#gonna work on what the original jelly fic was but now is a fic of its own

[lauronk]

can i make a fic about jellyfish just as long as a fic about plants?

well i'm sure as shit gonna try

[ukiyokki]

mars reads too much dreamnotfound fanfiction for their own good

a dreamnotfound fanfic recommendation list by your resident dumbass (me)

this took way to fucking long... i’m tired

below is a (very extensive) list dedicated to all my favorite dnf fics, ranging from quick one shots to 100k+ word monstrosities that devour the storage on my computer, forever incomplete masterpieces to ongoing works of art, you get the idea. i provided links for each fic/series for your reading pleasure. there will be no smutty/nsfw fics on this list, that’s just not my vibe lmao. this list goes in no particular order, and i’ll update it from time to time when i feel like it. now, without further ado, let us begin.

Heat Waves (complete) by tbhyourelame

(wtf else did you expect, looking at a dnf rec list?) amazingly well written, and while it’s not my favorite dnf fic it’s damn near close. in the midst of a brutal heatwave, a suffering dream comes to terms with the fact that he is desperately in love with his best friend. everything i could say about this fic has already been said by nearly everyone who’s read it, so if you haven’t yet caved into the hype, just go for it. you won’t be disappointed.

Gonna be around (completed) by georgescatcafe

(mc irl) my favorite dnf oneshot to date. just read it, i don’t wanna spoil for you :)

Inferno in the Sky (ongoing)by zairielon

(star wars au) an ongoing star wars au currently clocking in at almost 200k words. need I say more? everything about it absolutely slaps, each chapter is amazingly written, and it’s just good. also, can we just appreciate dream and tubbos dynamic in here? 10/10, amazing, must protecc. oh right, a summary: george, an exiled padawan turned engineer, must return to the jedi temple after attacks on it from an unknown assailant threaten the safety of himself and the other jedi.

Like Magic (ongoing) by KangarooKen, NotGra55 (Gra55)

(harry potter au) the unofficial official dnf harry potter au. we watch the young unlikely wizard pair grow up together throughout their years at hogwarts as they battle good old fashioned wizard racism. beautifully written, incredibly fun and suspenseful, and just an overall blast and a half.

GeorgeNotFound, Son of Poseidon, and the League of Minor Gods (ongoing) by Clichewho_69, Cygnvs, Trash_Kinggg

(percy jackson au) percy jackson au? check. “road trip” (technically quest but u get what i mean)? check. enemies to friends to lovers? check. this fic follows the plot of the lightning theif (albeit loosely), but everything is explained enough where you don’t have to read percy jackson to understand what’s going on. basically after moving to the usa, george gets taken to camp halfblood where he learns that a) gods exist. b) he’s the son of poseidon and c) he needs to prove that he didn’t steal zeus’s master bolt.

Protected (completed) by aenqua

(royalty/camelot au) my favorite piece of dnf media of all time. dubbed the official dnf camelot au, where dream is the heir to the throne and george is a servants son with a secret that couldp get him killed. these childhood friends grow up together and learn trust, love, and acceptance. (that summary did not justice to the masterpiece that is this fic) here’s the directors cut

The Hunter (completed) by HederEgo

(mc irl) a choose your own adventure fic with 13 different endings, where dream the hunter must kill george and stop him from beater the ender dragon. enough said.

The official dream team cowboy AU (series)(ongoing) by antsu_in_my_pantsu

(cowboy au) cowboys and outlaws horses and shit. and the big gay. it’s a cowboy au, what else did you expect? fucking yee haw (all seriousness this is a great read, i loved it so so so so much and i can’t wait for the final chapter to release).

This is a Drista moment, let's just accept it (completed) by Qekyo

dnf fic from drista pov. considering its unique perspective, it’s perfectly done. beautifully showcases a sibling relationship through drista and her memories/moments with dream, and it just works, y’a know? also drista supremacy.

Dear Dream (completed) by Qekyo

(wwii au) i don’t cry when watching/reading anything sad. translation: i’m a heartless bitch. however, this fic is the only exception. it caused me to cry so hard my mom walked in my room and asked if i was ok. ‘nuff said.

TECHNOlogical Wingman (completed) by Closeted_Bookworm

techno is the autocorrect ai on dreams phone, and he gains sentience. interesting concept, and the author fucking nailed it. great fic.

It Was Only a Fic (ongoing) by imagineitdear

dream starts reading a dnf fanfic (we’ve all been there buddy).

Teacher’s Pet (ongoing) by niyuha

(teacher au) in which dream is a high school english teacher and george is the new comp sci teacher in room 297.

Saltwater Secrets (ongoing) by earlgay_milktea

(mermaid/high school au) a great example of the shear amount of variety in fics this fandom has to offer. when i started reading dnf fics i would have never thought i’d find one about a mermaid george hopelessly crushing on his human friend, who happens to be his schools star swimmer. yet here i am, and i am far from disappointed.

Smash My Heart (incomplete) by dontrollthedice

george and sapnap are commentators for duper smash brothers tournaments, and george develops a crush on an up and coming smash streamer named dream.

roleplaying in the dark is harder than it seems (completed) by Alienu

laser tag. 10/10

solar system (completed) by quartzfia

(mc irl) george vists dream in pandora’s vault.

Ramblings of a Lunatic (completed) by jungkooksfic

ahh communicating through a notebook left on a shelf in a bookstore- what a perfect way to start a relationship.

Paint me like your French Girls (It's Charcoal, Actually) (completed) by Turtle_ier

(artist au) george is an art student, and dream is a model.

00:00:00 (completed) by isleofdreams

(soulmate au) 00:00:00 is the moment you meet your soulmate, as indicated but the clock ticking down on your wrist until the moment you meet. i’m not a fan of soulmate aus; this fic is the exception.

Blue Skies Smilin' At Me (completed) by kivy

(artist au) i don’t usually cry while reading stuff, but this brought me damn near close. george is a painting conservator and chats it is with the ghost of the artist if the painting he is working on. they fall in a love.

Current Location (incomplete) by hendollana

(influencer au) george simps for a hot american instagram model. who knew he’d actually follow back?

The Withering (series) (series ongoing, 1 work completed) by App1e_Juice

(mc irl) lore and world building and fight scenes and everything i crave. what’s not to love? something starts making the plants and crops around dreams village wither, and must team up with new friends to find the cause of the mysterious disease plaguing the land.

Minecraft, But You Can't Leave (complete) by facadecake

(mc irl) dream and george are sucked into their own private minecraft world together and must beat the game to escape.

Free The Game, Beat the End (incomplete) by goatgoatwasfound

(mc irl) a glitch in minecraft causes thousands of players from around the world to be trapped inside minecraft, with only one way of escape- beating the ender dragon. first dnf fic i ever read, and it’s still 10/10 for me.

Why don't you come a little closer? (completed) by lifeofandoms

george gets stood up by a date, and Dream pretends he’s the date to save george from the embarrassment. simply adorable.

lightning bug (completed) by saintachesP

(band au) while on tour, dream realizes his feeling for george.

Hold me closer (completed) by Treesofmyheart

(mc irl/dsmp) i just,, really like this trope.

Dizzy on caffeine (completed) by GleamingGreenGoggles

(coffee shop au) best dnf coffeeshop au i’ve read. periodt.

living a life of crime isn’t always easy (series) (completed) by itisjosh

(mafia/assassin au) stockholm syndrome except it’s not weird.

Inhibitions Make Interesting Situations (completed) by Ship_On_The_Sea

i pissed myself laughing. it’s just a dream and george being hilariously dense, flustered idiots. serotonin central.

thy eternal summer shall not fade (completed) by gracequills

(high school au) that moment when you recite shakespeare to your crush in your ap lit class instead of confessing (hate it when that happens).

All is Fair in love and Football (ongoing) by graciegirl2001

(college au) #1 favorite college au. in which george is a cheerleader, and dream is the football teams rising star player. this one gets extra points because of the amazing karlnap moments sprinkled throughout. *chefs kisses air*

online love (completed) by andbutso

(high school au) online classes go zoooooooom

Can’t help falling (completed) by isleofdreams

dream re-learns the guitar to sing to george on his birthday. beautiful. fluffy. amazing

dance in the rain and my arms (completed) by lazy_kitkat

george is a rain god, and dream is a wind god

Weather Boy (completed) by DaintyDiizzle

wouldn't you like to know, weather boy? (where dream can control the rain)

The color orange (completed) by anon

(mc irl) dream describes the colors of a sunset

Family Mode (completed)by Strawberry_flavoured_tears

they��re dads :,)

Breathing Room (incomplete) by papercranes

(band an) an amazing band au. the mad lad author wrote original songs for each chapter. above and beyond, mad props :). unfortunately, it’s incomplete

Piece of Clay (completed) by carbonbrine

(artist au) george is a sculptor and his sculpture comes to life- but oh no he’s hot.

Try (completed) by Not4typicalwriter

(royalty au) george must choose a suitor, but none of them are up to dream, his head knights, standards. or dream is hella jelly. also protective dream is perfect

When the Roses Bloom (completed) by HederEgo

(royalty au) close second for my favorite fic. go to royalty au for a quick serotonin bost. it’s all fluff and flowers and crushes, and i love it. criminally underrated.

Heavenstruck (ongoing) by dontrollthedice

george is dreams guardian angel, and dream want to find out more about him and his past life. bittersweet :,)

Bang and Burn (completed) by App1e_Juice

(spy au) george accidentally falls for target number 1 on sapnap’s secret agency’s hit list. this ones great, i love me a spy au :)

Can I get a uhh… (completed) by lemonskies

dream keeps pulling up to the drive through mcdonald’s that george works at drunk.

Pretty Stranger (completed) by anon

when looking for dream in the terminal, george sees a cute guy and decides to flirt.

Take my Hand (completed) by latinbias

(royalty au) another royalty au? poggers. surprise twists? double poggers. love this a lot.

seconds, minutes, hours, lifetimes (complete) by meridies

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP *inhales to compose herself* roadtrip au. unrequited love, ignored feelings, longing, pining, you know the drill. absolutely love this one, its the best roadtrip au i have ever read, in any fandom. (maybe cause i identify with it a little too much, but thats not important. whats important is that you read this fic. right now. im waiting).

Message redacted (complete) by justyouraverageloser

(text fic) dream asks for a girls number and realises hes been given the wrong number. however, an unexpected relationship starts to form between him and the stranger on the other end of the line.

the waves (completed) by anon

(mc irl) this fic was written by the same anon who wrote the color orange, which is up there on my fav dnf oneshot list. dream and george know they have a higher purpose. they don’t know where they came from, or why they are seemingly the only humans in the world, or how they feel about eachother, or even where the skeletons come from, but they are sure of one thing: they have to beat a dragon.

The Dream Doll (completed) by PeppDream (Pep_Pizza)

(voodoo i guess) i’m a real big fan of fics with really out there or unique concepts, so naturally this one makes the cut! i really liked it, it’s really sweet and made me think a lot about what matters to me in the world. george finds a strange doll in an antique shop, and would really like to just stuff it in a drawer and forget about it. sadly (?), the doll has other plans.

last updated February 6th, 2021

[neonun-au]

-wip reveal game

game: post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have wips.

(i have genuinely so many and most of them are just the titles of the stories themselves so here we go...)

other people's weddings (scoops rom com au)

laundry day (chan fluff fic that died before it even began, really)

corporate wolves (dont even need to talk about this one fjdska)

untitled (three sentences and an idea i had once attached to nothing of substance but might factor into the wonwoo sports au)

the heart is darker (half abandoned horror fic, might repurpose)

in the mind of madness (fully abandoned mad scientist!taeil fic)

chariots (jaehyun college au, sort of a slow burn in reverse fwb thing)

untitled (two paragraphs of mingyu angst i wrote when i was trying to pull myself out of writers block)

not like this (perhaps the whisperings of a seokmin friends to lovers)

kino au (umm side project maybe?)

CHM - scene by scene #2 (a place to work on scenes from cant help myself without getting overwhelmed by the amount in the actual full doc)

can't help myself (the actual full doc for the series i started on @gyusense)

sun and moon (taeyong vampire au)

marry me (taeil au, might repurpose might finish who knows)

longshot (chan band au that i want to finish but lost steam on. rivals to lovers of a sort)

after hours (cool magical realism supernatural sort of jaemin fic)

shadow and blade (wu xia assassin au originally intended for kun, might repurpose for hao with a slightly adjusted plot)

storm of the century (atmospheric horror. might repurpose for an original short story)

from what i once was; expansion (pretty much what it says on the tin)

advantage line (scoops rugby au)

jelly kim fic (was gonna write a cute law student rom com type thing. maybe still i will do it)

home and away (sequel to home is a feeling that i genuinely dont know if i will actually ever finish writing)

the way the soul sighs (some real floaty romantic snippets. was gonna be a haechan thing back in the day, now who knows...)

dream circus prologue (an intensely ambitious project for the dreamies that i lost ALL steam and motivation to write)

the single girl's guide to falling for your roommate (doie roommate au, rom com. was considering one for each 127 member at one point lol)

the raven but it's about jaehyun's dick (well.....just what it says on the tin)

i will spare you the rest LMAO

was tagged by @sapphichui @husbandhannie @bfwonu @gfcheol

im not sure who has / hasnt done this yet so ill just tag a few people, feel free to ignore if you dont want to do it, obvs hahaha @itsapapisongo @husbandcheol @doiefy @husbandhoshi @lunena @nctsworld

[atherix0]

I am in fact here to scream some more. THE MOVING IN! SO CUTE! GRIAN MEETING JELLIE FINALLY - The Book TM oh my god. Scar is feeding it grocery store romance novels you just like. Know he is. Also please know that I just went to check my email because I'm waiting on something and immediately dropped literally everything I was doing to read this.

ALSO YOU SNEAKY, CHEEKY PERSON WITH THE LORE CH 2????????/ First of all how dare you second of all how dare you. It's so CLEVER how it managed to explain why it isn't so simple for Scar to just be turned and for it to fix everything but i am pulling out my hair and gnawing at my arm with very sharp teeth because AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Also Tubbo looking and Grian and being like 'Yeah im gonna ask him for advice' AHHHH YES. YES! MUMSCARIAN GROWS CLOSER WITH EVERY UPDATE! But also poor tubbo trying to figure out what to do bc he wants to be an adult but he doesn't want to be gone and lose his dad im????? hi welcome to weirdly relatable because im in my twenties but my mom is in her seventies and i have Those Kinds Of Thoughts often, the catharsis with that entire conversation was UNMATCHED frankly. Tubbo I love you.

Also the way Grian's brain ticks is just. Magnificent. Bless him. Relatable. 'I found a solution why does no one recognize my genius - oh.'

AND THE DANCING - First of all Doc making a cameo to build a portable jukebox for this specific scenario is so funny to me 'I got it but i dont wanna talk about it i just wanna dance' grian you little bird brain. MUMBOOOOOOOO LEADING THE WAYYYYY. THE TWO OF THEM FULLY AWARE THEYVE GOT IT FOR SCAR AND GRINNING AT EACH OTHER WHILE SCAR IS JUST SAT THERE LIKE "Wow that's nice. Wish I had that. Love my friends" ASDFGHJK Grian just plopping himself into Scar.

Can we talk about how Scar is so oblivious that he only notices how often Mumbo and Grian hold him/touch him/touch his hair if they do it for 'too long' see also mumbo catching him last fic. Scar. S c a r. You literally keep thinking "our coven - their coven." scar you oblivious little elf.

S C R E A M I N G the way they just pass Scar along. PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. *OH MY GOD* listen if they dont get together soon i am going to go insane I am kicking my feet and being dragged to hell 🤣

AHAHA hello again <3 YASSSSS GRIAN MEETS JELLIE <3 Fun fact but in the original draft this was the first time he even found out about Jellie at all but since they went to Aqua Town I changed it to the first time he met her <3 HJFSDJKFHJDJK at least it wasn't 13k+ this time :'3

I AM PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF DROPPING IN LITTLE LORE BITS <3 YEAH hjfgdsjkfdgj cuz like THEORETICALLY.... Theoretically it checks out but how would it work with someone who is both Natural and Supernatural what if it actually makes things worse what if- hjgfdjk there's a lot of what-ifs there <3

Tubbo was like "this is a person who Gets Me (see Midnight Strolls and them being chaos gremlins togethers) and cares about my dad I will ask him for advice" hjfsdjkfk YEAH huge mood hfjkfds he wants to branch out and live his life and be an adult but at the same time it's like <3 he's painfully aware and it scares him he doesn't wanna lose time with his dad hjfdskjk I can understand the fear too </3 My stepmom's the closest thing to a mom I have and she's almost seventy now </3 I adore this boi <3

LMAO Grian forgetting to look at the big picture, relatable <3

YESSSSSS THE DANCING <3 HJFVSJHKVFJKS to be FAIR it was more of a callback than anything <3 but also having an inventor friend is pretty convenient when you're about to get in the middle of a nasty conflict right? He wants to DANCE with his MENS in their CLEARING he has his priorities straight they're both so pretty and the night is so nice~ HJFSHJKFSHKJFS Scar just like "aww they're so sweet and pretty I love them so much wish I could join them <3" and they just >:3 gonna give him everything lmao "Wanna dance?" jhgfdjkkfd

HHGHGASHGA YEAH LMAO he's just so comfortable with them now that it only really occurs to him that "hold up it's been a minute what-" kjfdskfdskl this boy someone get him some self-value so "they're into me" isn't the absolute last thing he thinks of <3 yesssss their Coven hhfdjh

HFKSHFJKS if that dance scene doesn't sum up their relationship dynamic I don't know what will LMAO <3 You will be very happy soon I think <3 just gotta go through some pain first <3 :D

[ahatintimestorybook]

Sister's N Time Chap.8-Battle for the Award 42

Thanks to @gigilefache for being my beta reader!!

Sorry for the wait! I was hoping to get this fic done around the time I started my new job hours, but life stuff got in the way, as well as other fanfics that I was working on. Though I took my time working on this fic.

In case anyone asks, for this fanfic I decided to follow a weird format and then in-game order (I know while you're in the middle of Dead Bird Studios you can go to Subcon right in between, but for this AU everything is in order, so next chapter we will be going to Subcon!

Also just another little note; I was originally gonna make the winner of the Bird Move Awards the one I won in the main game, but I sadly don’t remember now. So I picked randomly.

Enjoy!

For the past three days, Hat Kid headed back to Mafia Town as she was called back down to Mafia Town to attend to some business while Mu and Molly just chilled on the ship. Any day now they should be getting their invitations for the Bird Movie Awards to see who won the award for this year.

Hat Kid teleported back to her ship and glared at Mu, who was confused as to why the alien child was glaring at her. “What?” She asked.

“So I was in Mafia Town checking if we missed any Time Pieces and I found this!” She yelled as she showed Mu a jar with pink jelly and eyes.

The jar glared at Mu, while the latter just gave a smug smile and crossed her arms.”You!” The familiar voice of Mafia Boss shouted through the jar.

“Well, well, well. How does it feel being turned into mush and stuffed into a jar?” Mu asked.

“How did you get the time to do all this?” Hat Kid asked.

“Remember when I flooded Mafia Town with lava?” Mu asked back.

How could Hat Kid forget? Everything around her felt over 120 degrees. It then clicked in her mind that Mu did all this while she was asleep, even turning Mafia Boss into a mush jar.

“You did this as well?” Hat Kid answered.

“Ding! Ding Ding! You’re correct!” Mu beamed.

“I remember everything she did to me.” Mafia Boss shivered as he thought of all the horrible things Mu had done to him.

Hat Kid rubbed the jar like she was rubbing the Mafia Boss’s back. She then glared at Mu, “you are evil.” She growled.

Mu glared back at the alien child. “Hey, I’m a hero of justice, not a villain!” Mu snapped back.

“Look the Mafia may have taken away your home, but now you're being just as bad as them!” Hat Kid yelled.

Mu felt her fist clenched as she raised it in the air ready to punch Hat Kid in the face. Hat Kid braced herself, but the two heard the phone ring and Molly ran from the kitchen to answer the phone.

“I’ll get it!” Molly beamed. The young girl went to another room not noticing her older sister was about to hurt Hat Kid. Mu put her first down as she and Hat Kid turned to see Molly enter the room and answered the phone. The two looked at each other and after putting Mafia Boss down gently on the floor they followed Molly into the room and saw her finishing up the phone call.

“Okay! See you soon!” Molly hung up and turned to her older sister and her friend with a big smile. “The Award Ceremony is tonight!” The young girl cheered as she hugged the two older girls tightly. “I can’t wait to see who won!”

Hat Kid and Mu chuckled to show they too were excited but gave a small glare at one another knowing one of them won helping the bird directors.

Later at night, the three girls made it to Dead Bird Studios and sat down as an owl was about to announce the winner. Despite The Conductor and DJ Grooves as well as their little divas seated next to each other the tension surrounding them was so thick that a knife won’t be able to cut it. 

One of the Express Owls cleared its throat trying to loosen the tension between the two birds. “A-anyways, this year's winner for the Bird Movie Awards is…” his voice trailed off as he struggled to open the envelope to reveal who won. “J-just give me a minute.” He chuckled.

“Well hurry up!” Conductor shouted.

The Express Owl chuckled as he got the envelope open and tried to get the paper unfolded to reveal who won the Bird Movie Awards. “And the winner is…DJ Grooves!”

The Moon Penguin and the mustache sisters cheered in celebration. Hat Kid sighed that she lost, but gave a small smile seeing the Mustache sisters happy that they won. The Conductor on the other hand growled and marched out as he yelled a few not-so-nice words about his loss. The Express Owls went after the director in hopes to calm him down before he did something else he’d end up regretting later.

Hat Kid sighed and got up to walk over to the three winners and smiled at them. “Congratulations you three!” She beamed.

“Thanks, Hat Kid!” Molly replied. “You guys did great too!” 

Hat Kid smiled, “Thank you, Molly.” Molly giggled in response. “You know I was wondering why don’t I call Cooking Cat and ask her to cook something you guys like in celebration of your win?” She asked.

Molly gasped. “Really?” She asked.

“Really.” Hat Kid replied. Molly smiled excitedly to enjoy an amazing dinner with her sister and friends. Mu, on the other hand, glared as Hat Kid was interfering again, but there was food so she shouldn’t be too mad.

Hat Kid teleported the sisters up back to her ship and once they were back Hat Kid walked to her kitchen. Mu was about to follow, but saw Molly was missing. “Molly? Molly?!” Mu yelled.

“What’s going on?” Hat Kid asked.

“You forgot Molly!” Mu yelled.

Hat Kid looked to where Mu was standing and saw she was correct; Molly wasn’t there! Mu glared and pushed Hat Kid towards the wall. The latter gasped feeling the pain rush through her through her head.

“How stupid can you be!” Mu screamed. “You forgot to teleport my sister!”

“S-sorry!” Hat Kid apologized. Mu then slammed Hat Kid to the wall again causing Hat Kid to yell in pain.

“Sorry? SORRY? You forgot to teleport my little sister and all you can say is sorry!” Mu raised her fist and Hat Kid braced herself for the hit, but she didn’t feel Mu’s fist slam into her face as the phone rang. 

“Thank the stars,” Hat Kid thought.

Mu dropped Hat Kid and walked towards the phone, and slowly answered it. “Hello?” Mu asked.

There was deep breathing on the other end of the call. “The annual bird movie awards were rigged.” A deep voice said.

“Who is this?” Mu asked again.

“He was told about how the Time Pieces work and is going to break it.” The voice said again.

“Who told you!?” 

“The little one.”

Mu’s eyes widened as her anger turned furry. “If you hurt my little sister, I will turn you guys from director birds to roasted birds!” She threatened.

The voice on the other end of the phone didn’t react to Mu’s threat. “The truth lies buried underneath Dead Bird Studio. What goes on in Dead Bird Studio when no one is around?” Soon the voice hung up as Mu dropped the phone.

Hat Kid gulped and picked up her hat as she walked over to the mustache girl. “M-Mu?” She asked.

It took Mu a moment to respond, “They took her.” Mu whispered.

“Who?” Hat Kid asked.

Mu didn’t respond and ran to the telescope to teleport herself back to Dead Bird Studios. Once making it back to Dead Bird Studios, the atmosphere felt different than it was before.

All the lights were off except for the emergency lights as well as the sign of the studio, and there was no one there. Mu expected they could've been some party right about now, but nothing. “Molly!” Mu yelled. “Where are you?” Mu got no response and tried to open the door, but it was locked. Frustrated, Mu looked to find a way to get in or to break the door open. As she looked, she saw that the vent was open and smiled. “Bingo!” She beamed.

Mu ran to the vent and jumped up trying to reach it, but the vent was high up that she couldn’t. Mu glared and once more she jumped as high as she could, only for someone to grab her and pulled her up. “Phew, thanks Hat Kid.” She said, before her eyes widened, and turned to see it was the alien child who helped her up. “Hat Kid?”

“Look I know you hate me for forgetting to teleport Molly, but I need to make this right.” Hat Kid explained. “So please let me help you.”

“Why? You never helped me!” Mu yelled.

“I have!” Hat Kid yelled. “I helped stop the Mafia with you!”

“Yeah, but you didn’t give me a Time Piece afterward, and we never become Crime fighting Time Travelers.”

Hat Kid sighed as that was not the time to be arguing about. “Look, Molly is your little sister and it’s my fault that I didn’t teleport her in time.” She explained. “But we need to work together again to find her.”

Mu looked at Hat Kid and knew she was right. “Fine.” She groaned. “But I’m taking the lead!” Hat Kid gave a small smile and nodded as the two went through the vent and into the recording studio which was pitch black.

“Jeez, it feels creepier here than in the daytime.” Hat Kid commented.

“Well they're done with movies, and they're off celebrating somewhere,” Mu explained. Mu was about to take a step and almost fell if not for Hat Kid grabbing her by the cape. Mu sighed, and turned to Hat Kid who quickly let go of her cape. “If we had a flashlight, we wouldn't go falling off places.”

Mu didn’t need to ask Hat Kid twice, the latter removed her hat and started to dig through as she took out a green glow stick. She gave the glow stick a shake and soon a bright green light illuminated the studio. “I won’t ask,” Mu said as she took the glow stick and kept walking in the studio.

The two girls could find their way through the studio but saw everything was closed or blocked. “Now where do we go?” Mu asked.

The two continued to look through the studio before Hat Kid leaned on the wall, accidentally pressing a button. Soon a bell rang and a door opened. “Mu! Over here!” Hat Kid yelled.

Mu turned to see Hat Kid inside an elevator and walked inside. The doors slowly closed as Hat Kid only saw one button and pressed it. Once the doors were closed the elevators went down.

The elevator ride felt slow, but once the bell rang letting them know it arrived at the basement level. Once they took a step into the room they saw it filled with boxes of old props and letters. At first, Mu thought it was fan mail, but upon opening one of the letters she saw it was unpaid bills. “Ugh,” She said in disgust. “For directors, they sure need to pay their taxes and bills.” She threw the opened letter back into the pile.

“This isn’t time to check their mail. We need to find your sister.” Hat Kid told her.

“I know that,” Mu replied. The two kept on walking, and soon Hat Kid stopped as her eyes widened seeing where they needed to go next from here. Hat Kid grabbed Mu again before she could almost fall. “Now what?” Hat Kid pointed to the path below, and Mu’s eyes widened seeing their path was a bunch of tight ropes. One wrong step and both could fall below the abyss. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!” Mu screamed.

It started to feel like an hour, but soon enough the girls finally got through the tight ropes, some of which had electrical currents going through them, and they finally made it to the other side. Hat Kid heard something from one of the boarded-up doors and pressed her ears towards it. “I hear someone.” Hat Kid whispered.

Hat Kid couldn’t hear it, but it sounded like DJ Grooves and he was talking with someone. However, she couldn’t hear if there was someone in the room with him. Hat Kid ushered Mu to hear, and soon she did the same. Mu couldn’t hear exactly what DJ Grooves was discussing. “I can’t hear what they're saying,” Mu said.

“Hey! Who’s there?” DJ Grooves asked. Hat Kid and Mu squeaked and quickly booked it and hid. DJ Grooves didn’t open the door, but he did check to see if anyone was outside. Seeing no one, DJ Grooves walked away, and the girls heard what sounded like another door opening and the Moon Penguin director leaving the area.

“Come on,” Mu told Hat Kid. Hat Kid nodded and they kept on going. Soon enough, the girls found a door and saw a bunch of boxes stacked as high as towers. This made Mu and Hat Kid feel like they were stuck in a maze. “How does a director find their way around this?”

Hat Kid smiled as she closed her eyes. Soon, her hat went up in the air and Hat Kid smiled as she made her way through the maze. Mu then followed after Hat Kid and started to see the alien child going through the path like she knew where to go. Hat Kid then stopped and used her hat again to find the next path to take.

“How do you know where to go?” Mu asked.

Hat Kid took off her hat and smiled. “My hat can sense where to go,” she explained. “All I have to do is think about where we need to go, and my hat will guide the way.”

Mu raised an eyebrow, “How does a hat find a way?” She asked.

“Not just any hat, my hat.” Hat Kid answered. “Just follow my path and we’ll make it to where Molly is located.” Mu rolled her eyes and followed Hat Kid, however, the path ended up being more climbing and jumping. Mu started to feel tired, as she couldn’t catch up to Hat Kid’s speed. There were times Hat Kid had to grab Mu before she could fall, or that she couldn’t jump as high.

After what felt like another hour, the girls made it to a room where there were a bunch of switches and chords. Hat Kid looked at the closed door and knew these wires were to open the door. “Okay, this is where we split off and look for the switches to open this door.” Hat Kid explained. 

“You don’t have to ask me twice!” Mu yelled as she ran off to look for the switches. Hat Kid sighed and went her way to find the switches. It wasn’t hard for the girls to find the switches to open the door, and once the door was open it was smooth sailing from here.

Hat Kid and Mu were walking through a hallway before finding another elevator and taking it downstairs. Once the bell rang the two girls came out of the elevator and saw DJ Grooves with his back turned away from the girls.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here, darlings! I guess you two have found my little secret.” DJ Groves said.

“Enough chatter!” Mu yelled. “Where’s Molly?”

“Oh don’t worry little darling! Your sister is fine.” DJ Grooves explained. “She told me everything I need to know about these Time Pieces.” He then pulled out a Time Piece. “This is the last Time Piece, and it’s all for me, darling! If you want it, well…I guess you have to come and get it.”

Mu glared as she growled and let out a yell to attack the Moon Penguin director, but he jumped out of the way and slammed into the ground. “Mu!” Hat Kid yelled. Before she could check up on the other girl, DJ Grooves was about to attack again, and Hat Kid quickly jumped out of the way.  Hat Kid grabbed her umbrella and waited for Grooves to come to tackle her again. When he did, she moved to the side and smacked him with her umbrella.

DJ Grooves jumped out of the way, and Hat Kid saw a shadow looming above her. She looked above to see the spotlights ready to fall on her and Mu. Quickly, she grabbed Mu and got out of the way of the lights.

Hat Kid was about to attack DJ Grooves again, but Mu stepped in and took the next hit. Soon the Moon Penguin director appeared on a golden disco ball and slammed it to the ground causing the girls to lose their balance.

“Mu! I got a plan!” Hat Kid yelled. “We need to attack at the same time that way-” Hat Kid got cut off when Mu went to attack DJ Grooves again. DJ Grooves took a bit more damage before he stood down.

“Give up, huh?” Mu asked. “Well, now it’s time to tell me where my sister is!” Mu went to attack DJ Grooves one last time, but Hat Kid gasped when she saw something shine in DJ Grooves' coat. 

“Mu stop!” Hat Kid yelled, switching to her speed hat. When she did she pushed Mu to the side before DJ Grooves used a knife to slash her.

“What was that for?!” Mu shouted as she pushed Hat Kid off her.

Hat Kid scoffed. “I just saved your life!” She shouted back.

“How?” Mu asked. Hat Kid was about to reply, but Mu saw DJ Grooves ready to slash the girls again. Realizing why Hat Kid shoved her out of the way, she ended up doing the same.

Soon the lights went off and Hat Kid or Mu couldn’t see anything, but Hat Kid saw something shine and she and Mu both got out of the way. “Come on, Mu!” Hat Kid yelled. “We have to work together to stop him!”

“Which means asking where Molly is!” Mu yelled in reply as she went to attack the bird director again, but this time he missed and struck Mu back. Mu was able to escape the fight and Hat Kid went in to attack with her umbrella.

It took them a while of fighting, and it got to the point where cars were used. After what felt like forever, DJ Grooves stood down and the lights went off except for one spotlight that went on him.

Mu smirked and gave out a chuckle. “Giving up, are we?” She asked. DJ Grooves didn’t respond, which made Mu walk toward him. She stopped when a spotlight turned up and DJ Grooves was seated at the table with two empty chairs in front of him.

“Let’s have a chat, darlings.” DJ Grooves said. “Have a seat.”

Hat Kid and Mu looked at each other, and with caution, they sat down and faced the Moon Penguin director. DJ Grooves then turned his gaze onto Hat Kid. “Now from what I heard from the little darling since you arrived these Time Pieces have fallen from the sky.”

“Y-yeah.” Hat Kid replied.

“Now I understand they belong to you, darling.” DJ Grooves continued. “But did you know these Time Pieces allow for rewinding time?”

“I mean yeah, I practically grew up living with them.”

DJ Grooves chuckled over Hat Kid’s response. “With one of these Time Pieces, I can reclaim all the trophies I’ve got stolen from me by the Conductor.” He explained. “That bird cheated his way to victory, now I can’t be certain, but the Conductor has been manipulating everything so I won’t win.”

This interested Mu, “You mean, he might have taken my little sister?” She asked.

“Oh no, darling.”  DJ Grooves chuckled. “That was all me.”

Mu glared. “So then why should we help you!?”

“Come on, darling.” DJ Grooves begged. “All I need is one Time Piece to fix years of cheating and fraud. Can you just spare me one?”

Hat Kid knew her answer, but she had to think about how to reveal it before he stabs her or Mu. “Well, as much as we could give it to you, you may end up ruining your career if just one person or bird messes up. You should keep your career as a director then lose it.” Hat Kid thought. She smiled thinking that the delivery was perfect. Hat Kid was about to speak, but Mu cut her off.

“You’d think we should help you?!” Mu asked. Hat Kid’s eyes widened knowing Mu has just dug a deeper grave for them. “You took my sister, and have the most selfish reason for using the Time Piece! I mean, who uses a Time Piece to win some award? There are winners and there are losers, that’s how life is buddy, so grow up!” 

Hat Kid’s mouth dropped and she blinked in shock. Yeah, at this point Mu dug the two into a deep grave they’ll never get out of.

DJ Groves didn’t react. He just stared at the two girls blankly. “I see.” He said. “Well thank you for your answer, darling.” Soon he clapped and underneath the table a wire tied around both Hat Kid and Mu’s arms.

“Oh no. I know this bomb.” Hat Kid said.

“B-bomb? What bomb?” Mu asked, scared.

“Oh this bomb belonged to the Hat Darling, I stole it from the Conductor’s movie set.” DJ Grooves answered. “Now it will be both of your demises.”

Hat Kid and Mu looked at the bomb and soon it started ticking down from 80. The girls screamed and struggled to get the bomb off them. “Come on! Come on!” Mu yelled. As the two struggled to get the bomb off them, DJ Grooves chuckled as he let out a saw blade to attack the girls.

“Look out!” Hat Kid yelled. She pulled Mu out of the way of the blades, but because the bomb was tied to them it pulled them down to the ground. Mu saw one blade coming towards them and quickly moves to the other side hoping the blade would cut through the bomb. Sadly, it didn’t work.

“Now what?” Mu asked.

Before Hat Kid could answer, she saw DJ Grooves ready to attack. “Just run!” She yelled. Mu nodded and the two girls started running and dodging when the director threw blades toward their way.

“Here!” DJ Grooves started. “I…” Hat Kid and Mu braced themselves. 

“Come!” 

Hat Kid and Mu tried to dodge the attack, but the Moon Penguin director got to them first.

Mu and Hat Kid groaned as they slowly got up. There was no way for them to attack DJ Grooves being tied up with an explosive device on their wrist.

They felt all hope was lost until a familiar voice called out to them. 

“Sissy!”

“Lassie!”

Hat Kid and Mu looked up to see Molly and the Conductor in the crowd. Mu was relieved to see Molly had no scratch on her.

“Molly!” Mu beamed.

“Conductor!” Hat Kid beamed at the same time as Mu.

“Hang on you two! We got something to defuse the bomb!” Conductor shouted.

“Hurry!” Mu screamed.

There were only 25 seconds left on the bomb, and many things were going on at once. Conductor and Molly looking for the defuser, and Mu and Hat Kid running away from DJ Grooves while trying their best to fight him.

Soon the bomb was now on 10 seconds remaining. “Lassie! We got the diffuser!” Conductor shouted.

Hat Kid and Mu smiled and they ran towards the Conductor as he and Molly cut the bomb off them. Once it was off DJ Grooves froze as Hat Kid and Mu turned their gaze on the Moon Penguin director. The latter froze as the girls had looks that could kill, literally.

“Oh…peck…” DJ Grooves mumbled knowing now he was in for a world of hurt.

It took minutes, but Hat Kid and Mu beat up DJ Grooves and won the Time Piece from him. Conductor laughed as two of his Express Owls recorded the entire thing. “Oh, I can't wait to show this at next year’s Annual Bird Movie Awards.”

Molly giggled knowing that DJ Grooves does deserve it.

Later, Hat Kid, Mu, and Molly teleported back on the ship, exhausted from the battle they all went through. “So what happened Molly?” Mu asked.

“Well as we were teleporting, DJ Grooves pulled me aside and asked me about the Time Pieces. Apparently, one of the Moon Penguins dropped it and time went backward and he wanted me to explain more.” Molly explained. “I-I only told him that they rewind time and are fuel for your ship, but I think he ignored me when I told him about the ship fuel part.”

Hat Kid sighed and frowned. It seems more and more people on the planet are slowly finding out about the Time Pieces and are ready to use them for their own needs, not knowing the consequences. The fear of who else knows or has her Time Pieces as well made the young alien worry.

“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” Mu asked.

Molly shook her head. “He just told me to stay in his office and Conductor came by and found me. He told me what was going on and we had to rush over to find you.”

Mu felt some relief that DJ Grooves didn’t hurt her. Though she was pissed off he locked her in an office room.

Soon enough, Cooking Cat came out of the kitchen with a smile on her face. “Girls, dinner is ready!” She called out. Hat Kid smiled and made her way towards the kitchen with Mu and Molly right behind her.

“You and Hat Kid were amazing out there,” Molly said.

Mu’s eyes widened, the whole time looking for Molly, she didn’t realize that she and Hat Kid worked together. “W-well we had to, but that doesn’t change anything between us!”

Molly giggled. “Sure…” 

“I’m serious Molly! I had no choice because I might’ve died without her help.”

“Just admit it, you want to be friends with her again.”

Mu froze and turned away from her sister. Mu thought about it, was Hat Kid and her still friends? Or did just some small part of her wanted to keep Hat Kid as a friend? As Mu thought the voice in her head reminded her of how Hat Kid would never give her the Time Piece even if they do become friends again.

“No Molly,” Mu replied. “I don’t see her as a friend.” Mu then walked towards the kitchen not seeing the frown form on her little sister’s face.

[aurieeeeeenyx]

catch up tag game

aka a THIRD get to know you-style tag game but ykw i'm queuing it this time

tagged by: @ghost-town-story, thank you so much for the tag!

Rules: Tag 9 people you want to catch up with

Favourite color: you know what i'm gonna change it up this time i'm gonna say gold

Currently reading: the scarlet letter by nathaniel hawthorne (it is Extremely Dense so i'm considering starting another book [most likely i'll give you the sun, eliza and her monsters, or portrait of a thief] so i can read them at the same time and not burn out trying to read tsl lmao)

Last song: Wonderland Party by INTO1

Last movie: wow i really Don't watch movies huh ok i think the last movie i watched like Fully (looking at u leap..........) was the third star wars movie from the original trilogy, love u @novaliae <3

Last series: bad buddy, iirc? it's been a while lol (unless you mean book series in which it would be the raven cycle because i finished the first book a couple weeks ago)

Sweet, spicy, or savoury: ooh i flip flop between savoury and sweet a lot, though i think savoury wins a majority of the time

Tea or coffee: coffee !! unless it's bubble tea i love bubble tea

Craving: actually now that i wrote about bubble tea i really want it...mmm kiwi slush w/ boba and lychee jelly

Currently working on: in terms of fics, hiraeth and a couple atla aus; for original stuff i wrote a short story recently and want to revise it

tagging: @djthedumbass, @iwantadamusername, @yvesdot, @inkflight, @lend-your-lungs-to-me, @cannivalisms, @gelatinous-jellyfish, @viola-cola, @aalinaaaaaa

[quartzwriting]

The Sorcerer and The Agent

Pairing: Doctor Strange X Avenger!Reader

Description: After a training session, you stumble into a meeting where an unexpected visitor makes you, a former SHIELD Agent, shy. 

Warnings: Non

Word Count: 1.8k

A/N: Originally posted on Quotev / This story is divided into two parts, one through the readers point of view and one where it is retold in Stephen’s perspective.

Masterlist | Fic Reading Recs | Ao3 | Quotev | Coffee

PART ONE: The Agent

This morning's training was brutal. Natasha usually pushed you hard, but something today told her to push your limits. Some force in the universe told her to make you suffer today. And you did. By the end you were drenched in sweat, gasping for a proper breath of air, and in desperate need of a hot shower. You knew your muscles would be screaming at you tomorrow morning.

After you had taken a break, one that consisted of you lying on the training room floor for a while, Nat asked you to go tell Tony that the hologram training simulator was having some problems. He had been working on the thing for a while and there were still a few glitches that you had discovered today. Forcing your legs to get up and move, you made your way to the elevator to head a few floors up, regardless how wobbly they were feeling. They were literally jelly and it took you a little to get coordination back.

A post-workout towel was swung around your neck and you were still wearing your gear. Workout leggings, sports bra and top, the gloves you always wore on the field. Nat did not give you anytime to change before she sent you on your way to Tony. You were a hot mess and very tired, so you were ready to get it done and over with so you could shower and take a nap. FRIDAY told you that Stark was in the upstairs lounge.

Dabbing off the last bit of sweat from your forehead, you yawned from how tired you were as the elevator opened and you stepped into hallway that lead to the lounge. As you walked in you spoke, "Stark, your hologram training simulator is having some problems. It looks like there's something wrong with-"

You stopped dead.

Along with Tony, who was resting on a chair that was pulled backwards, there were two more people gathered around a table where small meetings were often held. One of them was Steve, who had some paperwork out in front of him. The other was Stephen Strange. You had not expected him to be there. He looked bored, listening to Tony talking probably. But his expression changed a little when the three of them heard you walk in.

Sure, you did not want to admit it but you found the man very attractive. Whenever he came to the compound you always tried to sneak an extra glance at him when he was not looking. And when you were not doing that you were trying not to look at him cause he might see the blush on your face. But when you did have to look at him, whether it be at a meeting or at a gathering or just across the room to say hi, you lost your ability to focus. Something about him made you forget everything else. His sarcasm and quick wit that rivaled Tony's. Perfectly styled hair with swoops of grey that were surprisingly fitting to his style. Neatly kept facial hair that framed his cupid's bow-lips that you often wondered of their softness. Beautiful eyes of crystal ocean blue that are always so bright, even when giving a cold stare. And that voice, Goddamn that smooth, low voice.

And there you were, looking like a total mess in front of him.

You wish you had not listened to Nat, that you instead went to your room and took a nap right away. You wished you were not looking like you just walked out of a workout session while your skin glistened with the remains of sweat and your hair messy. And you wish you could go hide of embarrassment.

You snapped out of your little trance of shock and tired to pick back up what you were saying, "w-with the projectors."

Tony visibly scrunched up his face, "That's weird. It was working when I tested it yesterday."

You struggled to speak when you were this distracted and surprised, "Nat and I were training. The thing is busted."

You could feel his eyes on you. I regret this, you mentally whined to yourself.

"I'll have a look at it later."

You would have turned around and walked out, make it look like you had some work to do. But instead Steve had to open his mouth. "Training go well today, (Y/N)?"

You wanted to die.

"Sure." You shrugged, trying to keep cool. "Nat pushed me hard."

"Looks like it." Steve laughed. You wanted to punch him.

You chuckled nervously and cleared your throat, "Well um I'm gonna go upstairs and shower. I have more work to do after."

As you said this, your eyes met with Stephen's. Direct eye contact with those blue eye, those beautiful blue eyes. You risked a little smile at him. You probably looked dumb in the state you were in so you sort of regretted it. But the smile you got back made you not regret it at all.

You turned on your heel and walked as fast as you could without looking suspicious.

"Oh! You need to refile that mission report from yesterday, (Y/N). FRIDAY processed your bodycam footage and you need to make a new timeline."

"I'm aware, Stark!" You did not look back as you snapped at him. Just another task on your ever growing list of things to do.

Upon exiting, you missed the door. You ran into the door frame with a bang. You tried to brush it off like everything was fine. You felt everyone's eyes turn back to you, digging into you like the weight of the embarrassment itself. And you swore you heard someone chuckling as you quickly left the room.

Now you were desperate to go hide in your room and never show your face again.

PART TWO: The Sorcerer

Listening to Tony babble was always brutal. Every single time Stephen came to the Avengers compound for a meeting the man of iron would always end up talking too much. The look on Steve's face said that even he was tired of listening to Tony talk about this new technology he has been working on. Stephen could not even remember what it was in the first place, something about holograms maybe. His fingers tapped on the table, the metal of his slingring making an impatient  noise as it hit the wood.

Both him and Captain Rogers exchanged a look. They wanted this meeting to keep going but Stark would not shut up. This happened often. A little too often. His mind started to wander, draining out Tony's voice and being replaced with his long to do list for today.

Suddenly the door to the lounge opened and someone walked into the room, soft footsteps hitting the floor as they came closer.

"Stark, your hologram training simulator is having some problems. It looks like there's something wrong with-"

Stephen perked up at the familiar voice. He quickly connected it to the owner. It was (Y/N) (L/N)'s voice. And there she was when he looked up.

He was not expecting to see her in the state she was currently in.

She was wearing workout clothes like she had just come from training, looking a little out of breath and energy. Traces of sweat covered her forehead and shoulder, and her cheeks were flushed a soft pink. Her skin glowed a little. He made note of what exactly she was wearing, a tank top with a sports bra peaking out from underneath. A pair of gloves that he had seen her wear before. And leggings. Very form fitting ones. He clenched his jaw and swallowed.

Whenever he needed to come to the Avengers compound for some business, he kind of hoped to catch a glance of her. Something about her always grabbed his attention. She was attractive, but also very kind and sweet. He would see you laughing with your coworkers and the image would stick in his head for a while. He would remember a snarky comment you made at a meeting that made him chuckle a little too hard. He would wonder what you looked like on a field mission, all serious or with a sprinkle of cockiness between a determined look. You were very interesting to him, in a good way.

"w-with the projectors." She finished. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he forgot she was talking for a second.

Then the thought of her working out in that outfit came to mind... but he quickly shut that out because he knew where that would go. But it trickled in the corners of his mind, and the wonder poked at him about another situation where she would be blushing and covered in sw-

He stopped himself as Tony's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "That's weird. It was working when I tested it yesterday."

"Nat and I were training. The thing is busted." Her voice cracked.

He risked another glance at you, and he did not regret it.

"I'll have a look at it later." Tony groaned.

"Training go well today, (Y/N)?" Rogers asked her.

The woman shrugged, "Sure. Nat pushed me hard."

The captain laughed, "Looks like it."

At that moment Stephen realized that she looked a little embarrassed. He was not sure why. But he swear he saw the already present blush on her cheeks deepen. She chuckled a little, he sensed a trace of nervousness in it. Yes she was embarrassed. He had to admit, it was kind of cute.

(Y/N) cleared her throat, "Well um I'm gonna go upstairs and shower. I have more work to do after."

He made eye contact with her. She smiled at him, and he melted a little. It was a very pretty smile. He gave her one right back, a genuine one that reflected her own.

Her previous words echoed in his mind. Shower. Stephen, stop!

The woman turned to leave and the others turned back to the table and paperwork they were going through. Stephen let out a breath as he turned his attention back to the material of the meeting.

"Oh! You need to refile that mission report from yesterday, (Y/N). FRIDAY processed your bodycam footage and you need to make a new timeline."

"I'm aware, Stark!"

The corner of his lips tugged up.

There was a bang and (Y/N) had run into the door frame, causing the three men to look up. She quickly left the room, it was now obvious that she was embarrassed. He did not blame her since she just pulled a maneuver like that. A SHIELD agent and master of stealth, from what he was told, just dumbly ran into a wall.

He could not help it. He started chuckling.

She's adorable, he thought to himself.

"What's gotten into her?" Steve asked, leaning back in his chair. "Maybe Nat overworked her."

Tony laughed, "Nah. Probably because there's a strange man in the room."

Stephen grinned, but then ran that statement through his head again. He could not think of anything. That woman was a mystery, that's for sure.

[to-be-a-dreamer]

Bestie. Hello. Please tell me: Will there be more of the ghostly fic? Past, Present, Future? Cause I love your writing so much and I am willing to donate 10 Motivations 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 here is some applause just because I think you're pretty great

Ahhhh the ghost au!!! (the original, I have two now for some reason) I do miss it dearly and I will be going back to it eventually! However, I promised myself that I would finish the last chapter of the Wrong Number fic before I updated Past, Present, Future and, unfortunately, I have not been able to take the time to properly wrap up that story. I have started the next chapter of the ghost au, though and I'll drop a little snippet for your reading pleasure under the cut!

(For some reason I feel like I've posted this before but I think it was just over discord so hopefully this is a new treat for most of y'all)

“Do you need anything at the store?” Sarah asked as she emerged from the kitchen with a handful of raisins. She popped a few in her mouth and sat down on the floor with her back up against the couch and her legs crossed underneath herself. “Les asked me to get grape jelly but if you want strawberry instead, we would have him beat 2 to 1.”

“You’re gonna get strawberry no matter what I say.”

“Yeah, but if you ask for it then at least I can pretend I conform to democracy.”

David ignored Charlie’s laugh and dropped his own backpack through the ghost’s head again, “Fine then, I like strawberry better anyways.”

“Cool,” if Sarah noticed anything weird, she didn’t mention it and started running through her mental shopping list. “So, I’m getting milk, jelly, Imma wants me to get at least two different kinds of fruit, Les needs granola bars, I was gonna see if they have that same brand of cheese sticks we like… There was something else, what was it?”

Suddenly feeling like a horrible person for blowing his sister off to go yell at some dead kids, David quickly offered, “Do you want me to come and help or anything? I didn’t know you were getting so much, that’s a lot to carry back from the store without a car.”

Sarah’s cheeks flushed pink in a way David had never seen before, “T-that’s okay, I’ve got a ride.”

The huge grin on his face was already growing before she had even finished speaking, “You’re going out with Katherine, aren’t you?”

“No. No, no, no, do not make this into a big deal,” her voice was threatening but her face was so red it was impossible to take her seriously. “I just mentioned that I was going to the store today and she offered to give me a ride.”

“Uh huh. And that’s a totally normal thing to do, tagging along to run errands with someone you met literally yesterday.”

In one fluid motion, Sarah stood up, grabbed her bag off the coffee table and began leaving the room as quickly as she could without running, “I’m walking away from you now.”

“Oh yeah, totally. Gotta go get ready for your date,” maybe it was childish and juvenile of him, but David couldn’t help but drag the last word out in a teasing, sing-song voice.

“Shut up or I’ll sell all your books on eBay.”

“Tell Kathrine I said hi!”

Remember that post of mine about how Sarah deserves to be the only person with a braincell AND a disaster gay? Yeah, I was working on this scene when I posted that. She is down so bad I love her.

[tickle-bugs]

Some Things Never Change

Summary:  Elsa visits Arendelle to plan her wedding. Like old times, she gets too invested in her work, and Anna helps remind her that perfection doesn’t have to come at the cost of peace.  Anon: May I please request and Elsa and Anna fic where Elsa is working and Anna is either voter or just wants Elsa to pay attention to her,resorting to her using one of her quills to tickle her that turns into a huge tickle fight?

Spoilers for Frozen 2! DO NOT TAG THIS AS SHIP.

“...Elsa?”

“Hm?” Elsa didn’t look up from her parchment, just kept writing. Document upon document covered every inch of her desk, spilling over onto the floor. Sunlight streamed in through the window--thankfully she hadn’t gone full vampire and shut them. 

“How’s it going?” Anna came up behind her and rested her hands on her shoulders. 

“It’s going well,” Elsa muttered. She scratched idly at her chin and left a small inkstain. She tapped the tip of the quill on the parchment, leaving little dots of ink along the margins. 

“How’s it going really?”

“Terrible.” Elsa groaned and dropped her face on the desk, narrowly missing her still-wet parchment. Her hair spilled loosely around her face and down her back in waves. Anna smiled and twirled some of the locks around her fingers. The little changes in Elsa’s style weren’t lost on her. 

“Talk to me.” Anna gathered Elsa’s hair properly in her hands and started braiding, hands flying with practiced ease. They were making up for a lot of lost time nowadays. 

“Originally, we were going to get married in the woods and stay at my palace for the honeymoon. Maren just told me that she wants to do a split culture wedding to, um, ‘reunify our people’.” Elsa hummed and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes fluttered shut. 

“Maren said that? She was so excited for a Northuldra ceremony. She’s been looking forward to it since she was little.” Anna’s hands stilled.

“How’d you know that?” Elsa turned and squinted at her sister. 

“Oh, y’know. Heard it from a little birdie on the grapevine.” Anna’s voice cracked and she looked anywhere but Elsa’s face. 

“What?”

“We may have talked about the wedding. Extensively,” Anna breathed out her admission, holding out her hands in a gesture of peace. Elsa fixed her with the patented disappointed stare of an eldest sister, piercing directly to her soul. 

“Don’t look at me like that! I just want you to be happy and I know how you tend to–“ Anna gestured at Elsa and her mess– “disconnect from everything.”

“I told you not to worry about it.” Elsa pinched the bridge of her nose with a long-suffering sigh. 

“I’m not worried about it at all! I’m worried about you. You’re planning a wedding, not a funeral.” Anna poked Elsa in the forehead a few times.

“I’m okay.” Elsa smacked her hand away. 

“Let me help.” Anna crossed her arms. She could see an argument forming in Elsa’s head and she was already prepared to shoot it down. 

“Fine. You can write the letters to Corona and I’ll write to Denmark.” Elsa passed her a stack of parchment, a quill and an inkwell, making a noise of warning so Anna would show care in balancing the pile. After plucking a heavy book on Arendelle history from the bookshelf and precariously balancing everything in her arms, Anna situated herself on Elsa’s bed.

“On it.”

They passed the time in a meditative silence. Anna hummed a quiet tune while she worked and Elsa unconsciously joined in, their voices uniting to fill the room with lullabies. The soothing scratches of quills on parchment eventually quieted their songs, though Anna picked the tune up again as she signed the last invitation. 

“Are you...almost done?” Anna stacked her bundle of letters on the far corner of Elsa’s desk, out of the way. 

“Why?” Elsa mumbled, resting the feathered end of the quill against her lip. She crumpled the parchment she was working on and tossed it to the side. The paper ball bounced sadly into a rapidly-growing pile of letter rejects. 

“We were supposed to visit the tailor, remember?” Anna rested her hands on the back of Elsa’s chair. 

“I’ll just make a dress.” 

“For your wedding?” Anna turned the chair around and forced Elsa to look at her. 

“It’s not like I haven’t done it before.” 

“I’m offended.” 

“Anna, please.”

“What are you gonna do in twenty years when you want to remember your wedding dress? Stick your hands in a puddle?” Anna knew that she was starting to sound like their father, but how could she not scold her? It was Elsa’s wedding--not a runaway trip to the mountains, not a birthday party, but her wedding. Yes, she could do some amazing things with her powers, but this was ridiculous. 

“...you have a point.”

“Thank you!” Anna huffed and crossed her arms. 

“After I finish this batch of letters, we will go. I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Anna reached out her pinky, just like she used to when they were kids. She knew it was silly, especially now that she was queen, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Pinky promise,” Elsa linked her pinky with Anna’s, chuckling when Anna yelped at the coldness of her hands. 

Anna flitted around the room for a while, skimming through random books on the shelves and admiring the paintings on the walls. One hour passed, then two, and Anna’s patience waned with the time. She really didn’t have the faculties to sit still for this long. When she turned to properly bug Elsa about leaving, she found her with her head shoved under her desk. 

“What are you looking for?”

“My…” Elsa stood completely, pulling her chair out of the way to properly peer under the desk. She scratched idly at the back of her head, disturbing the swan-feather quill tucked behind her ear. 

“Your…?”

“Quill. My quill is missing. I just had it, too.” She lifted her parchment and books one by one, brows furrowed, and Anna muffled a giggle behind her hand.

“What?”

“Nothing. You, um, really don’t know where it is?” Anna forced her expression into neutrality but her wobbly smile wasn’t doing her any favors. 

“I wouldn’t be looking for it if I knew, would I? Just help me look.” Elsa frowned, revisiting her stack of books. Anna smiled, pulled the quill from behind Elsa’s ear, and all hell broke loose. 

Elsa squealed and jumped, knocking her chair on its side. Two blasts of ice flew from her hands and painted frozen waves upon the wall, just narrowly missing the framed portrait of their parents. She bumped her desk with her hip, and if it wasn’t for Anna’s quick reflexes, all of their hard work would be drenched in ink. 

“Oh, thanks. I’m finishing up now, so-” Elsa mumbled, reaching for the quill. Anna crossed her arms and stared her down until she sighed, righted her chair, and started proof-reading their letters--as if that was remotely what Anna’s knowing stare meant. 

“No, you’re done. Up! C’mon.” Anna tugged on Elsa’s hand but she didn’t budge. 

“Don’t make me do it.” Anna narrowed her eyes. Elsa didn’t blink. 

“You leave me no choice, then. Get up and I’ll stop.” Anna tried not to enjoy Elsa’s confusion too much—’tried’ being the key word.

Elsa shrieked when delicate hands attached to her sides and stayed there, mapping out the subtleties of the terrain. She slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes squinted in newly-familiar mirth, and she doubled over to try and escape. She’d never been great at resisting laughter, but then again, neither was Anna. 

“Get up and I’ll stop,” Anna repeated, fingers gently crawling to her ribs now, and Elsa’s laughter jumped far more than such a delicate action would normally entail. Anna so badly wanted to tease her for it, but it wasn’t Elsa’s fault that she’d never gotten even somewhat used to this. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault. 

“See? That wasn’t so hard. Let’s go-”

“Not so fast.” Elsa huffed, a little pink and very out of breath. Strands of hair were already flying loose from her braid, and matched with her smirk, it gave her a sort of unhinged look—the kind that no younger sibling wanted directed towards them. 

“Let’s be reasonable-” Anna backpedaled, hands raised in a surrender, but Elsa pulled her back by the wrist and used her momentum to wrap Anna in her worst weakness: tickly hugs.

“I-I’m gonna die!” Anna screeched, prying at Elsa’s wrists to no avail. 

“You’re so dramatic.” Elsa rolled her eyes, squeezing Anna’s sides. Anna’s bones were all but jelly now—without Elsa’s mean hands holding her up she would definitely be getting acquainted with the nice hardwood floor. Anna’s hands flailed and occasionally found purchase against Elsa’s face, which, while objectively hilarious, was starting to get annoying. 

Elsa’s fingers pressed into Anna’s stomach just as she ran her fingers over Elsa’s ear, and the two flew apart like magnets with opposite poles. 

“Hey!” Elsa snapped her hand up to her ear with a silly smile. Anna recovered from her giggles a bit slower, but she was fast enough to see that Elsa’s playful smirk hadn’t gone anywhere. 

Uh oh. 

“Last one to the Tailor’s a rotten egg!” Anna threw open the door, already halfway to the stairs. Elsa’s footsteps were scarily close behind. What better encouragement to slide down the railing?

“Wh--Anna, wait up!”

[that-one-pizza]

Recent Harringsmith fic where things get heated in the spicy way.

Read on AO3!

WARNING: Sm*t

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

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Steve cheerily greets the slightly disheveled dreamwalker.

“Ha ha,” Quentin yawns, “you’re so original.” He combs his messy brown curls aways from his face with his fingers as he walks into their kitchen. “What time is it?”

“Almost noon,” Steve answers. Quentin groans at this information. “Did you sleep good?”

The pale man gives him a shrug, “It was okay. Miss you when I woke up, though,” he adds, walking over to the taller man. Steve gives him a sympathetic smile, takes his head gently in his hands, and loving kisses him on the forehead.

“It’ll get better,” Steve assures. Quentin smiles lopsidedly at his boyfriend, then goes to make himself a cup of coffee. Standing in front of the coffee maker, waiting for it to finish streaming coffee into his mug when he feels arms wrap around his waist from behind.

“Hey, babe,” he says, turning his head slightly. “I’m fine, really.”

He suddenly feels light kisses pepper the back of his neck, Steve tracing the pale skin with his lips. Quentin shivers slightly and giggles.

“I’ve been waiting for you to wake up,” Steve whispers into the shorter man’s ear, nipping at the shell lightly. A blush appears on Quentin’s cheeks.

“Oh yeah?” Quentin teases. “Why’s that?” He feels Steve’s hand slide down his stomach, and into his sweatpants and under his boxers. “Steve—!” he gasps out in surprise. Feeling the other’s hand brush against his member makes him roll his hips instinctively. The strong hand wraps full around his dick, making Quentin let out a shaky breath.

“You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” Steve purrs into the swimmer’s ear. Leaning slightly down to get a better angle at the blushing neck, he begins kissing and licking the smooth skin, causing the man in front of him to tremble. The jock slowly begins to pump his boyfriend, eliciting small sounds of pleasure.

“What’s got you—ngh—so worked up?” Quentin asks as he moves, trying to increase the speed and friction between the two.

“Just wanted you,” Steve places a particularly wet kiss on the side of his neck. “Wanted to make you feel good,” he finishes. He moves his other hand under the paler man’s shirt, dragging his fingers up his torso. Quentin shudders with a whine, then gasps out a moan when the fingers find their way up to his nipple. Hands and mouth now working in tandem, speeding up their movements, making the blue-eyed man’s heart race and sounds of pleasure intensify. Quentin grips the end of the counter, trying to steady himself as sensations cover his body, sweat coating his skin.

“F-fuck,” he pants, “Steve—hahh. Please.”

“Tell me what you want, Quen,” Steve growls, swiping his thumb over the other’s tip while twisting his nipple. Quentin lets out a loud moan, failing his grip on the edge of the table to lean on his elbows, with Steve pressed against his back.

“Go faster,” he groans, “I can’t take it anymore...!”

“Of course,” Steve chuckles darkly. “You gotta kiss me first.” With that, he flattens his hand out on Quentin’s chest and uses his strength to bring them back up to a standing position. Quentin twists his head to the side just enough for Steve to catch his lips in a desperate, hot kiss. The shorter man brings his hand up to grip the jock’s head, pressing their lips closer. He bites the other’s bottom lip, getting a soft moan from the taller one.

True to his word, Steve begins pumping his fist faster around Quentin’s leaking dick, all the while lightly pinching and grabbing at his chest. Quentin’s breath quickens, his moans become louder, and his kisses become messier and more desperate – Steve drinks in the sounds hungrily. The insomniac’s legs start to feel like jelly: it’s mostly his grip on the other’s hair and Steve’s hand on his chest that’s keeping him up right now.

“Ste—ungh,” he whines, squirming against the older man’s touches. “I’m gonna—” he barely gets the words out before roughly grabbing both Steve’s hair and arm, finally finishing in his pants with a whining groan.

He takes several panting breaths, trying to stay his racing heart and calm his shaking legs. He finally releases Steve and tiredly apologizes.

“Sorry,” he takes a breath, “sorry about that death grip.”

Steve just chuckles, releasing Quentin in turn, making the insomniac whine a bit at the loss of contact. He turns his boyfriend around with his clean hand to properly face him.

“Always concerned about others, aren’t you?” he states softly, planting a sweet kiss on the other’s lips.

“About you?” Quentin perks up, smiling, “Always.” He clears his throat, “We should go get cleaned up. Can’t stay sticky for the rest of the day.”

“Hmm,” Steve gives Quentin a devilish smirk. He brings his sullied hand up to his face and licks his hand, palm to fingers, while maintaining perfect eye contact with the younger man. Quentin stares slack-jawed in bewilderment; he feels his dick twitch in interest under his wetted boxers.

“You—uh, we should—”

“Both get in the shower?” Steve finishes for him. Quentin nods enthusiastically. Steve grins, already removing his own shirt and leading the insomniac to the bathroom. Coffee forgotten and left to cool on the counter.

[siren-queen-imagines]

Sick Day

I’m going through the Wayback Machine and bringing over some fics that I wrote when I was imaginingwwesuperstars!! Well, at least what they have archived…and has been edited since the original post. Down to the last of them! I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist

You brought your hand to your mouth to cover your cough, groaning when you were done as you fell back against the pillows. You hated being sick…so much. Normally, you would just get hit with it for a day or two and bounce back…but you’re currently on day 4 and it didn’t look like it was ending in your near future.

“Ugh, kill me now…” You mumbled to yourself as you pulled the covers over your head.

“Y/N, I’m home!” Seth called out from the other room. “Babe? You home?” He continued when he got no reply.

“In here.” You replied, coughing again because of your scratchy throat.

It took a few moments, but you heard Seth come into the room.

“Babe?” Seth called out gently this time.

You moved the covers down to greet him.

“Hey.”

“Oh, Y/N…” Seth sat on the side of the bed, brushing some hair away from your face. “Still fighting that cold?”

“Mm hmm.”

“How are you feeling right now?”

“Tired. My throat hurts, I’m congested and my head is killing.”

“You hungry?”

“A little.”

“Okay. You relax for a bit. I’ll make you some soup and see what I can do about the rest.”

You nodded, your eyes closing when Seth leaned in and kiss your forehead.

“I love you.” You mumbled.

“I love you too, pumpkin.”

You felt Seth get up from the bed and leave the room. Between the occasional clinking of glass in the kitchen, you found yourself drifting in and out of sleep. Before you knew it, Seth came back in the room with some of his remedy supplies on a tray.

“Okay, baby.” Seth said as he rounded the bed and set the tray between you two. “I have some vapo-rub for your congestion, aspirin for your head and mint tea and chicken noodle soup for your throat. I also made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich…I thought maybe if you were up to it to put something more solid and filling in your stomach.”

You looked at the supplies before looking up at Seth. When your eyes caught his, he lightly smiled at you. You couldn’t help but return his smile. He literally took everything you told him about how you feel and looked for some solution…he’s the best boyfriend. You knew he was tired…hell, he just got back from the UK/Ireland tour. But here he was, taking care of you.

“Thank you.” You told him.

“Of course.”

Seth helped you to sit up before giving you your aspirin, and letting you eat. You even ate half of your peanut butter and jelly sandwich (Seth ate the other half because he didn’t want it to go to waste). Once you were done, he laid you back down before rubbing some vapo-rub on your chest, being careful not to get any on your tank top. It helped to clear up your sinuses drastically, causing you to smile a bit.

“Feeling a little better?” Seth asked you as he put the lid on to the vapo-rub.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Good. You sound a little better.” Seth leaned down to kiss your forehead once more. “I’ll be back, I’m gonna go clean up. After you wanna watch Netflix and stay in bed?”

“Yes. That sounds great.”

Seth nodded and smiled tiredly at you. You watched as he got up and left the room. You lightly sighed as you settled into the pillows, careful not to pull the covers up too high to your chest. You didn’t want to block the working vapo-rub currently set on your skin. Your eyes closed briefly when you heard Seth talking to Kevin about letting him go outside to go to the bathroom. You couldn’t help but smile when you heard Kevin barking in a reply.

A few moments later, Seth came back into the room and undressed, leaving only his briefs on. He rounded the bed once more and laid under the comforter, scooting next to you.

“Come on.” Seth said, motioning that he wanted you to cuddle up to him and rest your head on his shoulder.

“I don’t wanna get you sick.” You told him.

“It’s fine, Y/N. I’m not gonna get sick and even if I do, it’ll be worth it. I haven’t seen you in the last 12 days and now that I’m home, I’m gonna take advantage of this. Especially since I have to go the day after tomorrow.”

“You sure, Seth?”

“Of course, pumpkin. I wouldn’t offer if I wasn’t.”

You nodded, kissing his cheek before snuggling into his side. Once you were settled, Seth kissed your head once more.

“So what do you wanna watch? We can watch something funny?” Seth asked as Kevin settled on your and Seth’s entwined legs.  

“Funny sounds good.”

“Okay. Brooklyn 99 or Bob’s Burgers?”

“Nine-Nine.”

“You got it.”

The last thing you remembered was watching Jake Peralta trying to slide across the entire bullpen as you drifted off. Seth looked down to find you already asleep. He lightly smiled and kissed you once more.

“Goodnight, pumpkin. Love you.” He mumbled, closing his eyes and falling asleep.

[entomancy]

(Fic) One thing we can agree on

Title: One thing we can agree on (Wattpad)

Setting: The vampire nonsense / Vegas Masquerade

Warnings: Gore.  I am having fun with my crayons.

Words: 1401

Summary: Flashback into the 'Moonlight Flush' part of the timeline. Which is the framing of the events of ~twenty years ago in the Vegas Masq. setting (which set up the current ‘rules’) as an urban fantasy police procedural; where Joplin would have been the secondary main / intro to the supernatural world and Belton the Season One antagonist who ended up Sort Of Befriended(ish).

This would have been in approx. Season Three, when bits from Joplin's past come back to bite him (er, again, I guess), and involves the first time he'd actually had to team up with Belton against a larger problem.

The larger problem being: more werebears, but asshole ones.

Indulgent, but I enjoy Belton being a dramatic irritation, and ~27yr old Joplin's permanent state of exasperation. And I wanted to explore an important (?) difference in the way the vampires and were(s) of this setting work.

(Also neither tumblr nor Wattpad has any sensible way to use footnotes, so there's one just... there, in the middle. Like this is FFN cira 2003 or something.)

---

The real difference between vampires and werewolves is how they bleed.

Clearly it isn't the only difference.  There are the big, obvious - hairy - ones; and you could spend lifetimes comparing technicalities of characteristic amongst the supernatural set, searching for links or diversions or even a root cause. How magic plays in.  How inheritances work, or the fundamental incompatibility of cross-siring.  How sunlight, direct or orbitally reflected, could possibly trigger the different effects that it does.

But for Denis Joplin, as he'd scrambled to make sense of the extraordinary left turn his last decade had careened into, somehow the thing that really seemed to underline it all was the way they bled.  Maybe because he'd always had such a damn knack for getting into situations that showcased it.

That last round of gunfire had really screwed up his right arm.  He'd wedged himself in place against the thick struts of a heavy-duty shipping container - splattered almost as much now with crimson as it was with spraypainted Cyrillic – and tried to breathe quietly.  The enormous bastard wielding a goddamn helicopter canon had fucked off to yell 'roided nonsense into a different part of the warehouse, so they probably had a few minutes pause before he realised his targets had dodged.

Not dodged as well as Joplin'd have liked, but there y'go.  You worked with what you got.

Most of the bullets had gone straight through – since he wasn't an armour-plated van – but he could feel a few wedged points of pain even within the jellied miasma of broken flesh that hung unpleasantly from his torn shirt.

"Jesustapdancing­-" he bit down on the mismatched curse as he grabbed his messed-up limb with his other hand and twisted, pushing it up against himself and the steel wall behind, and tried not to go blind.

It squelched.

"Don't like that," he muttered, then glanced up at the wet snort of amusement from just down the container row. "Hey, he nailed you to the fuckin' wall about as well as I've seen; don't get lippy."

Not that his extremely temporary partner was in much shape to be more actively sarcastic.  The brunt of the recent salvo had hit taken Belton pointy-ear to hip, ripping the big grey fuck open like a side character in chainsaw splatter, which – somehow – made the look of dazed amusement on the bits of his face that weren't hanging off even more aggravating than usual.  He shifted position, bringing his torn-up arms out in front of him as if holding something narrow and invisible in both hands, and –

Joplin blinked.

Pull... yourself...

"Oh fuck off," he growled – and it was a growl, a sound that started deeper than his chest actually went and brought the pull along with it; a bestial reverb that went beneath his bones.  Joplin gritted his teeth – which felt about ready to start moving in his jaw as it was, aching with something beyond nerves – and had another unpleasant feel around where his elbow used to be.  It helped if everything was in the right place.  Last thing he needed right now was having to rebreak a limb because he'd managed to shift over all wonky.

That'd have to do.  Very pointedly not making eye contact with Belton as he did so, Joplin Changed.

There have been a lot of renditions of a lycanthropic* transformations over the years, and there have even been some that have come close to the actual reality of seeing it happen. The exact visuals tend to vary person to person, but however it looks, the world bends – just a little, at the seams – as something that was only ever the thickness of breath away steps forward.  Joplin always thought it felt like stretching should do – an all-over, unfurling release of physicality, like every fibre of you stopped hunching its shoulders all at once.

________________________________________________________________

* There's an argument that 'ursanthropic' might be a more technically correct term when the reader is considering Denis Joplin himself – or even the bellowing figure currently firing 30mm rounds into what will turn out to be a container of tinned garlic pallets – but the linguistic side of paraphylogeny isn't a popular field.  'Actually, it's wereBEAR' is only a helpful correction under certain circumstances, and this isn't one of them.**

** Yet. ________________________________________________________________

The arm took a bit more effort.  A transformation that added several feet in height, width, and summed-up hair length didn't exactly have a problem fixing a half-mulched limb, but there was clearly an additional process going on.  He wondered how people had explained what it looked like before timelapse film had been developed.

It... healed.   Torn vessels sealed over; bone shards scraped and swelled together within muscles that bulged crimson-purple as they knitted close.  Tissue bloomed, bruise-blossom hues racing through tattered skin and dragging raw pallor behind them; black-bloody tears welled up pink and grey and pink again, threaded with ribbons of tendon herded into place by a lightning flash of sudden scars, gone as fast as they appeared.  Then the fur broke surface like desert flowering, and a heartbeat later there was nothing to show for the damage that a slight extra paleness in the iron-grey pelt, as Joplin flexed his bulked-out fingers carefully.

Belton clapped.  Just once, with a softness that hands tipped with inch-long claws shouldn't be able to achieve, and it was the most sarcastic fucking sound Joplin had ever heard.  He bared his considerable teeth in a silent snarl and waved his own padded hands towards the old bat.

Hurry.  Up.

Belton's black eyes crinkled at the edges, and then he pulled himself back together.

The real difference between vampires and werewolves is how they bleed.

Belton's blood was dark, with a strangeness to its consistency that would have baffled splatter analysts on a fundamental level, but it also didn't tend to stay where it landed.  None of him did.  Metal gleamed naked against the pitted concrete as pools of inky crimson pulled away from the bullets that had torn them loose, flowing back along their own path like a retreating tide - rivulets of reversing gore that snaked and whipped back up their origin form, trailing back into ruptures that folded seamlessly shut around them.  Belton stood up, even as his chest cavity was still closing, and gently pushed his hanging jaw back into place, smoothed like fresh clay.

Vampires don't heal – you see – so much as 'rewind'.

He held Joplin's gaze, half a heartbeat longer than he needed to, and grinned.

There was a spotless bullet held between his rows of teeth.

"Oh, fuck off," Joplin repeated – before he was drowned out by a guttural roaring, and the sound of a minigun barrel being smashed through something unfortune enough to be inside its turning circle.

"Little pigs, little pigs!  I hear you!"

Both men visibly winced.

"See, someone with that little self-awareness just shouldn't be this much of a problem," Belton muttered, flicking the bullet aside like a cigarette butt. "It's genuinely a bit embarrassing."

"Yeah, well," Joplin whispered back, as he scanned the roof, taking in the environment with an eye to traversal options he hadn't had five minutes ago. "I won't tell if you don't."

Another roar burst the air, and Belton started edging down the row again, clearly doing his own version of the calculations.

"Pity he doesn't take after your side of the family, really."

"This isn't a family situation," Joplin snapped back, readying himself to move when the oncoming footsteps got a bit closer.  If he could get around, then maybe he could deke out the...

He glanced back, about to signal a go, and realised the old vampire was still looking at him, one of those impossible-to-read expressions on his weird bat face for a second, before he spoke softly.

"See, that's the thing with monsters.  It's always going to come back to blood, one way or another."

A shiver danced down Joplin's extended spine, strong enough to stir the fur.  That was a bit close for comfort – and from sodding Belton?  He shrugged dismissively, only partly to himself.

"Yeah, well, this ain't gonna be the worst it gets.  Try not t'get cut in half again."

Then the shipping container exploded in a nightmare of burning metal.  Belton went right; Joplin went up; and everything else went on from there.

----

[livesincerely]

2 and 9 for its beginning to look alot like- bc i loveee that one 🥺🥺

2. What scene did you first put down?

This fic was prompted by an ask from the lovely @livininmyhead, who asked how does Jack handle Christmas for Tony and Charlie, and it ended up spiraling into its own multi chapter fic because I’m me.

The very first thing I wrote was the scene in chapter one where Tony and Charlie wake Jack up on Christmas morning and Jack makes them breakfast. I’m pretty sure I started with the part that goes:

“Jack,” Tony whines out the moment he chokes down his last bite. Both sides of his mouth are coated in crumbs and smudges of peanut butter. “Can we open presents now? ”

“Wipe your face,” Jack reminds him, adding a smear of jelly to his own slices of toast. “And your hands.”

“But can we?” Charlie asks, rubbing at his mouth with a napkin too. “Can we, can we, can we?”

“Well, I dunno...” Jack says, pretending to think it over. “Maybe we should wait a few more hours, make sure the Christmas spirit’s really sunk in…”

I just really, really, really love big brother Jack, and especially all of the mundane ways that relationship presents itself.

9. Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Actually! In the last chapter, the conversation between Jack and Davey originally had an entirely different trajectory! I couldn’t quite make it work so I ended up replacing it with Jack’s story about how he realized he was in love with Davey, but I’ll insert what I had below.

This would’ve come right after “That’s probably for the best,” Jack says. “Though, I’m tellin’ ya now, if anyone ends up with sufganiyot in their hair again, I’m groundin’ both of ‘em ‘til Easter.”

00000

Davey rolls his eyes, but there’s no real annoyance in the action.

“Yeah, sure you will,” he says.

“I will,” Jack insists. “What, you think I won’t?”

“No, I know that you won’t,” Davey says. “It’s December. It’s Christmas.”

“So?”

Davey bites his lip, then seems to think better of whatever he was about to say.

“Nevermind,” he murmurs, shaking his head.

“Oh, now you gotta tell me,” Jack says, sitting up. “What?”

...

“Jackie, you’ve spent your whole life making sure the boys have nothing but joy each Christmas,” Davey says, fondly exasperated. “What makes you think you’ll be able to bring yourself to do anything else?”

It’s nothing that Jack doesn’t already know, not really. But there’s something about the way Davey says it⁠⁠—like it’s just so obvious⁠—that hits right at the heart of him. Whatever argument he might’ve had falls away, his throat going tight around a sudden surge of emotion.

Davey must read something off his face, because his expression softens.

“You love them,” he says, voice gentling. “You love them so much, Jackie, it’s okay to give them a little bit of leeway every now and then, especially considering everything the holidays mean to you.”

“It’s jus’ important to me that they get…” Jack starts, trying to find the words. “That they have everything I can…”

“Darling, I know,” Davey says after a second, understanding what Jack hasn’t said. “You don’t have to explain anything, I know, I get it.”

His fingers sweep delicately across Jack’s forehead⁠—holding Jack’s face between his hands like he’s something infinitely precious⁠—then leans forward, tilting his head down until he can press their foreheads together.

“They’re lucky to have you,” Davey murmurs. “We all are.”

Maybe it’s the holiday getting to him. Maybe it’s the bit of eggnog he had earlier or the smell of pine and the hint of candle smoke in the air or maybe it’s just the way that Davey’s looking at him, honest and open and loving, but suddenly Jack’s heart feels too big in his chest⁠—like his entire self might burst open.

“I’m lucky to have you,” he whispers, reaching up to grasp at one of Davey’s hands, lacing their fingers together. “I love you so much, Davey. You don’t even know how much I love you.”

“Sure I do,” Davey says, simply. “It’s about as much as I love you.”

“Fucking stop it,” Jack says. “You’re gonna make me fucking cry.”

Davey just laughs, giving his hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze.

“Merry Christmas, Jackie,” Davey says.

00000

You can definitely see where I was able to repurpose some of these lines in the final version, but this part of the conversation just didn’t quite mesh with everything else. Plus, I really love the speech Jack ended up with, so it all works out. 😊

[artnerd1123]

Among Us: CR3WM8TS

Updates Required (part 3)

——————————————

With the ship launched and crew settled, it’s time to get to work. Which, for Bunbun, means updating. How smoothly that goes depends on the crewmates in charge… Bunbun’s hoping she’s in good company.

Featuring appearances by Nanner and Silk!

Among Us archive/askblog Fic chapters post

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Ok so originally I wanted to keep all this together, but decided it’d be better to chop it into pieces. That way I can keep my momentum, keep posting for y’all, and still intro y’all to the crew as things get moving!

finally got this last part done!!! it’s all finished now! now we can get on to more fun stuff >:3

                                                  ===+===+===

Mission Log 5

Ship Model: SKELD D34-H120 Designation: SUPPLY TRANSPORT, EXPLORATION AND DOCUMENTATION OF SECTOR G PLANETS Crewmate Count: 9 Crewmate Colors: DARK GREEN, WHITE, PURPLE, DARK BLUE, YELLOW, RED, LIME, BLACK, PINK

Location: SECTOR F Ship Status: IN TRANSIT Course: PLANET 326-OCE-894 - SECTOR G Systems:

Navigation: COURSE INLAID / STABLE / UPDATES NEEDED

Engines: UPPER - ONLINE, TANK 0.94 / LOWER - ONLINE, TANK 0.92 / OUTPUT ALIGNED

Reactor: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

O2: STABLE

Electrical: CALIBRATOR OFFLINE

Communications: ONLINE / UPDATES NEEDED

Shields: ONLINE / FUNCTIONING OPTIMAL

Weapons: TEMPORARILY OFFLINE  / FUNCTIONING N/A

Security: CAMERAS ONLINE / ALL FUNCTIONAL

Administration: MAP OFFLINE - UPDATES NEEDED / CONNECTION SECURE / SHIP FILES UP TO DATE / ALL CREW ACCOUNTED FOR

Medbay: EQUIPMENT ONLINE / FUNCTIONAL / CREW FILES UP TO DATE

Supplies: [ONE] CRATES SHORT  

Storage Chutes: CLEAR

Vents: CLEAR

Notes: Admin map offline, as updates are needed. PINK identified systems in need of updates. PINK has commenced updates under DARK BLUE supervision. Updates still in progress. RED discharged from medbay after receiving treatment for minor injuries. RED in process of submitting incident report. BLACK opened one supply crate to restock food materials. PURPLE sent four previous mission logs to HQ for archiving. PURPLE also submitted them to [SKELD D34-H120] Mission Log Archive. Other crew performing normal activities.

                                                 ===+===+===

With each room visited, the list of tasks was shifting from white to green. All but three of them were lit up with the color of a job well done. Bunbun looked over the list with a growing sense of satisfaction. Just three more now, she thought, I can handle that in no time. Not to mention the updates had given her a perfect opportunity to meet most of her crewmates. Hopefully whoever she had left to encounter would be in a good mood. Or at least a better one than a certain blue-suited crewmate. Speaking of which, River had once again chosen their destination. He’d hooked a sharp right as they left Medbay, leaving Bunbun- as per last time- to scramble after him. His pace picked right back up after he was out of Medbay’s sight. He only spared Bunbun a single glance over his shoulder. “C’mon, keep up,” he grumbled, “there’s not much left to do, and I’m hungry. I wanna have time for my lunch break before I have to be back at cams.” With a sinking feeling, Bunbun realized he might have just been on his “best behavior” for the doctor. That wasn’t uncommon among crewmates. After all, you do want the local medic to treat you well. Well... That, and patients who behave get discharged sooner. River’s attitude change didn’t bode well for their time outside of medbay. Luckily, Administration wasn’t too far from there. They just had to pass through the cafeteria. Maybe there’d be a vending machine or something. A good stop for a snack. As long as it gets River off my back, I don’t care what it is, Bunbun thought ruefully. 

The cafeteria was about as standard as it gets. The tile floor was dull from years worth of crewmates’ passage. The slightly dented wire panel on the wall closest to them was closed. The download station and food processor on the far wall seemed to be in working order. From what Bunbun could see of the chute, it was nice and clear. Five circular tables were placed around the room, two at each end and one in the middle. The emergency button looked rather haphazardly installed in the center table. It was as if someone had carved a hole in its surface and shoved in the proper equipment- nothing like the clean circles and precise welding of newer ships. It was just another sign of the SKELD’s age. Bunbun was at least comforted by the layer of dust atop it. Unbothered dust on the button- above everything- was a testament to the ship’s safety. Or, at the very least, a high level of trust in its crew. River didn’t give anything a single glance. He walked like a man on a mission, and Bunbun tailed after him diligently. To his credit, he wasn’t headed towards the food processor. He was making a beeline for the door towards storage. Or, rather, toward Admin. She figured that’s where they were headed. It was next on her list.  Before they reached the door, though, River stopped in his tracks. He went still so fast Bunbun nearly crashed into him.  “Wh- hey- what was that about?” She squawked.  “Can it,” River hissed, taking a step back. “We’ll move in just a minute. Gotta wait for traffic.”  “Traffic…?” Bunbun’s brows furrowed. What traffic…? She tried to track River’s gaze. It wasn’t hard, seeing as it was riveted on the doorway. 

She spotted a crewmate in black standing there. The fact that they were wearing their helmet outside of docking time was a little odd, but it wasn’t entirely unheard of. Though the rubbery banana peel stuck to the top of it was sort of funny looking. From the way it didn’t slide off their head after any movement, she’d guess it was an accessory. Black’s head was bent over their tablet, which they held in their right hand. Their left rested on the handle of a gravity platform cart. A large crate was nestled in its center. From the label, Bunbun could tell it was food. All in all, they seemed like a standard human crewmate on supply duty. At least, at first glance. The more Bunbun looked them over, the more their shape seemed more vaguely human than clean cut. Their limbs were a little too bendy, and their suit didn’t seem form fit to any specific body shape. It was like a vague approximation of a humanoid form. The biggest tell, though, were their hands. Bunbun blinked a couple times to make sure she was seeing them right. Their gloves only had four fingers instead of five. Suddenly, keeping the helmet on made more sense. For all she knew, the alien under there might breathe a different kind of air. Or no air at all. She’d had plenty of aquatic- and a handful of lava dwelling- classmates at the academy. Though… that style of suit was more fitted to the gaseous types of aliens. Ah, well. The mystery would have to wait for later.

Black seemed to mumble to themself for a minute before cramming their tablet under their arm. They’d just turned to pull the cart into the caf when the room’s other occupants caught their eye. Or, at least, the occupant in front did. They seemed to perk up immediately, one hand flying to their visor. “Oh! Howdy!!!” they called happily. “I didn’t see ya there!!! Ya need through?” “That would be ideal,” River replied tersely. “Gimme jes oooone sec-”Black bubbled. With that, they yanked the cart all the way into the room. It floated in easily, and came to rest next to the doorway under their guidance. “There she is! All clear for ya, Riv!” River started right back towards the door the second they were out of the way. Not even gonna say thanks? Bunbun thought, puzzled. Well. If he wasn’t gonna do it, she would. “Er- thank you, we appreciate it,” Bunbun called as she followed him. Black gave a quiet gasp. “Oh!!! I didn’ realize we had company!” They giggled, looking to River. The man stopped in place again, expression souring. “Who’s yer new pal?” “Does it matter?” River huffed, crossing his arms. “We’ve got places to be.” “It does if they’re new to the ship!!!” They chirped. Trotting right over, they stuck out their hand to Bunbun. “Hi there!!! I’m Nanner! What’s yer name, hun?” She blinked at their forwardness, but returned their handshake timidly. Their nickname made her smile a bit. Maybe their hat wasn’t entirely out of place. “I’m, uh, Bunbun,” she replied shyly. “It’s nice to meet you, Nanner.” “Bunbun!!! Oh, now that’s a cute nickname!” Nanner hummed. “Yer the new transfer, right?” “I- er- thank you,” she stammered, face flushing a bit. “And, um, yeah. I dunno how long I’m on board for, but hopefully I can help out.” “Oh, I already know ya will. Ya look like a real peach!” Nanner smiled. Or, she thought they did. It was hard to tell. The visor was so dark she couldn’t make anything out. In any case, the words just made her blush more. Kind ones always did that. “I’ll do my best to make sure yer stay is nice ‘n homely!” “W-well, you’re already doing a good job,” Bunbun smiled softly. “Good, ok, you two are acquainted. Can we go?” River broke in, scowling. “Ah ah ah, Riv,” Nanner scolded, wagging a finger at him. “Y’all can’t go till I know what the lil lady’s favorite food is! Y’all of all people gotta know that by now.” River threw his hands up in defeat. Bunbun’s look of confusion resurfaced. “Favorite food?” She echoed, puzzled. “Well, yeah! I’m the ship’s cook,” Nanner replied nonchalantly. “I gotta know what y’all like so I can have it on hand. Ya never know when you’ll need some good ol’ comfort food.” “Oh… oh! That’s true,” Bunbun nodded. Ship’s cook. Yeah, the food crate should’ve been a giveaway. “I’m, um, afraid mine’s a little on the tame side…” “Not a problem! Tame is good for some,” Nanner soothed. “Ok, er, thanks. It’s just a peanut butter jelly sandwich.” “Any particular variety? There’s a lotta those across the galaxy!” “The kind with Paramour’s grape jelly? I’m not picky about my peanut butter.” “Hmm… Paramour grape jelly and a wild card on the peanut butter…” Nanner nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll have one for yer lunch break, hun.” Bunbun lit up, smiling excitedly. “Oh!!! Thank you so much!!!” She beamed, “I really appreciate it-” “Ok, order up and all that,” River huffed, interrupting again. “Are we done?” “Sheesh, fine,” Nanner snorted. “Seems like someone needs a nap,” they mumbled, giving Bunbun a playful nudge. She tried her best not to laugh, hiding a smile with her hand. “I heard that,” River growled. “Good. Maybe you can take one later!” Nanner beamed, unphased. Rolling his eyes, River resumed his quick march. He was clearly done entertaining the both of them. Bunbun waved as she trotted after him. “Thanks again, Nanner! See you around!” “No problem, Bunny!” 

As they reached the hall, Bunbun decided to risk a question. “So… uh… Riv?” She asked warily. “Don’t call me that,” River groaned. “Nanner loves to give everyone nicknames. And talk. A lot.” “And I’m guessing you’re… not much for conversation?” She ventured. “Hit the nail on the head.” He fixed her with a withering look. “So can you take a hint?” “I-I got it, I got it,” Bunbun replied meekly. Oh yeah. That’s a grump. 

Admin was barely a stone’s throw from the cafeteria. First turn on the left from the door, and it was another well loved room. The carpet was tamped down tightly, the dull maroon only showing through a recent clean. The map was dark- offline for updates- and the card reader looked about as beat up as she’d expected. Three ancient computers sat along the wall. They were old models with screens made of green glass instead of holographic projections. The red chairs before them were an old old leather material, and had been patched up several times. One of the chairs was occupied. The crewmate didn’t seem to notice the two others hovering in the doorway. “... Knock knock,” River said begrudgingly. “You’ve got visitors.” At the sound of his voice, the crewmate glanced up from the screen, giving Bunbun a pretty good look. Xyr suit was purple, and about as worn as Captain Groud’s. Xyr round face was framed with dark, loose coils and dreads, cut off just below xyr chin. A smattering of starry white flecks was sprinkled over xyr hair. Xyr earthy skin had distinctive space travel stripes, albeit a little paler than one would expect. Dark, shining eyeshadow hooded charcoal eyes. Small golden rod earrings and a battered bandage completed xyr look, giving xem the mug of a well weathered space traveller. Xyr look of tired resignment warmed into a smile as xe took notice of Bunbun. 

“Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you’d make your way here,” Xe chuckled, leaning back in xyr chair. “Eheheh… yeah… sorry about the wait,” Bunbun replied softly. Xe held up Xyr hands in a placating gesture. “No no, I get it. This bucket ‘a bolts has a lotta systems in dire need of updates,” Xe replied, “and some of em are better to hit first than others.” Standing up from xyr chair, xe set a hand on xyr hip. “You two gonna come in?” “O-oh! Right- yeah-” Bunbun stammered, striding quickly through the doorway. River let her go first, sulking after her like a grumpy shadow. The other crewmate joined them by the map. “Well, now that we’re all together-” xe held out a hand for Bun- “I might as well introduce myself. People ‘round the ship call me Silk. I’m the resident nav and comms expert.” Bunbun took xyr hand and gave it a gentle shake. “I’m, um, Bunbun,” she replied, shifting in place. “I’m the new transfer- uh- I do, um, tech, electric, and janitorial tasks. I-it’s nice to meet you, Silk.” “Likewise,” xe nodded. “I’m guessing we might not see too much of each other, but you’re always welcome to pop by my areas to say hello.” Xyr eyes trailed away from Bunbun’s face toward someone behind her. From the expectant raised brow, she got the distinct feeling that xe wasn’t exactly thrilled to see them. She saw River kicking at the carpet when she glanced back. “Not even gonna greet me?” Silk asked, brow still raised. “... Hey silk,” River mumbled. His hunched shoulders and skittering glance made him look like a kid in trouble. “... can we get this over with?” “C’mon, being out of isolation can’t be that bad,” Silk joked. At Bunbun’s confused expression, xe waved a hand. I’ll tell you later, xyr face said. She just nodded hesitantly. “Listen, I just wanna go back to cams, is that so much to ask?” River huffed. “With that tone, maybe,” Silk pointed out. He crossed his arms, grumbling quietly, and settled himself along the wall. Xe gave him one last long look before turning back to Bunbun. “So, I reckon my map’s in need of a couple updates?” “Er- yeah, just a couple,” Bunbun said. Glancing it over, she was pleased to see an absence of dust on its glassy green surface. The thing was old, yes, but it looked well cared for. “Do you have any ideas as to what needs fixed? I don’t, um, I don’t handle admin updates too often.” “Of course. I’ll just let ya know what the other rooms need while I’m at it,” Silk replied, flicking a couple switches. The map slowly blinked to life, white lines snaking across a pale grid. The pale outlines flickered and flashed like a star fried sensor. The poor thing was barely even visible. Bunbun winced in sympathy. “Oooh… yeah, someone needs to update the firewall,” she mumbled. “That’s what I thought,” Silk sighed, giving the console a pat. “It’s been doin that for at least a week. The systems down at Comm and Nav are on the fritz too. It’s hard to get records transferred, retain messages, and get the course to stay stable without a babysitter.” “You’ve certainly got your hands full here!” Bunbun remarked. “Yeah, but there’s not too much to worry about,” xe waved a hand. “I’m the best they’ve got here, after all.” “I bet!” She smiled shyly. Looking to the map, she tilted her head. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to its glitching. At least, nothing noticeable from a quick observation. Holding up her tablet, she got herself settled before it. The good and bad thing about old systems were the incredibly obvious tablet ports. For all she knew, someone could’ve uploaded a bug ages ago. Ah well. At least I know how to use a virtual flyswatter. “Well, I-I’ve been told I’m pretty good with tech… maybe I’m not the best out there, but I’ll do what I can to get this all sorted.” “That’s much appreciated,” Silk sighed, giving her a pat on the back. “You take all the time you need.” “Thanks,” Bunbun hummed. Straightening up, her eyes were already skimming the torrent of code. “Ok… one fixed map, cooooming up…” 

                                                ===+===+===

The glitchy virus got itself caught in Bun’s web soon enough. She could isolate and neutralize code as easy as she breathed. Of course, dancing around the admin files was pretty fun. She had to have Silk help guide her hand when digging it out from xyr carefully organized system. But it worked out easily enough. River didn’t pay the two any mind. He only moved when they did, following like the world’s grumpiest duckling. That seemed to suit Silk just fine. It worked well for Bunbun, too. They were free to swap stories like old friends. It was almost a little surprising. Walking in the halls was full of homely conversation. Fixing comm accompanied tales of their academy days. Swinging around to Nav let Silk introduce Bunbun to a couple friendly looking robots. She was impressed to learn Silk made them xemself. When xe sent the robots to distract River, xe took the opportunity to inform her why the man was so touchy. Stuck in a dead end job, he didn’t tend to get out of security much. Not of his free will, anyway. No matter how much mandatory bonding and karaoke nights Groud required. The mental image of River singing karaoke made Bunbun laugh enough that Silk had to rechart the course- the pink crewmate’s flapping hands accidentally slapped a couple buttons. River was not nearly as amused.

                                               ===+===+===

When all was said and done, Bunbun set off with yet another jaunty wave and happy call. River was all but sprinting to their last stop. She didn’t bother to stick with him this time. The only task left was at a place she knew quite well. 

Electrical. 

In the absence of River’s quick thumping of footsteps, the SKELD halls were eerily quiet. The quiet hum of the shields made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She eyed the nearby vent nervously as she wandered through the room. The vents are clear, she reassured herself. A glance at her tablet confirmed it. They’re clear. Passing by comm, the quiet radio static urged her to pick up her pace. Silk might have insisted it was quite safe, but she just… didn’t trust it. It was too quiet. Too far from the cams. Too isolated. The quiet creaking of full supply crates didn’t comfort her in storage, either. She just tried to keep her breathing even as she finished her trip to Electrical. River stood outside the door, eyeing the entrance dubiously. Bunbun slowed to a stop beside him. “Is… something wrong?” she asked nervously. “Huh-? Uh, no, nothing’s wrong,” River said hastily. “It’s just a bit dark in there, that’s all.” “... uh huh…” Bunbun hummed slowly. A peek through the doorway did confirm that the lights were dim. No dimmer than other ships, though. Just… dim enough to be slightly unnerving. Why in the world they were darkest in electrical of all places, Bunbun had no clue. It was a mystery she’d been meaning to take up with the SKELD designers for quite awhile. The upkick of dust and battered panels made it pretty clear the ship hadn’t had a proper electrician in awhile. Not that it mattered now. She had to go in there. Taking a slow breath, she strode towards the back of the room. She was nearly to the line of dusty old computers when she realized River wasn’t following. He was still standing by the door. Just watching. Her grip on her tablet shook gently. How many ways can I spell “suspicious...?”   “Are you… coming...?” She asked meekly. “... nah,” River mumbled, shifting in place. “I’m good.” “Aren’t you supposed to be keeping an eye on me?” she twittered. “What if I end up needing help?” “I’m not an electrician. I’m a security guard. I can watch from here,” he replied flatly. “You’re not a fresh cadet. Figure it out.” “R-right, right,” Bunbun replied. … right… it’s just a trip to electrical. Nothing I haven’t done before. She took a deep breath, adjusting her bandanna. The feel of fabric under her fingers was comforting. I can do this. Squaring her shoulders, she marched right to the back of the room. The light from the hall didn’t reach the quietly humming machinery. The flickering bulbs above didn’t give her much confidence. But she only had one task. Swinging open the door to the calibrator, she was more than a little shocked. For starters, two of the rotating knobs seemed frozen in place. The top knob was the only one rotating lazily. A brief flash of yellow on the sensor strips was her only signal that anything was working at all. What in the milky way’s arms is going on here? She thought, baffled. Her brows furrowed as she shuffled through her old tech knowledge. In every modern ship she’d seen, all three of the knobs would spin in sync. Calibrating was as easy as just waiting for the sensor strips to flash and slapping a button. With old ships, tasks were often a little needlessly complicated. So… following this line of thinking…  Hesitantly, Bunbun raised a hand to the top knob. She watched it spin lazily, the yellow sensor light flashing and dimming as it aligned. One rotation… two… three… on the fourth, she finally tapped the button. A dull click left it frozen in an aligned position. With an unoiled squeak, the knob below it started spinning. The same pattern of flashing and dimming resumed, just a little faster. Bunbun let out a relieved sigh. Ok, yeah. She got it now. She just had to align them one by one. That, she could do.

                                              ===+===+===

After a few tries and some error, Bunbun smiled at the “plink!” of a task finished from her tablet. All three sensor strips glowed a triumphant yellow as she shut the panel. “We’re all done here!” she called, heading back towards the doorway. “I think you’re-” A sudden shuffling and the slap of boots on metal floor cut off the rest of her announcement. By the time she got to the door, she only managed to snatch a blur of blue slipping into storage. “... good to go…” she mumbled to herself. She stared at the empty hall silently for a minute. He really doesn’t wait on anything, does he? She thought bleakly. But hey. At least he’d moved away from the door instead of through it. She might’ve had more problems on her hands than walking alone to lunch. 

Tucking her tablet under her arm, she started off towards the caf. The old halls were both familiar and strange. All SKELD ships looked the same, and yet… each was different. At least, in some respects. She wondered if she’d spend the same brief time on this one as she had on every other SKELD. Her mind wandered quietly as she passed through storage. Though, the closer she got to the caf, the more she heard voices. The friendly sort of voices. Hesitating in the doorway let her see who they belonged to. Spread among the tables were all her crewmates. Lemon and Junior were chatting happily with Nanner at the table closest on the left. Laser and Rose were holding hands at the closest right table as they munched on their food. Silk and Groud were watching contentedly from the middle table, with River occupying a table on his own in the back. They were certainly a lively looking bunch. But the atmosphere in the room was warm. Warm and friendly. Bunbun felt a smile rise to her cheeks as she stepped into the room. Several of her crewmates greeted her, Nanner and Lemon excitedly waving her over to their table. One or two days in, and her fellows were already treating her like family. Her grin widened as she plopped down, happy to dig in to a fresh PBJ and a slew of conversation. 

Yeah. She could get used to this SKELD. She really hoped she’d stay for awhile.

[not-from-the-absence-of-violence]

You must be he I was seeking

Summary: Roman and Logan have been best friends as long as they can remember, but will it stay that way?

or

Roman and Logan are huge idiots.

Pairings: Logince, backround (but still a lot of) moxiety and dukeceit.

Warnings: mentions of bullying, friends fighting, there is quite a lot of angst but  with happy ending :)

word count: 5690

a/n: Hello everyone, it’s been quite a while since I posted any fic, I am quite proud of this one so I hope yall enjoy it. I originally wrote this for @sanderssantas fic exange for the lovely @therealmoshar! (go check them out!!). I have always wanted to write enemies to lovers and a soulmate au so I absolutely loved writing this. 

The title comes from “To A Stranger” by Walt Withman. 

you can also find it on ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21804592

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Roman was practically bouncing in his seat at lunch, or more than usual anyway. It seemed today he was surpassing even his sibling in hyperactivity. His mom smiled softly at him.

“You’re going to Logan’s later?” She said knowingly.

Upon hearing his best friends name Roman’s face lit up.

“Yeah I’m gonna, “ he said between haphazard bites of his sandwich ��Imma pick him up from his house, after lunch!”

Remus rolled their eyes next to him.

“It’s tragic to be the only one with manners here,” they said.

It is to be noted that they said this while practically covering the entire table and themselves in peanut butter and jelly.

Roman playfully shoved them after he finished his food.

“Shut up, Ree,” he said.

To which Remus responded by sticking their tongue out, before going back to their food. Then Roman looked at his mom with his best pleading puppy dog eyes.

Carmen laughed at her children fondly, shaking her head.

“Fine,” she said “You are excused, Roman.”

The moment she said it, he bolted from the table to put on his shoes.

“Be back at seven!” she shouted at him.

He ran back into the room, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and raid rushed:

“Will do, thank you, bye!”

“Love you!” she called out in the general direction of the hallway.

She heard a very loud “Me too!” and a slam of the door.

She couldn’t help but laugh. He reminded her so much of when she had been young and met her soulmate; she and Isa couldn’t get enough of each other either. Absentmindedly she touched her arm where a garden of flowers is tattooed on her skin and she smiled.

Then she turned back to the table.

“Remus! Do not feed peanut butter to the cat!”

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

Roman knocked excitedly at Logan’s door.

They were going to go to their secret clearing in the neighborhood park. Well “secret”, technically anyone could come there, but there were never any people there.

It was a small clearing with a bench and overgrown plants all around. Roman insisted that the place had to be magical, Logan on the other hand said it was simply forgotten due to poor municipal planning.

Whoever was right didn’t really matter in the end, it was their favorite place to be.

Logan’s dad opened the door, he always looked very similar to Logan, with his dark skin and black curly hair, although Logan’s was shorter. The biggest noticeable difference was his tattoo on his neck that consisted of various little birds, the very same that his mother had.

Anyway, Logan’s dad smiled at him and said:

“Logan’s upstairs, you know the way.”

“Thanks Mr. Sanders!” Roman said, and ran up the stairs.

He practically stormed into Logan’s room.

Logan looked up from Foundation and Empire, annoyed, until he realised who had just charged into his room.

“Roman!” he said, a little too enthusiastically considering they had seen each other yesterday.

“Yeah, now come on Lo! We gotta go to the park!” he said grabbing his friend’s hand and pulling him downstairs.

Logan shook his head at his impatient friend, but did not stop him.

“You do know we still have about six hours of playtime, right?”

“Yeah yeah but the dragon witch is not going to defeat herself!”

Logan could not really argue with that.

He quickly put on his shoes and could only say a quick goodbye to his dad before Roman grabbed his hand and took off towards the park.

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

They played happily for hours, occasionally Logan would point out inconsistencies in Roman’s stories which he always answered with a variation of:

“It’s magic, Specs!” or “we are playing pretend, calculator watch”.

Roman liked nicknames.

And Logan would give in and follow Roman’s nonsensical plot. Logan always liked Roman’s stories a lot, secretly.

They played until the sun started setting, then tired out and content they sat on their bench, surely late for curfew and not bothered by it whatsoever.

Logan rested his head on Roman’s lap, to be able to properly point at the stars and show them all to Roman.

And although Roman couldn’t really remember all that he was told he always listened carefully, slowly threading his fingers through his friend’s hair, smiling at Logan’s beaming face.

It was time to go home and a comfortable silence fell over them.

Roman sighed content and said.

“We will always be together, won’t we Lo?”

Logan sat up and looked at his friend.

“Always is a very long time, Ro.”

“You think we won’t?”

“That’s not what I said.”

Roman laughed

“It's almost as if you like me, nerd.”

Logan tried to give him an annoyed look, which ended up looking more along the lines of “desperately fond”.

“For the record,” Logan said. “We will be together forever.”

Barely above a whisper but with the conviction one could only have when speaking an absolute truth.

It was strong wording, but such are the things you say when you have yet to turn nine and the world seems simple.

And they believed it, with all of their hearts, they really did.

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

Then middle school rolled around, and everything went wrong. And as far as Roman is concerned, it was all Logan’s fault.

A few months after they started middle school Logan already seemed to change so much. He was quiet and reserved, which is something he had always been, but never around Roman. He was also always seemingly busy.

Roman didn’t know about how kids made fun of Logan in class, how slowly but surely Logan began to believe his only redeemable quality was his grades.

It’s not like Logan told him.

What made it harder is that they weren’t in the same class anymore, so they only saw each other after school.

More and more often Logan would be studying, or taking extra classes, which he didn’t even need in Roman’s opinion.

Roman got increasingly sadder, and quietly wondered what happened to his best friend.

As far as Logan was concerned it was all Roman’s fault, because he had replaced him.

One day Logan arrived at Roman’s house, unannounced, sure, but they did that all the time.

Or they had done that once.

Remus opened the door and seemed genuinely surprised to see him.

“Logan…” they said, pitifully?

“Hello, is Roman home?”

“Yes, but,” they hesitated “he has a friend over.”

Logan’s brain short circuited, a friend? Of course Roman could have other friends, many people at school liked him. He was allowed to have other people over that weren’t him.

It still didn’t sit right with him.

He walked up the familiar staircase to Roman’s door, which was easy to find because it said “Roman” in cursive red and gold and covered in stickers.

He heard Roman’s loud laughter mixed with someone else's.

He opened the door to find Patton Jones in Logan’s usual spot, next to Roman on his bed laughing at a joke only the two of them understand.

The two on the bed stopped abruptly when they saw Logan at the door.

“Logan!” Roman said excitedly, because they hadn’t seen each other in more than a week.

“It’s good that you are here,” he continued.”Now you can meet Patton!”

Patton smiled in a way that seemed to light up his freckled clad face, he seemed lovely with his sunny smile and golden curls, Logan felt something akin to anger bubbling in his chest, he immediately did not like Patton.

“You must be Logan,” Patton said happily “Roman talks about you a lot.”

Logan completely missed Roman blushing, and instead realised that the feeling bubbling up in his chest was something as stupid as jealousy.

“I can come by another time.”  he said.

“No, no its going to be fun!”

The rest of the evening was awkward. Roman and Patton had jokes and stories Logan didn’t know. Logan couldn’t shake the horrible feeling in his stomach.

Logan left before dinner in a hurry.

Roman was extremely confused, why couldn’t Logan even be just nice to Patton.

Patton was sweet and if Logan didn’t appreciate that, Patton was Roman’s friend.

“I am sorry Pat, I have no idea what’s up with him.”

“I think he might just be jealous, Ro.” Patton said softly.

But Logan was not an idiot, there was no reason to be jealous, Roman was sure Logan knew that. But of course he didn’t tell him that.

“No, I think he is just being a jerk.”

Patton shook his head sadly, he didn’t like it when people were hurting.

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

Roman and Logan saw each other less and less through middle school.

They didn’t talk about the things that bothered them or anything really, and soon painful silence fell over them when they hung out.

Things didn’t completely get ruined until about a week before summer vacation.

“My parents agreed for you to come along with our vacation.” Logan said, pretending very hard that everything was fine.

They had always gone on vacation together, he saw no reason for it to be different this year.

Roman shifted uncomfortably.

“Still the week of the 11th?”

Logan eyed him dubiously.

“Yes? It’s always been that week?”

Roman looked at the ground guiltily.

Logan stared at him baffled.

“You forgot?!” Logan said, way too loud, his fists clenched, his body tensed up.

“I am so so sorry Logan! I am going camping with Pat that week but maybe-”

Logan saw red.

Of course he thought what did I expect?

“Fine! Go hang out with Patton then!” he yelled, trying very hard not to cry.

Roman threw up his hands.

“I don’t know why you hate Patton so much!”

“I don’t! I just-”

“You do.”

Logan clenched his jaw so hard he wondered whether he could break his teeth like that.

Roman looked at him with a challenge.

“This is preposterous Roman, we are not toddlers anymore.”

“So you admit you dislike Patton.”

Logan slowly breathed in and out.

“I do not.”

Roman shook his head.

“Oh yeah? You merely hate when I hang out with him? God forbid I want to have a friend that doesn’t ditch me because he is a such a fucking nerd!”

Roman regretted the words the moment they left his mouth and saw Logan flinch.

Logan looked back at him as if he had just been slapped.

Kids at school said those things, but Roman, Roman wouldn’t.

Yet he had.

Logan felt tears prickle in his eyes.

“Logan...“ Roman said softly.

“I hate you!” Logan shouted, before storming off.

Roman did not run towards him, nor did he try to reason with him.

He just shouted “Fine!”

And ran back home choking back tears.

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

3 years later.

Pretty much everyone at Gainesville High School knew Roman Reyes and Logan Sanders.

Roman Reyes was known as a semi-popular theatre kid, that many people knew either because he constantly got the lead role in the school’s play or because he was signed up to at least 10 different extracurricular clubs and activities. Most people liked him well enough, although he usually sat at lunch only with Patton Jones and occasionally his twin.

Whom was another reason he was known across the school, people tend to remember you if your sibling blew up the lab, on multiple occasions.

Logan Sanders was a genius, who had won more science contests than anyone else at the school ever. Everyone also liked him well enough, or at least they said so ever since he started hanging out with Deceit - who did have a real name, supposedly, but made up a new one every time someone asked him - and Virgil Decker. Who were both rather punk/emo and would not hesitate to fuck you up if you messed with their friends. They had a very interesting brand of psychological warfare they had used on Chad Carson when he had spray painted Logan’s locker in freshman year, no one had dared to mess with him since.

Anyway, they had many things in common, Logan and Roman.

They both had a tendency of arguing with teachers, they both had interesting brands of extra, they both liked to wear skirts occasionally.

And mostly everyone knew them because they knew that letting those two in a room together was about as catastrophic as letting an atomic bomb go off.

Some of their arguments and fights were famous.

Like the time they argued for two periods about the correct interpretation of a single line in Hamlet , derailing poor Ms. Chase’s math class.

Or the time Roman joined the debate team loudly announcing to anyone who would listen that he was doing it to kick Logan’s butt. In retribution Logan had auditioned for the role Roman wanted in the school play. They now shared the role, much to the demise of the whole theatre cast and crew and director Thomas Sanders.

Or the time they were doing their standard comparing grades and bickering shenanigans which escalated in Roman pouring water over Logan, which in turn got Roman covered in an unholy mix of coffee and red bull.

Everyone tried to separate them as much as possible, but it seemed somehow those two always ended up stuck together.

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

Patton sighed as Roman shouted yet another stupid nickname at Logan, who was sitting all the way across the cafeteria. Logan shouted back a “burn” that sounded suspiciously like a rap verse.

Patton gave a sympathetic smile and wave at Virgil who seemed to be faking slamming his head onto the table in frustration.

Virgil saw him and blushed timidly and waved back, which in turn made Patton blush.

He looked down at his arm looking at his forming soulmark. He had made friendship bracelets is whole life, he was in fact looping one now. A green one, Remus had bitten through their old one. Now he had the simple design of one on his right wrist, a blue one with a little purple heart in the middle. He really, really hoped Virgil had the same tattoo.

Roman didn’t notice his very obvious crush and instead started ranting about Logan, again.

Patton tuned him off as much as he could.

“You two are like Harry and Draco.” Patton cut him off, hoping Harry Potter might make him stop.

Roman scoffed.

“I hope you mean that he is Draco.”

“You have been talking about him for the past ten minutes!” Patton countered.

“First of all clearly I am a Gryffindor, second of all he is just so-”

“Infuriating!” Logan said to Dee and Virgil who were totally paying attention and hadn’t heard this all before.

“Oh,” Dee said, rolling his eyes “you hadn’t mentioned it.”

“I haven’t? Well in that case-”

They were saved by an impromptu lecture on everything infuriating Roman had ever said and done by Remus, who slammed their lunch on the table. They proceeded to crawl on Dee’s lap casually.  Virgil muttered “get a room” which earned him a middle finger from Remus.

“Can’t you shut up about my brother for one second Lolo,” they said “there are more subjects, you know.”

Logan did not give in.

“Doesn’t your brother regard you as a traitor?”

“For sitting with my soulmate?” Remus rolled their eyes “You are so dramatic, nerdy wolverine, besides Roman may be a pain in the ass, but he is also a romantic.”

Logan wrinkled his nose looking at Deceit and Remus’s intertwined arms. In full display was a currently simple, but surely one day extremely extra green and yellow serpent tattoo that coiled around both of their arms, making it hard to make out where each of them ended or started.

They were ridiculous. And so was his mark, it was not visible but it was a simple and way too cartoonish bunch of stars under his left shoulder blade.

Soulmates where stupid, in Logan’s opinion.

“It’s not like any of you like Roman, I am in my right to find him aggravating and-” he saw all of his friends looking at him incredulously. “What?”

He distinctly heard Dee mutter: “Lord grant me patience, because if you grant me strength someone will get murdered.”

“Well, I mean Princey isn’t my best friend but,” Virgil shrugged “ I like him well enough, plus his antics in debate club are always entertaining.”

Logan looked at Virgil disbelieving, then at Dee who smirked a bit.

“He certainly is dramatic and annoying, I’ll give you that but then again,” he gestured vaguely at his company on the table “a lot of people are.”

Vrigil rolled his eyes, Remus simply nodded in agreement.

Logan scoffed.

Since when does Deceit hang out with Roman anyway, well aside from play rehearsal and the fact that he is his soulmates brother and- , Logan thought, realised he was being stupid and shook his head.

“I have seen you hit Roman with a morning star, Remus, you can not tell me you enjoy his company.”

“It was play rehearsal!” Remus defended “and we are siblings, it’s different.”

“I can’t fathom any of you enjoy his company he-”

“Well don’t be like that, you two used to be best friends.” Remus said nonchalantly.

Virgil stared at Logan baffled, Dee burst into laughter.

“I am not joking!” Remus said amused.

Dee shook his head.

“I know, darling, but it's not like we have had to endure daily rants on how dreadful Roman is, and it turns out they were fucking best friends!”

Virgil just kept staring at Logan quizzically.

“Yes, Roman and I were,” he hesitated not sure how to phrase it “..close, but we were children, it was quite some time ago.”

“What happened?”

Logan looked briefly across the cafeteria to Roman’s table, where Patton was tying a friendship bracelet to Roman’s wrist.

“He found new friends.”

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

Logan hadn’t quite realised how much he missed Roman, but now that he had been lying wide awake for quite some time, memories of both of them unable to get out of his head, he supposes it’s a lot more than he initially thought.

He really does like his current friends, but somehow Roman had been different, they had been so very close and Logan had believed they would be together forever.

There was still a picture somewhere buried under books on his desk he couldn’t bring himself to throw away.

It was a nice spring day, they had their arms around each other, they were both smiling so wide it seemed impossible, they were probably around ten years old, childhood innocence still in their eyes. And Roman was looking at him like he hung the moon and the stars in the sky.

Where had that look gone? What had happened?

Logan’s chest ached with nostalgia,and although he had previously never ever considered sneaking out, on this night with a full moon and thousands of stars he quietly slips into his coat and shoes.

He opens the front door silently and he walks calmly to the clearing in the park.

Their park.

He gets there and goes to sit on the bench.

Their bench.

He looks up at the sky, he looks at the stars that he once considered theirs.

A deep melancholy settles into his chest threatening to blow him into pieces.

Tears prickle in his eyes for times long gone.

He is snapped out of his thoughts by a soft, surprised, achingly familiar voice.

“Logan?” his best friend, his rival, a stranger says.

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

Patton had never been mad at Roman before. Sure Roman could be a bit much, Patton had been frustrated, annoyed, aggravated, perhaps a tad angry.

But today it seemed he had finally crossed a line with him. Roman was, as usual, ranting about Logan.

Patton had sighed heavily.

“Now you are just being mean, Roman, I know you miss him but-”

And ok, Roman may have exploded a little, stating that he was better off without Logan in about ten different ways.

Patton had huffed and said in a tone Roman had never heard from him before: “Fine, see you tomorrow.” and he walked away.

And now in the middle of the night Roman couldn’t shake Patton's words out of his head. Mostly because he had been right.

He did miss Logan.

He looked at the little stars, just under his shoulder blade in the mirror. They always reminded him of Logan, and his ceiling full of glow in the dark stars. Too bad Logan hated his guts.

He put his shirt back on and looked through the window, out to the full moon and the stars.

He made his way downstairs careful not to wake up his moms’. Downstairs he bumped into Remus who snickered at him.

“Sneaking out little brother, I always figured you were too much of a goody-two-shoes for that.”

Roman eyed his sibling dubiously, they were wearing a neon green skirt with suspenders over a black crop-top, knee length boots, and those weird long fingerless gloves.

Roman wondered how they could possibly be related.

“First of all, what are you wearing? Second you are also sneaking out and third we are twins! And i was born first!”

Remus laughed and grabbed a rat out of their skirt pocket.

“Can you believe how easy it is to rile him up, Woody?” they said to the rat. “Isn't he ridiculous?”

“You are sneaking out with your rats?”

Remus carefully stuffed the rat back in their pocket and said: “Dee is having a party!”

As if this was an explanation for the rats. Also Roman knew very well Deceits “parties” consisted of either vandalising public property with anarchist messages or some other sort of public disturbance.

Roman shook his head and walked towards the door.

“Don’t get arrested, I won’t bail you out this time.” he called over his shoulder.

“I make no promises.” they said before disappearing through the kitchen window, for some reason.

Outside he wondered whether Logan joined them in their mischief these days.

Logan seemed like a rational individual, but slap a decent hypothesis to any shenanigans and he will call it an “experiment” and go along gleefully.

Or he used to anyway.

He walked towards the park remembering all the trouble they had gotten into, chuckling sadly at his memories.

He made it to the clearing as if last time had been yesterday, and not years ago.

There to his surprise was Logan Sanders, looking up to the sky and...crying?

“Logan?” he asked, unsure of whether or not he was dreaming.

Logan looked at him, a little bit shocked, but mostly he looked tired.

They stood still for a moment staring at each other tension everywhere.

Finally it was broken by a small, exhausted voice.

“I am tired of fighting, Roman.”

He looked so sad, so small, Roman wanted nothing more than to gather him in his arms.

He didn’t, instead he sat next to him.

“I think I am too.”

Silence fell over them again.

“Then pray tell,” Logan said. “What are we doing?”

Roman looked down at his hands.

“I don’t know,” he shook his head. “You promised you know.” Roman said bitterly. “Forever.”

Logan looked back at him, anger clearly bubbling right back into his stomach.

“Maybe we would’ve if you hadn’t replaced me!” he spat with venom in his voice.

Roman’s eyes widened in surprise he turned to Logan baffled.

“What?” Roman asked.

“Well it was clear you favored Patton, which I suppose should be fine, but-”

“Hold up! Time out!” Roman said shaking his hands. “You were jealous? You thought I liked Patton better?”

Now Logan looked equally baffled.

“I- yes?” he said.

Roman burst out laughing. Logan really didn’t get the joke.

“What?” he demanded.

“I thought you didn’t like me anymore! I mean we never hung out anymore and you seemed so distant.” he gripped Logan’s hands firmly into his own. “I love Patton don’t get me wrong, but I started hanging it with him because I was so lonely,” he looked into Logan’s eyes “without you.”

“You were?” Logan said his voice so small.

Thus Roman realised he was an idiot, a petty, stubborn, stupid moron .

“Yeah, I was.” he sighed sadly. “I am sorry, for what I said then and well for everything.”

Logan shook his head.

“It was so long ago.”

“I should never have said that.”

Logan smiled just a little bit.

“I apologize too, for everything.”

Roman smiled back.

“Man, I thought you were being a jerk to Patton for no reason.”

Now it was Logan’s turn to laugh, a little bitterly and with bitten back tears.

“Patton seemed so perfect, and with everything people were saying at school,” he looked away from Roman. “I did not think there was a way I could compete with him.”

Roman did hug him then, clutching to the back of his shirt, pressing Logan close and said:

“No one could ever compete with you, Specs.”

Logan’s heart soared, he hugged back and clung to Roman like a life raft, he let out a shaky laugh, a breath of relief and said very quietly but full of conviction:

“No one could ever compete with you either.”

They stayed in the park way too long, remembering old times, making plans for times ahead. Perhaps it should’ve been awkward, but somehow it wasn’t, they fit like two pieces of a puzzle, just like they always had.

They had years to catch up on, but soon they realised that their lives were still intertwined, their friendship group was pretty much the same and they shared extracurricular activities. They had never really been separated at all.

They did still bicker, but they didn’t fight and their words lacked bite or venom.

So they ended up pressed against each other, looking up at the stars. Logan’s head rested on Roman’s shoulder.

“Look it’s Cassiopeia.” Roman said, pointing at the constellation.

Logan couldn't quite bring himself to be embarrassed about the way he giggled.

“I thought I was supposed to be the astronomy guy.” he said.

Roman smiled into his hair.

“I did listen, you know, when you talked about the stars.”

Logan looked up at the stars and held Roman closer, he remembered, now how it had been so easy to promise him forever.

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

The next day at Gainesville high school everyone was fairly sure the apocalypse had just started, because Roman Reyes and Logan Sanders had eaten lunch together, with all of their friends, who all seemed delighted and not at all bothered by it. And not just that they had, supposedly also sat together in all classes they could.

“You are kidding me, babe.” said Remy Katz taking a sip from his starbucks iced coffee.

“I swear I am not!” said a very baffled Emile Picani, “I saw them at lunch!”

“You sure they weren’t try to poison each others food? Secretly murdering each other through pure passive aggressiveness?”

Emile recalled how he had seen them, their smiles blinding, looking at each other as if they hung the moon and the stars in the sky.

“Yes, I am sure,” he said smiling “They seemed happy.”

-----------

Logan and Roman’s friends had varied reactions to finding their years long rivalry had ended with a good conversation and some hugs.

Patton was so utterly delighted he hadn’t been able to be mad at anyone, especially after Logan’s very sincere apology, the gist of which was “I was a jealous thirteen year old, and I am sorry.”

Patton had hugged Logan very tightly and handed him a blue bracelet with a little star in the middle.

Logan smiled surprised.

“How did you know I liked astrology?”

Patton smirked and said: “Roman talked about you, a lot.”

Roman turned cherry red and sputtered some nonsensical words.

And of course all his friends were kind enough to laugh at his expense, really loudly.

After that Virgil offered his reaction which had been something akin of “Fucking finally.”

To which Patton said: “Language, babe.”

And Roman got his revenge by laughing very loudly at Virgil's very red face.

Which was not much of a revenge at all because Patton felt so very sorry that they were laughing at his poor boyfriend and so kissed him quite sweetly.

To which Remus shouted: “get a room!” which they shouted while sitting on Dee’s lap with their legs coiled around each other.

Dee had then shook his head, looked Roman up and down and said: “I suppose we can add another moron to our group.” A statement that no one argued.

Everyone ate happily together, bickering loudly and laughing a tad too loud.

Patton and Virgil tentatively held hands under the table; their bracelet tattoos giving an illusion of hands bound together, content and forever.

Deceit and Remus ate, as always, half on each others laps, their arms twisted together to show the serpent seemingly pressing them together.

As for Roman and Logan? Well I hope it is established by now that they are clueless morons.

Yes, they were friends again, and everyone pretty much assumed they had figured out they were soulmates as well.

But

It took them a week more.

It all happened over lunch at Roman’s house, Roman was eating, or well he was shoving food in his mouth as rushed as possible.

His moms shared a knowing look.

“Are you going to Logan’s later?” Carmen aksed.

Roman’s face lit up and made something of a sound of agreement.

“After lunch!”

Everyone at the table couldn’t help but smile at his besotted face, even Remus.

“Well I am glad I don't have to hear your rants about not having a soulmate anymore, they were getting exhausting.” They said brightly.

Roman practically dropped his fork in shock, eyes wide he turned to his sibling.

“What?” Roman said, trying to process the sentence.

“Wait, you seriously hadn’t figured it out yet?” Remus said dumbfounded.

And when Roman, still shocked, shook his head, Remus burst into laughter joined by their moms’ not so subtle chuckling.

Roman on the other hand was freaking out.

“Oh my Gods! Logan is my soulmate?! Oh my- I- What?!” Roman sputtered.

Which just made Remus laugh harder.

“How do you know?” Roman continued “When did you see Logan shirtless? Wait! Do I want to know?”

Remus waved their hand dismissively.

“I got sulfuric acid on his shirt, doesn’t matter, long story, but like...you really didn’t know?!”

Roman felt like his world had been shaken upside down.

He had to-

“GO! I have to go!”

Carmen, who was still laughing said: “you are excused, Roman.”

As soon as she said that Roman bolted out of the door, nearly forgetting his shoes.

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

Roman knocked on Logan’s door excitedly. Logan’s dad opened the door and smiled down at him.

“It’s good to see you again Roman!”

Roman nodded politely, still practically vibrating from emotion.

Logan’s dad seemed to notice, laughed and said:

“Logan’s upstairs, you know the way.”

“Thanks Mr. Sanders.” Roman said as he dashed up the stairs.

Upstairs he actually barged into Logan’s room.

Logan looked up from his book and did not even try to hide his glee as he said:

“Roman! You are early.”

He also did not hide his surprise and subsequent rush of warmth to his face when Roman blurted out: “Take off your shirt!”

“I- wh- what?” he stammered.

Roman laughed, still bouncing.

“Ok, ok,” he said. “I could’ve frased that one better, wait let me just-”

Then Roman started taking his shirt off, oh Goodness Gracious-

“Roman what in the world are you-”

Then Roman turned around.

And Logan’s heart either stopped or started beating so fast he couldn’t properly feel it anymore. Because there, covering Roman’s right shoulder blade was a perfectly glitterly, stupidly cartoonish little galaxy.

“We are soulmates.” he stated.

And then again, and again and again getting steadily more excited as he went.

Roman looked on at his shiny face and wondered if it was possible to die of fondness and cuteness overload.

“Yeah, L.” Roman said, giggly and breathless. “We are.”

Logan came closer, laughing now, joy clear on his face.

“Oh,” he said shaking his head. “We are such idiots.”

“Oh yeah we are.”

Logan came to his senses only for a second to realise that Roman was still shirtless.

He coughed pointedly, Roman smirked.

“I don’t know, pocket protector, don’t like what you see?”

Logan swatted him lightly and gave him a fake scandalised look

“Put a shirt on, Roman.”

Roman pouted but obliged and put on his shirt, making a whole show of turning around and putting on his shirt as slowly as possible.

He turned around.

“So-” he started and never finished, because Logan grabbed him by the front of his shirt and kissed him.

Roman made a sound at the back of his throat between “delighted” and “please God more”. And he kissed back, practically making them both fall on Logan’s bed.

Their kiss, they both agreed, had to be magical, they were soaring flying and pulling each other closer and closer, practically melting against each other. They giggled and laughed and whispered sweet nothings that meant the world and nothing at all.

They ended up pulling apart only for the insufferable need for air.

They sat up on Logan’s bed,panting, pressed against each other, looking up at Logan’s glow in the dark stars in pleasant silence.

Roman gently brushed the hair out of his soulmates face and said softly:

“We will always be together, won’t we love?”

Logan smiled and leaned into his touch.

“Always is a long time, beloved.”

Roman tenderly brushed his cheek.

“You think we won’t be?”

Logan closed his eyes, smiling contendly.

“That’s not what I said.”

God, I love him so much. They both thought.

“Gosh, it’s almost as if you like me, nerd.”

They both giggled.

Then Logan pulled Roman even closer and whispered into Roman’s ear, very faintly, but with the conviction one could only have when speaking an absolute truth.

“I know we will be together forever.”

And they believed it, with all of their hearts, they did.

[theonceoverthinker]

The Search for the Spot

Summary: There are some things Clover won’t tell Qrow, things Qrow realizes he’ll have to find for himself. Now, if only Clover wasn’t so good at hiding those things.

AO3

(Don’t worry -- you’re all still getting one of the HCs tonight, too!, but my writing mojo is BACK mofos!!!! WAHOO!!!!)

As her prize in my 300 HC giveaway, @collectingsparechangemadeeasy requested a sequel to my fic “Say Uncle.” I’m not gonna spoil it here, but it was a pretty...unique piece of mine (That I actually made on my birthday!), and I’m so happy to do a follow up to it! You don’t need to read the original fic for this story, though you might enjoy the continuity. Thank you for the request and for your patience while I got my writing mojo back, @collectingsparechangemadeeasy! Enjoy!

()()()()()()()()

Qrow knows desperation and what it means to fight the seemingly impossible off to the bitter, bitter end far better than most anyone else alive these days.

He knows what it’s like to cling to hope, even when it’s at its faintest, to grit his teeth at a world determined to bring him down, or to not have hope, but fight anyways just because it’s the right thing to do.

It’s painful, thankless, requires determination, and involves eternally balancing on the edge of sanity as hope dangles possibilities in front of him like a hunk of cheese at the center of a mousetrap.

Qrow’s seen it all before, lived it all before, and survived it all before.

He understands that the lessons that kind of existence teaches don’t abandon you, even after peace begins to blossom in your life in the same way it does with an elegant flower.

Giving up is never the answer, no matter how exhausted and out of your wits you are. 

It’s especially not an option when your husband stares at you with that same infuriating smirk of his that he’s always had, reveling in your failure as he says the one word you wish more than anything for him not to say.

“Nope.”

The word is simple, yet merciless -- dumbfounding, and mocking through its sheer existence.

Never before has Qrow Branwen hated a word so much as he decides in this moment he hates this four-lettered abomination.

Qrow looks up from his spot on the floor and meets Clover’s eyes. He hopes to find falsehood in them, any kind of betrayal of his words in their sea green shine, a stray crinkle in the nearby skin, the tiniest bit of dilation to suggest a truth different than what he just stated.

There’s nothing of the sort to be found.

More than anything, he wants to throw a pillow at his head just for that.

Even still, he can’t quite loosen his grip on Clover’s foot just yet.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” he grunts instead.

“Does it look like I’m kidding you?” Clover retorts.

To be fair, with that damned smirk on his face, he almost does.

But even as he seethes on the truth, Qrow knows better than to doubt it, not after he’s met and confirmed the words and his husband’s face for himself. 

“I’m going to find it,” Qrow promises. There’s the slightest temptation to smile, but he commends his sense of petulance for dominating it and perfectly maintaining his frown.

“I’m sure you will,” Clover humors, his smirk now a jovial smile, albeit, not the one Qrow was hoping to see as a result of his endeavors. He’d make it a reality one day. “Eventually. Just not today.”

Qrow shoots his husband a grouchy look. 

How does he manage to argue with his unvoiced thoughts like that, and make it seem like he didn’t do that at all?

What kind of superhuman mind reader is he involved with?

“Hey,” Clover continues, taking Qrow away from those thoughts just as quickly as he pushed him into them. “While you’re down there, feel like giving me a foot rub?”

Qrow attempts to push Clover’s foot out of his hands -- a silent, yet firm answer to his inquiry -- but Clover applies just enough pressure to the limb to weigh it down so he can’t. 

“Please?” Clover begs, now making a face littered with puppy dog eyes.

Really, how over-the-top can he get?

Well, Qrow reminds himself, it is Clover. Over-the-top is to him like peanut butter is to jelly.

“Not a chance.”

Once more, Qrow tries to get Clover’s foot away from him, but Clover ensures that it stays right where it is.

“I’ll give you a hint,” Clover offers, flexing his toes, “if you make it worth my while, that is.” There’s then a relaxation of tension in Clover’s foot. This is the last time he’ll ask -- and the last time this offer will be on the table for Gods’ knows how long.

The manipulative ass.

Why did he marry him again?

Something about love and understanding?

Beats him right about now.

Qrow glares at the foot. His pride half shouts at him to reject the offer out of hand -- literally. He’ll find out what he needs to know on his own. It might take him some time, but hey -- they’ve got a lifetime together for Qrow to work with.

However, Clover’s good at hiding things when he wants to, and he’s clearly really wanted to hide this. Qrow’s checked all the usual spots. That only leaves the abundance of unusual spots to explore.

He’s been good at hiding this for so long…

Maybe a little hint would be just what he needs to finally get his answer.

Qrow’s thumb begins kneading the ball of Clover’s big toe and without even looking at Clover’s face, he can feel the smile on his husband’s face for his triumph. 

Gods, this is humiliating...

The foot’s sibling slides down to just beside Qrow’s right knee seconds after he starts rubbing it.

“One at a time,” Qrow groans.

Clover smiles and lays back in their armchair, his hands behind his head.

“No problem with that,” he says, “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

“So what’s my hint?”

Qrow’s hands haven’t been stretched this much in a while. He’d relax them against his pants, but he has a feeling he’d better wait to wash them first.

Clover’s feet aren’t what he’d call stinky necessarily, but he wouldn’t eat off them anytime soon.

Speaking of, Clover’s feet, now on the ground, flex, his toes jumping up and down like waves on the seashore just to show off how good they feel. 

“You certainly did a good job,” Clover praises. 

“And I don’t need to tell you that a good job deserves a good reward,” Qrow points out, smirking, ready to put together whatever it is Clover tells him and find what he’s spent weeks looking for.

“Okay,” Clover teases. He leans into Qrow’s ear and begins whispering. “Here’s your tip: It’s somewhere you like to touch a lot.”

Qrow’s mouth falls open. 

He cannot be serious.

That can’t be it.

It just can’t be.

However, as Qrow sees Clover pop away from him just as quickly as he came near him, it becomes quite clear that that’s all Clover’s giving him.

“No,” Qrow protests, in the bluntest matter-of-fact tone he can muster. “I reject this hint, and demand a better one.”

Clover smirks. “And why’s that?”

As if Clover doesn’t already know.

Qrow can tell right away exactly what his husband wants to hear: That he enjoys touching every part of him, so the hint is no clue.

Well, no. He’s not getting that kind of ego trip, not when he pulls a stunt like this.

“You know damn well why, Clover.” They’ve both noticed how the tone of Qrow’s voice has raised significantly since he last spoke.

Clover -- still smiling, still always smiling -- presses his lips together. 

“I have n-no idea what you mean,” he says, obviously attempting and failing to create an innocent aire about him.

There are a lot of innocent things about Clover. 

This isn’t one of them.

It’s so clear how much Cover just wants to give up the facade of a pretense he’s holding up and start roaring with laughter as he stands there looking like a shaken soda bottle waiting to be opened.

And if Qrow’s being honest with himself, it’s probably pretty clear that Qrow wants to hear that very same laughter. He just wanted it to be delivered to him in a very different context than it will be now.

Well, if Clover’s about to have some fun at his expense, then he may as well get a bit of retribution for it.

In one quick, fluid notion, Qrow grabs a throw pillow from the couch beside him and flings it right into Clover’s chest.

Immediately, Clover groans, his chest folding in half from the pillow as he tries to diminish the pain.

Clover’s grunt has Qrow laughing, and much to his petulance but a moment later, it seems to have had the same effect on Clover himself.

“I thought this was a tickle fight,” Clover wheezes through his laughter, still semi-keeled over from his feathery wound, “not a pillow fight.”

Qrow smirks. “All’s fair in love and tickling, especially when you give me that kind of clue after I just rubbed your feet.”

“Speaking of fair,” Clover retorts, “in all fairness, you were the one who trapped me and started tickling my feet, so convinced that you got the right spot this time. Sorry I’m not as easy to tickle as you, but really, this is all your doing.”

That cheeky bastard.

Qrow, half shouting, pushes his feet-smelling hands into Clover’s face. 

“This is what I had to deal with for a half hour!”

Clover laughs, trying to push him away.

“Gross! Cut it out!”

Qrow, now laughing too, keeps at it. 

“Give me a better hint!”

Qrow keeps pushing Clover backwards. It only occurs to Qrow that they might have gone a bit too far back when he feels the front of their armchair knock against his shins.

Clover, clearly trying to stabilize himself, loops his arm around Qrow’s waist. However, Qrow’s mid-fall by the point that he does, and onto the armchair they go...and as their momentum hits the armchair with the force of a bullet train, their trip takes an extra, far more bumpy stop.

Limbs find themselves tangled and incoherent sounds fly into the open air as the two of them, plus their chair, hit the floor. The landing thuds throughout their home and spreads dust from the chair’s bottom flying across the space behind them. Qrow’s hand moves to massage his chin, and Clover arches his back to relieve it of the armchair’s tension.

They look at each other. Qrow feels the chaos they caused in so little time spark all around them. He can tell Clover feels the same.

Then...they laugh. They laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more.

Qrow feels Clover’s hands on his back and the stench of Clover’s feet on Qrow’s hands transfer to Clover’s shirt as they hug, practically giggling all the while as they embrace.

Minutes pass in this state before they help each other up and get to work setting their living room back to normal. Qrow straightens out the carpet  and slaughters some dust bunnies with the help of a nearby tissue box and wastebasket while Clover resets the throw pillows and the armchair.

When it’s finally done, they turn to each other again.

“I’m going to find it,” Qrow says, repeating his promise from earlier, but now grinning from ear to ear. Clover looks at him like he’s the world’s most enticing mystery novel. Once upon a time, that would’ve been enough to blush until his cheeks were more like tomatoes than human skin, but now, any discoloration like that comes from moments just like these -- laughter, annoyance, chaos, love, and everything in between.

“I know you will,” Clover says, shoulders rising and falling in the same way a balloon floats in a child’s hand. “But I’m gonna make it fun for myself until you do.”

Really, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

Clover and Qrow approach each other, hands gently taking hold of arms once they’re close enough to do so. 

“Well, go for it,” Qrow says, leaning his head forward until it makes contact with his husband’s shit, hanging just above his heart. “Want to know why?”

Clover rests his head on Qrow’s shoulder. Qrow can feel his smile touch Qrow’s on their cheeks.

“Enlighten me,” Clover says, a chuckle bubbling underneath him.

Qrow’s never been the greatest with words, but in this moment, he knows exactly what to say.

“Because when it comes to you, giving up’s never going to be an option.”