she had returned to the estate in the middle of the night, however, Carewyn was unable to answer them. She was unable to speak at all -- nor was she able to eat, drink, or sleep. Instead she simply settled down in a huddled ball on her old cot by the fireplace and stayed there, her arms around her knees and her eyes devoid of all light or awareness. 

Whatever had happened, Charles seemed to have determined Carewyn would be of no use to him in the palace, the way she was -- and so, at dawn, he sent a messenger to the King and Queen, telling them that she’d taken ill and would have to remain at home in the interim. 

Carewyn’s cousins at first took some vindictive pleasure out of bullying her, now that she was back under their roof. Arsen and Kain actually picked Carewyn up off the ground and pushed her around like some human-sized doll while Elmer sang a mean little song he’d written about her --

“Cindy-Cindy-Cinderwyn, the finest of her class --

The duchess of the dust and soot, her kingdom’s made of ash!

She went to court; oh, did they chortle, snicker, and guffaw --

So Cindy-Cindy-Cinderwyn ran home, crying, ‘Mama!’”

Before long, though, her lack of a reaction seemed to make it not so fun of a game. Within two days, Tristan, the youngest of Carewyn’s cousins, actually threw a tantrum because Carewyn completely ignored him splashing his paints all over her. 

“What’s wrong with you!?” the boy screamed, beside himself. “Why won’t you get mad at me?! Why won’t you run away and cry?! Why are you so -- so -- WEIRD?!”

Blaise was most perturbed when his son actually burst full-on into tears. Clenching his jaw furiously, he brought an arm around Tristan and swept him back inside and away from the vacant-eyed Carewyn. Then he went straight to the dining hall to speak to Charles.

“Father, something must be done about Winnie,” he hissed. “This is not normal.”

Pearl leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. “Her behavior is shameful. To think the Cromwell blood runs through the veins of that girl...”

“It’s pathetic, that’s what it is,” said Claire in sycophantic agreement. 

“Winnie may be a pathetic thing, but she is our thing,” Blaise shot back fiercely, “and she’s practically dead as she is.”

He turned to Charles. 

“We’ve already lost Lane and sent Jacob off,” he said in a quiet, cold voice. “Are we to simply let Winnie waste away?”

Charles had his hands folded in front of him on the table. At Blaise’s words, his own almond-shaped blue eyes -- identical to his children’s and nearly all of his grandchildren’s -- narrowed. 

“I must admit, it is a shame that Carewyn has stopped being useful,” he said lowly. “Iris may still be a set of eyes for us inside the palace, but she’s hardly clever enough to do much of anything on her own that’s useful.”

Claire actually looked hurt. “Father...Iris just sent us a letter this morning. Was it not useful to you?”

Charles’s eyes were very cold upon his daughter. “Hardly. She spent a good chunk of it complaining that Carewyn did something to the Prince, before leaving the palace...clearly trying to make excuses for her own failure to hold Prince Henri’s attention.”

Claire’s eyes welled up with shame and she hung her head. 

“It wouldn’t be the first time that Iris has blamed Winnie for stealing one of her suitors’ attention,” said Pearl seriously, “but we have yet to get any explanation about why she’s returned to us against your instructions. And Claire and I did hear a horse galloping away, that night. Could it have been Prince Henri?”

Blaise scoffed. “Doubtful. You think a Prince would ever favor a plain girl with no dowry or status?”

“You warned Winnie yourself that the Prince could want her as a conquest,” Pearl said darkly. “Heartbreak would more than explain her current state...”

The idea made Blaise flush with rage. 

“Whoever rode that horse, it was not the Prince,” said Charles very smoothly. He rose to his feet, picking up his dragon-headed cane and strolling over to the window to look out. “From what my informants have told me...Prince Henri was at the Royaumanian army camp that entire night.”

His children all straightened up, taken aback. 

“At the war front?” said Pearl, shocked. 

“Yes,” said Charles. “It quite upset their Majesties. Even more so when he returned to the palace in the morning dressed like a commoner and declared to them and the entire royal court that he intended to open up peace talks with the soon-to-be King of Florence.”

“Soon-to-be King?” said Blaise, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Then the old one kicked the bucket?”

“Yes...and it turns out the replacement Crown Prince is something of a populist. From what I’ve heard, his very first decision as future monarch was to ask every Florentine nobleman to -- should they wish to remain at court -- donate a portion of their wealth to him, so that he could then use it to buy a feast and custom-tailored clothing for his soldiers.”

Charles was clearly offended by the idea. Blaise was too.

“Uppity brat,” he sneered. “I guess that’s what’s you get, when you choose a bastard peasant as your future king...”

Pearl, however, looked a bit more cynical. “Seems rather unwise, to antagonize those who come closest to you in status...”

“On the contrary,” said Charles. “It’s most shrewd. As Blaise said, the boy was the King’s illegitimate son. That would offend the standards of just about anyone of good breeding...thus it would be foolish to try to court them for approval. A rat can communicate best with other rats -- and sadly, a swarm of rats is just what you get, when they gather: a band of filthy, hungry, disgusting creatures who will eat away at what we hold dear.”

His blue eyes flashed. 

“And now our Prince fancies becoming allies with such vermin.”

Claire looked uncertainly at Pearl and Blaise. Both of them looked perturbed. 

“If the War ends, there’ll be less money in the future for us,” Blaise growled. “Our investments in armaments built this estate...”

“My investments, Blaise,” Charles said in a very cool voice. “Do not forget that even the ones done in your and my son-in-laws’ names were still orchestrated by me.”

He pushed his palm down into the top of his cane, his long fingers trailing over the metallic snout of the dragon-head handle. 

“It’s far worse than that, however. The Royaumanian royal family’s financial troubles was what has lent me their ear from the beginning. Gave me access to their decision-making -- gave me some leverage in coaxing them to join our two families. Should the King and Queen become friends and allies with Florence’s new royal brat, they may get the idea to redistribute their courtiers’ wealth as he has, to alleviate the nation’s debts...meaning we not only won’t be bringing in as much money as before, but that we’ll also have to submit to parting with what we already have, just to indulge in petty charity.”

Charles’s eyes narrowed upon his reflection in the ice-trimmed window. 

“Our family’s chance at ascending into royalty...at the absolute, irreversible power owed us...is slipping away.”

Claire got up and tried to comfort her father by taking hold of his shoulder. “But Father...surely there’s still some hope? If Iris -- ”

But Charles warded Claire off with the back of his hand, sweeping across the room. 

“If your daughter thinks that a mere maidservant was able to captivate the Prince more than her, then perhaps it’s the maidservant who I should enlist in getting our family what we deserve.”

He shot a look over his shoulder at Pearl. “Fetch Carewyn and bring her to me.”

Pearl dragged Carewyn up to the dining hall by her arm. The ginger-haired Cromwell hadn’t changed clothes or washed since she’d returned home, so her face was covered in cinders and her forest green and white dress was still splashed with the paints Tristan had thrown on her. 

At the start, Charles feigned concern, saying he hated seeing his granddaughter looking so ill and unhappy, but his words barely penetrated Carewyn’s mind. They were just more lies -- just like everything else out of his mouth. She should know...being a liar herself. So she didn’t say a word in response. She made no response at all. And soon enough, Charles did come around to what he really wanted. 

“His Highness is set to make a fatal error...but you have his ear. We need you to return to your duties in the palace and ensure that he does not trust the Prince called Cosimo.”

Carewyn’s lightless, empty eyes ran over her grandfather’s face for a long moment...but she did not answer. 

“This is a noble duty, child,” said Charles. Although he put on a smile, it did not touch his eyes. “This is your chance to protect both your family and your country. The Florentines have been our enemies since before your mother was born...and now they seek to feign honor long enough to lure our Prince into their jaws...”

He brought a hand down onto Carewyn’s shoulder. 

“Jacob would be proud, knowing you were helping him in his fight against them.”

Carewyn stared at Charles. Her almond-shaped blue eyes were as dark and turbulent as two miniature hurricanes. And yet, she did not speak.

Charles tilted his head, raising his eyebrows and considering her expression with that cold, detached smile. “Come now, my dear...will you not speak to your grandfather? I do so hate to see you like this.”

Carewyn’s gaze drifted away as Charles’s eyes bore into her -- and yet the silence dragged on with neither breaking it.

Pearl, Claire, and Blaise, for their parts, were becoming all the more unsettled by Carewyn’s lack of a response. Blaise actually strode forward and shouted at her.

“You will speak when spoken to, you ungrateful little -- !”

He made as if to strike Carewyn, but Pearl grabbed his forearm and held it back, flashing him a warning look before turning her righteous anger onto Carewyn. 

“Your grandfather requires your services, Winnie,” Pearl said very sharply. “Don’t you have something to say to him?”

Even with this, however, Carewyn didn’t say anything. Then, with as much energy and emotion as a ghost, she stepped back and out of Charles’s grip and turned to go. 

Something flickered in Charles’s expression. 

“I did not give you permission to leave,” he said very softly. 

But Carewyn didn’t answer or turn around. Claire had to block the doorframe to keep her from leaving the room. 

“Your grandfather said you’re not allowed to go,” Claire said, her voice trying to be sharp but instead sounding rather unsettled. 

Carewyn stared at Claire with those hollow, empty eyes in silence as Charles approached her from behind. 

“You will do your duty to this family, child,” he said. It was striking how much scarier his voice sounded, when it was quieter -- Charles Cromwell was the sort of man who didn’t need to shout in order to be intimidating. “After all...that is the pact we made when I took you and your brother in, is it not?”

He took hold of Carewyn’s shoulder, whispering in her ear.

“Do not forget that everything you have is because of my charity. I have no desire to punish you...but I shall withdraw my kindnesses, if I must.”

Carewyn was very still. Then she once again broke out of Charles’s grip and tried to move past Claire. 

Before she could get far, however, Charles snatched her up by the hair. With a strangled cry of pain, Carewyn was thrown to the ground with astonishing force, Charles’s fist clenched fast around her hair. 

“Your head is not the only thing in my hands, Carewyn,” he reminded her very coldly. “I hope you remember that.”

He wrenched her up onto her feet by her hair, and Carewyn had to clench her teeth to keep herself from crying out again. 

“I have been very patient with your theatrics...but I grow weary of coddling you. Should I send some message to Jacob, so that you behave? Perhaps if your head is not one you will defend, perhaps his is...”

“Liar.”

The word escaped Carewyn’s mouth as a wispy, hollow rasp, and yet it was enough to make everyone in the room stiffen. Somewhere out in the hall, one might’ve caught a quickly stifled intake of breath. 

Carewyn’s eyes, although so dark, seemed to have gained an odd gleam in the back of them, like flaming cinders in a dying fire, as she stared up at Charles. 

“You’re a liar,” she said again, her broken voice as rough as sandpaper in her throat as it rose in volume. “I know your life isn’t bound to Jacob’s. Any spell you could’ve had cast on him would have broken at midnight, the very night you sent him away -- the very night you ripped him away from me and sent him off to War against his will!”

Her blue eyes flared with hatred. 

“That’s why you’ve never once gotten word from him -- because there’s no word you could receive from him at all! Admit it!”

There was a horrible silence. Pearl, Blaise, and Claire all looked from Carewyn to Charles and back. 

Charles bore down upon his granddaughter, his face as cold as some ivory mask with hard, diamond-like eyes. 

“So that’s what this is about,” he said softly. “Assigning blame. Very well, Carewyn...let us discuss this. You came to me as a child, sobbing and distraught beyond words...begging me to save your brother’s life when he was already on death’s door. You had nothing to offer me at that time, nor did your brother -- and yet I, out of the goodness of my heart, agreed to take you in. All I asked was that you show proper gratitude...a term you accepted at the time, and yet now have seen fit to break.”

He yanked Carewyn up by her hair and threw her into the table with a WHAM. Carewyn cried out in pain, before crumpling to the floor in a heap. 

“I spent a good deal of my own money and discarded my own honor to try to find someone to save your brother’s life, if only to bring the light back to your eyes. Jacob was brought back to health and you were reunited with him, just as you’d hoped. And yet now you seek to demonize my wish that you show gratitude? That I collect on the debt owed me?”

He brought the heel of his shoe down on Carewyn’s shoulder with force, slamming her face down against the floor. 

“And worse,” he whispered, “you wish to demonize the fact that, all these years, I was too grief-stricken to tell you of your brother’s passing?”

Blaise, Claire, and Pearl all stiffened. Only Claire, however, looked shocked. 

“Jacob is...dead?” she whispered shakily. 

“I knew such a revelation would be crippling to a fragile, weak heart such as yours,” said Charles, his diamond-like eyes very hard upon the back of Carewyn’s head. “I knew that the knowledge that your brother died the morning after his departure, and that his body had to be burned with every other prisoner in those barracks instead of receiving a proper burial...would break your heart.”

Carewyn had started to shake. Her face had lost all of its color, and the flicker of rebellion she’d shown mere moments ago had gone out. 

“You’ve never been a stupid girl, Carewyn. You really should have figured it out years ago...and yet, like a child who believes in Yuletide gift-givers, you latched onto your brother’s memory even when all logic said you shouldn’t. I’m certain everyone else in this family saw through my pretense -- knew that it was merely something to placate you, soothe your temperamental emotions. They always have made it difficult for you to see things clearly.”

Charles's eyes narrowed. 

“You were the one who disregarded your duty to the man who put a roof over your head, clothed you and fed you. Perhaps the truth wouldn’t be so crippling if you had simply done as I wished...rather than chase after a ghost.”

Tears streamed down Carewyn’s face. Although her eyes were so hollow and she shook so badly, however, the grief inside of her was not just numbing. It had grown to such an extent that it for a moment made her lose her head completely. In a violent move, she wrenched herself off the ground with a mad scream and threw a fist right at Charles’s face. Unfortunately Carewyn had never been particularly strong -- and so Charles was able to seize her wrist, twisting it away from him and holding her back with little difficulty. 

“Blaise,” said Charles icily. “Fetch the whip.”

Blaise looked stricken. “Father -- ”

“The child requires discipline,” he said without looking at his son. “I will not have her thinking that following her brother’s example is acceptable behavior.”

Blaise closed his eyes and bowed his head. Then, with a grim look on his face, he swept from the dining hall. 

When he entered the hallway, he found all of Carewyn’s cousins (excluding Iris, who of course was still back at the palace) huddled up against the wall. They’d clearly been listening to every word...and for once, none of them looked the least bit amused. Their faces were all very pale. 

Blaise considered them all for a moment in silence. Then he brought an arm around his son and led him away. 

“Come, Tristan. You will return to your room and stay there until I come fetch you.”

Everyone at the Cromwell estate tried to block out the screams of pain that echoed out of the dining hall. After just under an hour, Charles finally stopped, whether out of physical tiredness or just having finally spent his temper, and bid Pearl and Claire to carry Carewyn up to the tower room at the back of the estate. Charles didn’t want her to leave that room again until she was prepared to behave appropriately. 

Carewyn had expected Pearl and Claire to simply throw her on the floor and leave her there. Instead, however, Pearl sent Claire to go fetch some towels and cold water, and she hoisted Carewyn up onto the worn feather cot on the far end. Her aunts then removed her torn dress so that they could clean the open gashes Charles’s whip had delivered to her back. 

As far back as Carewyn could remember, her aunts had never liked her. Her mother Lane had even told stories about her siblings and how Charles had pressured his children to compete against each other their whole lives. When Carewyn had moved in, Pearl had refused to look her in the face for over a month...and thanks to her daughters’ dislike for Carewyn, Claire had always treated her niece just as coldly. And yet, now...for some reason, they sat with her.

“...Why are you doing this?”

Carewyn couldn’t see either Pearl or Claire’s faces while she was lying on her stomach, but she heard the mattress give a light squeak, as if Claire had shifted slightly to look at Pearl. 

“Don’t you think you’ve questioned your elders more than enough already?” said Pearl in a very hard voice. 

She brought a cold cloth up to the largest gash on Carewyn’s shoulder, dabbing at it lightly. 

“You may be a stupid, arrogant, pathetic girl, Winnie,” she said quietly, “...but I know the pain of losing one’s sibling.”

Carewyn felt some pity in her heart despite herself. 

“Thank you,” she murmured. 

Pearl scoffed. “Thank me by doing as your grandfather says.”

Carewyn closed her eyes. Then she turned her head away from her aunts and didn’t reply.

Taking her silence as a refusal, Pearl withdrew quickly and hoisted herself up off the worn mattress. 

“Come, Claire.”

Claire hesitantly inched herself up off the mattress too, fetching the bucket of water from the floor as she went. Carewyn could see her glance back at her, when she reached the doorframe. 

“Your grandfather bid you stay in here until you behave,” said Claire, and her voice sounded almost reproachful. “Please don’t make him punish you further.”

But Carewyn did not make any move or sound. And so Claire closed the door behind her, and Pearl locked it with a loud CLACK behind them. 

Once Pearl and Claire descended the stairs of the tower, however, they caught the sound of raised voices from outside the open manor door. One of the voices they recognized as Blaise’s -- the other, they couldn’t have known, belonged to Charlie Weasley.

When Carewyn’s friends learned that she would not be returning to the palace, they all reacted with concern. They knew how crippling the revelation of Jacob’s death had been, but the knowledge that she was back with her family, rather than at the palace where they could help her heal, well...that only made the whole affair worse. Clearly, as KC pointed out, the King and Queen probably wouldn’t have been that lenient toward a servant who was unable to work and had no reason to suspect anything malevolent in Charles wanting to “take care” of his granddaughter. After all, Andre himself had also presumed Carewyn was well-treated by her family, before he’d been forced to conclude otherwise. 

“I’ll tell them the truth -- ” Andre had said forcefully, but Badeea only shook her head sadly.

“It won’t help, your Highness,” she murmured. 

KC nodded grimly. “Carewyn is Lord Cromwell’s ward, Andre. Her only possible legal guardian and benefactor. That means she belongs to him, whether we like it or not. No matter how badly she’s treated, or what she’s told you about him, he’ll still have that power over her. And as long as he’s a Lord with more financial capitol than our entire family does combined...the King and Queen won’t want to discipline him.”

Bill and Charlie, however, just couldn’t accept this. So after their scheduled duties, they visited the Cromwell estate themselves, requesting to see Carewyn. When Blaise tried to turn them away, the exchange got more heated.

“I’ve already told you that Winnie will not see you,” Blaise said, his blue eyes flashing at the two brothers. 

“We’d like to hear that from her, please,” said Bill, but his politeness had a noticeable edge to it. 

“She is in no condition to entertain anyone, least of all a pair of peasant boys who presume to trespass on our land and make demands. Now get out.”

“We’re not leaving until we see Carey!” Charlie said fiercely. 

“You will leave now, or I shall see to it that you are thrown out,” snarled Blaise. 

“Go ahead and try it!” said Charlie, getting right up in the blond man’s face. 

“What’s all this now?”

Charles Cromwell had emerged from the open door of the manor. Dashing out after him were Pearl and Claire. 

Blaise’s eyes flared. “A couple of troublemakers who’ve come looking for Winnie. ‘Westley,’ they call themselves -- ”

“Weasley,” corrected Bill. His eyes were narrowed as he faced Charles. “Bill and Charlie Weasley. We worked in the palace with Carewyn -- we heard she was sick and came to see her.” 

Charles glanced at Pearl and Claire out the side of his eye, before his eyes swiveled back over to the two Weasleys. 

“...I’m afraid my dear Carewyn is resting upstairs.”

“May we see her, please?” Bill said. Once again, his words were polite, but his voice was very firm and pointed. 

“No,” said Charles. “You may not.”

His eyes narrowed upon Bill’s freckled face. One could wonder what he saw in Bill that day -- whether it was the protective “big brother” affect that reminded him of his deceased grandson Jacob, the sincere devotion Bill felt for his granddaughter Carewyn, or simply the pure distrust and dislike toward him -- but whatever it was, it served to make the Lord’s face that bit more mask-like as he considered the ginger-haired castle guard.

“‘Bill Weasley,’ you said your name was? Well, Mr. Weasley...you can be rest assured that Carewyn is being quite well taken care of, here with her family, where she belongs.”

Charlie’s eyes flashed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

Charles raised his eyebrows very coolly. 

“We know all about what you did to Carey, Cromwell,” said Charlie. “We know full well how you ‘take care’ of your family...unless you think Jacob would actually speak on your behalf, if he were still alive?”

Charles, amazingly, didn’t react at all to this, but it only served to make his mask-like face that much more unsettling. 

“No one feels Jacob’s loss more than I. And I should thank you not to question that, boy.”

His eyes flickered from him to Bill. 

“I don’t know what Carewyn has told you...but I’m afraid I must apologize for it, all the same. The child has always had a difficult relationship with the truth...she’s often spun tales to...try to make herself seem more appealing, to the people around her.”

“Takes a liar to know one, I guess,” spat Charlie. 

Pearl’s eyes flared. “You have some nerve to speak to a nobleman thusly -- ”

“Pearl,” Charles soothed her, but his voice was hardly warm or comforting. Instead his eyes bore into Charlie with a darker glint. “You do yourself and your brother no favors in insulting me. I could have been kind and offered to send word, when Carewyn was well enough to see you...but I can see clearly that the both of you would be a toxic influence on my granddaughter, should I allow you to associate with her.”

“Toxic?” repeated Charlie, his voice rising. “You son of a -- !”

“Noble bloodline, unlike you,” Charles Cromwell said in a very low, foreboding voice. “One with enough money and influence to force you to comply with my wishes, if I must.”

Charlie wasn’t intimidated. “You do that, and we’ll tell the whole world about what you did. Reckon you won’t have quite so much respect from everyone, once they learn you used magic to trick Carey into staying under your thumb -- ”

“A dangerous accusation for anyone to make,” said Charles, his foreboding voice deepening further. “More still for a boy relying solely on the flawed testimony of a maidservant...and belonging to a family so impoverished by its size that they’d have no means to rebuild, in the event of some unforeseen tragedy...”

Charlie’s eyes widened dangerously. He looked like he wanted to punch Carewyn’s grandfather right in the face, but Bill took hold of his brother’s shoulders from behind, in a gesture that seemed to be both holding him back and expressing support. 

Charles’s eyes -- the same color and shape as Carewyn’s, but infinitely crueler -- flashed up at Bill.

“I can tell that you -- like me -- are the sort of man who wishes to protect his family, Bill Weasley,” Charles said coldly. “If you wish to do so...then you will ensure that neither you nor your family comes near mine again. Do I make myself clear?”

Bill and Charles glared at each other for a very long moment, silently burning brown on icy, diamond-like blue. 

“Crystal,” Bill murmured at last. 

Charlie looked up at Bill, horrified. “Bill -- ”

“Come on, Charlie,” Bill cut him off quietly. “Let’s go.”

Bill steered Charlie away and off of the Cromwell estate. Once they’d cleared the gate, Charlie whirled on his brother.

“Bill, you can’t be okay with this! If old Lord Cromwell won’t let us see Carey, then something’s gotta be wrong! We can’t just -- ”

“I know,” said Bill.

Glancing over his shoulder, he walked with Charlie a few more feet to make sure they were out of earshot. Then he said quietly, 

“Charlie...make up an excuse for the King and Queen about why their carriage is going to need more time to fix than you thought. We’re going to need it.”

[ravens-words]

forget all the ways that we're broken, Part 4

On AO3

................

Maria didn't tell Alex. 

She didn't tell Michael, either.

She'd come so close to letting it all out, so many times in the past week, but she always found some half truth or an outright lie to stop herself from doing it. Maybe Alex can be happy with Forrest, she told herself while trying to forget the devastation that had been pouring out of him in both her previous visions. Maybe I can be enough for Michael, she tried to convince herself and ignored the fact that he had left the planet because he thought Alex didn't want to be with him anymore.

Maria didn't know what was even stopping her at this point, other than sheer stubbornness. She avoided both Michael and Alex, barely even answered their calls, but still, she held onto Michael, tightly, and stubbornly refused to let him go. She just buried her head in the sand and carried on pretending. 

Until she couldn't anymore.

She'd given herself a week, to regroup and figure out what to do with the mess she'd gotten herself into, and six days into that week, Alex called to tell her he was coming by the pony before opening.

Thirty minutes before he was supposed to be there, Cindy, the new girl she'd hired to help out, poked her head in from the storage room and told her there were two men arguing in the parking lot. Maria sighed, readying herself to break up some idiot's fights and was surprised to find Michael and Alex in a heated argument. They didn't see her, so she stepped away. She was going to go back inside, if not for the mention of Forrest's name. For the second time, she found herself watching them.

"-can't just throw a tantrum when you don't like something, Guerin!"

"Oh, for fu- this isn't a tantrum, Alex. I just don't trust the guy!"

"You're- I am not asking you to trust him, I'm asking you to-" Alex spluttered and then turned around, hand sliding through his hair. "You know what? I'm not doing this anymore. Just- stay out of my relationship, okay? You moved on, I'm allowed to do the same."

Alex was breathing heavily at this point, and they were just standing there staring at each other. When Michael's response didn't come,he turned on his heel. He whipped out his phone and spoke into it as he moved further away from Michael and she watched with a sinking feeling as Michael stormed off.

Maria went back in, and was in a haze until someone tapped the bar and loudly called her name.

"Earth to Maria! Hey, what's going on?"

 

"Alex!" Then she noticed Forrest was beside him. "Hi," she said with a beaming smile, trying to act as normal as possible, moving from behind the bar to greet them. It seemed to be working as the smiles she received seemed genuine enough. Forrest appeared to be holding onto Alex's hand tightly. Too tightly, maybe, considering the uncomfortable look on Alex's face. "You must be Forrest!" 

Still holding onto Alex's hand, Forrest extended his free hand and Maria took it.

Which was a mistake.

She sucked in a breath when she saw that she'd been transported right in the middle of an argument between Alex and Forrest.

"I'm just so sick of it, Alex."

Alex ran a hand through his hair, and laughed incredulously. "He's my friend."

"He's more than that and you know it."

"He's not. I'm not cheating on you, I'm not having second thoughts. We've already talked about this." Alex clenched his jaw. "I told you. I told you that he was and always will be a big part of my life. And you said you were okay with it."

"I was okay with him being your friend. I wasn't okay with finding you two cuddled up with each other on our couch, in your cabin."

Alex's eyes turned cold. "I don't like what you're implying. I'm only going to say this one last time, he was drunk and hurting, I wasn't going to turn him away. I'd do it for any one of my friends."

"And I'd be okay with it."

"Just not if it's Michael."

"No," Forrest exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Not of it's Michael."

"And why is that?"

Forrest laughed. "Because you're not in love with any of your friends, that's why."

"I won't abandon him, Forrest," Alex informed him coolly, no room for argument.

"I'm not asking you to. Just- why won't you set some boundaries? Why couldn't you just put him on the couch, cover him and call it a day?"

"Because he needed me."

Forrest scoffed. "Of course. And Michael always comes first, right?" 

"That's not fair."

"No, what's not fair is me not knowing if I'm my fiancee's priority or not. What's not fair, is me believing that I'll always come second to him."

"I have never chosen him over you."

"You never had to!" Forrest exploded. 

Forrest collapsed into a chair, and Alex took a seat next to him. He held his hand in his. "The fact that we're having this conversation," he started quietly, "means we've got something bigger than Michael to worry about."

"And what's that?" 

"You don't trust me."

Forrest shook his head. "I know you'll never cheat on me. I know you're too good of a person to do that." He gently took his hand out of Alex's and stood up. "What I don't trust is your feelings for me." He shook his head with a self-deprecating smile. "You know, I never really thought you and I would make it this far? I kept waiting for you to break up with me. I told myself to end it, before someone got hurt, but I- I fell for you. And I kept putting it off, and then I found myself asking you to marry me and-"

"Do you regret it?" Alex sounded small, hesitant. 

"I can never regret you, Alex."

"Don't leave, okay? Stay and we'll talk about it."

"I think maybe some distance will help," Forrest started. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Alex's head. Alex closed his eyes. "I'm gonna go home for a couple of days, I need to not be here for a while. We'll talk when I get back."

With that, he left. Alex didn't try to stop him again.

"I'm sorry." Michael sat up, and the blanket fell tot he floor. His eyes were red-rimmed and he looked miserable. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble."

"You didn't. I should've told him I was here with you instead of letting him get blindsided."

"Why didn't you?"

"You-" he hesitated, then shrugged. He looked sad, or maybe resigned, and slumped down in the chair. "I don't know. I saw you like that, and nothing else-" he stuttered to a stop. Mattered, he had been about to say mattered. 

Michael opened his mouth to say something, but closed it. Seconds later, he tried again. "Why are you marrying him?" 

"Michael-"

"Just answer, will you?!" 

"I don't know!"

Michael reeled back, seemingly surprised that he got an answer. 

"I don't know anymore, okay?" 

"Tell me to stay."

Alex shook his head. "Michael-"

"Ask me to stay and I swear  I will this time."

"I can't," his voice broke and he got up and turned his back to Michael.

"Alex-"

She surfaced with a gasp, and was met with two looks of concern coupled with confusion (Forrest) and curiosity (Alex).

Her heart pounding like a drum against her chest, she chocked out an excuse me and hurried into the bathroom. She flicked open the faucet and wet her hands, then rested them on her flushed cheeks. She looked at herself in the mirror, long and hard.

This wasn't her. She wasn't the type of person to do something that hurt someone she cared about deliberately. 

She was hurting both Alex and Michael and for what? He wasn't ever going to love her like he loves Alex. And even if there was a possibility, she shouldn't even think about taking it. Staying true to herself should always come first, and she had been acting against her nature for long enough. 

She cleaned up, put on a smile on her face and left the bathroom. 

No more excuses.

[okaybutlikeimagine]

(tumblr won’t let me respond to asks directly so we’re screenshotting them till further notice  🤷)(i had the WHOLE THING typed out w/ the italics fixed into the ask and i copied it so i wouldn’t have to go through and put the italics again and then my DUMBASS SELF went to copy a fucking SHRUG EMOJI and now i have to put the italics in again. good thing i do all this stuff on a separate google doc bc i’m a moron and would have lost the whole thing just now. anyway)

Hi!!! I’m crying bc you fucking KNOW that Billy would get so fucking embarrassed!!

Bc Billy is prideful!! I’m telling you, that boy has some Leo in his chart or something bc if anyone so much as smiles at a joke at his expense, he gets defensive. And that’s not to say that he doesn’t banter back and forth with Robin, and that’s not to say that he and Steve don’t give insults that sound like endearments, and that’s not to say that he and Jonathan don’t rib each other amicably… but it’s different. Pride is a very different thing.

Bc Billy is legit like a little lion cub. (AKA every Leo i know, therefore Billy has Leo in his chart, don’t @ me) it’s an almost juvenile kind of attachment to pride. Like a baby lion cub who’s just getting their mane in but holds their head like they’ve got the biggest one in the pride, it’s a little childish (as much as he may not want to admit it).

And it’s really not Billy’s fault. That’s what he’ll tell you. That’s what he’ll tell anyone. It’s not his fault he’s a brat and he’ll shrug his shoulders and he’ll continue to be rude/bratty and for some people (Steve) it’s charming and for others (almost everyone else) it’s tolerable but for Jim…. It’s…. It’s upsetting. Jim doesn’t like to be seen as “controlling” or a “hardass” or whatever but he’s not sure how he can just ignore when Billy is being disrespectful. Even if it’s only slightly. bc like…. He feels like he needs to be a good dad and good dads make sure their kids grow up to be good people, right??? Which isn’t to say he thinks Billy is a bad person but he worries because, like every parent, his biggest fear is fucking up. He didn’t get a whole lot of practice with Sara. and after her death he couldn’t help but think of every time he slipped up. Every time his wife soothed his hair and said: “We have time to get it right.” every day that passed with Sara in the hospital where he realized she was wrong.

And i’m SO sorry for getting into that but I think that really influences how Hop parents now! The man was broken and then just…. Acquired a 12 year old. And then a 17 YEAR OLD?? Like… the man would be Confused as to how to proceed. And then THIS happens…

Bc Billy has mood swings. Billy is a teenager and also the human version of a bratty little cat that puffs his chest out and ruffles his own fur and may leave a few scratches but is ultimately harmless (esp now that he has a nice, loving family!!) and so they’re at the dinner table and the boys are talking about their grades and whatnot and Billy may be a little pouty. Because maybe Billy didn’t study as hard as he should have for his last history test. He just thinks history is so stupid. He’d rather read a book or do 100 math problems. What’s history gonna teach him?? He doesn’t need to know any more about plagues.

So he says that.

Jonathan’s talking about how well he did on his essay and Will is talking about how he did on his math test and Billy’s pushing carrots around when Joyce asks: “How’s school for you, Billy?”

“Just peachy keen.” he sneers down at his plate. Hop tuts harshly.

“Hey.” Hop chastises, only serving to make Billy’s blood boil more.

“What?”

“Calm down.”

“I’m plenty calm.” Billy snaps back, but it’s quiet. He shoves a sliced carrot in his mouth.

“Have you had any tests or anything lately?” Joyce asks calmly, in that motherly voice she always gives that makes Billy’s mind swirl a bit.

“Yup.”

“Billy-” Hop warns and it makes Billy sit straight up, but give a challenging look in Hop’s direction as he says, loudly:

“Yes, ma’am.”

Joyce stops asking, but she sends a look to Hop, who’s still caught in a staredown with Billy. Billy can’t see her look, but he wouldn’t understand it if he could, because it says: Hop, cut it out.

And the conversation shifts to significant others and then Joyce is smiling kindly at El and asking about her and Mike and maybe Hop is pouting but he’s not gonna draw attention to himself bc Joyce will just hit him like she always does when he’s pouting over their kids dating (specifically El). And Jonathan is smirking a bit into his dinner but Will is visibly uncomfortable as El gushes about Mike before complaining that he doesn’t come over enough and that she doesn’t go out enough and Billy gets irritated. Why should he and Will have to listen to this when they don’t want to??

And he mutters something, darkly. Something about Mike and El and “ungrateful little brats”.

And everyone hears. He only half means it, but they don’t really think that far.

And Hop shoots a look his way before chewing on a carrot rather aggressively.

“Somethin’ to say?”

Billy gives Hop a challenging stare, but he backs down as soon as he starts it.

“No sir.” He mutters harshly.

“Then behave.”

“How about you and Steve, sweetie?” It’s Joyce. Being sweet.

“Happy as can be.” It sounds bitter the way he says it because it is. They got in a fight today. A little one, but enough to make Billy taste something sour in his mouth when he thinks about it. He figures they’re gonna make up just fine tomorrow, no flowers or empty promises needed, just another heated conversation followed by a heated make out in the front seat of Billy’s Camaro. Maybe followed by a serious talk that’ll make Billy’s face heat up because he still can’t believe this boy has Billy wrapped around his finger so fucking tight.

“Yeah, well Officer Callahan says you and Harrington have-”

“You know his name.” Billy growls, resting his fork on the plate.

“Steve. You and Steve have been running around empty fields a lot lately.”

“And?” Billy’s vision is turning red. It’s tunneling a bit.

“And what’s that all about?”

“Don’t really wanna give you all the dirty details.” Billy shoves some meatloaf in his mouth. Hop’s looking at him like he’s a hassle and Billy’s proud of it.

“You guys shouldn’t be doing that. Someone’s gonna say something.”

“And?” Billy’s getting madder. He puts his fork down with a loud clang.

“And you’re gonna cause problems-”

“For you?” Billy seethes, leaning forward a bit, just willing Hop to say it.

“For yourselves.”

“Oh yeah?” Billy asks, leaning back in his chair, blood boiling hot. “Well what about the little twerps?”

Billy nods over to El, who makes a whining noise.

“Hey!” She calls, face pouting.

“What about them?”

"I just don't think it's very fair that it's safe for them and not us." Billy growls, gritting his teeth, eyebrows low.

"That's not true."

"It's safe for everyone else but us!" He’s mad. He’s mad bc him and Steve have argued about this before. Argued about how there’s no real point in being together if they have to hide all the time. That one time when they saw Cindy and Jason being grossly affectionate in public and Billy grabbed Steve’s ass and Steve got mad. They fought for a few days and it ended with them laying in Hansen’s big empty field, on the outskirts of town, talking in dreamy, far away voices about how one day they’d move to California bc “It’s not like this there… trust me, babe. It’ll be so much better.”

Billy’s vision tunnels more. All he sees is Hop in different shades of red. He forgets where he is. He’s livid, thinking about El and Mike and Cindy and Jason and Tommy and Carol and Nancy and Jonathan and he’s going to scream. His heart is racing with disdain.

"You know it's still dangerous for El to go out." Hop warns.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Look... kid-"

"I'm not a fucking kid." Billy growls, leaning forward even more.

"Language!" Hop’s voice is booming and Billy’s had about enough of this. He resents being told off like a kid.

"Sorry! Excuse the fuck out of me!" He’s snarling and Hop seems about as livid as Billy feels.

"Go to your room!"

"Fine!" Billy yells, shoving his chair back and standing up, turning to Joyce for the first time all dinner and seeing her eyes full of… concern. He doesn’t know how to feel about it. Something in his chest heaves at the sight. His eyes flick over to Jonathan and then to El and then to Will…. And then his chest tightens. He looks away just as quickly.

He thanks Joyce quietly for dinner, mumbling it a bit but he thinks the sentiment is clear enough. He drops his plate off next to the sink and storms off to his room, slamming the door with probably too much force but everything’s on his mind and he has the right to be a brat if he wants.

It’s just that he hates just sitting here with nothing to do but think about everything. He doesn’t even have his stereo to listen to music with bc he gave his to El until she can get a new one bc hers broke and her nightmares have been bad recently. Listening to music before bed calms her down. Billy didn’t say anything about his own nightmares or his own need for music before bed. He wishes he had now that he’s laying in bed, about ready to rip his sheets to shreds bc he’s boiling. He feels like a storm but, to any outsider, he looks like a toddler- red-faced from a tantrum and fidgeting and bubbling like a shaken up soda bottle.

He’s so mad he can’t even do anything. The minutes pass in sticky but frantic moments of anger and thoughts and memories and the only thing his body will let him do is just sit there. Lay in his bed and pull at his covers and fall into thoughts and think about Hop reprimanding him like that and how awful it was and how red and angry he looked and how he sent him to his room like a kid and… and how Joyce looked so worried…. And how that same look was in Jonathan’s eyes…. And Will’s…. That same worried, concerned look. They all three have the same eyes- Lonnie be damned. Those boys share their mother’s eyes and all of the emotion that goes within them and it makes… it makes Billy mad he’s mad about it he knows he’s mad and-

And…

And he calms down a bit. Calms down enough to do what Steve told him to do when he gets angry and stressed and doesn’t know what to do with himself. Because Steve’s family is “well-traveled” and Steve knows all these weird little things from all these cool different countries.

So Billy takes out his notebook and rips a couple pieces of paper out (bc he saves the fancy paper Steve gave him for when he’s actually trying) and does some origami. Bc Steve said it’d help him to do something with his hands and this is something he can do quietly, in his room, without being destructive. ”It’ll help, I promise!”

The hardest part is making a perfect square, bc it takes too much patience and usually Billy doesn’t have that. But he’s just doing this to calm down so he eyeballs it as he cuts the paper and starts to fold what he knows, which is either a heart or a crane. Those are the only 2 things Steve has taught him that he knows off hand w/o the instructions or Steve guiding him through it.

There’s more crumpled paper on the ground than folded paper on his desk but Steve had assured him that was more than okay. It’s kind of the point, he figures. Crumpling and ripping up the paper is almost as nice as folding it to make something, and it makes actually making something feel even better when it happens.

He’s sitting there, on his 3rd heart, when there’s a small knock on the door.

“Go away.” He calls, realizing that the paper he cut isn’t a perfect square bc the corners won’t match.

“It’s Will.”

Billy pauses a bit. He goes back to folding his paper, not caring about the corners bc it’s not bad enough to start over. He doesn’t say anything.

He hears the door open.

“Do you think ‘go away’ doesn’t mean you?”

“Does it?” Will asks, voice earnest. Billy looks up to see his face matches.

Billy sighs, the harsh feeling in his chest softens a bit at the boy in his doorway. He turns back to his folding.

“What do you want? And close the door.”

“I wanted to ask if you wanna come listen to records with me.” Will says, closing the door behind him.

“I don’t think they want me out there.” Billy folds his paper with his fingernail to make it sharp. It burns his thumb a bit.

“That’s not true.” Will says, taking a few steps closer. “Mom told Hop… Dad he shouldn’t have done that.”

And that makes Billy mad. He’s not even sure why. It’s a heat in his chest and his face that feels like anger and he messes up his fold and he’s just… he’s confused and he’s red and all he can think about is Will saying “mom”. Not “my mom” just “mom” and also “dad” like he’s theirs and Billy can’t understand it still and he smashes the paper into a ball in his hand-

“I don’t need your mom defending me.” Billy says harshly, spitting the words out like he hates them, chucking the paper on the ground. He’s too aware of the way Will flinches a bit at his harshness. He takes a deep breath.

“Uh... “ Will’s fidgeting. Billy feels bad. He sighs.

“I don’t have my stereo.” Billy leans back, running a tired hand down his face. “Ask Jonathan.”

“But I wanna listen to your music.” Will says quietly and Billy believes him. Will’s been getting interested in Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin and all of the fun bands that actually perform. Steve gifted Billy a VHS performance of Led Zeppelin and Will seemed to like the lead singer quite a bit.

“Well I don’t wanna go out there, pipsqueak.” Billy rips out another piece of paper. It’s quiet for a second, Billy eyeballing another square to cut. It’s so quiet, Billy thinks Will has left.

He thinks wrong.

“Can I still hang out with you?”

Billy puts the scissors down, exhausted, and looks up at Will.

“Alright, what’s wrong?”

Will shrugs. “Nothing. I just…. Like it in here.”

Billy’s confused, but he almost believes him for a minute.

“I don’t have music for you.”

“I can grab a book to read.” The boy’s so earnest, Billy knows he’s not gonna shake him.

So he waves him away with a nod and Will’s out and back quicker than Billy can think about how weird it is that this boy would rather sit in his room in silence than do something fun. Will’s closing the door carefully, latching it quietly and moving over to sit on the bed.

Billy has crumpled up 2 more pieces of paper before Will begins to pry.

“Are you folding things again?”

“Uh huh.”

“What’s it called, again?”

“Origami.”

“Cool.” Will scoots on his knees to the edge of the bed so he can see what Billy’s doing. “Do you need any help?”

“I’m good.” Billy mutters, unconvincingly.

“I can cut the paper for you. I’m good at making squares.”

And so Will is sitting criss cross on the bed, cutting perfect square after perfect square, while Billy sits backwards on his desk chair with his arms folding on the back rest and mind racing a mile a minute. Will’s so quiet and calm, willingly coming in here just to spend time with Billy, helping him now and… and something sick fills Billy’s chest. The only thing he can hear are his words at the dinner table.

‘Hey-uh…” His voice sounds weird to his ears and his tongue feels thick but he’s got Will’s attention now so he needs to get it out. “Sorry.”

Will’s eyebrows scrunch up. “Sorry for what?”

For being a dick? For ruining your dinner? For ruining your family?

Billy shrugs.

“I dunno. Just… not being a good example.”

“Whaddya mean?” Will asks, handing over a handful of squares before working on some more.

Billy shrugs again. “I dunno kid I just… I’m not like Jonathan. I’m not… I’m not a good example for you. It’s embarrassing.”

“What’s embarrassing?”

“Getting told off like that in front of you guys.” Billy turns back around so he can start folding again. He needs to do something w/ his hands.

“I told you, mom told him he shouldn’t have done that.”

“But he was right-”

“No, you can be upset if you’re upset. It’s fine.”

Billy falters a bit. He wonders if Will is quoting Joyce. The small boy keeps speaking.

“You’re a good example,” Will’s voice says, and he sounds so sure that Billy believes him. “You’re just a different one. You show me to stand up for what I believe and… and that it’s okay to be… to like boys…”

Billy stops folding altogether. Will’s voice gets quieter.

“You’re a good example. It’s good to let things out when you feel them.”

Billy’s mind is racing. He’s folding without thinking about it. Because the only thing he can think about is how he got accepted into this family so quickly. How Hop took him in and Joyce accepted that like she was accepting a package at the door. She took him in like he was her own son and not some bratty problem child being dumped on her. And now Hop reprimands him without his fists and Joyce chastises Hop for being too harsh even though he’s… doing his job, whatever that entails and it’s… it’s too much sometimes. It’s too much to think about but Billy knows he wouldn’t give it away for the world bc every moment like this reminds him that every passing day is a day further away from the pain he grew up surrounded by. The pain now doesn’t even compare to the pain then. This is so different bc this pain is laced with care and love.

He’s made a crane before he realizes.

“I’m glad you’re my brother.” Will’s voice sounds so far away but it crashes over Billy like a wave.

Billy nearly crushes the crane in his hand from the words. He’s so shocked at them.

He turns and gives Will the crane, not looking the boy in the eye as he gathers up the paper and the scissors from the bed.

“I don’t need any more paper. Thanks.” Billy mumbles, dumping everything on his desk.

“You’re welcome. Is this for me?”

“Yup.” Billy shoves the paper in a drawer and tosses the scissors into his pencil cup.

“Thanks!” Will’s so excited about it. Billy’s heart is fluttering.

“Wanna listen to those records now?” Billy asks, hands on his hips, fingers fidgeting bc this is a lot and he just…. He needs music now. Whatever. He realizes he shouldn’t be so scared. There’s nothing to be scared about. Will beams up at him.

“Sure!” Will gets up and rushes to the door as Billy grabs a folded heart and follows the boy out, aiming to give it to Joyce by means of apology. He thinks briefly about giving one to Hop as well, but he figures a spoken apology and a light punch on the shoulder and a promise to listen should do just fine to get the man smiling again. Bc somehow- somewhat miraculously -it always does.

[werezmastarbucks]

Whitmore Guy and the eternal studs

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

word count: 3158

warnings: language

As summer exams were approaching, the pressure on the students of Whitmore grew immensely. And Y/N was the one who felt it clearest of all. Each student, whether depressed, or just stressed, felt only their own weight pulling them down. Y/N had to be the anchor for all of them at once.

In the incredible fuss of early June she didn’t notice that a bunch of young people were very behind in their studies. When she finished filing out all of their graduate papers and closing documents for their rented apartments, she realized at least twenty people from the whole Whitmore did not show up for their preliminary sessions in the end of May. Three of them were missing, and the police already knew about it. A week later, after Damon had finally submitted the heads to the Mystic Falls sheriff, their identities were confirmed, and the college had a big wake for them. Their names were Sheila Bent, Christopher Harris and Taylor Whitaker. Y/N remembered them from her everyday work, and they weren’t unusual; all three, like the rest of the bodies dragged to Damon’s lawn, were Mystic Falls residents. Rebekah left the town for some time, led away by Klaus. Of course, her brother was defensive of her, aggressive, even, however, the pressure of the surviving town, the main core specifically, made it uneasy for him. Y/N was honestly baffled by how him being in love with Caroline changed his attitude. How easy it is to break you, and to manipulate you, when you’re into somebody. And how nasty it is, when this somebody is not entirely on your side.

The rest of the students, who were now in the danger of getting kicked from the college, swarmed her office for the whole first half of June; pleading, begging, crying hysterically, and throwing tantrums. Yesterdays’ mature young people transformed in an almost inexplicable way. There were some athletes among them; there was a brilliant science student Alana May, whom Y/N always liked for her reasonable attitude. All of them changed into these whining kids who did not know what to do now, that they spent half a month somewhere, and couldn’t cope with their deadlines. The situation got thousand times weirder after Y/N found that they all said one and the same thing when asked what the hell they’d been doing.

They said, we were having a party. Fifteen people from different faculties, studying different things, who have never been seen before, of different age and interests, were all having party for at least two weeks, all together.

It was Damon’s birthday, and he could not wish for anything better than investigating the college drama. Although, Y/N did not call it a drama specifically; she said it was more of a sinister mystery. Damon strongly advised her not to contact the failing students again before he gets his head in. When people go missing and then return, having completely changed their behavior, there can only be one explanation, that is – in his world. They’ve been turned.

“Ah-what?!” she yelled.

“When did they come in?” Damon asked knowingly.

“All at a different time – but in the working hours. Which are during the day”.

“Did you look for the lapis lazuli?”

“No, I did not. I’ve been more busy trying to calm down four people at a time. I don’t even have lunch these days, I have so much work”.

“God, the IT guy must miss you”.

Y/N snorted bitterly.

“Joke’s on you, Damon. He brings me coffee every morning”.

“Ew. Anyway, try something if you see any them. I’ll be there by three. Gather them all in one room and I’ll stake them”.

She pressed her fingers between her eyebrows, trying to pull the migraine out. How is she not screaming at him yet.

“You’re not going to come to Whitmore and stake fifteen people who you think are vampires”.

“I’m pretty damn sure gonna. I have a lot of things to do today”.

“Like what? Buy yourself a cake?”

Damon gasped on the other side of the line.

“What? You’re not getting me cake?”

Of course not, she thought. Cakes are traditionally on Caroline.

“Damon, you gotta have at least a picture of a plan before we do it. It’s your faint assumption. Maybe it’s something worse. Or something else. Maybe they joined a cult or something. Maybe they’ve turned into very normal human terrorists”.

“Good thinking, Y/N. Get them all together. By three”.

“Don’t you think it would make more sense to first talk to one of them if you want to check?”

Damon was silent for a moment.

“Yeah, good idea”.

He hung up.

She thought, standing by the window, as she looked out on the parking lot and the football field behind it. Why would Rebekah turn all these people? Was she bitten by the same family craving bug as Klaus once was? In what world all this turning, heads ripping stuff made any sense to her? The summer solstice was getting dangerously close, and Y/N had a bad feeling. There was always a massacre timed to a big cosmic or festive event in this god forsaken town. Every Founder’s Day – someone tries to butcher half of population. And she didn’t even want to remember the Halloween party back in 2009. Or the Perseids night four years ago. Some freak put a bunch of people inside of trees everywhere in the park using magic. They never caught him, of course… those were the weird times, when they failed, once and again, to prevent tragedies. Then it just ended. There were couple of strange cases in Mystic Falls, never solved. The greatest regret of the former sheriff Liz Forbs, before she died, was never solving the case of who killed her father and grandmother.

Thank God she didn’t live to see what happened to Matt.

Y/N decided to find and secure Alana May when Damon comes. She liked her the best, and she had a great hope to save her, if anything as horrible happened to her.

Y/N closed her laptop and left her office, walking to the teacher’s room to see Alaric and involve him a bit. His life has been getting far too boring lately.

She also discovered Mal together with him. The Occult Professor was sitting in his chair, looking into his computer intensely, and Mal clearly did not read the signs of his body – or didn’t want to. Standing right behind his shoulder, he pushed Ric’s back with his stomach, and spoke straight into the poor man’s ear.

“Huh, and then she was like, I don’t really believe that you’re already closing to thirty. I was like, ma’am, just because I’m clean shaven, like any other civilized individual… I mean, you know, not to say anything about your majestic beard, Ric, but I’ve never been able to grow anything like that. There are some people, you know…”

All the while his fingers were working on the keyboard disconnected from his brain completely. Ric’s face expressed misery, and Y/N chuckled, watching them, as she sat down behind someone’s unoccupied desk.

“Hey”, Mal smiled, looking at her briefly.

“Y/N”, Alaric stood up with a swing, almost hitting Mal in the face with his elbow. “I was just thinking about you. I need to talk to you. Can we…”

Mal looked up at them curiously, and a sly smile curled his lips. Half of the time he was pissing Saltzman just for the sake of it.

“Yeah, same”, Y/N gestured, inviting him to leave the room since Mal was working. Together, they stepped out into the corridor, which was sunny, smelled of summer, and stood half empty as it was morning.

“Heavenly God”, the man puffed, looking her in the eyes, “how do you stand that person?”

She was still giggling.

“Serious stuff, Ric. You remember I complained to you about those students who chucked on their studies and were running around on fire?”

A line lay between his eyebrows.

“Uh-huh”.

“Damon thinks they’ve been turned. It’s a bit soon to tell, but when I think about it, it makes sense. They all became like one: impatient, nervous, and very short-tempered. There haven’t been any killings yet… that I know of”.

She looked at him with a question. Saltzman shook his head.

“That’s a morbid picture, if he’s right. You think they’re connected with that massacre at the Salvatore mansion?”

“We don’t know if they are vampires yet. Let’see first. He’s coming over today at three”.

Ric put his palm on Y/N’s shoulder.

“Shall we give him his present then?”

The door opened, and Mal walked into them.

“Aw, my bad. The room’s free, if you want it. Y/N, you wanna grab a beer after work?”

“Not today, Mal”, Y/N watched him tilt his head musingly. “We got uh- a thing to do”.

“Oh, the hybristophiliac police gathering. Got it”.

He looked hurt though. Y/N understood very well what he felt at that moment. There they stood, two very different people, part of her outer world, and part of her inner dimension. Ever since Mal came round, the prose of her life became even more boring. Mal was like leaving your house on a fresh morning. You don’t really wanna do that shit anymore. You want to make lava lamps in his basement, listen to his favorite music, and watch Dr Pepper cans fall out of their slots.

“Not really, it’s…”

Ric was watching them both with mist in his eyes.

“Anyway, let’s do it tomorrow”.

“Whatever. Not like I wanted to tell you something super important. It’ll wait”, he smiled and waved them with his quick ringed hand.

“I’ll go get Alana”, Ric put his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “And you watch out for the rest of them”.

“Uh-huh”, Y/N said, still watching Mal walk away. Cindy/Sandy caught her eye. As he walked past her, the girl followed him with a glance, too, and then turned and looked directly at Y/N. Something was off about that look, more than just a “woah, we’re checking out the same guy”. Y/N brushed it off. Not now. Not fucking now.

“Alright, I’ll get her into your office by three”.

“Call me if something happens”.

All those phrases were rehearsed and vocalized hundreds of times. All that routine was suffocating. Y/N walked back to her place thinking about Cindy/Sandy. Maybe she should check her name after all, to finally memorize it.

Damon was there by two-fifty. At three straight, there was a knock at her door, and Alana, led by Alaric, came into her office. Damon’s eyes were highlighted by the sunlight penetrating through the windows like juice. All pale, with bright turquoise, focused and a bit frustrated already, he moved towards the girl without a word.

Alana didn’t have time to react. The vampire took her by the shoulder, as Alaric snapped the door closed, and looked at her like a doctor with at least a century experience.

Only, Salvatore gaze wasn’t caring or curious. It was examining the depths of Alana’s majestic dark brown eyes with cold concentration, and his hard hand never left the girl’s shoulder. Y/N stood next to her, a kind of a maternal instinct rising in her, to protect her from… whatever.

“What are you now?” Damon asked quietly. Alana was looking at him with confusion on her beautiful face. She eyed the man almost angrily, and then replied,

“I’m Alana. Who are you?”

She looked at Y/N for assistance.

“What’s going on?”

“Look at me”, Damon ordered quietly, but with great significance. Y/N got a glimpse of what attracted her to this individual long time ago; he was a very obvious alpha. He was also extremely irritated all the time, which somehow added to his charm. Maybe she just liked the mean type.

Alana stared at Damon, looking all the more lost, and suddenly he straightened up, his face going a dead mask, jaws clenched.

“She’s been turned”.

“What?” Y/N barked, leaning to the student. Alana was turning her head absently at this point, trying to gain someone’s attention, but afraid to stand up as Damon was towering over her.

“Who turned you?” Y/N asked. Alana looked at her, and her eyes went blank.

“What do you mean? What the fuck is going on here?”

Heating up, the girl tried to get up, but Damon pushed her back down roughly. Y/N took him by the shoulder, and he didn’t fail to catch her hand in his inescapable clutch.

“Look”.

He bared his teeth like a tiger yawning, and bit her wrist in a flash, so fast, Y/N couldn’t feel pain at first. She only felt stinging when the first thick, dark drops of blood started to fill on her skin. She could yell at him later, and roll her eyes, too. She looked down at Alana, whose gaze was now focused on her completely. Suddenly, the girl’s face grimaced in pain, and she pushed herself deeper into the armchair, crying out,

“I can’t! Please”, her mouth opened in horror, long fangs growing out of her gums; a familiar black web of swollen veins evened out under her eyes, but she looked at Y/N.

“Your blood, I can’t take it, I can’t…”

But her thirst was stronger. Shaking and convulsing, Alana jumped out, throwing herself over the armchair, just as Damon wrapped his arms around Y/N. It was all too fast, at the vampire speed which always made everything look like changing pictures. Alana threw herself back, right onto another human: Alaric. He was a bad victim, all with instincts and ready hands that never failed him. Y/N bumped into her desk, moved it with her body, pushed away by Salvatore. Damon wanted to step forward to Alana and pushed away the armchair she’d been sitting in, so hard that it collapsed into the bookcase, breaking the glass and scattering the pieces of it. Alaric was pinned to the door, head tilted down, and Alana was immediately pushed to him. She gave out a groan, all too familiar, for Y/N not to understand.

She balanced herself back to her feet, but it was already too late. Salvatore took the student’s body away from Ric, and, having checked that she was dead, took the stake out.

“Good reflexes”, he nodded, carefully placing Alana on the floor.

“Not her”, Y/N moaned. It was her mistake. She chose her to bring here, to Damon. This death was on her.

Y/N ran her fingers through her hair, thinking. She looked at her bookcase and the glass on the floor. Oh how she could’ve used that beer after work.

“God fucking dammit”, she uttered, taking the armchair and pushing it further, to the window.

“How many are there left?” Damon asked. Y/N thought about them with horror. Right now, there’s a group of young vampires, high on thirst and anxiety, getting their blood devil knew where, scattered around the campus. One of them could be flirting with Mal.

“So, we’re not gonna talk about it?” Alaric walked towards the body and then looked at Y/N. “A newly turned vampire, that’s unable to withstand the call of blood, manages to avoid biting you, because, apparently she’s been compelled. If that’s still Rebekah, then I’m completely confused”.

Damon turned to her and gave her the longest look. Y/N felt like the vampire was staring right into her, down to her every little bone, and a nasty feeling crawled into her brain. There was something to do with her. There was a thought, in the back of her mind, almost on the brink of subconscious, that she pushed away and couldn’t reach anymore. The only sensation left was guilt. Why did she feel guilty, like she was hiding something? Why was Damon staring at her like that? He was the third already, that day.

She was walking across the football field. Thank God they didn’t make her run around the campus and look for the remaining fourteen failing students. She was swinging Alana’s keys between her fingers, looking for her car on the other side of the road. She failed to find it in the parking lot and decided to check in the street. It was a normal thing now, deaths. People died pretty often in Mystic Falls and its suburbia. Weird things, awful things happened there. They knew about it even back in Seattle. So, technically, if you come to study or live here, you claim that you’re ready to take the risks. It just bothered Y/N that deaths didn’t bother her anymore. How much does it take off a person to become jaded? It certainly wasn’t that much for her, and yet, she was calm. She’s just seen one of the best Whitmore students die pointlessly; out of Alaric’s paranoid stake throwing. And all she felt was frustration. The new knot to untie, the whole new bunch of threads to pull on. And what if someone really important gets in the way?

She finally found it, a dark blue Honda. Y/N took it back to the campus, circling the building and stopping it at the back entrance. Damon came out with the body and put it in the trunk.

“Tha-ank you”, he clicked his tongue, taking the keys from her. Ric appeared next to him and looked at Y/N with the same silent question.

“You know, if they all were compelled not to feed on you, you’re going to lure them all by yourself”.

“I won’t be luring anyone”, Y/N protested, “we don’t have to kill them. I’m sick of this… favoritism. Either kill all new vampires, or save them all. Imagine it was Bonnie, who’s been turned yesterday. You wouldn’t have staked her”.

Damon puffed.

“Oh, sweet lord. Don’t tell her that. The idea of being a vampire makes her go suicidal this quick”, he snapped his fingers and got into the car.

“Damon’s going to take care of little Alana” he announced, letting down the window, “and you find the rest of their bunch and assess them”.

Ric’s phone rang. He answered it quickly, lifting his palm as if to say, wait a second. Then he looked at them both:

“Caroline’s asking if we’re still up for tonight, at the Grill”.

“Are we really doing the party?” Y/N inquired, morosely.

Damon hummed like he did when a very bad, murderous idea came to him.

“Make it Craze. And Y/N, let everybody know that there’s a lit party tonight. It’s going to be totally sick or whatever you kids say. Let them all come”, he winked, and started the engine.

“That would be dangerous”, Ric tried to reason with him.

“Young vampires won’t be able to resist an opportunity to party”, Y/N thought out loud. “Loud music, lots of hot blood, and excitement”.

“And piles of dead bodies”, Saltzman noted, watching as Alana’s car sped away from the campus.

[thelittlesttimelord]

The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time Chapter 29

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time Chapter 29 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 29/? SUMMARY: A little girl escapes the Time War when the Timelord’s return in “End of Time Part 2″. The newly regenerated Doctor must now raise the little girl while trying to find out why cracks in time keep following them around.

[A/N - Prepare yourselves for fluff my friends, ‘cause these next few chapters are full of it.]

The Doctor and Elise exited the TARDIS.

“No, Amy, it's definitely not the fifth moon of Cindie Colesta. I think I can see a Ryman's,” the Doctor said.

An explosion came from inside the TARDIS and threw the two of them to the ground as the TARDIS started to take off by itself.

“Amy! Amy!” the Doctor yelled.

As the Doctor stared at the spot where the TARDIS once stood, Elise looked around them.

They were on earth obviously, but where?

The Doctor stood up and brushed himself off.

What were they supposed to do now? Where would they stay? How would they get the TARDIS back? What if they never got it back?

“Hey”, the Doctor said, kneeling in front of her, “Elise, look at me”.

Elise snapped out of her thoughts and looked at his calming green eyes.

“I will get Amy and the TARDIS back. I promise. It’ll be okay”, he told her, “This will just be a daddy/daughter trip, okay?”

Elise nodded.

“Now come here”, he said.

Elise wrapped her arms around his neck and the Doctor rubbed her back to try and keep her calm.

They just needed to find somewhere to stay while he figured out what they were going to do. The first thing the Doctor did was sonic an ATM to get some money.

He smiled remembering doing the same thing after he met Donna. The Doctor looked down at Elise as he remembered the other ginger that had magically appeared in his TARDIS.

He got them something to eat and checked them into a hotel for the night. If the TARDIS didn’t appear soon, he was going to have to go shopping for some new clothes for Elise.

Elise slept curled up into the Doctor’s side that night. She missed Amy and the little blue box she called home.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next day, they wandered around the town for a while until the Doctor spotted a card sitting in the window of a shop. He picked it up and smiled, recognizing his companion’s hand writing.

They followed the directions to the house and rang the doorbell.

A man threw open the door and said, “I love you.”

The Doctor smiled. “Well, that's good, because I'm your new lodger. Do you know, this is going to be easier than I expected.” He took the fluffy pink keys from the man.

“But I only put the advert up today. I didn't put my address,” the man said.

“Well, aren't you lucky I came along? More lucky than you know. Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur, but frankly I'm an absolute dream.”

“Hang on a minute, mate. I don't know if I want you staying.” The man looked down at Elise. “Umm, the ad didn’t say anything about having kids”.

“Oh, well Elise is very well behaved”.

“She doesn’t cry or anything? Throw temper tantrums?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that”.

Elise gave the man a small wave.

The man took the keys from the Doctor. “Give me back those keys. You can't have those.”

“Yes, quite right. Have some rent.” The Doctor handed the man a bag with money in it. He had of course keep some for himself and Elise, just in case they needed anything. “That's probably quite a lot, isn't it?” the Doctor asked, “Looks like a lot. Is it a lot? I can never tell.” The Doctor invited himself in and Elise followed behind him.

The lights upstairs flickered, giving Elise a bad feeling. There was something wrong about the upstairs.

“Don't spend it all on sweets, unless you like sweets,” the Doctor told him, “I like sweets. Oh!” The Doctor put his hands on the man’s shoulders and air kissed him on both cheeks. “That's how we greet each other nowadays, isn't it? I'm the Doctor. Well, they call me the Doctor. I don't know why. I call me the Doctor, too. Still don't know why. And this is Elise.”

“Craig Owens. The Doctor?”

“Yep. Who lives upstairs?”

“Just some bloke.”

“What's he look like?”

“Normal. He's very quiet.”

There was a loud crash.

“Usually.”

The Doctor entered Craig’s flat.

“Sorry, who are you again? Hello? Excuse me?”

The Doctor looked up and saw the stain on the ceiling. “Ah. I suppose that's dry rot?” he asked.

“Or damp. Or mildew.”

“Or none of the above.”

“I'll get someone to fix it.”

“No, I'll fix it. I'm good at fixing rot. Call me the Rotmeister. No, I'm the Doctor, don't call me the Rotmeister. This is the most beautiful parlor I have ever seen. You're obviously a man of impeccable taste.” The Doctor hopped up on the counter. “We can stay, Craig, can't we? Say we can.”

“You haven't even seen the room.”

“The room?”

“Your room.”

“My room? Oh, yes. My room.”

Elise tugged on his pant leg.

“Our room. Take us to our room.”

Craig led them to the room they would be staying in. “Yeah, this is Mark's old room. He owns the place. Moved out about a month ago. This uncle he'd never even heard of died and left a load of money in the will,” Craig said.

“How very convenient. This'll do just right. In fact…”

There was another loud crash from the flat above.

The Doctor touched his tongue with his index finger and tested the air. “No time to lose. I'll take it. Ah you'll want to see my credentials. There.” The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and shower it to Craig. “National Insurance number. NHS number. References.”

“Is that a reference from the Archbishop of Canterbury?”

“I'm his special favorite. Are you hungry? I'm hungry.”

“I haven't got anything in.”

They went into the kitchen and the Doctor started raiding the fridge and cabinets. He and Craig talked as he cooked. “You've got everything I need for an omelette fines herbes, pour deux. So, who's the girl on the fridge?” the Doctor asked.

A photo of Craig and a woman sat next to a postcard with Vincent’s self-portrait.

Elise smiled sadly. She missed Vincent.

“My friend. Sophie,” Craig told him.

“Girlfriend?”

“A friend who is a girl. There's nothing going on.”

“Oh, that's completely normal. Works for me.”

“We met at work about a year ago, at the call center.”

“Oh really, a communications exchange? That could be handy.”

“Firm's going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do. I got a plan all worked out. But I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best. Why am I telling you this? I don't even know you.”

“Well, I've got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around.”

“Right. Where's your stuff?”

“Oh, don't worry, it'll materialize. If all goes to plan.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Less than twenty minutes later, the omelets were gone and Elise was curled up in the Doctor’s lap.

“Oh, that was incredible. That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?” Craig asked.

“Paris, in the eighteenth century. No, hang on, that's not recent, is it? Seventeenth? No, no, no. Twentieth. Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?”

“They never really stop. Ever been to Paris, Craig?”

“Nah. I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveler.”

“I can tell from your sofa.”

“My sofa?”

“You're starting to look like it.”

“Thanks, mate, that's lovely. No, I like it here. I'd miss it, I'd miss…”

“Those keys.”

“What?”

“You're sort of fondling them.”

“I'm holding them.” Craig dropped them and got up.

“Right.”

“Anyway. These, these are your keys.” He picked up a key ring and held them out.

The Doctor got up with Elise in his arms. “We can stay?”

“Yeah, you're weird and you can cook and your daughter doesn’t scream her head off. It's good enough for me. Right.” Craig went through the keys. “Outdoor, front door, your door.”

“My door. My place. My gaff. Ha ha! Yes. Me with a key.”

“And listen, Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?” Craig winked and the Doctor winked back, not understand the cue.

“Why would I want that?” the Doctor asked.

“In case you want to bring someone round. A girlfriend or, a boyfriend? Elise’s mother maybe?”

“Oh, Elise’s mother and I aren’t together, but I will. I'll shout if that happens. Yes. Something like, I was not expecting this! By the way, that. The rot. I've got the strangest feeling we shouldn't touch it.” He patted Craig on the shoulder and left the living room to put Elise to bed. He laid her down on the bed and covered her with the blanket.

Elise was out the moment her head hit the pillow. She slept more than the average Timelord, but maybe it was because she was so young.

He hoped she wouldn’t wake up while he was gone. He had some shopping to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The next morning, Elise woke up and sat up in the bed. She panicked for a moment before she remembered where she was.

At the foot of the bed was a small backpack (covered in a galaxy pattern of course) with a note on it.

“To: Ellie. From: Dad.”

She looked in it and found new clothes. There was also a sketchbook and some colored pencils. Elise got dressed, emptied the backpack except for the art supplies, and made her way into the living room to wait for the Doctor. She walked past the bathroom where Craig was waiting outside the door.

The Doctor was singing very loudly.

Craig knocked on the door. “Doctor.”

“Hello?”

“How long are you going to be in there?”

“Oh, sorry. I like a good soak.”

A loud banging noise came from upstairs.

“What the hell was that?” Craig asked.

“What did you say?” the Doctor asked him.

“I'm just going to go upstairs. See if he's okay.”

“Sorry?” Craig left the flat.

“What did you say?” the Doctor asked, “Craig?”

Elise heard a loud thumping sound come from the bathroom and she rolled her eyes.

The Doctor came running out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist and Elise followed after him.

The two of them met Craig near the stairs.

Elise rolled her eyes again when she saw the Doctor holding an electric toothbrush instead of his sonic screwdriver.

“What happened, what's going on?” the Doctor asked.

“Is that my toothbrush?” Craig asked him.

“Correct. You spoke to the man upstairs?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he look like?”

“More normal than you do at the moment, mate. What are you doing?”

“I thought you might be in trouble.”

Craig laughed. “Thanks. Well, if I ever am, you can come and save me with my toothbrush.”

A phone started ringing inside the flat.

Craig pushed past the Doctor to go and answer it.

The Doctor started to go upstairs as a blonde woman came in the front door.

“Oh! Hello,” she said, looking at the half-naked man and small child before her.

The Doctor came back down the stairs. “Ah! Hello. The Doctor.”

“Right.”

“You must be Sophie.”

The Doctor air kissed her cheeks like he had done with Craig.

Sophie looked at Elise. “And who might you be?” she asked.

“This is Elise. My daughter”. The Doctor softly smiled at her as he lovingly ran a hand over her hair.

“Daughter? Oh”.

The three of them went into the flat where Craig was talking to someone on the phone.

“No, Dom's in Malta. There's nobody around. Hang on a sec.” Craig walked up to the Doctor. “We've got a match today, pub league. We're one down if you fancy it?”

“Pub league. A drinking competition?”

“No, football. Play football.”

“Football. Football. Yes, blokes play football. I'm good at football, I think.”

“You've saved my life. I've got somebody. Yeah, all right, I'll see you down there. Hey, Soph.”

“Hey, I thought I'd come early and meet your new flat mate.”

The Doctor walked over to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk. He looked down at Elise. “Are you hungry?” he asked her.

Elise shook her head.

“Do you play, Sophie?” the Doctor asked.

“No, Soph just stands on the sidelines. She's my mascot,” Craig said as the Doctor took a drink of the milk straight from the container.

If Amy were here, or if Elise were older, she would have smacked him for being so rude.

“I'm your mascot? Mascot?” Sophie asked, offended.

“Well, yeah, not my mascot. It's a football match. I can't take a date.”

“I didn't say I was your date.”

“Neither did I.”

There was an awkward pause, before the Doctor broke the silence. “Better get dressed.” He handed Craig his toothbrush back.

“The spare kit's just in the bottom drawer,” Craig told him.

The Doctor nodded. “Bit of a mess,” he said before slamming the door in Craig’s face.

The two adults looked down at the small child.

Elise went over to a chair and sat down while Sophie and Craig talked quietly. Elise wasn’t listening to their conversation anyway.

Humans were so odd sometimes.

[marshmallowatheart]

To All The Boys I've Loved Before (Part 37)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (31) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36)

Dear Veronica,

Have I told you how much everything sucks without you next to me? Because it does. It sucks so bad.

Have I told you that your simple presence makes everything better? Because it does. Like a thousand times better.

There's not a day that goes by that I'm not grateful that my everyday has you in it.

- L

P.S. Have I told you kissing you when I was twelve is the best decision I've ever made?

She kinda hates that she's swooning because of Logan Echolls but she kinda loves that he's making her swoon. Her eyes graze over his messy handwriting again and she inks her own blank piece of paper.

Dear Logan,

Have I ever told you kissing you in the middle of my kitchen is the best decision I've ever made? Because it is. At the time, it felt like the bravest thing I've ever done.

Everyday is definitely better with you in it.

- V

It feels sappy as she writes it but she's full of sappy emotions caused by this brown eyed boy that she's come to love; she knows he'll smile that smile that makes his whole face kinda just light up and that makes it worth it.

She doesn't expect a response but she gets one. She feels a rush, a warm and jittery rush that's become accustomed with being Logan's girlfriend.

Speaking of kisses, I really love it when you kiss me. You know, in that you can't help yourself kinda way. It's sexy as hell.

Logan's fighting a smile, eyes flickering between Veronica and his notes - he's got to keep up appearances for the sake of not getting caught but he finds it difficult to not look at her and to not smile when she's writing him back. Her letter may have triggered their reunion but he doesn't usually receive such affection written responses from her.

I like it when you hold me tighter. Like you can't help yourself. Like you want me as much as I want you.

His heart beats ridiculously faster as he reads the note, he blows out a low breath, looking at the words as though he were looking at her all while trying to control himself. He reminds himself that they're in class, that even though he can see her he can't touch her.

God, Veronica, I always want you. Always. I don't think you understand how much I want you. It's hard not to lose control when I'm with you, bobcat but I can't.

She swallows, fighting the urge to grab him by the hand and drag him out of class. There's only one response she can think of to him, it's a response she's given him before but it's never left her mind and so she writes,

What if I want you to?

She doesn't get a reply but after class he's tugging her away and into a supply closet.

"Maybe notes in class aren't allowed for a reason," he whispers into the dark of the cramped room, hands on her waist, completely focused on her.

She grins, tilting her head slightly and toying with the seams of his shirt. "Here I thought you were a bad boy."

"Am I a bad boy?" His voice hoarse, his body pressing into hers and forehead resting against hers. "'Cause I gotta tell ya, I've been feeling rather reformed."

"Mmm," she hums, nose nudging his as her eyes stare at his lips before flickering up to meet his eyes. "Do good boys pull their girlfriends into mop closets? How does one gain access to such things?"

He lets out a soft snort, lips kissing her cheek before whispering, "Coming from the girl that uses the girls bathroom as her own personal office."

He doesn't leave her time to make her quips, hands find her bottom and his mouth finally goes to hers.

It's a short kiss and she already wants more, drifting closer as he makes them come apart. He gives her a light smile, keeping an inch of distance as he speaks, "I want you to promise me something."

"Hmmm?" She finds herself humming, eyes still trailing on his lips that's messed with her watermelon lip gloss.

"You'll tell me to stop. Whenever it feels like too much. Tell me to stop," he says, eyes forcing here to look at him and she knows he's referring to her note.

She nods her head, easily accepting these conditions that he's made solely for her convenience. "Does that mean you won't be pulling away when we're in the middle of a make out session?"

"I can't promise that entirely but we can test the waters," he promises. "You need to tell me to stop if it's too much, babe. It's so easy to get carried away with you."

She breaths into him, body lifting as she kisses him, eyes closed, she whispers, "I can do that." She hopes that she can because it really is way to easy to get carried away with him.

"I want you to be comfortable," he tells her, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I also want you to be satisfied."

"Mmm," she nods, his hands are on her cheeks and she wonders if he can feel how warm she is. She wonders if he knows it's because of him. "And I don't want you to be tardy."

He squishes her face a bit and she wrinkles her nose at him, he grins, kissing her again before letting his hands fall away from her cheeks. "Who needs physics?"

"You do," she laughs, pulling him back for a quick kiss but halts midway. "Remember," she starts and he laughs, soft and warm and she feels like she's floating on a Logan high. "Force equals mass times acceleration."

"Mmm," he hums into her mouth, kissing her as much as he can.

"Light is a particle that can exhibit properties of a wave," she lets out, airy and he's giving her light kisses before they have to part ways again.

"I'd learn more staying here with you," he whispers and she pushes him away. He gives her a final kiss and she sighs, needing to cool down. She really wishes he didn't have to go to physics.

--vm--

"These are for you," Carmen chirps, smiling as she places an open box full of cupcakes on Veronica's table. "Thanks for being my knight in shining armour."

Veronica peeks into the box and playfully remarks, "What do I have to do for a pie?"

Carmen's smile slips away and Veronica mentally cringes. "I'm kidding," she assures. "They're great. Thanks."

The brunette relaxes, relieved and takes a seat next to the blonde. "I really am so grateful for what you've done for me, Veronica. If you ever need anything, at all, I'm your girl, Captain."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," she teases, chuckling. "I hear Tad's been trying to get you back."

Carmen nods. "He's been calling and coming around but I can't. He says I'm flushing our two year relationship down the toilet like he wasn't the one that had done that all by himself."

Veronica nods sympathetically. "He's a jerk. You deserve better. You deserve much better," she adds, channelling Meg.

"I know," Carmen smiles, acknowledging and assuring that she's not backsliding. "And I saw what Logan did yesterday, that was just amazing. You're really lucky, Veronica. He really loves you."

I'm in love with you, Veronica Mars, she remembers the warm night they'd confessed their true feelings to each other.

Veronica nods, soft smile and then she realises that he hasn't said it again. She realises that she hasn't said it at all.

--vm--

"You're friends with Ryan's sister?" Heather frantically asks the moment she's in the backseat of Logan's car.

Veronica's brows furrow, she glances at her sister's wide eyes and deep frown. "Yes. And why?"

"Who's Ryan's sister?" Logan asks, eyes flickering between the Mars girls.

"Cindy Mackenzie," Veronica tells him. "Goes by Mac. She helped me with the test scores."

He nods and any response he had was drowned out by Heather's exaggerated groan. "In all of the girls in all of Neptune, you had to try to be friends with her."

"What's with the tone, Snippy?" Veronica redirects, surprised.

"You're not capable of having girlfriends. You're gonna have a fall out and Ryan's gonna hate me," she slumps, pouting with a huff.

"First off, ouch," Veronica frowns, surprise turning into anger. "How am I incapable of having girlfriends?"

"Because you're seventeen and you don't have any?" Heather throws out. "Georgia's obviously been conditioned by Wallace to like you so that doesn't count."

"Okay you're being way mean," the older Mars shakes her head, disbelieving that her sister is saying these things to her, especially for no good reason.

"It's true! You get along well with us, your family and you get along with guys," Heather tries to explain, defending her criticism and feeling the slightest bit guilt for the way Veronica's face crumbles for a second. "But you don't do well with girls for some reason."

Everything feels like white noise and Veronica doesn't care for Heather's explanations right this second. "Well, I don't appreciate being judged by my people preferences."

Heather pouts, loud and dramatic while Veronica crosses her arms as she glares out the window.

Logan sucks in a breath, his car has never been this silent with the two of them in it. He swallows, looking between both girls before looking into the rear view mirror and asking, "So how was school?"

Heather decidedly continues to speak to Logan while Veronica continues to silently stare out the window.

--vm--

"I don't think she meant it to be as mean as it sounded," Logan tries to placate the angry Veronica before him. "She's just upset that there's a possibility of another thing getting in the way of her being with the boy she likes."

Veronica gets out the water bottles from the fridge, twisting on the cap, she rants, "So I'm just supposed to get over it? She was outright mean to me for no good reason. I'm her sister. I take care of her. I do everything she wants. She's never spoken to Meg that way. She always says whatever she wants to me. How is that fair?"

She gulps down the water and Logan's still thinking of a rebuttal, a way to ease the tension between the two sisters when Veronica continues her rant, "And if I had to say anything resembling something she doesn't like, she throws a tantrum and goes to her room, giving me the silent treatment."

She's visibly upset and Logan really doesn't know what to do considering the person the other side of this battlefield is Heather. He touches her arm, moving closer, his other arm caressing the top of her hair and he softly says, "She's a kid, babe."

"You know once she got upset because of a joke I made," Veronica snorts, letting Logan hold her.

Heather's retreated to her room, it's the first time that he's seen her lock herself away when he was here. "What was the joke?" He prompts, hoping that she lets out all her pent up frustrations on him rather than her little sister.

"It was before we got Backup," she tells him, moving out of his hold and getting together ingredients to make them a sandwich. "So we were talking about getting a dog and Duncan had asked what she was gonna name it so I jokingly said that it was after her crush," she recalls, buttering the slices of bread.

"She threw a hissy fit and stormed off. She wouldn't talk to me. I baked her cookies and left it as an apology on her night stand and she still didn't talk to me," Veronica goes on, pausing only to shake her head and grab the ham. "She ate the cookies though. And you know what? I won't so much as get an apology out of this," she blows out, placing the ham on the buttered slices of bread laid out.

"Wait, why would that have made her upset?" He asks, confused as he helps her by breaking out the lettuce.

"Because her crush was Duncan."

This surprises him and he shakes his head, "What is with you Mars girls and Duncan Kane? He's not that special."

For the first time since the car ride, she cracks a slight smile. "Are you jealous?"

"I mean, I had at least thought I had Heather on my team," he sighs, trying to subdue his disappointment.

She's cutting up the sandwiches and feels herself lighten a bit. She hands him a plate and says, "We both like you better."

"Yeah?" He asks, eyes meeting hers.

She smiles, accompanied with a easy nod and a soft, "Yeah. Can you go give this to her please?"

He gives her a soft smile, taking the plate from her hand and says, "You're amazing, you know that, right?"

Veronica hums, nodding her head and hopes he doesn't see the doubt that lingers behind her eyes.

[xxismsx-blog]

º◦・✧・◦º ┊CINDY KIMBERLY, SHE/HER, CISFEMALE┊ damn, look at TATIA SUKARNO this year! i heard that they’re a SEVENTEEN / HALF-DEMON and has lived on the NORTHSIDE for sixteen  years. also, they tend to be ALLURING  but also MISCHIEVOUS, just incase you wanna get on their good side. ( elsa / 17 / pst / she/her )

hi, i’m elsa and this is my bby tati. her main inspos are Katherine pierce from TVD and Micheal Langdon from AHS. she’s 17 and has lived in the northside her entire life. im really up for any plots!

- She was adopted by a young mortal non-magical couple in Greendale from an orphanage, that was unaware of her demonic background when she was one. Tati honestly does not know about who her biological parents really are, she has always been curious about them. However as she was growing up with her adoptive family, she always felt like she saw the world in a different inexplicable way like she would get visions of stuff and see otherworldly beings. She kept it secret from her human family, knowing that they wouldn’t take it like something realistic and kinda freak out if she showed them what they saw. So like her origin of birthparents is unknown, the people who worked for the adoption agency/orphanage said some hikers found her alone as a baby in the forest and took her to the police. I sort of have this idea that her family could be like the one in the murder house. 

- eventually her parents decided to move out to riverdale when she was one after adopting her since her dad started a newspaper business there and her mom became a school teacher. they basically just seemed like your typical family. 

- so tati’s personality went through a lot of changes, I would said that her personality as child definitely embraced the more human innocent side even though she was seeing things that she felt like other fellow human beings didn’t. i think that she would have been too intimidated to like grow into the darker side of her.she was very obedient and tried to fit in with others as much, she was like a social butterfly and very involved in the community. she was like the popluar kid in school. 

- a wanted plot is for her to have connections with other demons/ half-demons that help her accept her side.

- however, her devilish behavior started to kick in as she got older (15-17) that she began to become more vengeful and frustrated easily, like even over small normal things. she began to get more provoked by the demons she saw on daily basis and other spirits. like things that she was trying to ignore was becoming more hard, it was difficult for her to come to terms to accept that part of her. she started to crave human blood, like badly and started to set things on fire mentally when she was angry even though she didn’t to do it on purpose. those things started to come naturally to her. her human moral side was starting to fight with her demonic side.

- btw she has a birthmark on her wrist of a red crescent moon, one of her dreams are about her being born on crescent moon but she can’t see who her biological parents are.

- one of her secrets is that during the first time she fed on a human, it was an student from northside and it took place at the party. she tricked the boy into thinking she was going to make out with him and led him to the woods, she ended up draining him of his blood and energy. she covered up her tracks and created a fake story, saying she saw him get attacked by an animal.

- her parents began to notice, they got worried and whenever they would try to talk to her, it wouldn’t work out. like things would break in the background such as glass, or she would just start have tantrums. they took her to therapies and support groups at church, to try to help her out. she sort of pretended to go along with it, even though she was feeling uneasy about everything. 

- she is a junior at northside, but doesn’t interact with much of the students there ( expect for some southsiders that are in gangs ) or students she notices are magical beings. she sort of distanced herself after everything she has gone through and is seen as an troublemaker bc she’s constantly getting involved in something. she’s in river vixens though, as an extra-curricular activity to do and put o college applications. 

- she heard about whole thing with the farm and is starting to have visions about it, she feels uneasy about because of her human side and also attracted to it due to her demon side. I was thinking sometimes she sort of lurks around there since sort of brings her visions to life, she even talks to the things she sees there.

[arderic]

Ignoct Week: Timed Challenge Day 5

Title: The Power Of Kings Hates Organic Food Rating: Gen Warnings: Language

@ignoctweek

Prompt: “You put WHAT in the Armiger?!”

  “Oh my fuck! Prompto, I can’t shove dead fish in my Armiger!”

“-But it should work! It’s not living!”

“It used to be.”

“But its not now.”

“But it was.”

“Ok, but how about-”

“Prompto! I swear to every Astral if you don’t-”

SNAP

The two boys’ heads swung to the noise that still rang in the heavy swamp air. Noct lunged forward, his fingers grasping at the nearly invisible thread that started to sink into the deep green water. But it slid between his sword sore hands and disappeared into the deep murk that lay just beyond his bare feet.

Prompto awkwardly chuckled as Noct glared at him.

“Ha..hah...I’ll uh...be quiet now.” He said with a forced smile and plopped down onto the docks. Noct sighed and vanished away his fishing rod.

“Nah. That was my last spool anyway.” He grumbled and laid back onto the dock, feeling the damp wood seep into his shirt but couldn't find it in himself to care as he slowly began to close his eyes. It was meant to be a solo fishing trip, but somehow Prompto had found him and tracked him down from the campsite. But it seemed he learned his lesson and there were a few moments of peaceful silence, the wildlife created a beautiful soundtrack and for once the mosquitoes seemed to be kept at bay from their camp. Noct could hear some distant monster’s call in the plains not too far off from their spot.

All in all, it was a pretty nice place for a nap.

Noct was about to let himself slip away from consciousness when a voice ripped him out of it.

“Soooo why can’t-”

“Oh my fuck! Prompto, I can’t shove dead fish in my Armiger!” Noct yelled, not even bothering to open his eyes but he could practically hear Prompto’s shit-eating grin in the silence.

“.....I see I was interrupting some fascinating debate.” A cool voice said and Noct sighed and stared blearily at the figure standing at the edge of the docks.

“Prom’s asking stupid questions again.” Noct tattled as he closed his eyes again. Holding them open was too much effort. And he had Ignis’s knowing smirk ingrained in his mind since he was seven. It never changed since he was a child getting caught with his hands in the dirt of the royal gardens to being a teenager sneaking chips into his room. He was just happy it was aimed at someone else for once. Prompto gave a sheepish laugh.

“Well....I mean it’s not like it’s a living thing soooo it should work right?” He asked while Ignis sighed and pushed his glasses up.

“Prompto.” He started. “Let’s put it another way. If let’s say, Gladio fell in battle and we needed to carry him out...Do you think we would be able to shove him in the Armiger?”

“Hey! Why did you say I’d die?” A voice called out as the bushes rustled and Noct felt the ground shake with heavy footsteps. “What are you guys even talking about?” Gladio asked as Noct groaned.

“Fucking shit, let’s just make this a party! Anyone else you guys wanna bring on my solo fishing time?! Hey, let’s call Cindy and Aranea! Maybe Ravus likes fishin-”

“Well, I guess not? He’s Gladio still...just not breathing.” Prompto continued, ignoring the princely temper tantrum occurring two feet from him.

“Precisely. The animals are no different.” Ignis said with a nod as Gladio paused.

“So nothin’ organic is what you’re saying.” He asked as Noct stared at him.

“Wait, you didn’t know?” Noct said incredulously. “You’ve been attached to my magic for YEARS! You never messed with it? Never tried to shove a sandwich in there?”

“It held a sword just fine. Even held protein powder. I just thought everything fit in there.” Gladio shrugged as Noct glared but Ignis beat his prince to the punch.

“You use....the Power of Kings.......to hold protein powder,” Ignis said, his voice colder than any ice magic and Noct watched with visceral pleasure as the hulking mass of muscle seemed to shrink away at the advisor standing in front of him.

“Hey! It’s not like you don’t hold junk in there too!” Gladio shot back, trying feebly to gain his footing while Prompto looked up at Ignis in confusion.

“Wait, what do you put in there? I just put my camera and things. Maybe a few Chocobo feathers I didn’t want to get crushed but--” Prompto paused and turned back to Noct. “Wait, but those fit in there just fine? Aren’t they organ--”

“I don’t know! It’s not like this came with a manual!” Noct said gesturing at his veins. “I just learned by shoving things into it! It doesn’t hold fish or certain meat or people or--”

“People?!” Gladio and Prompto yelled as Ignis coughed awkwardly into his fist.

“It’s unimportant, but our experiments showed that--”

“No no! Go back, Noct, who did you try to shove in your Armiger?!” Prompto screeched as Noct snickered. “Don’t look at me. Look at Iggy.” Noct rolled back onto the docs and grinned at the sputtering.

“We were children! I didn’t--”

“Yeah, but you tried!” Noct giggled while the others looked on in stunned silence.

“I apologized!”

“After you realized it didn’t work,”

“It was in an attempt to figure out the inner workings of--”

“It was because I was screaming and crying and wouldn’t shut up and you know it.” “I--”

“Then Cor ran in cuz he heard crying and it was just both of us sobbing on the floor because I got scared and you felt bad.”

“You can stop now--”

“And then he yelled at us and we tried to put him inside and--”

“Noct!”

There was a beat of silence as Noct attempted to stifle his giggles, Ignis tried to calm his breathing, and Prompto looked a moment from overheating his brain.

Gladio paused.

“Hey so do ya think we could shove a Nif Mech in there?”

“........I mean it isn’t organic so-”

“By the Astrals, I’m going to murder all of you.”