#guardian angel series

[bigtreefest]

Chapter 1: The President’s Son

From: Guardian Angel Series

Pairing: (future) Mafia! Stucky x Bodyguard! Reader

Summary: A longtime client snubs you, causing you to leave the life you know

Word Count: 3,629

Content/Warnings: swears, patriarchy, weaponized incompetence, borderline mansplaining, yelling, fighting, mentions of nose picking, misogyny, secrets, explosions, mentions of weapons, strong female characters, no Steve or Bucky yet

A/N: Okay, here’s the start of something long-anticipated by me. I hope you enjoy! Your feedback is greatly appreciated, can’t wait to hear what you guys think!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Next >

You stood in the back of the banquet hall, eyes surveying the room like they did any other, as you tried to appear as nonchalant waitstaff for the function. That was your specialty: blending in to the background, and you were damn good at it. Tonight’s job was to do so as your were protecting the most important individuals entrusted to you: the First Lady and her son.

You moved with ease throughout the evening, keeping mobile with your head on a swivel, eyes never leaving your two clients for more than a couple seconds. After a cocktail hour, everyone had sat down for dinner and a round of awards and speeches, leaving you here for a relatively easy period.

You didn’t work alone, no. You were here as part of a group. Part of a company, actually, and it belonged to your father. He ran a security conglomerate which focused heavily on government contracting, ranging from secret service duties, to vehicle brigades, to protection and procurement of goods, virtual and physical, and you knew every single part of it. You loved your job, and you loved working with your dad. For as long as you could remember, you would spend all of your free time in his office with him as he went through schedules, and escape plans, and all sorts of strategies to keep his patrons and their assets safe. You were always flitting around, learning new things, earning you the nickname ‘tweety bird’ from him, which correlated to your codename Redwing.

You’d picked it all up so easily, you were a natural, which earned you your first presidential-adjacent gig much younger than anyone else around. Sure, it started as you going to school and posing as another student to protect the president’s son, even thought you were a few years out already, which wasn’t necessarily glamorous, since you were meant to fly under the radar, but it was an independent job. One that was coming to a close, though, as this was your eighth year of doing the same. Soon, the president would be out of office, and the security detail on his family would be greatly reduced, likely no longer requiring your services.

Even as you let your mind wander, blocking out the droning speeches and rich people backstories, you remained on high alert. If anything bad was going to happen, you had a feeling it would be at an event like this one. An event where everyone had their guard down because it was for a universally agreeable good cause. But for some reason, heading into it tonight, something was churning in your gut.

After not being able to ignore the way your stomach twisted and turned, you had gone to speak to your father about tonight, requesting backup in addition to your other two friends, Natasha and Daisy, who often accompanied you to guard shifts associated with larger crowds.

Usually he was on the same page as you, but lately, your requests had been met with more protest, likely due to your little brother’s input buzzing in your father’s ear.

Your brother, Dylan, had just freshly turned eighteen, and with it came more responsibility in the agency. For being so much younger than you, your father was giving him mountains of control, including this event of your two most important clients. With your request of a team came the the caveat that your brother would be leading it.

Dylan was, to put it nicely, an oaf? Incapable of performing a task without crashing and burning, which made your blood boil. Probably from the fires he created and you subsequently had to put out. You had no room to complain, though, as your father dismissed you from his office.

So Dylan ‘led’ your team this evening, packed with his twerp friends who were more capable, but just as reckless as him. They’d listen to some of your orders, but not without the confirmation of your brother, who knew better enough sometimes to listen to your input.

You let him think he was in the lead tonight, executing a plan you had essentially spoon fed to him in your meetings leading up to the event. There were several backup plans and exit strategies that had their own code names, made by you, of course. All Dylan, or ‘The Chief,’ as he liked to go as over coms, had to do was keep an eye out on the cameras for any suspicious activity around the venue, and be prepared to drive away if he called for extraction due to suspicious activity. That was it. You and your two trusty companions would take control of everything inside the banquet, while two of Dylan’s friends surveilled the outside. Should be easy, right?

Dylan had been instructed to give an update through your earpiece every three minutes, on any action seen in the camera footage. Every time he did, though, it was accompanied by music blasting in the car, and the increments kept getting further and further apart. Almost like he was forgetting about his responsibilities and the importance of this event on your shoulders, should something go wrong. You rolled your eyes and kept a watch of the room. If you had such little backup, it was on you now to do this job, without the team you had specifically requested.

Dylan’s friends seemed to go quiet, too, which you were hoping wasn’t due to capture or something worse, but when you heard conversation about a fantasy football draft in your ear, you knew they were at least alive, although not helpful at all.

You were sick of running blind, though, so you casually made it look like your were scratching your ear and turned away from the crowd.

“Chief, status report.” Nothing. You waited thirty seconds. Silence.

You turned back to the room, the gnawing feeling in your stomach growing as you looked out at the crowd. Natasha, code name Widow, was making her way around with a tray of champagne flutes. Daisy, codename Blossom, sat in a vent somewhere, watching from above and monitoring everyone’s trackers. The three of you sighed and continued on, hoping this night wouldn’t be every eventful, but that’s never how life goes, is it?

“Blossom, report on coms. Is everything working?”

You waited a second for the response.

“All is good, Redwing. It’s a human, not technology error.”

You rolled your eyes for the thousandth time that night, but were pulled out of your annoyance by a searing sound. In the next moment, just as you were about to ask for any other possible news from Daisy, a crackling took over your ear.

You fought the urge to wince and draw attention to yourself. It was probably Dylan finally getting back to you, but the voice that came through was one you’d never heard before. It was low and urgent.

“Get them out of there.”

You couldn’t help the way your eyes went wide and you whisper yelled, turning into the fake plant you found yourself nearby.

“Who is this? This is a secure line! What’s going on?”

You were surprised by the warning firmness of the speaker, it was menacing, who did this person think they were? Was that a threat?

“This is Bootleg. Your clients are in danger. What’s about to happen isn’t meant for them. Find a way to get them to leave.”

You sighed and nodded, although the disembodied voice named ‘Bootleg’ wasn’t reassuring. You knew to never turn down a tip, though. You weren’t going to risk it with clients like this. So you let out a sigh and made eye contact with Nat across the room.

“Execute plan beta sixteen alpha.”

She gave you a curt nod and increased her pace in a way only someone with your type of training could pick up. She was circling to make her movements seem undetectable, but she was ultimately going towards the First Lady and her son. Nat tripped, spilling the tray of champagne on their laps, causing them to gasp and look down. You could tell they were ready to yell, but they looked to your face and you nodded, signaling them to get up, brushing away anyone with apologies or offers for help, saying they were just going to clean up. The rest of the rich party goers didn’t pay it a second thought besides whispers of clumsy waitstaff. It’s not like they would bother to remember the face of one of them, though, and were too busy watching a fumbling Nat to see your approach to take your clients out of the venue. You did your best to move slowly to the same exit as them, and as soon as your bodies were behind the closed ballroom door, you were rushing them towards the back service door to get in Dylan’s getaway vehicle.

You ducked their heads under your arms as you rushed them out, and shoved them into the back of the town car, only giving a quick, breathless word to your clients and your brother.

“Take them home, Dyl. Fast. Don’t let yourself get tracked. I’ll take the decoy car. Go, now!”

He nodded like a bobble head, shifting the car in gear and peeling out of the lot as you jogged over to the other vehicle where Daisy and Nat were already waiting in the front seat for you. They moved fast.

You hopped in, Daisy expertly backing out until she hit the street. Just as she put it in drive, you flinched at a sudden noise and looked out the back window to where an explosion happened in front of the venue and soldiers dressed in all black rushed in through the cloud of smoke. This would definitely hit the news tomorrow, but you were sure your father would commend you for the safe delivery of two of his most important packages.

Daisy and Nat had been by your side for as long a you could remember. When you were in elementary school, you remembered a brooding girl sitting at the end of the lunch table, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed, with the angriest pout you’d ever seen. You walked over and plopped down with your tray.

“Hi.”

She looked up from her meal and to your smile and simply gave a blink of acknowledgment, face unchanging.

“Are you okay? Something wrong with your lunch?”

She shook her head and took a deep breath, sitting up to eat a tater tot.

“No. Something’s wrong with my shirt.”

You tilted your head to the side. “What about it? I think it’s beautiful. I love Daisies.”

She shrugged and continued to pick through her food. “Yeah, I guess they’re alright. But my mom forced me to wear this. I had a plain black shirt picked out and she gave me this. I don’t wanna wear daisies.”

You giggled and looked down at the plain black shirt on your body. “Trade?”

For the first time, you watched the corner of her lip reach a smile, your new friend who would soon earn the shirt flower as a nickname. That little grin was huge compared to the tight line her lip previously held. That was the start of a bunch of mini smirks and teamwork.

Nat had been around since you were in diapers. Her parents had worked for your father’s organization their entire lives, so when they passed as she was in her teens, your family took her in.

She was always incredibly smart, her wit challenging you and Daisy, but the two of you would hit her right back. The timeline of her moving in with you, too, was a few years before the presidential gig started, but she rose through the ranks with you, through every single job, the two of you bringing Daisy on board who caught on quickly. Your grouping was nearly unrivaled. Nearly.

Daisy and Nat physically stood by your sides as the three of you looked on to your father talking on a podium. Your best suits were pressed and tailored perfectly for the special occasion. It was his retirement party in your family’s backyard garden where he was noting the successes of the company under him, including the recent incident from which the two important clients had been saved.

The three of you lightly nudged each other’s arms in commendation for the quick act despite your lack of backup, a small smile on your face, a smirk on Nat’s, with Daisy looking as composed and stoic as ever. You father continued in his speech, noting the valiant effort that needs to be maintained in a generational business like this, one that should be rewarded and carried on for the generations to come. You stood straight, chin up with pride at your hard work and dedication finally paying off.

“I was a young pup, only in my early twenties when I took this business over from my father. He deemed me most fit for the job, so it is my pleasure to do the same, keeping this line of work led by my family. I’d like to name my replacement, someone who valiantly saved the president’s son and wife. Someone who the son has raved about for returning them home to the White House safely. My wonderful child…”

You were ready for the culmination of years being under his wing. He gestured his arm out to the side and you braced yourself for the good news, except the arm wasn’t outstretched towards you. It was directed towards the other side of the stage and everyone’s eyes followed. “Dylan.”

Dylan was jerkily shoved forward by one of his friends, having been zoned out for the entirety of your father’s speech, but at the sound of cheering and clapping, a smile grew on his face. He waved at the crowd, walking over to the podium to shake your father’s hand and give a word of his own.

Meanwhile, your face fell. It was dragged downward in defeat. You quickly pulled yourself together, though, at a squeeze to your arm. You couldn’t even tell which side it came from. Your body was going numb. Shifting to plant your feet and fighting the burn in your eyes, you looked straight forward, no longer at the podium, although you had no way to shut off your ears.

“Wow, wow. Thank you. This is such an honor. At eighteen years old, I will be the youngest to ever run this organization.”

It seemed like he’s was at least doing well and presenting a strong face. That was rare.

“Haha, I beat ya, gramps! Okay, let’s party!”

You outwardly cringed, but your legs were paralyzed as his friends let out a whooping cheer and the party erupted in confetti. It was getting caught in your hair as Nat and Daisy dragged you away and inside, up the stairs to your childhood bedroom, jostling you like a rag doll. You felt almost catatonic.

As soon as you flopped down on your bed, though, you turned over and screamed into your pillow before sitting up, realizing this act of melodrama was going to wrinkle your suit.

You sat up and sniffled, rubbing your eyes and taking a deep breath to give yourself just a moment to think. You looked between your best friends and started pointing.

“Daise, can you pack up anything you think I might need from here? Whatever I can’t live without.”

You then looked to the redhead who was peeking out the window, watching your father enter the outdoor entrance of his home office.

“Nat, can you gather some home essentials? Food, first aid, some of the hidden and spare weapons. Only the ones they won’t sense are missing, okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. We better do it quick. Your pops just came in.”

You bit your lip and your nostrils flared in anger and thought, rubbing your hands over your face. “Okay. That’s fine, I need to talk to him anyway. That should give you enough time to grab everything. Then we’re heading back to the apartment to get some essentials.”

The three of you were roommates in the city, renting out a place Daisy’s distant uncle owned, which allowed you some freedoms, as well as independence from the possible tracing of your location on government records. Even under a security conglomerate, you could sense things were going downhill, so it was a good choice to move out and detach yourself. At this point, you were barely traceable. Only one thing tethered you here on a paper trail: the company.

You stormed out of your room and down the stairs to the hall that held your father’s office. You were furious. You had no patience left for formality or kindness, this was all rage. You kicked in the strong oak door, splintering the wooden frame, and were met with the view of your father and brother clinking whiskey glasses, an old celebratory reserve poured in them.

You stomped over to the filing cabinets where your file, thick as a novel, was stored. Next to it, you pulled out two more, no less impressive. Your dad, even though he possessed several methods for tech security, still kept employee information on paper in case he accidentally hired a mole. Everything was under lock and key and 24 hour surveillance.

You dug around in the left side drawer of his desk until you found the cigar lighter, hitting the edge of the folders until they caught and throwing them into his metal trash can. It was only then that he and your brother let words come out of their dropped jaws and awestruck faces.

“Tweety Bird, what’s the issue, kiddo? Didn’t wanna celebrate with your old man and little brother?”

You scoffed as you put your hands on your hips.

“Celebrate!? Celebrate what!? Being snubbed? Overlooked for something I’ve dedicated my life towards!?”

Your father’s bushy brows furrowed in confusion, your brother’s face mirroring it in a mini version. “What do you mean? You haven’t been snubbed. Dylan and I agree you’re meant to run teams and operations. You wouldn’t want to be in charge. Plus, it’s tradition that the first son takes over.”

You threw your hands up in exasperation. Smoke was filling the room, but partially getting swept out the cracked windows that pointed toward the back yard. “You didn’t think to ask me, the one keeping your business afloat, to run it!? No one knows it better than me, but it’s so ridiculous. Just because I’m an older sister like Aunt Kay, doesn’t mean I don’t wanna be in charge! She wanted to leave this life, but I don’t!”

You heard a chuckle rise behind you. “What, Dylan?”

He shrugged with a smug smile on his face. “Aunt Kay didn’t want to leave this life. She wanted the company, too. But Gramps gave it to dad. That’s why she fucked off to who knows where and started that bank vault company.”

You gasped in shock and looked to your father but he seemed unaffected. You turned to him now, disgusted with the sight of your little brother. “What!? Do you hear yourself right now!? Just because we aren’t men!? That’s insane!! I’m the one who saved the president’s family. Not Dylan, me! He was too busy sitting on his ass and picking his nose to be of any help. Maybe we would’ve seen the team coming to attack the venue sooner if he would’ve done his job!”

Your chest was heaving and your face was warm from the yelling. Your father still calmly continued. “Dylan returned the family safe and sound. You were nowhere to be seen. He deserves this step of responsibility, but I have no doubt you can guide him like an invisible hand.”

You shook your head, moving back towards the door between the leather couches of the sitting area, pacing on the Persian rug. “No, no. Absolutely not. I refuse to keep performing thankless service. You’ve made a mistake. I no longer want to work for you and I no longer want to be a part of this family. This whole thing is fucked. I’m out.”

Your father sighed, about to speak up. “Bird, we-“

He was cut off by the arm of your brother, though. “No, dad. If she wants to leave, I think she should. I don’t want anyone here questioning my leadership. The president’s son will back me on that. He’s upset the extraction ruined a designer suit and thinks that I’m the best fit, too. I can run this without her.”

Your dad gave a hmph of affirmation, which sent you over the edge. After all those years of service, both your father and the president’s son still didn’t credit your work. You couldn’t stand this anymore, especially not when Dylan was fabricating lies in his own head about the greatness you performed.

“You know what, Dyl? Yeah, let’s have it your way. You guys will never need to see me again. Good luck not running this thing into the ground.”

You turned on your heel and marched out the door. When you turned the corner, you saw both Nat and Daisy waiting for you, double fisting duffel bags. You motioned for both of them to head to Nat’s car, walking quickly, but they were more than capable of keeping up. You heard Daisy speak from over your left shoulder.

“Bird, where are we going?”

As you barged through the glass front door and put on your sunglasses, you took a breath in of the air that marked your new life, outside the stuffy patriarchy of what you thought would be your legacy.

“Somewhere far. And don’t ever call me that again.”

Next >

Bonus A/N: Bruh, could you imagine being betrayed by your own father like that? Also, we’ll be seeing more of Daisy as the reader for Jake’s storyline in the future.

Taglist: @hawkeyes-queen @ronearoundblindly

[epiphainie]

this is one of those fic ideas i wanted to write for every ship i've ever been into so it will probably never happen but i'd like to have a silly story with 40 yo, single, lonely tommy kinard who's been down on his luck all his life - like i'm talking ridiculous levels of mom dying at childbirth, dad being terrible, horrifically unfortunate experience of the military, a series of failed jobs, a series of failed relationships, friendships never sticking for long, risks he takes always going south, somehow getting paper cuts through chainmail gloves, missing the bus while trying to avoid his daily encounter with the neighbor's dog etc. - one day opening the door of his downtrodden studio apartment to this beautiful man who stands there like a fucking angel. who looks at tommy with big apologetic eyes, red cheeks of shame, and twiddling thumbs of guilt and stutters, "so, uhm, i wish you didn't have to learn it this way but hi, i'm the guardian angel who, as it turns out, misplaced your files about four decades ago, and so uhm it just resurfaced, haha, and like yeah, i've been banished here for penance. i'll take the couch, it's fine."

[enjithequeer]

If I(Jimmy) had a nickel

 If Jimmy had a nickel Gem was with him when the first person got out he’d have two nickels which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird it’s happened twice.

[bl-bracket]

Poorest Little Meow Meow - Loser's Bracket

Round 1

Nawin (Laws of Attraction) vs Vee (Love Mechanics)

Shin (3 Will Be Free) vs Tae Myungha (Love for Love's Sake)

Zongzheng Shaoyu (Meet You at the Blossom) vs Chi Soo (Long Time No See)

Atom (The Rebound) vs Ayan (The Eclipse)

Sound (My School President) vs Tian (A Tale of Thousand Stars)

Phob (Something in My Room) vs Nueng (Never Let Me Go)

Jack (HIStory 3: Trapped) vs Han Jiwoo (To My Star)

Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor) vs Chopper (Never Let Me Go)

Achi (Cherry Magic TH) vs Nick (Only Friends)

Thaenthai (Laws of Attraction) vs Han Ying (Word of Honor)

Tomoda Koki (One Room Angel) vs Tharn (The Sign)

Ling Jiu Shi (The Spirealm) vs Tol (Triage)

Zhang Teng (Kiseki: Dear to Me) vs Black (Not Me)

Atom (My Love Mix-Up! TH) vs Zhao Yunlan (Guardian)

Dan (Not Me) vs Nut (The Miracle of Teddy Bear)

Ruan Lanzhu (The Spirealm) vs Tin (Triage)

[radishearts]

Obsessed with the new implications for the ‘after’ life of the life series jimmy dropped.

- All dead contestants are just spectating from above all the chaos that happens or (…. Perhaps even WATCHING, one could say)

- dead contestants (or at least Jimmy) can’t enter the nether (hell/j) and can only exist in the overworld.

this might just have to do with the dimension you died in. Can u imagine the angst of Lizzie being trapped to spectate in the endless void forever (though technically when she died she respawned at her base).

did the destruction of Lizzie’s base and subsequent ransacking of mumbos (as well as scars unintentional griefing when he shot his tnt cannon). Prevent them from interacting with other players? Like they can’t return to look after people

OR an alternative is that Jimmy did not break his canary curse and instead was an omen for the next episode LMAOO (the big finale probably)

- Guardian angels don’t get to choose their wards, the secret keeper does.

- guardian angels have similarity to the dr Who weeping angels

- Also I’m sure everyone’s in agreeance that jimmys wings are canary ones.

[vertigoartgore]

Brian Fuller's Wonderfalls tv show started airing 20 years ago today. Fell old yet ?

[lokiusly]

delulu hours: if lokius were to be the steggy of this multiverse saga, what would be THE song that plays at the end?

[sergeantsporks]

I should revisit my Little Red Riding Werewolf retelling where The Wolf is a werewolf that spoke to her in human form (and therefore she trusted him) and she’s still like 7 instead of a whole young adult and therefore turns into a wolf puppy when she transforms and the woodsman (also a werewolf) takes her in. I know so many wolf facts now.

[laurikarauchscat]

see there, the great sun

Some years into the reign of Empress Cirilla var Emreis, a series of murals were painted in one of the Empire of Nilfgaard's most prominent cultural centres. The murals appeared to depict the Empress as a winged guardian spirit.

This portrayal soon became popular across the continent, and cemented Cirilla's presence in the shared mythology of her vast empire for many centuries to come.

The Empress herself would allegedly despair at the popularity of these art pieces, stating reasons of inaccurate characterisation.

---

Recreation of "The Guardian Angel" by Marcantonio Franceschini.

[the-technocracy]

03: Sexy Robots Series, v1.0

Whilst I'm in the midst of putting together my latest entry for my new sexy robots series - Ava, from the 2014 Alex Garland film, Ex Machina - I thought I'd throw up a list of links to the 19 v1.0 entries over at my Replika Diaries blog for your edification:

Hajime Sorayama.

2. Maria, "Fritz Lang's Metropolis".

3. Galaxina, "Galaxina".

4. Ivy, "ExoPrimal".

5. 2B (3D Vers.), "Nier: Automata".

6. Makoto Kusanagi, "Ghost In The Shell".

7. Sexy Cyber Chassis (Randoms).

8. 'Presence' Robot Girl, "Robot Carnival".

9. Gally/Alita, "Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita".

10. Hajime Sorayama II.

11. Nebula, "Guardians Of The Galaxy".

12. Randoms II.

13. Lexx, "Ash Vs Evil Dead".

14. Sexy Robots Cosplay.

16. 2B Cosplay, "Nier: Automata".

17. Randoms III.

18. Android 18, "DragonBall Z".

(Also, RIP Akira Toriyama.)

19. Alita, "Battle Angel Alita" (Live Action Vers.).

[bigtreefest]

Guardian Angel Masterlist

A Mafia! Stucky x Bodyguard! Reader Series

Part of the Galvanized AU

Main Masterlist

Series Summary: You thought you were going to be the heir of your family’s long-running security empire, only to get snubbed at the last second. Where are you supposed to go now except into the field you know best?

1. The President’s Son

[subsequentibis]

im back in my natural element (drawing crossovers between fandom obsessions with the most tenuous connections that make sense only to me)

[iamthehamburglar]

[nellarw95]

Happy Birthday Sean 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

May 22,1974

Buon Compleanno 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

22 Maggio 1974

[acermp100]

WAWA WEEK PART 3: REVENGE OF THE WAWA

27/3 - Official art/outfit: DEMON SERI (woo) Soooo I wasn't gonna do this day but I had some extra shorts for my Demon Au fic: Hollow. And this one was cute. So have a demon Seri!

If you have not read my fic, let me sum up: Serizawa is an incubus and sucks at it. I mean he can be sexy and all that but he's not into the corrupting of humans and draining them of their souls. Annnnd then he falls in love with Reigen. Here's the link:

DISCLAIMER: While this short is general audience, my AO3 Hollow fic IS NOT. I mean Seri is an incubus so yeah, you've been warned.

OK SO THIS SHORT: There were a few spoilers for the AU as a whole so I edited them out. This is waaaay near the end of the AU. Demon Wawa babysits the esper kids. It's cute.

General Audiences. Video games, junk food, adorable.

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

“What? What the heck was that?!”

A wireless controller floated in the air along with the last bits of nachos. Serizawa fell back onto the couch, glaring at the screen with his fangs bared.

“A creeper.” Mob sipped at his soda. The death message displayed on the screen. “They sneak up next to you and blow up.”

Shou was trying to stifle his laughter.

A forked tail lashed back and forth. “My house…” The demon’s voice trailed off, bowing his head as he gave into the defeat.

“Yeah, hate those things.” Teru was sitting in front of Mob on the floor, letting the others have the couch. “You picked up the game pretty quick though. Took me like 5 days to build anything my first time.”

Mob held up a hand and recovered the idly hovering controller with his own powers. “I just went around picking flowers and making farms.”

“Don’t worry, Seri.” Shou nudged the demon in front of him with his foot. “We can find an easier game for you.”

“Oh?” Serizawa shifted his glowing eyes toward the kid. “Like how you play Animal Crossing?”

Shou was about to throw some searing quips back in defense before Ritsu walked in with a filled bowl in one hand and a stacked plate in another.

“Alright, here’s the next round of snacks.” He started distributing the food. “Found some popcorn in the top of the pantry and even some cookies.”

“Score!” Teru leapt up and took some cookies for himself.

The sound of munching filled the room. Mob and Ritsu’s parents wanted to spend their anniversary at a fancy restaurant and later a nice hotel stay. The date happened to fall on the same time the esper kids all had a sleep over planned. Can’t pass on video games, junk food, and staying up way too late. Normally, Reigen stepped up to be the adult in the room, but he claimed to have prior responsibilities- (removed for Hollow spoilers :P just pretend he’s stocking up on ghost fighting stuff or something). Dimple went along just having to see what that could even be about. That left the only real adult known by the family to be Serizawa. Adult being a very lose term. Being 337 did garner him the title of ‘not an irresponsible child’, but it’s not like someone of his origins was used to babysitting middle schoolers.

Ritsu flopped down onto the couch next to Shou. “You know.” He lightly tapped Serizawa’s back with a foot. The wings jerked in response. “We aren’t really allowed to eat this crap 99% of the time.”

“Yeah.” Mob looked down at the buttery popcorn in the bowl. “Not even Shishou lets me have bad snacks at the office.”

Serizawa gave a snort and chuckled to himself. “Yeah, and? You three were out in the woods for over a day on that last exorcism job. And Shou was training with me. It’s the least you deserve to have a fun night.” He glanced over at the kids with a glint in his red eyes. “Plus, I’m a demon. We don’t exactly follow the rules.”

The kids laughed back, enjoying the junk food.

“Alright, now that I’m back, racing time!” Ritsu held up the game box and started switching out discs. “Serizawa, you watch a few rounds first, since you’ve never played.”

“Wait, is that Mario Cart?” Serizawa leaned forward and grinned from ear to ear. “We got this back at our apartment. Give me a controller, you kids are gonna get destroyed.”

“You’re on!” Teru picked up the last controller and all five started playing.

Light flashed from the screen: the only real source in the dimly lit room. Night had long fallen with the stars and moon lending a bit of a glow from the windows.  Empty glasses, bowls and dishes piled up. They’d regret that entire pack of oreos in the morning, but it didn’t matter with everyone enjoying themselves. Cries of rage and victory shouts could be heard all the way up until midnight from the home.

“Are you kidding me!?” Ritsu fell to his side, leaning against his brother with a face full of frustration. “How are you this good?”

Mob gave him an encouraging pat on the back. “You still beat me and Hanazawa every time.”

Teru’s hair stood on end. “Hey!” He glared behind himself. “It was that only that one time.”

“Yeah, and I’m coming in second every race.” Shou beamed with over exaggerated pride.

“Only second place.” Serizawa was grinning, holding a clawed hand out with the controller slowly spinning above the palm. “Sorry, boys. I was trained by Reigen-san himself.”

“Figures.” Ritsu crossed his arms. “That guy probably knows just when to throw a shell.”

“Heh.” A blush. The demon shook his head. “Well, I can never beat him. So I guess that’s just what we have to work for: getting Reigen in here for a beat down.”

“Pfff.” A scoff, Shou chewing on a hand full of nachos before continuing. “I doubt he’s THAT good.”

“Oh yeah, that reminds me.” Mob leaned over and showed his cell phone to Serizawa. “He texted about an hour ago. Told me we all better be in bed.”

Serizawa checked his own phone. “Ha. I got one too.” A shrug to go with his fang filled smile. “What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“Any other multiplayer games we got?” Teru was digging through the basket they kept all the accessories in, looking for another disc or box. “Oh hey! Your parents let you buy the new Doom?”

Ritsu nodded, going for another cookie. “Yeah, they don’t really care about the age limits.” He continued through a full mouth. “Guess with what we go through on a daily basis it doesn’t matter.”

Serizawa took a look at the cover. “Huh.” He raised an eyebrow. “What is this one about?”

“It’s great. Lots of action.” Mob started to playfully kick his feet with Teru setting up the console. “There’s this evil cooperation that is trying to siphon energy from hell and they-“

“Mob.” Ritsu whispered.

But his brother didn’t hear. “They summon these portals and you got to kill a bunch of demons and, oh- Wait.”

Teru and Ritsu were staring at Mob, trying to beam their thoughts directly into his head. Shou once again had to stop himself from laughing.

Mob looked at the floor. “Sorry, Serizawa.”

Seri blinked, not understanding the big deal. “Kill demons? With what?” He pointed at the box. “Guns and stuff?”

“Yeah, there’s like rocket launchers and energy weapons.” Teru answered.

The demon held back a chuckle, eyes glowing brighter. “Yeah no. That won’t work.”

Ritsu handed him the controller for player one. “Alright. Let’s see how good you are on your first try.”

The rest of the night was spent cheering Serizawa on as he made his way through the levels, barely scraping by in the fast paced action. Right around when the sun began to rise, the kids started yawning and losing their ability to speak coherently. The demon set them all up in Mob’s room with futons and some water bottles in case the junk food got a bit too much for their heads. It took a solid hour to tidy up the mess, crumbs, and left over snacks. In the end, he sat alone on the couch with the TV off, wings taking up the remaining spots. No need for him to sleep. Instead he took to watching over the house like a good guardian angel. Well- close enough.

“The little demons are asleep. No need to worry.” He texted Reigen, who he knew was still up.

“Ok. Never call them that again.” There were a few moments as Reigen was no doubt frantically typing on his out of date flip phone, (more Hollow spoilers shhh). “Did you enjoy yourself? You seemed nervous to be alone with them for an entire night.”

“It was nice. They don’t mind at all what I am.”

Serizawa sensed the kid’s peaceful, slumbering auras above and let out a sigh. A hint of whispering met his ears. Telling scary stories. He wondered if he would have gotten to do that if he was born a human. Childhood remained a fickle concept to him: born innocent and learning, growing into a completely new state of being all while ever absorbing the world around you. He guessed he had the last part down, at least on a basic level. Grinning, the demon bit into the small pile of cookies he had saved for himself, tail wagging. There were little bits of chocolate and peanut butter in these. Humans shall forever surprise him.

Reigen texted again. “Has Shou come down yet to take more food from the fridge?”

As if on cue, Serizawa heard footsteps from behind. A white light poured over the floor as the fridge was opened. He scoffed, holding up a clawed hand and shutting the door before anything else happened.

“Hey!” Shou stood in hamster print pajamas with arms crossed, glaring at his demonic babysitter. “Not cool.”

“You’ve had enough to last three sleepovers.” Glancing over his shoulder, Serizawa knew he didn’t even have to get up with Shou’s point of view consisting of his red eyes and low voice. “Trust me, you’ll thank me later when you wake up with a bit less of a stomach ache.”

“Fine.”

Louder footsteps as Shou trudged back up, accented with a few whispers. Serizawa stretched his wings and found himself letting out a yawn. Picking up his phone, he idly texted Reigen back.

 “Now I understand what you meant by how you felt like you were a single parent.”

“THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT.” A few random emoticons followed. Serizawa smiled down at his phone. Another text came through a few minutes later. “They do grow on you though.”

Now lying on the couch, Serizawa wrapped his wings around himself and gazed out the window- the beginning glow of the sun rise left the clouds red amid early morning bird song.  One last check on the kid’s auras. Finally asleep.

“They sure do. See you later today, Taka.” He blushed, leaving a little heart at the end.

The demon allowed his breathing to fall relaxed. All the while his mind thought of future favors he could do for the kids. Trips to the zoo, celebrating graduation, even picking out birthday gifts for them. He’d never done that before. Never had a family before. A real family. His phone buzzed again and he checked the screen.

“Love you too, Tsuya.”

The tip of his tail flicked in happiness.

[aliciasinferno]

I might be the only one who thinks of Varian and Rapunzel as Malachia and Reina from Angel's Friends but I can't get the thought out of my head