#dad’s with extremely meddling kids

[emi-the-gremlin]

Was going to make young Edwin blonde in the dwemk au anyway, as a reference to comic Edwin. But hearing that George was blonde as a kid, was still a nice tidbit, to get out of the cameos.

[joemama-2]

velvet lies

pairing: gojo x fem reader synopsis: crippling debt and possible evictions have ruined you. working two jobs with no downtime, and a five-year-old son, you really don't know the meaning of taking a break. after continuous questions about his father, you have decided to finally let your son meet his dad. only thing is, he has no idea said son exists. and to top it off, you have not a single clue about what kinds of things will transpire from this sudden revelation. wc: 10.4k tags/warnings: 18+ MDNI, smut, fluff, romance, alcohol, classism, mom! reader, lying, abuse, MAJOR angst, slow burn, exes to lovers, (mentions of) cheating, scandals, death, blood, drugs, drama, family drama, miscommunication, blackmail, unhealthy coping mechanisms , depression, manipulation a/n: eek series masterlist < previous chapter < next chapter

i mean, im not that surprised he’s sexy as hell

that’s actually crazy

imagine hiding your son for five years 😶😶 how can you be ashamed of that

doesn’t he literally have a girlfriend?? himari nakamura??

        ↳ yep for almost two years now

       ↳ wonder how she’s holding up i’d be pissed, unless she knew 

rich people are always shady as fuck

You don’t even know how many comments you’ve read. Staying up practically the entire night, busying yourself with the endless scrolling of people who have not a single clue of how your life actually is. Meddling in your business and acting like the shit they’re spouting on the internet is okay. 

They ranged from positive (sort of) to extremely personal and negative. 

i bet she just did it for the child support 

i wonder if he’s actually the dad, women like that lie and lie just cuz the dad is rich as fuck

i feel so bad for that boy

Bad? Why would they feel bad for him? You’ve given everything you can and then some to ensure Koji’s safety and innocence. You’ve never put him in harm’s way, difficult situations, hit him, nothing. Of course you’ve raised your voice, but every parent does. Why are these reasons suddenly acting like they know a fucking thing or two? This is insane. 

The only positive ones you see are praising your son for how cute he is, how much he looks like Satoru, and how he’ll probably get everything he wants. That’s not true, you’re not going to spoil your kid and you’re sure as hell not letting Satoru do it either; he’s humble, that’s how you want him to be. Still, you do feel uneasy at strangers on the internet for talking about your baby like this, in reference to a photo none of you knew was taken. 

And you still don’t know who took it. 

That’s what infuriates you the most. Because who in their right mind would do that? Who thinks they’re that fucking entitled to chime in on your personal business—your family. 

When you find them, you swear on everything you’re punching them. 

Your head hangs low, the hood of your sweatshirt pulled tight, shielding your face as you step into the café. You keep your gaze down, avoiding the eyes of the baristas and patrons scattered around. The familiar hum of the espresso machine feels deafening today.

Maybe no one will notice. Maybe no one cares.

But you know better.

That damn image, plastered across every TV screen and newsfeed yesterday, is still burned into your mind. Why do people even care this much? You’re beyond pissed off. Who in their right mind thinks they have the right to invade your personal life like that? To turn your family into fodder for the public?

Maybe no one will say anything. Who even watched the news anyway? 

More people than you think, actually. You keep moving, but Hana has other plans.

“Y/N!” Her voice cuts through the noise like a whip, and before you can react, she grabs your forearm, dragging you into the storage room in the back.

“Hey, what the—” you start to protest, wincing as her grip tightens, but she doesn’t care. She whirls around to face you, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief.

“What the hell is going on?!” she demands, gesturing wildly with her hands. “You were on the news yesterday!”

Your stomach churns at the reminder, and your jaw clenches tightly. You pull your hood down, resigning yourself to the conversation you were hoping to avoid. “I know that already,” you snap, folding your arms across your chest.

“Koji’s father is multi-billionaire Satoru Gojo?!” Her voice rises in pitch, and she looks at you like you’ve grown a second head. “Is that for real? You’ve been hiding this?!”

You take a deep breath, counting to three in your head. “Yes, Hana. It’s real. Koji’s father is Satoru Gojo. Can we not do this right now?”

But Hana doesn’t back down, her wide eyes searching your face for answers. “Are you kidding me? Of course we’re doing this right now! You’ve been sitting on this—” she throws her hands up, “—while the rest of us thought you were just, like, a regular single mom? What the hell, Y/N?”

“Because it’s none of anyone’s business!” you hiss, your voice rising then lowering, not wanting anyone else to overhear. “Do you think I wanted this to come out? Do you think I wanted his world to invade mine?”

Hana softens slightly, her eyebrows knitting together in concern. “Okay, fair. But you should’ve told me, at least. I mean, I’m your friend.”

“I didn’t tell anyone for a reason and I don’t owe anyone anything,” you mutter, running a hand through your hair. “And now it’s everywhere. Do you know how terrifying that is? For me? For Koji?”

Hana sighs, leaning back against the wall. “Okay, okay. I get it. This whole thing’s a mess. But what are you going to do now? I mean, the story’s out. People are gonna talk, Y/N. A lot. Especially if it involves a man like him.”

You swallow hard, the weight of her words settling heavily on your shoulders. “I don’t know,” you admit quietly, your voice trembling. “I just want to protect my son.”

Hana nods, her expression softening further. “We’ll figure it out. But you’re gonna need a plan. And.”

“Hana, I—“ you’re really trying not to snap at her, really. But she’s pushing every button you have right now and your patience is running extremely low. Don’t snap, she’s just worried.  “I know what to do, thank you. But I’d appreciate it if you didn’t meddle in my business too. We’re friends, yes, but understand right now that I’m going through a lot of shit and don’t need to be told what to do and when to do it. So get off my back.”

Hana blinks, a little caught off guard by your sudden announcement. Her mouth slightly agape, clearly not having expected your outburst. For a moment, she doesn’t say anything, her expression shifting between hurt and something close to understanding. She straightens, her arms falling from where they’d been crossed over her chest. “Y/N, I wasn’t trying to—” she begins, her voice softer now, but you cut her off.

“I know,” you say, your voice quieter but still firm. “I know you’re trying to help, Hana. And I’m grateful, I am. But right now, I need to handle this on my own. I need space. Can you give me that?”

She nods slowly, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Okay,” she says after a moment. “I get it. I’ll back off. Just—if you need anything, anything at all, I’m here. You know that, right?”

You exhale, some of the tension easing from your shoulders. “Yeah. I know.”

Hana offers you a small, tentative smile before stepping aside, giving you the room you so desperately need. As she moves to leave, she hesitates at the curtains, glancing back at you. “For what it’s worth, Y/N…I think you’re handling this a lot better than you think you are.”

You don’t respond, just nod in acknowledgment, and she disappears back into the front of the café. Alone in the small back room, you lean against the wall, closing your eyes for a moment to gather your thoughts.

Better than I think, huh? You shake your head, rubbing at your temples. It doesn’t feel that way. 

You’d be lying to yourself if you said this probably won’t be that bad; not a big deal. But hell, it was huge. You hate unnecessary attention, especially attention from hundreds, if not thousands of random strangers. You’re recalling the incident from earlier when you dropped Koji off at school. Mr. Ito stopping you once more and confessing his surprise to you. In his words, “I didn’t know Koji had such an…esteemed father.”

You held back a slew of insults, keeping it classy, as always. But as the days go on and the more shit that seems to be happening to you, you’re getting this close to breaking that. It’s the way he, everyone else, and even Hana seems so…shocked. The lingering glances from other parents at drop-off, the whispers in the hallways. It’s the way their surprise feels so…palpable. You get it, in a way. Satoru Gojo is larger than life—powerful, wealthy, and untouchable in a way most people only dream of. But still, the shock in their eyes stings more than it should. Did they think you weren’t of caliber to bag a man like Satoru? Did they think a man like that wouldn’t even dream of having a child with a woman like you? It feels a tad bit insulting. Actually, scratch that—it feels like a slap in the face.

The implications gnaw at you, poking at insecurities you’d rather not acknowledge. This is exactly why you hate social media. You’re already growing too conscious of the comments people are making—caring too much and it was just revealed. And the worst part? You can’t even fully blame them. Satoru’s world is one you’ve never truly belonged to. You’re not the glossy, magazine-cover type, and you don’t have the pedigree or connections his circle would expect. But that doesn’t mean you’re less than, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean Koji is any less precious because of it.

 You sigh, rubbing at your temples. If only these people could see you for who you truly are—if they could see the strength it takes to raise a child on your own, to hold your head high even when the world tries to tear you down. But no, all they see is the scandal and the drama, their curiosity morphing into judgment. Sure, you made mistakes—big and bad ones. But you’re doing all this in order to make up for those mistakes. And sure, Satoru doesn’t 100% forgive you—you’re not sure he ever will—but you don’t think he would agree with these kinds of comments being made. Right? 

You huff. Let them talk, you think bitterly, though the tightness in your chest betrays the confidence you’re trying to muster. Let them all talk, they know nothing. 

The minutes feel like hours. Unsure of how long you’ve exactly been here. Equally nervous about looking at your phone to check.

“Oh my god, look. It’s her.”

“Shhh! She’ll hear you.”

“I wonder if she’ll give us pointers.”

“You’re insane.”

The conversation doesn’t fly over your head. t’s like they want you to hear, voices loud enough to penetrate the usual clatter of the café. You swear, they’re practically aiming their words right at you. Your grip tightens around the rag in your hand, knuckles going white as you scrub the already spotless table. The motion is a little too aggressive, the poor table bearing the brunt of your simmering frustration. Your jaw clenches, brows knitting together as you try—desperately—to keep your temper in check. Jaw clenching and brows knitting together, you’re counting down to ten and back.

One…two…three… you recite in your head, attempting to steady your breath. It’s an old habit—one you learned a while back from you’re therapist, one you’ve relied on in situations like this, but today it feels like it’s barely working. Four…five…six.

You glance up, just for a second, and immediately regret it. The group of girls sits near the window, leaning into each other as they giggle, their eyes darting your way. They’re not even trying to hide it anymore. One of them, a blonde with an annoyingly perfect smile, nudges her friend and whispers something, sending the others into another fit of laughter. Your fingers flex around the rag, itching to throw it across the room. Breathe, you remind yourself. Just breathe. They’re not worth it. But it’s hard to ignore the knot tightening in your chest, the sting of humiliation creeping in despite your best efforts. Because you know exactly what they’re laughing about, what they’re whispering about. It’s not just idle curiosity—it’s judgment, plain and simple. And maybe, just maybe, if this were any other day, you’d let it roll off your back. But today? After everything that’s happened? After seeing your son’s face plastered on screens and hearing people dissect your life like it’s a soap opera? You toss the rag onto the table, standing up straighter as you look their way. They immediately quiet down, eyes widening like they’ve been caught red-handed.

“Can I help you?” you ask, voice calm but carrying just enough edge to make them squirm.

The blonde fidgets, her confidence faltering under your gaze. “Oh, um, no, we were just…”

“Enjoying your coffee?” you finish for her, forcing a tight smile. “Good. Let me know if you need anything else.” Without waiting for a response, you turn on your heel and walk behind the counter, the satisfaction of their stunned silence doing little to ease the weight in your chest. Nine…ten… You exhale slowly, trying to let it go, but the anger simmers just beneath the surface.

It’s going to be a long day.

—-

The walk back home with Koji feels like you never want to use your senses again. It feels like a marathon you never signed up for, every step heavier than the last. The pounding in your head has escalated into a full-blown migraine, the sharp pain clawing at the edges of your skull. You clench your teeth, trying to hold it together, willing the tears pricking at your eyes to stay put. Koji chatters beside you, his small hand in yours, his voice a muffled hum against the overwhelming throb in your head.

 So much has changed within just the span of a week and none of it feels good. You like change, but not like this. Not the kind of change that’s so spontaneous and out of nowhere that it makes you dread the littlest things. The kind of change where you feel like every way you turn, it’s a dead end. Every thought spiraling into another reminder of how much you’ve lost control, or of how much you never had it to begin with. The kind of change that you never fucking asked for in the first place. The kind of change where you feel like a ticking timebomb. A simple walk home feels like an obstacle course. The sound of Koji’s innocent laughter, once a balm to your soul, now feels like a weight pressing down on you, a reminder of how fragile your balance is.

This change doesn’t come with warnings or instructions. It doesn’t let you adjust, and doesn’t give you the chance to prepare. It just dumps its baggage on your doorstep and forces you to deal with it, whether you’re ready or not. And right now, you’re not.

The last thing you want to do is blow up on someone who doesn’t deserve it, especially your son. You glance down at him, his bright eyes scanning the world around him with that endless curiosity only a child can have. His tiny fingers grip yours with a trust that makes your chest ache. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t understand the storm brewing inside you. And he shouldn’t have to.

“Mommy, are you okay?” Koji’s voice is soft, his head tilted as he looks up at you with concern.

You force a smile, swallowing the lump in your throat. “I’m fine, sweetheart,” you manage, squeezing his hand gently. “Just tired.” He nods, seemingly satisfied with your answer, and resumes his animated recount of the day’s events. You let him talk, his voice a small distraction from the noise in your head. One step at a time, you tell yourself. One breath at a time. For him, if not for yourself.

You wonder to yourself how many more times you can continue repeating that phrase to yourself, like a broken record spinning endlessly in your mind. Shouldn’t you be allowed to do some things on your own? Something that isn’t tied to the constant grind of making sure Koji has everything he needs, of shielding him from a world that feels more hostile every day? Everything you do is for him—every decision, every sacrifice, every moment of biting your tongue when you want to scream. It’s all for him. 

But what about you?

The thought is bitter, curling in your chest like smoke. It feels selfish even to entertain it, but the exhaustion is suffocating. How long has it been since you’ve done something just because you wanted to? Since you’ve allowed yourself the luxury of thinking about what you need, instead of what everyone else expects of you? Is it selfish? Is this not how a good mother thinks?

The doubt gnaws at you, persistent and sharp. 

Not like you’d know the answer to that question. Your mother—a woman you rarely ever want to think about—never gave you the guidance for situations like this. You have no inspiration, nothing. You’re doing everything free-handed. She didn’t leave you with blueprints for moments like these, no voice in your head to tell you what’s right, what’s wrong, or even what’s okay. She was a void, an absence, and that absence shaped you more than you’d like to admit.

And now here you are, trying to be everything for your son that she wasn’t for you. But it feels like you’re fumbling in the dark, building something fragile with trembling hands. There’s no instruction manual for this, no map to follow. You’re doing everything on the first try, improvising as you go. Every decision feels like a gamble. Did you do enough today? Did you do too much? Did you make the right call, or are you setting him up for something you can’t even see coming? The uncertainty is exhausting.

You glance at Koji, his small hand still tucked safely in yours, his voice cutting through the haze of your thoughts. He’s so blissfully unaware of the turmoil raging inside you, and that’s how it should be. He deserves that innocence, that security. But the weight of always being the strong one, the reliable one, is starting to crush you. How much longer can I keep this up? The question whispers in your mind, and you hate it. You hate that you’re even asking it, hate that it makes you feel weak. But the truth is, you’re tired.

And you don’t know how much longer you can keep pretending that you’re not.

You focus on Koji again, his small frame silhouetted against the afternoon light of the day. He trusts you implicitly, and looks at you like you’re the answer to everything. And the weight of that trust makes you want to cry and scream in equal measure. How can I possibly live up to that?

They never said motherhood was easy. You take a deep breath, steadying yourself. Maybe this is what being a mother really is—second-guessing everything, carrying the weight of your own past, and still showing up every day, trying your best. 

You don’t know if that’s enough. But it’s all you have.

It seems like you’re in for a surprise every second of the day.

Satoru, much to your own dismay and confusion, is perched against your apartment door; waiting for you again. Like a magnet, Koji runs into his lower half, hugging his father with all the strength his five-year-old body will allow. 

“Hey, little man. I’m happy to see you.” Satoru smiles wholeheartedly, patting Koji’s back with gentle ease.

“Hi, Papa! I missed you.” His voice is muffled by Satoru’s clothing.

The older man laughs, relishing in the moment for another second, before opening his light azures. His eyes look like they’re darting all around you, as if making sure you’re okay. Standing up, he shuffles his hands in his pockets.

“What are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you were coming,” you mutter, walking up closer. Arms crossing. 

He nods. “I know, I–I should’ve told you. But this was urgent and I knew you were busy at work.”

A hum is all you offer, unlocking your apartment door and stepping in. The semi-warmth envelops you like a worn blanket. Finally, in the comfort of my own home. Even if it is just for a little bit before you’re off again. 

“Call off his babysitter.”

You look back, watching him close your door and lock it. “What? Why?”

“Because I’m here.”

Koji runs off to his room, presumably to play with his toy collection. Leaving the two adults alone. Biting your lip, attempting to come up with something to say—or what to say first. Luckily, he beats you to it. “I want you two to spend the night at mine, don’t go to work. I’ll pay you whatever you miss out on. I know you saw the leak and I’m working on figuring out who the hell did it. But until then, I’m a little concerned for your guys’ safety, so stay at mine until we figure things out long-term.”

You stare at him, caught off guard by the resolute earnestness in his voice. The Satoru you know isn’t usually this serious, this concerned. It’s disarming—attractive, and for a moment, you don’t know how to respond. “This is my home, Satoru,” you finally say, your voice quiet but firm. “I can’t just up and leave because of a leak. And I can’t run every time something like this happens. That’s not a long-term solution either.”

“I get that,” he says, stepping closer. “But this isn’t just about you. It’s about Koji. Someone took that photo, and I don’t know who, or how, or what their intentions are. Until I do, I can’t take chances.”

“And I get that, but I can’t just—sleep at your place.”

“Why not?”

“Because that’s just…weird.”

“Fuck, Y/N,” he exhales out. “You think something’ll happen? It won’t. I'm doing this for Koji and you because I care. Not because reviving something that’s long-ended is my priority.” 

“It’s not about that,” you snap, your voice rising before you catch yourself. You close your eyes for a second, exhaling sharply, trying to rein in your frustration. “It’s just... complicated, Satoru. You showing up like this, offering to fix things with money, with solutions I didn’t ask for, for problems I never wanted—it’s overwhelming.”

He takes another step closer, his presence filling the small entryway. “You think I don’t understand that?” His voice softens but carries an edge of urgency. “Y/N, I’m not trying to make this harder for you. I know this is all... messy. But I can’t sit around and pretend I’m okay with you and Koji being here while someone out there is bold enough to invade your privacy like that. I’m trying to protect you. You can’t keep pushing me away like this, you said you wanted to make things better.”

“I know, but—”

“Then stop it. Stop arguing, complaining, whatever. You’re not going to keep me out of Koji’s life any longer, or yours. They already posted another damn picture of you today at work.”

What? You blink your eyes, widening them. You don’t even want to see the photo evidence, gulping down the weird lump that forms in your throat. What the fuck is going on with my life right now? You hesitate, biting your lip. His words chip away at your defenses, but the walls you’ve built don’t crumble that easily. “And what happens if we go to your place? What’s next? You swoop in, play hero, and then leave us when this blows over?”

His jaw tightens, the faint hurt flashing in his eyes almost imperceptible. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“Isn’t it?” you counter, arms crossing tightly over your chest, a weak attempt to shield yourself from the weight of the conversation. “That’s what you always do, Satoru. You show up when it’s convenient for you, and when it’s not, you disappear.”

The words hang heavy in the air, stinging both of you. For a moment, he doesn’t respond, his gaze dropping to the floor. “I’m not leaving you this time,” he says quietly, lifting his eyes back to yours. “Not until I know you two are safe. I’m not running, Y/N. Not from this. But you have to stop trying to keep me at arm's length, I’m trying my best to help.” His eyes lock onto yours, pleading yet determined. You hate how convincing he can be when he’s like this. How he makes you question your own resolve. “Please,” he adds, his voice dropping. “Just for a little while.”

The conviction in his voice is startling, and it makes something inside you waver. You’re tired, too tired to keep arguing, too tired to keep carrying everything on your shoulders. It’s true, you’re feeling yourself pushback on him. He deserves this—time with Koji, protecting him, and more. It’s just so hard breaking from the fragile bubble you built for your son and you. Satoru’s presence is like a sharp knife, waiting to just poke through it with ease, to get to his family.“Fine,” you say, your voice barely above a whisper. “But just for tonight. Koji and I will come to your place for tonight.”

Relief washes over his features, but he doesn’t smile. He nods, stepping back to give you space. “That’s all I’m asking.”

As you turn away to gather what you need for the night, you catch a glimpse of Koji peeking out from his room, his eyes wide with curiosity. You put on a smile for his sake, but deep down, you can’t shake the unease settling in your chest. This isn’t just about staying at Satoru’s place. It’s about what this means—what it could mean—and the part of you that still isn’t sure you’re ready to face it.

The inside of Satoru’s Mercedes is spacious, but asphyxiating. Koji in his car seat in the back, watching something on his tablet. This is the first time you’ve been in the car with Satoru since way long ago. It’s nostalgia, but sickening at the same time. You remember how he would place his hand on your thigh, squeezing it lightly. Or how he likes to rest his hand on the gearstick, or his elbow on the middle console. 

Your skin prickles with goosebumps when he brushes against your arm as he reaches for the temperature controls, adjusting the heat. It’s a small, thoughtless gesture, but it sends an involuntary jolt through you. You glance out the window, pretending to admire the blurred city lights instead of acknowledging the memories flooding back. The hum of the car engine fills the silence, an uncomfortable contrast to the weight of everything left unsaid. Koji giggles at something on his tablet in the backseat, his innocence a stark reminder of why you’re here and why you can’t let your emotions take over.

“You okay?” Satoru’s voice breaks the quiet, calm yet cautious.

“Fine,” you reply quickly, too quickly. You keep your eyes glued to the window, your arms crossed as if to shield yourself from the proximity.

He stops at a red light, leaning back in his sight. He’s a pro at side-eyeing you as you’re faced away. Seeing the way your hands ball into small fists. Nervous. Your foot is tapping on the floor. Thinking. And if he looks closer at your chest, he’ll notice how it’s rising up and down a little more quickly than normal. 

Oh. 

He clears his throat, looking forward as the light turns green. Focus on driving, focus on driving. He doesn’t push, but you can feel his gaze flickering toward you now and then, like he’s reading every shift in your posture, every flicker of hesitation. It’s infuriating how well he knows you, even now. You glance at Koji briefly before turning your gaze back to the window, watching the city lights blur into streaks as the car moves. The nostalgia you felt earlier morphs into a bitter taste in your mouth. You hate how easily Satoru slips into the role of a doting father, as if the years of his absence never happened.

You need to get a better hold of your jealousy. 

“You’re quiet,” Satoru says, breaking the silence.

“Just tired,” you reply curtly, not bothering to look at him.

He hums, his fingers drumming lightly against the steering wheel. “Long day, huh?”

You roll your eyes. “You could say that.”

His gaze flicks to you briefly before returning to the road. “Look, I know this isn’t ideal. But I’m glad you’re coming with me. It’s the right thing to do.”

You let out a dry laugh, finally turning to face him. “The right thing to do? Since when have you ever cared about the right thing, Satoru?”

His jaw tightens, and for a moment, he doesn’t respond. Then he exhales deeply, gripping the wheel a little tighter. “I care now. Now that you’ve granted me that option,” he says quietly.

You want to scoff, to throw his words back at him, but there’s something in his tone that makes you pause. Something raw, unguarded. The way he gets out those snark remarks angers you, but only further solidifies the weight of your actions, and the fact that things will never be the same. 

The rest of the drive is spent in silence, both of you lost in your own thoughts. When the car finally pulls into the underground garage of his penthouse building, Koji’s excitement is palpable.

“Wow! This place is huge!” Koji exclaims, his eyes wide as he looks around.

Satoru chuckles, stepping out of the car and opening the back door to unbuckle Koji. “Wait till you see the view, buddy.”

You follow them, your arms crossed tightly over your chest. As you step into the elevator, you can’t help but feel like you’re being pulled back into a world you thought you’d left behind—one of complications and heartbreak. Satoru presses the button for his floor, glancing at you out of the corner of his eye. “Relax, Y/N. It’s just for one night.”

You don’t respond, staring straight ahead as the elevator begins its ascent. But deep down, you know it’s never just one night with Satoru. 

“No running.”

“Sorry, Mama.”

You place Koji and your bags on one of the chairs in the kitchen, watching your son rush to his father’s living room. Satoru follows him, hands on his hips. “Hey buddy, bought some toys for you. Do you want to play with them? You like Spiderman, right?”

If possible, Koji’s eyes light up even more with excitement. Gasping and squealing, nodding his head furiously. “I love Spiderman! Mama threw me a Spiderman birthday last time.”

Satoru hums. “Wish I coulda seen that.”

You freeze at Satoru's words, your hand halfway to unpacking one of Koji’s bags. His tone is light, almost wistful, but it feels like a loaded statement—one that stings more than you’d like to admit. You glance over at him and Koji, your son practically bouncing on his toes as Satoru kneels to pull out a neatly wrapped box from a hidden cabinet. “Here you go,” Satoru says, handing it to Koji. “I think you’ll like what’s inside.”

Koji tears into the wrapping with glee, revealing a Spiderman action figure set. He gasps, clutching the box to his chest like it’s the most precious thing in the world. “Thank you, Papa! This is so cool!”

Your heart twists at how easily Koji has taken to calling him that. It’s like Satoru’s sudden presence is a gift he didn’t realize he’d been missing. And yet, for you, it’s a reminder of the years of absence—of the birthdays and milestones Satoru missed. “Please, don’t spoil him too much,” you mutter, finally unpacking Koji’s things and setting them on the counter.

Satoru looks over his shoulder, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “What’s wrong with a little spoiling? He deserves it.”

You exhale sharply, not bothering to mask your irritation. “What he deserves is consistency.”

His smirk falters, standing back up to his full height and coming over to you. Keeping his voice level calm, in case Koji decides to listen in. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” you shake your head. 

Satoru narrows his eyes slightly, his expression unreadable as he watches you busy yourself with Koji’s things. “Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

You let out a humorless laugh, refusing to meet his gaze. “It’s exactly what it sounds like. Don’t read into it.”

His lips press into a thin line, but he doesn’t push further—not yet. Instead, he leans against the counter, folding his arms as he observes you. “Y/N, you can’t be the angry one in this situation. I thought you understood that.”

“I’m not angry.”

“Then what are you?”

“I’m just—” you let out a big breath, looking up at him once more. “I’m tired. Forgive me if I’m not overly happy right now.

Satoru’s gaze softens, his posture relaxing slightly, though the tension in the room lingers like a heavy fog. “I’m not trying to add onto that, I’m just trying to be here for my son.”

I know that. I don’t know why I’m snapping. All you can offer is a nod, reaching into your bag, and grabbing a change of clothes. “I…I’m gonna go shower, watch him please.”

Satoru nods, his gaze lingering on you for a moment longer before shifting to the living room where Koji is engrossed in his toys. “Of course. Take your time.”

You offer a small, tight-lipped smile before retreating down the hall, clutching the clothes in your hands like a lifeline. Once you’re inside the bathroom, the door clicks shut behind you, and the weight of everything crashes down. Leaning against the counter, you grip the edge tightly, your knuckles turning white as you take slow, measured breaths. The mirror reflects a version of yourself you hardly recognize—tired, frazzled, and barely holding it together. The faint hum of Koji’s laughter echoes down the hall, grounding you for a moment. At least he’s happy. That’s what matters.

The shower is a welcome escape. The hot water cascades over your skin, washing away the grime of the day and the lingering tension from your conversation with Satoru. You let your head fall forward, droplets sliding down your face, mingling with the tears you didn’t realize had started to fall. You didn’t mean to snap at him. He’s trying, you know that. But the past doesn’t let go so easily, and the overwhelming mix of emotions—anger, fear, hope—leaves you feeling unsteady. And you feel angry at yourself for letting your emotions slip through, getting the best of you. You’re surprised Satoru hasn’t been more outwardly rude to you, short, or even snappy. It seems like he’s taking this all better than you are, and once again, that bitter jealousy of yours is shining through. How he can just handle things so smoothly—at least that’s what it seems like. But he’s used to all this: the spotlight, public eye, attention. You just wish things could’ve been handled…differently. 

Everything feels like a domino effect, starting all with that dreaded day at the grocery store. How so much has changed. 

 By the time you step out, you feel a fraction lighter, though the knot in your chest remains. You towel off, change into your clean clothes, and take a moment to steel yourself before heading back into the fray.

When you return to the living room, you find Satoru sitting cross-legged on the floor with Koji, holding up a miniature Spiderman figure. Koji is giggling, animatedly explaining an intricate story about how Spiderman saves the day. Satoru glances up as you walk in, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Hey. We’re just working on a top-secret mission over here. No big deal.”

Koji looks up too, beaming. “Mama! Papa’s playing Spiderman with me! He’s really good at the voices.”

You can’t help the small smile that forms, even as your heart aches a little at the sight. “Sounds like you two are having fun.”

Satoru nods, his expression soft. “We’re a good team.”

You stand there for a moment, watching them, the weight of everything pressing down on your shoulders once more. Maybe this is what Koji needs. Maybe this is what you need. But trusting him again…that’s the hardest part.

That night, eating dinner at Satoru’s long dining table, the same one where you faced his parents, it all feels strange, to say the least. The clinking of cutlery against porcelain plates echoes faintly in the vast dining room, filling the silence between the three of you. Koji hums to himself as he picks at his plate, occasionally glancing at his father to tell him some small details about his day or ask about the toys he’d gotten earlier. Satoru engages him with ease, his tone light and playful, but you can see the flickers of something deeper behind his smiles—guilt, maybe, or a desperate need to make up for lost time.

And then there’s you, sitting stiffly at the other end of the table, your appetite wavering as your mind keeps drifting back to the last time you sat here. That memory is sharp and vivid, like an old wound that hasn’t quite healed.

But Koji’s laughter brings you back down to Earth. Looking up from your plate of food to the sight before you. Father and son, son and father, family. They look so alike, you don’t think you can ever get over the blatant resemblance. Satoru’s genes are just very strong. You wish Koji could’ve inherited a few more things from you. You place a hand on your lower stomach, as if a physical touch will make the strange abundance of butterflies flying around in there to go away. 

It’s strange, this setup. Domestic in a way you never thought you’d experience with him again. But it’s also…nice. 

It feels whole, like this is how things should be. Would’ve been had you not held your tongue for so long. And you’re starting to think to yourself how much you like this sight. How it’s making you feel at home.

But this isn’t your home. However, you think you can pretend for just one night. 

“You’re not eating much,” Satoru says, pulling you out of your thoughts. His voice is casual, but there’s an undertone of concern.

Your eyes widen at him, realizing you’ve been caught staring and quickly looking back down. “I’m fine,” you say, forcing a small smile. “Just sleepy, I guess.”

“I bet,” he says, and while his tone is conversational, his gaze lingers on you, searching for something beneath your calm facade.

“Yeah,” you reply shortly, stabbing at a piece of vegetable on your plate. You don’t want to talk about your day or your worries or the mounting anxiety sitting heavy in your chest. Not here, not now.

Koji interrupts before Satoru can press further, his voice bright and full of excitement. “Papa, can we watch a movie after dinner? Mama too!”

Satoru grins, lightly pinching his cheekbone. “Of course, buddy. What movie are we watching?”

Koji claps his hands together, listing off a couple of titles before settling on one of his favorites. You manage another smile, this one a little more genuine, as you watch the way Satoru effortlessly makes Koji light up. For a moment, the tension eases, and you let yourself focus on Koji’s joy. Maybe this is enough for now. Maybe that’s all you need to get through the evening.

But as you glance at Satoru across the table, his eyes catching yours for a brief second, you’re reminded of how fragile this truce feels. Of how much history lies between you, threatening to resurface at any moment.

Koji picks Spiderman, of course. You’ve watched this movie at least a hundred times now, maybe more. You can practically recite the lines perfectly. The movie plays on, the familiar dialogue flowing like background noise to your swirling thoughts. You’ve seen this scene so many times—the hero’s triumphant swing through the city, the bad guy’s dramatic monologue, the moments of comic relief Koji always laughs at—but tonight, it feels different. There’s an added layer of tension sitting heavy between you and Satoru.

The living room feels unusually cozy, the dimmed lighting casting a warm glow over the space. Koji wiggles in his spot, clutching a Spiderman plush as he stares at the screen with unblinking eyes, thoroughly engrossed. You, on the other hand, are trying not to let your exhaustion bubble over. Koji sits between you two, Satoru’s arm over his little shoulders. Satoru’s arm rests casually behind Koji, but every so often, as he adjusts his position, his fingers graze your shoulder—a light, fleeting touch that feels far too deliberate to be accidental. You glance at him from the corner of your eye, but he seems entirely focused on the movie, his face relaxed, a small smirk tugging at his lips during one of Koji’s excited reactions. So, you ignore it. But you do shift slightly, creating just enough distance to break the contact. If he notices, he doesn’t say anything.

Koji laughs out loud at a particularly funny scene, leaning against Satoru’s side. “That’s so cool, Papa! I wanna do that someday!”

Satoru chuckles, ruffling Koji’s hair. “Maybe we’ll get you a Spiderman costume, and you can be the hero of the city.”

Koji beams at him, his excitement is contagious. For a brief moment, you allow yourself to appreciate this dynamic, the way Satoru fits so naturally into Koji’s world. You hate to admit it, but this is what Koji’s been missing—what you’ve been missing, too, in some small, buried way. Satoru’s hand once again brushes your shoulder during his next adjustment, that buried part of you is quickly overshadowed by the reminder of why this dynamic fell apart in the first place.

Luckily, Koji is already showered and dressed for bed in his matching red set. So as the movie progresses, nearing its end, so does his sleepiness. You along with him. Koji’s head begins to droop as the credits start to roll, his little body leaning further into Satoru’s side. His eyelids flutter with each blink, his earlier excitement now replaced by the slow pull of sleep. Satoru’s about to make a remark, before looking over at you and seeing your body slumped over on the other side. 

The scene feels peaceful in a way he hadn’t anticipated—a rare moment of quiet amidst the chaos that’s been your guys’ lives lately. Koji’s soft breathing grows steadier, his small body completely leaning into Satoru’s side now, one hand clutching his Spiderman plush while the other hangs limply at his side. Satoru glances down at his son with a faint smile, brushing Koji’s hair out of his face with a tenderness that makes his chest ache. He looks over to you next, ready your head resting on your hand. Your expression is soft, lips parted slightly as you drift into the kind of sleep that only exhaustion can bring. Satoru looks at the clock; 9:00pm.

For a moment, he just watches you both. Koji, who looks so much like him it’s almost uncanny, and you, the woman who’s somehow always managed to throw him off balance without even trying. He sighs softly, shaking his head at the scene before him. For a split second, he feels a shadow—a ghost from the past appears beside Koji. A baby girl who would’ve been seven by now.The baby girl who never got the chance to grow up. In that fleeting, haunting moment, he imagines her sitting there too, nestled beside her brother, giggling at Spiderman’s antics. He can imagine her features. She would’ve looked so much like you, it’s painful.

His chest tightens, and he has to look away, focusing on a random corner of the room as he fights to steady his breathing. It’s not fair—to her, to Koji, or to you. And yet, here he is, caught in the what-ifs and the might-have-beens, unable to let go of a past that feels like it happened both a lifetime ago and just yesterday. The glimpse is gone as soon as it comes, to which he’s thankful for because he is not crying right now. With a small grunt, he stands up and carefully moves Koji into his arms. Adjusting the boy and making sure he’s not waking up, he walks him over to the spare bedroom.

Satoru moves quietly, his footsteps soft against the floor as he cradles Koji in his arms. The boy’s head rests comfortably on his shoulder, his small body relaxed and completely unaware of the careful handling. The weight of his son in his arms, the warmth of Koji’s tiny form, is a stark reminder of everything he’s been missing. He pushes the door to the spare bedroom open gently, trying not to disturb the silence of the house. The moonlight filters through the curtains, casting a calm glow across the room. Satoru places Koji carefully on the bed, tucking him in with the same gentle movements he’s always used. He watches for a moment as the boy shifts slightly, a soft sigh escaping his lips before settling back into a peaceful sleep.

For a second, Satoru just stands there, hands lingering at Koji’s side as if unsure of when to leave. It’s as if the past week—no, the past years—are catching up to him in this very moment. He never thought he'd be here, standing in a room like this, watching his son sleep under a roof that used to feel so distant. His chest tightens, but he refuses to let himself feel the weight of it. Not yet. Not with Koji so close. With one last look, he slowly pulls away, stepping back into the hallway and quietly closing the door behind him. The house feels colder as he moves through it, but this time, it’s not because of the empty spaces or the lingering tension. It’s because, for the first time in years, he’s truly trying to figure out where he fits in all of this.

And it’s a lot harder than he ever expected.

He walks back to the living room, your body now completely lying on your side. His lips purse as he stands before you, unsure if he should wake you or move you himself. Would that be okay? Is he crossing some boundary of yours if he touches you fully and intentionally?

Satoru stands there for a moment, studying you as you sleep. The soft rise and fall of your chest, the way your body curls slightly into the pillow, creates a sense of peace in the room, but also a sense of tension in him. The pull to reach out, to make sure you’re comfortable, is strong. But he hesitates, his mind racing with thoughts about boundaries, and the last thing he wants is to make you uncomfortable, especially when everything already feels so fragile between the two of you. He watches for a few more seconds, the quiet of the room making everything feel so... still. He doesn’t know how he got here, standing in the middle of the room, feeling so torn. Part of him wants to just go ahead and make sure you’re properly tucked in, like he did with Koji. But that other part of him continues to wonderf if that’s overstepping, if his presence, even now, feels intrusive. Satoru exhales slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. Finally, he decides to attempt to recreate his actions for Koji; it’s the least he can do.

He bends his knees slightly, hands reaching out. But just as his fingertips graze your bare arms, you’re jolting up and awake. Head swiveling around, eyes barely open and bleary. “What’s happening? Where’s Koji?”

Satoru freezes, his fingers hovering in the air as your voice cuts through the stillness. His eyes flick to you, wide and disoriented from the abruptness of your awakening. "Y/N?" He murmurs, his voice low and hesitant, almost as if he's unsure whether you’re fully awake. "Koji’s in the other room, he’s asleep."

You sit up, rubbing your eyes, still trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. Your thoughts are jumbled, disoriented from the deep slumber you’d just woken from. “I— I didn’t hear him... when did he go to bed?”

Satoru, still crouched by your bedside, lets out a soft sigh, his expression softening. "I put him down a few minutes ago. He was out before the movie ended." He pauses for a second, watching you carefully, his hand still lingering awkwardly in the air as if unsure whether to touch you or not. "You were really tired, so I thought I'd handle it."

You blink, the fog in your mind barely beginning to clear. Slowly, you nod, still trying to process everything in the haze of your exhaustion. “Thank you.” The words come out quieter than you expect, but there’s something in your voice that surprises both of you.

Satoru’s gaze lingers for a moment, a mix of concern and relief flashing in his eyes. He stands up, backing away from the bed slowly. “I didn’t want to wake you,” he says softly, hands running through his hair as he takes a step toward the door. “But you should go to bed. You can sleep with Koji or um—in my bed if you want.”

You stare at his figure, the weight of the situation still pressing down on you. There’s so much 

happening, so much you didn’t expect, and yet… for some reason, having him here, like this, almost feels normal. You rub your temples, trying to stave off the headache forming. 

“I’ll sleep out here, of course,” he quickly adds on, realizing the small, but accidental hinting.

You raise an eyebrow at his quick backpedaling, a small, almost reluctant smile tugging at the corner of your lips. It's been a long time since you shared any sort of space with him—especially under these circumstances. But the way he’s stumbling over his words, trying so hard to make things comfortable, it makes you wonder if maybe he’s not as composed as he likes to act. “Thanks,” you murmur, rubbing your temples again. The migraine's intensity is growing, and it's all you can do to keep your emotions in check. You hadn’t expected this—any of it. Satoru’s presence here, offering you comfort in his own odd way, only complicates everything more. You never asked for this kind of help, but you can't deny the relief it brings. “I’ll sleep with Koji.”

Satoru’s eyes linger on you for a moment longer, his expression softening as if he’s weighing his words carefully, trying not to overstep. He knows you’re not the type to ask for help. Hell, you hardly ever accept it when it’s offered. But tonight is different. Tonight is full of a thousand unspoken things. The lingering tension, the awkwardness of it all, and the confusing emotions between you two. It’s all too much, too quickly, and yet you feel the pull of something familiar—a bond you haven’t felt in years. “You sure?” he asks, his voice low. Almost like he’s waiting for you to give him some kind of permission or reassurance, something that lets him know you’re okay. His presence, his concern for Koji, it’s all so overwhelming in its own way.

You hesitate, swallowing the lump in your throat, trying to ignore the way your pulse quickens just having him this close, even if it is just in the same house. “I’ll be fine,” you say, your voice a little softer than you intended. The last thing you want to do is drag him back into your life fully. But he’s already here, and for the first time in what feels like forever, you're too tired to argue. "You don’t have to stay out here." The words hang in the air for a beat.

You take this moment to rise from the couch, wiping your eyes once more. “Where is he?”

“Spare room,” he points.

You nod, more to yourself than to him, and retreat to the spare room. The migraine pounds in the background of your mind. Mind still riddled with sleep, you accidentally bump your shoulder into the wall, footsteps faltering. He moves faster than you anticipated—expected, his hands finally making contact with your upper arms; stablizing you. His touch itself feels reminiscent.

His grip on your arms is steady, firm—just like it used to be. You catch your breath for a moment, not expecting the familiarity of his touch to feel so grounding. For a split second, you’re taken back to moments from the past, the memories of simpler days when his touch brought comfort instead of tension. You want to pull away, to remind yourself that things aren’t the same anymore. But you’re too tired, too worn out, and for a moment, you let yourself lean into the stability he’s offering without question.

"Careful," Satoru’s voice is quiet, but there's a soft edge to it, like he’s genuinely concerned. His hands stay on your arms, not pulling away immediately, as if waiting for you to give him a signal that you’re okay.

You blink, the haze of sleep making everything feel just a little more surreal. "I’m fine," you mutter, your voice barely above a whisper, but it lacks conviction. Your body feels heavier than it should, and your mind seems to be swimming in fog.

He doesn’t let go right away. Instead, his fingers give a slight squeeze, a small, unspoken reassurance. "You sure? You look like you’re about to fall over."

"I’m just... tired," you say, the words slipping from your lips before you even realize. You wince internally, but it’s too late to take them back now. There’s no point.

Satoru nods, his expression unreadable in the dim light of the hallway, but the way his eyes linger on you makes something in your chest tighten. It’s like he’s still trying to figure you out, still trying to read you after all these years. He always was good at that. Without saying much more, he gently guides you to the door of the spare room, a hand hovering above the small of your back; his touch still light but firm. He’s not pushing you, just there, a quiet presence in the storm. "Get some rest. I’ll be nearby, just in case."

You nod, feeling a strange mixture of gratitude and frustration well up inside you. "Thanks," you murmur, finally able to pull away from his grip and step into the room.

Before you close the door, you glance over at him, standing there in the hallway, his figure outlined by the soft glow from the living room. "Good night," you add, your voice a little softer than you meant it to be.

He doesn’t respond immediately, but there’s a flicker in his eyes that you can’t quite place. After a beat, he says quietly, "Good night, Y/N."

And then, with one last look, he walks away, leaving you alone in the quiet darkness of the room. The door clicks softly behind you, and for the first time in days, you feel a small sense of peace—fragile, uncertain, but there all the same.

Satoru has taken the liberty of getting Koji dressed and ready for school. Shushing his son with quiet murmurs so you won’t wake up. He’s a little surprised, but you must be that tired. Satoru usually wakes up earlier than most, having went to go check on you two, but getting shocked to see his son using the bathroom instead and saying something about how “Mama’s still sleeping, I have school.”

He’s a smart kid—a very smart kid. He guided Satoru the entire ride, remembering the name of his school and which streets to use. You raised him well. He parks his car in the lot, it stands out like a sore thumb among the civics, corollas, and trucks.

Carrying Koji in his arms towards the boys classroom. “Excited, buddy?”

“Mhm!” 

Satoru smiles and kisses his cheek. “I’ll pick you up, okay?”

“Okay, Papa. Thank you.” Koji gratefully responds.

“No need to thank me, Koji. It’s my job.”

Satoru can feel the lingering stares and hushed whispers as he walks down the hallway to his son’s class. Ignoring it like a pro and focusing on one thing and one thing only. As they approach his room, Mr. Ito is standing outside like usual. As soon as the man sees the two, his eyes visibly widen before playing it off with a cough of his throat. “Good morning, Koji. Gojo.”

Satoru remembers the guy as the one from the cafe. That one. He nods in understanding, setting Koji down and crouching with him. “Have a fun day, I’ll see you later.”

“Bye, Papa.” Koji kisses his cheek and rushes inside happily. 

 "Morning," Satoru replies coolly, standing tall as he watches Koji run off to join his classmates. "I trust Koji’s been good?"

"Of course, of course," Mr. Ito replies quickly, his smile tight, the words coming out a little too fast. "He’s been a delight to have here. Very bright."

Satoru nods, but his eyes never leave Mr. Ito’s. "Glad to hear it."

There’s an awkward silence that stretches between them, but Satoru isn’t in the mood for small talk. He could read the teacher’s discomfort, and he’s not about to play into it. After all, it’s not like they’re friends, or even acquaintances. Mr. Ito shifts on his feet, and Satoru can tell he’s trying to think of something to say, something that will smooth over whatever awkwardness hangs in the air. “So, where’s Ms. Y/N today?”

Satoru’s brows tick, arms crossing. “At home.”

Mr. Ito nods, clearly trying to gauge whether there’s more to the story, but Satoru doesn’t give him any openings. He’s not in the mood to entertain questions about you, not now, not here, especially not from someone like him. "Ah, I see," Mr. Ito mumbles, his voice trailing off as he shuffles his feet again. "I just thought... well, with everything that’s been going on, I expected to see her here, too."

Satoru’s eyes narrow, though his expression remains calm, just a hint of warning in his tone. "She’s handling things on her own. We’re both doing fine. You don’t need to worry about it. You have a class full of children to teach."

The other man hides his displeasure behind a stiff nod. “Right, right. Just wondering, that’s all.”

“Don’t have to, she already has a man for that.”

Satoru wonders why he’s being do damn weird right now. Possesive almost. You two aren’t together, but the way this guy is asking about you, it’s slightly setting him off. Who does he think he is worrying about you?

Mr. Ito falters, his smile fading as Satoru’s words hang heavy in the air. "Right, of course," he mumbles, clearly taken aback. He shifts on his feet, his eyes darting to the ground before locking back onto Satoru. "Just asking, I mean… it's just a lot going on, you know?"

Satoru’s gaze hardens, the protective instinct that rises within him catching him off guard. He takes a slight step closer to Mr. Ito, his tone deliberately neutral but carrying an edge. "You don’t need to worry about her. She’s got it covered."

There’s a flicker of something in Mr. Ito’s eyes—something that hints he’s about to say something else, but he swallows it down, nodding stiffly instead. "Yeah, of course." He quickly looks away, clearing his throat. "Well, I guess I’ll… I’ll get back to the class."

Satoru stands still for a moment, his posture rigid, a sharp edge in his expression as he watches Mr. Ito retreat. He doesn't know why it bothered him so much. The guy wasn’t even doing anything wrong, not really. But the way he was asking about you—like he had any right to—made something inside Satoru twist uncomfortably. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this man didn’t belong in your world, that he had no place prying into your life.

Satoru finally exhales, shaking his head. Whatever. It was just a teacher.

With one last glance at the classroom door, he turns and heads back to the school doors. There's no reason to overthink this. It’s just… odd. He can’t let it get to him.

You wake up that day to a lone bed. Groaning to yourself as the sunbeams spray across your face and momentarily blind you. Hand reaching out for the space next to you. Instead, you see a note saying: dropped koji off, i’ll be back around noon to grab some lunch. sleep up

Instantly, your eyes widen, springing up out of bed. Reaching for your phone, the time reads 11:30pm. “Shit!” you curse to yourself, rushing out the door and to your bag still on the chair from last night. You dig in for your work clothes, changing right there and then and praying to the gods that Satoru doesn’t walk through this door. Brushing your teeth, hair, washing your face, putting some moustirzer and sunscreen on, all of it takes way too long. By the time you’re done and messily putting your shoes on, it’s twelve. Four hours after you were supposed to be at work. Hana’s going to kill me.

Grabbing your bag with rough and rushed movements, you’re sprinting to the door at this point. Out of breath and already conjuring up a sorry apology for Hana. you reach the doorhandle, flinging it open. But as soon as you do, you come to an abrupt stop.

Because standing before you is a woman, a woman you’ve seen before on Satoru’s lock screen. The same woman who kissed the lips that you used to. Arms crossed and a nasty scowl forming on her face as she eyes you up and down in a criticizing way. 

Finally, she scoffs out. 

“Do you know who I am?”

a/n: they so cute

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[rcmclachlan]

okay, so if you’re not writing the aquarium scene in the 118/217 scheming fix-it (god i love this) can you at least share what mishap and or shenanigan gets them banned from the aquarium?? (since you mentioned it in the tags i assume you picked one!)

The aquarium is Christopher's idea, because getting Buck and Tommy back together is the one thing he and Eddie can talk about without it devolving into shouting or week-long silences that make Eddie want to put his fist through his living room wall.

So if plotting to interfere in the open bear trap that is his idiot friends' breakup gets him an hour of uninterrupted screen time with Chris three times a week? He'll meddle in a way that would make even his abuela say, "cariño, that's a little much." He'll change his legal middle name to el metiche.

"Buck used to take me to see the otters when I was younger; they're his favorite. But the exhibit has been closed for a year because they've been redoing it," Chris says, then texts him a link to the aquarium website. "The big reopening is next week. If someone asked Buck to take Jee-Yun, he wouldn't be suspicious."

"Chris, you're a genius," Eddie says, a little awed. His entire body aches to reach through the laptop screen and across state lines to pull his kid into a hug, but all he can do is sit on his hands and hope his face shows all the love he feels.

A small, but genuine grin unfurls on Chris's face. "That's not news, dad."

Eddie decides to take the aquarium idea to what Chimney keeps calling the weekly 118-217 Shadow Summit to see if the rest of the group thinks it holds water—no pun intended—and is extremely offended when Dana gives him a slow blink and says, "That's actually not bad. Who came up with it?"

"Is it that hard to believe it was my idea?"

"Very."

Dana presses the rim of her wine glass to the sly, crimson curve of her mouth. With her victory rolls, winged eyeliner, and tattoos, she looks like the winner of a car show pinup contest. She also looks like an evil queen out of an old school Disney movie. At least five people in their general vicinity look like they'd thank her if she force-fed them a poisoned apple or turned into a giant dragon.

Eddie reaches into the bowl of popcorn by his elbow and throws a handful of it at her. She just takes a sip of her wine and serenely lets the kernels bounce off her.

"Knock it off before I put you both in a time out." Lucy drains the dregs of her beer and says to Chimney, "Having Buckley take your kid is the perfect excuse—she's, what, two? Three?"

"Five," Chim says with the heartache of a man whose baby is almost old enough to rent a car. "As long as we don't tell my wife that Jee's playing the part of the cutest MacGuffin ever in this little plot, we should be good. But how do we get Tommy there?"

"Short of planting a bomb in the penguin tank, I can't think of a reason Mr. Nature Boy himself would ever voluntarily go." Hen roots around in the popcorn bowl for the kernels with the most butter. "Actually, he might be thrilled if we did that. I don't think he likes birds very much."

Dana lifts a brow. "I smell a story."

"Does it smell like KFC?" Chim pops a pretzel in his mouth and chews loudly, grinning. "Once we've adjourned the cabal for the evening, remind me to tell you about Maurice."

Eddie doesn't know Nico very well—he can't get a read on the guy to save his life—but the smug smirk he's sporting looks entirely out of place. Nico takes the last mozzarella stick off the platter they'd ordered to share and puts it between his teeth like a cigar. He looks like the world's lamest oil baron.

Eddie looks at Dana in askance. Wordlessly, she plucks a piece of popcorn out of her hair and throws it at him. It nails him right between the eyes.

"Let me handle Kinard," Nico says. "I'll get him there, no problem."

To his credit, Nico does get Tommy to the aquarium the day of the sea otter exhibit grand reopening. And thanks to Chimney planting Chris's idea in Buck's head at the start of their next shift, Buck does take Jee-Yun.

Unfortunately, their paths never cross, because while the penguin habitat doesn't explode, the sea jelly gallery does, completely flooding the first floor. When the aquarium is forced to evacuate everyone, Buck and Jee-Yun end up at the Chili's down the street, while Tommy ends up riding in an ambulance with an old woman who gets stung by a box jellyfish.

"I don't understand how this happened!" Lucy shouts, keeping her fingers on the ankle pulse of a man in the middle of an allergic reaction to a lilliputian jelly sting as Hen and Chim pump him full of epinephrine and then start administering compressions.

Eddie would help, but he's carrying three kids—two in his arms, one on his back—through shin-deep water to safety while attempting to dodge all the bluebottles floating on the surface. Dana glides past him to get the next group of kids waiting to be rescued, not a hair out of place. She looks like a fucking mermaid. He's gonna trip her the next time they pass each other.

Annoyed, Lucy casts around and then asks, "Has anyone seen Nico?"

Just in time for the man himself to sedately walk through the pandemonium, two bewildered penguins tucked under his arms like purses. He smiles brightly. "Hey, did Kinard pass through here, by any chance? Phase two of my plan is ready to go."

Eddie stares at him. "What was phase one?"

He never does find out what exactly phase one entailed, but it's enough to get them permanently banned from the aquarium for life.

"If you ask me, the punishment so does not fit the crime," Nico says, digging an elbow into Eddie's side as he jostles for room in the back of Athena's squad car.

Eddie says nothing. He's too busy mentally composing the short-answer portion of his application for the El Paso Fire Department, although, in the end, it doesn't matter. He completely forgets everything he plans on writing when Athena slides in, glances in the rearview mirror, and shouts, "Those better not be penguins in my back seat, Edmundo Diaz!"

He and Chris spend two hours talking about it during their next call, so Eddie calls it a win.

[lidiaissunlit]

how the gods/goddesses treat their children

a/n: hi, i got this idea while reading tlo, also i'm at a party rn and uploading on tumblr lol hope you enjoyyy

zeus: holds you to such a high standard, which is his way of showing how he cares for you. would definitely threaten you with lightening bolts if he thought you did him dirty :heart eyes:

poseidon: he always smells like salt and sunscreen, is a good dad when he's around. gives good warm hugs. watches each of his children but doesnt help you as much because he wants you to be resourceful and independent

demeter: a typical doting mother, reminds you to eat your vegetables and work hard during training. just don't catch her on a bad day (yikes) but she genuinely wants the best for all of her kids

ares: such a proud dad, the type to give you a noogie everytime he sees you. helping you at every twist and turn, and always correcting your fighting style. "hey, i saw you practicing earlier, and i thought i should mention..."

athena: fiercly protective of her children. always calm, always giving the best advice, and always expecting you to give your all. though she is strong in her sense of justice, and will hold you accountable in your actions

apollo: you leave each other haikus. honestly he's TOO chill of a dad, too lax and no real expectations for you. he is always down to hear your music or poems, or see your art.

artemis: spends so much time with you, would literally lay her life on the line for any of her hunters. her animals ARE your siblings. she is actually hilarious, you all get a kick out of pranking her brother apollo

hephaestus: not a very personable father. he cares in his own special way. always says something eerily cynical when he sees you like "glad to see you're still kicking, i guess" like ?? thanks dad?? he does feel proud to have kids with such ingenuity

aphrodite: believes children are bright minds just ready to be taught about light and love in the world. extremely motherly and affectionate towards her children. usually meddling in her childrens lives, convincing them that their dreams are just within reach

hermes: honestly a really good dad, very caring about his children and their parents. takes being a dad very seriously and it's important to him that he does right by his children to his very best ability. he hates that he can't be more involved and helpful in his kid's lives

dionysus: pretends not to care about his kids, but really really does. always helping in little secretive ways whenever he can. if you thanked him for this, he would either say he barely lifted a finger or he didn't know what you were talking about

hades: he isn't the most fatherly type but he doesnt tolerate disrespect towards his kids because that means disrespecting him. he is very critical of his kids, and only really treats you with respect once you make him proud

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: Fantasy High Junior Year and Stress Tested

Brennan Lee Mulligan is an evil son of a genius.

I have been waiting for this episode forever--like, a whole week--and it did not disappoint. Starting with a return to assembly. Confirming the conspiracy that the Rat Grinders were setting them up.

Side note: I really do think the Rat Grinders are working for something or someone who is (or who are) also meddling with Interim Emergency Back-Up Principal Grix.

The mandatory drug testing at school that IMMEDIATELY netted the kid who called out Aguefort Academy becoming a police state in freshman year was a deliberate choice that I feel like Brennan, knowing how easily distracted his Intrepid Heroes can be, planted for the viewers to pick up on. And unleashing this after a "speech" from Agent Clark that ended with an extra distracting "until doppelgangers burn your nest!"? Yeah, I smell Brennanigans.

Quick break: I just want to say that Murph plays Riz's paranoia so well. Ally's quick moves to shenanigans is on another level. And Zac immediately taking a stress token for Gorgug feels extremely correct. That said, I feel like there should be a mechanic where Gorgug gets stressed so much that he channels the tokens into a rage that impresses Porter.

Also: the rolling graphics on the left side of the screen, for the tracks that our intrepid heroes are rolling for, look so cool. The stress levels on the right look great too, but they are stressing me out.

Now; I am really liking Yolanda Badgood, the cleric professor. I am not liking, however, the fact that Brennan is making her so likeable. And so friendly. And so helpful. Because I am now fearing for her life.

Emily's bits about Fig not knowing where to go rings differently for me, having seen the pre-season interview where she admitted that she wanted to play a new character. That she wanted to keep the happy ending Fig already got in Sophomore Year. I have to confess: I also actually really like this new aimless track for Fig, and it's showing in Emily's gameplay how she is also realizing new things about her character as Brennan showers her with more choices to make.

The one bad thing about the downtime episode, in my opinion, is that the time we spend with each character feels so little. Especially with how much time is passing in game time. I wanted to see more of Adaine's relationship with her sister, and maybe see a friendship blossom with Oishyn. But Siobhan is, rightfully, concerned about Adaine's finances so she has to prioritize her job and her academics. I needed Gorgug and Riz to get more updates about Frosty Fair before it happened--but, obviously, the had personal stuff they needed to deal with first…and Frosty Fair is already happening next episode--

Honestly: Brennan did a wonderful job with the down times for everyone. And every member of the Intrepid Heroes utilized their down time well.

I just wanted more because I'm very greedy and I love these characters to bits.

Speaking of bits:

With two Nat20s in a row, I would say that Gorgug really is the greatest wizard of our time.

"Get your best pair of Badidas and we'll see what that body does" is an s-tier Brennan-liner.

Riz using the celestial spy stuff he got from his dad is AMAZING.

And Brennan is enjoying handing out the stress tokens too much. Zacky even points it out.

Can't wait for next week!

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of One Direction fan fics that have Clifford Tomlinson, the dog, featured in them as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave kudos and comments for the writers! You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

— Louis/Harry —

🐶 Tired Tired Sea by MediaWhore / @mediawhorefics

(M, 113k, Scotland) As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions. Until, one day, a mysterious stranger on a quest to rebuild himself rents a room for the winter.

🐶 Take a Chance on Me by velvetnoodle

(E, 96k, kid fic) the Strangers to Enemies to Friends to Lovers Roommate AU you didn’t know you needed, feat. Single Dad!Harry, Footie Coach!Louis, a precocious 9 year old, a band of meddling family members, an overly excited labradoodle, an extremely Done cat, and a Shiall wedding you’ll never forget

🐶 Just for Tonight (I can be yours) by @sadaveniren

(E, 42k, a/b/o) Harry, prince of Cestrescir, has been betrothed to Ludvic, prince of Yorvik, since birth. He'd accepted a loveless marriage as his duty to his country, until an accident threw him in the path of a gentle alpha

🐶 Marcel (series) by crimsontheory / @ireallysawanangel

(E, 36k, strangers to lovers) the one where Niall gave Marcel’s number to someone he worked with and Marcel wasn’t too pleased about it.

🐶 You Wouldn't Believe the Dream I Just Had About You & Me by @larryatendoftheday

(E, 21k, friends to lovers) After a back-to-school bash and a few too many drinks, Harry finds himself pregnant from a one-night stand he doesn’t remember. 

🐶 Absolutely Smitten by MyEnglishRose / @lwtisloved

(E, 20k, strangers to lovers) Louis is walking his dog. Harry is walking his cat. Leashes get tangled, and feelings too.

🐶 Like How I Pictured It by @parmahamlarrie

(E, 17k, friends to lovers) Louis Tomlinson hasn’t always been blind. As a child, his vision was impaired, but he had hopes that there would be years before he lost his sight completely. 

🐶 Between the forest and the field by bluegreenish / @greenblueish

(E, 16k, small town) the one where Harry recently moved to a village and his shy dog picks Louis' dogs to play with at the dog park. A fluffy cottage core AU.

🐶 Clumsy by lovelarry10 / @chloehl10

(E, 12k, strangers to lovers) when Cliff manages to trip over a handsome stranger, on Valentine’s Day of all days, it might just be the start of something new and exciting...

🐶 Somebody Get Me Through This Nightmare by @lululawrence

(NR, 11k, neighbors) “I am not subjecting you to my poor dog in his moment of vulnerability!” Louis cried. “That would be cruel to you, but also to Clifford.”

🐶 good, good graces by @muldxr

(E, 10k, dom/sub) the one where Harry's boyfriend Louis gets a new puppy and frequently tells the dog how he's a good boy. Harry gets jealous and decides to show Louis how much of a good boy he can be.

🐶 Just the Start by @littleroverlouis

(M, 9k, older characters) Louis is a fifty-two year old divorcé who has fallen into rut. He never anticipated a forced day of self care, and a chance meeting with a charming salon owner would shake him out of his comfort zone.

🐶 I Roll 'til I Change My Luck by larry_hiatus / @larry-hiatus

(T, 8k, friends to lovers) When Louis reveals to his Tinder matches that he uses a wheelchair and has a service dog, things tend to get even more complicated. 

🐶 Warm Chilling by Larry_you_know / @larryyouknow

(G, 7k, neighbors) Louis moves into a cosy cottage in the English countryside with his dog Clifford to look after his great-aunt's animals. 

🐶 Wanted: Dog Walker by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(G, 6k, neighbors) Louis needs a dog walker. Harry answers the ad.

🐶 Love on the b(rain) by TeamLouis / @teamlouis2023

(G, 4k, misunderstandings) During a stormy night, when Louis realizes that his precious dog has escaped the house, he has no other choice than calling his ex-husband.

🐶 To the late night double feature show by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(NR, 2k, Halloween) “Sorry!” says someone. "I just wanted to know if I could pet your dog?”

🐶 Safe Like Springtime by cherrylarry / @beelou

(G, 1k, meet cute) the one where Harry takes his nephew to the park and runs into Louis and his Labradoodle Clifford.

— Rare Pairs —

🐶 Longer Night by @turnyourankle

(E, 2k, Louis/Luke Malak) What happened after the 'Long day' photo was taken? Probably this.

🐶 acrobatic blood by Anonymous 

(G, 2k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) “Thought you’d gone home,” Nick croaks miserably. Louis rolls his eyes. “This is my home, dickhead.” A coming out fic.

🐶 Next Door by @allwaswell16

(NR, 2k, Louis/Rob Pattinson) When a stray cat starts coming round Louis' garden and bothering his dog, Louis and his best friend set out to capture it.

[knightfighttourney]

re: the worst dad poll - merlin had children?? i did not know this :0 i would love some lore (if u have the time!)

I ALWAYS have time to infodump lore!

He did not! He gets his own little addendum because he is directly responsible for Uther and Arthur being on the list. He isn't to blame for all the bad stuff each did, but specifically how they both boinked up as parents.

Uther in that Merlin orchestrated the whole 'king's son sent away to later resurface and take over' sword and the stone thing AND gave Uther the means in which to assault Igraine for the sole purpose of making Arthur. It might've been in service of some grand destiny stuff, but they're still bad, ESPECIALLY in regards to the latter. A little explanation for the former: Arthur had to go from being a regular-ish dude's kid to capital K King with a magic destiny and find out he's adopted in the span of like... twenty minutes. Traumatic!

Arthur in that Merlin was the one who told him about the whole Mordred thing, prompting the May Day Massacre. (At least when it's a thing that happened. Personally I prefer when it's omitted because it makes the timeline of events EXTREMELY screwy and is just kind of gratuitous to the point it wraps around to being silly, but that's a whole other ramble.)

Both Uther and Arthur did these bad things of their own volition but these specific bad things would not have happened had Merlin simply not meddled. Ergo, I decided to take a moment to shame him for his part in it all, because while he isn't a father himself, he manages to be a net negative for fatherhood.

[alister312]

i saw your tags on that style post plleeeaseee talk about gregstophe parenting!!

i don't remember which style post i hijacked the tags to talk about gregstophe parenting on bc i am so sorry to my beloved fellow stylers out there but i cannot help myself. anyway YES I WILL TALK ABOUT GREGSTOPHE PARENTING

to start: i do have an actual, vaguely canon (to me) child i think about when i think about them as parents? he's now a part of my sp next gen au thing but he started as a fic idea i had wherein gregory and christophe become parents solely bc christophe accidentally orphans a child on a mercenary job and he panics and just. takes the kid. my first sketches of this idea, forget if i've shared them here or not:

his name is William Elliot aka Will aka Billy Elliot bc Gregory can't help himself and he would name his child something musical theatre-y but he'd try and be a little subtle about it

Will my baby boy aside, general headcanons:

i personally imagine both Gregory and Christophe having a lot of hang-ups about their own parents? Christophe obviously has a lot of conflicts with his mother and I imagine Gregory's parents, while more loving than Christophe's mother, had some extremely high expectations that left him with much anxiety. as such, the two of them are hesitant to become parents themselves.

despite that, they are both pretty good candidates to be excellent parents! as a revolutionary, Gregory definitely cares about leaving the next generation better off than him so I think he'd actually be passionate about working with kids. maybe not little little kids, but certainly tweens and teens. Christophe, while scary, is also kind of childish when he lets down his walls. he may seem serious but he is still doing that buttfor joke WELL into his adult years. it's a riot with little kids. they love his potty humor and animal impressions.

Gregory is of course initially very strict about everything. it's how his parents were with him, after all, and he turned out well, didn't he? the baby must be brought up with only the best quality children's programming, proper manners, a good tutor as soon as they enter school, etc. Christophe would push back against this, citing that Gregory did not turn out as perfect as he presents himself and also that Christophe's mother was super controlling too and he turned out even worse.

this leads to them reaching an agreement to try their best to keep each other honest about striking a good balance. Christophe keeps Gregory from being too meddling and Gregory keeps Christophe from closing himself off or being too aggressive/touchy about emotional subjects.

anyway whatever child they raise is like. insanely good jack of all trades. Gregory insists on a well-balanced education and is thrilled to teach them about anything they ever ask about, complete with a full reading list for further research. Christophe would definitely encourage them to be kind of rough and tumble, appreciate dirt and athletics and the mercenary/espionage stuff he knows. this results in the cleverest gremlin child you've ever met. exponentially more so if they're raised in south park.

this child's "aunts" and "uncles" (aka other adults that are Gregory and Christophe's friends that they have around often) would probably include Damien, Estella, and Kenny. this encourages the gremlin side. Pip, Wendy, and Kyle (some other aunts/uncles) try to help but they end up just encouraging the clever side. the child is chaos incarnate.

Gregory and Christophe are extremely proud and protective of their kid, though. no matter what. sure there's consequences for any horrible actions but they both heard enough from their parents about not being good or good enough and they refuse to perpetuate the cycle.

in short: they're the best fucking dads ever. thank you for coming to my gregstophe parent ted talk or scrolling past all that and just stopping where the big text is.

[void-botanist]

I would love to know about the elbas sitcom AU (<- big sitcom enjoyer)

Tbh it wouldn't be that different from their actual lives, lol, just played up for comedy. Also this was such a fun response to write that I did not stop myself and I just kept inventing stuff.

A lot of these characters are discussed in this powerpoint post.

Some recurring bits:

No one can remember Casper's name even when he's standing in front of them, except Nidilaenn (his kid) and Vinnek. They all call him Pa (which they do IRL) or some random name ("he has a John face"). Regardless of whether he's there or not everyone is always talking about his whirlwind romance that took him out to the Vale and left them with one less prankster. You know he always returns for the solstice episode.

People go "where's Nidilaenn" and then we immediately cut to Nid in their boat. The funny part is where the boat is this time.

"El this might be easier if you don't get so frustrated" [Ellery turns back toward the camera with the nastiest look on his face] "I'm not frustrated"

There's always a new random nonroot staying at the Yellow House to witness the shenanigans and mostly laugh them off as "wow this island is weird haha"

The nonroot is also always shocked when they find out that they were not wrong, Madge is in fact twice her husband Rigo's age, and those ages are 120 and ~60.

Madge and Rigo are only on the island half the time. The other half they're traveling the mainland and getting called back to Elbas for increasingly ridiculous reasons. While they're away someone else has to care for the lighthouse (which is why IRL they don't actually travel that much).

Herric is always meddling in something. Frequently it has a butterfly effect, where they do something tiny like borrow Milo's butter and by the middle of the episode the island is in shambles.

Herric and Urielte are the "they should just be together" couple of the series, and to be honest they don't disagree (like if they just said "nah we're friends" people would drop it but they've never said that). However they do keep coming up with increasingly silly excuses for why they won't (the real reason is Herric doesn't want to have another breakup and Urielte just doesn't give a shit about formalities).

When someone needs information, Vinnek always has a book on that. Unless it's about legal histories or contract law, in which case Milo has a book on that.

Ysa sets the mood perfectly as a bartender but never serves alcohol. Thon keeps coming up with increasingly complex names for thons juice cocktails.

While working at the docks or the lighthouse Rigo has seen sea monsters of all kinds and just shrugs it off and goes back to his book.

Madge has a bike. The island is small. She tends to ride down the lighthouse hill into town but sometimes she rides into the sea instead (Rigo: [looks up] Madge: [rides right off the end of the dock] Rigo: [goes back to his book, then does a double take]).

This would make more sense in an anime but I thought it so I'm going to say it: sometimes Nid and El grab hands and go "because the power of friendship" with the dramatic eye shine and everything.

There are as many explanations as to why Rae is missing a leg as there are islanders. Even she doesn't give the same answer every time, but she always mentions the ankle bracelet she lost.

Some episode concepts:

Some nonroot comes to stay at the Yellow House and Tirias starts spending all her time with them. Ysa and Amadjes are like "you should branch out" and Tirias is like "noooo" and all bashful about it, because the reason she's hanging around them is because they understand her obsession with an extremely niche media property that no one else gets.

A nonroot can't tell the difference between Amadjes and their cousins Amelie, Aloysius, and Asteras and convinces them all to make increasingly strange fashion choices. For some reason their dad Emil was off-island when this happens and upon his return he can't tell them apart because of the fashion.

Milo's parents Marietta and Tem come to visit and it's a series of humorously awkward interactions between Milo & Herric and Marietta & Tem, to the point that Herric will say something like "what the fuck" to Marietta (their kid) and then immediately turn to Tem and say "I find this somewhat confusing". When Milo mentions Tem to the Council they all offer their own advice: Ellery talks about not getting frustrated, Nid wants to formulate a strategy based on who swept who off their feet, Patience suggests getting kombucha-drunk with them, Tirias says to look for their passion. Somehow all of these become relevant over the course of their relationship-building.

Someone discovers that "the reason" Herric and Urielte won't officially get together is because they don't want to move into each other's houses. So they orchestrate moving one to the other, then vice versa, then into a separate third house, and it all goes really badly and they have to be moved back.

After the previous episode, Herric's ex-wife and estranged son return to demand something from them, probably money- and/or goods-related. Herric ends up moving in and/or getting the equivalent of a Vegas marriage with Urielte to fend her off. Everyone is disappointed when they ultimately undo it all.

Binna's launch is approaching and Milo is just trying to enjoy spending time with her but everywhere he goes are just silly reminders that she's leaving ("that weirdly suggestive calendar has a rocket in it!").

Patience's teenage grandkids come to visit and everyone is super impressed by them because uep twins are rare. They use this to their advantage. Everyone also wonders whether Patience knows what's going on, because of course they pull the most nonsense when she's not around, but she knows exactly and she thinks it's incredibly funny to play the doddering old lady.

Rae gets into a dispute with the owner of the Evly radio station she runs a weekly music show on. Madge (her sister) and Tirias (who regularly plays on the show and also has technical knowledge) decide to team up and start an Elbas radio station. This turns out to be a lot harder than they expect. It would be fun if they managed it though because then we could have a radio station set.

The port authority of Port Danziger, which is several hundred miles away on the mainland, approaches the Council and suggests they pay for docking rights even though that doesn't make any logistical sense. Nidilaenn sets out to discover whether it really is that far to sail (answer: yes) and encounters a variety of nonsense situations on the way.

A new arrival asks about Rae's leg. She says it was a sea monster. We then discover that the sea monsters only Rigo seems to notice are in fact real, but don't really hang around the island because there's not much meat there. The new arrival does not succeed in locating Rae's fabled ankle bracelet.

Following the previous episode, a human sneaks meat onto the island, which causes a massive uptick in sea monster activity. Something something an entire suitcase getting dramatically thrown into the ocean. NO MEAT ALLOWED goes unexplained into the visitor rules and the mainland press has a field day with it.

Casper returns for the solstice episode without his wife (the one who swept him off his feet and caused him to move away). He says it's because he wanted to spend time with Nid, but Nid becomes increasingly suspicious that something is off. They get sent on a wild goose chase wondering if Casper ever even got married only to discover that their stepmom was late because she was bringing a surprise for them.

Vinnek gets haunted by the ghost of Fira past, and while the moral of the episode is that they have to remember the good times they had with Fira and stop getting on the network to listlessly search for Fira, there's a lot of snarky humor on the way. Depending on when this takes place, there will also be the ghost of Casper past (not intentionally a reference lol the importance is that Casper was and is a good friend of Vinnek's who also left the island) and potentially the ghost of Dez past (another friend who left).

A paranormal investigator shows up and insists the lighthouse is haunted. Everyone says no, the lighthouse is not haunted. Eventually the investigator turns out to be right, though the spirits haunting the lighthouse are just chilling and that's why no one thought it was haunted.

Rae, Tirias, and Ysa team up to turn the pub into a club for Jes's birthday, with the heavy bass he so loves (he's deaf). Unfortunately they instead succeed at blowing out Ysa's custom skylight and invoking the ire of Ellery, one of the few people on the island who has ever been to a club. In the course of putting in a new skylight they hatch a better plan: a sort of silent disco-esque setup where they will not shatter the skylight a second time.

For some reason Haskell has to leave the island for a bit and asks Nid and El, who have been considering having kids for a while, if they would watch Lacey. I feel like everything that happens after that is just par for the course for having a 4 year old around but still it seems like even Nid will have changed their mind about kids. When Haskell gets back and is like "haha hope that didn't put you off of sprouting" the two of them are like "nah. we'll survive it with the power of friendship" with the whole solidarity clasp and everything. Then the shine fades and they say, "in five more years maybe".

Tirias becomes obsessed with a wedding shoot he found on the network and starts bothering Ysa and Jes about it. They misunderstand and think what he wants is to get married when in actuality he just wants to have an event for wearing a princess dress. By the time they get on the same page Ysa and Tirias are practically standing at the altar (I don't actually know how Elbas weddings work but you get the idea). But in the end Tirias gets what he wants and they don't actually get married...probably.

I think there should be a season devoted to Dez being there too, with episodes such as:

The rootspace episode, where Dez figures out how to decode the chemical messages of rootspace and becomes obsessed with sharing rootspace with people ("for the love of god Dez PLEASE use your words I'm tired").

The radio show episode, where Dez becomes the synth.

The toilet humor episode, where Dez discovers that one of Elbas's imports is literal shit, which goes into the dirt beds they root into at night. Have I mentioned Dez doesn't really get toilet humor? Uep and neriem, however, do on some level, even though that's not how their digestive systems work.

The laugh scale episode, where Dez notices that making serious Milo laugh is a particular point of pride among the Council. The Council in turn notices that Dez has never once laughed and try to figure out what would make him do so. 50/50 chance they either realize he can't/doesn't laugh OR some random apparently nonhumorous thing happens at the end of the episode and Dez snickers, which is enough of a laugh to celebrate.

The prank episode, where Dez takes the role of the answering machine that has a bunch of snippets of someone's voice to remix except he has extensive recordings of most islanders, which makes it extra fun. He starts pranking people with Nid but as people discover the prank they join in, and after a few days everyone on the island is in on the prank and there's no one left to bother. But then Casper shows up.

[sandalaris]

Back on Bridgerton-based AUs with my OTPs from other fandoms; Seth and Kate!

It took me a minute to see it, but Simon and Daphane! I think what tripped me up is the Gecko's don't strike me as "of the ton" type but if I completely nix the whole wanted criminal aspect all together (except possibly now and again for the thrill?) then they fit.

Seth and Simon are surprisingly similar, in no small part because Daddy Issues.

Seth has decided he will never marry and pass on the family name to spite his old man. If the Gecko name is going to go on, than it'll be through Richie, whom dear old dad always claimed was a bastard anyways, so double whammy. It's probably not true, although Seth wouldn't blame his mom for sleeping around on her drunken, abusive, sad excuse of a husband, and Seth looks nothing like the former Lord Gecko himself (and quite a bit like one of the old stable masters,) but its the principal of the thing. Seth also had one disastrous marriage to a commoner, which was dissolved before the ink dried, because while they slept together plenty before and after getting married they didn't actually share a bed during the extremely short time they were legally bound. It was really more of an f-you to his father mixed with the thrill of the chase, but either way, Seth's sworn off the whole marriage and kids thing. But his reputation only does so much against a handsome pedigy and a promise of a wealthy life, and he's getting increasingly tired of the ton's mothers throwing their daughters at him. Or even the occasional daughter's dirty tricks to catch herself a husband.

Its Kate's debut season. (Side note: I don't know enough about titles and such outside of novels set in those times, but I see Jacob as a Vicar. I think that would make Kate eligible for the ton...at the very least she would be considered the daughter of a gentleman.) Kate is lovely and polite and well-bred, but her friendly nature and girl-next-door vibes have left her seen by most of the ton's eligible bachelors as just a friend. It's not that she doesn't have any suitors, but the ones who see her as more than just a friend or little sister type are rather... mature (Lord Oculto), inappropriate (Lord Madrigal's blatant offer to make her his mistress coupled with a scathing insult to her lower station and Lord Brasa's downright creepy comparisons of her to his dead wife Amaru), or the gentleman's reputation proceeds him (everyone knows Lord Malvado lusts after Lady Kisa and is prone violent tempers and ungentlemanly actions towards women, and Lord Tanner has made it clear he only likes the barely of age girls and sees no reason to honor his vows, plus he's a horrible gambler and there's a certain question to his remaining funds.) Her childhood friend Kyle has made his offer to her clear, and if the worst should happen she will consider him, but what she wants above all else is options.

It doesn't take long for her and Seth come to an agreement; he will be seen courting her, thus making her appear more eligible to the younger men of the ton, and he will get a reprieve from the meddling match-making mothers for one damn season! Possibly two if he can nurse the broken heart look the following year.

I'm 100% skipping the whole consent-issue, baby making bit and leaving all the drama in the "pretend courtship starts to seem all to real" mixed with her father not exactly approving of Seth due to his crass language that he didn't bother to hide when he fist called on her and his rather tarnished reputation. Things still grow complicated though, when Seth and Kate do finally confess to the other that there are real feelings behind their actions, stumbling through the "what to do now," Seth having a rather drunken conversation with Richie about the vow he made to their father followed by Richard's oh so helpful "if you don't marry her I will" with a pointed look. Richie is perfectly happy living in sin with his own lover, so he probably wouldn't go through with it.... then again, he can be an annoyingly stubborn little shit, and Seth decides he can't risk it. Now to win over her father.

Kate may threaten to be caught in a compromising position with Seth if Jacob doesn't budge.

[nehswritesstuffs]

Father Like Son, Mother Like Daughter, Parent Like Child - Part 4 of 4

This one ended up being even longer than the last, wtf... at least we’re done now lol

First chapter on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3] 

Second chapter on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

Prior chapter on [tumblr] - [FFN] - [AO3]

With the Straw Hats dispersed due to Bartholomew Kuma, it’s time for more than just them to brace for the incoming Age. [11,422 words; AU where Cora-san and Bell-mère raised their six kids in the East Blue and everyone is better-adjusted ]

Nojiko gasped as she saw the newspaper, headlines cementing some of her worst fears in quick succession.

STRAW HAT PIRATES ELIMINATED IN DRAMATIC SHOWDOWN

BACK FROM THE DEAD? “STRAW HAT” LUFFY LEADS PRISON REVOLT, DESTROYS IMPEL DOWN

WHITEBEARD, PORTGAS D. ACE DEAD IN EPIC WAR AT MARINEFORD

SIBLINGS? PIRATICAL CONNECTIONS BAFFLE NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

It appeared as though the past few days had been extremely eventful for family members not-her. She went through the articles and tried to figure out if her idiot seafaring siblings were all okay. There was nothing saying that the Heart Pirates weren’t alright, and if her sister’s idiot captain could survive being attacked by Kuma…

“I might just murder the lot of them,” she decided to no one in particular. “No note, no word, no nothing! Not even anything out of Mom and Dad! I’ll kill them!”

“Uhh… Miss Nojiko…?” She looked and saw her tweenaged hired help standing there, confusion on his face and a bushel of mikans in his hands. Oh yeah, that’s right: she had been working in the grove when the newspaper arrived. “Is everything okay…?”

“Maybe? Possibly? I don’t know…” She rolled up the paper and stuffed it in her apron pocket. “You got any siblings, Chabo?”

“No ma’am.”

“Good—they’re only reliable for causing trouble and running up your blood pressure.”

“Uhh… yes, ma’am… if you say so…”

He really hoped he was going to survive this shift.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The doors to Sengoku’s office were violently kicked open, causing the old man to jump in surprise at his desk. To his even bigger surprise, a woman he hadn’t seen in-person for nearly twenty years came barging in, pure fury on her face.

“What the fuck are you up to, Sengoku?!” she snapped. She completely ignored the goat bleating in confusion at her and stormed up to the desk, slamming her hands on the surface. “I’m waiting.”

“It’s been a long time, Captain Cocoyasi,” he stated. “Please clarify: what brings you from your hometown, into a secure government facility, past my guards, and into my office?”

“You put a child on the chopping block for something he could never control and tried to escape,” she hissed. “Your subordinates almost murdered my children. When is this going to end?!”

“You came all the way from the East to remind me of how terrible my job is? That’s what I have Garp for.”

“Both of you are fucking idiots and honestly deserve whatever this New Age deals you.” Bell-mère folded her arms across her chest and scowled at the man in front of her. The goat kept gently butting its head against her thigh—it wanted treats and pets and she wasn’t giving either.

“Was that really your daughter…?” Sengoku asked quietly. “The Straw Hat navigator?”

“Don’t play dumb with me; I know you meddled with her bounty.”

“He can’t do much for his grandchildren, Belle, but he can at least do that.”

Sengoku silently stood as he looked towards the office door, the new voice slightly deeper and rougher than he remembered. Cora stepped through into the room and he lingered by the door with his hands in his pockets.

“Ro… Rosinante…?”

“Yeah,” the younger man affirmed. “It’s me.”

Shakily, Sengoku rushed to Cora and enveloped him in a hug. Tears choked his words as he held the boy he raised, cursing their near-multiple decades apart, only to realize something…

…his boy wasn’t hugging back.

“How much blood is on your hands?”

The question cut through Sengoku swift and precise. He let go of Cora and allowed the man to step further into the office, enough to look out the window upon the training grounds below. Everything was a fucking mess—rebuilding could have become cost-prohibitive.

“All I’ve done is what I’ve had to,” Sengoku stated, making sure the door was closed. “I’ve never run from it.”

“My daughter declared war on you,” Cora said darkly. A chill overcame Sengoku and the older man suddenly felt very exposed. “She declared war as she went to raid Enies Lobby, to rescue her friend, who you have been hunting for twenty years. That woman is not old enough to have committed a crime punishable by bounty… not if it was committed two decades ago.”

“I did what I had to do,” Sengoku repeated. Something sinister bubbled just below the surface of his words; he knew what this was about. His tone set something ablaze in Cora, there was no more time for excuses.

“Children died because of you! Nations erased because of you!”

“Don’t you think you know the choices I had to make!” the older man snapped. “Unlike you, I never ran away!”

“Then what else didn’t you run away from?!” Cora spat. “If you didn’t run away from Ohara and making that poor girl’s life a living hell, then what else did you approve?! Did you give the orders to murder my daughters’ families in Oykot and eliminate those who protested?!”

“Rosinante!”

“Do I only have my sons because you pulled the trigger on Flevance?!”

“You are out of line! There was nothing else I could have done!”

“Stop lying to me! You killed them! You might not have been there, but it was your orders behind it! Admit it! Flevance is dead in part because of you!”

“Their own hubris was what did them in!”

“Hubris?! You want to blame this on hubris?! If anyone’s hubris is to blame it’s the Government’s! The nobility who fled with only a trace of Amber Lead in their blood and their pockets lined in money! My son’s parents were slaughtered while trying to cure what you ran away from! He would look at his sisters and cry, because all he could do was remember the one who died in his arms! Do you think those three possessed enough hubris to deserve to die from it?!”

“You were not there, Rosinante! You do not know the depths of these decisions!”

“Cora.” The fleet admiral looked at him, eyebrow raised. “My name is Cora.”

“Rosinante…”

“The man said his name is Cora,” Bell-mère said idly. She was half-leaning, half sitting on the desk, looking at the things that covered it. “One of our middle kids gave him that name, you know… though I doubt it was the one responsible for this.” She picked up a picture frame and examined the contents: her and her husband on their wedding day. “This looks like our other middle brat’s work. She’s a clever one—safest for the world she stays farmer.”

Silence settled over the office and the two men glared at one another.

“You want to throw everything away for some misguided kids?” Sengoku asked. “Kids that have been exposed to who knows how many lies since they left your home?”

“Compared to the lies I was fed?” Cora walked back to Sengoku, standing close enough to smell the man’s cologne. “Stay away from my children, do you hear me?”

“I’m the only thing keeping those kids from being hunted down like animals.”

“Wouldn’t that get in the way of Justice? You always did wear your guilt a little differently.” Neither man broke eye contact, the stare-down tense. “Belle, we’re leaving.”

“You sure? It’s kind of fun watching you.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He waited for Bell-mère to open the office door before taking a step back. “You know, I always felt sorry for Garp growing up. I guess it’s his son and surviving grandson I should pity.”

“You’re an adult, Rosinante. You should know that sometimes good choices don’t exist.”

“That’s why we change the game, to make the good choices anyhow.” Cora turned on his heel and left the office, Bell-mère flashing Sengoku her middle fingers before backing out into the corridor and following him.

“Yeah, you’re not getting an inheritance,” Bell-mère snarked as she and Cora navigated the base’s corridors, dodging people who were looking at them in all manner of confusion. A few even dropped the papers they were carrying in surprise, having been around long enough to remember them both.

Those days were gone now, and they were the only survivors.

“I should have done this earlier,” Cora admitted. They turned a corner and went down a flight of stairs, heading towards the entrance. He tripped over himself and began to fall, with Bell-mère catching him by the collar before he could take a proper tumble.

“Telling him off now compared to ten years ago wouldn’t’ve made a damn bit of difference,” she scoffed. Once they were off the staircase they immediately went outside, where the sun was so bright they nearly had to shield their eyes. “Take it for what it’s worth; he didn’t kick us out or try to arrest us.”

“Almost wish he had.”

“So that what? We can get high on the shit list too? This is all such a fucking mess.” They made their way over to the docks, only to find that there was a stranger sitting in their boat. It was a young woman, barely older than their eldest daughter, with large, round eyes and a casual air about her.

“We’re not a hire service—fuck off,” Cora said. The young woman did not move.

“Never thought you were, Corazón,” she said. “Apologies; do you prefer Donquixote Rosinante? Maybe Commander Donquixote?”

“Is this something meant to scare me? Because it’s not working.”

“Trying to scare either of you is counter-productive,” the stranger stated. “Cora, Bell-mère, my boss would like to have a word with you. He doesn’t want your pity—it’s something more valuable he wants to discuss.” She took a red envelope from her pocket and held it out, a casual smile on her lips.

An envelope with a dragon printed on it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Luffy woke up with a gasp. His whole body felt weak and shook terribly. The air smelled funny and he felt like he wanted to vomit. He did do just that, in fact, rolling over and deciding that the contents of his stomach needed to be on the floor instead. Shifting to lay on his back again, he groaned in discomfort, though snapped to full awareness as something hit the pillow next to his head…

Correction: a sword stabbed the bit of pillow next to his head.

“Strawhat-ya,” Law growled. Luffy’s eyes went wide as he saw his fellow Supernova lording above him, murderous conviction oozing from his very being. He was straddling him, knees on either side of his waist as his hands held shakily onto the sword’s hilt, his own eyes glinting in something feral… something powerful… something vengeful. Somewhere nearby, he could hear Hancock being restrained by some others… huh… he was back on the girl island…?

“Oh, hi Torao,” the younger man smiled warily. “Were you the one who patched me up?”

“Where. Is. My. Sister?”

Luffy blinked, unsure how to respond.

“WHERE IS MY SISTER?!” Spit flew from his mouth and tears welled in his eyes. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU LET HAPPEN TO HER?!”

“Torao, I…”

“WHERE DID KUMA SEND HER?!”

“I DON’T KNOW!”

“Law, come on, he just woke up…”

“I don’t care, Penguin,” Law snarled. “All I want is our sister, safe.”

“Don’t you think that’s something I want too?!” Luffy snapped back. “Nami’s my navigator! I don’t want any other! I don’t want any other crew! I want them! I want… I want…!” It was Luffy’s turn to cry, as everything hit him at once. “I want my big brother back! I want Ace!” He curled into a ball underneath Law, who straightened in order to look at this boy—he was just a boy, wasn’t he—sob pathetically as he mourned not only his crew, but his family as well.

Fuck… maybe it was meant to shake out this way after all.

Standing up, Law pulled his sword from the bedding and sheathed it, stepping back from the distraught teen. He could feel his own older brothers’ hands on his shoulders and his breath hitched—it was something that Luffy was never going to feel again with Portgas and the rest of the crew gone, wasn’t it?

“He just lost everyone,” Shachi said lowly. “Give the kid some space.”

“Every speck of time helps, and he’s the only one with any answers,” Law replied. He watched as Hancock went to Luffy’s side and began fussing over him, pillowing his head in her lap and smoothing his hair. Jinbe and Granny Nyon both looked at one another awkwardly, not knowing how much of what was going on was necessarily… appropriate.

“Then maybe you need to make the answers for yourselves,” said a voice. The brothers looked over to see that Rayleigh had returned to the room, observing the scene meticulously. “Luffy didn’t mean for any of this to happen just as much as you did—in a lot of ways to him, Nami’s as much his sister as she is to you.”

“Ray-ya, I don’t know if you understand how much we need to see our sister again… how much I need to see her and know she’s safe.”

“Then I suggest you get going on training,” the old man said. “Two years is a long time, but once it’s over, then it won’t seem like any time at all. You’ll need to take care while the Age is shifting or you will get left behind. You don’t want that sassy ginger girl to be stronger than you when she gets back, do you?”

“That would defeat the purpose of being the protective older brothers,” Penguin said. His brothers all nodded quietly. It was then that Bepo returned with a few more of the Kuja, the only one of them seemingly allowed to go wherever he wished sans a guard with exception of Rayleigh. “Everyone ready to go?”

“Yeah—Ikkaku says it’s best we leave soon as possible, so that none of the Kuja get too curious about the Tang,” he said. Bepo noticed Luffy was now awake and shifted awkwardly. “Is everything alright?”

“We have work to do,” Law stated. He handed Bepo his nodachi and approached Luffy again, ignoring the glares he was getting from the Empress. Crouching down, he stared at his sister’s captain until he stopped crying long enough to look at him. “Monkey D. Luffy.”

“Yeah, Torao?”

“Now you also know what it’s like to lose a sibling too soon. Do not disappoint me.”

At that, Law stood and began walking towards the door. His brothers followed, only for them to stop at the sound of Luffy’s voice.

“I’m going to become stronger! And stronger! And stronger! And stronger!” the young captain claimed. “I’m never going to lose anyone ever again!” Law turned around and saw Luffy standing, hands clenched in anger.

“It stings, doesn’t it? Losing someone like that?”

“You don’t know what I’ve lost,” Luffy snapped. “Don’t pretend like you do.”

“Now we’re on the same page.” Law snapped up a Room and twitched his wrist, a pile of goop appearing in Hancock’s lap. “That should stave off the sinus headache that comes from that amount of crying; I’m holding you to it, Strawhat-ya.”

“TRAFALGAR!” Hancock raged, having realized what the goop was soaking into her skirt.

“Oh shit gotta go!” Shachi grimaced, pulling his middle brother along. The four scrambled to make their way out of the castle, with Law shambling them halfway to the docks once they were outside.

“You’re an idiot!” Penguin snapped. “I want to come back here! We want to come back here!”

“We’re literally some of the only men to have ever seen this place and lived!” Shachi added. “Doesn’t that honor mean anything to you?!”

“You two are just horny,” Law deadpanned. Both his older brothers stumbled mid-stride—what a low blow.

“Get them!” someone yelled over the square. “They dishonored the Empress! Don’t let them get away!”

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!” Shachi cursed, all of them sprinting fast as they could now. Law caught sight of the Tang and threw up a Room, dropping him and his brothers on the deck.

“Prepare to dive!” he ordered. His crew all stared at him for half a second before hurriedly rushing below deck. Only when they were safely underwater could they breathe, with Bepo gently elbowing Shachi.

“I think you meant to say ‘snot, snot, snot, snot, snot’ back there.”

Okay… maybe it was a little funny.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Two years passed in uncomfortable ease.

The rains came, the sun shone, the mikan harvest needed picking.

Power shifted.

A fractured crew trained on their own, refusing to let distance drive a wedge in their hearts.

Others prepared in their own way, yearning for the day they could put plans into action.

Alive Only, the entire time.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Nami honestly felt great. It was better than she’d felt in a long time—two whole years, in fact—and she was beyond glad to be back with her crew.

“Look! It’s the Sunny!” Chopper gasped. He and Usopp hopped off the Bon Chari and ran the rest of the way to their ship, immediately getting drawn into something ridiculous by… oh, seas, was that Franky…?

“Nami! You look well!” The young woman looked at the sound of her name and saw Robin standing on the deck. A warm smile brightened her face, which quickly spread to Nami as well.

“Robin! It’s so good to see you!” She attempted to ignore the boys as she brought her shopping bags aboard. “You don’t know how much I’ve missed having someone sane around~!”

“This sounds like you’ve got plenty to share involving your time away,” Robin chuckled. She took a quick glance and saw that Usopp and Chopper were still occupied with Franky’s new modifications. “Why don’t we put our things away before the crew’s get even more hectic?”

“Ugh, you’re right.” See? This was why Nami liked Robin; despite the creepy predictions and weird sense of humor, she was absolutely the only other person on the ship with a brain. Most of the time.

Trudging up the stairs, Nami and Robin both brought their bags into their room. Nami put hers on her bed and began to go through them, putting her new things away. She got through a couple bags before she turned around and saw Robin, the other woman sitting calmly at the table, watching her.

“Is… anything the matter…?” she asked.

“I’m just glad to be back,” Robin said. “You’re my family—there’s been plenty to process over these past two years.”

“Yeah…?”

“Yeah.”

After letting out a long sigh, Robin stood and walked over to Nami, bringing the younger woman into a hug. They stayed like that for a while, both taking strength from the other after so long apart.

“Just remember: after all we’ve been through, I don’t doubt you for a moment,” Robin said. “You are better than what came before you.”

“Robin…? What is this about…?”

“I was in a position to do a bit of digging while we were separated,” the archaeologist admitted. “Nothing much, but it’s enough to where I know a bit more than everyone lets on.”

“Considering how you are normally, that’s a lot,” Nami replied. “I trust you; don’t play your hand unless it’s necessary. I think you’re the best at that out of all of us.”

“Then I shall,” Robin agreed. “Now, let’s see what the boys have going on before something disfiguring happens, hmm?”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Setting up shop on Punk Hazard really did seem like a good idea at the time, Law thought as he wandered the corridors, though with each passing moment, it felt as though something was closing in on him. He had so far been unable to access the experiments that Cesar was working on, not to mention the combination of Monet and Pugio keeping an extremely tight grip on him for people who otherwise couldn’t care less. The Marine seemed almost nonchalant about it, in fact; there was something about him that put the young Warlord on-edge, and he wasn’t entirely certain what. It nagged at the back of his brain, making him more jittery than usual, especially now that he was staring down even more Marines on the front doorstep.

“You’re not supposed to be here, Shichibukai,” Vice Admiral Smoker stated. He and Captain Tashigi had nearly a hesitant air about them, while the G-5 mooks behind them were very clearly itching for a fight.

The dichotomy was… odd.

“What can I say? This is my home now.”

“I have it under good authority that it isn’t,” Smoker replied. “Now stop the act and let us in—we’ve got to talk.”

“I don’t know what I could possibly have to talk to you about,” Law said. “Leave me alone; consider this my Kuraigana.”

“Don’t think you’re able to play tough guy with us,” Smoker spat. Tashigi was readying to prevent the conversation from coming to blows when noises began to filter out from inside. “What’s that?”

“Nothing.”

“Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

“Then you might need to get your ears checked, or does Marine insurance even cover that?”

Just then, the door on the other side of Law burst open, dozens of people piling out into the cold. Most of them were children of varying sizes—giant infants and toddlers alongside normal ones—as well as… shit… some Straw Hats… was she…?

The sight of his sister made his blood run cold.

“Law-nii…?!”

“Nami, you shouldn’t be here,” he scolded. Despite the warning, he nearly ran to her, bringing her into a tight hug as tears streamed down his face. Suddenly remembering their audience, he opened a Room and popped a coat off a Marine and onto her shoulders before stepping between her and the G-5 contingent.

“I thought you said no one was here,” Smoker deadpanned.

“This is a new development.”

“Anyhow; this makes things less troublesome.” Smoker looked at the others, narrowing his eyes critically. “Let’s get these kids inside! They shouldn’t be out in this weather!”

“…but we’re escaping!” one of the larger children insisted.

“We don’t know what you’re escaping from,” Tashigi said, “but we’re the good guys! We’re here to help, but we have to stay inside a little while longer so we can figure out what to do with you!” She then turned her attention back to her subordinates, who were all rightly very confused. “Come on—you heard the Vice Admiral! Get the kids back inside!”

Grumbling, the Marines all did as they were told, herding the children back inside. Law and the Straw Hats stood off to the side, the Surgeon of Death refusing to let go of his sister.

“Where in the hell did you all come from?” Law asked.

“We could ask the same, to be fair,” Franky mentioned. “Why are you here, Tra-bro?”

“Oi! Don’t lock us out!”

Just as the Marines were about to close the door, a large… alligator-centuar…? Yes, an alligator-centuar came skittering inside, with the remainder of the Straw Hats on his back.

“Hey guys! Look what we found!” Luffy cackled, holding up a pair of legs. Sanji held up a severed head, which seemed to sob in relief. “Oh, hey, you found the head! And Torao!”

“Strawhat-ya,” Law regarded flatly.

“Good; we’re missing no one,” Smoker said, coming over to the group. He stared at the torso-less body and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Was this your doing, Shichibukai?”

“Shichibukai?!” Nami gasped in horror. She began hitting Law on the shoulder, the too-long sleeves of her coat beating against him floppily. “Are?! You?! In?! Sane?!”

“Hey!” he grunted. “A lot has happened!”

“It still doesn’t change the fact you apparently cut a guy into three and spread the pieces,” Smoker said.

“He shouldn’t’ve been irritating,” Law shrugged. He watched as Luffy perched himself on Smoker’s shoulders—honest to goodness his sandals were on the man’s shoulders—and he raised an eyebrow. “You two sure are chummy.”

“It’s not mutual, I assure you,” Smoker grumbled. Tashigi saw what was going on and attempted to disengage Luffy, which only caused him to drape himself over Zoro’s shoulders instead, who barely seemed to register the extra weight.

“Smoker and Tashigi know Mom and Dad,” Nami said, keeping her eyes on the Marine officers. Law considered that, then nodded.

“So, then I trust that I can discuss freely with everyone here?”

“If you have a way to muffle sound, then that would help immensely,” Robin said, her attention more on the other Marines. Law put up a pair of Rooms, one just slightly bigger than the other. Smoker then added some of his smoke between them and it began to woosh around, creating a makeshift sound barrier. “Now then, what is it that you have to say?”

“I’m going to take down an Emperor,” Law said frankly, “and I’m going to do it in one of the most effective ways possible.” The others were quiet at the admission, waiting for him to elaborate.

“How do you propose that?” Usopp cringed. “We’re not talking small-fry here.”

“There’s a very specific pressure point that, if hit, can help take down at least Kaidou, maybe even destabilize enough to get Big Mom as well.”

“That sounds insane, Law-nii,” Nami frowned. “What ‘pressure point’ do you honestly think will be that effective at sabotaging a veteran pirate and pirating lord?”

Law stared directly into Nami’s eyes and took a deep breath. “Uncle Doffy.”

Nami’s jaw dropped as she realized what her brother was saying. Their uncle?! Was he insane?! Her crewmates noticed her shock and all glared at Law.

“We’ve never heard anything about you two having an uncle until now,” Luffy said. He was now on Franky’s shoulder, picking his own nose. “What’s all that about?”

“It’s a long story, but essentially,” Nami cringed, “we have the weirdest family and every even mildly weird family has a rich and eccentric uncle no one likes to talk about.”

“Ha!” Usopp couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly at that. “What, is he, like, a renegade Warlord or something?” Law and Nami both stared at him, which made the sniper shudder. “Oh no…”

“This is an issue,” Smoker stated. “We don’t have the authority to go after your uncle; from a Government standpoint, he is untouchable.”

“Well, then the rest of us can help take him down!” Luffy grinned. He draped one arm over Nami’s shoulders and the other over Law’s. “You can’t help who you’re related to sometimes, but that does mean it can be your business to stop them from doing bad stuff. Who is it?”

“Yeah!” Brook piped up. “We’ve all been so busy and bone-tired these past two years, we’ve rarely read the paper!”

“Whoever it is, Nami-swan, I’m sure we can help!”

“Really, Luffy, maybe I should go with my brothers once this is all done—wait, where are Bepo-nii and the goons?”

“Bepo is doing recon right now—I’m here to hit the flint and get sparks going.”

“Naaamiii, Toooraaaooo, who’s your uncle…?!”

“I just remembered,” Nami said briskly, “that I don’t think I ever told any of you my family name.”

“Isn’t it Trafalgar?” Chopper wondered. The rest of the Straw Hats were a mixture of curiosity, like Brook; confusion, like Zoro; intrigue, like Robin; and something close to fear out of Sanji.

“I’m not getting rid of my original family name,” Law explained. “My siblings—however—none of them had a family name before, so they technically have Dad’s.”

“Both of you are stalling,” Zoro scowled. Nami took a deep breath and exhaled… she could do this.

“My name is Donquixote Nami,” she grimaced, “and my uncle is the Shichibukai and current King of Dressrosa Donquixote Doflamingo, otherwise known to the black market and criminal underworld as Joker. He is my dad’s brother by blood as well as name.”

The Room went deathly quiet, everyone staring at Nami and Law until Luffy burst into laughter.

“Oh, is that all?” he chuckled. “I don’t like the sound of that guy anyhow. Let’s kick his ass!”

“He’s dumber than we thought, sir,” Tashigi marveled. Smoker simply facepalmed.

“It’s nice to hear you speak truthfully, Nami,” Robin smiled. She then glanced over her shoulder to see the children and the G-5 Marines getting on disturbingly well. “We still have some more pressing things to take care of, it seems.”

“The children being here is a big one,” Chopper noted. “They’re being experimented on! I don’t think that’s something that the World Government knows about.”

“Despite this being one of Vegapunk’s old facilities? I doubt,” Tashigi said. “This general area is known for child disappearances and deaths, though something tells me that by asking some of these kids question, we’re going to find plenty of answers.”

“We saw ships on our way in bearing the initials C.C.,” Smoker added. He looked at Law. “Is Cesar Clown here?”

“Along with a lab assistant named Monet possessing a Devil Fruit and a Marine vice admiral—”

“Pugio…?” Smoker and Tashigi both asked at once.

“Sounds like you weren’t here just to see me; I’m hurt,” Law joked flatly.

“Well, let’s get going,” Luffy grinned. “I’m hungry, and all our food is aboard the Sunny!”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

It was late that night as the Thousand Sunny sailed peacefully towards Dressrosa. Although there had been no sight of Vice Admiral Pugio despite his earlier presence, Monet had been quickly dispatched and Cesar Clown was unconscious and tied to the mast. Everyone had long finished dinner and had dispersed into their evening routines. Nami found her brother sulking by himself in the aquarium bar, his arm slung over the back of the bench as he rested his chin against it, staring into the tank.

“Hey.” He didn’t move. “So… there’s a lot to catch up on, isn’t there?”

“Not really.”

“We just spent two years without contact—before, it was only a few months at most.”

She sat down next to him and waited; there was only one true way to break through Law’s moody spells and that was patience. Eventually, he looked at her, bringing his arm down so that his head rested directly on the bench.

“I might have stolen Luffy from the Summit War and treated his injuries just so I could threaten him over your safety when he woke up,” he admitted.

“Okay… on-brand for you,” she chuckled. “I was on an artificial sky island called Weatheria learning about weather from these weird old men.”

“I stole the hearts of a hundred pirates to buy my way into the Shichibukai.”

“I was literally in possession of the only vagina on the island.” Law closed his eyes and smiled, trying poorly to not laugh. “What? You doubt me?”

“Exactly the opposite,” he smirked. He straightened in his seat and nodded as he looked at his sister in the wan aquarium light. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, dumbass.” She pulled her legs up, hugging them so she could rest her chin on her knees. “Bepo-nii’s really waiting for us in Dressrosa?”

“Yeah—he’s got the safehouse and an escape route all planned, on top of looking for the factory.”

“What about Peng-nii and Sach-nii?”

“They…” He trailed off, not knowing how to continue. “We… we fought… about a year ago now. I don’t know where they are.”

“What…?! What in the hell did you fight about?”

“They wanted to funnel information to Sengoku’s other son, saying it would be better to put military pressure on Uncle Doffy. I refused.”

“It was enough to break up over?”

“Yeah.” Law avoided eye contact, hoping it would help him keep his composure. “Our family is falling apart, Nami. Our older brothers are nowhere to be found, you were presumed dead for two years, no one’s heard hell or high water from Mom and Dad since they told off Dad’s dad—not even Nojiko’s gotten a letter from them…”

“Mom and Dad are missing?!”

“Yeah. I’ve been looking, but…” He shivered. “I don’t know if you, Nojiko, Bepo, and me are the only ones left. Up until today, I thought I only had one brother and one sister remaining.”

“Don’t say that.”

“I know from experience.”

“Law-nii, that was different. You are different.”

“I can’t remember my first family’s faces, you know.” It was quiet between them, only the aquarium making noise. “Every time I try to remember them, I think of our family instead. Mom and Dad… Nojiko… our brothers… it’s them I see… I try to think of my kid sister, but for some reason her hair is orange instead of brown…”

“Law-nii…”

“That’s why I have to do this,” he continued. “Uncle Doffy has fucked us up so irreparably that there’s nothing I can do except take him down. I can’t let him take the rest of you away… not when I’m so close.”

“If anyone should take him down, it’s Dad.”

“Yeah, except I was there when Dad had the chance—he almost died, Nami. Dad had him right there and couldn’t pull the trigger. He’s…” His voice grew quiet as he remembered that day. “…he’s not like him.”

“One’s a farmer and the other’s a criminal mastermind… it’s kind of obvious.” She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder. “I wonder what kind of a man Grandpapa Homing was like, if he turned out both Dad and Uncle Doffy.”

“Dad said he was kind and loving; very open-hearted. Uncle Doffy said he was weak, pathetic, and foolish.” He paused, unsure of how to continue. “Hey… uh… Nami…?”

“…yeah…?”

“Can you… do that thing Mom used to do?”

“Yeah.”

She took her weight off him and allowed her brother to shift so that his head was in her lap. Her one hand gently carded through his hair while the other rested on his neck, her thumb rubbing soft circles against the nape. She hummed a soft tune—a bawdy sailor’s shanty that was more lullaby than anything when slow and wordless, and let him melt into her touch. His whole body seemed to relax as she continued, going through the entire song before stopping.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked, voice quiet.

“Use Cesar Clown as bait and get our uncle in a position where I can strike him down.”

“You don’t have to do it alone.”

Silence.

“Remember Law-nii… you’re not alone.”

He didn’t answer her, for he was already lost in thought. The ship wasn’t far out from Dressrosa anymore and he was ready to put his plan into action… even if it killed him.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sitting in the Royal Palace, surrounded by a lavish display of opulence and might, Doflamingo read over a report given to him by a sentry toy, rushed in as he finished up breakfast. From the looks of things, it appeared that he was going to get a visitor soon… fufufu… how fortuitous…

“Mank, Fahkon,” he said, a grin upon his lips. Two of the guards stepped forward—one bald and the other peroxide-blond, both with their employer’s signature sunglasses as the rest of their unit—and saluted. “It appears as though my favorite nephew is finally coming home to take his rightful spot at my side whether he realizes it or not. I want you to initiate Protocol Corazón. Now.”

“Yes, sir!” the men replied before leaving. Doflamingo looked back at the report, examining the photograph that had been included. It was Law on Punk Hazard, a security camera having caught him with a protective arm around a woman… hmm… not just any woman, but the Straw Hat’s navigator…

Oh, he was going to have fun with this.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Everything was going relatively smoothly, considering all the working parts of the plan. Doflamingo had gone and resigned his spot from the Shichibukai, publicly giving up his position as a Warlord. He called Law’s bluff and agreed to meet him on Green Bit, where there would be a trade-off involving handing Cesar directly over to Doflamingo while—unbeknownst to Joker—some of the others destroyed the SMILE factory.

Well, it would be if some other people would stick to the plan.

“I’m going to need you three to hang back while I make the exchange,” Law said. He and the rest of the Cesar Hand-Over Team were walking through the streets, nearly at Primula. Nami quickly appeared at his side, an unamused expression on her face.

“I did not give up being in the relative safety of the Sunny just to watch you go in alone,” she frowned.

“Nose-ya, I trust that you can control my sister should something come up?”

“If you think I can control Nami, then you’re even more insane than I thought,” Usopp shuddered. Robin chuckled quietly from her spot next to Cesar.

“Our Nami is fiercely protective of her own—no doubt a trait she picked up from her elder siblings.”

“I can’t believe you lot are the ones I have to suffer through,” Cesar grumbled. “Of all the upstart little shits, it had to be these upstart little shits.”

“Don’t get too fussy now, or Doflamingo’s going to get his favorite science bitch back in a bit rougher of shape than intended,” Law warned.

“That’s not nice,” Nami mentioned.

“It’s accurate.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s still not nice.”

“Isn’t this the fountain?” Robin asked. The group stopped and looked at the center of the neighborhood square—there was indeed a fountain, topped with what looked like a dancing woman. They checked the map just to confirm—without a doubt.

“So this is where Bepo-nii was going to meet up with us?” Nami frowned. “It looks more like a place for someone to meet a date.”

“Doesn’t matter; he should be here by now,” Law scowled. He checked the clock on a nearby building, with Robin and Usopp silently noting how similar the siblings’ facial expressions were. “He had explicit instructions.”

“You know the fuzzball than I do, and even I know that’s a pretty hard sell,” Nami deadpanned. Law sighed—his sister was right. “He was to establish our routes and meet us here—it was supposed to be a no-brainer. Leave it to the most neurotic of our brothers to screw up a no-brainer.”

“I’m sure he does his best,” Robin chuckled. She then saw a nervous-looking bear looking around the square and smiled. “I think he might be more on-time than we think.”

Just then, the bear caught sight of the group and tried not to rush towards them. While the bear’s fur was brown, there was no mistaking the tears in his eyes.

“I can’t believe it’s you, Gingersnap!” the bear sobbed, picking up Nami in a tight hug.

“You look… different…” Usopp said.

“It’s a disguise—nothing permanent,” Bepo explained. “Everything’s clear to the Green Bit bridge. It’s dangerous, but I think we can handle it. When I realized who you were bringing along, I instantly felt better!”

“Where is the rest of your crew?” Robin wondered.

“Safe; Bepo dropped them off at a secure location before coming here,” Law said. “Now… let’s get to Green Bit so we can get this over with.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Once recovered from the shock, ugly tears and snot ran down Luffy’s face as he hugged Sabo for the first time in a long time. He hugged so tightly that it was clear he didn’t want to let go, which made his brother chuckle.

“Ay! Wudduh yuh think yer doin’?!” Bartolomeo snarled. “Mistah Luffy needs t’concentrate before goin’ back out!”

“I’m going to handle that,” Sabo said. Luffy looked at him in bewilderment.

“…but…!”

“You just concentrate on helping out your crew take down Doflamingo—some of my associates are already en route.” Luffy blinked and Sabo chuckled. “They’re headed to King’s Plateau as we speak.”

“Where have you been?!”

“I hit my head so hard that I forgot everything we’d been through until very recently,” he admitted. “Now get those things off so you can go and Lucy can keep Ace’s legacy alive.”

Nodding deeply, Luffy took off his Lucy disguise and handed it to Sabo, who hugged him once more, leaving a kiss on top his head as though they were still kids.

“Your punches still like pistols?”

“You know it!”

“Then you won’t have any problem kicking Doflamingo’s ass—get going!”

“Alright! Help my brother, okay Chicken Guy?!” Luffy ran off, laughing through his tears as Sabo and Bartolomeo stared at one another, one amused and the other completely flabbergasted.

Doflamingo was going to be in for it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

In her defense, Nami had done everything according to plan. She stayed back along with Usopp and Robin before they disappeared. After that, she even stayed hidden while Law had a pissing match with Doflamingo and Fujitora. She had completely followed along in her brother’s harebrained scheme, which he had promised was going to go off without a hitch.

So why, pray tell, was she locked up in a dungeon?!

“I can’t believe I’ve been reduced to this,” she muttered as she paced the cell. It was a simple design—stone walls, seastone bars, bed, sink, bucket—and yet there was a very complicated feel to the entire situation. Much of the crew was still in Dressrosa, that much was true, and there was the fact that Law was still alive. Doflamingo was truly a sadist; there was no way he’d let Law do something as simple as die without torturing him first. Bepo was also wandering around, but he just watched her get kidnapped, Law get shot, and a Marine Admiral summon a meteor from the sky—he was certain to need time to compose himself.

An explosion went off outside the palace that made Nami jump. Was she going to be trapped while the others fought on? What if she tried to escape? Waited for the others to get to her? Ugh… she really should have stayed on the Sunny when she had the chance…

Just then, she noticed a string slinking along the floor, coming into her cell. It began to swirl around and form a shape, which eventually solidified into the very image of Doflamingo, who smirked at her.

“Well, this is something,” the string-copy stated. It seemed to regard her carefully, as though she represented part of a puzzle he was interested in solving. “I don’t exactly understand: why is the Straw Hat brat part of this? He doesn’t seem smart enough to go through Law’s plans.”

“That’s the thing about Luffy,” Nami said coolly. “He keeps people on their toes.”

“Allies included?”

“Especially allies.”

“Then maybe this might be to my advantage after all,” the string copy mused. It had only a moment to ponder before the door to the cell block creaked open, at which it unraveled and reformed in the corridor. “Ah, Mank, Fahkon, I take it Protocol Corazón is functioning as planned?”

“Well as it’s going to go, sir,” the bald man said. “Mank and I have everything under control.”

The string copy gave pause. “If that’s the case, then why are you here?”

“We have a bit of unfinished business with the woman,” the blond replied. “I hope that’s alright by you.”

“Fufufu, but of course.” The string copy turned its pointer finger into a key and opened Nami’s cell door. She swallowed hard—this was not looking good.

“Much obliged.” The bald man drew the sword at his hip and looked at Nami, smirking casually. “Good to see you too, Gingersnap.”

Nami gasped as she watched the bald man swing his sword and slice Doflamingo’s copy in half, the entire thing falling limp into a pile of shredded string. She was taken aback as the pair took off their sunglasses and tossed them to the floor, revealing their faces in earnest.

It was honestly enough to make her cry. Mostly in frustration, but she couldn’t help the joy that went along with it.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Bepo was, admittedly, absolutely terrified.

He had only just barely slipped away from Uncle Doffy’s grasp when the exchange went sour. There was no sight of his brother or sister, and the Straw Hats had taken Cesar back into their custody at Law’s bequest and got the hell out of there. Nothing was going true to the plan and now he was running around the palace, attempting to find what was, at this point, Plan Q or R or something like that.

The royal palace was strangely quiet, as much of the fighting was going on outside. He poked his head inside a bunch of different rooms as he wandered the corridors, seeing the opulence and grandeur that his adoptive uncle surrounded himself in. It was such a far cry from the mikan farm that it was honestly jarring, though it also underscored the differences between the man who raised him and the one whom they were fighting. He could not imagine his parents wanting to raise him and his siblings there… to him, the fact there were never any visits was proof enough.

Finally, Bepo came across the Hall of Suits, noting how hollow and dark it was. He nearly passed it right up, but saw someone slumped down in one of the chairs… oh, shit… the chair with a heart for a back.

“Law-nii!” Bepo gasped. He ran to his brother and immediately began panicking at the sight of all his injuries. “Is that a gunshot wound?!”

“Bep, I need you to find the keys to these seastone cuffs,” Law grimaced. “He shot me like he shot Dad on Minion Island—if I don’t get access to my Devil Fruit soon, I’ll bleed out.”

That tidbit sent the Mink into full sobs. “Damn it! I’m so sorry, Law-nii! There’s nothing on the walls here and I don’t know where to look!”

“Just, look in the other rooms!”

“I already did!”

“Well, look again!”

“I’m not leaving my remaining brother’s side!”

“What the fuck do you mean by that?!”

Bepo looked over to see Nami running into the Hall of Suits along with two men he didn’t readily recognize. As they got closer, he caught a whiff of them, his expression turning hopeful.

“Peng-nii?! Sach-nii?!”

“The ones and only,” Penguin said. He reached into his blond coif and pulled out a hairpin, which he began to use to pick at the cuff’s locks.

“Where the fuck did you two come from?” Law groaned. “You look fucking ridiculous.”

“We look like the guys who are currently saving your ass,” Shachi fired back. “As if we were going to let you just  get Fuzzball and Gingersnap in mortal peril without some backup! It’s completely irresponsible!”

“This was supposed to be little more than a suicide mission for me, that I was to complete alone,” Law said. The locks sprang open and the cuffs fell away. “If I succeeded, then great; if not, then only my life is on the line.” As he felt the Ope-Ope’s abilities come flooding back to him, nausea overcame him, leading to him leaning over the chair and vomiting sourly. He wiped his mouth with his coat sleeve and surrounded himself in a Room, attempting to patch himself up the best he could with the potential time allotted.

“Uh-huh, and you completely forgot that he’s our uncle too,” Nami scolded, tempted to use her Climatact to beat his thick skull until he got it. “We’re siblings—we can clean up our family mess together. We even have friends to help where we’d otherwise be stretched thin.”

“…but…!”

“No buts!” Nami leaned down and got in her brother’s face, poking him in the bit of chest not marred by a gunshot wound. “Don’t give me that shit! You might have been the only one of us to have lived with Uncle Doffy, but that doesn’t make you the only one responsible!”

“Yeah—we’re doing this together!” Penguin insisted. “What good are dumbass siblings if you can’t ask them for help?!”

“Or rope them into crazy-ass adventures?!” Shachi added.

“Fufufu… I can think of plenty.”

A chill settled over the siblings as someone new entered the hall. Doflamingo casually strolled in, his Haki oppressive as it beat down on the others.

“Stay away from him!” Penguin hissed. He brandished his staff while Shachi held a sword behind him. Nami and Bepo helped Law to his feet, his injuries thankfully subdued for the time being.

“Fufufu… look at my little nephews and niece,” Doflamingo chuckled. They all tensed at that. “I didn’t think nearly all of you would show up… Rosi certainly was… busy while away.”

“Don’t you dare talk about Dad that way, as if you didn’t try to kill him!” Law snapped. “If I hadn’t gotten there in time…! I…!”

“Yes, you certainly did change the course of events,” Doflamingo admitted. “Fahkon, Mank… the both of you? All this time? I’m impressed you were able to keep it together for this long. Did you plan on all of this before or after you joined my guard?”

“Fuck you,” Shachi spat. Doflamingo shrugged.

“No matter—Law, this is your last chance: you are the strongest of my brother’s brood, and I want you to do the smart thing and succeed him as the Corazón. You can do what he never could.”

“Why would I work for a piece of shit like you?”

“…because, I was hoping you were as sharp as I remember. Not a worry though—I have ways to make you see reason.” He lifted his hand and Law blanched.

“You guys need to get out of here,” he growled.

“We can’t leave you,” Penguin said. “We’ll take care of this jackass together.”

“No… I don’t think you understand,” Law replied, voice rising in panic. “All of you need to leave.”

“Which one, which one…” Doflamingo purred. He locked his sights on Nami and twitched his wrist so that his palm faced up, fingers still crooked. “You will do.”

In an instant, Nami’s shoulders jerked back, making her eyes go wide in panic. She tried to drop the Climatact, and couldn’t.

“Parasaito,” Doflamingo smirked. He watched as Nami’s body moved jaggedly before it settled into smoother motions, which made all his brother’s children panic.

“Try to hold still, Gingersnap,” Shachi said. “I might be able to cut the strings.”

“You can’t,” Law snapped. “There’s nothing to cut!”

“This has seastone in the steel—of course it can cut it!”

“Less bickering, more action!” Nami warned. She was beginning to spar with Penguin, who was just barely able to parry her blows without moving in to hurt her. “I don’t care how you do it as long as you don’t hurt me!”

Without a word, Bepo took the situation into his own claws and laid down atop Nami, putting just enough weight on her so that it was difficult for her to move or be moved. Doflamingo scowled as he attempted to pull on his niece’s strings, not getting anywhere.

“Well, that’s boring,” he hummed. “Maybe if I…”

Just then, glass shattered as someone burst through the window, Conqueror’s Haki at full-blast. Luffy took a swing at Doflamingo, raging at the Shichibukai. The siblings braced for an onslaught of broken glass, yet…

“Miss Nami! Youse guys! Ovah here!” They looked to see a barrier between them and the fighting, with Bartolomeo half in a door with his fingers crossed. “Let Mistah Luffy take care of it fer a while! Youse needs t’get yer strength back!” Not taking the opportunity for granted, they ran out of the Hall of Suits, Bepo carrying both Law and Nami.

“Who the hell are you?!” Law asked, attempting to completely ignore the fact he was hefted over his kid brother’s shoulder.

“Oh, I’m Bartolomeo, of the Barto Club! Mistah Luffy and the Straw Hats are mah heroes! There ain’t nevuh been a crew from the East good an’ bold as them! Not recently!”

“I told you we should have stopped back home for a bit,” Shachi snarked. Law pretended he didn’t hear him.

“I have’tuh admit, I didn’t think youse guys would be related to Miss Nami, bein’ Northern an’ all, but I’ve seen woise.”

“How could this be worse?” Penguin grimaced.

“Youse should see who dis oddah guy’s related to,” Bartolomeo chuckled. They rounded a bend and headed towards another corridor. “I mean, he an’ this dame show up with Mistah Luffy’s bruddah, and he says theys here to stop his brudduh from killings their kids! ‘Whose yer brudduh?’ I ask. Apparently, its the creep we’s just ran from! Uhhh… youse guys…?”

Bartolomeo watched as Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo all began to run faster, bursting into the hall ahead of him. They all froze as they saw the two people he had mentioned, casually standing over some freshly-defeated opponents.

“Mom…?” Shachi croaked.

“Dad…?” Penguin marveled. Bepo simply put down his other siblings, completely flabbergasted.

“Took you punks long enough,” Bell-mère smirked. She and Cora allowed their kids to run to them, giving them all tight hugs. “Been a bit—fuck, you’re all tall.”

“We hadn’t heard from you for so long!” Bepo sobbed. “What happened?! Did Uncle Doffy lock you up?!”

“I kind of told your grandfather off two years ago and since then we’re been Revolutionaries,” Cora explained. His kids all stared at him and he chuckled awkwardly.

“I, for one, want to know how you specifically haven’t died,” Nami snarked. “I don’t think you fixed being clumsy overnight.”

“Grauntie Tsuru really worked with me back in the day, okay?” Cora admitted.

“Now, how about we put off talking about Exploits Past for a bit so we can take care of this dry assfuck we call your uncle, eh kids?” Bell-mère asked, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the Hall of Suits. She looked at Bartolomeo, who was staring in slackjawed awe. “Oi, Barty.”

“Yes, Miss Bell-mère?”

“Time to earn your keep, kid. Go distract Mingo for us.”

“Anything fer you, ma’am!” Bartolomeo scuttled off, with Law and Nami groaning in unison soon as he was out of earshot.

“Where’d you pick this lunatic up?” she asked.

“That doesn’t matter,” Bell-mère said. “What does is that we have a plan to get the bastard right where we want him. He doesn’t know we’re here, which is a distinct advantage.”

Her kids all listened intently—with any luck, after this was done, Doflamingo’s existence was never going to hang over their heads ever again.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

When Law finally found where the fight had moved to, it was outside, under the harsh and blinding sun. As it was, it took a while for Bartolomeo to get Doflamingo away from Luffy long enough for Law to utilize the short window to cut in. Some razor strings had just bounced off a barrier the green-haired man put up when Law jumped into the fray, a large Room already up.

“Gamma Knife!” He was able to get a quick stab in Doflamingo’s side, causing the older man to cough up blood. Law quickly moved himself away from his uncle.

“Fuck…” Doflamingo hissed, clutching at his side. He glared at Law, teeth bared and temper wildly spinning out of control. “I took you in.”

“…to groom me into sacrificing my life for you,” Law replied. “You never cared about me past that. Cora-san is the one who cared.”

“Rosi was always soft, like Father,” the Warlord sneered. “I guess he would have been your grandfather, in a different world. Living with Rosi has turned you soft as him… all that time and energy I put into you… wasted.”

“Luffy… I need you to help Nami and our brothers fend off the lieutenants,” Law firmly requested.

“…but I want to help you kick this guy’s ass…”

“If he’s not done in fifteen minutes, then come back here, alright?”

“Not one second more, you hear?” Luffy insisted. He then followed the sound of a nearby explosion; Law and Doflamingo were now alone.

“Foolish move, boy,” Doflamingo stated flatly. “He’s got energy for days—you’re barely upright.”

“All I need is to get in one more shot,” Law chuckled. He watched as his uncle’s expression turn into a frown. “What…? Don’t like your odds?”

“I don’t like any of this,” he said. “You’re forcing my hand, making me kill my favorite nephew, for what? Guilt? Vengeance? Some twisted sense that you’ve decided to call morality? I should have killed you when I had the chance. Now be a good boy and die.”

At that, Doflamingo began to swipe at Law with strings, all near-misses as the younger man popped around the courtyard thanks to the Room. Each time he tried to get close, it was another attack of deadly string. Finally, Law landed another hit, twisting the Gamma Knife in Doflamingo’s side, only to collapse afterwards  in exhaustion. He watched in horror as his uncle remained standing—it was impossible…

“My strings can stitch me up inside as well as out, you arrogant brat,” Doflamingo snarled. He stepped towards Law, who was visibly trembling. “Now I can stomp you out for good.” He lifted his foot and aimed…

…only to be stopped by his own brother’s foot getting in the way.

“Rosi…”

“Name’s Cora; the son you were about to hit gave me that name,” he replied. “Then again, I don’t really think you’d understand things done out of love, would you?”

“Fufufu… aren’t we a little bold for our britches?” Doflamingo chuckled. The two men jumped apart, moving away from Law. “Nice try surprising me; I have to admit that when I heard rumors of you being alive, I thought it was too good to be true. Then your boys went to sea and it was easy to piece everything together.”

“What gave it away?”

“The Heart Pirates, Alive Only—that windbag Sengoku’s the only one able to manage that as a favor to such an obedient little pet who gave us away to Tsuru all that time. Though I do have to admit, the girl’s a surprise. Have her by that Belle you were always pining over?” He clucked his tongue at that. “You became a father so young… and to potentially abandon your daughter at such a fragile age…”

“Like you think Father abandoned us?”

“To the wretched, common wolves, despite the fact we were born in the heavens. They denied us our birthright, so it’s now my right to watch the world suffer and burn.”

“…which makes it my right to stop you.” Just then, Bepo came silently lumbering into the courtyard, crouching down by Law in order to pick him up. Doflamingo drew the gun from his waistband and pointed it at the Mink, only for Cora to point one at him.

“Let them go; your beef’s with me.”

“Oh… nostalgic,” Doflamingo replied, turning his gun towards Cora. The other man’s hand trembled, aim shaky as he took the sound dampening off his youngest son.

“Go,” he said, not looking away from his brother. When he didn’t hear Bepo move, he cocked the barrel of the pistol. “Go, now; that is an order!” Bepo squeaked and scooped Law up in his arms, running away fast as he could. They were soon gone, though there was another explosion and a shishishi to be heard off in the distance. Without aplomb, Doflamingo fired a shot that his brother took in the chest, sending him to his knees.

That was when Cora grinned.

“We need to stop finding ourselves in situations like this, brother,” Doflamingo chuckled. “I thought I demonstrated the first time: you can’t shoot me. You can’t kill me. You are too much like Father.” He frowned as his brother’s smile did not fade away. “Are you that willing to die? Are you that willing to follow in his footsteps?”

“You are right about one thing, Brother,” Cora laughed weakly. “I am too much like Father—I can’t kill you.”

Doflamingo allowed the corners of his mouth to twitch up. Cora was not done, however, despite his labored breathing.

“You didn’t take into consideration one thing though,” he continued. His brother raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“My wife is nothing like Mother.”

Inhaling sharply, Doflamingo spun around on his heel, only to be met by Bell-mère pointing a gun directly between his eyes. She pulled the trigger before he could react, killing him point-blank with a spray of blood and brains. His body crumpled on the ground, lifeless and limp, broken and grotesque.

That was when everything changed.

The Birdcage overhead instantly vanished, the citizens sobbing as they dropped their weapons. What was left of the Donquixote Family began to panic and flee, heading directly into traps set by the Marines still there. Dressrosa erupted into joy once again, as they knew that they were finally free to live again as they once had.

“Mom! Dad!” The five siblings, having won their own fights, ran over to their parents, where Bell-mère was helping Cora stand. Law immediately ran a Scan on both of them, finding that there was nothing immediately life-threatening. He then collapsed in Cora’s arms, his energy completely spent.

“We did it,” he breathed. Tears began to stream down his face. “Fuck… we did it…”

“We did,” Bell-mère smiled. She and Cora shared a quick kiss, which made their kids all groan. “Oi; you’re all adults, for fuck’s sake.”

Parents were gross.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Tsuru had a giant headache and it was suspiciously Sengoku-shaped. Because, really, what the fuck was he anymore? Friend? Colleague? Comrade? The guy who keeps showing up? The not-Garp? Nika help her if she knew…

“What does the Inspector General do anyhow?” she asked as they readied to make port. “All you seem to do is wander around and cause trouble for the rest of us.” He munched casually on a cracker, thoughtful.

“I inspect things… generally…”

“You weren’t even assigned to inspect the corpse I have to transport, were you?”

“Nope!”

Then again, how was Tsuru to know what Sengoku’s plan was? He slipped away while her unit was all enamored with the Tontatta princess, making his way through the ruins of Dressrosa until, finally, he found the small house in a field of flowers, where they were…

…where his family was.

Suppressing his Haki, he sat out of sight as he felt the raucous environment just out of his reach. There was presumably the owner of the house, as well as some of the Straw Hats, and… his son, daughter-in-law, and five of his grandchildren. He knew that if he had any chance of meeting them, now would be it… and yet… he knew it was not his place to intrude.

“Are you going to come in or are you just going to lurk there like some sort of weirdo?”

Sengoku looked and saw the Straw Hat’s swordsman leaning against the door frame. He regraded him critically, as though he was unsure of the old man’s true intentions.

“Do I have any right? After it all?”

“That’s not for me to decide,” the swordsman said. He watched as Sengoku stood and, after the man hesitated, turned his attention back inside. “Oi, Kyros, got another chair?”

The whole house went quiet as Sengoku lingered by the doorway. He saw Cora towards the end of the table, mid-reach for his fork, with Bell-mère sitting next to him. Aside from the Straw Hats (the Straw Hat himself, of course, being the only one to keep eating as though nothing was happening), the young people he had only seen in bounty posters were sat all around the couple, looking as though they had paused some sort of petty squabble for him to enter.

“Cora…” he choked, voice suddenly gone. “You… you did it…”

There was no response, with instead tears welling in Sengoku’s eyes.

“You were a better man than I ever could have hoped to be… Cora…”

“Gramps, who are you?”

Everyone looked at Luffy, slackjawed as he simply ate away. Nami and Shachi both hit him on the head, causing lumps to comically form.

“That’s the Marine Fleet Admiral, you idiot!” Nami snapped.

“Former Marine Fleet Admiral,” Sengoku gently corrected. “I’ve been out of that game for a while now.”

“Then why are you here?” Cora asked. The tension was palpable as they waited for Sengoku to make a move…

…though they did not expect him to go to his knees.

“I am here to apologize,” he said, showing every bit his age. “Your lives were all much worse due to my actions, whether I thought I was acting for the good of the world or not, and…” He leaned forward and pressed his hands and forehead to the floor, prostrating completely. “…there is nothing I can do, nothing I can sacrifice, to undo what I did… to fully atone for what I did…”

“Ooohhh… this is really weird…” Usopp shuddered. He looked at his crewmates and friends to see that they were all zeroed in on Sengoku. Well, shit.

“…and I want to thank you especially, Nico Robin, for not only living, but accepting my family despite my connection towards them. You are all so much better than this old, worn-out husk.”

They all stayed like that for a while, no one moving as Sengoku knelt on the floor, putting himself at their mercy. Eventually, Robin got up from her seat and went to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“I accepted Nami because she accepted me,” she explained. “She knew nothing of me and yet I was her friend. She knew everything of me and remained my friend. She knew very little of the extent of her grandfather’s actions and never let what she learned take away from what she built on her own. It’s easy to love someone like that, and just as difficult to hate.”

“R-Robin…” Nami wavered. The other woman pressed a finger to her lips with a smile.

“The sins of the father are not automatically the sins of the child, and despite this,” Robin told Sengoku, “your son has already bowed to me.”

Sengoku shuddered as he sucked in a breath, shame beating down upon him more than he ever thought imaginable. His tears fell directly onto the floor and the insides of his eyeglasses, only for a different pair of hands to touch his shoulder.

There was his boy, knelt next to him once again.

“Oi! Youse guys gotta get goin’!” Bartolomeo shouted as he burst in through the door. “Vice Admiral Tsuru’s been spotted talking to Issho! It could get bad!” He then noticed Sengoku, going completely pale. “Oh.. I… uh…”

“Shishishi—don’t worry, Chicken Guy,” Luffy smirked. “It’s just a family visit. Isn’t it nice that Nami is related to so many neat people? We’ve got so many extra-bonus-ally-friends that we even have them in the Marines!”

“…and to think that Sengoku isn’t the first one, either,” Kyros mused from his position in the corner. “You Straw Hats and Hearts certainly are an interesting group.”

Yeah… they’d take “interesting” any day.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

To stare down the world at sixteen and seventeen, it means you’re staring into a great abyss, unsure of what lies in store for you and yours. There is a certain form of both near-and-far-sightedness that plagues you, tricking the mind into finding substance amongst the wisps and whispers, far from what is actually lurking just out of reach. It’s an uneasy and frustrated feeling, yet one that needs weathering all the same.

To steel yourselves at sixteen and seventeen, it means making promises not meant to be kept and holding them to heart anyhow. It’s quiet letters and silent conversations; lying to others while staying open and honest in private, despite how much it hurts; counting down the days until you can see one another again, with each hour feeling like an eternity.

To be fully-vested soldiers at sixteen and seventeen, it means feeling a small part of you die every time you follow an order, knowing full-well that it could be worse. You could still be a cadet; you could still be a recruit; you could be demoted to chores; so little is justifiable, and yet, you keep going. Yes, sir. Right away, ma’am. You enable the machine that is slowly killing you, as it killed all your classmates’ souls… all your classmates but one…

To love someone else is dangerous, and you don’t know for whom until it’s too late.

[emi-the-gremlin]

Fic snippet

Nighttime blues

The alarm clock clearly displays 3:34 am, in it’s bold neon light.

Edwin knew he couldn’t afford not to sleep tonight. He had his first school day tomorrow, not to mention that his social worker, Ms. Knight was coming over afterwards, for their monthly check up.

Charles had stayed over practically every night since he moved in to this apartment, and Edwin pretended not to know why.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk about it, but every time he’d broach the subject Charles would simply shut down. He figured (hoped) he’d open up on his own time, Charles would talk to him if he needed, he was sure of it.

[steddiealltheway]

I guess I wrote a mini fic? This was supposed to me like 5 sentences. Anyways…

Steve and Eddie coparenting would absolutely be the kids calling Steve “Mom” and Eddie “Dad”. At first Steve hates it - he never wanted to be the babysitter. He couldn’t survive if something happened to those kids on his watch.

But then he has Eddie who is calling him “honey” and “sweetheart”, so Steve reluctantly starts calling him “baby” and “Eds”. At first, it’s to get Dustin’s inevitable reaction of whining “Mommmm…” but then the pet names become second nature.

Everyone gets used to this but incomes Max Mayfield the absolute meddling little shit (lovingly). She starts stirring up trouble in the car on purpose, reveling in the way Steve threatens to turn the car around while Eddie says, “Listen to your mother.”

One afternoon, the kids are extremely rowdy and on edge for some reason. No amount of lecturing will calm them down, and Steve gets overwhelmed and takes it all personally. He has to pull over and Eddie is there quietly whispering affirmations ensuring him that it isn’t his fault and they’re not actually his kids so they’re bound to be a pain in the ass. Then, Max is speaking up and suddenly saying they’ll all calm down if their parents kiss. Everyone kind of looks at her and she’s like, “Sometimes we need love, not lectures.” Or whatever comes to mind first. But then Eddie is asking Steve if that’s okay and giving him a chaste kiss when Steve says yes. The kids actually behave the rest of the day.

And the kiss sticks. Every time they get in the car, Eddie is giving Steve a kiss. Hell, whenever Eddie greets Steve he’s giving him some type of kiss, bowing down to kiss his hand or even a quick peck on the cheek.

(Steve absolutely panics a bit when he realizes how much he looks forward to these moments and just Eddie’s presence in general and asks Robin for help which ends up with him finding out that he can like girls and boys and it’s called bisexuality.)

Then, Steve and Eddie start to notice how much Will watches them, truly idolizing them. Will realizes that it’s okay to be who he is (so gay), and it’s even possible for him to fall in love one day. Eventually, he’s nervously asking to talk to Steve and Eddie alone and he’s coming out and absolutely showered with love and acceptance.

Time goes on and Eddie is slowly losing his mind because he’s absolutely in love with Steve and losing his goddamn mind because it’s Steve Harrington (who doesn’t even know who Ozzy Osbourne is).Then he’s calling in a favor to “Auntie” Nancy and “Aunt” Robin because he has to talk to Steve.

Then it’s Nancy and Robin with the kids who are absolutely losing their minds, but then it’s Nancy who speaks up asking if a kiss would shut them up. (Because Mike has been telling her all about Steve and Eddie as he finally realizes that that’s what he wants with Will and always has.) And Robin’s completely word vomiting consent when Nancy asks if she can kiss her and then she’s being shut up with a kiss. And El and Max just kind of turn red as they make eye contact with each other (no one says anything when they hold hands the rest of the car ride).

Meanwhile, Steve is telling Eddie what an absolute idiot he is because they’ve basically been dating the whole time and of course he loves him too.

Later on, Steve and Eddie tell the kids how they’re officially their mom and dad (which absolutely confuses the kids at first because they were all along). Dustin finally gets it and is yelling, “You’re dating!” over and over. And he’s celebrating because his two biggest role models are together and happy and absolutely deserving of each other. And the couple is giving a long lecture about how important communication is - which everyone except Mike and Will tune out.

Eventually, Mike and Will finally talk to each other confessing their long time feelings and feel like absolute idiots for not talking sooner. And they come out to the party the next day and Max and El share a quick glance before they come out too. Then Lucas is hugging Max, telling her how happy he is that she’s found someone so right for her - and thankful that he doesn’t have to apologize after their 37th breakup.

Everyone just waits as Robin and Nancy dance around their feelings for each other, but Steve and Eddie tell them no meddling - secretly they’re already doing that. And finally Robin snaps and tells everyone that they’re dating. And everyone is celebrating all over again. (Off in the distance Jonathan and argyle are making out while they’re sooooo high)

And they’re just one giant happy, queer family.

And that’s Season 4 Vol. 2 everyone.

[almightyellie]

joe mazzello masterlist

titles marked with a ♥︎ contain smut

one shots

⇢ baseball ♥︎

in which joe is your neighbor. your extremely attractive, older neighbor. you begin to babysit his kids and things between the two of you are quick to change.

⇢ make you mine ♥︎

in which during yet another summer at the shared summer house with yours and joe’s families, the two of you take an unexpected turn in your relationship.

⇢ new york, new york

in which you share a game day with your two favorite people.

⇢ shooting the moon ♥︎

in which you and joe shared a whirlwind romance, but that was years ago. it doesn’t make seeing him any easier.

⇢ do you remember ♥︎

in which you had everything you ever needed: your dream job, a meddling roommate, and an unfulfilled agreement with an old friend.

⇢ burning desire ♥︎

in which you and your professor begin to grow very close, and it makes you nervous

blurbs

⇢ best friend joe ♥︎ ⇢ stuck at home ⇢ dom!joe + breeding kink ♥︎ ⇢ teasing joe ♥︎ ⇢ spitting ♥︎ ⇢ daddy!joe ♥︎ ⇢ watching you ♥︎

all mini blurbs can be found here!

⇢ dad!joe

⇢ tim murphy

[thedrarrylibrarian]

Hey! I recently finished reading Dad Says and omg I NEED more! If you have any recs, or if you could show me the right place in the card catalog that would be amazing, thank you so much

First I need to thank YOU for recommending Dad Says to me! I'd never read it before your ask and enjoyed it. I usually keep fics mentioned in the ask separate from the list, but it was so good and such a perfect fit that I've included it in this list.

Kid Fics 2

Baby's First Magic by @ladderofyears (237 words, rated G)

Harry and Draco take baby Scorpius out for ice-cream, where he surprises the pair of them.

Bedtime Stories by @malenkayacherepakha (578 words, rated G)

Reading Scorpius his bedtime story is Draco's favourite part of being a Dad.

Where We'll Go by @goldentruth813 (1,285 words, rated G)

Harry needs to figure out how to get around now that he's got 3 kids to handle on his own. Clearly getting Draco Malfoy to teach him how to drive is his only option.

If You Asked Me to Stay by @triggerlil (1,701 words, rated T)

Harry occupies Scorpius so Draco can do some much-needed work, but Scorpius has a habit of meddling in his father's affairs.

Like Daughter, Like Fathers by MrTibblesOnTheCase (2,082 words, rated G)

Cute domestic snapshots of Draco and Harry's life as first time fathers.

Tough Love by dracogotgame (2,426 words, rated M)

James made a stupid bet and ended up badly hurt. His father has had enough.

For the Want Of Five Minutes (And a Locked Door) by @postjentacular (4,333 words, rated M)

It’s hard enough to get five minutes to yourself in a house of five kids, nevermind getting five minutes with your boyfriend for anything else.

Surviving Summer by dracogotgame (15,344 words, rated M)

It wasn't going to be easy managing four teenagers over the summer hols. But it was definitely going to be worth it.

How to Handle a Matzo Ball Soup Emergency by (22,025 words, rated M)

Harry, having left the Wizarding World after his divorce, inherits a deli in a trendy part of London. Draco wanders in and falls in love - with the food. And certainly not with the infuriatingly-fit-father-of-three who runs the place.

A tale of growing up and families of choice; of awkward hugs and new best friends.

"Dad says" by gallaplacidia (39,219 words, not rated)

Eleven-year-old Scorpius starts writing to Harry. Harry starts to fall in love with Draco through his portrayal in his son's letters.

Featuring an extremely remorseful Draco living with muggles and working at a second-hand book shop, an isolated Harry, and a Scorpius who's dreading going to Hogwarts because he knows he'll be bullied there.

❤️ As always, if you find a fic you enjoy, please remember to leave the author a kudos or a comment! ❤️

Lots of Love and Happy Reading!

P.S. Thank you all for your patience while I've had to be away from the library for a couple weeks. Sometimes real life things have to come first, but I've missed you all and am glad to be back! When I say lots of love, I'm sending extra to all of you!

[mmvalentine]

hi!! how are you? I’m the one who sent you that dream prompt lol

I was thinking of this (way less weird) prompt: where feyre and Rhys knew each other since kids and were together, there’s a part of the books that Rhys says he and mor used to be sent to the cabin when they got into trouble (I think?) and here it is: Rhys has got himself in a fight with his dad and is sent there alone, but feyre finds a way to go to him without anyone knowing and they have the cabin all to themselves *insert smut here*

Hello little dreamer! Alright I've done so much prompt work these last couple of days and was trying to work through them chronologically because that's what seems fair but now I am tired and I just want to do one more and then take a break and this one is hands down my FAVOURITE of the ones left in my inbox right now. So you're getting bumped up!! Bit of a long one, fair warning.

A Chink in the Wall

Rhys has been alive for eighteen years, has known Feyre for seventeen, and has loved her for what feels like a thousand. He does not remember a time without Feyre, he has known she is his mate since before he knew what the word meant, and their progression from childhood best friends to lovers was something he does not remembering happening at one particular time, but gradually, the same way his legs had grown longer.

What he does remember is the first time they'd slept together, and how he'd spent so long thinking about it beforehand that he'd thought he'd go mad, only to discover the real madness was once they'd started and then couldn't stop. He'd thought he was hyper-aware of Feyre before- now the scent of her hit him like a brick any time she walked in the room, and once he'd caught her scent he needed to be touching her. Would start to shake and fall apart at the seams until he could pull her into his lap.

Over the years, Rhys's mother always told him that he was too rough with Feyre. Did it when they were kids and did it now, when Feyre would be around their house and he constantly had his hands under her hair or squeezing on her her hip or scratching at her belly.

"You can put her down for one second, for Cauldron's sake," she'd say over dinner.

And Rhys knew why. Had always known that as the High Lord's only son, he had power roiling off him in waves. He figured it was part of the reason why he was always moving, more and more as he got older. Whether it was sparring with the Illyrians or crawling thought the bedroom of Feyre's bedroom window, it felt like he leapt between extremes these days. Felt like he was always thirsty and needing to swallow down violence and pleasure and feeling like water. His father called it the "age of fighting and fucking;" his mother said this is why they couldn't have nice things.

But his mother doesn't know Feyre like he does. Feyre isn't some fragile little girl, she is the strongest person he knows. She is the only one who, when he is throwing all he has at her, can not only contain the energy flooding out of him in uncontrollable torrents, but still loves him all the same for it.

So these days, he does not like to be without her. Does not like to be too far from her, and although they both have curfews, Rhys does not often sleep alone.

Today is a exception.

Today, Rhys is fighting with his father because he stole a fine bottle of brandy from his father's shelf and snuck it between the bars of the cell where Azriel has been locked away. Again.

Rhys yells that what they are doing to Azriel is cruel and if they let it go on they are just as bad. His father yells back that it is not their place to meddle in another family's business and what does this have to do with Rhys being a sneak and a thief? Rhys says it is typical of his father to care more about alcohol than the life of a fae, and his father says and what exactly are you trying to say boy? And then he tells Rhys that he was not so old that Rhys's power is greater than his just yet, and then the fight breaks out.

Rhys does not like to reflect on what happens next too much because he wants to win so badly, wants to best his father just once, but he is eighteen and his father is nine hundred and twenty and the High Lord of the largest court in Prythian.

Suffice to say, the fight is over when Rhys has a black eye and bruised ribs, his father is holding him off the floor by his shirt front, and his mother is pleading with him to put him down.

He drops Rhys with a thud, and Rhys glowers at him.

"The cabin," his father snarls.

"Surely he's had punishment enough," his mother says, but his father does not look at her.

"You come swinging your fists at me?" he says to Rhys. His voice is quiet now, but glitters with rage. "You steal from me, you defy me, and then you come at me with your pathetic little claws out? Well. You can spend three days in isolation."

Rhys looks toward his mother, but there's nothing she can do. He opens his mouth to sling a final insult at his father, but space is already folding around him and he's being sent where no one else can winnow in or out without his father's explicit say so.

Rhys spends the next twenty minutes angrily pacing the cabin. He flings shadows aimlessly at the cabinets, curses his father eight times to sunday, and punches a hole in the wall. It is the latter that gets Feyre's attention.

Ouch, she says through the bond. I felt that one.

Rhys drops onto a couch heavily, the anger washing out of him at the sound of Feyre's voice in his mind.

I'm sorry, he says. I know you hate it when I break things.

Things. Your own knuckles. Yeah it's not my favourite.

Rhys sighs. I'm in the cabin, he tells her.

I know, she says. What did you do this time?

Got into a fight with my dad.

Well did you at least land a couple good ones?

Rhys grins, in spite of himself. I did manage to get a kick into his stomach, this time.

Good, Feyre says. Unlike his mother, she never tells him to try to get along with his father.

I miss you, Rhys says.

You saw me this morning, Feyre points out.

Yes, replied Rhys, but you had way too many clothes on. It didn't count. He can almost feel Feyre shifting in his mind.

You always think I'm wearing too many clothes, she says.

I do, Rhys agrees. Not naked is not good enough.

He slouches back on the couch and closes his eyes. Although he is not yet powerful enough to take down his father, his power is growing. Day by day it stretches and expands uncomfortably, like growing pains, and when he's not in Feyre's bed, sometimes the shadows hound him at night. They claw at him now, rake at his chest like a cat that thinks it's giving affection but leaves you in tatters.

He turns his thoughts back to more pleasant things.

Take it off, he growls at Feyre. Take it all off. I hate it when I can't see your skin.

And what makes you think I've been wearing clothes this whole time? Feyre asks. Rhys freezes, and is rock hard in an instant.

Show me, he shoots down the bond.

Ask nicely, Feyre answers.

Please, Rhys says. Runs his talons down the shields of her mind from top to bottom. Please. Sends her a memory of him kissing her every inch of skin. Please.

Feyre's shudder reaches him like a whisper, and then he's seeing through her eyes.

The interior of her bedroom. Where he spends more time than in his own. Clothes strewn on the floor- boots kicked off in the corner. Illyrian leathers dumped in a pile. Under garments hanging off the end of the bed.

Feyre's bare ankles crossed in front of her on her bed, on top of the covers.

Rhys shivers. He watches Feyre's gaze travel excruciatingly slowly upward, up her shins, past her knees, onto her lovely thighs.

More, Rhys breathes, but Feyre pauses. Her knees bend and the view shifts, as if she has been sitting up and is now laying back down. I need you like I need air, Rhys whimpers, and his hand grabs at the insistent ache in the front of his pants.

Mmm, sighs Feyre. Sometimes I need you. Sometimes I think I could just do it myself. Her gaze finally shifts and watches her own hand slide between her legs.

Oh you cruel thing! Rhys says. He is now practically panting the sight of her starting without him. He loves it. He hates it. It's nowhere near enough.

You know it's not as good by yourself, Rhys tells her.

I don't know, Feyre muses. I'm pretty sure it's faster. Rhys growls.

Who needs faster, he says, when I can be so, so slow. He shows her the image of him settling between her knees. Pressing kisses that start at her knee and travel down her inner thigh. Laying the flat of his tongue on her and licking a lazy stripe up her pussy that ends in a suckling kiss over her clit.

Feyre moans straight down the bond, and it cleaves through Rhys like a arrow shot true. Get over here, he tells her, and Feyre laughs breathlessly.

I can't, lover, she says. Your father has that place warded like a prison, remember? Rhys swears out loud and hurls more shadows uselessly against the walls of magic.

Alright, alright, Feyre says to him. You know just throwing things at it isn't going to work.

Fuck this, Rhys says savagely. You're my mate, he can't keep us apart.

Well, we just need to outsmart him, then, Feyre reasons. He might be stronger, but I've always thought you were smarter. Well, she amends. At least you were when you bothered to use your brain and before you were all... testosterone-y.

Rhys finds himself smiling. Testosterone-y?

Yeah, you know, Feyre says. The old upstairs brain. Remember that guy?

Rhys laughs. He is always in awe of how quickly Feyre calms him down. I thought you liked my downstairs brain, he says in his midnight voice.

Use your upstairs brain to get me through the wards, and I'll show you how much I like your downstairs brain.

And that is more than motivation enough.

Rhys gets up off the couch, and paces around the room again. My dad has always been lazy with spells, he says. He relies on his brute strength, and on everyone being afraid of him more than anything else.

Okay, Feyre says, picking up his train of thought. So... what if there's a weakness in his wards?

A chink in the wall, Rhys agrees.

Yes.

Rhys stands still, and reaches out his mind. Probes against the wards surrounding the cabin, and is aware of Feyre doing the same on the other side. They work their way right around the cabin, when finally, Feyre breathes, here.

And then Rhys gathers every bit of power he has in him, and pushes it all against that one spot. Reaches through it, throws everything he's got until his hand is breaking through, Feyre's grabbing a hold of him, they're folding space and he pulls.

There's a shudder that runs through the cabin, and then an extremely naked Feyre falls right into Rhys's chest and they collapse on the thick carpet together.

For a second, they just blink at each other in surprise.

"It worked," says Feyre. And then Rhys realises holy shit it worked, and smoothly rolls so that Feyre is on her back and he is all over her.

"Great work," is all he says, and then he blinks and his clothes vanish too so they are both naked and the heat of her against his bare cock is absolutely unbearable. He groans, slides his hand under one of her thighs, squeezing gently, and hooks it over his elbow before pushing straight into her, unable to stand not being inside her for one more second.

Feyre moans and lifts her hips to him, barely less eager. Rhys wonders idly if the age of fighting and fucking applies to females, and then as Feyre's nails scratch angry red lines over his shoulders he thinks it might just. He wonders how long this age will go on for, and if his desperate need for Feyre will ever abate. He hopes it doesn't.

"I thought you were going to be slow," Feyre says, breathless but with the most gorgeous light dancing in her eyes. Rhys's body screeches at him but he manages to get control of his movements. To move in and out of her languidly, lazily, tortuously slow. Feyre seems to enjoy it at first, keeps her eyes on his until they're rolling back in her head.

But the longer it goes on the more sensitive she becomes, until she is writhing in his arms seeking more friction, and every time he hits his base she jolts like she's being electrified. The fact that he is tormenting himself, too, seems absolutely worth it for the knowledge that he alone can wring this kind of pleasure from her.

"Still rather play by yourself?" he teases. "Does it feel like this when it's just your own fingers?"

Feyre snaps her eyes open at this, and between jagged breaths, teases him right back.

"Sometimes," she says. "When I'm touching myself and picturing you." A shiver runs through Rhys. "When I've got one hand between my legs and the other squeezing my breast." She demonstrates the last, and Rhys watches with hunger as her hand goes over her own chest.

"Fuck," he bites out, and picks up the pace a little.

"When I've got you curled around my mind and showing me that you're touching yourself too."

Rhys speeds up again.

"But mostly, no," she says, barely able to speak now. "No, nothing feels as good as when you're fucking me senseless."

And Rhys can't argue with that. He forgets his self-control completely and loses himself in her, in her body, in the intoxication of the sounds that she makes when he's inside her. The irony of his sentence to a remote location is that for once, they are able to make as much noise as they want and every time Feyre moans Rhys thinks he gets a little high.

By the time Rhys is close, they have started to breathe in tandem, and he locks his eyes on hers so that seconds later they are coming together. Rhys is breathless with the beauty of her, has always loved the look on her face when she climaxes, and suddenly the prospect of being locked up alone for three days seems mighty appealing.

Feyre sighs, eyes closed and chest moving deeply as she gets her breath back. Rhys draws out of her and then immediately misses her. He kisses her cheeks, her nipples, her stomach, and then without really thinking about it, closes his mouth around her clit and strokes it back and forth with his tongue.

Feyre sighs his name, and the sound of it is so sweet that he redoubles his efforts, until Feyre is rocking her hips to him and before he knows it, they're starting again.

Rhys thinks its going to be a very good three days indeed.

**** Little babies. Sigh I do love them so. Thank you my sweet anon for this lovely prompt.

Bonus: click here to see what Rhys's dark powers look like when they're still growing and trying to figure their shit out.

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