#does not fall far from the stubborn island of MOM

[jennhoney]

I read old messages from my mom to hopefully soften me. I was a grief monster yesterday. So mad at her. She for most of my adult life felt so separated from me and she said some pretty rough stuff especially when I was staying with them during her chemo. Mostly it’s the stuff she didn’t say or try to resolve that I’m having trouble forgiving her for. Because there is no more time. Leaving me alone in a hospital bed in Raleigh is still something I can’t fully think about or I might shatter into a million pieces. That she wouldn’t go to the Golden Girls convention that I gifted her. It was probably unfair of me and I didn’t fully know I was doing it but I would put us in situations where maybe she would pick me, prioritize me (or us), and she never really did I don’t think. I have this issue in my romantic relationships as well 🫠. But I guess she tried the best she could and that was the time we had.

It’s snowing

[deepseavibez]

Why So Serious? || MYG

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-> Picture Source - Pinterest

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Why So Serious? [Yoongi x Reader]

Prompt - @casnextdoor

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Genre - Fluff; Comfort; Dad!Yoongi; Mom!Y/n; Drabble;

Summary - Why is your babygirl crying? And what can Daddy Yoongi do to make it better.

🎶- People - Agust D

Warning - Crying; Bad feelings(implied); Confused parents (at first)

Word Count - 1.7k

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'No.' You looked up at the short answer. Four year old tempers were a thing, you understood that but your baby girl hadn't said no to picking up her toys before.

After playtime Mina usually cleaned up after herself, the task relatively easy for her, something like a game to put everything in its place in the shortest time she could.

You believed she got it from her father, because there was no way the trait came from you. You relished in your organized chaos, if it felt like it should be there it would stay there. You would go as far as capping your pens but they were never in their holders, just strewn about your desk, the closest color to your mood for the day.

Stretching your arms out along the island where you were chopping up pieces of apple for a midday snack you gave your toddler your full attention.

'But your LEGOs are all over Minnie, and you finished playing with them this morning,' you tried to sound as gentle as possible - an invitation for an explanation.

'I don't want to.' She shook her head back and forth, no playfulness present, mouth a stubborn line, as if that answer was good enough.

'Mina, those are your toys, you played with them, would it be fair for Mommy to clean up after you?'

Shaking her head in response she looked down and away from you, twiddling with the ears of the giraffe teddy in her hand.

You gave her a minute to move, to respond, each second of it hiking up your level of annoyance.

'I won't ask again, Mina.' Your voice was stern now, patience worn thin.

'No, Mommy, No!' She cried out, and ran out of the room toward Yoongi's study.

'Mina,' you dragged out, following swiftly after her.

You found Yoongi at his desk, phone at his ear, he looked at you and motioned with his eyes toward the tuft of hair peeking out from between his legs.

Leaning on the door you watched her cry, something in you tugging at your chest in frustration, because all you wanted was for her to listen, but you also didn’t want her to cry. She was never like this.

'-- I'll email them by tomorrow, yeah sure, just text me. We can set up a meeting to discuss the list.' Ending his call, Yoongi discarded his phone immediately and reached between his legs to settle his babygirl on his lap.

The transition would amuse you on any other day, the serious, intimidating Min Yoongi, softening his lips, his eyes, using gentle fingers against Mina's cheeks to wipe away her tears.

'What is my pretty girl crying about huh,' he asked, as he tried to make her face him.

Shaking her head in refusal to answer, he looked up at you, a camouflaged seriousness in his eyes, meant only for you.

'She refuses to pick up her LEGOs, told me no, and when I asked her again she ran out of the room crying.' Your voice sounded even but just by looking at you Yoongi could see, you were unnerved. The tantrum uncharted territory, especially for a task carried out so many times before.

'Daddy!' You had barely explained before she burst into tears again, falling into his chest, hiding her face from view.

Holding her close and patting her head tenderly he looked up at you in alarm, 'Why is she-, ' he mouthed at you.

'I don't know,' you mouthed back, shrugging your shoulders in emphasis, your expression bewildered.

Staring ahead for a few seconds, he contemplated before his eyebrows smoothed out, a realization crossed his face, as he decided to do something.

Interest piqued, you straightened up, and watched him, ready to jump in and follow his lead.

Your crying four year old still bawled her eyes out, hiccups coming from her chest, her throat would be ouchy later, you thought in concern.

‘Shh, baby, shh, you aren't in trouble, but you need to tell Daddy why you won’t clean up your toys.’ His voice was soft and coaxing as he gradually pulled her back to look at him. Grabbing tissues from the box he had near his desk for situations like sticky fingers and leaky noses, he wiped her tears and her small nose.

Yoongi, even now, in a situation like this had you in a pile of mush. He was not outwardly one for softness, especially with his blunt nature and his solid hands, but here he was gingerly running his fingers through Mina’s hair and setting it as he cooed at her to stop crying, to listen to Daddy.

Her voice hoarse from crying so hard she answered him, ‘I don't feel okay daddy.’

‘Are you hungry?’ Yoongi prompted, discarding the tissues in the wastebin, his hand now at her back and waist, holding her up, and lowering his head with a sulky expression to match hers.

With a shake of her head, she rubbed at her eye, he tilted his head to the side, and prompted again. ‘Are you tired? We could nap, you and I together, Mommy too.’

Another shake of her head, this time her frown prominent and lip quivering, as if ready to burst into another set of tears.

‘Did mommy do or say something bad to you,’ he asked in a whisper, talking her into telling him a secret.

Your eyes widened at the question, panicking internally in resistance. What was that supposed to mean? As if there were eyes at the back of his head, he held up his hand, a clear sign to wait.

Mina shook her head hard, now in a state, more confusion than ever clouding her features as she battled not to cry. ‘It feels bad, Daddy, I don’t like it and it won’t go away.’

‘Is it telling you to be mean to Mommy?’ Yoongi asked as she grabbed onto his shirt again, ready to hide away.

‘It just feels icky,’ she answered wetly, looking over at you her eyes widened momentarily ‘Mommy don't cry. Daddy I made Mommy cry,’ she cried out in desperation.

Your eyes blurred with unshed tears at your baby’s voice, holding a hand to your mouth you kept as quiet as possible. Yoongi had this.

Yoongi swallowed hard at his daughter's face, his protective instincts flaring, but this was one boogeyman he needed her to fight with him.

‘Baby,’ he used another tissue to wipe up the fresh tears. Moving the keyboard aside, he sat her up on his desk in front of him so she could lay her head on his shoulder and he could rub her back. ‘Sometimes Mina, we feel bad inside, and we don't know what to do about it.’ His voice was smooth as he explained, no indication that he had been affected. ‘It tells us to be mean, because we don't know what we’re really feeling and it's okay baby, because Mommy and Daddy feel it too, and we’re here for you. We love you.’’

‘Do you think it's okay to be mean to mommy.’ He was so patient about it as he asked her and it left you in awe as he made her understand.

‘No,’ the word muffled as half her face was squished on her father’s shoulder.

‘No it isn't, baby, and we can't help you if you don't tell us what's wrong.’ Pulling back he smiled softly, her cheeks puffed up and blotchy, eyes shiny but without tears. ‘If you told mummy you were feeling icky, she would have tried to help, right?’

She nodded enthusiastically at that. ‘Mommy always helps me.’

Your heart soared at the statement as you watched the energy come back to your Mina.

‘There's my girl,’ Yoongi smirked as he pinched her nose and she scrunched up her face, at the action. ‘So from now on, when you feel like this again, you can tell Mommy or Daddy and we can help you and take care of you.’ Holding out his pinky finger, she smiled as she curled her small pinky finger around his - she knew we took pinky promises very seriously.

‘Come on, let's go give mummy a hug and tell her you're sorry.’ She reached up her hands to be picked up as he stood from his office chair.

Mina reached out for you as Yoongi carried her towards you and you plucked her easily from him. Her hands immediately wrapped around your neck and she placed a wet kiss on your cheek.

‘I'm sorry for being meany mommy.’

‘It's okay baby,’ rocking her back and forth, you closed your eyes at the feel of your small human in your arms, a certain escape, as if everything in the world mattered a little less as long as she was okay. ‘Mommy feels bad too sometimes, and you know what daddy does?’ You prompted excitedly.

She leaned back to look at you, her cheeks puffy, lips pouting, as she listened to you.

‘Daddy gives me lots of cuddles and kisses me here and here and here and here,’ you placed kisses on her cheeks and forehead and nose, ‘and he gives me food, and chocolate and anything else I want.’

Giggling now, your chest ached at her happiness, a sweet ache, her importance beyond anything she could imagine.

‘Did you know Daddy got me Gloss when I felt really really bad.’

‘Big white gloss,’ she motioned with her hands, her eyes full of wonderment.

‘Yep,’ you popped the ‘p’. ‘Big white gloss,’ your own excitement palpable at the mention of the white teddy bear on your bed, his size slightly bigger than her form.

‘Mommy,’ she motioned you forward with her hand and you leaned closer to her, ‘Can daddy get me a gloss too?’ She told you in your ear.

Her very loud whisper had you turning your attention to the man who now leaned against the wall and watched the interaction.

He smiled his gummy smile as wrapped his arms around both of you and answered her softly, ‘Anything for you Minnie.’

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[hiccanna-tidbits]

“Let her come to me.”

Cyan waves ripple aside, and Moana steps onto the wet sand. In the distance, glowing veins of bright red stand out against pitch black and smokes and sparks and cinders fill the sky.

All fire and fury and burning...like the worst of you. And the best.

The creature in the distance shrieks, drops to all fours and starts crawling across the seafloor. Mindless, furious, feral--far out of her reach. But she has to try.

Water coats her like a protective shell, flowing and rippling across her skin in a sort of dancing armor. Her hair rises and falls like ocean waves, encased in a little pocket of sea.

I have crossed the horizon to find you.

She’s come so far, sailed oceans and followed stars and felt so lonely and pained and lost she feels like she might die--but she kept on anyways. She kept on because all she wants in the world is fiery hair and eyes like the morning sky and the loudest presence she’s ever known and if she fucks this up now, she might never have that again.

And Moana would cross another horizon, if she had to. If that’s what it took to get her back.

Searing, clawlike fingers throw up wet sand. Moana keeps on. 

I know your name.

“You’re Merida Dunbroch,” she says, voice cracking. “You’re the best archer I’ve ever met. You’re crude and brash and unapologetic and fearless. You’d take on the whole world if it meant you could prove yourself. You love empire biscuits and apple tarts and you’d finish a whole roast chicken yourself if no one stopped you. You snort when you laugh and you eat like you’ll never see food again. You love feeling the wind in your hair, and getting it even more tangled because your mom used to hate brushing it out afterwards. You’ll climb to the top of any rock or cliff you can, no matter how dangerous it is, just so you can take in the view and drink in the wind. You’d do anything in the world for your little brothers, but you’d never, ever tell them that. You carved my name into your bow and told me it was so...so you could always take me with you, wherever you went.”

Moana’s voice breaks.

They have stolen the heart from inside you.

She remembers the smoke coming in and clouding the island, Te Ka lunging across the waves and onto the beach. The villagers screaming, fleeing to the top of the mountain to get out of the beast’s reach. Merida, the outsider, the one who fled from a kingdom far, far away to escape a destiny she didn’t want, the one whose boat had washed up one day and forced her to integrate to an entirely new way of life, bravely standing her ground with her sword brandished. The way she swung and struck and screamed with everything she had, trying to take down a monster twenty times her size to protect a village she had only called home for a little over a year. The way she kept fighting even as Te Ka closed her hands around her and black rock began to grow on her skin.

She kept fighting until the very end, when Te Ka took her away. When Te Ka corrupted her, made her into something just like the vast, wrathful goddess.

When the lava coursed through her, it must have burned her heart away until she was left with nothing, like Te Ka.

But there had to be something still in there. Moana had to believe that.

She couldn’t come all this way to find out she was wrong.

But this does not define you.

The lava beast draws closer. Moana can see the eyes. They’re vast, golden-orange pits, impossible to read.

Impossible to see if the girl she knew was still behind them.

But she had to be. Merida Dunbroch was not one to go down with a fight. Not one to let herself be lost completely. She was the strongest person Moana had ever known.

This is not who you are.

The anger. The rage. The hatred. The pain. Moana knew they all belonged to Merida--all things Te Ka could feed off of to power her little double. Anger at being forced to be someone she wasn’t, rage at being “auctioned off” into a political marriage when she knew she could never love a man. Hatred at a world that didn’t care to understand her, that told her every time she was loud or impassioned or stubborn that it made her shameful and disgusting and worthless. The pain at being trapped and alone in a place where she was going to have to put on a facade for the rest of her life.

But there was more in her. She smiled radiantly, she laughed hard, and she loved fiercely. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for people who showed her kindness and care. She loved amusing the other villagers, loved making her friends happy. She doted on Pua and HeiHei with surprising gentleness.

There was so much more in her than anger and chaos and cruelty and destruction. And that was what Moana needed her to remember.

You know who you are.

The lava creature pauses, snarling mouth hanging open, hair flowing behind in billows of smoke. Moana steps forward, willing her to remember. Needing her to remember. The playful shoves, the evening dance lessons, sipping coconut water as they watched the sun go down. Moana knew all of it still had to be inside of her somewhere.

What had once been Merida wouldn’t be pausing in attacking her if it wasn’t.

Moana steps forward, and the lava creature doesn’t move. Taking a breath, she presses their foreheads together. It burns and sears like anything, but Moana just doesn’t care. The lava creature closes her eyes, still and calm in a way Moana never thought she’d see again.

“Who you truly are,” she whispers.

She reaches up and places a water-cased hand on the hard, rocky chest, and the lava beneath sizzles and steams as it dries and hardens into black rock. A soft rumble fills the air as the rock begins to split, water snaking over it and burrowing into the cracks. Chunks begin to shear off and thump into the sand, and Moana catches sight of pale skin and a torn dress.

She watches in wonder as the ebony shell crumbles away--first her chest, then her arms, and finally her face. Two wide, pale blue eyes stare at her in amazement as smoke disperses and lava slides away and what’s left is a head full of bouncy orange curls.

“Mo?”

Merida says it uncertainly, like she’s in the strange space between wake and sleep where she can’t quite tell what’s real and what’s in her mind. Moana laughs, and she wraps Merida in her arms and crushes the other girl against her--so she’ll know this is real.

“You’re back,” Moana sniffs. Somewhere in her laughs, tears have begun to fall. “You came back to me.”

Merida laughs, and holds her back. They both sink into the sand, clinging to each other like there’s nothing else in the whole universe to cling to.

And maybe there isn’t.

“What are yeh doin’ way out here?” Merida murmurs against her ear, tone surprisingly stern. “The ocean’s a dangerous place, lassie. And Ah know damn well yeh can’t actually sail, no matter what et is yeh tell yerself.”

“I had to come to you,” is all Moana says.

Merida seems to melt even further into her grip. “Yeh...came all this way...for me?” Her voice breaks as she says it. “Why?”

“I love you.”

The words slip out before Moana can stop them.

Merida leans back and studies her inquisitively, and all Moana can think is I’m fucked.

The next second Merida’s hands are on her cheeks and she’s pulling the other girl forward to kiss her ferociously.

Moana is frozen, stupefied, completely unable to move. She never thought she’d be here, living this moment--but bringing Merida back was only the first of the miracles to happen today, apparently.

Moana slowly lifts her arms, draping them over Merida’s shoulders and melting into her.

“Ah love yeh, too, lass.” Merida pauses long enough to breathe it into her ear. “Ah just didn’t know how tae say et. Ah never thought yeh’d look at me that way. Ah was scared yeh might think et was...wrong.”

Moana responds by kissing her again. Before they know it, they’re tipping over, lying entangled on the wet ground. Sand stirs around them, slowly coating their skin and already-dirtied clothes as they press closer and closer into each other, but they realize that they just don’t care.

Moana is filling with warmth--so vast and full and overpowering that she can’t help but wonder if Merida still has some of that lava left in her. Whether she does or not, Moana can only form one thought as she laces her fingers through sandy red curls.

I’m never letting you go again.

***

When Merida next feels lava on her skin, it’s dozens of years later.

She doesn’t know what to make of it, waking up with cracked black rock on her skin again and streams of lava curling away from her scalp in fiery hair. But it doesn’t burn, it doesn’t hurt--it feels all too right. The power, the passion, the vigor of when she was taken over by Te Ka is there--but this time, she can control it.

Merida lived a long life. A happy life. She stayed on Motunui--even when the village began voyaging again, charting new lands, she always came back to their home with Moana. Her Moana. They passed together on a summer evening, lying on the beach with their hands entwined and the tribe safely in the hands of the fine young man they had chosen to be the next chief-to-be.

When Te Ka became Te Fiti, it appeared a vacancy opened--the need for a goddess of volcanoes and lava, now that the goddess of life had returned. Life was a cycle, after all--you couldn’t have green and growth and lushness with burning magma and barren rock and life sizzled out. That’s where Merida guessed she came in.

It baffled her, why some outsider like herself would be chosen for such an honor. She had worked hard at becoming a great warrior, protecting the people she had adopted as her own. But ascending to godhood? She didn’t deserve something like this.

And then she sees her walking over the horizon.

Her body is made entirely of water--curves in shining cyan, dress splashing around her laced with foaming whitecaps, hair whipping behind her in rippling ocean waves. But her hands, her face, her eyes--there’s no mistaking it’s her.

“Moana?” Merida whispers.

They run to each other, ripping across land and pounding through sea to reach one another. When they crash together, steam rises around them in graceful billows--the heat of lava and the cool of ocean, united into a gentle mist.

“Moana? How are we here?”

“The ocean chose me a long time ago, to return the heart of Te Fiti and restore life to the world,” Moana murmurs into her shoulder. “And now it’s chosen me again--for something more important. I’m one with the ocean now, making sure it brings and sustains life for all the generations to come. But you...you deserve to be here with me, contributing to the endless cycle.” She leans back and gives Merida a soft smile. “So I may have put in a good word for you.”

Merida laughs. “Are yeh sure et isn’t cuz yer too clingy tae let me go?”

Moana just smles. “That too. I guess eternity seems a lot more tedious to pass when you’re not there.”

They’re an odd pair. The goddess of the ocean, who gives homes to sea turtles and whales and bright fish, who guides ships between islands, who’s always there for someone to dip their feet in on a hot day...and the goddess of volcanoes, who explodes with burning magma, who rains ash and smoke across the sky, who brings unquestionable death to all those who don’t get away fast enough. But when they touch, when they kiss, when they tangle themselves up in one another, pieces of volcanic rock topple into the sea and grow lush and full with life bursting from every seam. The goddess of the sea and the goddess of lava make more life together than they ever could apart. 

Sometimes they must temper one another. An especially vicious volcanic explosion is stopped only by the cool calm of the sea. Fierce stormclouds that could sink ships are pulled apart by clouds of smoke and ash. Magma rises from the ocean floor, calming tsunamis. Rain puts out the worst of the fires from spewing lava. It’s a balance.

But at the end of the day, when the sky clears and new islands come to be, green and lush and full of fruit and palm trees and vines and animals that hum and chirp and buzz, there can be no doubt that the two goddesses can’t be without each other.

There can be no doubt that the goddess of the ocean and the goddess of volcanos are deeply--and eternally--in love.

***

WELL WELL WELL! A lot of people seemed to really like my Moanida Goddess AU, so I made a moodboard and started writing a drabble and...this happened, I guess? The story came out a lot longer and more angsty than I planned, but oh well--hope y’all like it!

Legit love how these two balance each other out. I feel like the chaotic, reckless “fire energy” of Merida definitely needs kind of a calm, rational “water energy” from someone like Moana. Merida needs someone level-headed to talk her out of doing Dumb Shit without being mean-spirited or talking down to her about it, and Moana needs someone like Merida to drag her out of her comfort zone and help her face off her demons and self-doubt and whatever. Literally a perfect match! God I fucking love Fire x Water pairings so much. Can you tell I’m also a fan of Zutara

Also yeah I’d definitely be on board with Moana x Te Fiti if Fi wasn’t a giant-ass goddess like 20 times Moana’s size. Can you tell? But sue me, that entire scene did in fact have sapphic vibes.

@takaraphoenix Moanida time!!!

Pic credits available upon request!

[secretsickysideblog]

made with love

"giorno giovanna’s faced his more-than-fair share of hardships in life, and coming down with a particularly rough cold isn’t exactly one of the worst--far from it.

but these puppy dog eyes mista gives him whenever he asks if there’s anything he can do to help? giorno thinks they might just be the death of him."

mista decides that the best remedy for giorno’s stubborn cold is a bowl of homemade soup. (sicktember day 3, alternate prompt - warm soup)

Giorno Giovanna’s faced his more-than-fair share of hardships in life, and coming down with a particularly rough cold isn’t exactly one of the worst--far from it.

 But these puppy dog eyes Mista gives him whenever he asks if there’s anything he can do to help? Giorno thinks they might just be the death of him. 

 Mista has come into his room offering him assistance about six times today between Giorno’s frequent and fruitless naps in attempts to ease up the suffering.  (Well, maybe suffering is a bit of an exaggeration, but Giorno can’t breathe. Even if it’s not the worst thing he’s faced, it sure is annoying.) The thing is, it’s only about five o’clock in the evening, and Giorno’s spent most of the day asleep.

 Needless to say, Mista is being more than doting. 

 Giorno doesn’t at all blame him; Mista’s just a caring guy, and he probably hates to see Giorno confined to his bed and the few bathroom trips he’s worked up the energy to make just as much as Giorno hates to be in this state. But it’s saddening to see the distraught look in his eyes whenever his sick partner can’t think of any assistance for him to provide. Mista’s a bit too much like a lost puppy right now, and the only thing worse than the heaviness in Giorno’s limbs and persistent congestion is the dreary feeling in his heart at the sight. 

 There’s a sudden knock on the door, and yet somehow, Giorno had expected it fully. The blonde sighs softly, a fond smile tugging at his lips.

 “Yes, Mista?”

 There’s a moment of hesitance before Mista steps in. “How’d you know it would be me?” He jokes, leaning against the doorframe. His smirk turns downwards in a frown as he looks his boyfriend over. Though he, luckily, isn’t too feverish, his skin is ashen and he looks...dull. Disheveled. And while Mista feels privileged to see him at his worst, he hates to see him feeling any less than his best. 

 “Napping didn’t help much, did it?”

 Giorno shakes his head sadly, sniffles thickly. “I’m alright, Mista,” Giorno’s attempt at a reassuring smile is weak, as expected. “Thank you for checking in on me.”

 “Well, of course, I mean--” Mista comes in fully, closing the door behind him. He settles at the foot of the bed, resting a hand on Giorno’s ankle. “I love you, of course I’m gonna check on you. I just wish there was more I could do for you, y’know?”

  I know, Giorno wants to say, believe me, I know.  And beyond that, he wants to say, this is more care than I’ve ever received in my life. But he doesn’t want to sully the atmosphere any further, or make Mista think he’s annoyed by his doting, because he isn’t and he never could be. The man in question stares distantly at the wall for a long moment, seeming to be lost in thought. And then something lights up in his eyes as he faces Giorno again. 

 “I got it! You haven’t eaten yet, so you gotta eat something, and what do sick people like to eat more than soup?” Mista nods to himself, and it’s clear that even if Giorno wanted to protest, there would be no such option. “I’ll make you soup. What kinda soup did your mom make when you were a kid? There’s nothing better than a bowl of homemade soup.” 

 Giorno’s expression falls before he can really process it. He’s never had a bowl of homemade soup, especially not from his mother. How does he communicate that, though? This is the worst time for something like that, anyway. Mista seems so excited about the idea, and Giorno really doesn’t want to take that away from him.

 “--llo? Giorno? Gio, you in there?” 

 “Huh--oh, yes,” Giorno blinks, coming back to the realm of the living. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

 “I asked what kind of soup you usually have when you’re sick, and you went space cadet on me.” 

 “Ah, uhm…” Giorno clears his throat, shifting awkwardly, and suddenly he feels hot. “Well. When I was a child…” 

 Mista watches him expectantly, one eyebrow cocking upwards. 

 “I’ve never had soup when I was sick,” Giorno admits, and his voice is quiet. He reprimands himself internally for how it sounds like he’s gearing up to be punished for it. For feeling vaguely that maybe he will be, because this is Mista,  and Mista would never hurt him.

 Mista’s confusion melts into concern as gears turn in his mind. “You’ve never had soup when you were sick? Nobody made you soup?”

 Giorno shakes his head, looking down at his lap. “No. My mom wasn’t really... home when I was young.” 

 “Aw, Gio,” Mista runs his hand up and down his shin now, almost in an absent gesture. “Y’know what? That’s okay.”

 He stands, and for a moment, Giorno thinks he’s going to walk out with the slight droop to his shoulders that showed up yesterday and hasn’t left since. But then Mista comes around to approach the side of the bed Giorno’s laying on and bends down to slide one arm beneath his knees and the other behind his back, pulling him up into a princess carry. Giorno’s eyes widen as he yelps quietly in surprise, wrapping an arm around Mista’s neck. His other hand grips the fabric of his shirt in fear that he may fall, but he feels much more supported in Mista’s hold than he thought he would, so he ends up letting go. 

 “We’ll make our own recipe. Okay? ‘Cause you gotta eat, and I don’t wanna make something you don’t like.” 

 Before Giorno can say anything about it, Mista’s already out the door and starting down the stairs. He’s slow and careful in his movements, taking each step with both feet to make sure he doesn’t end up dropping Giorno and giving him a concussion on top of a cold--or worse, killing him on impact. Thankfully, they both make it to the bottom safe and sound.

 Mista sets him down in a stool by the kitchen island, disappearing for a moment into the living room and returning with a soft throw blanket from the couch. He drapes it over Giorno’s shoulders; the blonde gratefully wraps it around himself, pulling a knee to his chest. 

 “Alright, what kind of broth do you wanna use?”

 And after a series of questions and taste-tests, a bowl and spoon are set down in front of Giorno. The heat swirls up into steamy mist, and Giorno leans over it, letting the warm air alone bring him a momentary relief. He wraps the blanket around his shoulders tighter, picking up the spoon with his other hand. Mista sits across the island, watching him with this dreamy look in his eyes. They glimmer with excitement and anticipation and pure, utter adoration. Giorno thinks he might melt into soup himself. 

 With a shaky hand, Giorno brings a spoonful of soup to his lips and sips at it. And he’s pleasantly unsurprised, having been here for the entire concocting process, that it tastes amazing. Even beyond taste, oddly enough, he feels this soup is warmer than any dish he’s had before--perhaps, cliché as it is, it’s because it was made with love. 

 “So?”

 “It’s fantastic,” Giorno takes another spoonful, taking his time to savor the heat of it against the sore, rough feeling in his throat. “Thank you, Mista.”

 “Hell yeah, of course! I’m glad I finally did something helpful, doing nothing was frickin’ stressful.” 

 Whether the warmth blooming in his chest is from the soup or from the sparkling satisfaction in Mista’s eyes, Giorno isn’t sure. Quite frankly, he doesn’t care. 

 Because whatever it is, it’s love. And suddenly, Giorno’s certain that the saying of love being the best medicine is true.

[zukoscomet]

I realised recently that I never actually collated all the ideas I had about my Zutara kids so here, have some steambabies! Idk I just really like the idea of Katara and Zuko having a big family after all they’ve lost when they were young, and as an only child, I guess I kind of romanticise the idea of having siblings. 

TW: I hc that Katara would have had a miscarriage, so if that is a trigger for you then maybe don’t read on.

Shameless plug but if you wanna read more about this, my series on AO3 is roots and wings.

Their firstborn is a boy who they name Kai after Kya. His full name is Kaito but nobody who knows him ever calls him that, not even when he’s in trouble. I’m not going to go into too much context about like the pregnancy bc you can already find that stuff here. He turns out very much like Zuko physically - tall, golden irises, straight black hair, narrow angular face - but he has mixed tawny skin and his eyes are shaped round and wide like Katara. He’s born on the last day of summer in 109 AG, so because of superstition that firebenders are born in peak summer, there’s some uncertainty about what he’ll bend - if at all - but then when he’s three and a half, he makes a flame. Iroh trains him to firebend until he’s about 16, then he goes off to the Sun Warriors for a year to finish off, and he ends up a very spiritual firebender. Kai is like the dream first child - the softest boy ever to live - and when Katara and Zuko go on to have more children, he’s a really great big brother, like wholeheartedly adores his little sibs even if they drive him completely nuts about 95% of the time. He’s quite a conflicted and confused kid growing up. He’s never quite sure of what he wants in life but finally, when he’s 17, he decides that he realises that he doesn’t want to be Fire Lord and passes along the heir status to his sister. After that he joins the Sun Warriors and eventually marries the chief’s daughter, Himari, and they have two firebender girls, Aiko and Sol. 

Izumi arrives not long after her brother in 110 AG. Katara and Zuko planned to wait but it ends up that there’s barely a year between Kai and Izumi and it comes as an extra shock as Katara didn’t figure out she was pregnant again till like 18 weeks in. Katara goes into labour early at 35 weeks and Izumi is born really small - she never completely catches up either and it’s hilarious because after successive generations of tall male Fire Lords, they get Izumi who’s barely 5 feet - but she’s otherwise fine. She’s physically a mish-mash so overall she resembles nobody especially - Katara’s hair, complexion and big round eyes, Zuko’s irises, Azula’s heart-shaped face and highly arched brow line, Hakoda’s facial features. The superstition about summer births for firebenders peters out real quick when Izumi, born in the autumn, bends blue fire at two and a half and, taught by Jeong Jeong, she grows into a prodigal master. When she’s young, Izumi is the polar opposite of her brother - feisty, stubborn, determined and whip smart - and she’s a heathen teenager but by about 15 she mellows and matures, and part of Kai’s reasoning for abdicating is that Izumi seems a better fit for Fire Lord. Izumi was always kinda apathetic to kids but at 19, she accidentally gets pregnant and has her son, Kazuo, then her daughter, Kira, eleven years later. Izumi becomes Fire Lord at 37 but she only rules for about 14 years before retiring. Since she had Kaz so young, if she stayed on the throne much longer, Kaz would also be an older man when it came time for him to inherit, so she decides to step aside and Kaz is coronated just after his 33rd birthday. 

(Kazuo takes after his Gran Gran in more ways than just his blue eyes; he’s a waterbender so Kaz is the first waterbender Fire Lord)

After a break, Katara and Zuko decide to try for a third addition and Katara gives birth - in the Southern Water Tribe, for the first time - to Bashira, four years after Izumi. Shira looks probably the most like Zuko out of all the children, even more than her elder brother does. They share the same tall and lean physique, the same long black hair, Shira is mixed but still the palest of all the steambabies and their faces are practically identical. They’re characteristically very similar, too - serious, intense and reserved. The only differences is that her hair is curly, her eyes are blue and finally, Katara gets her waterbending child. Both of them suspected that Shira was going to be a waterbender even at the early stages of the pregnancy, but it’s still super exciting when Shira tosses a wave at her elder siblings when she’s two. Katara is teaching her as soon as she possibly can but over time some tension develops between them when Shira turns out to be quite different from her mom in terms of natural bending style. Shira is very fight-oriented, she learns dao swords from Zuko and never shows as much of an interest in the healing arts, but when things blow up and eventually Shira is able to explain that she wants to be able fight like her mom did during the war, things straighten out and Katara guides Shira all the way through to mastery. She eventually moves to the South in her late teens to lead the tribe’s warriors. There, she has three children - waterbender twins Kenzo and Kenji, then a daughter named Kanna who’s a firebender like Grandpa - but the marriage to their father doesn’t last and in her 50s, she ends up in a relationship with Aang and Toph’s daughter, Lin.

Katara gets pregnant for a fourth time - planned - just after Shira turns two, but this time she has a miscarriage. Zuko was overseas when it happened so she went through it alone. Katara is devastated and resents Zuko for not being there. She knows it’s not his fault but she can’t help her emotions and that makes her feel even worse so she just shuts down - stops doing her Fire Lady work, stops spending any more time with Zuko and their children than necessary, won’t let the rest of the family visit them and spends most of the day lying in bed. Zuko doesn’t know how to help her so initially he decides to give her space to grieve however she feels she needs to, but it just deteriorates until one day Zuko suggests that maybe they should both go to therapy or marriage counselling or something because it can’t go on like this. Katara just completely loses it at that and ends up yelling at him all the things that she’d been bottling up over the last couple of months. Katara says some awful things and she’s expecting Zuko to take it poorly, hence why she kept it all inside up till now, but Zuko just accepts every bit of it and after that, she’s finally able to grieve properly and mend.

About six months after they come back together, they decide to try again and Katara eventually falls pregnant. The pregnancy itself goes smoothly but both of them are so stressed about something going wrong like last time and the effect that might have on both of them, then Gran Gran passes away when Katara is in her thirtieth week, so the full ten months were incredibly hard-going. 

It’s a big relief when the baby is finally born on Ember Island, three years after Shira in 117 AG. They name her Lili in honour of their recent losses, since lilies can ease scars and Iroh once referred to them as lights in darkness. From the beginning, Lili is the image of Katara in every way physically and characteristically - kind, patient, gentle, but does have quite a temper if she’s pushed too far. She’s also a waterbender, though it takes her a little longer to manifest her abilities than any of her siblings, first gaining control of the water at the age of six. Lili is incredibly endearing, as both a child and an adult, and she becomes so particularly popular with the Fire Nation public that the firebending qualification to be considered an heir to the throne is reversed, so Shira and Lili are inducted into the succession. Born in the same year, Lili had a long-term relationship with Tenzin, Aang and Toph’s thirdborn, but as they grew older, Tenzin was concerned that if he married her, their children would have heritage of all four elements and degrade the chances of Tenzin producing airbenders and continuing the Air Nation. That concern resulted in a kind of on-again-off-again thing but eventually Lili sent him off with an "I don’t want to be with someone that isn’t even sure he wants me" and went travelling the world for a few years. When they’re both in their thirties though, Lili and Tenzin reconnect and get back together, eventually marrying and producing five children - Jinora, Aya, Hiro, Rohan and Kano, the elder four airbenders and the youngest a waterbender.

A few months after Lili is born, Sokka and Suki have a baby girl and when Katara and Zuko go to visit their new niece, they agree that night on a spur-of-the-moment that they want one more child. The morning after, they talk about it properly and decide it’d be better to wait till Lili was a bit older, but Katara found out six weeks later that that one time had been successful. About halfway through, they find out that they’re expecting a boy and Katara is especially excited since their son had always been more closely attached to her whereas their girls were very firmly Daddy’s girls. Sure enough, when Kallik arrives in 118 AG, he’s a big Mama’s boy and remains so his entire life. Apart from his curly black hair, Kallik is the spitting image of his uncle, to the point that Hakoda says that seeing Lili and Kallik together is like seeing young Katara and Sokka. Kallik is the hardest to handle out of their children - loud, playful, mischievous and an exhausting troublemaker. All of the siblings fight like cat and dog but Kallik and Izumi are by far the worst, on the level of one walks into a room and the other is like “And I took that personally” and they never seem to grow out of it even when they’re both old and grey. Kallik is the only nonbender in the family and initially he struggles with this a bit but he spends a lot of time hanging out with Uncle Sokka, learns dao swords with Shira and Zuko, and by the time he hits his teens, he comes to view it more as something that sets him apart from his siblings. When he’s 18, he goes to join the United Forces and he stays in service till his late thirties, when he meets Ren, another serviceman from the Northern Water Tribe. After beginning a relationship with him, the pair settle in Republic City and end up adopting two daughters, Kirima and Alasie.

About a decade after Kallik is born, it seems like things are kind of slowly drawing to a close as the kids are getting older - Kai is 19 and has left home, Izumi is 18 and living away in Republic City while she studies at university, Shira is 14 and already talking about moving South the first chance she gets, Lili is 11 and wanting to go Northern Water Tribe to train with the healers there, and Kallik is 10 and dreaming of being a great military commander like Grandpa Koda and Uncle Sokka - when suddenly Katara starts to get really, really sick. Zuko is absolutely terrified, thinking that there’s something seriously wrong with his wife, but after some deduction, it turns out that Katara is actually pregnant again. The relief at realising she’s not dying is short-lived and the reaction from both of them is basically holy shit holy fuck we are too old for this our other kids are practically all grown up now we are done with babies we can't seriously have six children what are we going to do. There’s a lot of discussion, especially since Katara is 43 by then and the risks for her to be carrying another child are higher, but they ultimately decide to go through with it. Ironically, it’s the easiest of all her pregnancies and when Katara delivers a baby girl in Republic City in 128 AG, there hadn’t been a single complication to speak of. Iroh had passed away two years earlier, devastating the whole family but Zuko in particular, but the baby is born with his irises - a darker gold - so they name her Ilah. Her eyes are big and round like Katara’s but other than that, Ilah resembles her Grandma Ursa most strongly, with her thick chestnut-coloured hair and slight, delicate facial features. Naturally, Katara and Zuko think all their babies were the cutest baby but Ilah is probably objectively the cutest, with her big honey-coloured eyes, chubby cheeks and soft little curls.

Inevitably, since Kai, Shira, Lili and Kallik had all either left home before she was born or did so when she was still a little girl, Ilah gets a lot more concentrated attention from Katara and Zuko. She’s completely spoiled and doted upon by the whole family, including her elder brothers and sisters who visit her as often as they can manage. Since Izumi still lives in the palace permanently as the Crown Princess, she and Ilah are close, but Ilah ultimately ends up being closest with Izumi’s son, Kaz, who is only a year younger than his aunt. Ilah was even in the room when Kaz was born, though it wasn't an intentional move. Zuko was supposed to be watching Ilah when things got intense with Izumi’s labour but things escalated from 0-100 real fast and Katara didn't have time to hand Ilah off, so she stayed tucked in a sling on her mother’s back as Katara helped her eldest daughter to deliver her own baby, somehow sleeping through all the noise and commotion. Ilah and Kaz end up more like a brother and sister or best friends than an aunt and nephew, though Kaz always calls her Auntie Ilah when he’s teasing her. Ilah is perhaps the shyest around strangers of her siblings, uninterested in celebrity and attention, but she’s the most adventurous, determined and creative, interested in science and invention from an early age. Growing up, Ilah felt a little pressured by the renown of her family, especially when her firebending turned out to be just about average in power, but when she’s 12, Ilah figures out that she can combustionbend. From there, she applies her bending abilities to science and when she leaves home for university, she invents the combustion engine at age 20. The rest of her adult life is spent travelling virtually non-stop, working on innovation projects for the different nations. She never has children, on the account that it would be unfair to expect a kid to move around as much as she does and she’s happy enough with her numerous nieces and nephews, but she eventually marries her long-time girlfriend Li-Mei, an Air Nomad tasked with searching the world for new airbenders. 

[tsarisfanfiction]

Extremely Exhausted prompt:

‘You were almost dead from pushing it too far!’

Military Bros please!

Last Straw

Fandom: Thunderbirds Rating: Teen Genre: Angst/Family Characters: Gordon, Scott

Ah, my favourite!  Military bros yes, I can certainly do something with them, and it’s going to be no surprise at all who pushed too hard because I’m predictable.  Beyond that, I have no idea where this is going to go, so... let’s see what happens, shall we?

Extremely Exhausted Starters

Frustration was not an unfamiliar emotion.  Gordon had been in more than enough situations where it was an applicable response, many of them including his own beloved yet idiotic brothers (although, if he was feeling fair, he’d acknowledge that they’d say the same about him, too).  This, however?

This took the cake.

Normally, if there was a brother unconscious, the correct response was a lot of fretting and worry.  Reassuring words, attempts at coaxing them back towards consciousness or even just telling them what they were missing out on.

People generally frowned upon the idea of glaring daggers at an unconscious brother - that normally came once they were coherent enough to acknowledge and appreciate it - but this time, all the panic, all the worry, all the fear had amalgamated into frustration and it was a glare bordering on anger he had levelled at his eldest brother.

It was the third day.  Three days since they’d returned from a rescue to find Scott crumpled on the floor of Thunderbird One’s hangar.  For the longest moment, they’d feared the worst, especially when it became apparent that he’d fallen from the loading gantry while leaving his Thunderbird.

How he hadn’t died, they still weren’t entirely sure.  Security footage scraped up by John showed Scott attempting to halt his fall with his grapple, but at some point the grapple had failed and he’d fallen regardless.

Brains and Virgil were working on installing the same handrails Scott had refused many times.  As far as they were concerned - all of them were concerned - Scott had lost the right to say no now.

Scott’s stubbornness about the handrail was not, however, the reason Gordon was glowering at his too-white, unconscious face.  No, that honour went to the reason Scott fell in the first place.

It wasn’t unusual for Scott to push himself past his limits.  Gordon knew for a fact that his eldest brother often considered sleep a luxury rather than a necessity, and that he drove himself into the ground more often than should be feasibly possible.

Normally, however, it came to a head in the safety of home, big brother passing out on a sofa or at the desk and being quietly and gently relocated into a bed, where he was forcibly detained until the rest of them - most notably Grandma and Virgil - decided he was fit to return to work.

Back to back callouts on multiple different rescues and not actually seeing Scott for the two days leading up the incident because their brief moments of respite had never intersected, however, and no-one had been there to tell him to stop.  No-one had been there to make him stop, and his body had finally had enough just as he stepped out of Thunderbird One for the latest time.

Something needed to be done.  Scott could have died.  By all the laws of physics, he should have died, and they ironically had his tenacity and ingrained instincts to thank for the fact that he hadn’t.

Enough was enough.  Gordon wasn’t going to take it any longer.  As soon as Scott woke-

“What’s wrong?”

He blinked, and blue eyes blinked back at him.

Gordon snarled and the startled flinch from a big brother who clearly hadn’t been expecting that was uncomfortably satisfying.

“You,” he ground out, vaguely aware that Scott had only just regained consciousness and would be somewhat disorientated and confused, not to mention unlikely to be fully coherent.  It didn’t matter.  In some ways, it made it easier.  “You, Scott.  You and your damned determination to kill yourself.”

“Gord-”

“No,” Gordon snapped at him.  “No, you do not get to talk.  You do not get to try and explain yourself.  You do not get to make excuses.  You do not get to do anything except never, ever, push yourself too far again.”

Blue eyes were still blinking slowly, brow starting to furrow as Scott regained enough cognitive ability to start trying to work out what was going on.  Gordon knew he should give him a chance; if Scott understood, then Scott might try and do something.  But Gordon didn’t expect him to understand, let alone try and hold himself back, and the emotions had been building for the past three days with nowhere to go.  Until now.

“You almost died,” he hissed.  “You were almost dead from pushing too far.  Are you really that determined to leave us and go running to Mom and Dad again?  Does your own life mean nothing to you?  Do we mean nothing to you?”  His chest heaved, and he could see Scott’s lips moving as he tried to summon words, but he carried on.  Nothing Scott was trying to say would be anything he wanted to hear.  “I thought you’d understand!  You don’t make a secret of how terrified you were when I crashed!  Whenever you think any of us are going to die!  So why are you different?  Why do you think we don’t feel the same goddamn fear?  Or do you think it doesn’t matter what we feel?  Are our feelings an inconvenience to you?  A joke?”

“I-”

He could feel tears building in his eyes, the tight and unmistakable pressure of liquid bubbling up ready to breach the dam.  Scott’s own eyes were wide as he tried to speak.

Gordon didn’t want to hear it.  Couldn’t hear it.  Couldn’t listen to empty words and platitudes that sounded pretty and reassuring but would twist into ugly lies the very next time Scott disregarded his own life.  And there would be a next time.

There was always a next time.

“No,” he said again, standing up.  He should be glad Scott was awake, should be fussing like any of them did whenever a brother finally rejoined them, and he was, but it was buried by the ugliness of the frustration, the betrayal, the knot of emotions resting heavily right over his sternum and making it hard to breathe.  “No, Scott.”

He couldn’t be there any more.  Scott was awake.  Someone else could handle him, smother-hen him like he did them until he was all better and they could have the conversation as a family.  Again.  Gordon’s emotions were too wild, too chaotic and hurt, to stay any longer.

He left.

“Gordon!”

Scott’s strangled call dragged him to a halt just outside the room and he balled his hands into a fist, teeth grinding against each other.

He knew what was coming.

Thud.

Gordon wanted to scream.  He wanted to walk away.  He wanted to leave his stupid, selfish, irresponsible brother.

He couldn’t.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he spat, slamming the door open and storming back inside.  Scott was on the floor, trembling limbs trying to push himself back up to his feet.

“Gordon,” his brother repeated as he stalked to his side.  Blue eyes were looking at him, and there was a little bit of confusion, a little bit of uncertainty, but the overwhelming emotion in there was worry.

Typical, stupid, Scott.  Too freshly woken to understand what was going on, but ever aware enough to understand he had a brother in distress.

A microscopic part of Gordon snarled that he could just stay down there, but no matter how furious he was, there were some things he just couldn’t do.  His feet connected with the floor with more force than necessary as he came to a stop towering above his brother.  Scott didn’t cease his attempts to drag himself upright until Gordon stooped down.

“This,” he hissed furiously, “is exactly what I was talking about.”  Mindful of Scott’s weakened state - mostly exhaustion, but while the grapple had saved him from being smashed to pieces, it hadn’t stopped some nasty bruises and a couple of cracked bones - he grabbed hold of him and hauled him up.

Scott didn’t fight him as he was deposited back to sit on the bed, although Gordon was well aware that had nothing to do with his words and everything to do with the fact that he was right next to him.  Scott didn’t need to chase after him if he was right there.

“You are going to stay in that bed until we say otherwise,” he growled.  Scott did resist as he forced him to lay back down, but Gordon had frustration and anger fuelling him, and Scott was nowhere near full strength.

He didn’t let go of his shoulders even once he had him laid on the bed again, keeping him pinned in place with his body weight as he loomed over him.

“What-”

Gordon still didn’t want to hear a word from his brother.

“Stay.  In.  That.  Bed.��  His hands were trembling, too much emotion to be contained.  His voice wasn’t steady, either.  “You want to know why I’m upset?  You want to know why?”  He glared straight into blue eyes.  “You.  You are why.  You and your stupid need to work yourself straight into a grave.  So what you can do about it is stay in that bed.  No escape attempts.  No moving unless we say you can.  Do you understand, Scott?”

“I-”

“Do.  You.  Understand?”

Scott’s eyes were a little clearer now.  A little more awake, a little more comprehending.

Gordon hadn’t planned to stay in the room long enough for him to reach that stage, but of course Scott hadn’t left him with a choice.

His brother softened.  He felt him relax under his hands, just a fraction, and there was something gentler in his eyes.  A level of understanding.  Far from perfect, but a start.

“Yes.”

Gordon relaxed minutely himself.  He knew it wouldn’t last long.  It never did.  Scott just couldn’t help himself.  But for the moment, it was enough.

“I’m getting the others,” he said, stepping back and releasing his hold on his brother.  “If you even think about moving while I’m gone, I am going to find every single strap, rope and cord on the island and tie you down so firmly you won’t be able to even twitch.”

It was a promise as much as a threat.  He turned to leave.

“Gordon.”

Once again his brother’s voice stopped him, although he didn’t turn back around again.

“I’m sorry.”

He sighed.  “Words aren’t good enough anymore, Scott.  Prove it with your actions.”

If Scott had a reply, he didn’t wait to hear it.

[worldwidemochiguy]

Reticence (soft! Yandere Hoseok)

Summary: You were always terrified of getting kidnapped when you were younger, and now that you’ve been taken by a man who claims to want to take care of you, you recede within yourself so far you refuse to even eat... but Hoseok is determined to let nothing hurt you, not even yourself.

Warnings: Kidnapping, kind of Stockholm syndrome, mentions of not eating so if you’re sensitive to that kind of stuff pls be careful <3 Yandere behaviour, though I am kind of romanticising it in this fic, please remember that that is all it is: Fiction. Obviously in real life this behaviour would be unacceptable and horrifying. 

Word Count: 2.2K

Masterlist :)

a/n: my first hobi fic!!! this is for @kpopgirlbtssvt​ from a request made about a billion years ago (sorry :/ ) for made-for-each-other verse! Yandere Hobi with a shy reader who wouldn’t talk even though he begged her to, and then him coming home from work to her telling him she missed him and was glad he was home. this was a lil less fluffy and a lil more angsty than i intended, but its still a ‘happy ending’ bc im a weak bitch with simple pleasures, what can i say lmao

Reticence

“What do you want for breakfast, sunshine?” 

Silence. 

Hoseok sighed, then straightened up again, walking over to the refrigerator. You remained sat by the kitchen island, empty gaze fixed on the marble countertop. 

“Omelettes it is, then!” He exclaimed with artificial excitement, trying to be cheery in the face of your taciturnity, but even the sunshiney optimist that was Hoseok was finding it more difficult than he expected. He had hoped that by now you would’ve accepted him, but you remained as quiet and unresponsive as the day he brought you home. Not that you thought of it as ‘home’ yet, but he hoped you would eventually. Hoseok was not a patient man, but he was willing to wait forever for you. 

You didn’t even blink when he set the plate down in front of you. It didn’t seem like you were going to attempt to eat it either. Hoseok sighed. He could understand if you didn’t want to talk to him yet — even though it had been months and he’d been nothing but kind to you — but he drew the line at refusing to eat. 

You had lost weight. The cute cheeks he loved to watch bunch up as you smiled were now sunken. Your beautiful figure which he had admired from afar was starting to become worryingly waif-like. Hoseok frowned, a crinkle between his brows forming for the first time as his usually exuberant features warped with agitation.

“Listen, Y/n-” Hoseok sat down at the kitchen island across from you, bracing his forearms against the table and leaning forwards. “You have to eat. I promise there’s nothing in it that could hurt you. Look, I’ll even eat it myself!” Hoseok carved out a small piece of the omelette and popped it in his mouth, exaggerating his chewing and swallowing. “See?” You offered no reaction, and Hoseok felt his disappointment join the omelette on its way down to his stomach. 

“I can understand that you maybe aren’t so happy with me right now, but that doesn’t mean you have to punish yourself. Just, please, please stop shutting me out.” His pleading tone did nothing to move you. You just sat there like a ghost, and a groan of frustration slipped out of Hoseok. 

“Please! I’m begging you! Just eat! I don’t understand, all I want to do is take care of you! All I want to do is love you, why won’t you accept me? Why won’t you even talk to me?” 

The only sound was Hoseok’s harsh breaths after his outburst. If he couldn’t see the slow rise and fall of your chest, Hoseok would think you weren’t alive at all. He slumped in his seat, allowing himself to wallow in self-pity for a moment, before forcing himself to get up and ready for work. When he passed through the kitchen again on his way out the door you were still sitting there, staring at the countertop. 

The front door banged shut, the sound echoing in the apartment. Then, silence. And then, very quietly, the noises of cutlery moving against a plate and chewing. 

~~~~~~

“I don’t know what to do~” Hoseok whined, his head buried in his hands. Around him, his shocked friends were gathered in an informal circle. Each of them had an expression with varying degrees of surprise and confusion — they had never seen Hoseok, the literal personification of sunshine, so dismayed. 

“It’ll be ok, Hoseok. I know it’s bad at the moment, but you just have to wait until she trusts you. Once you achieve her trust, you’ll both be the happiest you’ve ever been.” Taehyung reassured him. Taehyung was obviously the source of authority, since him and his wife were basically the perfect couple. 

“But what if she never trusts me?” Hoseok fretted, before groaning again. “She won’t even eat! I don’t know what to do, I’m just watching her slowly starve in front of me and she won’t even look at me!” The rest of the group paused as they digested this new information. It seemed this girl was particularly stubborn.

“Force feed her then.” Jin shrugged and Hoseok’s head shot up in outrage.

“No! I could never hurt her like that!”

“You’re hurting her by letting her starve.” Jeongguk pointed out, and Namjoon smacked the back of his head, chastising. Meanwhile, Hoseok looked like he was about to cry.

“Listen, Hoseok, are you sure this girl is the one?” Jimin questioned, bracing his clasped hands on his knees. 

“I know she is.” Hoseok replied with a conviction he rarely used. “The second she came into my life, it was like I was born again and she was the first thing I saw. The only thing I could see. Her face- God, it just… glows. She’s like sunshine. She’s an angel. She’s so beautiful and kind and fragile and I want to protect her from everything, and I don’t deserve her but no one else does either and I know we’re meant to be together. If I thought I could’ve let her go, I would have. But I can’t. I have to have her, she has to be mine.” 

The circle of men was quiet for a second, before a quiet chuckle broke the silence. 

“Well then,” Yoongi rasped, “if she’s all that you say she is-”

“She is.” Hoseok interjected fiercely.

“Then all you can do is have a little patience.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It was incredibly boring being kidnapped. Especially when your kidnapper did nothing interesting except make bad food and dance along to music from the TV surprisingly well and cry sometimes when you wouldn’t look at him. Frankly, it would have been easier if he were more of the torturey-type, because it was really hard to stay stubborn in the face of his sparkling eyes and radiant smile.

When you were younger, there was a poster up on the wall of your homeroom at school. On it was an old man with an ugly sneer and a beige trench-coat, with the slogan ‘DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS’ superimposed in glaring red letters. You used to stare up at the poster and wonder how anyone could be so stupid as to talk to someone who looked like that. 

You were never afraid to yell ‘STRANGER DANGER’ at the highest decibel your little lungs could manage whenever a person brushed too close to you in the mall. It was almost a habit — you were avidly fixated on your own personal safety, much to your mother’s chagrin and public embarrassment. Being banned from all the surrounding stores within a 20 mile radius had two consequences:

You had to drive forty minutes for a new pair of socks.

You stayed at home a lot more than you went out.

You became a homebody, and it was certainly not something you were unhappy about. Staying safe in your room meant there was less risk for someone to kidnap you. The comforting layer of your blanket was a shield from everything bad in the world. When your parents were arguing constantly, screaming at each other every other night, you would just tuck yourself in and read a bedtime story on your own since they were both occupied. When your parents eventually divorced, you buried yourself under your duvet rather than answer their questions about who you wanted to stay with, and what your preference was. When your mom died in a car crash, and your dad started drinking, your mattress was the shoulder you could cry on, your blanket was a warm arm holding you close. You had always felt safe in your bed. Perhaps that was why you were having such an averse reaction to being taken from it.

Hoseok was not a man with an ugly sneer and a trench coat. He had an impeccable sense of style, and his smile was breathtaking on the few occasions that it appeared. You more often saw his face twisted into a pained grimace. For a kidnapper, he was awfully sensitive. You were pretty sure it was reasonable for you to be holding grudge, and it’s not as if you were actively fighting against him or anything. You were just refusing to acknowledge him. You were highly skilled at repressing things, or ignoring them, and you were resolved to do the same now. 

By 7 o’ clock, your resolve was slightly eroded. Hoseok always arrived back at half-past 5 on the dot. He was a very punctual person, and you felt an unwelcome sense of worry curl along the edges of your mind as the clock counted away the seconds of him not being there. You remembered feeling the same way when you waited for your mom to pick you up from your dads, watching the clock hand sweep past the numbers, increasingly taunting. Of course, you hadn’t realised that she was at the time caught in between a lorry with a drunk driver and a very steep incline. You wondered if you were being similarly clueless now. 

When the door clicked open at quarter to 9, you had to restrain yourself from exhaling in relief. Hoseok came in looking slightly disheveled, his collar undone and his hair mussed as if he had ran his hands through it over and over again. He gave you a quick once over to see if you were alright, shot you a small, forced smile and then went straight to his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

That was odd. He never closed the door to his bedroom. He had always left it open in case you needed anything, despite your refusal to acknowledge him. First, his late arrival and now yet another uncommon action? You felt curiosity bubble within you. That was it. Curiosity. It’s not that you were at all worried about him, you were just being nosy. Of course. 

You tiptoed towards the door, tracing a finger around the door frame lightly. What if he didn’t even come out again for dinner? You doubted he had dined out without you, he had been eating his meals sitting across from you while you refused to touch yours since the day he stole you. You really should check on him, if only for the fact that if he dies then you’re trapped here with a high chance of starvation.

Before you could convince yourself not to, you opened the door and stepped inside. The only light-source came from the moonlight filtering through the window, casting Hoseok’s form lying on the bed in a deep blue. His eyes, which you assumed had been closed previously, shot open to observe you as he propped himself up on the backs of his forearms.

“Y/n.” He rasped, and a pleasant shiver ran down your spine. “D-do you need anything?” His tone was both excited and confused, probably because you had literally never directly interacted with him before. 

You didn’t speak, and for the first time your silence was due to speechlessness, rather than a conscious desire.

“I-I, uh,” You stuttered, and Hoseok sat up ramrod straight, hearing your voice for the first time. “You… were late home.”

Hoseok felt like he couldn’t breathe. Your voice was so soft and pretty, fuck, and you were actually looking at him, you were actually talking to him, holy shit- and you called the apartment home. You said he was late ‘home’. Hoseok somehow managed to keep his shit together. 

“I was?”

“Yes.” You confirmed with a small nod of your head. Fuck, you were so cute. “You normally come back at half five. It’s almost nine now.”

“I’m sorry. I was working late.” He was staying at the office because he felt guilty for not taking proper care of you and wanted to avoid seeing the proof of your unhappiness, but you didn’t need to know that. 

“It’s ok.”

You remained standing at the foot of the bed, locked in his gaze. The bed looked so comfortable, moulding to support his body, and his warm body was exactly the comforting presence you were searching for all those years ago and you found yourself asking,

“Can I sleep in the bed with you?” 

It was a quiet, timid suggestion but Hoseok reacted to it like a bombshell. His eyes practically popped out of their sockets and his entire body tensed. You were about to rescind your offer when he reached out a tugged a corner of the blanket down, welcoming you into the warmth. 

You awkwardly sat on the edge of the mattress, nudging off your house slippers with your toes before slipping under the covers. The relief was instantaneous, shrouded in comforting and familiar warmth, and you couldn’t stop yourself from plastering yourself against his side, arm reaching out tentatively to rest on his chest. You felt his muscles jump under your touch, before his arm slid under you and tucked around your shoulders, drawing you into him closer. You closed your eyes, letting out a quiet little sigh, and you let yourself say the words you wish you could’ve said all those years ago when your mother never returned.

“I’m glad you’re home. I missed you.” 

[rhys-writes-sometimes]

Music Worth Making Part 6: Finally Free

Requested: yes actually lol

Warnings: Luke’s birthday is in this chapter, so sadness, but I think that’s it (other than bad writing of course)

Series Summery: When the reader’s life is ripped away from them, they’re distraught. But with her two best friends and three certain ghosts, maybe the afterlife isn’t so bad after all. 

Chapter Summery: You and the band play at your first gig.

Word Count: 3,233

A/N: Aaaa I’m so sorry this took so long! I was in a bit of a writing slump, and then school started. Also, I was trying really hard not to cry writing Luke’s birthday scene, so I have no idea how I’m gonna get through Unsaid Emily. Anyway yeah I hope you enjoy!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Masterlist

______________________________________________________

“How can we die if we’re already dead?” Luke asked, locking eyes with you.

After what happened in the gym last night, you decided you needed a little time alone, to process everything. Whatever it was had scared you, badly. 

You poofed into the Molina’s guest room, where Danny was staying. Wincing when you landed on your bad foot, you limped over to the window seat and sat, looking out at the street below. It was such a neighborhood. It was hard to believe that anything bad could happen here.

And yet, it had.

You gasped as the memory of the club came rushing back to you. Not the fun you had, but before that. Seeing the man who had killed you floating above the table. The Club had somehow made you forget that your host was a murderer. 

Sometime around 9 am, you decided to go check on the boys. They had been hit with the jolt too, after all.

“Y/N!” Reggie called out as you appeared in the studio.

“Where’d you go last night?” Luke asked from his chair. 

“I just needed some time to think.”

Luke nodded once, knowing from your tone not to pry.  “Uh, hey, we were gonna go to a cafe, you wanna come?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah sure. Sounds fun.”

Luke narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion, but grabbed your hand and teleported to the cafe. 

-----

“Oh, great angle, yeah,” Reggie said as the lady snapped a picture of her food. For some reason, you, Alex, and Reggie were all sitting with this lady while Luke was standing at the counter. 

“Is this what we’re here for?” Alex asked, his voice showing that he was regretting all of his life decisions. “To watch people take pictures of food?”

“It’s fun!” Reggie defended himself. “Watch this, people never stop looking at their phones.” He began to move the woman’s food around the table. She looked around in confusion before leaving the cafe. The three of you chuckled. 

“Plus, Luke said something about this place being a hot spot for music industry people.”

“Boys!” Luke said, sitting down in the chair the lady had just left. He glanced at you before continuing: “and, uh, Y/N, being a ghost definitely has it’s privileges. I just wrote our names on the playlist for tonight.”

“I’m getting a little worried about him,” Alex said, speaking to you but loudly enough so that the others could hear him. “He keeps forgetting that Julie quit the band.”

“And that she’s gonna come back!” Luke protested. “Just as soon as she knows we have a great gig.”

You bit your lip. You knew how stubborn Julie was, and she was pretty mad at the boys.

“But if she doesn’t come back, let's not forget we do have somewhere else we can play,” Reggie said, noticing the look on your face. “And eat pizza.”

“Dude, I know, it was awesome to be seen by lifers at Caleb’s party-” you flinched. “-but we got this with Julie. We don’t need him.”

Pain flared through your body again, almost making you fall out of your seat. It was getting worse; it felt like being stabbed again.

“It’s that same thing again,” Alex said, rubbing his side.

“Just like yesterday!” Luke added. 

“It feels like that time I was fixing my amp in the rain,” Reggie said. You stared at him.

“You shouldn’t… okay,” Alex started, giving up. 

“Look, do you think something’s wrong with us?” you asked, to no one in particular. 

“Yeah, yeah, we ate 10 pounds of pizza yesterday without a stomach. I’m sure it’s just our bodies working through it,” Luke said, although there was a hint of worry in his voice. 

“So we’re just gonna forget about getting back at Trevor?” Reggie said, desperate to change the subject. “That jerk stole our music!”

“And he has to live with that guilt. It’s like what Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound, okay? That’s what we should be focusing on.” Luke leaned back in his chair, looking at the three of you. 

Alex suddenly sat up straighter. “Isn’t that Willie?” he said, walking out the door. 

Reggie smirked. “Well, someone’s not focusing on our music.” You gave a small laugh. 

“Hey, Y/N, are you okay?” Luke said, leaning over the table towards you. 

“Oh, oh yeah, I’ve just got a lot on my mind right now,” you said, giving him a small smile. 

He leaned back in his chair, chewing his lip. He knew you weren’t being completely honest, but he didn’t push it. 

-----

“We’re sorry

So sorry

We’re super-duper, crazy stupid

Sorry!”

The boys sang as Julie walked into the studio.

“In case you missed it, we’re all really sorry,” you said, walking over to her. 

“Yeah, I… I got that part.”

“We’ve been here for like, three hours,” Alex said, high-fiving Reggie.

“We almost sang to your little brother.”

“He comes in here a lot. Mainly to use the bathroom.”

“It’s not our favorite part of the day,” Alex whispered. 

“But, Julie, it wasn’t okay that we flaked on the dance last night,” Luke said, getting the group back on topic. 

“We know we let you down,” you said, moving to stand with the boys. 

“And none of us wanted to disappoint you,” Alex said quickly. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to us since we became ghosts.”

“So, in hopes that you’ll rejoin the band, we booked a new gig,” Luke said, nervously handing Julie the flyer.

“A mega important, life-changing gig,” Reggie smiled. 

“Oh, okay, check it out. Tons of managers go here to listen to new bands. All we gotta do is blow them all away, and we’re living the dream.”

“So, this means a lot to you, huh?” Julie said coldly. “Kind of like how playing in front of my entire school meant a lot to me.”

“Sounds like sarcasm… I’m starting to think our plan isn’t working,” Reggie muttered to you and Alex. 

“Look, we know we messed up,” Alex started. 

“But, we need you in the band,” Luke finished. 

“Of course you do. Because without me, no one can see you guys playing.” You looked at the ground in shame as Julie spoke. “You know, I thought that the music we were writing was special, but you’re too obsessed with your past to even care.”

“I do care!” Luke protested. “Our band has a real chance at greatness, and I’m not gonna let that get away from us again!”

“Uh-huh. Right. So then why did you bail on me to get back at Trevor? I’ll tell you why. ‘Cause there’s only one thing you care about, Luke Patterson, and that’s yourself.”

She turned and stormed out of the garage. “Y/N, are you coming?” she called out. You glanced at the boys apologetically before following your best friend. 

-----

Julie sat on the couch, quietly scribbling down answers to her math homework. You sat in the chair next to her, sketching on a piece of paper you had found. 

“You uh, you got a second?” Alex asked as the boys poofed in. Julie ignored them, turning on the couch so they wouldn’t be in front of her. You stared at the paper you were holding. 

“Oh my gosh, she can’t see us anymore!” Reggie exclaimed. Alex gave him a look; Reggie muttered “oh.”

Alex sat on the arm of the couch. “Julie, please.”

“I already told you, I’m done with the band,” she finally spoke. 

“Yeah, we know, alright? But before you decide that forever, we just… we wanted you to know that Luke isn’t as selfish as you think he is.”

“Yeah, you’ve got him all wrong,” Reggie spoke up. 

Julie scoffed and went back to her homework.

“You remember that song ‘Emily’? Can we at least show you who that’s about?”

-----

You never thought you would be spying on a ghost boy, but here you were. The four of you had walked to a house not too far away from Julie’s, and were peering through the front window from a distance. Luke was sitting on the counter, his eyes red from crying, watching an older couple move around the kitchen. It was Luke’s parents house.

“So, Emily’s his mom?” Julie asked, peering out from behind a tree. 

“Yeah. Yeah, Luke comes here a lot,” Alex said, crouching behind a chair. 

“He thinks we don’t know but, we’ve been following him,” Reggie admitted. “All he does is just, hang out like this and watch them. They never really do anything, though.”

“They’re having cake,” you noted. “That’s something.”

“It’s a… it’s a birthday cake. For Luke.” 

A tear slid down your cheek, matching the boy inside. 

“I never knew Luke was hurting this much,” Julie said.

“Yeah. It’s even worse because when he died, he… left on bad terms. You know, his parents didn’t want their 17-year-old to be in a rock band, so… he just left.” Alex said softly. “He never got the chance to make up with them.”

You watched as Luke blew out his birthday candle. His parents relit it and blew it out together.

“That’s why Luke was so angry,” you guessed, tears falling freely. “If Trevor had given Luke credit for writing all the songs, then…” you trailed off.

“His parents would have known his dreams were worth chasing,” Reggie sighed.

“They would have been so proud,” Julie said, her voice breaking a little. You looked over at her and saw that she was crying, too. 

Alex stood up. “We know how bad it hurts when someone that should’ve had your back… completely lets you down. We never meant to make you feel that way.”

“Julie, we love our band,” Reggie said, still crouching behind a plant. “And Luke does too. Please give us another chance.”

You looked back at Luke and his family one last time, noticing a bouquet of flowers on the island. You smiled to yourself. They were dahlia’s, Rose’s favorite.

-----

“Marching on proud

Turn it up loud

‘Cause now we know what we’re worth,” you and Julie harmonized.

Luke suddenly appeared in a chair. “Whoa,” he said as the music died out. Then he smiled. “Julie.”

She smiled back at him. “Grab a guitar. We got work to do.”

“What made you come back?”

“I realized how important music is to all of us. And we’ve lost so much already. We can’t lose this too.”

“Thanks,” Luke said quietly. Julie smiled at him. “Alright, boss, where we at?”

Julie smirked, taking pride in the name. “Oh, and by the way, happy birthday.”

Luke looked a little stunned, and he glanced at you. 

“Happy birthday,” you said quietly, smiling at him.

A slight blush creeped onto his cheeks. 

Julie laughed slightly. “Let’s go from the pre-chorus.”

Alex smiled. “One, two three four!”

-----

“Guys, are you sure? She’s probably just getting dressed or something,” you said as Luke, Alex, and Reggie stopped outside of Julie’s door.

Reggie smirked. “Which is why I’ll be doing this.” He stuck his arm through the door and knocked on this inside. 

You heard Julie chuckle as she called out: “What are you guys doing?”

Reggie stuck his head through the door. “We’re being classy,” you heard him say. You and Alex pulled him back. 

The four of you walked through the door.

“Why are you still here?” Luke asked. “We’re going in like, twenty minutes.”

Julie sighed. “I lied to my dad, so…  now I’m stuck in my room all night.”

“Yeah, but, we were just at the venue! I mean it’s packed, like, VIPs, managers…” Alex trailed off. “It’s kinda crazy.”

“What are we gonna do about my aunt?” Julie asked, sighing again. “She’s right downstairs.”

Luke walked over to her window, smirking as he opened it. “You’re not taking the stairs.”

Julie shook her head slightly. “Okay. Let me get dressed. I’ll meet you guys there.”

The guys all poofed out, but you stayed behind for a minute, admiring your best friend’s room. It was just so… her.

“Y/N?” Julie asked, making you jump slightly. 

“Oh, sorry, I’ll leave-” you started, but Julie cut you off. 

“No, it’s fine.” She walked over to the trunk of her mom’s clothes, pulling out a leather jacket and turquoise romper.

“So,” she started. “What’s the deal with Luke?”

You felt your face go red. “Huh?” you sputtered. “I don’t-”

“Oh come on, Y/N,” she said with a smirk. “Everyone can see the way you look at him. And the way he looks at you.”

You shook your head. “Even if I did like him, which I’m not saying I do, there’s no way he would like me back.”

Julie rolled her eyes. 

“Really Jules! I mean, look at me!” You gestured to yourself. “I’m a mess, inside and out.”

Julie walked over to you and let her hands hover over your shoulders. “Y/N, you are one of the most beautiful people I know. Inside and out,” she smiled. 

“You really think so?” you asked. 

She nodded. You smiled. “Thanks, Jules.”

“Anytime,” she said, smiling back before putting on her outfit for the night. 

-----

“Next up, Dirty Candi,” announced the MC. 

“Am I too late?” Julie said, rushing over to where you and Flynn were standing. 

“Too early,” Flynn said, staring at the stage where Carrie was standing.

“Hope you all came to have a great time!” she said in a peppy voice. 

You glanced back and forth between Carrie and Flynn a few times. 

“Dirty Candi? How’d she get on the list?” Julie asked.

Flynn scoffed. “Her daddy probably made a call.”

You saw the way Flynn was staring at Carrie, trying to hide behind disgust. You smirked to yourself, but didn’t say anything. 

“I like this!” Flynn said, examining Julie’s jacket. “Pretty flower.” 

“Thanks. It’s a dahlia. My mom’s favorite.”

The three of you fell silent as Carrie started to sing. 

“Whenever I walk in the room

All the focus on me

The way I talk the way I move

They all want on my team.”

You rolled your eyes; it was clear that Carrie was just bragging about herself. Although you had to admit, the song was catchy and the dance moves were pretty cool. 

The guys appeared behind you, smiling as they watched the routine.

“The party don’t start ‘till I walk in

I’m stealing all the attention

Don’t get me started on mentions, yeah”

Suddenly Alex was on the stage. You and Reggie looked at each other in confusion, but Alex looked just as confused as you did. 

He quickly got over his confusion however, and he started dancing along with Dirty Candi. You laughed at his antics, making Flynn look at you in confusion.

 “Oh, it’s the guys,” you explained. 

Alex poofed back off the stage. 

“You having fun out there?” Julie asked him, laughter in her voice.

“It’s not my fault it’s my… it’s my feet.”

Julie scoffed, smiling at him. “Yeah.”

Alex grinned. “Put me back in, coach,” he muttered before appearing on the stage again.

You were thoroughly enjoying watching him dance around on stage, walking through Carrie and obviously having the time of his life. 

When the song ended, he hopped around in a little circle. “You’re making me blush,” he said, pretending the audience was clapping for him. Four members were.

He poofed back to you guys. “I um, I was just doing that for you guys.”

“Mmhmm. You can stop smiling now,” Reggie said playfully. 

“I’m not gonna lie, that was… kinda good,” Julie said. 

“Yeah.” Flynn scrunched up her nose. “I forgot why I hate her so much.”

Carrie walked up to the six of you, although to her it only looked like Julie and Flynn. 

“Hi girls!” she said brightly. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

Flynn turned to Julie. “Now I remember.”

“If you’re looking for Nick, he didn’t come,” Carrie said coldly.

Julie stepped up to her. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Okay, looks like we’re closing out the night with one more group,” the MC announced. “ ‘Julie and the Fat Ones’.”

You, Alex, Reggie, and Julie all looked at Luke as Dirty Candi laughed. 

“Really?” Alex asked him.

“Yeah man, my handwriting sucks.”

Julie walked past Carrie onto the stage, the four of you following her. 

“Uh, hi, it’s actually ‘Julie and the Phantoms’,” Julie said, her voice coming up at the end of the sentence, making it sound like a question. 

“Okay,” she muttered when no one answered, and started to play the piano.

“Hearts on fire

We’re no liars

So we say what we wanna say

I’m awakened 

No more fakin’

So we push all our fears away”

You joined her, appearing on stage and taking the harmony line. The crowd gasped.

“Don’t know if I’ll make it

‘Cause I’m falling under

Close my eyes and feel my chest

Beating like thunder

I wanna fly

Come alive

Watch me shine.”

Suddenly, the boys appeared too, making the crowd gasp again.

“I’ve got a spark in me

Hands up if you can see

And you’re a part of me

Hands up if you’re with me

Now ‘till eternity

Hands up if you believe 

Been so long and now we’re finally free”

Julie smiled, letting you take the second verse. 

“We’re all bright now

What a sight now

Coming out like we’re fireworks

Marchin’ on proud

Turn it up loud

‘Cause now we know what we’re worth”

You smiled as Luke joined you.

“We know we can make it

We’re not fallin’ down under

Close my eyes and feel my chest

Beating like thunder

I wanna fly

Come alive

Watch me shine”

The five of you launched into the chorus again, Julie taking the melody. You dropped out, letting Julie and Luke sing the bridge.

“I got a spark in me

I got a spark in me

And you’re a part of me

And you’re a part of me

Now ‘till eternity

Now ‘till eternity

Been so long and now we’re finally free”

You smiled into your microphone as Julie nailed the high note, taking the melody of the chorus.

You grinned as the song came to an end, enjoying the adrenaline rush that came with singing in front of a crowd. You heard the crowd gasp again as the four of you disappeared, leaving Julie apparently alone on stage. 

“Thank you, we’re Julie and the Phantoms. Tell your friends,” she smiled before stepping off the stage. She immediately ran over to the bar area where you and Flynn were waiting.

You all squealed as they hugged each other.

“You were incredible! Both of you,” Flynn said, beaming at her two best friends.

“Yeah we were!” Reggie said as the boys appeared. 

You stood there in an excited silence for a minute more. 

“Hey, hey, whoever Carrie was trying to impress is coming this way,” Luke said suddenly. 

“Oh, it’s…” Julie trailed off as she turned around and saw the woman making her way over.

“She looks all business,” Alex said a little nervously.

“Wait, who should do the talking?” Reggie asked. Julie looked at him. “Oh, right.”

The woman stretched her hand out for Julie to shake. “Hi, I’m Andi Parker, and I’m-”

“Julie.” Andi Parker was cut off by Ray. 

“Dad!” Julie said in surprise. 

“It’s time to go.”

Tag List: @xplrreylo @ifilwtmfc @sunsetcurvej @yagorlemmalyn @caitsymichelle13 @phantompogues

add yourself to my tag list!

[need-a-fugue]

We Grow Together (32)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Tessa Sullivan (OFC)

Chapter Summary: The aftermath...

Summary: Relationships can be tough, especially when one person is a recovering-from-being-brainwashed-and-tortured former assassin and the other is an overworked mutant scientist. But hey, every couple has their struggles. Right?

Warnings: All the angst! Also... talk of drowning, hospitals, and death.

The whole thing just kept playing over and over and over again in his head. Every detail. Every wrong call. The far-off tailing. The lack of air support. Him telling her to comply with Lobe’s driver and get into the trunk. Him telling Bucky to take the shot.

He didn’t expect that the car would go into the river. It should’ve skidded to a stop long before that, should’ve veered off into the fields that lay between the town and the bridge. But it didn’t. And he can’t get the image of it careening off the bridge and slamming into the water below out of his head.

She didn’t answer at first, but once she did, the relief was short-lived. Her voice was small and scared, unlike he’d ever heard it before. I can’t get out. Steve, I can’t… trailing off as the water began shorting out her earpiece.

But we got her out… That’s what he keeps telling himself, reminding himself. In response to all of the other terrible thoughts and images going through his mind… We got her out.

“Hey.” He looks up from his twisted hands and sees Bucky standing before him, just as soaking wet as the rest of them, just as drawn and tired looking.

“How is she?” he asks with a start, standing up so fast that he almost knocks his friend over.

Bucky places a hand on his shoulder to steady him and he nods. “She’s alright. I mean… they want to keep her overnight. And they’re worried about her lungs… how the water affected them.” He gives Steve a small, sad smile. “Natasha’s with her. She told me to go get some air. You wanna come?”

Steve just nods and pats the man on the back as they head for the doors out of the emergency room. There are a few benches along the walkway that extends out to the main parking lot. They’re along a quiet grassy corridor, surrounded by trees, and Steve can’t help but think how almost cruel it is to offer such a lovely space for people who are undoubtably in the midst of one of the worst days of their lives.

Bucky doesn’t seem to notice the flowering redbuds or the lush green grass, or even the crickets beginning to chirp as the sun sets to their left. He simply drops down onto a bench in an exhausted heap, his head falling into his hands.

Steve stares at him for a long moment before quietly taking a seat next to him. “Sam said he flew the Redwing over the island. Said he couldn’t see a damn thing.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Nat and I’ll go out once it’s dark and see what we can find, but…” He trails off, glancing over at Bucky once more. He hasn’t moved an inch. “Never found the other guy,” he mutters, referring to the passenger in the car.

“I don’t really care,” Bucky mumbles into his hands.

Steve pulls in a nervous, shaky breath. “The doctors…” he starts, then shakes his head. “She’s okay, right?”

He sits upright finally, leans back and drops his hands as he takes a deep breath and squints against the setting sun. “Yeah,” he breathes out. “Yeah, I think so. Her um… pulse ox? It’s a measure of how much oxygen she’s getting. It’s low. But they said that’s normal, considering. Somebody going without oxygen that long, they’d be most worried about brain damage. But she’s with it and talking… And puking… guess she swallowed a lot of water too.” He nods, definitively. “Yeah, I think she’s okay.”

“I broke her rib,” Steve says softly, his eyes cast down as he remembers the sickening pop, feels her chest cave under his hands.

“Two, actually.”

He looks up and sees Bucky offer him another sad, conciliatory smile. “Jesus,” he mutters, still wringing his hands. “Buck, I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“For what? Doing CPR?” He snorts. “You saved her life.”

“No,” he says with a sigh. “Clint did.”

It’s true, Clint was the one who stepped in after Natasha’s alarmed shout of Steve! She too had heard Tessa’s ribs crack beneath his hands. And Clint was there in an instant, calmly pushing him aside and taking over compressions, softly repeating, “You’ve got this. C’mon, Doc. You can do this,” until murky river water poured from her mouth in violent gasps and chokes and heaves.

“You got her out of that car,” Bucky tells him simply.

“I’m the reason she was in that car.”

There’s a slight sound of wood cracking and Steve looks down to find Bucky’s metal hand too-tightly gripping the edge of the bench. “She was there because she was too damn stubborn to say no,” he says, his lips pressed together in a firm line. He shakes his head solemnly. “We all fucked up.”

“It was my mission. I set it up. I called the shots. I was running point.” Part of him hopes that Bucky will interrupt to tell him that he’s not to blame. But the larger part knows that even if he did, it would just be one friend trying to comfort another. The truth is the truth. He’s responsible for his men (and women) when they’re in the field. It’s that simple. And Sergeant Barnes would know that truth better than anyone. “The only man I ever lost in a op was you,” he says after a long, quiet moment.

Bucky turns to look at him, but Steve doesn’t – can’t – make eye contact. “You didn’t lose me. Not forever. And we didn’t lose Tessa either.”

He leans back into the bench and stretches his hands out. His fingers are aching from mangling them for the last who knows how long… but it was all he could do to keep from feeling the metal of the car slipping under his fingertips as he fought to open the trunk, or the feel of Tessa’s chest not rising as he pulled her to the shore and began CPR. “If she didn’t make it…” He stares off into the horizon, still unable to look at Bucky. “I would never forgive myself. You’d never forgive me.”

Bucky unclenches his fist from the bench and places an open palm gently on Steve’s knee. “If she hadn’t of made it, I wouldn’t have made it either.”

The words make Steve’s heart still suddenly in his chest. Of course Bucky would feel that way. He knew how much he loved her. And he knew his friend well enough to know that he’s not the kind of guy who would just get over losing her, maybe ever. But hearing him actually voice that truth still catches him off guard. Not because it’s unexpected to hear or because it plants another unsettling what if in Steve’s mind. It’s just because he honestly hadn’t thought once about Bucky today. Not as they left the compound this morning mentally prepping for the mission. Not once things were underway and he was making the – in hindsight, questionable – calls he’d made, including ordering Bucky to take out the car that Tessa was in. Not even when he saw Bucky’s hands suddenly appear on the car underwater, gripping and bending and pulling along with his own to tear the trunk open. Not once had he thought about how hard all of this must be for him.

He was on the comms, he heard Tessa crying for help. Hell, the last thing she said, in a strangled, slurred cry before her device crackled into oblivion, was Jamie. But Steve was so caught up in his own failure and his own regret that he hadn’t even thought about his friend’s pain.

When he finally does look over at him, he sees tears filling Bucky’s eyes. He’s staring off at the sunset, so he doesn’t notice the intense look his friend is giving him. The moment the tears start to spill over, he almost violently swipes them away before turning his head to look at Steve. “Bucky…” is all Steve can muster.

But it’s enough. “Yeah,” he says in response before hauling himself up off the bench. “I should get back in there.”

The corner of Steve’s mouth quirks up a bit as he hears the water in his friend’s shoes squish. “You should change clothes,” he says as he follows him back inside. “You’ll catch pneumonia.”

“You sound like your mom.”

“Well, she wasn’t wrong. I had pneumonia twice.”

“Maybe you’re the one who should change, then.”

As soon as they approach the waiting room, Clint is on them with a report. “Sam’s got your weapon,” he tells Bucky – he, of course, had left the rifle behind as he ran headlong down the embankment to get to the river. “And Tony’s talking to the local authorities now.”

“He’s on his way back?” Steve asks.

Clint nods. “And he is pissed.”

Bucky pats the archer on the shoulder as he moves past him and ducks into Tessa’s cubicle. “Can’t say I blame him,” he says, disappearing through the glass doors.

Steve stares at Tessa through the doors, frozen to his spot. She’s curled in on herself, obviously in pain as she fights through a coughing fit. Natasha is rubbing her back soothingly, smiling lightly as she talks to her friend. When Bucky enters, Tessa straightens a bit, stifling the coughs, and reaches out for him.

“She’s gonna be okay,” Clint tells him. “They’ll keep her overnight and first thing in the morning she’ll be bitching out the staff so much, they’ll kick her to the curb.”

“There won’t be any… lasting effects?” he asks, keeping his gaze on the people in the room in front of him.

Clint shrugs. “They’re giving her a bunch of antibiotics. Actually, we all should get in on that.” Steve finally turns to him and gives him a confused look. “That river was nasty. Those of us without super soldier immunity are probably gonna be shitting our brains out for a week.”

The comment earns a small chuckle from Steve as he says, “Guess you guys should get some penicillin, then.”

000

Natasha and Clint both go with Steve that night to check out the island. Bucky doesn’t even think to offer to go out there with them. There’s a part of him that wants nothing more than to find that facility and burn it to the ground… find Lobe and every miserable motherfucker who works for him, and put a bullet in each of their brains. No, actually, they’re not worth the price of a bullet. He’d just tear them apart, one by one.

But as much as he’d like to live out that bitter fantasy, there’s absolutely no possible way that he could leave Tessa’s side. Not now. Not ever.

Sam showed up at the hospital just after sunset with a change of clothes for everyone. Dry tactical gear for Natasha, Clint, and Steve. Civilian clothes for Bucky and Tessa. So he must’ve guessed already that Bucky wasn’t going anywhere. Or maybe Steve had made the decision for him. He didn’t ask. He didn’t care. He just took a ten minute break while the Falcon sat with his girl, making lame jokes about underwater treasure, and went and changed and grabbed a cheap coffee from a vending machine down the hall.

Aside from his chat with Steve earlier, that’s the longest he’s away from her the entire night.

“How are you feeling?” he asks her once everyone clears out, leaving just the two of them in the quiet little hospital room.

She looks down at her hand tightly folded up in his and frowns deeply, but says nothing. Instead she curls into a tighter ball, scoots nearer the edge of the bed where he sits.

“Still cold?” he asks, dropping her hand just long enough to pull the blanket up over her shoulders. He tucks it in around her neck and slowly moves his fingers up to sweep at her hair and tuck the loose waves behind her ear.

She looks up at him, an unreadable expression on her face. In a near-whisper, she says to him, “I died.”

He keeps his eyes locked onto hers as he gives a small nod. “But you came back,” he says, taking her hand in his once more. Her brow furrows. “You’re gonna be fine,” he tells her, leaning in and laying a kiss on her forehead. She nods, but the concerned frown remains. He moves his metal hand up to cup her face, and he begins tracing soft lines along her forehead with the pad of his thumb, as though trying to smooth out her wrinkled brow. She closes her eyes and nuzzles into the cool metal, craving it but also shivering against the cold.

When he feels her shiver, his thumb stills and he makes a move to pull his hand away. But she reaches up with her free hand and takes hold of his wrist, opens her eyes and stares him down as she says, “No.”

So he continues sweeping along her brow. “What’s wrong, baby?” he asks gently, as her frown grows deeper. She shakes her head a bit as if to say nothing and turns her face to bury it into the pillow. “Are you in pain?” he asks, even though he knows that they just gave her some Demerol less than an hour ago. Again, she gives a slight shake of the head. He pulls in a deep breath. “Are you worried about… about the mission? About Lobe?”

She turns her face out just enough to be able to speak without the pillow swallowing her words. “He knows who I am.”

Bucky raises his eyebrows and says, with a fierce determination, “He’s never going to get you. I’ll never let that happen.”

She’s silent for a long moment, just staring deeply into his steadfast eyes. “Supernova…” she starts slowly. “She was… very dangerous. He can’t have her. Not ever.”

He nods firmly. “Not ever.”

She closes her eyes again and parts her lips to let out a small, pained cough. “I don’t want to die again,” she says, her face twisting as she reaches down and grips his right hand with both of hers, holding on so, so tight.

He gets up from the chair by her bed leans over her. “Scoot,” he says simply. Without opening her eyes, without letting go of his hand or uncurling her body, she shifts back several inches. He climbs in bed beside her, taking care not to jostle her or to even pull the blanket down from around her shoulders. Slowly, he slides his metal arm beneath her neck and settles in around her. She releases his hand and instead grabs onto his shirt, fisting the material in her hands as she sidles closer and buries her face into his side.

He doesn’t say anything to her as she holds onto him for dear life. He doesn’t say that he’ll never let anything like this happen to her ever again. He doesn’t say that she won’t ever die again. No matter how much he want to. Because today, she did die. Today, he twisted apart metal and pulled her lifeless body into his hands. Today, he stood, dripping wet on the shore of some murky river, staring ahead at nothing as his entire world, all that he’s known, crumbled around him – just as it had years ago when he stood beside Steve after pulling him from that murky river in DC.

He won’t lie to her. He loves her too much to do that. So instead he drapes his right arm around her, his hand splaying protectively over her lower back. And he presses her gently into him. He may not be able to keep her safe forever. But he can keep her close for now.

Eventually, he feels Tessa’s breathing steady and deepen as she gives into sleep. But Bucky doesn’t get any rest at all that night. Not even once Steve calls him to let him know that they’re all out and safe. And the moment he hears that they found next to nothing on the island – the entire facility having been abandoned and the computer systems wiped clean – he’s not sure if he’ll ever really be able to sleep again.

[purplesurveys]

1111

Something a little bit random and silly for my 1111th, just because.

survey by joybucket

List three things you love that start with each letter.

A: Art and most forms of it; anchovies, in most cases; and Angela.

B: Burgers, Beyoncé, and buffets.

E: Escargot, the name Eloise, and elephants.

F: FISH, Friends, and some folk indie.

S: Sleeping, signing off work at the end of my shift, and all kinds of seafood.

T: I’m obsessed with tteokbokki; trying out new food; and table tennis.

Q: I like the quiet time I occasionally give myself; quail eggs, especially in the form of kwek-kwek; and quattro formaggi pizza.

R: Rainbows, the rain, and riding planes.

O: Old movies, the ocean, and Okinawa milk tea.

List a phrase including an adjective, noun, and verb for each letter. Examples: "angry artist anticipating", "rude rascals running", "dirty dogs dancing", or "empty elephants eloping." Have fun!

A: Adorable animals appearing.

F: Fabulous fingers frolicking.

C; Chummy classmates cooking.

S: Suspicious self salivating.

R: Rambunctious raccoon running.

T: Tired turnip tumbling.

Q; Questioning quail quipping.

J: Joyful joggers jamming.

I: Inquisitive igloos imagining.

L: Luxurious lemonade luminescing.

Z: Zesty zebras zoning out.

E: Ethereal eagles embracing.

List three different occupations starting with each letter.

O: Orthodontist, oceanographer, opthalmologist.

E: Engineer, equestrienne, elementary school teacher.

F: Firefighter, flight attendant, farmer.

S: Scientist, singer, seamstress.

T: Talent agent, tricycle driver, tennis player.

I: Illustrator, inspector, IT technician.

E: Economist, editor, electrician.

L: Lawyer, librarian, lifeguard.

A: Accountant, actor, architect.

Y: Yoga instructor, youth pastor, yogurt maker?? if that counts, lol. Otherwise I got nothing else.

List three adjectives that begin with each letter.

A: Affable, abrupt, adequate.

B: Broken, blunt, bleary.

C: Crazy, clear, clingy.

D: Daunting, delirious, dark.

E: Existential, enraged, exemplary.

F: Fantastic, far-flung, flavorful.

G: Ghastly, gentle, gigantic.

H: Harrowing, healthy, hopeful.

I: Intelligent, identical, impervious.

J: Jovial, jaded, joyous.

List three nouns that being with each letter.

K: Kangaroo, keychain, kiwi.

L: Lemonade the album, lemon the fruit, and Liz Lemon.

M: Mall, maple syrup, and mop.

N: Nightingale, nest, napkin.

O: Ogre, olive, orange.

P: Piano, panini, and pizza.

Q: Queen, quill, quilt.

List three verbs that begin with each letter.

R: Running, raking, reliving.

S: Singing, sailing, surfing.

T: Tricking, tossing, teeming.

U: Understanding, urging, unwrapping.

V: Villifying, venerating, vaccinating - get vaccinated, folks.

W: Wandering, washing, wriggling.

X: I don’t know if there are any and I can’t bother to look it up.

Y: Yawning, yelling, yearning.

Z: Zipping, ziplining, zapping.

List three...

girl's names you love: Olivia, Mia, Emma.

boy’s names you love: Mason, Jacob, Lucas.

girl’s names you dislike: Karen, and our local versions of Karen, Marites and Marivic.

boy’s names you dislike: Chad, times three.

things you hate about summer things you hate about winter things you hate about spring things you hate about fall things you love about spring things you love about winter things you love about fall things you love about summer Crossing these out because my Southeast Asian ass can’t relate, but if you do decide to take this survey feel free to un-strikethrough them!

things you miss from your past: Having more freedom to make mistakes; not having to worry about the future; and friends I’ve since lost.

people who have really hurt you in the past: Gabie, my mom, Marielle.

names of people you have had crushes on: Gabie, Andi from 5th grade...and that’s it, really.

names of people you have gone on a date with: Only Gabie. And I guess maybe Mike? Since he asked me to go with him to his ball as his date.

places you've been and would love to go again: Sagada, Jeju, Bali.

places you want to visit before you die: Morocco, Spain, Thailand.

items on your bucket list: See Times Square, live in a condo, plan a solo trip.

health conditions you have: Scoliosis, lactose intolerance, and very possible depression.

health conditions you've had in the past but don't anymore: Dehydration, UTI, and some kind of weird low-platelet-count thing that was just that, and never diagnosed as anything.

things you are allergic to: Possibly some types of grass, and maybe face masks. Idk how to confirm it really; I just know my skin gets irritated around them sometimes.

youtube channels you love to watch: Good Mythical Morning; the KBS YouTube channel mainly for clips of Return of Superman and 2 Days 1 Night; and Binging With Babish.

favorite drinks: Water, coffee, Long Island Iced Tea.

favorite foods: Sushi, chicken wings, pizza.

favorite desserts: Cheesecake, MACARONS, cupcakes.

favorite holidays: The only one I care for and get super excited about is my birthday, if that counts. Christmas is fine, but I only get the excitement for it on the actual day itself.

favorite colors: Pastel pink, white, maroon.

people you would like to meet: Ysa and Bea, my teammates at work. I’ve met them only once before, and I wish we can be allowed to report to the workplace physically soon so that I get to see them more often and strengthen my relationship (both working and personal) with them. I’d also love to be able to chat and chill with Hayley Williams even for just 30 seconds.

people you want to meet in Heaven: I don’t believe in that, but I’d love to have met my great-grandfather on my maternal grandfather’s side. Also, Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana.

good names for a dog or cat: Depends on their personality.

reasons why you get up each morning and keep on living: Because I’ve been able to see myself get better, and why stop all the progress?; because I’d want to be able see if the future will get better; and because I’m afraid of what will happen to/who will look out for my dogs if I’m suddenly gone.

For each name, think of three people you know with that name, and list their occupations.

Amanda: I only know one Amanda, and she’s a friend of my ex’s younger sister. She’s only in senior year of high school. I know an Amandine which is close enough I suppose?? and she’s a dentistry student.

Sarah: She’s a media contact and I’m constantly in touch with; she’s the editor-in-chief of a local magazine. I think she’s the only Sarah I know.

Ashley: Also a media contact. I’m not sure about her title, though.

Beth: @bionic-beth is a teacher! :) But I don’t know any Beths in real life, I think.

Katie: Well I know Kate, and I’ll sometimes playfully call her Katie. She works in a government agency and she’s one of their PR people. The HR person who recruited me to come work at my current employer is a Kate, but I have never and have no plans to call her Katie.

Matt: That’s too foreign-sounding a name where I live.

Emily: Don’t know any Emilys, either.

Chris: Media contacts. They run blogs or news sites of their own.

Mike/Michael: The one Mike I know is currently a med student. Not sure if he’s working on the side - I think he is, since I saw him post about a job update on his Facebook a few months ago; but I can no longer remember what he does, or if he’s still doing it.

Jessica: I went to high school with a girl named Jessica but I don’t follow her on social media, so I have no clue what she’s up to now.

Becca/Bekah: Rita’s sister is a Becca. I think she is currently a grad student.

For each name, think of three people you know, and list one adjective to describe each person. (Skip if you don't know anyone with that name.)

Laura

Michelle: Hilarious.

Victoria: Strong.

Tessa: Friendly.

John

Claire: Influential; motherly.

Briana/Brianna: Bitch.

Vanessa

Brittany/Britney, etc.

Allison/Allie/Ally, etc: Kind. 

Olivia

Jordan

Jo/Joe: Ambitious; pretty.

Corey/Kori

Sophie: Sweet; quiet.

Mitch/Mitchell: Tall.

Madison/Maddie/Maddi

Out of all the people you know or have met, list three...

redheads: Yeah, you’re not going to find them in most of Asia. West Asia and some parts of East Asia, probably, but definitely not for the rest.

tall people: Jo, Chesca, and Shaun.

people with really curly hair: I know Kleo has naturally curly hair from her Aeta roots, but it’s been straightened for a very long time now. I think Chesca also has curly hair, albeit slightly. There is also Liana.

sets of twins: My sister had two sets of twins in her high school batch, but I can no longer remember their names. I also had an English class with a pair of twins named Ardy and Thirdy.

of the cutest babies you've seen on social media: My workmate’s baby. My friend Jar has a super squishy niece/nephew pair of twins as well.

people you miss: Angela, Kate, my grandpa.

people with beautiful eyes: I can only think of my ex.

people with nice hair: God I have not been around people for so long, I can barely think of anyone for this.

people who are the same height as you: Aya, Hannah, Tina.

own one of the same clothing items as you: Angela since we went to the same high school and have several of the same school shirts; Laurice since we share a college org and we have our own trademark polo shirt; and my brother and I have our own pairs of Nike Cortez shoes.

make you laugh: Andi, Hans, and this girl I had a couple of history classes with, Rose.

List three celebrities who...

are the same height as you: Lady Gaga and AJ Lee are the only ones who are coming to mind. I wouldn’t call AJ a celebrity though.

have the same hair color as you: Mila Kunis, Kelly Rowland, Dita Von Teese.

look like you: Only based on comments I’ve gotten in the past and not because I necessarily claim these for myself, Lucy Hale, Anna Akana, and Kakie.

List three....

adjectives to describe you: Timid, stubborn, sensitive.

academic courses you enjoyed: Philippine social history, international relations, anthropology.

words you always forget how to spell: Rhythm, committee, accommodate.

things you wish you were better at: Singing, dancing, drawing.

things you are really good at: Writing, reading people, and knowing the best things to order at most restaurants hahahah.

jobs you'd like to have: Ideally, a lawyer or doctor. But realistically, I’d love to have a leadership position in the PR sphere.

jobs you've considered having: ^ Again, lawyer and doctor. Also a journalist or news anchor, back when I still thought I was passionate about journalism.

jobs you'd hate: Journalist, an LTO clerk, an assistant to an asshole celebrity.

things you miss: Being a student, many parts of the past, and deceased family members.

names your mom considered when naming you: Ariel, Kathleen, Katrina.

things people call you: Robyn, Byn, Bynbyn.

*Bonus*: what is your name? (first and middle)? I always feel like just sharing Robyn.

[hispydamy618]

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power x Spaceling: Glitch in Space

Summary: After opening the portal, it tears a hole across the dimensions giving an entrance for the New York heroes: Utopix Jones, Georgine Wilson, Gabriel Rodriguez, Oliver Schmidt and Makena Jones, to fall right through. Together, they'll need to recreate the disaster that brought them to Etheria alongside the Princess' Rebellion in order to go back home and fix what was broken... but not before defeating the obstacles on the way.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for She-Ra’s season 3 finale and Spaceling’s issue 10-12 events.

(Thank you so much to @catlliecal​ for co-writing this with me!)

Masterlist: Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 (you’re here!) // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6 // Chapter 7

Word Count: 3.0k

Check Spaceling out!

Chapter 2: Trail of Light

"And then we went through the portal and- BOOM! All white, no noise." Gabriel dramatically reenacted their arrival. Bow was simply mesmerized by it, unlike Glimmer and Adora, but it was something that they've gotten used to.

"He's not... smart, is he?" Adora leaned near Glimmer's ear and whispered her concern.

"You're all from another dimension!?" Bow's eyes seemed to form stars. "You might have gotten here after what happened with-" Adora placed a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from speaking any longer. "...after something that happened here."

"Seems like it." Georgine crossed her arms over the metal plate on her chest. "What is this place exactly?"

"You're on Etheria. You never heard of it?" Bow shook his head at the last sentence.

"Should I?" Georgine's hand rested on Utopix's hip who was sitting on her lap for safe measure.

"Georgine! I-I'm so sorry, Your Majesty. Georgine is a little bit... stubborn on foreign grounds," Makena apologized to Glimmer who was holding her father's staff at all times, giving the clear impression that she was royalty.

"It's okay. We just wanna know one thing," Glimmer pointed the staff at them, holding it with both hands to avoid it from slipping off. "Are you from the Horde?"

"The Horde? Are we supposed to know what that means too?" Georgine interfered again.

"Your Majesty..." Oliver softly spoke, catching Glimmer's attention at his addressing. "We- I think that.. whatever happened here, it's what brought us here. If you gimme enough material, I'm sure I can find a way to recreate whatever brought us here and-"

Glimmer stomped her staff on the floor, creating a loud sound to catch their attention. "Recreate!? That... THING nearly killed us all if it wasn't for..." Tears began to form on her eyes, keeping her head low to avoid the others from looking. "Y-You are to stay in our sights, until we find out how to get you back home. Dismissed." Her voice trailed off at her last wish, going back to her room and out of the strangers' sights.

"I-I... I'm sorry. Did we say something?" Utopix stood up, making Georgine scoot forward to analyze his next move.

Adora's breath shook at his question, but after regaining whatever strength she had in her, she answered his inner doubts. "Glimmer's mom... Queen Angela... she..." her palm wiped the sudden tears, feeling it all play again in her head. Bow stood near his friend, caressing her shoulders and speaking for her. Utopix's heart sinked on their actions, knowing perfectly what it meant.

"She sacrificed herself to save us all from Etheria being destroyed by a portal that the Horde created. It... hasn't been that long." Bow lowered his head, sighing in defeat.

Utopix didn't know why he also started shredding tears. Maybe because he related to their pain in a deeper level. "I-I understand... M-My mom... also- k-kinda..."

Once Georgine noticed Utopix's voice dragging off, she quickly stood up, embracing him as much as she could to prevent him from crying. "It's okay, baby," she sweetly whispered in his ear as he began sobbing.

"Did something similar happened to you?" Bow's eyebrows furrowed, imagining the same scenario.

"His mom helped him escape his planet from an evil queen months ago. He landed in our... province by accident, but she followed him and we've trying to defeat her ever since." Gabriel explained to the best of his ability. "He isn't sure, but he thinks that his mom... might be gone. But we are gonna be here for him even if it isn't true."

Bow glanced at Adora whom had finished wiping her tears to exchange a quick smile. "We'll try to help you get back home, but we may have to fill you in a few things."

Gabriel's eyes sparkled as he squeezed Oliver's arm in excitement. "They're gonna tell us more about their planet."

"I don't think I got your names," Bow smiled at them, attempting to lighten the mood a little. "I'm Bow, and this is Adora."

"I'm Gabriel! Master of Illustration and Poetry!" Gabriel posed as if he was a superhero of some kind.

"Fanfiction isn't poetry, Gabriel." Oliver interfered.

"That's what you think!"

Makena stood up, chuckling at their comments. "I'm Makena, and this is Oliver. That's Georgine, as you know already. And Utopix. An artificex, a robot species."

"A robot!? Like- from space?" Bow nearly squeaked.

"Is that why the Queen is following him?" Adora crossed her arms, taking a closer inspection at Utopix.

"No, no, no. You see- they are all robots. But the Queen wants him dead because his family committed treason against the Queen!" Gabriel commented once again. "Isn't that exciting?"

"Uhh..." Adora awkwardly smiled. "Bow, does this make sense to you?"

"Absolutely," he nodded in approval.

After hours of explaining and exchanging adventures, though avoiding the word of She-Ra for safe measure, they had finally begun setting in their guest rooms. "Utopix can stay in Glimmer's room and Georgine can stay in the-" Adora begun assigning their rooms but was interrupted by Georgine's sudden handling.

"I don't think so," she held Utopix close to her body. "I'm not going to leave Utopix near that... thing."

"You mean Shadow Weaver?" Adora whispered, wanting to avoid to summon her in any way possible. "Look- I get it. I don't trust her that much either, but you don't have to wo-"

"I appreciate your concern, Adurhra-"

"Adora," she grunted.

"Adora."  Georgine's eyes narrowed at her semi confrontation. "But if something happens to him-"

"I can assure you that he'll be okay."

"Under what grounds, Adora?" Georgine stepped forward, meaning to establish her position and territory in front of the other tan-haired girl. "Because so far it seems like you and your friends can't seem to handle problems."

"You'd be surprised of what we can do together."

"Like what? Putting others in dangers for the sake of survival?"

Adora's body stood still at her words, letting Utopix know that he needed to interfere. "G-Georgie... S-Stop it."

Once Georgine felt Utopix's hands upon hers, she allowed her body to feel more loose, kissing his hand before retiring to a place far away from the individual she found suspicious.

"...A-Adora, I'm so sorry. I-I've barely have known Georgine for some months, but I don't know why she's so... harsh at times."

"No, I'm- used to it. I used to think like that a long time ago. Plus, I don't blame her. Being suddenly trapped in a place that you don't know can be... annoying."

Utopix lowered his head in disappointment. "I-I understand if you're upset, Adora."

"Oh, no, no!" she waved her arms around, clarifying the misunderstanding that the one in front of her had. "You're... uhh... great." Adora awkwardly chuckled, letting her hands rest upon her hips.

"Thank you," Utopix returned the welcoming smile, leaving her to her inner delight to find Georgine.

=================

"Why do we have to do his dirty work again?"

"Come on, Catra. Don't look at this as a bad thing! Think of it as a chance for us to have a bonding experience!"

"Whatever keeps you sane, I guess."

Catra smacked a tree branch down as she and Scorpia were wandering through the woods. Apparently Hordak had detected some sort of huge energy reading over at Bright Moon and decided to make Catra's life even more annoying by sending her and Scorpia to check it out. She had smack talked him earlier, saying how if he found it so super important that he should go check it out,  but he couldn't resist weaponizing her last failure, twisting this mission into a chance to "redeem herself" or some bullshit like that. There wasn't much she could do against that, so she grabbed Scorpia and stormed out of the Fright Zone before Hordak could utter another peep.

The branch decided to add salt to the wound by flinging itself right back at her. Catra was thrown back a bit by the impact, landing onto the ground with all the grace of a new born gazelle. "Let me help you up," Scorpia held her hand out.

Catra let out an annoyed growl before reluctantly accepting the help. She could have gotten up just fine, but the last thing she needed was another thing for Scorpia to be moping about.

"You wonder how Entrapta is doing?" Scorpia asked.

"Probably struggling to survive, if I had to guess." Catra ducked under the branch this time.

"She's smarter than that, don'tcha think?" Scorpia countered. "I mean, you saw all the tech she made for the Horde. She's probably managed to build some sort of super amazing device to help her tame the beasts!"

"No one who gets sent to Beast Island manages to last for long," Catra stated. "Whenever a trainee would slip up a lot, they'd get threatened to be sent off to the Island as a punishment for their failures. Once you get sent there, you don't come back."

Kinda like Adora after encountering that stupid magic sword.

"I guess you have point..." Scorpia sighed. She went silent after that. Good. One less thing to get on Catra's nerves.

The two continued in silence, twisting and turning around the trees; Catra didn't want to deal with any more branches wacking back at her. As much as she wanted to stop and just relax away from Hordak and any other bothersome Horde leaders, she wanted to get this stupid mission over first. Besides, she could relax once Hordak was off her back. She knew all the nooks and crannies of the Fright Zone like the back of her hand.

The clearing finally ended, and the way too sparkly Bright Moon finally was in sight. Catra chose to weave around the edge of the forest, not wanting to get caught by any Moon guards. The last thing she needed was more hell to deal with.

She heard some footsteps and quickly ducked behind the trees, pulling Scorpia's massive body next to her so she wouldn't blow their cover.

"What's going on?" Scorpia whispered.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, genius. Now stay quiet or you'll get us caught!"

Catra turned in the direction of the footsteps. She saw one person with a sweep of dirty blond hair covering one side of their head, the other side shaved. There appeared to be piercing on their ears. Next to them, there was someone with short, black hair along with strange bright green marks under their eyes.

"Who are they?" Scorpia asked, placing her head on top of Catra's, letting out a single gasp. "Is that Adora's twin? I can't handle two of them, let alone, one!"

"No clue. But whoever they are, they made things a lot more interesting."

Maybe there was something to gain out of this journey.

Moments had gone by, and Georgine's mind had wondered off elsewhere. It hadn't been hours since they crashed into the harmless dimension and her discomfort grew stronger wherever she went. But she was clearly not paying attention to her surroundings, despite how beautiful they were to the human eye.

"Georgie?" Utopix's fingers caressed her clenched fist, his voice sweetly trailed into her ears, snapping her back to reality. "It's okay. We'll get back home soon." His reassurance was misplaced, but it was still genuine.

"That's not what I'm worried about, hun."

"I-I don't think Adora and the others want to hurt us. They all seem really nice."

"It's not her who I'm concerned about, Uto." Georgine's eyes glanced around the castle, placing Utopix between her and the balcony's fence. "It's that... lady." She looked down at Shadow Weaver from the balcony they were standing at.

"I-I thought it was Takara at first... It scared me."

"I'm just curious as to why they have her around just like that," she let out a long disappointed sigh. "Just... stay near me, okay?"

"And you try to be more nice to them," Utopix's eyebrows furrowed upon his request.

"Hey." Georgine felt offended on his sudden comment.

"I-I mean it, Georgie. They let us stay here and... I can tell that they've gone through a lot... just like we have."

Georgine's eyes slightly rolled around, but after reconsidering her motifs, she accepted. "Fine."

"Plus, this place looks gorgeous! I wonder what's beyond it!"

"Fine, fine. Maybe we can go together."

Adora's eyes laid on the pair of lovebirds as a slight grin adorned her face. Interactions of this kind reminded her of a time she spent with a certain grouchy cat back on the Horde. But she wanted to keep her mind off of things... not after what happened.

"Ugh!" Mermista's voice groaned as usual after Adora and Bow explained what had happened. "Why can't we just have a normal day for once?"

"Well, I think it's wonderful!" Perfuma's hands happily clapped together.

Frosta's expression scrunched as she stared at Adora and Georgine multiple times, clearly making them uncomfortable, but what could they expect from a 11-and-three-quarters-child. Suddenly, a gasp escaped her mouth, making them back away. "Are you TWINS!?"

"Frosta! Come on!" Adora roared at her expression. "She looks nothing like me."

"Tsk." Georgine crossed her arms upon her chest.

Gabriel was hit by another epiphany. "What if we're here because she's your lost twin and destiny has brought you together!?"

"Gabriel! Come on!" Georgine similarly roared at the other's comment.

"Yeah, sure. Noooooo similar at all." Mermista rolled her eyes, laying against her tall chair with little care.

"We just need to infiltrate into the Horde to find some tech for Oliver to create a small portal for them to go back to their dimension." Bow explained as he displayed said plan on the giant holographic screen. "He knows what to do to avoid it from becoming unsteady, so we have to be careful when we go there."

"I'll go!" Utopix raised his hand like a kindergarten kid.

"No, my love." Georgine kissed his forehead, raising his chin to let him meet her eyes. "I need you to stay here with Makena and the other princesses. We'll just be in and out."

"But... y-you asked me to stay near you."

Georgine lowly chuckled at his comeback, sending chills down his sensitive spine. "Not in this situation, my love."

"Okay, so-" Glimmer swiped the screen to a red toned one. "Adora, Georgine, Bow, and I will be in Team A. Team B will be Gabriel, Mermista and-"

"Ugh!" Mermista interrupted with her whining. "Not those sewers again."

Glimmer's eye twitched at her reaction and after a single exhale got back to explaining. "Gabriel, Mermista and Oliver will be Team B to help him get the supplies. Team A will help distract the Horde long enough for Team B to go unnoticed. Perfuma and Frosta will stay here with Utopix and Makena in case the Horde decides to do any sudden attacks during our absence. In the meantime-"

"Did somebody said Swift Wind?" Swift Wind's hair marvelously waved around as he barged into the room and the meeting.

Gabriel nearly lost all of the breath in his lung once he contemplated the mystical creature. "It's a- I-It's a-!" He gasped multiple times before collapsing into Oliver's arms.

Swift Wind huffed as he approached the table. "...Okay- uh... who let him in?" His ears perked up once he saw Adora and Georgine together. "Oh. My. Goodness. Adora! You-!"

"We are not twins!" Adora and Georgine exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah." Swift Wind scoffed, smirking at their common response. "Pff. Sure."

"That's what I was saying!" Frosta pouted like the child she was, crossing her arms to add onto her passive anger.

"If you're not twins, then I am not the oh-so-loyal and gorgeous steed of She-!" Adora shut his giant mouth and shushed him, preventing him from revealing their secret, but it wasn't enough for Georgine to begin raising suspicions about her.

Night finally fell upon Etheria, allowing everyone inside the Bright Moon castle to finally rest. Glimmer was still helping Utopix accommodate the bed to his liking. Her fists would gently fluff the pillows, delicately placing them on the bed near the window. "A-Are you sure it's okay for Georgine and me to sleep in your room?" Utopix asked, holding one of the pillows near him.

"Yeah, don't worry! It'll be fun to sleep with Adora and Bow! A Best Friends Squad sleepover!"

Utopix sweetly giggled at the name of her gang. But after sitting near the edge of that bed, that same smile quickly faded away. "...I-I'm sorry about your mom."

Glimmer's hands stopped fixing the bed. Tears beginning to form on the corner of her eyes. Her saddened expression laid upon him, observing his timid behavior act up once again.

"I-I know it must be hard hearing it... but I... I-I lost mine, too." Utopix begun to shred tears, quietly sobbing to himself. "S-She.. also saved me from something... but I-I miss her..."

Glimmer let out a single sob before wiping the small tears that threatened to roll down her face. "I miss mine too... but they'd both want us to be strong. To live." The purple princess sat near the robot, placing a hand upon his cheek in a desperate attempt to comfort him. "And we can not let both of their sacrifices go to waste." Her constant-sparkling purple eyes gazed into the tiniest sparkle within his, her hand still resting ceaselessly on his tender cheek. "So, let's live. For them."

Utopix's eyes were filled by tears once again at the sound of her words. "Oh, G-Glimmer..." His body squeezed hers into a tight hug, her arms returning the pleasant gesture to the other, gently caressing his back as he cried his heart out. After there were no tears left to cry, they gently let go of each other and exchanged a warm smile amongst them.

"Hey. How about we go for some ice cream? That always cheers me up!" Glimmer happily suggested.

"C-Can we?" Utopix wiped his tears away, letting out a giggle on the process.

"Of course! I can easily teleport there so there's no problem!"

Their sweet laughs made Georgine smile who was leaning against the door frame, unnoticed.

Yet, thousands of miles away, Catra had delivered the news to Hordak, alerting him of the two strangers for good measure. She could have kept it to herself, but she didn't want him stepping on her toes any longer... not after finding someone more valuable to her own use.

...Otu.

[hadestownmodern]

Persephone is everyone’s mom thats it thats the fic

This fic may be my favorite one I’ve personally written for this au??? It means SO fucking much to me and I think we agree that this is one of our favorite relationships to play with!

“Hey mama, you ready to go home?” Persephone peaks into the room, smiling brightly at Eurydice. The young girl was sitting on the edge of the bed, in her boyfriends oversized sweatshirt and pajama pants. She was free now of the IV and various health tracking devices, and how seemed no different than before save for the most important part- being, of course, the baby she held so near and dear to her. 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah. I think so.” Eurydice looks up at her and smiles. She’s already clearly tired but glowing is an understatement on how she radiates joy in this moment. “Have you seen-”

“Orpheus? He’s been cleaning the house all morning. He called me at four am to ask how to wash baby sheets. I thought he’d be here though…” Persephone entered the room and nearly stuck her arms out in anticipation. She’d refrained in the past two days of visits from asking to hold her, not wanting to take Eurydice’s daughter from her. She recalled her own refusal to let anyone hold Junie for days, so she understood. Eurydice worked hard for her, she deserved to never let go of her. 

“Oh he’s been around, he just left. I said I wanted fries and he went running.” Eurydice giggled, leaning down to brush her nose with Melody’s. “He’s gonna do anything we need, isn’t he baby girl?”

“I could have told you that months ago. He’s whipped for you. Thinks you hung the stars in the sky.” Persephone teases as she comes closer and sits next to Eurydice, her head coming to run over the baby’s dark hair. Persephone remembers it vividly- she’ll never forget it actually- the way she was enamored with her tiny daughter. The weight of her in her arms, the way she spent hours intoxicated with the smell of her hair. Eurydice deserved that kind of irrevocable love, too.

 “Does she have a name yet? Or is she gonna be baby girl for a few more days?” Junie had been easy to name- her name was decided for her before Persephone even knew she existed. 

“Oh! We picked one the other night..do you want to hold her?” It was abrupt, but Eurydice needed Persephone to be holding her when she told her. So she could take a picture of her reaction and save it forever, at least in her heart. 

Euydice didn’t want for a response before shoving the baby, tiny as she was in all her six pound glory, into the arms of her pseduo-mother and real best friend. 

“I- of course.” Persephone grins, laughing as soon as the infant is in her arms. “She’s so small! I forgot how little they are. Then again I haven’t seen a baby since Junie, and I never put her down long enough to register that she was an extra weight. She really was just part of me…” She’s cooing at the baby when Eurydice stands and takes the time to get her things together. Save for Orpheus and a few brief nurses visits this is the first time the little girl is out of her arms. 

“So what’s her name? Curly fry? Waffle fry?” Persephone teases, recalling the endless stops they had made together so Eurydice could satisfy a craving one way or another. 

“Cajun fry, thank you.” Eurydice rolls her eyes, but reaches out to hold the baby’s hand. “no..Her name is Melody. ‘Cause she’s like Orpheus singing to her for months now. He’s the only thing that could calm her down...it seemed fitting, you know? To name her after music...after his music. My Melody. Melody Stephanie.” She raises an eyebrow at Persephone, to see if she caught on what she did yet, but the content smile gave nothing away. 

“Melody. It’s a beautiful name. Very Fitting. Melody Stephanie..it’s nice.” Melody, she understood. And looking at the little girl in her arms she could agree- yes, this baby was Melody. Stephanie didn’t flow- she expected maybe an homage to Eurydice’s mother but not Stephanie. “Nice name...I have to admit i’m surprised you didn’t pick something for your mother. I know you don’t talk about her much but you’ve told me before you wish she were here and-”

“It is a nice name.” Eurydice agrees, squinting her eyes at Persephone as she continues to talk about the content of her daughter’s name. She really didn’t get it. “But I did name her after my mother, Perstephanie.” It’s teasing and light, but she looks up just in time for her brown eyes to meet Persephone’s. “You are Orpheus’ mother… and you’re as close as i’ve ever had.”

It was true. She respected her mother and the few memories she had of Lydia were happy ones. But in the terms of parenthood and being a mother- Persephone filled that role for Orpheus his entire life. She went to parent teacher conferences, she went to recitals. She was his mother. And in the short eleven months since she met Persephone- even before she met Orpheus- the woman had filled that role for her too. Persephone was the first person who saw her- not the broken child shuffled home to home, not the girl with the hard shell to protect herself from the world- as herself. Just a girl putting herself through school to make a better life for herself. Just Eurydice. 

Persephone was the person who found out this brilliant girl- who never missed class, turned assignments in early, came to office hours, who offered commentary every discussion- had noone. That she was a force to be reckoned with but she was alone. Persephone was the one who insisted she not spend a holiday alone, not spend one more day in that shady part of town she lived in. Persephone was by and large the reason they were sitting in a hospital room today, a two day old baby being passed between them. 

“She wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. You’re the reason I formally met the boy who I watched sing across from me at the coffee shop for weeks. You’re the reason I had a place to go, and you’re the one who gave me the wine that said going home with him was a good idea-” Eurydice is laughing and smiling, a juxtaposition to the solid stream of tears falling down her cheeks. Persephone was the only other person besides her Orpheus that could see her like this. 

“You gave me my family.” Eurydice takes Persephone’s hand, and squeezes it, drawing them to look eye to eye. She’s crying and she realizes so is Persephone, though Persephone’s border sobs far more than her own. Eurydice, at least, is trying to stay composed through the rest of her dedication. 

“You gave me my family. Melody wouldn’t exist if you didn’t insist I come over that night. Orpheus is Orpheus because of you. Not because of Calliope. And in the times I needed someone most..when I needed a mom. You were the one who was there. When I was so sick I couldn’t make it to class and you let me eat crackers in your office. Or when I was so tired I couldn’t stand and you let me sleep in your office. You kept shoes for me knowing I was going to be so damn stubborn i’d be crying by noon if it weren’t for you saving my life with flip flops.” Eurydice laughs, wiping her tears away, before she runs that hand over her daughter’s cheek, eyes looking at only Melody now.

“I don’t want her to carry the ghosts and demons of a dead woman in her name. I loved my mother when I was little. But she isn’t my mom like you are, Seph. And if she ends up anything at all like you then she’ll be a damn good woman one day.”  

Persephone is speechless, tears falling over her face and landing on the baby she held. Her heart felt tight in her chest, as pieces from a conversation with her mother eight short months ago fell into place. 

“I’m just scared he’ll get his heart broken,” Persephone is sitting at the island in her kitchen, across from her mother, picking at broken bits of Christmas Cookies. “And if he does it’ll be my fault. I introduced them. And if he gets his heart broken-”

“I know you love the boy, Persephone. We all do. You raised him. Yet you also know they love each other. And that is deep and inseverable love. Do not worry. This is meant to happen in this way. They are two souls created for each other. The universe works the way it was supposed to. They were made to be together, this is just a fact of life. They are meant to have this baby just as I was meant to have you, Honey Bee.” Demeter is stitching something intently, across from Persephone, but watched her daughter intently. “The love they have for each other was put there by the universe..but so was the love you have for her.”

Persephone raises an eyebrow at her, reaching out to grab her wine glass, swirling the deep wine within it rather than bringing it to her lips. “She’s a great girl and I love her, yeah-”

“No. She was meant to be in our lives as much as she was his. She was born to another woman but her soul is tied to yours. You could not have been her mother by birth, no. That privilege was reserved for Juniper and the things she will bring you. But, Eurydice needs you in the same way you need her. Whatever that may be is up to you.” Demeter muses, glancing at her granddaughter who was sitting on the floor, playing with a baby doll. “Yes, Eurydice is part of your heart for a reason. Don’t underestimate the power of the love you will share.”

“Look, i’m “Rydice!” Junie interjects, waving the baby around enthusiastically, before holding her arms up to Demeter to be held. 

Persephone snorts before drinking the remnants of the wine, shaking her head at her toddler. “June Bug, you can’t say that yet.”

“Why not? She’s right. This one, she’s got the gift for sure.” Demeter kisses her angelic curls, wrapping both arms around her grand daughter. 

“Mmhmm. Gift.”

“Eurydice I-” She doesn’t know what to say, she doesn’t know how to elaborate on the deep feelings of love and protection she feels for the young girl infront of her. 

“Is that okay with you?” Eurydice asks, so soft Persephone isn’t sure she’s actually speaking or if she’s imagining it. “We can change it-”

“What? No, No. I’m honored, Eurydice. Truly- i’m so honored.” Persephone breaks their linked hands so that she can run her finger under her eyes to catch her tears. “I-thank you, Eurydice.”

“Thank you, for everything you’ve given us.” Eurydice wraps her arms around Persephone’s shoulders, careful not to crush her daughter between them. “Thank you for seeing more than the broken girl with the sad story.”

Persephone wraps her free arm around Eurydice’s back, hiding her crying face in the dark, cropped hair of the new mother in her arm. 

They stay like this for minutes, at least, until Orpheus returns to the room and finds them crying in each other’s arms. He wants to ask, but knows what has transpired is personal and intimate to the two of them and that if he’s meant to know he will. That’s just the way the universe would have it.

[secret-engima]

12) So last, but not least: Aulea. Don't really know what Clan she's from - could be Ulric, could be another. Don't know what specialty either, or if she's really even delved into magic - I imagine not all galahdians bother learning more than enough to keep it under control - but I'm almost thinking a TideSinger. Where her magic feels like the ocean - wide and vast and inscrutable. Bringing Death to those foolish enough to try to tame the ocean, and giving Life to those brave enough

a-world-in-grey said: 13) to face the sea's might with only their wits and skills. Aulea can make her boat DANCE through the waves, even as her voice Sings on the wind. And Regis falls HARD for her. Aulea is perhaps interested back, but doesn't really take Regis' intent seriously until he really starts Courting her, and well, Regis choosing Galahd, Regis choosing to go against Niflheim and Mors and even the Astrals to ensure his son or his son's son will never have to die for someone else's mistakes? Well,

a-world-in-grey said: 14) even the most stubborn, stiff necked Galahdian would be impressed by Regis telling his patron Astral to fuck off (but politely, because this is Regis). Even ARDYN can't really find anything serious to complain about after THAT (not that it stops him from complaining, this is Ardyn we're talking about). And this is the last of the asks - I'll reblog your earlier post with more latin names rather than send in more asks. Tumblr is getting cranky at me. Feel free for multiple posts too.

Me: oooooh boy AULEA. Imma AU her SO HARD.

-Aulea is actually an Ulric, but her mom was a Furia that married in because I find that amusing, and as such her hair is Red as Blood and Fire. She is, like most Furia, REALLY GOOD at Sailing and so yes, counts as a TideSinger, but more interestingly she is a full-fledged Vitae, and one of the first in over a century to manage to draw Ardyn’s blood during her Trial (Ardyn laughed up a storm when she did and then FROZE in worry-fear over hurting the Sage and her fav Gruncle).

-First meets Regis when he and Co are dragged to the Great Hall, unconscious and magically suppressed, because they ARE OUTSIDERS and NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS FAR INSIDE GALAHD. The port towns that interact with the mainland/do harmless import-export are as far as Outsiders are allowed and there ARE NO CHILDREN in those towns (because children are Beloved, but they also don’t have full control over magic and the secret must be kept, the port towns sell the impression of an insular, primitive people that only have the barest of modern technology and are heavily guarded to keep Outsiders from drifting further into the Jungle).

-Aulea is NOT HAPPY and her Clan Sister Callida is almost frantic with worry because Regis used the name UMBRA and she’d felt his magic. This was a Lucis Caelum, a Kinslayer in their midst and what do they do? They can’t kill him, that would make them Kinslayers too, but they can’t just- let him go.

-Ardyn smooths things over a bit, but ends up assigning Aulea as their guard/potential executioner if the group turns violent (because Kinslaying is one thing, defending the Clans are another, and if Regis attacks first, then he no longer counts as estranged Kin but as Threat).

-Regis falls so freaking hard. He would be way more alarmed at essentially being a prisoner behind the Galahd Wall with no way to contact the outsider world (no phone signal breeches their magical defenses kthanks) but- but- AULEA. Clarus wants to smack him, Cid DOES smack him, Weskham is just- so done with everything and Cor inadvertently makes the first overtures of Galahdian friendship when he straight up starts challenging Aulea and anyone else that Looks Strong to Throw Hands.

-Cor is probs gonna end up an adopted Galahdian because he’s- too freaking cute? And he’s fully down with throwing himself head first into their Trials to prove himself, which drags Regis along with him because COR NO and it all spirals out from there.

-Clarus only allows this entire mess because he learns that Vitae are allowed to leave the island, so if Regis and Cor become Vitae they can ESCAPE THIS PLACE and Clarus and Weskham and Cid will probably be allowed to leave with them, since Regis is the only one the Galahdians really have an issue with.

-Also Ardyn does not reveal he is the Sage and the former Accursed until Regis and Cor stand before him as potential Vitae and he smiles as they challenge him to battle.

-The sword Ardyn forges for Regis is beautiful.

(also thank you for any and all name help it is much appreciated).

[jockvillagersonly]

ATLA x Animal Crossing

I feel a lot like Dom on the first slide after making this and that’s ok 

+ (very long) image descriptions under the read more :)

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Thanks for coming to my TED talk, folks. Let’s dive right in with fan favorite, protagonist, and ~small chaos baby~ AANG:

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Sadly, we can’t all be lazy villagers. The economy would fall apart. Thank God for lesbians:

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It’s that time in the presentation where Katara absolutely destroys any bar we ever held for (1) minimum fucks given and (2) water-bending skill. 

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Sokka, Suki, and Zuko coming soon! :)

[ID: 

Image 1: A slideshow title screen. Next to the title is a picture of Dom, a white and pink fuzzy sheep from Animal Crossing who is wearing a tie dye shirt and looks particularly confused. He is to the right of the title “ATLA Characters as Animal Crossing Villagers” and the subtitle, “An evidence based presentation by me.” The red TED talk logo is in the lower right corner

Image 2: In the top middle of the slide in curly font are the words, “Aang is...Lazy Villager Cranston.” Underneath this, Aang is pictured, smiling and wearing a pink flower crown. Around his face in purple are 3 descriptions: “Literally 12,” “My sweet summer child,” and “Full of infectious joy (and rage).” Next to Aang is an equal sign and a picture of Cranston, a tall, white ostrich Animal Crossing villager wearing a blue shirt with delicate pink flower details. Cranston is labeled as, “2 relaxed,” “Always humming,” and “Too precious for this world; deserves everything good.” Both Aang and Cranston are framed by yellow sparkles.  

Image 3: The next slide is titled Further Evidence and features 3 sections. In the upper left, inside a red box, are two images. The images are labeled, “Always looking for the best in people” with red heart and pink hibiscus flower emojis. One features Aang, crouched in the forest, saying: “If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends, too?” The other image is of Cranston speaking to another villager and saying, “Avery, you’re so tough! Avery, you’re so wise! Avery, your voice is so manly!” Underneath the red box is an image of Aang doing his air marble trick while Sokka and Katara are tied up behind him. The image is labeled, “No real evidence, but doing an air marble trick while your friends are in mortal peril is textbook lazy villager.” Finally, on the far right, there is a purple box titled, “True zest for life!!” Inside the purple section are two pictures. One has Aang riding his glider with a huge smile on his face. The other features Cranston talking to a player character and saying: “I wanna make a new bug friend today! I’m gonna catch one and say, ‘you wanna eat some snacks?’” Underneath Cranston is a black arrow and a comment from the slide author: “Also, I’m pretty sure Aang said this exact line in Book 1. No I will not prove it.”

Image 4: In the top middle of the slide in a handwritten looking font are the words, “Toph is...Cranky Villager Cyrano.” Underneath this, Toph is pictured, holding the Earth Rumble belt aloft. She is labeled as “sass master” and “will kick anybody’s ass for free.” Next to Toph is an equal sign and a picture of Cyrano. Cyrano is a rotund, dark blue anteater Animal Crossing villager with an orange face and his hands on his hips. He has pronounced and angry looking eyebrows. He is wearing a shirt with the colors of the bi flag (blue / purple / pink). He is labeled as, “Takes no shit,” and “Queer solidarity.” Both Toph and Cyrano are framed by yellow sparkles.  

Image 5: This slide is titled, “Further evidence.” On the far left is a purple section titled, “Point 1: Show their affection through violence.” There is an image of Zuko immediately after being punched by Toph during the Ember Island Players intermission; he asks “What was that for?” and she replies, “It’s how I show affection.” There is also a picture of Cyrano talking to the player character and saying, “Just trying things on can be a lot of fun! Yeah, I like to play dress up sometimes! Wanna fight about it?” We can easily see the parallels. To the right of this is a red section with the title, “Point 2: Confident in themselves and their abilities; will not take constructive criticism. The red section has a picture of Toph on top of a rock yelling, “I am the greatest earth bender in the world!” and a picture of Cyrano telling the player character, “Yeah, I KNOW it doesn’t seem like something I’d do. Don’t give me that look! I’ve got hobbies!” Finally, above the purple section, are two photos of Sokka and Toph hanging out together (in one, they are eating kebabs. In the other, Toph punches Sokka in the arm) and one photo of Cyrano fishing next to a relaxed looking pink cow with a huge closed mouth smile. The pictures are labeled, “TFW you’re a cranky idiot with a dumbass best friend” 

Image 6: In the top middle are the words, “Katara is...Big Sister Villager Pashmina.” Underneath this, Katara is pictured, looking confidently into the distance and clearly in the midst of water-bending a large wave behind her. She is labeled as “mom friend energy,” “she’s beauty, she’s grace, she’ll punch you in the face,” and “certified badass, an absolute legend” Next to Katara is an equal sign and a picture of Pashmina. Pashmina is a svelte, light brown deer Animal Crossing villager. She has impressive winged eyeliner, a take-no-prisoners stare, and an almost punk-esque black vest with a lace up front and white fur trim. She is labeled as, “Better than you,” “absolutely no fucks to give,” and “takes awhile to warm up to you, but once she does is FIERCELY loyal.” Both Katara and Pashmina are framed by yellow sparkles.  

Image 7: This slide is titled, “Further Evidence.” In the upper lefthand corner is a red section. In the red section is an image of Katara yelling, “No way am I apologizing to a sour old man like you!!” at Pakku and cracking the ice behind her. There is also a small image of Pashima frowning with her hands on her hips. The box says, “Extremely...stubborn? Blunt?” There are green checkmarks next to both stubborn and blunt, as though to say both Katara and Pashmina have those traits. Underneath the red section is an image of a player character talking to Pashmina, who has Katara’s face photoshopped on top. Pashmina says, “Yeah, what’s up bitch!?” Finally, the right half of the slide is taken up by a purple section with the title, “Absolute queens of giving no fucks.” This section has 3 images and 2 crown emojis. One image features Zuko challenging Katara at the North Pole. He says, “Here for a rematch?” and Katara replies, “Trust me, it’s not going to be much of a rematch,” before absolutely destroying him in a huge wave of water and ice. Next to this is a picture of Pashmina in pink floral shades and a yellow flapper dress, with a music note over her head like she is straight vibing. The final image in the purple section has a player character talking to Pashmina, who says, “More importantly, was I serious when I said I’d wanna live here? Actually, nah, I don’t think this place is for me.” We stan a blunt legend. ]

[heauxplesslydevoted]

Healing (Part 1)

Summary: Ethan is forced to confront his past after an unexpected meeting

Tags: @canknot @lapisreviewsstuff @x-kyne-x @paulfwesley @ramseyandrys @choicesobsessedd @a-i-n-a-a-s-h @sparklinglilac  @cream-ray @perriewinklenerdie @barricades-of-freedom @dr-brianna-casey-valentine @doroshi-desu @aworldoffandoms

~~V~~

Ethan wakes up to kisses. First on his shoulder, then down his arm, and up his chest to his neck. “Mhmmm, Rookie.”

“Yes?”

“I’m sleeping.”

“Well, I’m up. Keep me company.”

Ethan cracks open one eye and sees his girlfriend Naomi peering down at him like a kid on Christmas morning. She’s so close, tendrils of her curly hair are tickling his face. “I was having a really good dream.”

“What dream is better than having me in bed with you, Dr. Ramsey?”

She knows he’s a sucker for her using his official title when they’re home alone. “You and I were on vacation.”

“Where were we? Somewhere warm or in the snow?”

“Warm. Private island right off the coast of Fiji.”

“Ooh, maybe I should let you go back to sleep. Or maybe this is a sign that you should actually take me on vacation.”

Ethan rolls over and gives Naomi a kiss. “Good morning, beautiful.”

“Good morning, handsome.”

“So what are the plans for the day?” It’s one of those rare Sunday mornings where they didn’t have to work. And Naomi always tries to make the most of their off days together.

“I didn’t make any plans,” Naomi confesses.

“Really?”

“No. It’s a rainy day, I figured we could spend it in bed.” It had been a very long week at Edenbrook. Naomi wants nothing more than to stay in bed with Ethan, watch some reality tv, and eat greasy food.

“Well if that was the case, you could’ve let me sleep,” Ethan teases.

“What if I wanted to do something in this bed that is much more fun than sleep?”

“Oh yeah?” Ethan raises an eyebrow. “What did you have in mind?”

Naomi grins and climbs on top of Ethan, straddling him. “It involves you and me.”

“And do we get naked?”

“Oh, we most certainly do.”

“Why didn’t you just say so?” Ethan grabs Naomi by the back of her neck and pulls her down, kissing her eagerly. Without breaking their kiss, he loops an arm around her and flips them over, so he’s now hovering above her.

His hand travels up her bare thigh and settles at her hip, making her squirm. Naomi is notoriously ticklish, something Ethan enjoys taking advantage of. He inches his hand up higher, his fingers skimming her sides.

Naomi gaps and tries to disguise it as a cough. “Ethan!”

He feigns innocence. “What?”

“Stop, you know I’m–” she yelps and giggles as he digs his fingers deeper into her side. She snorts and that only spurs Ethan on further. “Ticklish!”

“I happen to think it’s adorable.” Ethan drops his head slightly and kisses Naomi again. He leaves a trail of open mouth kisses on her jaw and neck, careful to not leave any visible marks or bruises. He grips the hem of her shirt again, prepared to pull it off of her this time.

Before he can go any further, the doorbell rings.

“Was that the door?” Naomi asks, her eyes snapping open. She tries to roll out of Ethan’s grasp, but he holds her in place.

“Yes, but who cares. Ignore it.”

Ethan resumes kissing her, instantly forgetting about whoever was just at his front door mere moments ago. But the doorbell rings again, this time twice.

“We should answer,” Naomi says. “It might be important.”

Naomi manages to untangle herself from Ethan and she laughs at the pout adorning his face. She pecks him on the lips and pulls away before he can deepen the kiss.

“Naomi Valentine, you are a tease.”

She smirks wickedly at him and grabs her bathrobe that’s laying at the foot of the bed, tying it. “I’ll be back in a sec, you horny old man.”

Rushing out of their bedroom, Naomi makes her way to the front door, opening it. There’s a woman standing there. She’s older — in her 60s — and pretty tall. She has light brown hair pulled into a neat bun on top of her head, huge blue eyes, and a worried look on her face.

Jenner moves from his pet bed in front of the fireplace in the living room and trots over to Naomi, curious as to who’s at the door. He barks loudly, ready to defend his household.

“Jenner, be nice,” Naomi scolds. She glances at the woman apologetically. “Ignore him, he’s a sweetheart.”

“Hi,” the woman greets slowly. “I think I have the wrong apartment.”

“Who are you looking for?” Naomi asks. “I know most of the tenants on this floor, maybe I can point you in the right direction.”

“Ethan Ramsey. Do you know which apartment is his?”

“Actually, you have the right one. Ethan lives here.” Naomi turns around and yells into the apartment, “Ethan! Someone is at the door for you!”

She can hear him muttering, annoyed at he has to get out of bed, but he comes into the living room anyway.

“Whoever it is better have a damn good reason for–”

He stops dead in his tracks as he saw who was at his front door. “Mom?”

Ethan’s mom smiles brightly upon seeing him. “Ethan! Oh oh my goodness, it’s so good to see you.” She practically throws herself at him, her arms clutching around his neck tightly. He goes rigid for a few moments before reciprocating the hug.

His mom breaks away from the hug after a few seconds. “Sorry for ambushing you like that. I just got excited.”

“It’s alright.”

She turns back to Naomi, a warm smile on her face. “Forgive me, where are my manners?” She extends a hand. “Margaret Ramsey, Ethan’s mom.”

“Naomi Valentine, Ethan’s girlfriend,” Naomi replies, shaking the older woman’s hand.

“You are the prettiest thing!” Margaret coos. She squeezes Naomi’s hand affectionately. 

“Thank you.”

 “Are you a doctor as well?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’re so sweet. There’s no need to call me ma’am. Margaret is fine, or Maggie.”

“Nice to meet you, Margaret.”

Ethan clears his throat, bringing the attention back to him. “Mom, what are you doing here? It’s 8 o'clock in the morning, on a Saturday.”

“I hope you don’t mind, I forced your sister to give me your address.”

“Why are you here, in Boston?” Confused is an understatement. Ethan’s parents lived in New York. Why was his mom in Boston?

Margaret wrings her hands. She’s anxious. Naomi picks up on it instantly and steps in. “How about I make us some tea? Or coffee?”

“Tea sounds lovely.”

“Great.”

Ethan gestures for his mother to have a seat. She sits in the comfortable chair across from the couch, where Ethan sits. A few minutes later, Naomi joins them, three cups of tea in her hands.

“This is a lovely apartment, Ethan,” Margaret starts. “It’s so...open and airy. You have a great view.”

“Thank you. That view cost me a lot of money.”

“The best ones usually do.”

And then they’re back to awkward silence.

“So...how’s work?” Margaret asks in an attempt to break the ice.

That’s when Ethan knows something is up. His mother has never expressed much interest in his work before, even when he was still on decent terms with them.

“Mom, let’s not beat around the bush. What are you doing out here? Does dad know you’re here?”

“He doesn’t know I’m here, in your home, but yes, he knows I’m in Boston. He’s here with me,” Margaret answers. “He’s still at the hotel, probably asleep.”

“Okay. Well, what brings you to Boston?”

Margaret chews her lip thoughtfully, as if she’s trying to find and choose her words carefully. “Your father...the doctor’s found a tumor on his spine, and it’s cancerous.”

Ethan doesn’t say anything immediately, not having the words to express how he feels about the situation.

“Dad has cancer?”

Margaret nods sadly. “It started out with him having some minor aches and pains. We brushed it off as him just getting older. Then we bought a new mattress, but that didn’t help. Then Bill started having difficulty walking. His doctors originally thought it might’ve been arthritis, but we kept pushing. Finally a neurologist confirmed that it’s cancer of the spinal cord.”

Naomi runs her fingers over Ethan’s knuckles. He’s tense. She grabs hold of his hand and he squeezes tightly, using her as his lifeline.

“So what are you going to do? What’s the treatment plan? Who’s his doctor?”

“Since it’s a pretty rare form of cancer, we had to outsource, which is why we’re here. We are going to meet with his doctor tomorrow at Mass Kenmore–”

“Mass Kenmore?” Ethan can’t hide his disdain. “No, absolutely not. No way is dad going to a podunk, second rate hospital for treatment. When Mass Ken doesn’t have the tools or doctors to help a patient, they send them to Edenbrook.”

“Your father really likes the surgeon he found.”

“Harper Emery is one of the best neurosurgeons in the country, and I work with her.”

“Your father is a stubborn old man, Ethan,” Margaret says. “You know that better than anyone. He’s found a doctor, he likes him. I didn’t come here for your expertise as a doctor, I’m just a mother who hasn’t seen her son in years. And since we were in town, I thought it’d be nice to reach out. It’s been...far too long since we’ve seen each other.”

There was a large elephant in the room, a dark cloud hanging over them. He hadn’t spoken to his parents in 4 years, and he hadn’t seen them in well over 10. 

“Your father and I were thinking of going out to dinner tonight. How about you two join us?”

Naomi opens her mouth to accept the invitation, but she stops herself. She glances at Ethan, a pensive look clouding his handsome features and she falls back. Accepting the invitation on his behalf is a complete overstep of boundaries.

“We’ll think about it,” Naomi offers you diplomatically.

“Of course. We have reservations at Meritage for 7 PM,” Margaret says. “Hopefully we’ll see you there.” She checks the time on her watch. “I should get back to the hotel.”

Naomi walks Margaret to the door, seeing the older woman off. When she turns back to the living room, Ethan is still on the couch, almost as if he’s frozen.

“Ethan? Ethan, baby are you okay?”

Ethan looks up and sees Naomi staring at him, concern etched across her face. “Hmm?”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He stands up. “I’m going back to bed.”

“Ethan–”

“Naomi, you asked a question, I responded. Why do you keep trying to prod?”

Naomi sucks in a deep breath. She knows all of Ethan’s defense mechanisms like the back of her hand. He’s trying to push her away.

“Why are you holding me at arm’s length?”

“I’m not,” Ethan argues as he makes his way back to their bedroom, Naomi following right behind.

“You are. And you should by now that I’m incredibly stubborn, so I won’t let you do it.” She watches as Ethan gets back into bed. She slides in as well, placing her head on his chest. “You just found out that your dad has cancer. That’s a lot to take on. So can you please talk to me?”

“My dad has cancer,” Ethan repeats. “And he didn’t tell me.”

“If he’s anything like you, he’ll beat it. I’m sure he’s stubborn and a fighter like you.”

“Stubborn is one word for it,” Ethan says with a snort.

Naomi laces their fingers together. “You never talk about them, your parents.”

“My dad runs his father’s brokerage firm in Manhattan. Very wealthy, very strict, very stuffy.”

“Sounds familiar,” Naomi teases.

“I have no interest in finance, in New York society, none of it. My younger sister though, she’s my dad’s pride and joy. She’s basically a miniature version of him, though nicer and much prettier. She’s the only one I still keep in contact with.”

Naomi nods. Ethan’s talked about his sister, Vanessa multiple times, and she’s even came to Boston with her husband to visit them.

“When I graduated high school, and told my parents I was going to study biology and chemistry at Dartmouth, he was upset. I was supposed to be the prodigal son, follow in his footsteps, take over the business, marry a descendant of the Rockefellers or Vanderbilts. My mom tried to mediate for a while, but it all fell flat, and I eventually stopped contact with them. I had to put myself through college and medical school because my dad wouldn’t pay, and I didn’t want his money either. The last time I’ve physically seen my dad was my medical school graduation. We argued at my celebration dinner. He told me that I wasn’t going to hack it as a doctor and I’d eventually come crawling back to New York, and I told him he doesn’t understand real success because he's had everything handed to him. He called me a spoiled brat, and I said he was manipulative and spiteful.”

Naomi doesn’t say anything as Ethan vents. It’s obvious he just needs to get all of this out without interruption. 

“My father’s love is conditional. It comes with strings and clauses. I hated him and I was so resentful for such a long time, maybe I still am, I don’t know.”

Ethan gets out of the bed and Naomi watches as he paces the floor, back and forth, back and forth.

“I want nothing more than to never think about William Ramsey ever again, but the other half of me wants to gloat. I put myself through 8 years of school. I graduated at the top of my class. I’ve received awards from the American Medical Association, I’ve given keynote speeches at some of the most prestigious medical conferences in the world. I’ve published more researched, been featured in more journals than I can count. I’ve written best selling books and textbooks. I am the best at my job, no one does it better than me. I live in a multi-million dollar penthouse in the heart of Boston, paid for by no one other than myself, I have an amazing and brilliant girlfriend, I am great. I am at the top of my game.”

“It’s okay to still crave your parents’ approval,” Naomi tells him softly. 

“But why do I? What makes them so special that I still feel the need to seek validation from them when they haven’t done a damn thing for me.”

“And he has cancer,” Ethan adds. “And he’s probably anxious and scared, and I feel horrible and selfish for feeling all of these things while he’s fighting for his life.”

Naomi gets out of the bed and walks over to where Ethan is pacing. She wraps her arms tightly around his waist. He breaths out a heavy sigh of relief at her touch and melts into the hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

They’re locked in the embrace for a long time, and Naomi feels a few of his tears hit her exposed skin. She doesn’t mind.

“You’re allowed to feel how you feel, Ethan. You’re allowed to be selfish, though I don’t think you are. You’re allowed to have a wide array of emotions because you’re human. You can love your dad and still be mad at him.”

“And you don’t owe anything a damn thing. I’ll follow your lead on this. We don’t have to go to dinner with them tonight. We can stay in bed all day if you want. But if you do want to go, we can, and I’ll be right there with you.”

Ethan’s entire body sags with the weight of the decision. He truly doesn’t know what he wants.

“I want to go back to bed,” he says, his voice muffled, his head still in the crux of her neck. “We can talk more after a nap.”

“That sounds good.”

Naomi leads them back to bed and Ethan all but falls into it. Once Naomi is in, he clings to her, his head on her chest, an arm wrapped tightly around her. She lightly runs her fingers through his hair, offering comfort.

“I love you,” Ethan whispers. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I love you, too.”

“What did I do to deserve you?”

“Maybe you were really good in your past life. Rescued kittens from trees, walked old ladies across the street.”

Ethan laughs softly. “Whatever I did, I’m grateful.”

Naomi kisses the top of Ethan’s head. “Get some rest, baby.”

Ethan closes his eyes and allows himself to be lulled back to sleep by his girlfriend’s ministrations.

He’s going to see his father, maybe even confront him on some things. He’s never felt more sure of a decision, and he has Naomi and her support to thank.

He’ll tell her later though. First, he has a nap to take.

[judgement-free-sideblog]

Ghosts from the rainforest

Summary: A simple rescue mission will bring him back to a place full of nightmares, and maybe this time he could find redemption. Situated in 1975, 2 years after the events of Skull Island.

Warnings: Violence, blood, wounds, mentions of war, cursing, implied smut, smoking, angst.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 6: Family

The piercing blue eyes search for you in the dim light that came from the sunrise outside the shack, he found you and attempt to stand up getting down immediately from the pain.

"Don't even try" You said to him, sad to look at his face covered in dry blood and a still fresh cut on his cheekbone. Two days after arriving Walker had decided to inspire moral in his troops by beating him and putting you to treat their wounds "I suspect they broke one of your ribs when you call them bastards, also even if you could move there is also this" you pointed to the fetter around his ankle and he looked at yours too, your shorts were stained from the truck and the dirt floor of the shack, and the clear sign of a lash on the naked skin that you cover with a blanket when he looked at it.

"How is your head?" He asked finally trying to sit still "How long have we been here?"

"It has been better, it will take more than that to take me down, don't worry" You said taking a piece of cloth and wetting it on a small bowl "Well after you passed out I kept fixing a couple wounds here an there in the camp, so he won't kill you, that was three days ago, at least they left me this to fix you up, hold still" You approach as much as you could to him and start cleaning up his wounds.

"I have nowhere else to be love... hey!!" He pull apart when the alcohol touch the open skin, and gave you a panicked look when you show him the suture you will use to close the cut

"Oh Captain don't be a baby" You hold his face on your hand while continuing to clean the cut "You must be used to deal with vicious animals like that by now, because that frien of yours can call himself a man"

"You are right, Walker is a poisonous snake who will kill anyone on his way, the only reason we are alive is because he believes he may get something valuable out of you, which reminds me, what did he ment by next time he'll go for the throat?" He had his hand was clenched and his eyes firmly shut down when you passed the needle trough the skin.

"I have met Walker before, Shukri used to help him pass his weapons and stuff through the border so he send me as a symbol of friendship, but the man he wanted me to help die, wich of course he will because he had severe sepsis and many bullet holes, and I'm far from being an actual medical doctor"

"You really have a way to reassure people" He joke and you rolled your eyes at him.

"Anyway he went crazy and kill the men Shukri send to guard me and stab me in the stomach, and leave me for dead in the jungle, thankfully it wasn't a cut deep enough and I managed to walk to the next village". You finish and he looked at you surprised by how casually you talk about those horrible memories. "What does he meant by your taste still being constant?" His face darkened and the guilt and remorse appear again in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't meant..." You tried to stand up but he grab your wrist and you sit next to him.

"As I told you Jenny's mom was the lover of a British ambassador, and we actually met before we were send to find her, one night Sargent Walker was drunk and tried to force himself on her, and I stop her" He said with a sad smile on his face.

"You were together? You and her mother I mean" You tried to hide a hint of jealousy in your voice, it was funny that in this threatening situation you could still be thinking about you two.

"Of course not" He said and a grin of satisfaction show on his face when you sigh in relief "Although I had feelings for her, and maybe she had them too, but I knew I had a mission, then Walker betrayed us and Jenny die... well I guess she blamed me for it" you didn't say anything and just let him lay his head on your lap, the fetter was biting in your skin and your ankle was about to start bleeding but you feel the need of comforting him.

"How could you look this handsome aan peaceful cover in bruises, and cuts?" You ask yourself outloud after a couple minutes once you thought he was asleep.

"I could ask you the same Y/N" He responded opening his blue eyes, and you almost pushed him down but remember his bad shape. "Don't worry, the guys are looking for us, they will get help in Borneo and come back"

"That's what I'm afraid of, I heard them talking about asking for ransom money to the US Embassy in Borneo, what if they get too late, he is gonna kill me when he realizes I lie to him".

"I will like to him try" He said trying to stand hurting himself again.

"Easy there prince charming" You said holding him still and locking your hands together in the process, neither of you trying to pull apart. "I do know what I will do if we actually get out of here".

"And what is that?" Conrad asked trying to ignore how helpless your if was.

"I'm writing a strong worded letter to Houston Brooks about the terrible job of his tracker, since he keeps trying to charm the women he works for" You said and he smiled at you.

"Is it working?" He asked, trying to incorporate.

"Maybe" you said but before you could follow your instinct, some loud steps approach to the shack and you gently put him on the floor to curl in your corner pretending to be asleep.

"Ibu? Cepat! Kita perlu pergi" Mother? Quick! We have to go A young boy enter the shack carrying a big shotgun, and he open the fetter setting you free.

"Dia akan datang bersama kami" He is coming with us You said and he went to set a surprised James free.

"What is going on? Ibu?" He asked once you help him stand up, he was not as hurt as you thought since he could walk without help, but he was definitely not in his prime.

"You have your family Captain, I have mine" And since that explanation was not enough you had to continue "One of the men guarding me years ago was Shukri's nephew, he hates Wlker ever since, and has many of his children inside his little army so he can eventually sell them to the authorities"

"He is a layered man isn't he?" He said while you and the boy help him walk outside the camp, another infiltrator was already waiting next to a truck ready for you to flee, waving in the distance, and then the sound of a thunder brake the morning air, and he made a funny surprise face, and a blood stain start growing in his chest and he just fall on his back, and then all hell broke loose.

Walker men were following you, and since James was hurt it was so little that your young hero could do for you.

You run into the jungle just to be stopped in an open area where a tree had fallen an then four men were surrounding you, ready to kill.

"Drop it big guy!" Reles voice said, making your hear stop and race with happiness. The man in front of you turned around to meet Reels surprised by how calm he was.

"Didn't you listen? Drop it!" Slivko said coming out of the jungle with another six guys that you were sure were part of Shukri's village.

"I got you doc" Glenn said passing between the men who were already unarmed.

"I'm fine, help the Captain" you said and without thinking you took one of the weapons that had been dropped in the ground.

"I thought you didn't like those" Slivko said while Reels help the boy tie Walkers men.

"Desperate times Reg" You said, and hug him. "How did you find us so quickly?"

"Oh wow, sorry Captain" He said looking embarrassed "The guy, the weird guy that says he is your husband he meet us half way when we came after you guys, apparently one of the guys here told him what happened and he came with us and many men along to help"

"I knew it! Wait a minute Shukri is here?" You hold your breath because the feeling that something was wrong was strongly hurting your chest, and Conrad's words about Walker resonated in your ears.

You run back to the campsite, the ambush had worked out, the rest of Walker's men were dead or prisoners and unarmed, only their Sargent was too stubborn to surrender and both him and Shukri were aiming at each other in the middle of the camp. Shukri with a shotgun and Walker with two pistols.

Again without thinking and with the adrenaline running through your veins you pointed your gun at him and order him to drop it. As all response he aimed one of his pistols at you.

"You can't win this" You said to him not backing off and looking James concerned face approaching, but he was not looking at you, all his attention seemed to be focus on Shukri.

"Oh I know that doctor, but I have a question for you, who will be faster? Me or this little idiot here who came to rescue his princess??"

Things happened in the fraction of a second and by the time you understand what have happened both men where in the ground.

In the moment Shukri nod to James and he jump to take you out of the line of fire, Walker shoot his guns missing you, but not Shukri, but he didn't miss either.

"Hey, hey Shukri man, come on" Mills said approaching pressuring the wound, you stood up and walk away from James who was breathing difficulty from the jump, but overall okay.

"Shukri, you win, he is dead, please don't give up now" You said now no longer holding on the tears.

"Tears? Isteri if I had known that this is what I needed to do I would have let someone shoot me long ago." He said holding your hand with almost no strength. "Captain Prince charming?" He called for James and he kneeled by his side respectfully "Anda menjaga isteri saya" You take care of my wife

"I will" James said solemnly, and Shukri nod, then he hold your hand tightly and then after one last breath he and a quiet smile to you he was gone.

After a couple minutes people dispersed and you could hear his men arranging how will they move him, but it was wrong and you couldn't yet set what had happened in your brain, after one hour you felt like if you keep looking long enough he will smile again and wake up to tease you and life will be normal again.

"It's time" James said but he didn't force you to stand, he only gave you his hand, and stood there waiting, after a minute that felt like an eternity you took his hand stand up, and then you let all your unspoken feelings to come out, about Randa, about Shukri, about watching him almost be beaten to death two days ago, you cried and cried and he simply hold you, even when his rib was probably killing him, even when you were nothing to him but a job, he keep holding you.