#does anyone. want to talk about the wings au I promise I’ll be really really normal

[bookwyrminspiration]

don’t look at the word count just feel the vibes and surrender urself <33 pretty please <33

[bakuhoes-dumbass]

Aberration - Chapter 3

MHA!Various x Fem!Reader

Thriller/Horror/Drama

Criminal!AU

Words: 2.8k

A/N: Third chap, here we go! It’ll start picking up soon. I know there isn’t much ‘horror’ rn, but it will get there, I promise. Also, I’m sorry Tamaki’s part is a bit longer than Hawks. I just adore Tamaki so much and he deserves the world and lots of hugs and kithes.

Warnings: Yandere Themes, Mentions of murder, blood, felonies, bullying, swearing. More to come.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of MHA, just this story. In no way does this reflect the characters, writers or VAs of the show/manga. MINORS DNI.

~~~

Aberration Masterlist

~~~

"Good afternoon Mr. Keigo, my name is Y/N and I'll-" You look up from your notes to see a half naked man with blonde hair and bright red bird wings lounging on his bed. Your jaw drops and you hold your clipboard up in front of your suddenly heated face.

Keigo looks over to you with his brows raised. "Well well, looks like we've got ourselves a new baby bird. How…" The handsome man's lips turn up into a cocky smirk.

"...interesting."

You peek over your clipboard to see his cocky smirk and hide your eyes again. "Keigo, would you please put on a shirt?"

He chuckles and wiggles his eyebrows. "What, too embarrassed to look at me, baby bird? I'll tell you what. You tell me who you are, and if you're single, and I'll cover myself."

"My name is Y/N. I'm the newest scientist in this facility, here to observe you, hoping it helps to find a cure. And there is no need for you to know my relationship status."

"Ah, ah, ah. If you don't tell me, you'll have to do this interview while gazing at my gorgeous body." You hear the cockiness in his voice.

"I swear to fu- fine, yes I'm currently happily single. Now, please put your shirt on." You mumble under your breath, "this is so inappropriate."

After a minute of rustling, Keigo leans back onto his bed. "Okay, my single baby bird. I'm all covered up for you."

You lower your clipboard just below your eyes to make sure, seeing the smirking bird man lounging on his bed with a shirt on. You finally lower your clipboard all the way before giving a curt nod. Making your way to the desk chair, you smile at the man.

"Thank you, Keigo. As I said before, my name is Y/N and I'm here to get to know you."

He snickers, "well, I'm here to answer any questions you have for me, baby bird. Fire away."

You sigh and open your notebook. "Must you call me such a name?"

"Awe, do you not like when I call you that?"

Sighing once more, you decide to just move on. You know you'll end up going in circles. "Please state your full name, age and date of birth for me."

"My name is Keigo Takami. I'm 28 years old. My birthday is December 28th." He paused to let you write that down before opening his mouth again. "Did you need my star sign and my relationship status? Well, I'm a Capricorn and I am definitely sin-"

"Nope, that's enough." You cut him off before he could ramble on even more. "Now, can you tell me what your quirk is exactly?"

Keigo blinks before turning around, the chains on his ankles clanking against the bed frame. Your eyes light up being able to actually see the giant, beautiful red bird wings coming from his back. You frowned slightly noticing they were pinned down, preventing him from being able to use them.

"Does that hurt? Having them pinned like that?" You tilt your head eyes following the edges of each feather.

Keigo lets out a quiet chuckle, eyeing you from over his shoulder. "A little. But nothing I can't handle. Why, is my baby bird worried about little ole me?"

Your frown turns into a glare and you clear your throat. "So, what exactly can you do with these wings of yours?"

Keigo's mouth twitches into a smirk as he turns back around to face you. "Well, I can fly. And I can also disconnect each feather from my wings and use them individually."

You nod, not wanting to show how impressed you were, knowing he'd make a crack at it. You finish writing down that information before asking your next question. "Now, can you tell me why you are here?"

"Getting down to the nitty-gritty, I see. Well, I was arrested and charged with Drug Trafficking, Forgery and Assault." You look at him, motioning him to continue. He shrugs. "There isn't much else to it. I'm a mafia leader. This shit happens on a daily basis, for years. Just so happened that I eventually got caught, on account of a leak in my group. Fortunately, for me, I use other people to do the killing for me. So that means they couldn't get me with murder." He cocks his head. "Unfortunately, though, trafficking and forgery are also felonies, so. That's why I'm here."

"So you spent your life moving copious amounts of drugs, forging money and assaulting clients who did you wrong?"

Keigo thinks about your words for a moment and nods. "Essentially, yes."

"Alright then." You stand up and bow your head to the mafia leader who was watching you carefully. "I will take my leave, as I have one more inmate to see before the end of my shift." You head towards the door, but pause for a moment. "Oh, and Keigo?" You turn your head to look at him over your shoulder. "Your wings are beautiful."

Keigo's eyes widen and his jaw drops slightly, watching you walk out that door. His face turns bright red after processing your words. He mutters under his breath, "oh, baby bird…"

After shutting the door behind you, you breathe out. Aizawa looks up from his phone. "How'd it go?"

You raise a brow, "what, you weren't watching me through the security cameras like before?"

"Oh, I was," he deadpanned. "But, visually, it didn't look as compromising as the last two visits. The cameras don't pick up audio."

"Well, besides the lack of clothing in the beginning and the incessant flirting, I was pleasantly surprised."

Aizawa looked at his watch. "Now, I think we have time for one more before we have to turn in paperwork and unchain the more dangerous inmates from their beds to give them some room to stretch out." Aizawa flips through the profiles before stopping on one. "How about Amajiki?"

You turn to his profile and scan the words in front of you. "A cannibal, huh. Well that's not something you see every day."

"I think he'd be good to end the day with. Despite him being, well, a cannibal, he's actually extremely reserved and quite timid. I don't think he'd try to hurt you or get close to you. He suffers from borderline personality disorder, as you see." Aizawa looks up from his notes and eyes you. "However, he is a level 10. He may come across as innocent and somewhat angelic, but remember, he is one of the most dangerous criminals in this facility. He has multiple murders under his belt. So just keep that in mind."

You nod your head, slightly bouncing with excitement. This one sounds quite interesting to you. You've never met a cannibal before and this one has a quirk that sounds intriguing. Aizawa sighs before turning away from Hawk's door and heading further down the long hallway. He stops in front of a heavy door and scans you in.

Once you step inside the white room, you furrow your brows, not really noticing anyone. That's when you hear a small whimper and a few muffled, stuttered words coming from the floor next to the bed.

"W-Who are you?"

You lean to the side to see an indigo-haired figure huddled against the wall between the desk and the bed. You notice his body is trembling, only his eyes visible through his bangs, his arms covering the rest of his face. Head tilted, you squat down from a distance and smile.

"Hi there, Amajiki. My name is Y/N. I'm the newest scientist at this facility. I'm here to talk to you and get to know you to help further our findings for a cure. I'd like to be friends, if that's possible." You reply gently. You can tell he's scared out of his mind.

He raises his head up, giving you a full view of his…

Muzzle?

"F-friends?"

Your eyes widen slightly. The bottom half of Amajiki's face, from his nose to under his chin, is completely covered by a silver muzzle. It's strapped around his head and locked in place by a padlock. Your eyes travel down to see his wrists chained together with quirk cancelling cuffs and, as you expected, both of his ankles are chained to the heavy duty bed frame.

"They have you muzzled like that?" You stare in disbelief, slightly angered at the treatment. You understand that he's a known cannibal, but to strap that heavy muzzle around his head on top of chains already weighing him down.

Amajiki nods shyly, "y-yeah. I guess it's because of the whole e-eating people… thing."

You sit yourself down on the floor across from him, your notes in your lap. "Is it uncomfortable?" He nods slowly, his eyes avoiding yours. You give him a small smile. "I'm sorry."

His eyes shoot to yours, confusion flashing through them. "Why are you sorry?"

"It...seems like a lot of you are possibly being mistreated here. I've noticed a few things here and there."

Amajiki's brows furrow. "And why should you care? W-We're criminals."

"True. However, this facility isn't supposed to be judge, jury and executioner. You're entitled to a fair trial, just like everyone else. That includes not being mistreated." Your smile never leaves your face as you look the man in the eyes. "I am not only here to research a cure, but make sure in doing so, it won't harm any of you. It'll be humane, I promise." Amajiki just stares at you with an unreadable expression. You sigh and click your pen. "Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Amajiki?" He shakes his head but stays quiet.

"Can you please state your full name, age and date of birth?"

"U-um. Tamaki Amajiki, 25, March 4th."

"Thank you. And what is your quirk?"

Amajiki hugs his knees tighter. "I-It's called Manifestation. Essentially, whatever I eat and digest, I can manifest as a body part."

Your leg bounces in excitement. "So, if you were to eat, let's say, Takoyaki, you can turn your hand into tentacles?" He nods his head. Your eyes light up. "That is incredible, Amajiki. That's such a powerful quirk!"

Amajiki's eyes widened, a blush spreading across his cheeks that were partially hidden under his muzzle. This is the first time he's ever been thankful to have this thing attached to his face. "U-um, t-thanks."

You let out a soft giggle and continue writing in your notes. "Here's a little bit more of a difficult question, Amajiki. Can you please tell me why you are incarcerated in this facility?"

Amajiki stays quiet, not looking at you. You notice his hesitation. You think for a moment before looking around the room. Amajiki sneaks a glance at you, watching you look around the room. His brows furrow. "W-What are you…"

You finally spot the locations of the camera and move your body so your back was facing it. Ignoring his question, you place your pen down directly in front of you so only Amajiki can see. You furrow your brows in concentration and stick your tongue out as you hover your hand over your pen. To Amajiki's utter shock, the pen starts floating in the air.

"Y-You have a quirk?!"

You nod your head and release the pen from your power. "Yeah, I do. It's nothing fancy like yours, but it is a mutation, nonetheless. Sometimes it's easier to talk to someone who understands more of your situation than you might think. So that's why I wanted to show you." You smile at the man, who is looking at you with pure adoration. "Please, keep this to yourself. I don't know what Aizawa would do if he found out about it." 

"I-I won't tell anyone, I promise."

You giggle and sit back down in your original spot. "Thank you. Now, can you please tell me why you're in this facility?"

He nods his head, still slightly dazed about this new-found information. "I was charged with multiple counts of 1st degree murder a-and…" his voice drops to a whisper, "s-serial cannibalism."

You couldn't help your interest in the subject and started rambling. "Would you be so kind as to explain how this came about? Did you grow up into a family of cannibals or-"

"NO!" He lashes out, causing you to flinch slightly. He winces as your reaction, not intending to scare you. "N-no. Nothing like that. It happened… against my will, so to say?" Amajiki sighs and rests his chin on his arms, not meeting your eyes. "I was one of the only kids in my small town to have been born with a mutation. My parents tried to hide it, tried to hide me. I don't know if it was from fear of people hurting me or fear of everyone judging them for having me."

He blinks a few times before continuing. "The town I lived in was small, a bad side to say the least. Lots of low-lifes and gangs running around. Well, long story short, someone found out about me and what my quirk was. They kidnapped me and…" He trails off. Suddenly, his eyes snapped to yours, an uncomfortable and intense feeling overwhelming you. "They forced me to eat another person, someone with a quirk. They wanted to see if I could turn their power into my own."

He cocks his head and lets out a cackle, still making eye contact with you. "Can you believe that?! It actually worked! So what did they do? They forced me to eat ANOTHER quirk user. They wanted to turn me into an ultimate weapon." Amajiki lets out a strange noise, sounding like a mixture between a guttural sob and a laugh. "Well, the joke was on them in the end. I ended up killing and eating them in the end and escaping. But after that point, something mutated further in my quirk. I couldn't stop craving human flesh." He shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath. "A-And that's why I'm here now."

Your eyes are wide and your breath is heavy. Something inside you feels a sense of panic, looking at the clearly broken man in front of you. It's so much information to take in, you stay quiet for awhile, your body on high alert. Amajiki notices how quiet you are and he opens his eyes. He notices a terrified look on your face and internally panics.

"W-Wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I-I'm not going to hurt you." He finally moves out from his huddled form and kneels instead, the sound of chains clinking together snapping you out of it. "I-I would n-never hurt you." He whispers the last part, hoping you wouldn't hear it.

You clear your throat after taking a few deep breaths. "T-Thank you for telling me this, Amajiki. It was really brave of you to relive those experiences." You look at him and notice the fear and concern in his face. Giving him a small smile, you close your notebook. "I'm fine, I promise." You stand up on shaky legs and bow your head. "I need to get going."

Amajiki quickly stands up, making you slightly flinch again, which doesn't go unnoticed by him. "Y-You're leaving already? Will I get to see you again?"

"You will. I'm an employee here now, so I'll be the one to check up on all the inmates and work on everyone's individual sessions." You turn your back and walk to the door. "I'll see you later, Amajiki."

The indigo-haired man watches you walk through his door, longing written across his face. The only thing running through his mind are thoughts of the pretty telekinesis that made his heart race.

Once out the door, Aizawa meets you in the hallway. "How'd it go with the man-eater?"

You scowl at the doctor. "Why do you say things like that? He has a name."

"He's a criminal, Y/N. They're all criminals. Shouldn't matter what we call them." He rolls his eyes. "Just come with me. We have to finish our paperwork before the end of the day."

You grumble under your breath but follow the tired-looking doctor to his office. "You also need to prepare yourself for tomorrow. You will be meeting Kaminari, Midoriya, Shinso, Bakugo, Todoroki, Dabi and Kai. And 5 out of the 7 are level 8 and above."

~~~

Taglist: @theblueslytherin @sterassion @somechick30003 @meena-in-a-nutshell @justtj-andnonumberspls @zombieonna @amajikiwife @yulifee @atexansadventureintokinkandlife @ep-ip-ha-ny @hcneymilkks @pastelmoonwitche @stayarmytinyzenmoa-l @railmeddy @unlimitedfirepheonix @confaegion @drownedbytears @burntcrips @megumitodoroki @the-lady-writes-what @awkward-confused @themotherofmoons @ihaveakoreanseoul @1-800-multifandomness @dabis-s-whore @tragically-here @andyronii @sunnnyshark @henhouse-horrors @maggiecc @tspice283 @orenjineki @aaannabbanana @letskidaddle @yzviea @jjk-is-my-shit  @iwachanslove

[If your name is bolded, I wasn’t able to tag you]

[staygoldwriting]

A New Marauder: Sirius Black’s “Little Brother”

Summary: Eddie has his Uncle Wayne, but who better to guide Eddie through his years at Hogwarts than a fellow misunderstood metalhead?

Warnings: None, just fluff :)

A/N: I am so so happy to be doing this collab with @toomanybandstocare! This Eddie Munson HP au is going to be a blast to create, and I’m so happy I can do so with my bestie ❤️ Please stay tuned for more, and make sure to check both of our pages for updates! The masterlist is on @toomanybandstocare​’s blog and linked on my main masterlist 🤗

💛🖤💛🖤

-Eddie had known Sirius since he was just a baby; Wayne had taken Sirius under his wing, so when Eddie moved in with Wayne, Sirius felt like he gained a second chance at being a big brother.

-Sirius is the one who introduced Eddie to all the bands he loves, and he takes him to his first muggle and wizard concerts: AC/DC and The Weird Sisters, both when Eddie turned eleven. It was his birthday gift and a “brother bonding time” before Eddie left for Hogwarts.

-“Sirius, he’s just a boy, you can’t take him to these concerts!” 

-“Don’t worry, Wayne, he’ll be with me!” 

-“That’s why I’m worried.”

-After seeing the Weird Sisters, a rush of anxiety overwhelms Eddie, so he talks to Sirius because he doesn’t trust anyone as much as he trusts Sirius.

-“It’s about Hogwarts houses,” he says. “I don’t want to be in the wrong one. What if everyone thinks I’m weird?”

-“First of all, there’s no wrong house, just the ones not cool enough to fit you. And so what if people think you’re weird? Would you rather be weird or boring?” Sirius nudges Eddie, making him giggle.

-“I guess you’re right, thanks, Sirius. Will-will you still be proud of me if I’m in Slytherin like your ‘family’?” Eddie had grown accustomed to using air quotes when talking about the Black family. Eddie knew that he and Wayne were Sirius’s new family.

-Sirius looks at him gravely and turns Eddie’s face toward him

-“If you were placed in Slytherin, I would be bursting with joy because I would know that at least one good-hearted person is in that house.”

-He holds Eddie tight, remembering his own horrifying experiences being placed in Gryffindor, being made the freak, the outsider. Sirius won’t ever let that happen to Eddie.

-Sirius isn’t able to come to drop Eddie off, but he does take Eddie to Diagon Alley to help Wayne with book-buying, but mainly to get Eddie his pet.

-Sirius, knowing Eddie, has a hunch, so he buys him a little badger and names it Jagger.

-“Jagger the Badger! Almost rhymes, right?”

-“He’s really for me?”

-“‘Course he is, silly. He’s your Hogwarts pet!”

-“I don’t think badgers are on the pet list,” Eddie worries, scanning the sheets for information. Sirius lowers them and winks at Eddie.

-“I’ll transfigure him for 24 hours to look like a black cat. After that, it’ll be too late for them to say no, and Jagger’ll be back to his badger self.”

-“Cool,” Eddie says with a goofy and awed grin. Meanwhile, Wayne shakes his head.

-“My boys.”

-Eddie says goodbye to Sirius that night, but Sirius promises that he’ll come pick him up whenever he misses him, and he’s just an owl away. 

-Sirius gives the best hugs, so Eddie absolutely melts into Sirius, their leather jackets squeaking together as Sirius holds Eddie tighter until they both laugh. Then Sirius ruffles Eddie’s hair and presses their foreheads together.

-“I’ll miss ya, kid, but I’ll see you soon.”

-“Same here, Sirius. I love you.”

-“I love you too, kiddo.”

-Eddie arrives at Hogwarts and makes friends with the Weasley twins, then the Sorting Ceremony begins.

-Eddie is incredibly nervous, but he also tries to keep Sirius’s advice in the back of his mind. 

-When he first hears the hat cry “Hufflepuff!” his mind fills with worry, unsure what Hufflepuff even means. He had worried for so long that he would be in Slytherin that he spent all his time looking into it, and when he had a spare moment, he researched Gryffindor, hoping he had the same qualities as his “big brother” so he could make Sirius extra proud.

-But then, he meets Cedric Diggory, a fellow Hufflepuff first-year, who explains what a Hufflepuff is. 

-“My dad was in Hufflepuff like we are,” he says, gray eyes shining. “I’m Cedric, by the way.”

-“I’m Eddie, it’s nice to meet you,” Eddie says timidly. “What exactly is a Hufflepuff?”

-“Well, we’re known to be loyal, patient, just, and hardworking!” Cedric said enthusiastically.

-“I don’t know if I’ll be able to be all that,” Eddie almost whispered.

-“Hey,” Cedric said, patting Eddie’s shoulder, “by being placed in Hufflepuff, you already are all of those things. You’re going to do great, and we can be friends if you’d like.”

-“Thanks, Cedric, and I’d love to be friends,” Eddie said, perking up a bit. “Anything else I should know about Hufflepuff?”

-Cedric thought for a second. “Oh! Our house animal is a badger!”

-After hearing that, Eddie smiled to himself, thinking of Sirius. Turns out, Sirius would be proud of him for getting Hufflepuff, but it may be overshadowed by Sirius’s own pride in himself for knowing what house Eddie would be placed in.

-Eddie’s prediction is right, proven by the Howler that arrives the next day

-“EDWARD MICHAEL  MUNSON! I ABSOLUTELY KNEW IT, I JUST KNEW IT! HUFFLEPUFF HOUSE, I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! I mean, I can, I predicted it, but YES, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU, LITTLE BROTHER! And hey, while I’ve got you, do me a favor and tell Professor Snape I think he’s a--”

-An older Hufflepuff shut the Howler closed to muffle Sirius’s line of profanity, and Eddie gave her a thankful smile.

-“ANYWAY I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU!”

-As the Howler finishes, Eddie’s ears redden, thinking he’s going to be teased for Sirius so loudly proclaiming his love, but he’s met with awed expressions.

-“You know Sirius Black?”

-“Yeah, he’s like a brother to me,” Eddie grins.

-“Wicked.”

[lunmelia]

Listen I know that Jack had to “grow up fast” because the world is a “dangerous place” or whatever but if he was born a baby?? I would’ve watched the hell out of that show. Just two dudes, their mum and an angel raising the devil’s baby. Because I say that they kicked Lucifer’s ass to the alternate world and everyone lives (except Kelly. Sorry.). Could you imagine? 

You have Mary; the woman who has experience in raising two babies, even if one was only for six months.

You have Dean; the man who basically raised Sam and has vague memories of helping out when his brother was a baby. Helped Lisa with her son and baby niece. Took care of a shapeshifter baby for a day. Also had a daughter for a couple of days but didn’t interact with her much. 

You have Sam; not much experience. Also took care of a shapeshifter baby for a day. Strong in research, might manage to find them at least a paragraph of how to raise a nephilim. Killed his niece. Not a great sign but he promises he won’t do that this time. 

You have Castiel; the angel expert. Is a literal angel. Has no experience with babies apart from that one night he babysat for his co-worker. Kind-of-sort-of-not-really a dad to a teenage girl. Only times he’s had to interact with a nephilim is when he’s been ordered to kill one, so, not a good sign but he promises he won’t do that this time. 

Together, they make do. But holy shit is raising Jack tough. 

He may not have a true form like Castiel but he does have wings and a true voice. Which he can’t control. So the tantrums. The tantrums. When he was born he made their ears bleed from the crying, and the lights exploded. Cas was miraculously able to calm him down before further damage was done, but the humans always make sure to have earplugs on them from then on. They also had to buy a large supply of lightbulbs to replace the ones in the bunker every time he cries. 

They had to baby proof the bunker. And I mean baby proof the hell out of the bunker. You think a normal house can be dangerous for a baby? The bunker is huge. And full of knives, guns, spellbooks, ancient artifacts, and just about a thousand other things that are not. good. to have around a baby. The baby proofing took a week. Two days of exploring the bunker and recording everything that needed to be baby-proofed, two shopping trips in a day to buy the things needed, and another three days of installing everything. Cas had to stay with Jack in his room while Mary, Sam and Dean did all the baby proofing. 

(also yes this is an AU in which Dean and Cas get their shit together, confess their feelings, build a house and raise Jack as his dads. the build a house part comes in when Jack is like 3)

The absolute freakout Dean had when Jack flew the first time. It happened when he was five months old, and Dean was changing his diaper. He turned around for a second to throw out the wipes. Heard the flap of wings, turned back around with a greeting for Cas on his lips, and Jack was gone. It went like this: Dean, staring at the empty table: ... Jack? Jack- *realisation* Cas! Cas, the baby’s gone! Cas! The baby can fly! Baby’s flying- Cas, appearing in front of him with a giggling Jack in his arms: yes, I am well aware Dean: oh my god- Jack: *disappears again* Dean: *yelps in alarm* Cas: *simply reaches up and just. plucks Jack out of thin air. one moment there’s empty air and the next Jack is just in Cas’ hands* Cas: this may become... difficult Dean, leaning over with his hands on his knees: I’m gonna have a heart attack

Turns out, baby Jack can heal! Which is what Mary discovered when once she had held Jack after coming back from a hunt with a few scrapes, they miraculously disappeared. 

You know when toddlers will get into the flour and leave a mess that you have to clean up for the next two hours? Yeah, well Jack got into a box of spellbooks and opened one which released monsters from fables. So that was a very panic-filled 6 hours that included Sam, Dean and Mary researching how to put them back / kill them while Cas held Jack close to make sure he didn’t fly away. Turns out, baby-proofing a bunker is pretty useless when said baby can fly through walls.

Apart from the many mishaps thathappened during raising Jack from infancy to toddlerhood, he’s just a weird kid. And kids are usually weird, but Jack is weird. 

Sam basically sprinted back to the car with a five-year-old Jack in his arms after Jack had held a woman’s hand in his at a playground and gently told her, “the events that lead to your father’s death were never your fault. He is in his Heaven now and although he is at peace, he begs that you make room in your heart for forgiveness of his wrong doings.” Yeah, they were very close to moving town when that happened. 

One day when he was 6, he walked outside into the back yard and just sat down in a random spot and stared at the ground. After a couple of minutes of glancing out the window to check on him, Dean walked up to him. Dean: whatchu up to, kid? Jack: there is a daisy that is going to grow and bloom here in 15 days. I’ve never seen a flower grow. I would like to watch it, if that’s okay? Dean: you want to sit here, in this exact spot, for 15 days so you can watch a flower grow? Jack, still not taking his eyes off the spot: yes Dean, who’s honestly used to this behaviour after witnessing it for the past two years: ... alright, sure. I’ll bring you dinner in a couple of hours, that sound good? Jack, finally looking up with a beaming smile: yes, thank you! (Cas and Dean did not let him sit in the same spot for 15 days. They did sit next to him for like two hours when the daisy did bloom, though. And despite the creak and buzzing ache in his knees and back, Dean can’t find it in himself to regret it.) 

he had a phase when he was 7 where he would say hi to everyone he came across. Everyone. Dean and Cas cannot make one shopping trip with him without everyone in that store knowing Jack’s name. He says bye when they leave too. 100% every time they get at least 5 people saying bye back. 

On the year he turned 8 they decided to enrol him in school. After weeks of telling him not be “weird” and teaching him to be as normal of a kid as he could be. When the 4 of them are confidant that he won’t go around using his powers, they enrol him. They did not anticipate the school calling him the first day, telling them that Jack had explained to the other kids that Santa isn’t real and they should “learn to not set themselves up for disappointment or believe what their parents say” which caused the entire class to burst out into tears. It was another “maybe we should move town” moment.

Another kid: my dad broke his leg. he has to walk with crutches now. sometimes he lets me use them! Jack: both my dads have died. one of them was torn to shreds by hellhounds who then dragged his soul down to hell where he was tortured for 40 years, but then father rescued him, that was how they met. but then father was blown to bits by my biological father. but then my grandfather resurrected him! they’re fine now.  Their teacher: uh, wow... Jack. sure sounds like you have some very vivid dreams Jack, remembering he’s not supposed to talk about this kind of stuff: ah, yes, of course... dreams. I woke up... crying. a lot. the dreams... scared me. 

I have... so many other little moments in my head, but this post is already so long so let me know if anyone wants more. 

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

an icarus and his sun: chapter 1

A/N: i am Very Very excited for this enemies to lovers au, and also just a quick message that this is about their characters! some characters might seem more villainous than they actually are (even on the smp) and scott and jimmy will absolutely end up being in a romantic relationship (even if it might take a while for them to get there >:)). also, i planned this fic before xornoth was introduced and before sausage started the assassin's guild thing, so if you were hoping for either of those things in this fic, i'm sorry to say that they will not be featured here! (xornoth may be hinted at though, no promises!) pls talk to me in the reblogs i am lonely /hj

Warnings: arguing, flirting, teasing/banter, threats of violence

AO3 Link - Tumblr Masterpost

-

Jimmy liked Katherine, he really did! She was one of his first allies, and even though she could come off as a little intense for the ruler of a flower forest, Jimmy really valued her friendship. However, her insistence on staying neutral… it bothered Jimmy. Or really, what bothered Jimmy was the fact that she insisted on having “House Blossom Alliance” meetings at her castle. And specifically, it was who was at these meetings that bothered Jimmy. Sure, there was Joel, Lizzie, and Pixl, three of Jimmy’s own allies, but the rest of the group wasn’t exactly on the best terms with him. Gem and Pearl were alright, he supposed, but Fwhip and Sausage were absolutely terrible. And then there was Scott. There wasn’t anything outwardly bad about the winged elf ruler, but he just got on Jimmy’s nerves. He was just irritating, with his stupid “better-than-you” attitude, stupid smug grin, stupid perfect hair- he was just… stupid. Well, not really. Scott was actually really clever. But he always flaunted when he was right about something, which frankly was often. But he didn’t have to be so smug every time Jimmy was wrong about something.

“Jimmy, what do you know about defensive mob strategy? You can’t even keep people out of your empire,” Scott scoffed, as Jimmy was attempting to offer some advice on how to keep a base safe from monsters. Jimmy glared at the winged elf sitting across from him.

“Because I like to try and keep my empire welcoming, instead of being all high and mighty in the mountains,” Jimmy shot back. Scott rolled his eyes.

“More welcome to attack, Jimmy. How many times have you and Sausage squabbled over something inconsequential?” Scott asked dryly, getting an offended “hey!” from Sausage that he ignored, focusing only on Jimmy.

“Well… okay so maybe I’m not that great at defending against people, but mobs I can handle! They’re predictable, people aren’t,” Jimmy huffed. Scott smirked at Jimmy, and there it was- that smug expression when Jimmy was proven wrong about something.

“Maybe some people aren’t… but you sure are. I knew you’d get all riled up if I started pressing,” Scott taunted. Jimmy shot up from his chair, hand slamming down on the table as he glared at Scott and ignored the concerned voices of his allies.

“I haven’t even begun to be ‘riled up,’ Scott,” Jimmy fumed, hand lightly resting on the hilt of his sword. Scott calmly rose from his seat, still smirking and looking like he was enjoying this far too much.

“What, you gonna fight me, fish boy?” Scott crooned, hand resting on the hilt of his own weapon.

“Maybe I will,” Jimmy growled, and Scott’s smirk grew into a grin.

“Oh, you are getting more riled up… can’t say I’m not enjoying the view,” Scott said in a near purr. Jimmy’s face grew warm as he gritted his teeth and tightened his hand on the hilt of his sword. Scott didn’t look nervous at all, only mildly intrigued, like Jimmy was a puzzle he was seconds away from solving.

“That’s enough!” Katherine shouted, jumping up from her seat at the head of the table and looking at the two of them with a disapproving glare. Scott and Jimmy instantly looked a little embarrassed, both finally remembering that they were in a room full of other rulers, and that it was supposed to be a peaceful meeting as they exchanged various tactics and information on trading.

“C’mon man, it’s not worth it,” Pixl murmured, gently tugging on Jimmy’s arm. Jimmy glared at Scott one last time before he sat back down. Scott looked entirely too pleased as he sat back down gracefully- how did someone even do that, sit down so fluidly like it was a part of a dance?!- and smiled far too innocently at Katherine. She was not having it, frowning with disapproval at both Scott and Jimmy until Scott sheepishly looked down at the table. Katherine sighed, seeming semi-satisfied as she sat back down.

“I think I’m gonna have to implement a rule about weapons at the next meeting… now don’t you two have something to say to each other?” Katherine said expectantly. Scott and Jimmy both looked at Katherine with confused expressions.

“Haven’t they said enough to each other?” Fwhip asked, sounding bored as he leaned back in his chair. Katherine rolled her eyes at Fwhip, and looked back at Scott and Jimmy.

“What I meant is that these two owe each other an apology,” Katherine said pointedly.

“What have I got to apologize for?! Scott started it!” Jimmy protested.

“It’s not my fault Jimmy’s easy to get all hot and bothered,” Scott said with an air of indifference, but the smirk directed at Jimmy told a different story. Jimmy’s face burned again.

“You stop that,” Jimmy scowled.

“Make me,” Scott replied smoothly.

“I’m confused, are they flirting or fighting now?” Sausage whispered far too loudly to Pearl. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head at Sausage.

“We’re not flirting!” Jimmy protested.

“Yeah, I can do way better than Jimmy,” Scott scoffed.

“Wha- hey! What’s that supposed to mean? I am a catch, thank you very much,” Jimmy huffed, crossing his arms.

“Oh, so you want to be flirting now?” Scott crooned with a smirk.

“What?! No! You’re infuriating,” Jimmy shouted.

“Funny, I was going to say the same thing about you,” Scott shot back smoothly. Jimmy opened his mouth to reply, but was halted by a frustrated groan from Katherine.

“You know what? Fine! I declare this meeting adjourned. Everyone out! See you next week,” Katherine exclaimed with a sigh.

“Finally,” Fwhip muttered, getting up from the table first and striding out of the castle. Gem shook her head at his retreating figure, and turned to Katherine with an apologetic smile.

“What he means is thank you for inviting us to the meeting. I look forward to next week- and I’m sure Fwhip does too!” she said, gently patting Katherine’s hand before getting up and following after Fwhip. Pearl and Sausage were the next two to leave, thanking Katherine for inviting them as well. Then finally Scott left, simply bowing his head in respect to Katherine, but smirking at Jimmy before he took off.

“I hate that guy,” Jimmy muttered as he watched Scott fly away.

“I think you’ve made that clear, Jimmy. You’ve gotta stop picking fights you can’t win,” Katherine admonished with a sigh.

“I could have taken him!” Jimmy protested.

“And even if you couldn’t have, I would have avenged you,” Joel added. Lizzie and Pixl nodded in agreement, while Katherine buried her face in her hands.

“Peaceful! These meetings are supposed to be peaceful! I am definitely going to have people leave their weapons at the door at the next meeting,” she sighed, bringing her face up from her hands to lean back in her chair. Jimmy frowned, feeling a bit bad.

“I- sorry, Katherine. I shouldn’t have let Scott get under my skin so easily. I promise next meeting I won’t make a big fuss out of nothing,” Jimmy said solemnly, looking to Katherine with an apologetic smile. She smiled back, but it was a little strained and exasperated.

“It’s alright, Jimmy. Honestly Scott is just as much to blame as you are here. I just wished you two would have apologized to each other- you apologized to me just fine!” Katherine pointed out, her smile turning more bright and encouraging. Jimmy frowned, nose wrinkling slightly.

“Yeah, because I like you,” Jimmy huffed. Katherine giggled, leaning forward in her chair to clasp her hand over Jimmy’s and give it a light squeeze.

“That’s very sweet, but sometimes you’ve gotta apologize to people you don’t like, Jimmy,” Katherine said pointedly.

“From the way they were talking at the meeting, ‘like’ might be too weak of a word,” Pixl commented dryly. Joel poorly hid a laugh behind a cough, while Lizzie elbowed him while trying to hide her own amused smile.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Jimmy asked indignantly. Pixl looked at him blankly, raising an eyebrow.

“You told him that you were a catch, dude. How else are we supposed to interpret that?” Pixl replied with a laugh. Jimmy’s face flushed for what felt like the twentieth time that day.

“I wasn’t thinking straight!” Jimmy protested.

“Clearly,” Lizzie teased with a grin, no longer trying to hide it. The table erupted into laughter, and Jimmy couldn’t help but laugh too, even if it was at his own expense, and even if his friends were wrong. He was not interested in Scott in that way in the slightest, thank you very much. Their argumentative banter just got a little… carried away, that’s all. And he wasn’t saying he was a catch so that Scott would think so… he just had confidence in himself! And Scott was trying to wear down that confidence, Jimmy was just proving him wrong! At least, that’s what Jimmy told himself.

“So this is how the betrayal begins- first you fabricate an attraction to someone I despise-” Jimmy cut off his dramatic monologue with his own laughter, only causing the group to laugh louder.

“We’ll set you up with Sausage next,” Pixl said with a laugh.

“Now that is the ultimate betrayal,” Jimmy said with a shudder, grinning at Pixl all the while.

“Stop it, stop it- no one is betraying anyone! I’ll keel over from laughter with these backstabbing plans at this rate,” Katherine said, wiping at her eyes as the last of her laughs subsided.

“Alright, alright, if you insist. I should get going anyway, I’ve got a long trip back to Pixandria,” Pixl said, standing from the table.

“Safe travels! See you next week!” Katherine said with a wave. Jimmy and the others said their goodbyes, and with a nod and a smile Pixl equipped his elytra and walked out of the castle to fly off.

“Guess we should leave too, I’m sure you’ve got things to be working on,” Joel said, standing up from the table. Lizzie and Jimmy followed his lead. The three of them would often journey back to their empires together, seeing as they were all in fairly close range to each other. Katherine rose from the table with a sigh.

“Yeah, I’ve got some things to sort out. I’ll see you three next week- and I’m serious about the ‘leaving the weapons at the door’ rule,” she said, looking at each of them pointedly.

“Oh I’ll make sure these two follow through with that!” Lizzie said brightly.

“I was talking about you too, Lizzie,” Katherine said flatly. Lizzie placed a hand over her heart in mock offense.

“Me?! Oh please, next to these two I’m downright peaceful! Now we really must be going, nice seeing you!” Lizzie said far too innocently, grabbing both Joel and Jimmy by their arms and all but dragging them out of the castle.

“Oh uh, bye then! I guess,” Jimmy said with a lopsided grin and a wave from his free hand. Katherine shook her head fondly, waving goodbye back. The three of them made their way outside with only some minor grumbling from Joel about how he could walk, Lizzie. She only patted his cheek with a smile before equipping her elytra, Joel and Jimmy doing the same. And as the three allies took off into the skies and off to their own empires, Jimmy’s thoughts couldn’t help but wander back to Scott. Maybe he should try and patch things up, like Katherine suggested? He was a very good ally of Katherine’s as well- they were even planning a plushie business together! And he didn’t want Katherine to be stuck between another conflict again, like she had for all of his issues with Sausage. But how exactly Jimmy was going to fix things with Scott, he wasn’t sure. The winged elf was stubborn, and frankly so was Jimmy. It was unlikely either of them were going to give in or come to any sort of compromise. At the very least, Jimmy just hoped he could keep their arguments to just that- arguments. He couldn’t afford another war.

-

MCYT Fic Taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed! And if you just want to specifically be tagged in this fic, I am open to making a specific taglist for it!): @corazon10000 @damiensaidno @franticfandomfanatic @gattonero17 @hetapeep41 @space-ace123

[just-here-for-the-moment]

You just had to bring the symbol of Victory into this didn't you?!???? Is this some sort of euphemism I should look forward to or!??!?!?????

Yes!! Let me “paint you a picture” (groan)... Also, I sat down to draft my response and it's somehow *gestures at this whole mess* 2300+ words!?? And confession time! I’ve never even SEEN "The Mentalist"! Everything I know about Marcus Pike has come from cute GIFs and the Internet and fanfics… so… I don’t even know what’s going on with me today. But thank you! :D

(This is leaking over from this post if anyone needs to play catch-up)

Paris

Word count: 2300+

Rating: mature, 18+ only

Outline: Marcus Pike x “You” in Paris, reader is an Art History Professor (cis/het female reader; “blank canvas”/no physical description/no name/no use of “Y/N”)

Warnings: slow burn; cute Marcus Pike; coffee and pastries; kissing and stuff; public-ish sex in the Louvre after hours; spontaneous P/V sex (probably unprotected, idek) we're all adults here, wrap it before YOU tap it!

It’s like, you and sweet Marcus have definitely hit it off and you’re really into each other after that field trip meet-cute and your date, but you haven’t slept together yet. He gets called away for a case, so you wish him good luck and hope that you can see each other again soon.

A few days later it’s spring break and you have a trip to Paris planned to complete some research for your next publication. You email Marcus while you're waiting to board. You let him know that you’re going to be out of town for a few days, but that you hope his case is going well, and maybe when he's back you two can pick up where you left off?

You land in Paris and check your messages, and you see that Marcus has replied to your email. He says he can't share the details of his case, but that he hopes he'll be wrapped up by the end of the week, and that he definitely wants to see you again. He asks about your research trip, so you shoot a quick email back to fill him in on the details.

You get to your hotel and sink into a hot bath with your phone. You open your emails, and your brain tells you that you're just checking to confirm the details of your appointment with your research contact in the morning... but the little uptick in your heart rate tells you that you're actually looking for another reply from Marcus. And it's there. He says that he loves Paris and that your research sounds exciting. He asks where you’re staying? You give him the name of your hotel, and tell him that you haven't stayed there before, but it's cute.

Before the water even gets cold you have another reply, sending the butterflies behind your navel into a tizzy. He says that he's stayed there once or twice and that the café in the lobby has excellent pastries. You smile and let yourself imagine a vacation with Marcus, here in Paris, sharing pain au chocolat over a little table in the café. You refill the tub with hot water and sit daydreaming for so long that your fingers prune up.

You get out of the bath and wrap yourself in a plush robe, and sit on the edge of the bed. You email Marcus back, wishing him a good night and telling him that it's late where you are, but that you promise to try one of the pastries in the morning with your breakfast coffee. By the time you're in your nightgown and ready to sleep he's responded, wishing you sweet dreams and hoping that your research goes well. You smile and reply, "Thanks," and then drift down into pleasant dreams.

The next morning you take yourself to the little lobby café and treat yourself to a café crème and an almond croissant. Marcus was right, and you nearly moan aloud as you wrap your mouth around the flaky pastry. You open your email and send him a picture of your croissant with one bite missing, and you joke that you blame him for ruining you for any other boulangeries you might visit during your trip. By the time you're done with breakfast he's responded with a wink emoji and a quick "Sorry I ruined you," and you desperately want to email him back and boldly ask him to ruin you in other ways. You stop yourself, and your brain can't think of anything appropriate, so you just don't respond and you leave to go to your research appointment.

The day is long, and the dusty archives and a few misfiled papers cause small irritations. But you find a few of the things that you needed, so you call it productive enough. You break at 3 p.m. and decide to start again fresh in the morning. Maybe an early dinner and another scalding hot bubble bath will set you right. You decide that the weather is nice, and that your hotel is close enough that you can stroll back and people watch, disconnect your brain from your work and transition into relaxation mode along the way.

You arrive back at your hotel and go to your room to change. There is a card slipped under your door, the front desk letting you know that you have a delivery of some kind to pick up. You try to remember if any of your colleagues or your boss mentioned that they would send you anything? Is it paperwork? Some kind of file for your research? You decide to shower and change into a nice dress to lift your mood, and then head back out for dinner.

You take the card to the lobby desk and hand it to the desk clerk and he disappears into the back office. When he returns you're surprised to see that he's holding a floral arrangement, not huge or ostentatious, but lovely and cheerful and somehow your favorite color exactly. The clerk sets the vase on the desk. You reach for the card and open it.

"Good luck on your research. -Marcus"

You break into a wide grin and you practically float back to your room. You set the flowers on the room table and open your email to thank him. You send him a photo and an effusive "Thank you!" and a winky kiss emoji. Is that too much? No - if one little emoji scares him off then he's not the guy you thought he was.

He responds within minutes, a quick "You're welcome. Glad they arrived in one piece." and his own winky kiss emoji. Your heart flutters and you reply immediately, "They're really lovely. Thank you for thinking of me."

A moment later his next email pops up: "Can I take you to dinner and pick up where we left off?"

You reply: "Absolutely! I'll let you know as soon as I'm back in town!"

He responds: "No, I meant tonight."

You hesitate, does he want to call you and chat on the phone while you eat dinner? Some kind of video call, like a virtual date? Before you can type your reply, a new message pops up: "I'm actually in Paris. My case is here and I arrived a few days before you did. I didn't want to scare you off or come to your hotel unannounced, but I'm free tonight and I'd love to see you."

You throw your head back and laugh. This is definitely way more fun than eating alone and people-watching. You message back an enthusiastic, "Yes! I'm ready when you are!" and he emails you and says he'll see you in 30 minutes in the lobby. When you get downstairs he's waiting by the front desk, all soft scruff and loosened tie and warm brown eyes, just as you remembered. You smile and hug him, and in that moment you feel like a fairy-tale princess meeting her prince, being swept off your feet in the most romantic city in the world.

You have dinner at a cozy bistro around the corner, Marcus making you bubble with laughter as you talk. He listens to you moan about the missing pieces of your research, your pressing need to track down a letter from one artist to another that was mentioned in an old diary but which hasn't yet surfaced. You're sure it's around the archives somewhere, just waiting for you to piece it together with the rest of your project. Marcus tells you that his case is almost wrapping up, and if you want he can arrange to catch the same flight home as you. You smile and tell him that would be nice.

You finish dinner and he asks if you want to go to the Louvre, and you check the time and say that they're almost closing. Marcus smiles at you and says, "Don't worry about it," and he looks a little mischievous. You tell him you're up for an adventure, and he takes your hand and ushers you into a taxi.

When you arrive he asks the desk staff for someone he knows, and you make a quick run to the restroom. When you return, Marcus has two laminated badges, special access for professionals and visiting staff that allows you to stay for a few hours past closing. You can't believe your luck, being allowed to spend extra time in one of the most special places in the world, not to mention that your escort is the most handsome and charismatic man you've ever met.

You start in the Denon wing and wander through the museum, talking and laughing quietly, enjoying the opportunity to see things that you would normally have to fight hordes of tourists to see. And maybe "enjoy" isn't the right word, because if someone asked you how you were feeling right now, you would say you were "on cloud nine" or "elated" or "floating." It feels like a dream, and you're not sure if you're going to remember all of it later, but you desperately want to, and you're trying so hard to file every sight away into your brain.

When you reach the Mona Lisa, an odd hush falls over you, and you realize it's the first time you've ever seen it without a crowd twenty deep in front of it. Marcus seems to know what you're feeling, because he takes your hand, almost shyly. And he keeps holding it, warming your fingers as the two of you walk on. You stop in front of Delacroix, "Liberty Leading the People," and you tell Marcus that it's the first painting you ever fell in love with, a million years ago in high school during your very first art history class. You look at the painting and he looks at you, and when you finally turn toward him he captures your mouth in a warm, urgent, soft kiss. You can feel your eyes sparkling at him when he pulls away, and you don't say a word, you just smile and hold his hand as you walk through doorways and up and down stairs.

You come around a corner and there it is, probably the most famous statue in the world: the Venus de Milo. She takes your breath away, and then Marcus does, too, stealing a kiss when you least expect it. And you're torn completely in half, unsure if you would rather keep kissing him or just stare at the curves and planes of her body. So you try to do both; you kiss him and keep one eye on the Venus and you start to feel dizzy, like you've overloaded on sugar, but it's just the impossible circumstances that you've found yourself in.

And you break apart from him, and take his hand again, leading him into a corner that's a little more private. You back yourself against a wall and pull him to you by his tie, and you kiss him the way he deserves, with your full attention and precision. Minutes pass slowly, and you only come up for air because you're afraid you're going to faint. Your thigh is blazing hot where Marcus's hand has raked up under your skirt, and the only reason you don't fuck him right there is because of a security camera keeping watch on the alcove.

You tell him that you both should finish your tour and go back to your hotel, and he agrees. You try to keep your mind on the art, and you tell Marcus about how awestruck you were as a student when you learned about the way that sculptors could depict every curve and dimple of a woman's body through the wet drapery technique; the sensuality of the human form made only slightly more modest when viewed through a veil of fabric; the sheer awesome impossibility of marble carved to look like gauze.

You both get lost in the conversation, and you wander up a staircase and around a corner, and there it is: your absolute favorite piece of art, the piece that you have studied and memorized and dreamed about. And you've seen it before: you've been to the Louvre a handful of times, but this time there are no noisy footsteps echoing off the marble, no tourists trying to capture the glory of it with their tiny and unworthy cameras and phones when there are perfectly good books and postcards available in the gift shop... the Nike to end all Nikes, the Winged Victory of Samothrace. You are, quite simply, blown away.

And if it had been a normal weekend walking tour of the sacred Louvre, if you had been there with anyone else... you wouldn't have ended up wedged against the wall of the archway to her left, skirt hiked up as Marcus pounded into you, one of your bare legs hooked over his hip and your arms wrapped around his neck. If it had been any other day or any other time, you would have stopped him before he unzipped his fly and pulled his erection out; you would have had some remaining shred of propriety, of decency. But it wasn't a normal day and he wasn't a normal man, and you really weren't yourself.

You had gotten carried away by the late hour and the thrill of being allowed to wander the empty museum, and if you were being honest, you really wouldn't have wanted to stop it. You wanted to give in to the romance of the city and the priceless treasures on display and the heady conversations with Marcus. You wanted to be exactly where you were, with exactly who he was, doing exactly what you were doing and feeling exactly how you felt as he thrust into you and grunted your name like a chant while you traced the lines of the Nike with your lust-blown eyes.

You didn't make it to the Richlieu wing until a year later, on a sunny Saturday morning with your new husband Marcus.

--- Just-here-for-the-moment’s masterlist

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[sincerelystranger]

author: the high school track&field AU that no one asked for

---

Lan Zhan likes to run.

He likes the simplicity of it. He likes the control.

From the depth of his breath to the length of his stride – whether he wins or loses, it’s really up to him and him alone.

Lan Zhan likes that.

He watches the track as he slows down from his cool down.

If pressed, Lan Zhan would admit that he likes the natural terrain of cross country over the strange rubber of the track, but he’s beginning to find that track has certain other appeals.

It’s fun to watch the other athletes, for one.

His brother on the pole vault, for example. The calm focus in his eyes as he runs. The graceful arc of his body as he flies above the bar. The split second of pure ecstasy that Lan Zhan can see on his brother’s face when he knows he’s made the jump – Lan Zhan never knew his brother could make that sort of expression. It makes him wonder what else he doesn’t know about his brother.

It’s fun to watch the sprinters as well. Everyone running on the track are called runners, but the type of running the sprinters do is foreign to Lan Zhan.

For Lan Zhan, running is like water. There’s rhythm – a smoothness – to it. For Lan Zhan, running is something to get lost in.

Not for the sprinters though. There is something violent about the way they run. The way the shoot out from the start and torpedo through the finish. There’s no time to get lost.

If Lan Zhan’s way of running is about holding onto control, sprinting is about losing it.

Lan Zhan watches Jiang Cheng tear down the track.

Jiang Cheng is the fastest sprinter in their school – probably in their entire prefecture actually. He holds the school records in the 100m and 200m and if sprinting if violence, there is no one more destructive than Jiang Cheng.

Lan Zhan’s a bit disgusted by it, really, if he thinks about it. Sometimes, he wonders why Jiang Cheng runs at all. As Lan Zhan sees it, there’s no joy in Jiang Cheng’s running. Even when he wins he seems dissatisfied.

So the mysteries of the track – the joy it brings his brother and the obvious dissatisfaction it brings Jiang Cheng – they are all part of the appeal that Lan Zhan is beginning to find.

The biggest mystery though…

The one Lan Zhan would never admit wondering about, even if pressed…

Lan Zhan squats down and stretches one leg forward. He tilts his head slightly towards his shoulder. From this angle, he can see his biggest mystery from the corner of his eye.

Wei Ying.

The boys’ cross country coach spent all of second year trying to convince Wei Ying to join the cross country team to no avail. Wei Ying said that long runs bore him.

Aside from Jiang Cheng, Wei Ying holds the fastest 100m and 200m times, but anything longer than 200m Jiang Cheng can’t even compete. (Sometimes Lan Zhan thinks that maybe that that’s why Jiang Cheng is always so dissatisfied.)

Lan Zhan knows Wei Ying doesn’t even like the sprints – he won’t run them unless someone is injured.

Wei Ying likes to run the 800m the best, and his time is so fast that the Olympic team recruits often come watch him.

Lan Zhan always likes to watch Wei Ying cross the finish line. He’ll come to the meet hours ahead of his race time just to watch Wei Ying.

Wei Ying sails through the end, the other runners far behind him, and when he crosses the finish, he always lets his arms swing back a little as he glides through.

It’s… beautiful.

If Lan Zhan was a little more stupid, he might admit that Wei Wuxian almost looks like he has wings in that moment. (He might admit that Wei Wuxian looks a little angelic - but he’s not stupid).

Lan Zhan knows more about Wei Wuxian than he’s comfortable admitting to, and it doesn’t help that Wei Wuxian probably only barely knows Lan Zhan even exists.

It doesn’t matter… Lan Zhan wouldn’t know what to do if Wei Wuxian noticed him anyway.  

He brings his leg back in and turns to stretch the other side. He turns his head and keeps looking at Wei Wuxian from the corner of his eye.

Wei Wuxian is laughing brightly. Talking and laughing with the other mid-range runners.

He’s always surrounded by people. Always bright and happy and having fun… and that’s why he’s Lan Zhan’s biggest mystery.

Because the way Wei Wuxian runs is very…

Lonely.

Wei Wuxian’s steps are light and his strides are long and his breathing is always under control. But he doesn’t seem lost like Lan Zhan.

Or…

Maybe he’s lost, but he’s lost in a different way than Lan Zhan.

Running is a quiet place for Lan Zhan. An easy question with an easy answer. The one place Lan Zhan can’t be found lacking in effort or ambition or any other strange standard his uncle’s set for him.

It doesn’t seem to be a quiet place for Wei Ying.

Maybe Lan Zhan doesn’t know as much as he thinks he knows about Wei Ying, or maybe he’s seeing things that aren’t there, but when Lan Zhan watches Wei Ying run…

It looks like he’s searching for something.

(As beautiful as Wei Ying is when he crosses the finish line, he doesn’t smile when he wins either.)

Lan Zhan stands as Wei Ying walks past him.

He knows it’s silly, but he feels himself hold his breath a little – stand a little bit straighter. He does his best not to let his eyes follow Wei Ying as he walks past.

He would be mortified if Wei Ying found out that Lan Zhan paid him any attention at all.

Lan Zhan stays that way for a few seconds as Wei Ying walks farther and farther away from him. The shoulder that Wei Ying walked past feels a little bit hotter than the rest of his body. There’s a strange tingling in his back at the thought that maybe Wei Ying might have looked back at him.

He feels foolish, but also strangely satisfied with himself. It feels like a little achievement that he’s gone another day without letting Wei Ying know that Lan Zhan... knows anything about him at all.

It’s maybe creepy and strange but hiding his creepy and strangeness feels like an achievement so Lan Zhan decides to be satisfied with that.

He starts walking towards the bleachers to wait for his brother to finish practice, when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

“Lan Zhan!”

Lan Zhan turns, quickly brushing the hand off his shoulder before looking at the face of his assailant.

He knows it’s not possible, but his heart feels like its stopped in his chest.

“Ow,” Wei Ying says shaking the hand that Lan Zhan slapped away. “No – don’t apologize. It’s my fault, I surprised you.”

Lan Zhan hadn’t made any movement or sound close to an apology at all but…

“It’s Lan Zhan, right?” Wei Ying asks, his brows furrowing at Lan Zhan’s continued silence.

“Mn,” Lan Zhan finally says with a nod. He feels a little bit panicked. He feels like maybe Wei Ying read his mind and came to ask him to stop stalking him so much. He feels like if he gives any more information Wei Ying might find out everything and…!!!

“I’m Wei Ying!” Wei Ying says brightly, uselessly - because could there be anyone in the entire school that could possibly not know him? – “We’re actually in the same year, but I’m in class 3.”

Lan Zhan just nods again, because this still feels dangerous and he doesn’t want to give any more information than he has to.

Wei Ying doesn’t seem at all put off by Lan Zhan’s continued silence. “Me and some of the other guys on the team were going to go to the pool hall to hang out after – I just wanted to see if you would want to come with us.”

It’s too much.

It’s really too much.

Wei Ying knowing his name is too much. Wei Ying saying his name is too much. Wei Ying inviting him out is too much.

Lan Zhan really…

Lan Zhan takes a step back. “Mid-term exams are next week and the pool hall is an improper place for runners to… hang out at… there’s too much smoke.”

Wei Ying’s eyes go a little big and round at Lan Zhan’s answer.

Lan Zhan wants to hide in a hole. He feels like the biggest loser in the world and oh gods, Wei Ying is going to think he’s the biggest xueba in the planet. Wei Ying is probably regretting even trying to talk to Lan Zhan. He probably regrets even knowing Lan Zhan’s name. Oh gods…

Wei Ying is quiet for a few seconds…

And then suddenly…

He breaks out in a huge smile and he… laughs…

Lan Zhan feels embarrassment crash over him in waves. He moves to walk past Wei Ying. He doesn’t want to be laughed at – even if the person laughing at him is beautiful and fast and…

“Oh please don’t get it wrong,” Wei Ying says, quickly grabbing Lan Zhan’s wrist so he can’t walk any further. His words are still decorated with laughter. As much as Lan Zhan hates it, he can’t help but find it… charming. “I’m not laughing at you – promise. I’m not!”

Lan Zhan doesn’t move. He doesn’t make any noise. He looks at Wei Ying’s face out from the corner of his eye and he finds that Wei Ying’s face is open and honest…

“I didn’t… say anything funny,” Lan Zhan says.

“Yeah,” Wei Ying agrees warmly, “But it was funnier because I knew you didn’t mean to be funny.”

The waves of embarrassment ebb a bit.

“What was so funny?” Lan Zhan asks.

Wei Ying scrunches his nose a little, as he shrugs his shoulder to one side. “I can’t really explain it,” he says, “It’s just funny to hear someone my age saying that something is improper.”

Lan Zhan tries (and fails) not to stare at the way Wei Ying’s nose scrunches. It’s cuter than Lan Zhan ever imagined and Lan Zhan wants to… save it to his memory…

He shakes his head a little to clear his mind and he pulls his hand away from Wei Ying’s.

“That’s… boring,” Lan Zhan says.

Wei Ying smiles widely again. His eyes are prettier up close, Lan Zhan thinks. “I’ll find something fun next time,” Wei Ying says, “I’ll find a proper place to hang out so you have to hang out with me then, okay?”

He’s off before Lan Zhan can even respond.

Lan Zhan watches him as he runs towards his waiting group of friends. He feels little bit like he might’ve been run over by a truck. He feels more tired from this short interaction than he did from his practice.

He watches Wei Ying runs through the exit and out of the track.

Wei Ying crosses the threshold like it’s a finish line.

Both his arms swing back a little, his head tilts up slightly.

Lan Zhan knows it’s not possible, but his heart stops in his chest.

[petri808]

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Inukag AU

“Ready to go, dear?” Mrs. Higurashi asked her daughter as the young woman looked around the room one last time.

Inuyasha watched carefully, noting the hints of nervous energy flowing from Kagome as she nodded, seemingly going along with leaving the hospital. She was finally discharged, and one would think it would be a happy moment, but based on those subtle changes, he suspected otherwise. Inuyasha didn’t want to alarm anyone, so he dutifully followed behind, carrying Kagome’s small suitcase. He could ask her later in private.

The entourage that joined in were, he, Miroku, and Sango trailing Mrs. Higurashi and Kagome in separate vehicles back to the Higurashi residence. They’d left the decision up to Kagome as to where she wanted to go, and she’d picked her childhood home. Inuyasha couldn’t say he was happy about it, but it was understandable under the circumstances. It would be too weird for her to go to their home so soon when he was still really just a stranger in her eyes. So, to make the transition as painless as possible, they’d brought all the things Kagome would need and placed them in her old bedroom. Sango helped to gather and pack all the clothes, toiletries, and any other items she was sure a young woman would want to have. While he and Miroku did the heavy lifting and transporting of the boxes. It was… painful for Inuyasha. To see their shared bedroom barren of half its contents as if they’d broken up for good. The room was cold enough, and the emptiness now exacerbated. Tonight, would surely be the hardest-to-date to go home.

But alas, Inuyasha knew he couldn’t let this pain consume him. He was making great strides in endearing himself to Kagome again, so to risk it all by letting emotions ruin it, would be the stupidest thing in the world. Three and a half months of the loss of Kagome’s presence already felt like a lifetime of heartache he wouldn’t wish upon his worst enemy. Well, except for the one who helped to put him in this mess. But it wasn’t fair to blame it all on his ex. He was a big boy. The burden was just as much if not more on his shoulders. So, Inuyasha chose to use that acknowledgment to motivate him and not let the pain drag him down. This was a second chance at a redemption he was lucky enough to be granted. Though it was extremely awkward at times. Kagome’s personality was fully intact and still very much the sweet, yet feisty brunette that had stolen his heart. Dealing with everything really brought back all those feelings one gets when starting a new relationship. Excitement and dread to not do or say the wrong thing or make a bad impression. He wasn’t in the same depressed and angry mental space as when they’d originally met, but the anxiety was definitely back full force.

Once they were all settled at the Higurashi home, Mrs. Higurashi and Sango went off to the kitchen to prepare a dinner for everyone. Miroku stayed in the living room tending to the twins, which left Inuyasha alone with Kagome. With her consent, they were in her bedroom, he helping her to carry and move boxes, or put away items to make it feel like home again.

“Is it weird,” Kagome questioned as they puttered around the room. “Being in here for you?”

“A little,” Inuyasha answered honestly. “I’m comfortable in here after all these years, but it’s different now.”

The woman nodded her head quietly, clearly in the throes of her own thoughts. “My mom mentioned you stayed for a short time in here… after the accident.”

Inuyasha stopped moving and turned to Kagome. “I did. I hope that wasn’t a problem.”

Again, Kagome shook her head without a verbal response. “It’s just— strange, even for me to be here.” She continued after a long, exhaling pause. “My last memory is of the college dorms, so to move straight back here is weird too.” She sat down on her bed. “I… feel like I’m not supposed to be here.”

He moved closer, sitting on the bed too, but leaving an arms-length between them. “Stop me if it’s too uncomfortable, but… I couldn’t help but notice you seemed sad or nervous back at the hospital. I didn’t wanna say anything with everyone around, but… if you wanna talk, you know I’m here for you, right?”

Kagome slowly nodded. “You’re right, Inuyasha. I was nervous about leaving. Not because I wanted to stay, just nervous about what to expect once I did leave. I’ve been trying so hard to process everything going on and to stay positive, but it’s not always easy.”

Inuyasha could feel a verge of tears building in the woman’s eyes and it sent a pang to his heart. He hated seeing her have to go through all this. Hated himself for having caused all of this. It brought a wave of his own tears to the forefront. “I’m so, so sorry Kagome,” his head and ears drooping. “But I promise to help you through this. Even if at the end we part ways, I just wanna make sure you get through this.”

“I know,” she smiled weakly. “I believe you, and you don’t have to keep apologizing Inuyasha. You didn’t intend for any of this to happen.”

He made a bold move and reached out, placing his hand over hers. “Could you tell me, what is scaring you the most right now?”

Kagome paused. “Mmm, it’s the not recognizing things. I’m sure there’s been changes during the time I can’t remember. What if I don’t recognize places around town and get lost? What new technologies have popped up? There’s just all these unknowns— and it kind of scares me a little. It feels… like I’m all alone even though I’m not alone. Does that make sense?”

“I think… I understand. Everyone around you knows what’s going on but you don’t, so it makes you feel alone?”

Kagome snapped to attention with excitement. “Yes! That’s exactly it!”

With no chance to process the elation, Inuyasha found himself being hugged by the woman so tightly, he could do nothing but melt from the contact. His arms wrapped around her to return the gesture, pushing all the calming energy could into Kagome that he could. It felt… breathtaking to be in her arms again and he couldn’t stop himself from burying his face into her hair, smelling the strawberry scented shampoo he’d grown to love on her.

When Kagome finally pulled away, a few happy tears trickled down Inuyasha’s face. Concerned, she reached out to his cheek and wiped them away. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“No, no,” his hand covered the one resting on his cheek as he smiled weakly, struggling to hold back the dam. “I’m sorry for crying, it just… I just,” a few more tears rolled down. “I missed you so much Kagome. I-I know this is much harder on you, but Kami I just miss you so, so much.” That was it, Inuyasha couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. “It hurts to not come home to you. I swear I’m gonna insane sometimes wishing I could go back in time, so the fight and accident never happened. When you hugged me, it just felt so comforting, that…” his words choked, and all he could do to stop from rambling was let out a long sigh.

Kagome smiled and smoothed her thumb against his skin, “it’s okay to let it out, Inuyasha. I get it. This is hard on both of us. I’ll admit it’s a little surprising to me too how natural it feels to be here with you.”

“You’ve always been the better person,” Inuyasha mumbled out. “The one who could always make things better. Me, I’m just winging it.”

“I think you’re doing just fine,” she smiled. “One step at a time, right?” Kagome cupped both his cheeks. “Like you said, we’ll get through this. I have faith we will.”

Inuyasha nodded quietly, sniffling the last remnants away. “I really don’t deserve you Kagome.”

“Hush. I saw something special in you once, and based on what I’m seeing now, I was right. Do you really think I’d have given you the time of day if I didn’t think you deserved my attention?”

“No…”

“Exactly.”

That made Inuyasha snort a laugh. “Kami. This is why I fell so hard for you. You were never too afraid to call me out on my bullshit!”

Now it was Kagome’s turn to blush. “Thanks… I guess?”

Inuyasha smiled and chuckled. “I’m glad we could talk to each other like this again.”

“Me too,” Kagome smiled.

After that night, every night, Inuyasha called Kagome after dinner to see how her day went and to tell her, “sweet dreams.” During the first few calls, there were more silent moments than talking moments despite their breakthroughs, but it was improving. They’d play games like 20 questions to spark a conversation, which often did the trick, or if in a particularly good mood, a mild form of truth or dare. It was a great way for Kagome to ask anything she wanted to of Inuyasha and no matter how tough the subject matter was, he’d answer them truthfully. She was having to learn about him all over again, so he did his best not to get upset if Kagome didn’t know something as mundane as his favorite brand of chips, or what his favorite color was. Sometimes he was tempted to test her memory to see if telling a falsehood would gain a pause, but in the end thought against it. He couldn’t risk upsetting her, even if it was meant as a tease.

As he sat on the Higurashi’s couch next to Kagome fidgeting with his fingers, the nervous energy was obvious from both sides. Inuyasha pressed forward despite the butterflies in his stomach threatening to unfurl his breakfast.

“No really, you tell me what you’d like to do?” Even though Inuyasha knew a lot about Kagome, he didn’t want to behave as if he did.

“But you’re the one asking me out on a date. Shouldn’t you have something planned in advance?” Kagome retorted in exasperation of the ridiculous back and forth going nowhere.

“I figured it would be nicer if you chose.”

“Oh.” Kagome paused. “I guess I assumed since you know me already, you’d just pick a place I like.”

“I mean, I could, but I didn’t think that would be very fair.”

“Inuyasha, it’s okay. I promise. I accepted the fact you know a lot about me, so something as simple as dinner or a date, it’s okay to choose.”

“Sorry, I just didn’t wanna do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

Kagome smiled and took his hand. “And I appreciate it, really I do. But could we just pick somewhere already? I’m starving!”

Inuyasha chuckled, his frayed nerves dwindling away. “Yes, m’lady. There’s a new sushi place that I think you’ll like…”

On his days off, they went out together on dates, sometimes him choosing the location, sometimes her. Since she couldn’t remember the last 5 or so years, there were several changes around town that were new to Kagome. Initially, she’d worried before leaving the hospital about how she’d feel about all the changes, but those concerns had melted away, and her excitement often became infectious for Inuyasha. She’d drag him around to see the sights, almost wanting him to show her all the changes. He rarely went out, so there was a lot for him to learn too. Baby steps were the name of the game. Simple dates, no touching yet, not even hand holding, letting Kagome guide the pace. Inuyasha also found their times together becoming more exciting to him. Over time, all relationships tend to find a groove where one feels comfortable, settled. Not that there’s no excitement anymore, but it’s just not the same as the rush of a brand new relationship with all the what if’s, the embarrassing moments, and heart racing unknowns.

No matter how many dates they’d gone on so far, each time Inuyasha pulled up to the Higurashi home, the same flutter of energy pulsed inside of him as if his inner demon just couldn’t wait to see its chosen mate again. Inuyasha was still nervous about the future, but so far things were going great between he and Kagome. Who would have thought such a horrible circumstance could lead to this kind of exhilaration? Because he swore… he was falling in love all over again.

[fixxofvixx]

Stay With Me - Demon Leo Au - Chapter 28

Good evening! I hope all of you are well and happy! I have a bit of an update for you! Lots of things in this chapter! Let me know what you think and enjoy!

😈😈😈😈😈😈😈

"Step aside, demon.  We will rid you of the witch that has threatened the forest and the village."

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

"The what?"  You tried to peek around Leo but he kept you firmly behind him.  You were only able to see through the space between his body and arm.  There were mostly men from the village but a few women had joined the group.

Leo snapped the arrow in half like in one hand it was a toothpick.  Black smoke swirled around him and his hair was wild.  He was livid.  You didn't need to see his face, you knew what it looked like.  The evidence was on the now frightened villagers.

"Who wants to explain why you are trying to kill my woman?"  His voice was full of quiet rage.  You knew he was trying to hold himself together so he wouldn't create a massacre.

"The woman you have sheltered has been making threats upon the village!"

"She has cursed our livestock and our crops have died out almost overnight! 

"She said the forest was next and she planned to burn it all!"

Several villagers spoke up at once.  They started murmuring amongst themselves until they were shushed by someone in the back.

"My good townspeople, allow me to explain to the demon."  Norman stepped through the crowd and Leo tensed.

"You have guts stepping foot into my forest."

"I don't b-believe you have a deed for this area of land." Norman stood with his arms at his sides and his hands were clenched into fists.   

"Do I need one?" 

"You--!  Nevermind, that is a matter for another day.  Yesterday morning, this little--!"

"Careful….you are in my domain."  Leo warned Norman and the man visually paled.

"This….girl...ahem...came into the village and threatened everyone in exchange for money!  When we refused, our crops began withering and the livestock began to get sick.  She said the forest was next and that she would burn everything to the ground!" Norman's face was beet red by the time he had finished explaining.

"I did no such thing!"  You yelled in frustration as you came from around Leo.  

"Are you calling me a liar, you witch?!"  Norman started to come forward but wisps of black smoke curled around his ankles, cementing him to the ground.  Norman's face was as good as a tomato when he turned to Leo.

"Why are you protecting the one you told us to kill?!"

"And when did I demand her death?"  Leo crossed his arms over his chest and let out a short laugh.  His patience was wearing thin.

"This morning!  You came into the village and offered a large sum to rid the forest of the witch!" 

"Would you like to try and take her away from me?  I feel the need to bloody something."  Leo's smoke turned thicker and you could see his claws extend.  

"I saw you this morning!  I know you were there!  Stand back, this witch needs to die!"

Norman pointed at you and raised his rifle to prepare to shoot.

Leo advanced on him quickly, placing one hand on the rifle and the other around Norman's neck.

"The only place I've been lately is to the Underworld.  Would you like to go there?  I'm sure my brother will welcome you with open arms."

As you were watching Leo with Norman, you failed to notice one of the other villagers sneaking up behind you at the same time.  You screamed as an arm wrapped around your neck from behind and their other hand raised a knife.  You grabbed the man's wrist to keep him from bringing the knife down into your chest.

Leo noticed and tossed Norman like a ragdoll into the unsuspecting crowd.  Then he turned and advanced on the man holding you.

"It would be wise for you to release her.  I hadn't planned on killing anyone today but I am awfully hungry and I've got plenty of time.  So unless you want to die a slow and painful death, I suggest you let her go.   NOW!"  Leo's shout caused the man to falter.  He released you as if you were burning hot.  

Unfortunately, as he released you, the knife he had been holding sliced against your neck leaving a thin line of blood seeping from the cut.  You covered it immediately and turned to the man.  He looked to be about the same age as you.  He kept looking at the knife and then at you.  His face paled and he began muttering softly "sorry" over and over again.

That's when you realized something was off. 

The man's face no longer held the rage it did before.  Looking over at the crowd, they also seemed to be frozen in fear.  They all had eyes on Leo, wondering what he would do.  They almost looked confused about the whole situation.  

Leo was at your side in an instant, covering your neck with his hand.  The cut healed quickly but you held his hand against you even after it was back to normal.

"I'll kill them all."

"Wait."

"They'll try again, Y/N."

"No, look at them.  They look so confused.  Almost like they don't know why they're here.  Do you think someone forced them?  Is it possible to take over someone's mind?"

"Does it matter?  They tried to kill you."  He looked over at the crowd and spoke in a louder tone. "They deserve death for trying to harm you."

The group was visibly frozen and you couldn't help but feel that killing them would solve nothing.

"I don't think they intended for things to happen this way."

"I don't feel like letting them live."  Leo looked over the crowd but you knew he wouldn't do anything if there was a possibility that they had been sent here unwillingly.

"Then go after the one who made them that way."

"I know who did it."  Leo walked a few steps towards the crowd and you tensed along with the villagers. "Go home and never step foot in my forest again."

Fearful mutterings of "yes", "how did we get here", and "I thought we were dead" filled the crowd as they quickly dispersed.  Norman was unconscious and had to be carried out by a few villagers.  The man who had held the knife to your throat walked by and apologized again before scurrying off.

Leo turned back to you but his face was cast in shadows.  You walked over to him and wrapped your arms around his waist.  

"Was it your mother?"

"Yes.  I'm sorry, my love."

"It's not your fault."  You looked up at him and smiled.  "Can she really impersonate people?"

"Only people she has touched before.  My five brothers and I all inherited different traits from our parents.  Four of us, Ravi, Hakyeon, Ken, and I received most of the same powers my father had.  Hongbin and Hyuk received more from my mother.  Impersonation, brainwashing, and even hallucinations are all included in their abilities."

You thought for a moment and then remembered your dream.

"Leo, do you think she can do the same thing with dreams?"

"Yes…..I know she can."

"Is that what you thought all along?"

"I suspected but was hoping she hadn't.  What happened in the village solidified my suspicions.  She's aiming to get rid of you but I'll be damned if I let her."  Leo leaned down to kiss you.  He pulled you closer and wrapped a hand around the back of your neck.

*Hang on tight.*

He was still kissing you when you heard his wings unfurl from his back.  Soon after, you were both in the air.  Leo's kiss swallowed the short scream that came from your lungs.  Your arms wrapped around his neck in a tight hold.  His arms went around your back and under your legs.  

You pulled away from his lips and took a deep breath.

"Where are we going?!  Why can't we teleport?"

"I want to take a look in the village and I can't hide us with a cloaking spell as quickly if we teleport in."

"Cloaking spell?  Oh! Like the one you used when I first met you?"

"Yes, that's the one.  I want to see for myself what my mother has done."  Leo' wings flew quickly and before you knew it, he was descending upon the highest point in the village.  Which happened to be the belfry of the church.  As soon as he landed, the familiar shimmer of the spell surrounded you both.  You smile as you thought about when you’d first met him.  You had never been anywhere near the church as you were alway working for your parents and unable to attend.  

"Are...you allowed to be near a church?"  You almost laughed when a thought crossed your mind of him dancing around because his feet were burning due to the sanctity of the church.

"I'm not evil, Y/N.  And I'm not the devil himself."  He smirked and folded his wings.  

"So...Ravi couldn't?"

"Ravi isn't the devil either.  We're all just demons."

"But, he rules the underworld."

"A job he rightfully applied for and received.  He wasn't born into it.  Of course, he's been the ruler down there for so long, most people don't even remember that."

“I can’t imagine Ravi applying for a job.”  You giggled and Leo sent you a playful glare.

"Come on, let's take a closer look."  Leo curled his arm around your waist and jumped down from the belfry.  You covered your mouth with your hands to keep you from screaming.  

Once you reached the ground, you turned to Leo and glared.  His only response was to lean forward and plant a short kiss on your lips.  You vowed to get revenge later.

"Just stay behind the shimmer."  You nodded at his instructions and grabbed his hand.  You both walked towards the town square, mud and stone crunching under your feet.  You tried to step quietly but there was no way to mask the sound.

"They won't be able to hear you or see you, remember?  Just walk and talk comfortably."

The closer you got to the town square the more you could hear the townspeople talking amongst each other.

“What are we going to do?  The crops were almost ready to harvest.”

“I was going to milk the cows this afternoon but it’s like their udders are all dried up.”

“Papa, why can’t we get the apples from the orchard?  Mama promised to make us an apple pie.”

Your heart broke for the people around you.  You turned to Leo and tugged on his arm.  He, too, had been looking around the people.

“Leo?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you able to do anything for them?”

“Well….I’m not sure.  I don’t really have any incentive now do I?”  He smiled at you but you knew what he was hinting at.  He was a powerful demon with a one-track mind.

“I'm sure we could find some kind of incentive for you….back home…..in a certain bedroom."  You blushed and smiled.

Leo pretended to contemplate the offer and then snapped his fingers.  He nodded and then grabbed your hand.

"Done."  

You felt a new type of giddiness knowing that Leo was willing to help the people in the village.  You were sure he would have done it regardless but he never missed a chance to flirt.  He was so unlike his parents and you were thankful for that.

You walked for a bit in the town to make sure there was no other damage.  The sign post in the town square somehow still had the wanted poster looking for the she-demon who sent her wolves after the hunters.  You almost laughed.

"I can't believe this is still here."

Leo read the notice and then chuckled.

"Hmm….we should be mindful in the forest, then.  That she-demon might pop out at any moment and attack."  Leo snapped his fingers and the poster was instantly in his hands.  "I'm going to keep this as a reminder to be careful."

You simply rolled your eyes at his antics.

"Papa! Papa!" A little girl came running into the square holding the biggest carrot you had ever seen.  She looked around and spotted the person she was looking for.  It was the man who had been so depressed earlier about his crops.

"Sweetheart," the man hurried the little girl who held up the carrot proudly, "where did you get that?"

"Everything is back, Papa!  All our crops got back!  I was running around the field and I seen this bit of orange in the ground and so I looked at it and it was a carrot!  I had to ask Mama to pull it out cause I wasn't big enough.  Mama said all the crops was big.  She says you should come home so she sent me."

The man stared in disbelief for a moment and then picked his little girl up and swung her around.  She squealed with excitement as her father ran down the street with her in his arms.

You turned to Leo almost in tears.  Even Leo was smiling at the little girl.  

You then heard the people around the square talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"What do you think happened?"

"Do you think our crops came back too?  I should check!"

"I wonder if it's just crops…..perhaps the livestock is okay now."

Suddenly, all the people who had been so dispirited quickly and hopefully ran out of the square.  Leo had to grab you quickly and teleport to the top of the church before you both got trampled.

You turned to Leo and placed a kiss on his cheek.  He turned his head and smiled.

"Happy?"

"Very much so.  Thank you, Leo."

"I should have known you'd help those humans."  You looked around Leo and saw a woman standing there.  She was elegantly tall.  Her long legs were surrounded by a nearly sheer shirt and only covered the important areas.  Beautiful long hair the color of the moon cascaded down her back.  Her arms were crossed over her more-than-adequate chest.  She looked at you and then focused on the feather you wore in your hair.  After she realized what it was, she leveled you with a glare that would have caused you to hide in a corner if Leo wasn't holding you.

"What are you doing here, Cresenda?  Shouldn't you be at home taking care of that child you keep trying to convince everyone is mine?"

[thewatermelloncat]

Backstage (Rosénali CH 8)

CH1, CH2, CH3, CH4, CH5, CH6, CH7

Summary: On the first night of the school production, Rosé breaks a promise that she made herself. Her friends all help to piece her back together.

Boarding School AU

Kinda Pastel/Punk AU

Author’s Note: This makes me sad because it’s done… well sort of. Since I loved writing this so much and I can’t let it go just yet, I want to write an epilogue to round it off. So, if anyone has any suggestions of what they absolutely need to see before it closes off, let me know: leave me a comment or send me a message. This has been the longest series that I have ever done and I’ve loved every moment of it. It’s funny because this was only supposed to be a two-chapter thing but I just kept on writing. I’m proud of it and I’m extremely grateful for all of those who have followed along beside me. Thank you so much for your feedback and support.

Warnings: None

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

She loves this, everything about this. Hearing the chatter of the waiting audience from behind the curtains so thick with dust that you can smell it. Heat from stage lights beating down and casting an array of colours across the empty stage before they go down. Then as the lights dim, the audience hushes.

Suspense grows as she waits in the quiet of the wings, looking out to her mark on the stage where she will be within seconds. There is a nervous energy around her but it’s what she thrives off of, she knows how to harness it and craft it into a performance where she will give everything until she’s spent.

And that’s what she does when the lights turn back on. She doesn’t think twice about taking her cue because it’s all been practiced before. Every note she reaches, every dance move she hits, every line she says she delivers flawlessly.

She cherishes the looks she shares with the other performers, secret glances between them that the audience can’t see. This is their moment on stage and they’ll share the excitement together. Then the scene is over, her last line delivered and she turns to the wings.

Initially, Rosé hadn’t cared about the assigned seating and that she’d been told that her parents would sit front and centre. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t look, so it didn’t matter. Though as the curtains of the wings close around her, her curiosity gets the best of her and she turns to glance behind her before she can stop herself. Her eyes falling on two empty seats.

In the quiet of the wings her breath catches and she doesn’t bother to look back. There is no point in checking, and if she was right, the observation would only hurt more. Then she gasps a small breath in and lets her feet carry her on habit back to the greenroom. Blindly her hands push the doors to the hallway open and she looks down at the ground, her eyes stinging as she watches the lino change from black to blue.

Around her people quietly file about going from one room to the next in search of costume pieces or their script to read over one last time, but she pays them no mind. Angling her shoulders every now and again to let them past as she walks along slowly, not looking up.

“Rosé?” a familiar voice sounds from behind her and she looks back to see Denali’s concerned expression.

Rosé draws in another shaky breath but she can’t find it in herself to say anything.

In an instant Denali has closed the gap between them and is holding Rosé’s hand, running her other hand up and down her arm. “What’s wrong?”

“They di” – Rosé cuts herself off as she swallows convulsively against her stinging throat to keep from crying. “They didn’t come.”

Denali’s disappointment is visibly written on her face as she sighs deeply. “Maybe they’ve just” –

“Nali, just don’t” Rosé shakes her head, holding the palm of her free hand beneath an eye like she can hold her tears in. There is no point in Denali making excuses for them when none of them would be true.

“Oh, Rosie. I’m so sorry.”

Rosé only sniffs heavily and looks away, biting at the inside of her cheek.

“Hey” Denali reaches her hand up to the back of Rosé’s head, making her look back at her. “It’s okay. You can let yourself cry.”

“I can’t. Not now.”

“You can and you need to” Denali remains firm with her. “There are still a couple of scenes before you need to be back, and Mik will fix your make up.”

Rosé would have continued to argue but by the time Denali has finished speaking a tear has already fallen. She sniffles and quickly brushes it away.

“See?” Denali says gently as she uses the pad of her thumb to brush away a second. “It’s going to eat away at you if you don’t let it out.”

Rosé gives in and nods in acceptance, letting Denali take her by the hands and lead her through the hallways.

“Let’s find a place to sit down.”

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

They’d found an empty dressing room where Denali had sat Rosé down against a wall and watched her fall apart. Neither of them said anything since there was really nothing to say but Denali would swoop in with a folded tissue to catch Rosé’s tears every now and again.

“Hey, someone said that you guys were in here and that…” the door opens to reveal Liv leaning into the room. Her voice faltering when she sees Rosé leant against the wall with Denali crouched in front of her. “Oh, Rosé” she sighs, having been told how she was looking upset, and she pieces the story together.

The girl in question ignores her as she takes a tissue from Denali to soak up a few stray tears.

Though Denali turns toward her, asking softly, “can you go get Mik for us, please?”

“Of course” Liv nods before she steps backward and disappears out the door.

Once the door closes Denali turns back to Rosé. “You going to be alright to sing?”

“I think so” Rosé says before barely holding back a laugh because she most certainly is not. Her voice sounding wrecked from crying. “Hold on” she sniffles grabbing a few tissues from the box on the floor before blowing her nose a few times. After an experimental sniff, she breathes out.

“Better?” Denali asks.

“Yeah” Rosé nods, her voice sounding much clearer as the door flies open.

“Oh, gorge” Mik exclaims sympathetically, looking at Rosé’s red eyes and tear-stained face.

“I’m sorry” Rosé apologises as Mik rushes to take Denali’s place in front of her.

“For what? For actually having feelings?” Mik scoffs, setting her make up kit down beside her and opening it out. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix you right up.”

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

Mik had fixed her up just fine. Liv hanging out in the doorway looking at one of the monitors showing the happenings on stage, giving them rough estimates of how much time they had left every now and again. Mik’s work had been finished quickly and Denali had walked Rosé over to the backstage doors with time to spare.

One thing Rosé was grateful about was retaking the stage and being able to forget about everything else. Apart from the words Denali had said to her before she’d stepped backstage.

“This moment is yours, Rosé” she had told her, stopping Rosé before she could push the doors open and taking both of her hands in her own. “This is your stage and everyone who is here will see that.”

She’d let those words guide her through her performance, numbing the sting of her parents’ rejection and reminding her to live in the moment. A moment where nothing else mattered and she missed it when it was over.

 Adrenaline turned into relief as the curtains closed and they all relaxed from holding their final positions. Applause still thundered from behind the thick red fabric as they turned to file out from the wings. Smiles were traded with short sentences of commendations as they got changed out of their costumes and carefully hung them up for the performance the following night. Then after they were given the go ahead, they filed out into the auditorium to meet up with their parents.

Denali had pulled her parents over to meet Mik, and Olivia’s who were already standing close by, the two families having known each other for years. For a while they trade small talk, getting to know Denali’s family, and Denali’s family theirs. Though Denali can’t help but feel something is missing.

Looking around she spots Rosé a little way off, talking to a shorter woman she thinks she recognises from the diner she went to with her parents all those months ago. A smile is on her face as she speaks to the woman, seeming to complement her outfit as she looks the well-tailored dress up and down. Then they hug and pull apart, nodding their head to one another with a few more words before the woman walks away.

“Rosé!” Denali calls out across to her once she had been left standing by herself.

At the sound of her name, Rosé looks over to Denali leading her parents away from another group toward her. Then she smiles in recognition and helps to close the gap between them.

“Rosé, these are my parents” Denali introduces as if Rosé doesn’t know already.

“Hi” Rosé turns on the charm, extending her hand out to shake each of theirs.

She operates on habit, accepting flattery over her performance and trading complements back when she can. It isn’t until she notices a bunch of flowers being held that she steps back, unsure why they are so close to her.

“Are you not going to take them?” Denali asks her, laughing lightly.

Rosé blinks at her. She’d noticed Denali holding her own bunch of flowers but hadn’t paid any mind to the other that her parents had held onto, seemingly for safe keeping.

“They’re yours” Denali prompts, taking the flowers from her mother’s hands and pressing them into Rosé’s.

“Oh, um… I, uh” Rosé fumbles as she steps back again, looking at the flowers like she doesn’t know what to do. Then her jaw starts to quiver and she bites at her lip. “This is… really nice.”

Denali laughs at the only words Rosé can seem to form and steps forward to pull her friend into her arms when she sees tears welling in her eyes.

“Thank you” Rosé says weakly into Denali’s shoulder, knowing that Denali had secretly planned this.

“It’s no problem, Rosie. You deserve them” Denali says as she steps back. Smiling wider as she watches Rosé hold the flowers in both hands like they are the most important thing she has ever been given.

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

The quiet of the diner is stark in contrast to the buzzing of the auditorium when she had left it. Though it is relaxing of sorts. Able to settle into the familiar routine of cleaning tables and refilling coffee mugs. Standing behind the counter, Rosé restacks a pile of menus when the bell sounds as the door opens.

“I’m sorry, Rosie. I tried to get them to go somewhere else, but they really liked it here” Denali apologises as she approaches the counter.

“Well, if you go somewhere else, I will take it as you not wanting to be around me” Rosé brushes off with a teasing smile, handing a couple of menus over to Denali’s parents, then to Mik and Olivia as their families follow in after them. “Sit where you like.”

 “That’s quite a crowd” Tamisha hints suggestively when Rosé walks back into the kitchen to rinse off a stack of serving trays.

“Especially for a week night” Rosé responds flatly, knowing what Tamisha is getting at.

“I asked if you wanted tonight off after your first show and you said you didn’t want it” Tamisha reminds her.

“I know” Rosé acknowledges as she leans back against the bench. “And I told you that it’s normally just the last show that we celebrate.”

“Looks like they’re doing something anyway” Tamisha says as she looks out the small window of the kitchen into the dining area.

Rosé follows her gaze, smiling as she watches her friends laughing and reaching over each other to point at things on the menu. “And I’ll do something with them after the last one.”

“Go out to them.”

“Do you want me to take both drink and food orders at once?” Rosé asks picking up a notepad.

“Without the pen and paper” Tamisha sighs, taking the stationery out of Rosé’s hands and putting them down on the bench.

Rosé blinks at her then looks confused.

“Go” Tamisha prompts, miming shooing her out the door. “I’m giving you the rest of the night off.”

“I said I’d work” Rosé doesn’t move.

“Take it as my gift to you. For inviting me to a wonderful performance which I could see you worked very hard on.”

Rosé breathes out a quiet laugh as a smile spreads on her lips.

“Just go” Tamisha prompts again after watching Rosé try to figure out words to say. This time actually shepherding her toward the door. “And take this off” she pulls at the string of Rosé’s apron.

Rosé scoffs as she reaches behind her to undo the string before pulling the apron off. “Thank you” she turns around to face back to Tamisha, folding the apron before placing it down on the bench.

“Ain’t nothing” Tamisha dismisses. “Go have fun.”

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

At the table Denali had settled on what she wanted minutes ago and is zoning in and out of Mik and her dilemma of whether to get the pancakes because she liked them so much when Rosé had brought some back to the dorms, but then that means she’s already had them.

“Why don’t you just get the pancakes and I’ll get the French toast and we can go halves?” Liv suggests and settles as Denali looks away to Rosé having a conversation over at the counter.

Though she truly had been embarrassed about her parents insisting on coming here, it was more so out of making Rosé feel uncomfortable and like they were intruding on her, but she didn’t seem to mind. And now that they are there, Denali really does like the idea of spending time in a place with Rosé, even if she can’t actively hang out with them.

Maybe it’s this sentiment that has Denali hopeful when she watches Rosé take off her apron and make her way over to them with a smile. Even before she speaks, Denali has already slid over on the bench, making a free space right beside her.

“Got room for one more?”

Epilogue

[spruceplank]

I told you I was brave but I lied

AN: based on this post by @blocklasagna

Or the AU from the time after Wilbur’s death and before Tubbo’s peaceful driven presidency can really begin because rebuilding has just started: The universe takes Tommy from Dreamsmp and asks the admin of Hermitcraft to help him heal. Cue Tommy now in Hermitcraft re-learning how to live again and not just survive because he deserves a chance to be a kid again.

ao3 || 4k words || First | Current | Next 

It's warm. He can feel cool air on his skin but for some reason he feels the warmth more. He feels safe. Safe in a way he doesn’t remember feeling for a long time now.  He can hear the whistle of wind and the occasional sound of flapping wings. There’s a steady heartbeat he can hear clearly nearby. This is the best dream he’s had in a long time. He doesn’t want to ever wake up.

When he wakes up he’s in a place he doesn’t recognize. It's bright but only in the way the sun catches on the yellow and white block pallet around him. Where is he? It's warm here, warm and bright. His hands catch on the grey blanket around him as he slowly sits up, hesitantly eying the area around him. The sound of footsteps catches down the hallway and he freezes in place. No, no, no, please not again. His hands curl into the fabric of the blanket and his panic is all but halted when he realizes there’s something on his wrist.

There on his left wrist is one of Phil’s wristbands. The red heart seems to help keep his own steady even though it's merely a picture. At least he thinks its only a picture, Phil had magic he didn’t usually understand on a good day. He slips a finger under the band and spins it around his wrist, making sure it's actually there and not some sort of hallucination. He catches the feeling of a piece of paper on the inside part of the wrist band. Slowly he turns his arm over and pulls out a small, folded up piece of paper from the space between his wrist and the band. Ignoring the way his fingers tremble slightly, he begins to unfold the paper to reveal a message.

Tommy,

I’m sorry to do this without asking you first but I feared that if I did not get you out of this smp asap I would lose another one of my bois to whatever has infected this server. I cannot say for certain where you will be once you wake up, but you will be safe wherever you are. I wish I could say all I want to let you know but time grows short and there is much to do. I will get your brothers back to normal I swear it. When it's safe again I will come for you. By wearing my wristband I will know you are safe and you are alive, just as you will be able to tell the same of me. I love you Tommy, and I hope wherever the universe has decided to send you will give you a chance to remember and experience the world as it should be, unaffected by whatever has dream’s smp. A world full of all the things you think are merely dreams. I love you Tommy, please never doubt that, and I'll come bring you home soon. 

Ph1lza

His heartbeat is echoing in his ears. Phil, Phil abandoned him. Something was wrong on the dream smp, no one actually hated him. Phil loved him. His brothers were in danger. His friends were in danger. Wilbur was dead and Techno had killed him. Phil left him to keep him safe. Phil loved him. He was all alone now.

Someone clears their throat way too close to him. Immediately he crumples up the paper and swallows it whole. Ow, his throat is scratchy already before eating paper so that doesn’t help it in the slightest. 

“Oh my goodness me, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” An unfamiliar voice apologizes. He turns his head to look at a tall person in some sort of bed outfit? Yeah no, that's a bee outfit alright. It's a weird one, like it's painted armor of done sort but the colors don't lie. Especially not with an actual bee hovering next to the person. He narrows his eyes to try and make out the details of this person who isn't even that far away from him. Why is his vision blurry? 

He blinks rapidly, trying to get his eyes to focus but it doesn't seem to be working. He's so confused. Where is he? Why is he here? Who is the bee person? Someone is talking to him or maybe he's just hearing voices again. The entire world blurs together and his head throbs. Everything goes dark. 

Waking up again is painful. His head hurts, his throat hurts, and he feels so weak. Is he sick? He doesn't remember the last time he was sick. 

"Are you back with me now?" There’s that unfamiliar voice again. It's soft and warm like one of Wilbur’s sweaters he used to wear when he was small and they were much too big for him. He manages to open his eyes enough to make out the weird bee themed man at his bedside. Two bees over the man’s shoulders can be seen flying away out of the room when he starts to move.

"...hhhh?" Is all he manages to get out in some sort of whine. His mind nor voice wanted to cooperate with him. He felt like absolute shit.

"I'm assuming you have questions for me, yes?" The bee man asks and he nods slowly. He very much so would like some answers to whatever the fuck was going on. The bee man's expressions are hard to read through the dude's helmet with only the visor really giving him a glimpse of what bee man's expressions are. He thinks that the bee man is worried about him though because the bee man keeps talking, "Well I'll be happy to answer them if in exchange you could eat some of this food and at least drink some of a regen potion."

The bee man brings a pink potion and some bread into his field of view. The bee man looks at him expectantly and he is hungry and he feels like shit but he can't. Bee man has only been nice to him but he doesn't trust anyone. Not after Wil blew up L'manburg. Not after Techno killed him and his friends. He manages to get his voice to work enough to rasp out a response, "...No…" 

"No? Do you not feel like eating? You surely have not been eating enough with how light you are, never mind how pale your skin looks." The bee man looks worried and he feels bad for making the bee man worry. The bee man keeps talking, "Well I would rather you don't pass out on me again, gave me quite a scare there earlier. Is there something wrong with the food? Do you not like bread?" 

He loves bread. Bread reminds him of L'manburg in the very beginning. Of Niki's bakery and laughter. Of better and more peaceful times. He's dragged out of his thoughts when the bee man keeps talking. 

"I promise you it's rather good, I just baked it fresh myself earlier. It wouldn't hurt to at least give eating a try would it? I promise you it's edible, I'm not that horrible in the kitchen." Bee man looks at him and he feels like the bee man can read his mind because the bee man asks, "Would it make you feel better to see me eat some of it first?" 

He nods as much as he can without making himself dizzy. Which isn't very much sadly. Bee man doesn't take it personally though because bee man chuckles and he finds he doesn't mind at all because he knows the bee man isn't laughing at him. 

"All right then give me a moment," The bee man says and he's confused for a moment before the bee man lifts his hands to the sides of his helmet, flicks some latches, and pulls it off. There's a soft hissing noise as the bee man removes the helmet and sets it to the side. He watches the bee man pick up a piece of bread and rip a chunk of it off to eat. Purple eyes seem to glow slightly just like the purple freckles on the bee man's face that he hadn't seen before because of the helmet. The bee man eats and remains completely fine after the fact. He feels better about this now and the bee man offers him some bread while saying, "See, perfectly fine. I'd be happy to brew a new potion right here in front of you if you're worried about it as well."

"...Thanks.." He says as he slowly starts to eat the bread. He's starving but he knows eating too much too fast will only hurt in the long run so he forces himself to eat slower. There's simply silence that is strangely not uncomfortable while he eats the first loaf of bread. He thinks the bee man leaves the room for a moment, because when he looks back up after eating the bee man has out a brewing stand and potion materials. The materials for a regen potion. With the man is another few bees that the man waves away out of the room.

It's when he's handed the second loaf which he takes with another quiet thanks that the bee man breaks the silence, "You're quite welcome. Ah goodness me where are my manners, I did say I'd answer your questions. Well for starters my name is Xisuma and I'm the admin of the world we currently both are in which is called Hermitcraft."

The bee man, Xisuma, is the admin of this world. Hermitcraft is not a place he's ever heard of before. He only has more questions now, "How…?" 

"How did you get here?" Xisuma finishes, looking to him before continuing at his nod in response to the admin's question. "Well to be honest I only know so much about that myself. About two days ago I found you in the middle of nowhere in the deep End. You definitely could not have gotten there on your own nor could you have survived there on your own. I was tasked by the End itself to help you and keep you safe until your father could come for you. That is all I know."

That answer only makes him more confused, "The End?" 

Xisuma stops paying attention to making the potion and turns to him, the admin's helmet still being off allows him to see the expression of hesitation on the man's face before he asks, "What do you know about the End?" 

What does he know about the End? He has to think and recall all the vague memories he has of it as he lists them off slowly, "... Other realm… endless void… endermen… Dragon legend… Dad likes it there…" 

"Does your father have magic?" Xisuma's sudden question nearly makes him jump but he manages to only flinch instead. The admin doesn't comment on his reaction even though Xisuma has been watching him while he was listing things off.

Does Phil have magic? He has to actually think about the things Phil has or does that he's just accepted are a part of Phil that are probably not normal. There are only a few things he can think of off the top of his head for sure, "Wings… World walking… This is his…"

He holds up his left wrist to Xisuma so the admin can see the wristband he's wearing more clearly. Xisuma looks at the band for a moment before coming closer to inspect it. 

"May I?" Xisuma asks. He nods and goes to remove it but Xisuma holds up a hand to stop him, "You don't have to remove it, don't worry, I just want to get a closer look."

Xisuma gently takes his wrist and stares directly at the wristband. It's kind of weirdchamp but he doesn't find it all that awkward actually. After a few moments Xisuma hums in understanding, "Hardcore? So your dad's an ascended player then. An old one too at the likes of it. That explains it."

"Wha…?" He questions, not really processing what he's being told. How did Xisuma know Phil was a hardcore player? What was an ascended player? He knows Phil was old but he wasn't that old was he? 

"What do I mean?" Xisuma asks, once more chuckling at his rapid nod in response. He doesn't think Xisuma is making fun of him though and he likes the admin solely for that alone. Xisuma hums for a moment before beginning to explain, "Well not only did I find you, a human, out in the deep End where the air should be too thin for you to breathe normally. You were completely unharmed and not even seemingly aware of the coldness in the thin air of the void. The End, my home, went out of its way to call me back there and lead me to you. Something that no doubt cost quite a lot both from the universe and your father. The fact that you were not only there but alive and guarded by the void itself, means your father is loved quite a lot by the End. And because he loves you so dearly that means the End adores you just the same."

That's a lot to process at once. He finds himself blankly trying to make sense of all that information until he feels a warm potion bottle being pressed into his hands. He takes it without thinking and drinks some of it before stopping. Bleh, he forgot how bad these tasted. Thankfully it kicks in rather quickly and he manages to get enough of his brain back in working order to ask a full question this time, "... Then why, why am I here?" 

Xisuma looks at him expectantly and he drinks more of the potion without even thinking about it. Xisuma smiles with an approving nod and he ignores how he feels about that. He does not have the time he needs to unpack all of that right now because Xisuma starts talking again, "I don't want to make guesses or speculate on a situation I don't know anything of, but while I said you are unharmed I only meant physically and even then really only unharmed currently. You have a number of scars that some of the players in this world don't have despite a history of fighting. I was told to watch over you until your dad could come for you and while I can only make guesses as to what that entails I'm fairly certain your father wanted to make sure you were safe in his absence. As for what your dad would currently be doing, well I'd wager a guess it has something to do with all this corruption clinging to your code like pollen to a bee. Goodness me I haven't even really tried to deal with it because I know people are sensitive to having others digging through their code but this is ridiculous."

Phil wanted him to be safe. He doesn't know why but he believes it more when Xisuma says it than when he read it in Phil's letter. Phil wanted him safe while he was fixing something with the smp. But what was wrong with it? Corruption? Code? He has no fucking clue what Xisuma is talking about, "My code?" 

Xisuma nods at his question, "Yes your code. It's what makes you, well you. It's the thing that allows you to come and go between worlds at ease. To respawn upon dying and travel between overworld, nether, and end."

"I don't see anything." He says looking down at himself curiously. This is the first time he's ever heard of this code shit. 

"Would you like to?" Xisuma asks and it's not even a making fun of him question, but a genuine offer. He feels excited about learning something new and can't help the smile that breaks out on his face when he nods. Xisuma shakes his head amused but gestures to the half drunken potion in Tommy's hands, "Drink the rest of that potion and I'll show you."

"Bleh." He complains after finishing the potion. A small price to pay for cool new knowledge. Xisuma laughs at his response when the admin takes the empty bottle from him and he feels embarrassed about it. 

"You're right, they're not very good but trust me they used to be worse. Give me a moment to readjust the settings here for you." Xisuma explains, picking up his  discarded helmet from earlier before he fiddles with it. At least he wasn't making fun of Tommy's response or telling him he was just being a big baby. He decides to ignore those thoughts and thankfully is given the opportunity to when Xisuma says, "Alright, go ahead and put this on then."

He takes the helmet which isn't as heavy as he thought it would be. It's certainly not as heavy as netherite or even diamond. He swallows his sudden anxiety and sticks in on before he can overthink it. He looks around the room confused, "Nothing looks different?"

"Give me a moment here… " Xisuma says, trailing off as a screen pops up at the admin's finger tips. It just looks like a translucent blue screen which glows white wherever Xisuma taps it. It looks like the admin is typing but he can't see anything on the screen so it just seems random. Xisuma stops tapping at the screen finally to ask,"How about now?" 

He's confused because nothing changes at first. Then like a furnace roaring to life suddenly there's a flash of purple across the visor as everything suddenly gains a slight glow around it. It's pretty pog to see, "Woah"

"Okay so look at my arm here, what do you see?" Xisuma asks, holding an arm out between them. 

"An arm? Wait it's got all these little numbers popping up around it…" He watches amazed by the numbers. They radiate off the admins arm, briefly glowing white before vanishing from view. 

Xisuma nods,"Now look at your own arm, what do you see?" 

"It's also an arm. Wait the numbers, why are they all glitchy like that? What's this weird glow?" He likes this. He thinks it super cool right up until he looks at his own arm and it does not pass the vibe check. The numbers coming off his arm are like vibrating in the air. Appearing like static in a mess of colors before vanishing much sooner than the ones around Xisuma did. 

His attention is pulled away from it when Xisuma talks again and he turns to look at the admin who watches him with a look he can't decipher, "That, my friend, is the corruption."

"Oh… wait, the wristband…" He nods mutely and goes to pull off the helmet when the wristband catches his eye. It's surrounded in a soft, solid green glow with no glitchy numbers but rather opaque blue boxes. Like the screen Xisuma was tapping earlier but this one has white text on it. He looks at it and starts to read, "Health bar, monitors player's health and displays it. Currently tracking,... Dad."

"If you look at the details of how it works, you'd find it's a set. One wristband out of two. The other, is connected to you." Xisuma explains, tapping on the floating description next to the wristband. Indeed there is a whole description he doesn’t bother to read but he does notice the 1/2 in the corner of the tiny screen. 

That’s why he has one of Phil’s wristbands? So Phil can make sure he’s still alive? He hesitates for a moment but asks despite feeling stupid for asking, "So if I died he would know?" 

Xisuma hums, considering it before answering, "Not quite? Because your dad's a hardcore player it's set directly to his code. Hardcore players take damage directly to their code, or well a subsection of their code. Your dad has it wired so if either your own code or his code starts to become so corrupted then it will be displayed on the corresponding wristband. It's a genius design in these bands if the other makes the matching set I'm assuming it does."

He has no idea what they’re currently talking about. He has so many questions, "But he doesn't stay in his hardcore world?" 

"Even so, his base code is written for a hardcore player. It'd be the same as a hybrid player, where their base code contains their hybridness? That didn't work quite the way I wanted it to." Xisuma explains. When the admin looks at his face though it’s very clear that he has no idea what Xisuma is trying to tell him. He thinks about hybrid players, people who aren’t human, usually part mob or something and then thinks about the bee theme.

"Are you a hybrid player?" He asks before thinking about it. 

"That's quite the personal question." Xisuma answers looking surprised. 

"Shit my bad, … I wasn't aware it was personal. I just can't tell if the bee thing is an outfit or not." He explains hoping Xisuma won’t be too mad.

Xisuma looks even more surprised by him swearing, "Does your father know about your language?" 

"You sound like Bad does! Yes he knows and he doesn't care!" He groans, waving off the concern. He wasn’t twelve, what was wrong with swearing?

"Alright, alright just asking." Xisuma assures him before saying, "As for the bee theme, it is just an outfit."

"It is? But the bees seem to like you more than they even like… A friend…" He trails off looking down as his thoughts drift to the people he’s left behind back on the smp. Even if it had felt like a rift had been forming between him and Tubbo, they were still best friends. 

Xisuma doesn’t comment on his weird sentence thankfully, "Hmm well I can't give away all my secrets to someone whom I don't even know the name of." 

"Tommy."

"What was that?"

He looks up and repeats himself, "My name is Tommy."

"Well then Tommy, allow me to formally welcome you to Hermitcraft. I'll show you around and such tomorrow when I'm sure you won't faint on me, though for now I will be needing my helmet back." Xisuma says, gesturing to the helmet still on his head.

He pulls the helmet off and hands it over, "Oh shit, sorry." 

"No need to apologize, I did let you use it after all." Xisuma tells him, taking the helmet back and fiddling with it for a moment before putting it back on. It was strange to see the admin with the helmet on again but he guessed this was the usual norm. Xisuma stands up and checks something on his communicator. Idly he wondered where his own communicator had wound up before his train of thought is derailed by Xisuma offering, "Well if you feel up to it I could show you around my base here for today so you're not bored in bed all day."

That sounded so much better than being bored in bed all day. 

Xisuma's base was incredible. Not only did he base stretch through multiple tower buildings full of so many different redstone contraptions he had never seen, but he was the only one who even lived here! It was entirely his base and his base alone! And it was full of bees! They were so cuddly and soft! He didn't know bees could hang around people so much! Even Tubbo's bees got bored of them eventually and went back to doing bee things. And Tubbo's bees loved Tubbo! 

Not only that but the amount of resources the admin had! It was ridiculous! Phil was the only person he knew with this many resources. Well Phil and Techno but he didn't want to think about Techno so only Phil. 

At some point Xisuma went to go check something or whatever, he had stopped paying attention to the admin when a couple bees flew over and started buzzing around him. Eventually he sat down in this grassy area with the same bees who all piled around him. A fuzzy bee pile. It was nice. He really was curious as to why these bees were so friendly. But for now he wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Its warm, soft, and safe. He doesn’t even realize it when he falls asleep. 

[btsmosphere]

This is Rigged | KSJ

~summary: just a night in with your friends, courtesy of your boyfriend. Although he may have a slightly different grasp of the rules to you... lion shifter!Jin x reader ~word count: 1.9k ~shifter au, domestic fluff Rating: pg ~warnings: basically nothing, ...the game is rigged? allusions to Lion King spoilers, that’s not a real warning but better to be safe haha ~a/n: this is my secret santa gift for the incredible Eva @aroseforyoongi​!! I really wanted to write something you would like as a huge thank you not just from me, but from everyone at the net for being such an amazing team mom! Joining @thebtswritersclub​ is honestly one of the best things I’ve done this year and I appreciate all the hard work you put in to make it so amazing💖😊as for this fic, I have never written a shifter au before, but I couldn’t get over this idea, so I went with it. I hope you enjoy it!

“If you guys win?”

“You give me a kiss,” he said, smirking (you wish you could call it infuriating, but really, who were you kidding? It was endearing).

“Is that so?” you popped your hands on your hips, “and if I win?”

“Then… I’ll give you a kiss.”

“Ah,” you nodded, “I see. That is a good incentive. You’re on.”

Indulgent smile spreading onto his features, Jin leaned down with his lips puckered, but you ducked out of the way, holding him off at the shoulders.

“Not until I’ve won later!” you laughed, running from the kitchen and leaving him to fume loudly behind you.

“Yah! Don’t make me get my claws out!” he called.

But you knew he was already collecting up the dishes to wash.

Jin was sure he had convinced you to let your friends come for games night. In reality, you were going to say yes no matter what – they were your friends – but the promise of some love from your boyfriend was definitely worth stalling for.

To be honest, he was probably more than happy with giving you the love anyway. Aside from the obvious fact that he was your boyfriend, you had been working hard this holiday and he wanted to spoil you.

So some love, from him and from your friends, was certainly in order.

You knew his tactics for cheering you up. He probably knew you knew. But it didn’t matter – they worked perfectly every time, just as your ways worked for him when he was stressed or down. Good food was a must, and usually you two would end up on the couch as you stroked your fingers through his mane, hearing his deep purrs to affirm his lighter mood.

Of course Jin’s plan to make you feel great was a little more elaborate than that, only allowing you to snatch hugs while he called your friends and prepared what he called ‘nibbles’.

Eventually, you resigned yourself to stealing the snacks, although this didn’t go down well with Jin. After what must have been the sixth time he caught you sneaking away some popcorn, he promptly attacked you with a bear hug, pinning you onto the sofa while you squealed with laughter.

“I should have known,” you giggled, “all I had to do to get your attention was steal your food!”

“Okay, I get it,” he conceded, “let’s wait here until they arrive.”

Peppering your face with kisses, he slid off you and tucked you against his side. Though he flicked on the TV, neither of you paid much attention to it as you swung your legs over his lap and curled up against him, content with each other’s presence until the doorbell sounded.

Tae rummaged in the little basket Jin had prepared, eventually producing a card, being sure to cup his hands and hide it from sight. A smug smile stretched across his mouth.

Tucking the card into his pocket, he swaggered forwards to stand in front of you all; you were spread across the two sofas, according to which team you were on.

And so it began.

“A movie!”

“4 words!”

“First word…”

As he bent his knees, the shouting started straight away. Trying to focus on him instead of laughing at your friends, you watched as he settled in a crouching position.

“Kneeling!”

“Stooping!”

“Floor!”

“Why would it be the floor, Hobi?”

“Maybe it is, you never know!”

“It’s not the floor, look, he’s shaking his head!”

“Hey!”

Two ears had sprouted from Taehyung’s head, and now fuzzy stripes made themselves known on his face. Curling his fingers, he made a pouncing motion as he showed his claws.

“Scary?” Jimin guessed first.

“Hunter!”

Suddenly the frown melted from your face, the answer clear to you.

“Crouching! It’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon!”

Clapping his hands, Tae stood back up again, a proud smile coming your way. As he squeezed back in beside you on the sofa, you glanced at Jin. But though you had expected him to glare back at you from fear of losing your little game, however pointless it was, instead you were met with a cocky quirk of the eyebrows.

However, the way Yoongi’s eyes widened when he read his card gave you back some confidence. His cheeks turned bright red, but he huffed anyway and positioned himself in the middle of the room.

“I-I don’t know how to…”

“Yes you do Yoongi,” Jin urged, “get on with it.”

You weren’t sure you had ever seen a bigger eye roll than the one Yoongi gave, but he complied anyway.

“Okay… one word! Film?” Joon started, leaning forwards and studying Yoongi’s gestures.

“Nonono, that’s a musical,” Jungkook interrupted.

Yoongi nodded and moved on. Your eyes nearly popped out of your head when he turned to the side and started strutting, swishing his butt about with his hands on his hips. For someone who looked as embarrassed as he did right now, he was really going for it.

“Sexy!”

“Scarring?”

“Oh my god, is it Burlesque?”

“You’ve watched that?”

“It’s not Burlesque, look!”

The next to resort to shifting, Yoongi was now prancing around in a circle with his tail in the air.

“Tail! Bum!”

“Cat-rocity!”

“Jin, shut up-“

Even though you knew he was the most versatile shifter of the group, it still surprised you when he jumped and landed as a tabby cat, then a black one.

“Cheating! Cheating!”

“Hobi, Tae literally shifted in your round too.”

“I know! I know!” Jungkook leapt from his seat, hand dancing in the air, “It’s Cats! Is it Cats?”

“Yep,” Yoongi replied gruffly.

Turning back to his fully human form, he crossed his arms tightly as he sat back down.

“This is rigged!” you complained, “Charades is so much easier when you can change shape!”

“We can only change to one animal,” Jin replied as he got up to hand the basket back to your team.

“Sure does come in handy when your card is Cats, though,” you quipped in return, but Jimin had already got up.

Turning your attention back to the front, you watched as he swooped into the air, suddenly a small bundle of wings and feathers. Of course, he apparently had a tailor-made card as well. In fairness, it was quite entertaining.

Stopping in mid-flight, he brought a wing across his chest (over-dramatic, even as a bird) and flopped to the ground, landing in human form again, eyes closed.

“Death!”

“Getting shot!”

“Floor!”

“Hobi, what films do you know called ‘floor’?”

Back on his feet, Jimin was sticking his tongue out, waving his hands at the side of his head.

“Rude!”

“Childish?”

“A… a dead child!?” (he had fallen back to the floor)

“Time’s up!” Jin exclaimed then, eliciting groans from the three of you who slumped back on the sofa.

“Come on guys, it was ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’” Jimin got to his knees, “see? Mocking… bird… killed…”

“Too hard,” grumbled Tae.

Jin’s team was up next, and although they guessed Kung Fu Panda correctly, you thought it a fitting consequence that Joon was now stuck with fluffy black ears on his head. Usually a bear shifter, he clearly didn’t find it as easy as Yoongi to change it up.

Refusing to look at your scheming boyfriend, you focussed hard during the next round, not liking the fact his team was drawing ahead of yours.

However, their next turn crashed and burned, not without an intensely heated debate about the differences between Spiderman and Antman and how to suitably portray them.

Next up, you reached for a card, hoping you didn’t get a difficult one. If Jin could manage to fix the cards for the shifters among you, you hoped he would go easy on you.

Apparently not.

Despite not being able to change shape, you thought you acted out the Wolf of Wall Street pretty well. Jimin guessed it just in time, thankfully before you resorted to any of the… well, more explicit content.

Perhaps Jin had been hoping for that, you thought, smirking back at him as you took your seat.

By now the other team were back around to Yoongi, who, handily, had to act out the Cat in the Hat.

It didn’t take long.

From here on in, the game devolved into Jin’s laughter and your groans as the cards magically got harder for your team. Seriously, how can you go about Pulp Fiction in charades?

And then there was Jin, roaring in all his majesty and putting an imaginary crown on his head. There was no need for Jungkook to look so proud when he guessed the Lion King, anyone could have seen that. You were surprised at how long it took them, Jin having to throw himself from a cliff screaming and howling for them to guess it.

But who were you kidding? Of course your boyfriend was going to try to sabotage you, and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t having a good night, mind completely away from your work.

By the time you waved your friends off, you had laughed yourself sore at Hobi’s silly guesses and Jin’s dramatics, stuffed yourself with the damn nibbles and were ready to fall into bed and sleep happily.

On leaving the shower later on, you found Jin already waiting for you in bed. Seeing you, he grinned – that endearing infuriating grin – and spread his arms wide.

“Where’s my kiss, then?”

“No way!” you scoffed, sitting on the edge of the bed with hand over your heart, “you rigged that game!”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You liar, Mr Lion-the-Witch-and-the-Wardrobe. We totally would have won!”

“But you didn’t,” he smirked.

You narrowed your eyes at him, only to be assaulted by light tickles to your sides.

“Hey!” you gasped, suddenly finding yourself underneath him. And gosh, no matter how long you had been dating this man, he never failed to make the blood rush to your cheeks.

Triumphant smile adorning his face, he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips. They lingered there, and only pride stopped you pulling his face closer still. When he eventually pulled away, a grin spread onto your face.

“Ha! You kissed me! I did win!!”

Eyes widening almost comically, a look of anguish quickly took over Jin’s face.

“Aargh! Nooo!” he cried, melodramatic as always as he flopped back to his pillow.

The sound of your laughter was all that followed as you climbed into bed next to him, satisfied when his arms circled your waist to tug your closer. Until he started trying to pull you over to face him.

“Give me a kiss!”

“Nope!” you laughed, “I won!”

A valiant effort was made on your part to squirm away from your boyfriend, ending with several kisses to your face and neck as he aimed for, and missed, your mouth. Coming in breathless gasps, your laughter rang out in the dim room.

“Spoilsport,” he muttered eventually, though he failed to sound genuinely bitter.

Finally dissolving, you hid your giggles in his chest as you settled in his arms. It was only once your eyes slid shut that he whispered into your hair.

“Did you have fun tonight?”

Pulling away to look at him, even in the low light, you smiled widely.

“Of course I did! Thank you, Jinnie.”

(It’s safe to say you both kissed each other, in the end)

Thank you for reading! To Eva, happy holidays and I hope you liked it!💞

taglist: @aianloveseven​ @preciouschimine​ 

My main masterlist here

[we-are-inevitable]

new javid au?? you bet!!

hi ok so i thought of an au. basically a stereotypical hallmark movie but make it javid. this au featuures: jack “i was raised on a farm and practice saying important conversations to my cows” kelly and david “i went to college in a big city because i’m built different” jacobs

i might eventually write this out into a fic !! soooo,,

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

the jacobs family lives in a small town in a southwestern state.

david jacobs is, of course, a bit of an outsider in the town. he's not interested in farming or country things, he's more into the Big Outside World and wants to study something that isn't very "traditional" for his area (i'm thinking comparative literature or journalism (with a minor in queer studies that he Does Not Talk About because Hello, Small Town!)

anyways he has a devoted friendgroup that he spends a lot of time with:

sarah (david's twin sister, who isn't afraid to get into trouble and has never been very 'ladylike'; plays softball and runs track with tony)

jack (latino farm boy with a heart of gold, a shitty father and a hidden artistic talent; basically the glue that holds the group together)

katherine (a girl who constantly feels trapped in a close-minded small town and wants to get out; also into journalism)

tony (who they call racetrack because he's an all-state cross country runner; biggest dumbass but can solve any math problem ever)

sean (he's basically a god on the football field; extremely intelligent, can play at least 6 instruments; called 'spot' bc Freckles)

charlie (Literally The Best Human Ever; student council president, National Honor Society president, also in drama)

and albert (probably a stoner but he's chill and legitimately the funniest person; troublemaker but also a literal golden retriever)

there's more of them that float between friend groups, but, of course, Davey, Sarah, Jack, Katherine, Tony, Sean, Charlie, and Albert are the "core" friends.

but. surprise: davey is the only one who goes out of state for college.

the rest split up, but stay in state. Jack goes to a trade school (he takes welding courses at the local vo-tech), Tony and Sean end up going to a community college together about 30 minutes away from home, albert goes straight into the workforce under a relative's wing, and charlie, kath, and sarah all go to a big university about 3 hours away from home.

but not davey. no, davey goes to a school in new york, just because he needs to get away from everything.

because davey goes to school on the other side of the country, he rarely gets the chance to come home. this, of course, means that he slowly drifts away from all of his high school friends- aside from sarah, obviously, because he still sees family a lot, but he doesn't talk to anyone else that often... especially jack.

now, jack and david were never a "thing," but there was always some underlying tension. longing stares, late night talks on the roof of jack's barn, hangouts at the diner in town. they were inseperable, pretty much. by far the closest friends out of the group... until jack and katherine started dating. and, yeah, david is happy for them. he's so happy for them- he jumps up and down and screams and shouts when kath and jack show up to school one day holding hands- because jack and katherine have been his closest friends for YEARS. they’re their own little subgroup- Jack, Kath, and Davey- and they go pretty much everywhere together. sometimes sarah tags along too, so david isn't third wheeling, but most of the time it's just the three of them.

but it hurts so much, because david likes jack. but jack is apparently straight. so david goes away. goes to a school across the country instead of, yknow, facing his feelings.

FAST FORWARD TO ABOUT TEN YEARS LATER!!!

david is a successful 28 year old. after graduating from college (where he ended up double majoring in english and journalism, with a minor in queer studies), he works for a publishing company and has a pretty cushy job as an editor or something, idk yet, and he's doing really, really well for himself- until one day, he gets a call from his mom, Esther, and finds out that his father is sick. sicker than he should be, really, and they're just now convincing him to get checked out.

of course, after hearing the news, David is torn. his family is from a small town, so job opportunities are hard to come by... but regardless, within a little over a week, David has moved back home to help take care of things.

pretty soon, david has a job. thanks to his background knowledge in journalism and his writing ability, he's able to score a job from Joseph Pulitzer, who runs a few newspapers in their town and others in the surrounding area. he feels like he's gotten a whole new start from the past he disliked so much, until it all comes back to bite him in the ass when he runs into Jack Kelly at the co-op. 

"Davey?"

"Wha-- Oh! Jack?"

"Good to see ya, man! What are ya doin' back?"

"I moved back a few weeks ago. Missed home, you know?"

"Just couldn't stay away, could ya?"

"Guess not."

they talk for a few minutes, but eventually have to split apart- jack has to get his feed back to the farm before his girls, aka: his cows, get angry, and davey has to get the chicken scratch back home before esther maims him. they exchange numbers, though, and promise to catch up sometime soon.

after that encounter, Jack Kelly ends up showing up a lot more often. davey sees him all the time without meaning to. in line at the grocery store, at the co-op, stopped next to him at the one stoplight in the middle of town- everywhere. they're never able to talk, though; not until one evening, davey gets a call from jack. 

at first, conversation is a bit tense- but only because it's been so long since they've talked. once the ball gets rolling, though, they're laughing and carrying on like they never stopped talking. when the conversation calms down a bit, jack asks davey if he'd like to come over.

"i'd love to, if your wife doesn't mind having a guest, of course."

"i... actually don't have a wife."

"oh-- oh, i'm sorry, i just assumed-"

"nah, it ain't nothin' to twist yourself up about. you know where i live, yeah? swing by 'round seven."

"sounds like a plan." 

and that's how davey finds out that jack owns the land that his father's farm was on. the house, though, is different- and he soon realizes that jack has completely remodeled. the porch isn't rotting anymore, and the yard is green and trimmed, and the pond out in the back yard doesn't look god-awful anymore, much to davey's delight.

dinner goes off without a hitch. everything goes right, just like old times. they swap college stories. jack tells davey about inheriting the farm and making it his own (likely to scrub every piece of his father out of his life), while davey tells jack about the big city and how different it is being home. it's nice. comfortable. familiar.

jack and davey try to meet up as often as they can after that night, which is difficult considering their schedules, but they somehow make it work. they make it really work, in fact- they have dinner twice a week (usually with some old friends), they fish together (read: jack fishes while david sits on the back of his truck and talks to him), and they even go to rodeos and football games together (to look back on they're youth, of course). 

one night, about a week before jack's 29th birthday, they meet up at the bar in town and spend hours drinking beer and whiskey and talking about life. once they make it back to jack's house, they continue talking on the couch, but talking turns into cuddling ("just for old time's sake") and cuddling turns into confessions ("i only dated those girls because i thought it would help me get over you") and confessions turn into tears ("when he found out, he kicked me out of the house") and tears turn into promises ("i loved you then, jack, and i'll love you now") and promises turn into more. 

eventually, more turns a knee on a ground and a ring on a hand. eventually, a ring on a hand turns into a wedding. eventually, a wedding turns into memories, years down the line, while sitting on an old porch swing and watching grandchildren play in the front lawn.

the end !!!!

[inkribbon796]

Not So Baby Brother

Summary: Tubbo is trying desperately to bury his past, if only everyone around him wasn’t interested in digging back up in front of him.

A/N: Warning for hinted child abuse and endangerment. Both to Tubbo, Puffy, Schlatt, and to Michael. I try to keep the majority of it off screen or undetailed but it’s still there. These events coupled with his time with the SMP makes Tubbo in this AU who he is in the present. Which is emotionally withdrawn and prone to pushing people away.

Tubbo in the first flashback was about four, while Schlatt and Puffy were about 10.

~::~ 13 Years Ago ~::~

Tubbo was in his bed, hiding under the covers, hands over his ears as he heard the arguing and smashing of things across the house. The little four year old was so scared and he didn’t know what to do.

Then his door opened and Tubbo hiccuped in fear. He tried to stay quiet and still, hoping that if he did the person would just leave him alone.

A hand came down where his shoulder was.

Tubbo flinched.

“Tubster? You awake?”

The little boy let out a breath of relief, it was his big brother. Still scared, Tubbo peeked his head out from underneath the covers to see both his siblings there: Schlatt and Puffy.

Schlatt looked bad but he still smiled at Tubbo. “Hey don’t cry, c’mere[1].”

Tubbo was already crawling his way over to Schlatt and crying, and he couldn’t stop.

“C’mon,[2] you know what he’s gonna[3] do if he catches you crying,” Schlatt tried to calm him down.

Puffy came to sit next to them, her own eyes wet. Schlatt slightly rocked Tubbo to try and comfort him.

“Hey, T-Man,” Schlatt tried to soothe him. “Kinda[4] loud isn’t it?”

“We’ve got you,” Schlatt held Tubbo tightly, the younger brother still shaking and sobbing. “I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”

Tubbo nodded his head, clutching onto his brother. A little embrace of safety for a young boy whose life was so turbulent and scary. Tonight nothing would hurt, and that was what mattered to the young boy.

~::~ Present Day ~::~

“I was just thinking about it Tubbo . . . we like to have fun.”

“Schlatt, I can’t get out.”

“I know what you’ve been up to.”

“Uh, what have I been up to?”

“Everyone knows what you’ve been up to!”

“Do you know what we do to traitors, Tubbo?”

“. . . No?”

“Techno, you wanna come up here for a second?”

“Let’s just send a message, real quick.”

“Techno, if you would be so kind.”

“Murder him right now, on this fucking stage, and make it hurt!”

“Tubbo, I’m sorry, I’ll make it quick.”

“Techno, what the hell!”

“Wilbur!”

Tubbo shot up in bed, his eyes wild and heart racing. He was disoriented at first, expecting himself to be in some hole somewhere, still in pain after pulling himself together from a discorporation and desperate to escape before Schlatt found him again.

Tubbo surged out of bed, trying to get away.

Then he heard ruffling behind him and disgruntled child sobs.

And Tubbo came back to himself, he looked back to see Michael crying and Ranboo sitting up in his own bed. Tubbo mentally chastised himself.

“Mikey? Daddy’s sorry, did I wake you up?” Tubbo walked back to his bed, his pace quickening when Michael reached up and made grabby hands towards Tubbo.

Ranboo was already getting out of his bed and walking over to them. He looked like he was going to collapse in a heap of limbs on the floor. “Hmmm,” Ranboo hummed.

The two-toned teen stopped right outside the bed and gestured with his tail, “Can I join?”

Tubbo scooted over a bit, and Ranboo sat down as Tubbo tried to rock and soothe their adopted son. Ranboo making little cooing and odd vwoop noises, while Tubbo was humming some lullaby, that helped Michael fall back asleep with the familiarity.

A little family the two teens had carved for themselves.

Tubbo and Ranboo had found the small boy thrown away by some demon hunter as a “disappointing failure” and after Tubbo left Ranboo to tend to the scared and crying boy, Tubbo went to “fetch the adoption papers” and the mage was never seen again. Ranboo didn’t question what Tubbo had done but they took the boy, bundled him up in Tubbo’s jacket and got the boy some food before taking him into the Bee ‘n Boo before spending the next couple hours finishing the attic store room and Ranboo used their downstairs storage for all the establishment’s storage.

That day Ranboo busied himself around their bed and breakfast as Tubbo kept the boy entertained and fed. Michael immediately bonded with Tubbo, and Ranboo found himself falling in love with the boy as well.

The attic was immediately barred from all entry that wasn’t either of the owners. Tubbo made the announcement and was very firm. Beforehand it was frequently used as a temporary living space for Ranboo and Tubbo and they just didn’t want anyone in their personal space anymore.

Which was true but now Michael was there and Tubbo desperately didn’t want people like Quackity and Techno to find out about Michael quite yet. The boy had been through enough and . . . Tubbo wanted a little slice of peace.

He didn’t think that was too much to ask.

Right?

And it certainly didn’t help that bonds and possessions were treated like weaknesses to be exploited and used as currency. Sapnap and Dream had long since set a precedent for that.

So as Tubbo sat in the dark attic bedroom, holding his son in his arms, he pushed down his fear and focused on Michael, who needed him right now.

Soon the little boy was back asleep, tucked back into bed, and Tubbo threw up his arms. He got up because, after his nightmare, there was no way he was getting back to sleep.

So Tubbo changed into his suit and made sure he wasn’t wearing his horns before he left to go down to the staff lounge for a coffee.

“Tubs,” Ranboo called out, shifting in his suit and looking human. “You okay?”

“Yeah, go back ta[5] bed, bossman,” Tubbo dismissed.

“You sure, you’ve got a big day, and we got a lot to do here,” Ranboo looked uneasy.

Tubbo didn’t trust his voice at first, but when he did he told him, “Go back ta[5] bed. I’m grabbing a coffee.”

“Oh, okay,” Ranboo looked away and slowly went back into the room. Tubbo knew he wasn’t going to go back to sleep. But at least it gave Tubbo time to clear his head.

After three coffees, four hours of paperwork, and bullshiting around with Tommy for a bit; Tubbo was overjoyed to put on his Bomble Bee costume and start running around town with Tommy like a maniac.

It was freeing, the suit went on and he wasn’t Tubbo anymore. He was free.

Logic and Jackie were less than enthused to find them by themselves, and Tubbo didn’t appreciate the babysitter, but at least Logan didn’t talk down to Tubbo during it.

They went on a patrol around Brighton, and they were halfway through when Logan brought something up, “You have a sister?”

Tubbo flipped up his visor to glare at Logan, “Thought we agreed family wasn’t shit?”

“There was no agreement on that matter, that was merely a comment you made,” Logic sighed. “If you feel unsafe around your blood related family that is one thing, but demon magic or not you are still underage and the Coalition is bound to follow the law as far as it is actually protecting people.”

“I legally emancipated,” Tubbo countered, flicking his visor back down. “Tommy’s an idiot who doesn’t know how ta[5] do shit. I don’t need anyone ta[5] sign anything fer[6] me.”

“Do you have copies of those legal documents?” Logan asked.

“Yeah, at the BnB,” Tubbo told him. “You wanna pop on over?”[7]

“There’s no rush at the moment, you can email me those tonight when you get home,” Logan offered Tubbo an out. “However, I would like to know the nature of your relationship with your family. You don’t need to go into detail, I trust you had your reasons for emancipation if that was the route you chose to follow.”

“Don’t talk with my parents, if you can call ‘em[8] that, and I haven’t fer[6] years, I only really talk ta[5] my older sister?” Tubbo told him. “She lives in Gainesville with her girlfriend.”

“Are you on good terms with her?” Logan asked. “I wouldn’t want you in communication with someone who is hostile emotionally or physically to you or your family.”

“Nah, she’s alright, she’s part ‘a[9] the Server though, you wanna[10] meet her?” Tubbo smiled.

Logan thought on that, “We might want to send some kind of warning if we go over. Last I checked, several of them had sent me death threats. Does your sister know you’re working with us?”

“Oh yeah,” Tubbo lifted himself up with his bumble bee wings, looking quite proud of himself. “I got several pissed off texts from some ‘a[9] the guys after they saw me an’[11] Big Man on the news. It was great, Quackity screamed at me fer[6] at least five minutes.”

“Are you certain you will be safe when you visit your sister?” Logan asked again.

“Oh yeah,” Tubbo promised. “Come on.”

The logical Side continued to ask questions, letting Tubbo use his phone to send a supervised text to his sister: Puffy. Then they started making their way over.

When they got to the condo Puffy lived at, Tubbo didn’t even knock. In fact he practically kicked the door open.

“Puffy!” Tubbo cupped his hands over his ears and called into the townhouse, calling out at the top of his lungs. “You fuckin’[12] Niki in here?”

“Fuck you, Tubbo! You little gremlin piece ‘a[9] shit!” Someone shouted from upstairs.

Tubbo chuckled and announced loudly, “I bought company.”

“Hide the good kush[13]!” Someone else yelled and Tubbo laughed even more.

“Hey Hannah,” Tubbo greeted as he walked in and motioned for Logan to follow him. “Alyssa in?”

“Don’t care,” Hannah was on her phone, sitting in an armchair. “She’s probably off with Callahan.”

“Yeah, prolly[14],” Tubbo replied. He started walking towards the kitchen, he quietly motioned for Logan to follow him.

Tubbo immediately went for the fridge, leaving Logan to just look around the little space. It was obviously lived in, and on the far wall were some pictures of several women with various people Logan recognized as being from the Server. But there was one almost hidden, almost completely tucked behind a bowl full of different colored rocks. It was a small framed picture in the corner of the kitchen, almost hidden from view, of a much younger Tubbo surrounded by some people that Logan didn’t recognize.

Logan didn’t have long to inspect the photos and start making inferences that he would most likely never ask, because someone stomped into the kitchen.

She had fluffy hair that was a chestnut brown on one side, and white on the other. Flecks of rainbow hairs interspersed on both halves. She was one of the people in the picture, Logan quickly realized. She resembled Tubbo a little bit, and on prolonged examination, Logan noticed that her fluffy hair was hiding a set of thick, curled ram horns. The kind that looked capable of crushing someone’s skull if they made an impact.

Logan figured that Tubbo’s would probably look like that in a couple years, just a bit more like a goat’s.

Tubbo glanced at her before asking, “Where are those rad fuckin’ ice lollies yeh bought?”[15]

“You took them last week for Michael,” Puffy snapped.

“Ohhh, yeah, he loved those,” Tubbo smiled, closing the freezer. He gave her a smug look. “So you didn’t buy more then?”

“No,” she gave him the stink eye. Then she glanced at Logan. “Who’s your friend?”

“Pardon me,” Logan spoke up. “My name is Logic, from the Coalition, I believe I texted you a little bit ago.”

“Yeah, I did get something,” Puffy agreed hesitantly. “Who’s this?”

“My mentor,” Tubbo pointed at Logic as he closed the fridge

“Huhhh,” Puffy hummed. “Hey, Tubbo, why don’t you go into the next room and watch some Adventure Time?”

“Don’t kill him,” Tubbo told her pointedly.

“And take that fight from Bad and Big Q, are you insane?” Puffy told him. “Oh, wait, you build bombs, of course you are.”

Tubbo held up two fingers, his middle and index, and flipped her off before walking off.

“You asshole!” Puffy told him and Tubbo was already cackling in laughter. When he’d completely turned his back, Puffy rolled her eyes and smiled. “Ehhh, he’s a good kid.

“He is,” Logan agreed, “Tubbo is intelligent and resourceful. Even if he is threatening to set off explosives under the guise of experimentation.”

“Yep, that’s Tubs alright,” Puffy chuckled. “He always liked figuring out how stuff worked, even as a little kid. He’s like a baby mad scientist.”

“Excuse you, I am a full blown mad scientist, I e’en[16] have the arrest record ta[5] prove it!” Tubbo boasted from the other room.

“From what Tubbo has told me, you seem to approve of him working with us,” Logan commented.

“Hell yeah,” Puffy told him, leaning against the counter as she watched him. “Between Ranboo, the Bee ‘n Boo, and working with you guys; Tubbo’s happier than I’ve seen him in a while.”

“That is good,” Logan agreed. “Tubbo’s mental and physical well-being is of primary importance.”

“You talk like a textbook, you sure you’re not a robot?” Puffy asked.

“I do not classify as an inorganic being,” Logan answered.

“Sure you don’t,” Puffy smiled. “So what brings you to the neighborhood? I’m guessing you didn’t come over just to stand in our kitchen and look like Apple’s version of Robocop?”

“No, that’s not the reason I came to visit,” Logan agreed. “The Coalition prefers, if possible, to have a good working relationship with the families of our apprentices. So that in the case of emergencies they can be notified. While I am glad you and Tubbo seem to have a positive relationship, the more important question is are there any safety risks that any other members of your family would pose to Tubbo or his family?”

Puffy looked uneasy, “What has he told you?”

“Not much,” the logical Side admitted. “I haven’t known him for long enough, but when I asked him about his extraneous family, Tubbo mentioned he was emancipated, and that he was not in communication with his parents. He only mentioned you, and I have seen his son once.”

“We had an older brother,” Puffy frowned, looking over at the half-hidden picture. “Started turning into a demon around the same time as Tubbo and I, and he was . . .”

She looked down, “Well he was the type of demon you keep your kids away from, and I wasn’t there to keep my eyes on them.”

“That must have been a difficult experience for everyone,” Logan tried to offer his sympathies.

Puffy looked in the direction of the hidden picture, “I should have been there, it would have never happened if Phil and I had been there to stop them. But the real problem is Dream has something that can apparently restore a demon. I don’t know how thorough it is, or if it’s just something he tells Tommy and the others to make them afraid of what he can do. But he apparently needs some of the original demon’s essence or aura and both Schlatt and Will left those behind. Wilbur left Ghostbur behind, and Quackity cremated everything but Schlatt’s heart and five of his bones. Meaning if Dream gets his hands on even one of those bones then he could, if he does have that power, bring Schlatt back any time he wanted. And I’d ask you to get those bones from Quackity and Dream but that means going into the Server and there’s no way Dream would allow you in. Just, if Wilbur and Schlatt come back, promise me you’ll keep those three safe?”

“With my life,” Logan promised. “The death and manipulation of children are unacceptable.”

Puffy smiled, a breathy little snort coming from her, “You know, I always heard that legates were buttfuck insane. Glad to know you’re not.”

“I am not in the Coalition for fame and vainglory. Others might be, but I strive to make the world a better place, and such can only happen through the acquisition of knowledge and reason over fear. Of fact over fiction. Tubbo is, despite his demon aura and insistence to the contrary, still a child. And regardless of all of that he is a person who deserves to be in a safe and loving environment.”

“Yeah the Server’s never been that kind to minors,” Puffy scoffed. “It’s kinda[4] like taking a box of kittens and turning them into robotic war machines. Tubbo and Purpled just took to it better than the others.”

“How many minors are in the Server still?” Logan was concerned. The trio the heroes were dealing with already had their pasts marred by trauma and death, he’d never considered there were others still trapped in the same unsafe environment.

“You have three,” Puffy began counting. “Quackity still has Purpled and Fundy in Las Nevadas so they’re doing slightly better than they were before when they were working directly under Dream. You guys also got Jack, who just turned nineteen. But I would not trust Jack alone with Tommy, he threatened to kill him several times.”

“Thank you for the information,” Logan told her. “Anything else you can tell me about the other two minors?”

“So, Purpled is from a league of assassins and he loves money too much to defect,” Puffy dismissed. “You’d need to start paying him the big bucks to make him switch sides and Quackity already gave a good price. While Dream is paying his older brother through the nose to keep him out of Quackity’s hands as well. Punz is older than me though, so if Purpled went anywhere else it would be back with him. But Fundy is a different story. He’s Wilbur’s spawnling and Fundy is kinda[4] a basket case already. If you can get him away from Quackity, good, but I don’t imagine he’d go all that easily and Big Q’s only gonna[3] clamp down harder on him. Fundy and Tubbo were kinda[4] the server mascots back in the day since they were the babies of the group.”

“Everyone loved Tubbo,” Puffy smiled fondly before frowning sadly. “But that’s not the case anymore. He’s made himself a lot of enemies.”

“I see, thank you, I will relay the message to the others and we’ll do what we can for them,” Logan promised.

Puffy came off of the counter. “Thanks, no one in the Server really thought twice about those kids, they kinda[4] just tossed ‘em[8] around and personally I’m really glad you got the ones you do out of there. All three of ‘em[8] have been through enough.”

Then she went to poke her head out of the kitchen. “Tubbo, take yer friend and get out of my house, I don’t want you in here while we’re out.”

“Sure,” Tubbo kicked his feet up and already started for the front door. “Whate’er, go back ta snoggin’ yer girlfriend, I’ve got shit ta blow up.”[17]

And he was out, leaving Logan to immediately rush off after him, which got both of them out of the condo. Puffy watching them with a smile.

Tubbo, as it turns out, did not make good on his explosion test threats, he continued on his patrol, and then went back home to the Bee ‘n Boo. Walking in with a suit and his usual business-friendly smile. Logan, meanwhile, returned to the base to communicate with, especially Ethan, about what he had heard from Tubbo’s sister.

To clear his mind, Tubbo immediately went into his apiary to make sure his bees were alright. Which is exactly where Ranboo found Tubbo.

“Hey, Tubs,” Ranboo smiled and Tubbo managed a small smile back.

“Hey, bossman,” Tubbo was looking at him through the fringe of his hair, “how have things been?”

“Been alright,” Ranboo sat next to Tubbo, crossing his legs as he sat down. “You feeling better?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Tubbo denied, trying to ignore what had happened in the morning.

“Because,” Ranboo mentally halted, “this morning you screamed and you looked really scared, and I didn’t know how to help.”

“C’mon,[2] big man, I’m fine,” Tubbo lied. “E’eryone[18] has the occasional nightmares, I was just jumpy. Happens ta[5] e’eryone[18].”

“Y—” Ranboo looked away. “Yeah, I guess, but you know you can talk to me? Right?”

“Yeah, of course, same fer[6] you,” Tubbo told him, both teens knowing that they kept secrets from each other.

“I’m thinking,” Tubbo redirected, “pizza fer dinner. Wanna order somethin’?”[19]

“Sure, yeah,” Ranboo agreed and after Tubbo finished caring for the apiary, and the pizza was delivered, they both retired to their dwelling and Michael was very happy to settle down with both his dads for the night. The little boy stuffing his face with pizza, and trying to feed some to his stuffed toy chicken. The three of them watched cartoons until Michael fell asleep and Tubbo tucked him into bed.

Tubbo and Ranboo hoped that tomorrow would be a better day for all three of them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations:

1. come here

2. come on

3. going to

4. kind of

5. to

6. for

7. You want to head on over?

8. them

9. of

10. want to

11. and

12. fucking

13. weed

14. probably

15. Where are those really fuckin’ good ice lollies [popsicles] you bought?

16. even

17. Whatever, go back to kissing your girlfriend, I’ve got shit to blow up.

18. Everyone

19. pizza for dinner. Want to order something?

[yukipri]

Marco’s Bauble Part 5 - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Here’s the next part of Marco’s Bauble!

In which the Whitebeards gossip even more, and the gossip circle widens.

Contains mention of Marco x Luffy.

Continues off of, and should be read after:

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 1

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 2

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble Part 3

👒🐟Marco’s Bauble, Part 4

"Does the meeting have to be in my room?"

Jozu's room feels cramped with six commanders crammed inside. The Commander bedrooms, which double as their offices, aren't exactly spacious. They're still the only crew members who even have their own private quarters, so no one complains. Of the Commander's rooms, Jozu's is the largest, simply to accommodate the fact that Jozu's physical bulk is several times that of any other Commander. So naturally, Jozu's room is where they gather when they need to have the rare Secret Meeting, away from any of Pops's rooms or public spaces that anyone can walk into.

"I don't even know why we're here," Jozu mutters mostly to himself, perched awkwardly on the edge of his own bed. Vista and Rakuyo take up the rest of his mattress, because Izo's commandeered Jozu's desk and chair. Izo's even brought a mirror and makeup kit, and is putting eyeliner on Namur for some reason. Haruta's sitting on the floor by the door, to "keep watch," apparently.

"You can leave if you'd like, it's private anyway," Rakuyo smirks. He's only been let in on the secret because he'd been the one to make up the lie at lunch, announcing loudly that Haruta had actually shouted about marigolds in Izo's new perfume and not Marco. And oh yeah, Vista's allergic to them! Hence the overreaction, of course.

It's a miracle their other brothers bought the honestly bizarre lie, and Rakuyo secretly thinks that they most definitely heard but are bro enough to play along because the other Commanders looked so pathetically desperate for them to pretend it never happened. But well, it worked out for Rakuyo, who was able to corner Izo and Haruta (along with a still very much spooked Vista), to demand answers for so generously providing a coverup, no matter how shoddy.

(Rakuyo can just imagine how the rumor mill is churning right now, now that everyone other than the night shift is crammed into the barracks and lights are out. But ah well, that's not his business, at least until he gets some answers himself.)

Which leads them to now, in a Secret Meeting to reveal all.

Jozu heaves a massive sigh that jostles the other two Commanders taking up his bed, before getting up with a creak. It's very clear that Rakuyo is especially eager to start getting all the dirt or whatever this is about, and perhaps that really isn't something he wants to be a part of.

Jozu doesn't much like being chased out of his own room, but he doesn't really like gossip anyway. Maybe it would be better to step out, and not have to deal with the drama afterwards.

"Maybe I'll go take a walk..." Some fresh night air doesn't sound too bad.

"Yeah, we'll just be talking about Marco's upcoming wedding," Haruta chortles, even as he moves out of the way to let Jozu through.

Jozu freezes. Rakuyo makes a little oooh sound.

Jozu sits back down, and Vista and Rakuyo grunt as the mattress sinks towards their brother's greater mass.

"Wait, since when was it a wedding?" Namur's eyes widen. "I only know about his proposal, not even a formal engagement yet..."

There must be several steps between "proposal" and "wedding," or so Namur thought. But perhaps he's just misunderstanding humans once again.

"Hush, don't move, you'll ruin your eyeliner," Izo scolds, and Namur shuts up, wisely, because everyone knows how Izo feels about ruined eyeliner.

"Wait, wait, wait," Jozu starts, because he's just heard several things in rapid succession that he's failing to process. Jozu prides himself on fast thinking in battle, but it apparently doesn't apply outside of it, which is a problem because he's reeling. But then again, these types of cannonballs aren't shot into his face every day.

Jozu isn't given time, because Rakuyo's hooting like a madman, flailing arms smacking Vista, who has also gone frozen and wide-eyed, and Jozu's glad that at least he's not the only brother who feels lost.

"Alright, let's hear it! Who's the lucky boy?" Rakuyo leans as far forward towards Izo and Namur as he can without his ass leaving the bed.

"Get this," Izo leans in too, just as eager. "Marco's fiancee is a girl."

Jozu chokes, but it goes completely ignored, as does Vista's gasp and dainty hand to his heart, and Rakuyo expelling what seems to be all of the spit in his mouth, all in the face of Haruta bolting to his feet and shrieking "WHAT?!" loud enough to probably be heard on the other side of the Moby.

"Izo..." Namur cringes, and looks distinctively miserable, an expression all the more exaggerated by the dramatic winged liner Izo's put around his eyes.

"It's too late, we're all here, might as well share with just our fellow Commanders no? It's a big occasion for our dearest first mate," Izo says, well over the initial guilt he felt. After all, such a big occasion for their brother is most certainly relevant to their fellow Commanders!

Everyone else in the room makes silent eye contact at Izo and Namur's exchange, immediately understanding what had occurred: Izo had been sworn to secrecy, but had slipped.

Well, they all sympathize. They feel for their poor fishman brother, they've all been in his shoes before.

But they're also all currently in this room, and the secret's been spilled, so at this point...well, what happens in Jozu's room, stays in Jozu's room, no?

And so the story comes out, and multiple other bombs are dropped: that the girl's a mermaid, Marco's never even met her, and she's also Ace's little brother.

"Wow, didn't know he liked them that young, Ace's practically a baby himself," Rakuyo mutters, and gets a sharp jab in the elbows from Vista.

“A mermaid,” Vista breathes, stars in his eyes. “A phoenix with a mermaid, that’s so romantic!”

“Isn’t it?” Namur looks eager for the first time since the meeting started, glad he’s found a kindred soul. “They’ll look so good together…”

Jozu's brain has finally caught up to the situation, but something's not adding up. He makes to raise his hand, but ends up loudly cracking his shoulder against the wall instead, which still does the job of catching his brothers' attentions.

"Wait, but I thought Ace said he couldn't join our crew because he promised to be pirates with his little brother...but if she gets married to Marco and she joins our crew, then...?"

There's a moment of deep contemplative silence.

"Well, there's the chance that Ace doesn't know about his little brother's relationship with Marco," Izo says slowly. "He might not even know that they've been corresponding."

There's a collective wince as they imagine how Ace's reaction to that being revealed might go, if it indeed is a secret. The one thing they know about Ace's little brother is that Ace has a MASSIVE brother complex, and is very, Very protective. They suddenly don’t envy Thatch.

"Do you think Thatch knows?" Vista speaks up. "Is this why he went with Ace?"

"If he didn't know, he knows now, Marco sent the letter and engagement gem to him to deliver," Namur says hesitantly, finally willing to contribute information.

"So let's get this straight, Ace thought he was just going back to East Blue to start a new pirate crew, and Thatch was just tagging along to help, but Thatch was actually sent by Marco to escort his bride back to us? Without Ace knowing? Is that right?" Haruta's eyes are wide and he sounds extremely impressed. "That's so evil of him, I didn't know he had it in him, holy shit!"

"We don't know that," Namur mumbles, but is ignored.

“Do you think Thatch’ll be best man at the wedding?” Vista wonders.

“That’s not fair!” Haruta hisses at the same time Izo shouts, “Favoritism!”

"Okay, okay, wait. So in that case, assuming Ace eventually calms down and supports the union, that means his little brother joins us, right? And if she joins, doesn't that mean Ace would join too? Since she was the only reason why he didn't join us, and he wants to be on the same crew as his brother..." Jozu can't let go of the possibility, now that it's there.

They'd all been terribly sad when Ace announced he was leaving. Their crew all understood why he had to go, a promise is a promise, and they'd still always be brothers but...the 2nd Division Commander seat had practically been waiting for him.

"There's always the chance that they mean to do long distance," Namur says then, glumly.

"That's so boring!" Izo says dismissively. "Marco should take what's his, we're pirates!"

Rakuyo cheers while Namur gasps in indignation, and everyone else sighs, except Vista who suddenly freezes.

"Marco wouldn't...leave us to join them, would he...?"

Well there's a thought.

"...We can't know what the bride thinks, but that we can ask Marco, probably," Jozu says uncertainly. Suddenly this whole "marriage" business is a lot more stressful than expected, because Jozu's not sure he likes the idea of suddenly losing their first mate, no matter how nice his future company is.

"It's not likely, probably, because they're just a baby crew, who already have our brothers as senior members," Haruta reasons. "Far more likely that they'll join us!"

"The 2nd'll be happy to have Ace and Deuce back," Vista nods, focusing on the positives, and the mood lightens considerably. "And we'll be able to have a wedding!"

“A wedding! I love weddings!” Rakuyo cheers. “Drinks all around!”

"Ace'll become our 2nd Division Commander after all," Namur says, and he looks so happy that Izo croons and pokes his cheek.

"Wait," Jozu says, and Izo groans not again. "This may be getting ahead of ourselves but...if Ace is 2nd Division Commander, that puts his room right next to Marco's...isn't that sorta awkward for the newlyweds?"

"Jozu!" Namur looks very scandalized, while Rakuyo and Haruta cackle.

"Maybe Ace'll burn a hole through the wall so they can't have any privacy," Haruta grins.

"That's terrible," Vista says, despite also beginning to smile.

This is nice, imagining what their family's future might be like. It'll no doubt be wild, but a positive change.

"But maybe being close to his brother would make Ace happier too, so maybe the 2nd Division would really be perfect," Izo says contemplatively.

"Question, would Ace's little brother be in the 1st or 2nd Division?" Namur wonders.

Bickering breaks out, but Rakuyo cuts through it. "She's Ace's brother, she might be Commander material herself, who says she'll be in one of their divisions?"

"Commander of Division 1.5," Namur says dreamily.

And oh, well, that wasn't what anyone else had in mind, but the more they think about it, the more it appeals.

"Perfectly in between her husband and brother, our future Commander of Division 1.5," Izo says it out loud, testing how it feels.

"I like it," Haruta shouts, and is echoed by his brothers.

~~

~~

~~

WHELP that took forever to write, but I hope you enjoyed! The next part has Marco :P

The number of Whitebeards keeps increasing! We now have all the main Whitebeards that are usually given attention (Marco, Thatch, Jozu, Vista, Izo, Haruta), and in addition to Namur, I decided I wanted to give Rakuyo some love! I think he looks like a Jack Sparrow rip off so I like him haha. Did anyone catch the reference?

Anyway, still very much figuring out how I want to portray them, but I'm enjoying exploring them in writing, so I'll know how to better depict them in any future art ^ ^;

As always, thank you so much for reading, and any comments are immensely appreciated!! (Comments are what make me decide how frequently to update, because the next parts are already written and up on Patreon <3)

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: Marco’s Bauble, Part 6

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[lovequartz]

gardenias & bloodroot

₊˚. pairing: sailor!vernon x fairy!reader

₊˚. genre: fairy + post-dystopia au, fluff, angst

₊˚. warnings: self-mutulation, brief mentions of violence

₊˚. word count: 3.7k+

₊˚. we are both salt water mixed with air 

₊˚. notes: im so very excited to be posting here and i hope you all enjoy this little word souffle my tinie brain whipped up

The first time Chwe Hansol lays eyes on you he’s staring more so at the peach in your hand than your face. He’d agreed to watch over Joshua’s peach stall while the latter ran off to run an errand. “I’ll be back soon, it’ll be like I never even left.” His friend promised him with that signature Joshua Hong twinkle in his eye. Vernon didn’t believe him, of course, he knew Joshua. He had zoned out and now realized that you were here to buy peaches, obviously. 

“Joshua isn’t here today?” Your voice is warm, like honey on just toasted bread. It takes him a moment to register your question and the tip of his ears burns as he gives you a delayed answer. “Joshua went to run an errand, he’ll be back soon if you want to wait for him?” You give him a sweet smile. “I see,” you set down the peach in your hand, “and..you are?” Vernon wipes his palms against the denim of his jeans, and offers his hand to you. “Vernon, friend of Joshua.” You let out a small laugh as you take his larger hand in your smaller one, shaking it. “It’s very nice to meet you Vernon, friend of Joshua.” Your eyes are teasing. 

He moves to take his hand out of yours but instead you turn it over, now both your hands are holding his one. You brush your thumb across his palm and suddenly he feels heat rush to his face. He’s not sure why but he feels as though he should be embarrassed. “What do you do for work? Farming like Joshua?” Your eyes leave his hand and meet his as you finish your question. “No,” Vernon pauses to center his thoughts, “I work on a ship. I’m a sailor.” You nod, seemingly happy to have your answer. You release his hand and put yours in the pockets of your dress. “You have a working man’s hands, I should’ve guessed sailor.” He opens his mouth to reply but Joshua appears behind you. 

The peach farmer pats your shoulders and you turn to give him a grin. “Good afternoon favorite customer.” He says cheerily, releasing you to stand behind his fruits with Vernon. “Hello Joshua,” you reply, “I think playing hooky is frowned upon in the business world.” Joshua rolls his eyes playfully and reaches down to grab something from behind the stall. He presents you with a bag. “5 of my best just for you.” You take the bag from him and open it to take a peek. They’re perfectly round and that beautiful red-yellow, just about ripe. “You spoil me.” 

You set the bag of peaches down to reach into the tote hanging on your shoulder, pulling out the amount you owe and a little bit extra. You’ve worn Joshua down into accepting the few more bills you always give him a long time ago and he knows not to argue with you. “Well I’ll be going then, can’t be taking up too much of your time.” You say as you tuck the peaches into your tote and slip it back on your shoulder. Your eyes flit to Vernon, who’s been silently watching your exchange with his friend. “It was very nice to meet you, again. Take care.” The sweet smile returns for a moment before you turn to walk away, disappearing into the crowd. 

“You don’t usually chat up people like that.” The twinkle is back in the older man’s eyes and Vernon can’t help but roll his. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, I”m serious! I saw the hand-holding Mr. Chwe.” “It wasn’t hand-holding.” Vernon replies, bumping Joshua’s shoulder with his own. “Well whatever it was it seemed pretty intimate to me.” The coy look on the strawberry blonde’s face is nothing short of irritating but Vernon just sighs and pulls the apron he’s wearing off. “Goodbye Joshua.” 

The next time Vernon sees you is on the docks, his ship just coming in from a long morning but a successful catch. Once they anchor and he ties the ship up the rest of the crew unloads, taking the morning’s haul to the market. “Good work today gentlemen.” The booming voice of his captain, Choi Seungcheol, exclaims. “Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon, you’re free to go. Rest up, I’ll see you three next week.” The men exchange farewells, and as he turns to make his way back into town he sees you. You’re crouched enticing one of the dock kittens to play by waving your shoelaces at it, the small animal pounces back and forth trying to swat at them. Your tinkling laughter and the joy in your eyes pulls at his heartstrings. 

“What brings you here?” He manages to walk up to you without startling you or the kitten playing at your feet. Your eyes snap up to meet his, and a smile blooms on your face at the sight of him, he wants to live in that smile he thinks. “Hello yourself sailor Vernon.” You reply, patting the kitten on its small head before standing. “Spying on me now, are you?” He teases, taking in you in your striped shirt and patterned socks that aren’t quite a pair. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” you tease him right back, and he grins. “Actually, I was harvesting,” you continue, motioning to the purple flowers sticking out of your ever present tote, “but my curiosity got the best of me so here I am.” 

“Are you a florist?” Vernon asks, trying to match the flowers you’re carrying to a name. You shake your head, “I wish. I’m an herbalist, nothing as elegant as a florist.” He nods, “Well what did you manage to pick today? I don’t think I know what plant that is.” You pluck one of them out of your bag and lay it flat in your palms. “It’s sea lavender, I’m using it to treat this little girl. She gets terrible mouth ulcers, and I can’t get this where I live so I have to come down here.” Vernon drinks your words up like a man thirsty, he might truly be enamored with you. 

At some point in your conversation the two of you take a seat on the docks, kicking your feet above the surface water below. Vernon tells you about his ship crew, his captain Seungcheol is a fierce and compassionate leader. Second mate Wonwoo, a navigational specialist, can direct the correct path even in the most ruthless of sea storms. Mingyu, who can cook a mean meal, oversees the ship’s supplies and maintenance. 

“I think you’ve talked about just everyone on your crew except yourself. What’s your specialty, sailor Vernon?” Your eyes twinkle, and his ears redden at the nickname. “I wouldn’t say I have a specialty, but I’m in charge of the ropes and sails.” He says, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck. You listen intently as Vernon explains the details of his role, and he itches to hold your face in his hands. 

“I should probably get going.” You sigh as you glance at the sun and how far it has sunken in the sky. “Me too.” Vernon agrees, standing and holds his hands out for you to take. Your fingers wrap around his as he gently pulls you to your feet. Smiling, you give his hands a thankful squeeze before releasing them. “I-I could walk you home? If you want me to, that is.” His sincerity is enough to make you swoon. “Well, I don’t know if Joshua told you, but I actually live in the next town over. You can walk me to the trolley though, if you don’t mind.” Vernon nods eagerly at your suggestion which pulls a giggle out of you. He really was too cute for his own good. 

The trolley hasn’t left yet, thankfully. It seems you and Vernon had arrived just on time. “This is me,” You motion to the vehicle, “thanks for the wonderful conversation and everything that followed. You’re very kind, sailor Vernon.” He gives you a boyish grin. “You’re welcome. Stay safe on your way home.” 

There are dates with Vernon after that. He brings you to the ocean and splashes you with seawater, as if you’re two children without a care in the world. You take him to the forest, teaching him about plants and their healing abilities. There’s hand-holding and shy laughter. Cheek kisses and two people brimming with joy and fondness. 

“He has eyes like a doe, they’re so gentle and filled with kindness.” You practically coo to Jun, who merely listens as the two of you enjoy the sunlight on the stone steps of your small cottage home. “I’ve never heard you talk about anyone like this before.” Jun muses in response. You offer hima grinin response. “Vernon isn’t like anyone I’ve ever met before.” The man next to you shrugs. “Will you tell him?” The question makes a shiver go down your spine and you look away. “I don’t know.” “Well if you do decide to, just,” Jun pauses, “be careful. There are still people out there who would pay a pretty penny for fairy wings.” 

Jun’s words throb inside your head hours after your conversation with him. He’s right, of course, there could be disastrous not to mention dangerous consequences to telling Vernon the truth about yourself. You have to see your mother. 

The museum of fairy wings is a peculiar building, white with gothic style architecture. It sits on a hill and overlooks the sea. You take a seat on one of the small benches scattered throughout the building, facing the wall in which the wings are displayed. Your eyes search before finding the pair of wings you’re looking for.

The wings encased are rounded at the tips, orange fades into yellow, top to bottom. Their translucent shine brightens under the fluorescents and gardenias surround them half-circled. The little plaque under the glass frame reads ‘Gardenia’ etched into bronze. The smaller text is a name, Hong Jiyu, the procurer. 

Hong Jiyu is Joshua’s paternal grandmother, the procurer of the fairy wings behind the glass, the wings that were once attached to a wife and a mother. Your mother. 

The first time you saw Joshua hate rushed through you so red-hot you thought your skin was burning. You watched him for days, wondering how you would hurt him. How you’d cause his family the same pain and suffering they’d caused you. But Joshua wasn’t his grandmother. 

He was softhearted and good-natured. A farmer with broad shoulders and strawberry blonde hair. He knows everything there is to know about peaches and children revel in his presence. He has a smile that makes the butterflies in your stomach frenzy. 

So you forgave. Your mother wasn’t coming back, and hurting Joshua wouldn’t change that. You went to his stall in the market one day and bought a peach, took it home and sliced it up. You ate it outside, in the grass of your yard and cried like the day you were born. You never stopped buying peaches from Joshua after that. 

Vernon didn’t know why you wanted to meet him inside the museum. He also didn’t expect it to be a place you frequented. The only experience he had with it really was when Joshua’s grandma would take them when they were little, showing them her 'trophies’. He shudders at the memory. 

You were seated, on a bench, staring at the green-yellow wings Joshua’s grandma loved to show off. Her favorite. 

Vernon quietly made his way behind you, careful not to alert you of his presence. Hands slide in front of your eyes effectively obscuring your vision, and your lips curl into a smile. "Well hello to you too.” You say, your fingers hooking around his to pull them from your face. “Hi.”

He takes the spot next to you, hand taking yours to link your fingers. “One of your regular haunts?” You let out a chuckle. “Something like that.” The two of you sit in comfortable silence and Vernon’s thumb traces the back of your hand. 

“Why are you really here?” If Vernon is one thing it is observant. You sigh before training your eyes on your mother’s wings. “Do you ever think about the people these wings were attached to?” You shift your gaze to his face. “Were they mothers? Daughters? Brothers? Uncles? Did they like to dance or sing? Maybe their favorite color was blue because it matched the ocean in their lover’s eyes?" 

Vernon’s free hand comes up to cup your cheek and you lean into his touch. "Are you okay?” He asks, voice soft. You shake your head slightly. “I think I need some air." 

The air outside is cool and crisp, and your lungs breath it in gratefully. Vernon’s thumb is still rubbing circles on the back of your hand, keeping you grounded. "I’m alright.” You assure him when you see the unsure glaze his hazel eyes carry. “I promise, I’m okay.” He nods, squeezing your hand gently. His other hand reaches into his front pocket, fingers grazing the worn photo tucked there. “I was gonna wait a bit to give this to you, but I’m going to sea tomorrow. There’s an area Seungcheol wants to explore and it’s quite aways away. We’ll probably be gone for 10 days or more. So, I wanted you to have this.” He pulls the photo out, and presents it to you. 

You release his hand to take the photograph from him, turning it over in your hands gingerly. The subject of the picture is Vernon himself, and it was probably taken a few years ago. He looks a little younger, but there’s that same boyish grin of his. His black hair is in his eyes and the ocean sparkles behind him. The back reads 'Yours, for better or for worse - Vernon Chwe’ And tears brim in your eyes. 

“Wouldn’t want you to forget my face while I’m away.” He says with a chuckle. You don’t respond and instead wrap your arms around him, pressing your face into his neck. Vernon smiles as his arms encircle you, content to hold you. You pull away to look at him after a few moments, your eyes tracing his features. “As if I could ever forget a face like yours.” You say, holding his jaw in your hand, your thumb tracing it’s line. 

Vernon walks you down to the trolley, like he did all those weeks ago when the relationship between the two of you was just blooming.

“So I suppose I’ll see you when you get back, sailor Vernon.” You jest, your smile not really reaching your eyes. “You will.” He assures with a smile of his own. “Don’t go falling in love with any mermaids while you’re gone. They may be pretty at first glance, but they’re really quite ruthless.” Vernon laughs, and leans down to press a kiss against the smooth skin of your cheek. “I’ll try my very hardest.”

“We’re due west a little more.” Wonwoo says, staring at the pieces of parchment in his hands. He always hand drew his charts and maps, citing that they just helped him navigate better. Vernon complies with Wonwoo’s concern and shits the sails so the wind can catch them and steer the ship in the right direction. 

After a sufficient amount of sailing, six hours give or take, the crew was released. Dinner was still warm in his stomach while he got ready to sleep. Mingyu was brushing his teeth in the adjacent bathroom, the sound of the sink running filling the silence of the lower deck. Vernon is folding his pants when he finds it. Tucked in his back pocket is a photograph. At first he thinks you slipped the one he gave you back to him, not wanting to take it, but it’s you in the picture. Your pretty eyes and shy smile. On the back in crooked writing it says 'Keep this safe for me until you return’, a small heart is drawn just under the words. He imagines you drawing it, that sparkle in your eyes. 

Vernon has been gone for a few days, and you think now would be the perfect time. Jun usually helps you, but you’ve done it enough times alone as well. You shuffle through your kitchen, searching for one of your knives, the one with the knotted handle. Jun had sharpened it for you earlier that week, the sunlight filtering through your home makes the white blade gleam. Experience leads you quietly to the mirror hung on the wall of your living room. You had stuck the photo Vernon gave you between the frame and the glass, so you could see his grin before you left and when you arrived home. You wonder what he’d think if he could see you now as you shed your shirt. There are short stubs protruding out of your back where you once had full-grown fluttering wings. They used to be such a vibrant red-violet, now the short pieces were a dull maroon, the life had drained from them a long time ago. Every time seems to hurt less than the last. You remember the first time you cut them yourself, before you had Jun’s help. The pain was so excruciating, you felt like some had twisted a blade into your heart. You cried yourself to sleep that night and didn’t move at all in the days following. Now you feel like you’d gotten used to the pain, what used to be unbearable now felt like a mildly uncomfortable pinch. 

Not many people knew that a fairy’s wings grew back, like the skin of a wound. You kill the fairy, you kill the wings. You and Jun, and all the other fairies you knew had been cutting your wings off as a protective measure ever since your mother had died. Having no wings seemed to be a fair trade for living in peace. 

The blade slides cleanly between your wing stump and the skin of your back, and you grimace at the feeling of the hot blood sliding down your skin. The pain was bearable though, and you moved on to the other one, giving it the same treatment. Your eyes meet the photo of Vernon once again, and as your blood drips down to the wooden floor you feel a sick sense of relief. 

Your sunkissed sailor returns even more sunkissed than the last time you saw him. You’re awaiting his arrival when his ship anchors and the crew files off, chatter and laughter filling the air as the men set foot on the docks. Vernon’s grin widens as he spots you, and you can’t help but give him one in return. It’s much too crowded to offer him the affection you want to, so instead you take his hand and follow the path into town.

Convincing Vernon to ride the trolley with you back to your cottage takes no effort at all, he even seems a bit excited to be invited. He tells you all about the places he’d seen on the expedition and the beautiful coves the crew got to swim in when they weren’t on the job. “Sounds like it was more of a vacation than a work trip.” You tease, a bit envious. “I think that might’ve been Seungcheol’s plan from the beginning.” 

Getting Vernon acquainted to your small home is ridiculously easy. It’s like he belonged there in your living area, sitting comfortably on the bronze corduroy chair as he sipped on some of the cold tea you’d brewed earlier. 

“What did you occupy yourself with while I was away. Can’t imagine you’d be sitting still for long.” His eyes are curious and you shrug. “Jun kept me company and of course Joshua & I had pleasant conversation whenever I would see him at the market. I mostly worked, it’s getting closer to autumn so I’ve had a lot of people to treat.” You muse as you tap your fingers against your chin. “I was surprised to find this as I was getting ready to sleep my first night on the ship.” He pulls out the picture of yourself you’d slipped into his pocket that day you’d said goodbye to him. Your face flushes with heat. “Well I see you’ve held onto it.” “Just like you’ve held onto mine.” He teases, pointing at his own picture tucked in your mirror. 

As the afternoon winds on the desire to tell Vernon your true nature gnaws at you. You call his name softly and suck in a breath when his eyes meet yours. “I have to tell you something.” He raises his brows and offers you a look you can’t quite decipher. “Okay.” You move to sit next to him and take his hands in yours. “You remember that day you met me at the museum? And I was sitting in front of those wings with the gardenias, the yellow green ones?” He nods in response to your questions, not wanting to interrupt. “Those wings,” you pause collecting yourself, “they belonged to someone I knew. Someone who took care of me and loved me, my mother.” Your voice is shaky as you finish and your admission feels like a punch to the gut. Suddenly Vernon is overcome with a feeling of dread. “You mean- All this time-” He struggles to make a complete sentence but after a bit of silence he finally says; “Joshua’s grandma did that to your mom?” There’s sadness and guilt swimming in his eyes, and you can barely bring yourself to speak so you just shake your head in confirmation, hot tears staining your cheeks.

“I had them too,” you rasp, “wings. But we couldn’t have them anymore because people like Joshua’s grandma still wanted them.” You stand, sliding your hands from his grasp, and turn your back to him. Slowly, surely, you slide your top over your head. Jun had healed your open wounds with the bit of healing magic he knew, so they were closed up. “So, we do this.” You can’t see Vernon, but you can imagine the disgust on his face. You tense when you feel his presence behind you, and shiver when he lays his head against your neck. “I’m sorry,” his voice is shaky, “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this all alone.” His fingers brush the scarred skin delicately. “I’ll protect you.” His voice is more sure now and he presses a soft kiss to your nape. “I promise I’ll protect you.”

₊˚. notes: thank you for making it here if you did! there was a lot of imagery in this as im working on my writing style and tweaking things here or there but if you enjoyed let me know and if you hated it also let me know !! my ask box is open