#haven’t met their kid yet but I bet he’s cute as a button

[therealvalkyrie]

the dad of the dogs I’m dogsitting tonight just came home to pick something up and scared the fucking shit out of me😭

[ticklishfiend]

Pure Gold (My Hero Academia)

Lee!Mina / Ler!Bakugou ⚠️PLATONIC⚠️

A/N : haven’t posted a fic in a while cause my laptop broke but hey!! i fixed it!! so here we go. i wanna make a sequel to this with the sleepover mentioned at the end, so if ur interested or have any ideas, lemme know!!

Summary: Mina catches Bakugou in a very incriminating circumstance, and of course, records it (cause how could she not). Unfortunately for her, Bakugou doesn’t think this is as funny as she thinks it is, but decides to make her laugh with his own methods anyways.

Word Count: 3084

REBLOGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED, MWAH <33 xoxo

. . .

Mina rolled onto her right side for what had to be the millionth time tonight, nothing ever feeling comfortable enough to just loll her into the right sleepy headspace she needed to get some goddamn shuteye. She’s never really had many problems with falling asleep before, so why tonight she had to be burdened with this temporary insomnia was beyond her. 

Mina threw her arm out behind her back towards her bedside table, fingers fumbling around for her phone before finding it connected to the charger. Detaching it from it’s plug, she brought it towards her, face flinching at the sudden brightness before her eyes adjusted to the light. She groaned as she scanned over the time, 1:02AM, far later than she would typically still be awake. Sure, it was Friday so she didn’t have any classes to worry about the next day, but it was still frustrating to get off her normal sleeping schedule so suddenly and for seemingly no reason. She had to fix it soon before she pulled an accidental all-nighter.

Whining and groaning the whole way, Mina threw her legs out over the side of her bed, dangling her feet for a moment before slipping them into her cute fuzzy panda slippers she kept on her bedside. The girl figured her best bet for now would be to drink one of the soothing teas that Momo kept lying around in the kitchen for anyone to use. She dragged herself towards the door, allowing her arms to stretch over her head with a yawn before grabbing at the cold metal door handle and slowly creaking open the entrance. 

She was careful to be quiet, turning the handle before shutting the door as to avoid any unnecessary clicks. She’d be damned if she made any of her light-sleeper classmates go through the same sleepless night she was currently going through by waking them up so late in the night. She walked heel to toe through the carpeted hallway, finding her way to the elevator finally and breathing a sigh of relief as the doors closed without a dinging sound.

After what felt like a treacherous journey, she finally made it to the corner that would lead her to both the kitchen and common area. But, before she turned the corner, she saw a light illuminating off the walls coming from the commons. Her brow quirked, not expecting any type of light to be shining from the area.

No worries, she thought. If someone accidentally left a light on I’ll just turn it off real quick so no one gets in trouble, easy peasy! She finally made it around the corner when it finally dawned on her where the light source was coming from in the first place; the TV.

Her eyes met the muted TV that seemed to be playing a...romance anime? The subtitles were on and the volume was completely turned off, so whoever had been watching it was obviously aware of how late it was and was trying to stay quiet for the rest of the class like Mina had been.

The pink girl watched the screen for a moment, reading the subtitles to find that one of the characters had apparently just confessed their love to someone else in some heroic fashion. It was super cute, and she’ll definitely have to look up whatever this is so she can watch it in her own time. Before she could make her way towards the action to turn the TV off, however, she heard...is that…?

...sniffles? 

She paused, her ears perking up at the sound just in case she had imagined it. Then, no more than 3 seconds later, she heard it again. Sniffles, this time accompanied by a little groan of what sounded like endearment. This is so cute, she thought to herself, bringing her hand to her mouth to cover up any giggles that dared to escape. Someone’s crying about a romance anime right now, and it definitely sounded like one of the boys too! There’s no way I can’t find out who this is.

As quietly and sneakily as the acidic girl possibly could, she made her way towards the back of the couch, crouching down just slightly as to not alert them with her shadow. She finally allowed her eyes to peer just above the top of the cushion aaaand…

…

BAKUGOU?!

Mina could hardly believe what she was seeing. Was she complaining? Absolutely not, this was pure gold, it was just surprising! THE Bakugou Katsuki, curled up on the corner of the couch swaddled in a fluffy All Might blanket, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes with an actual smile on his face. He stuffed his mouth with popcorn before wiping his tears with the corner of his printed blanket, muffling a small “Finally,” into the fabric. 

There was no chance in hell Mina was going to miss this golden opportunity.

Like a spy, Mina quickly but quietly snatched her phone from the pocket of her sleep shorts, opening the camera before pressing record. She zoomed in on the romantic scene displayed on the screen, before slowly panning down to the still sniffling Bakugou, the light from the TV bright but his smile even brighter. She hit the off button before stuffing the phone back in her pocket with a grin, quietly making her way towards the kitchen.

She went to take a mug out of one of the top cabinets, purposefully shutting it louder than she needed to to alert the blonde on the sofa. He jumped at the noise, whipping his head around towards the girl before throwing his arm towards the coffee table to snatch the remote and turn the TV off with force.

“Why the fuck are you in here, Pinky?!!” Bakugou whisper-shouted from across the room, and though the light from the TV was now gone, Mina could just tell he had to be blushing from embarrassment. She grinned widely.

“Oh, y’know, couldn’t sleep,” She smirked, not looking Bakugou’s direction while filling her kettle with tap water. “I’m guessing the romantic buildup had to be pretty intense to make THE Lord Explosion Murder shed a few tears, huh?”

Bakugou froze before his body started to shake with anger, launching himself over the back of the couch and lunging towards Mina, grabbing her by the shoulders and digging his fingers into the flesh aggressively. He was seething, his jaw clenched and eyes white with anger, and though Mina was a little shaken up when he initially grabbed her, she couldn’t help but giggle when remembering what she had just seen moments ago.

“I WILL KILL YOU, YOU ALIEN FUCK!” He almost-shouted, and it was obvious he was still cautious of waking anyone up so Mina wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about what she had witnessed. “You keep this shit to yourself, got it?! Cause I’m not scared to fucking kill you!”

“Oh I know that, Blasty,” she smiled up at him, unable to suppress another giggle. “It’s too bad I got your little cry-sesh on camera then, huh?”

Bakugou’s face fell, his eyes wide before he squeezed even tighter into her shoulders. “You...you WHAT?!?!” Mina had meant to let out another laugh at his expense, but it turned into a yelp as she was aggressively hoisted up over his shoulder. 

Mina kicked and laughed, hitting at his back to no avail as he stomped towards the couch and unceremoniously threw her down onto it, pinning her against the cushions, her hands now laying flat underneath his knees that were thrown over her waist.

“Woah, take me out to dinner first!” Mina’s eyes were wide as she let out a nervous chuckle. She tugged at her hands, but they weren’t going anywhere under his weight. She even tried kicking a little against the cushion, but yet again, nothing.

“Not into you like that, Pinky,” He aggressively pointed towards her face, the angry scowl never leaving his now wrinkled expression. “And you’re gonna delete that fucking video, got it?!”

“Are you kidding me?! I could never delete that! It’s gold and you know it!” Mina exasperated, shocked he could even consider that a possibility. 

“NO IT’S FUCKING NOT!” He whisper-shouted into her face, moving his hand even closer to her face until it booped her nose, her eyes crossing down to look at it. “Delete it, Horns...or I’ll fucking make you.”

Mina uncrossed her eyes and looked up to Bakugou, whose face remained angry and undeterred. She sighed, “Ok, first of all, they’re not horns; they’re antennas. Secondly, you were too cute in the video to delete it! I’m sorry, Baku, but I can’t do that.”

Bakugou just grunted, moving both of his hands down now to grip at her waist, making her eyes widen with a sudden knowing fear. “I am NOT cute, and you WILL delete that fucking video, Pink-Fuck! You always give in to this shit,” Bakugou couldn’t help the smirk that rose on his face as he squeezed her sides once, making her jump and yelp.

“Nohoho! Bakugou, please, not thihis!” Mina couldn’t help the giggles that left her lips even if he hadn’t properly done anything yet. It was just the knowing of what was to come that caused nervous laughter to bubble from her chest and into both their ears.

“It doesn’t have to be this way, moron,” Bakugou said, eyeing down at her waist before noticing the phone-sized bulge in her shorts pocket. He smirked, reaching down and pulling it from its hiding spot. He looked at the screen before huffing, turning it to face her eyes. “Gimme the code. Now.”

“No way! You’ll just delete the video!” Mina said before yelping with another jerk as he pinched at her side again. “Dohon’t!” He sat her phone down on the arm of the couch before wiggling both his hands over her belly, the sight alone making her shriek and let out a flow of giggles.

“You’re gonna wanna give me that code, loser,” Bakugou grinned, jerking his hands down towards her stomach without touching her and bringing them back up, making Mina jerk aggressively with another yelp. “I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already freaking out! This is gonna fucking suck for you if you don’t let me delete that damn video!” 

Mina just pursed her mouth shut tightly, shaking her head “no” while letting little huffs of suppressed laughs escape from her nose. Bakugou just sighed, raising his wiggling fingers just slightly higher before a wide, sadistic grin cemented itself to his face.

“You asked for this.”

Before she had time to retaliate, wiggling fingers came down to pinch up her sides and into the dips of her ribs, sending her into a cackling fit. She kicked uselessly from behind him, tugging at her trapped hands to no avail.

Bakugou used his right hand to dig his fingertips into the bottom of her ribs, while skittering his other nails over her quivering belly. She sucked her stomach in as much as possible, but with each laugh it was brought back up, practically tickling itself on his fingers.

“Bakugohohou! Plehehease! Nohoho!” She squealed, her eyes squeezed tightly shut as he continued his relentless but playful torture.

“No what?” the blonde teased, using his index and middle fingers to vibrate into her tummy. She let out a shriek at that, jerking violently while trying to smush her face into the cushion beside her. “Ohoho, that bad, huh? Pretty effective method if I do say so myself,” Bakugou then used his two fingers on each hand to vibrate into her lower ribs, a spot he knows all too well is absolutely unforgiving. She screamed at this, shaking her head side to side as laughs poured from her gut. “I always get what I want, Pinky, and this isn’t gonna be any fucking different.”

Mina couldn’t help the loud shrieks and squeals that left her body, tossing herself from side to side with no effect whatsoever. “GAHAHAHA! Plehehease! It tickles too muhuhuch!”

“Not my fucking problem,” Bakugou went back to his squeezing method from before, this time bringing one hand down to pinch at her hip. Mina jolted at the touch, screaming and cackling at his relentless squeezing. “The code, moron, lest you forget about what got you here in the first place.”

“Nehehever! I cahahan’t!” she laughed before gasping in a breath of air as his hands let go of her body for a moment. She hesitantly opened one of her eyes to look at her tormentor, who was yet again wiggling his fingers over her tummy. She shut her eyes again tight at the sight, a new bout of giggles leaving her from anticipation. “Nohoho!”

“You can never handle being teased, can ya?” Bakugou grinned, before bringing both his hands back down to lift up her nightshirt up to her bottom ribs.

“No! No no no! Please! Bakugou, let’s talk about this!” Mina spluttered out nervously, opening her eyes to see him just ghosting his fingers over her still quivering belly. She tossed her head back with a giggly whine, kicking her feet behind him like a child in a tantrum.

“Nope. You had your damn chance, and you blew it,” He smirked devilishly, bringing his fingers down to gently skitter over her now bare belly, dissolving her into a fit of high-pitched giggles. “Now you’re gonna get-” BZZZ! BZZZ!

Bakugou paused his previously wiggling fingers, his head whipping up and eyes making contact with the now buzzing phone resting on the arm of the couch. He groaned when he read who was calling on Mina’s FaceTime, resting one hand on his knee while reaching out and swiping the phone from it’s resting spot (though his knees were still pressed firmly against Mina’s trapped hands- he hadn’t yet planned on stopping her torment.)

Bakugou pressed the bright green button on the screen and stared blankly at the dark screen as Denki answered. The boy had obviously been trying to sleep, evident by the fact no lights were on in his room.

“Bakugou?” The boy asked groggily on the other end, and even though Bakugou couldn’t technically see his face, he knew he had to have the dumbest expression printed all over it.

“Yes, what the hell do you want Pikachu?” Bakugou growled at the screen.

“Can you tell Mina to quit screaming? I could tell it’s her, her laughs are always the same; just so fuckin’ loud,” Denki chuckled, and Bakugou could hear his sheets shuffling. “What’s got her laughing so hard anyway? You aren’t exactly the funniest person on the planet.”

“I’M FUCKING HILARIOUS YOU DUNCE!” Bakugou shouted angrily into the phone, gripping it tightly as Mina just prayed he wouldn’t crush it with his pure fiery rage. “And that’s none of your fucking buisness!” Bakugou paused, looking down at Mina who had a sheepish grin on her face. He sighed. “She’ll be quiet now. Just go to sleep so you aren’t dumber tomorrow than you usually are,” Bakugou huffed, hanging up without allowing the blonde on the other end to get any word in. 

The explosive teen threw Mina’s phone down beside her on the couch, hoisting himself off her with a scowl on his face and a roughness to his movements. Mina couldn’t help but feel a little guilty as he jerked his blanket out from under the girl aggressively and began making his way away from the couch. She quickly sat up and snatched his wrist, pulling him back slightly and making the boy grunt, looking back at her with tense brows.

“How about a compromise?” She proposed, a small grin on her face. He looked at her through squinted eyes for a moment, questioning her request. Finally, he rolled his eyes with a huff.

“Hit me with it,” he didn’t look at her in the eyes, but she celebrated internally at the fact he wasn’t too visibly angry at her.

“I’ve got a sleepover tomorrow with all the girls, and we’ve been dying for a special guest,” She bit her lip with a cheek-tearing smirk as his brow somehow managed to furrow even deeper. “Hang out with us for just a few hours tomorrow night; you don’t even have to sleep over, just stay for the fun parts. I’ll delete the video as soon as it’s over.”

He continued to stare at her questioningly, obviously not convinced nor happy with this compromise. She needed to give him more.

“I promise I won’t show a soul the video if you promise to go tomorrow. No one will even know it existed before it’s already gone,” she said, before deciding to finally pull out the big guns. She pouted out her bottom lip and lowered her wide eyes, eyebrows piercing upwards like a sad puppy. “Pleeease Bakugou? I promise it’ll be fun!”

He paused, staring at her sad little face and feeling himself go slightly soft inside while staring at his friend. He squeezed his eyes shut tight and jerked his arm out of the girl’s grasp with a loud groan.

“Fine...as long as this shit stays between us...I guess I’ll go,” Bakugou nearly whispered the last part, as if the words had to crawl their way out of his throat while being tied down from his sheer stubbornness alone. 

Mina couldn't help the shriek of excitement she let out, her mouth quickly getting covered by Bakugou's large calloused hand while his other planted an index finger on his own mouth towards her. “Shut the fuck up Pinky, we already woke Dunce up!” She just smiled behind his hand, nodding up and down quickly.

Bakugou let out a sigh as he moved his hand from her face, using his fingers to squeeze at the bridge of his nose. “You are so fucking annoying, y’know that?”

Mina just giggled, standing up and giving Bakugou a hug so quick he couldn’t pull away from it. He stood in shock for a moment, before shoving her shoulder and making the girl fall back on the couch with an oof! followed by her giggles. He just rolled his eyes with a, “Tch,” throwing his blanket over his shoulder and walking towards the hallways.

“Night, Blasty! Get ready for the night of your life tomorrow!” She whisper-shouted towards the exiting boy, who only flipped her off as his body finally disappeared into the shadows of the shared hallways.

. . .

A/N : hope you enjoyed!! i didn’t rlly proofread this so if it’s terribly written i apologize lmaoo, again if ur interested in a part 2 lemme know!!! much love <3 xoxo

[purple-vixen]

Love is a Locked Door - Dick Grayson/Reader

Summary: Damian asks you and Dick to check if there are any monsters in his closet. Somehow the two of you end up locked in there.

_

You have been friends with Dick for quite some time now. He was definitely one of your favorite people in the world. Dick was funny, kind, smart and selfless, and also strong and very, very handsome. Though the latter ones you never dared to say out loud.

You were in love with Dick Grayson, and you kept this secret under lock and key. Making a move never really crossed your mind. You and he were friends for so long that you were convinced he would never see you in the same light you saw him, besides, you were afraid of ruining your friendship. No one understood you like him, there was no way you were going to risk it.

Being his friend meant you were a regular Wayne Manor visitor, consequently being able to witness Dick's crazy siblings. They all adored you, though Damian was the one who became most fond of you. In the beginning he tried to hide it, but eventually stopped doing so. It was very surprising for the batfamily to see Damian getting attached to someone so quickly.

Damian would show you his action figure collection, play violin for you, ask your opinion on his paintings and he introduced you to every single one of his pets. Not to mention the times Damian would show up in your apartment's balcony seeking advice or just someone to talk to and you two would chat and drink tea all night. You always scolded him for not using the door like any other normal person, but after seeing it was not going to work you decided to let it slide.

You saw Damian like the little brother you never had. He was a cute little cinnamon roll. A deadly cinnamon roll that knew how to kill a person with just two fingers, but a cinnamon roll nonetheless. Which is why you were not able to say "No" to Damian when he asked for you and Dick to check if there were monsters inside his bedroom’s closet.

You and your best friend were now inside there, each one holding a flashlight in your hand, pointing the beams to every shelf, hanger, pile of clothes and corners possible. You had to admit, you had the impression something was a bit off, considering that Damian and Jason were also in the room and they still haven't tried to kill each other yet.

Although the closet was spacious, you and Dick accidentally bumped into each other. He grabbed your shoulders to stop you from falling and you could feel your heart beating so fast it felt like it would jump off your chest at any second.

— Be careful. — He whispered softly. You were glad it was too dark for him to see you blushing as he wrapped his strong arms around you.

— Uhm… Found any monsters yet? — Damian anxiously paced back and forth as he watched his oldest brother and you turning his wardrobe upside down.

— Not yet. —

— And if we do, we're gonna kick its ass. — Dick added.

— Hey, (Y/n). —

— Yes, Damian? —

— Thank you for helping me. —

— Anytime, Dami. I'll always be there. — You walked up to Damian just to ruffle his hair, the youngest Wayne shyly grinned in response.

Dick let out a soft chuckle. Little did you know, to Dick Grayson, you weren't just his friend anymore, you became the one he fell in love with. Seeing you and Damian interacting always made his heart melt like crazy. He thought it was so adorable, you were so adorable. It made him want to kiss you even more than he already longed for.

— What is it? — You raised your eyebrows in confusion at your friend.

— Nothing, nothing. I just... remembered a joke. — Dick scratched the back of his neck, cheeks tinting a light tone of pink as the image of being close to your lips secretly ran through his imagination. — D-Don't stand too far from the door, Damian, you have to watch it for us.  — He changed the topic.

— I already am watching. Just keep looking, Grayson. — Damian answered.

— Aren't you too old for the "There are monsters in my closet phase? — Jason was plopped head over heels on the bed, playing Subway Surfers on Dick's phone since his had run out of battery a long time ago. His green eyes glued to the screen, tongue sticking out as he tried to beat his brother's record.

— Jason, take it easy, he's just a kid. — Dick sighed. Being the older one, it always fell to him to cease his siblings' bickering.

— Aren't you too old to be alive? — Damian snapped back to Jason.

— Damian! — Dick rebuked.

— Oh, I spy with my little eye a very ugly monster, he's 4 foot 8 and wearing a turtleneck. — Jason teased.

— And I can see a deadweight spreading germs on my bed.  —

 — Enough, you two! — Dick ordered with authority. — Jason, give me my phone. Since you and Damian will keep on arguing I want it back. —

On his way to his older brother, Jason winked at Damian, who nodded back. As soon as he handed the phone to Dick, Jason smirked at him and then quietly sat back on the bed like nothing happened, hands on his lap with a rather comical angelic face.

— Sorry about that, (Y/n). — Dick changed to a soft tone as he stared at you with puppy eyes.

— It was taking too long, I guess that's a Guinness record. — You joked, trying to lighten up the mood. — Don't worry, I signed up for this when I became your friend. —

— Yeah… Friend. — He mumbled to himself.

You two went back to searching Damian's closet. A couple minutes had passed when the young boy cleared his throat, trying to get yours and his eldest brother's attention.

— Father is requesting me for an emergency. I must go. — He announced.

— Well, I better get going too. Old man's request is an order. And who am I to say no to beating up criminals? — Jason instantly jumped out of the bed and put on his leather jacket.

Words weren't exchanged, yet with just one look you knew what Dick had to say when he turned to you: "I have to leave."

The moment Dick got up and started to walk away, Damian rushed out of his bedroom, leaving the closet door unattended.

— Damian, wait! The...— Before you were able to finish your sentence, a loud slamming sound reverberated. —...door. —

You pointed your flashlight to the doorknob and tried to open it.

— It's broken. Last time Alfred went here to put away Damian's clothes he ended up locked till someone opened on the outside. — Dick commented.

— I know, but it was worth a try. — You shrugged your shoulders. — Talking about Alfred, We could try calling him. I bet he's the only person in the Manor right now. You know, beside us. —

— Great idea! — He took his phone out of his pocket. Dick unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Alfred's name, he barely had time to hit the "dial" button before his phone ran out of battery and turned off. — Jason. — Dick growled, recalling the fact Jason borrowed his phone to play games.

— No prob. I can get my phone, it's in my purse… My god, I'm so stupid. I left my purse! — Dick burst laughing and you elbowed him, only causing him to erupt an even louder chuckle. 

— Well, that's better. — He shrugged his shoulders.

— How can it be better? We're locked in a closet! —

— There was that one time I got stuck inside a garbage truck with the Riddler. —

This time you were the one laughing. That's one of the many reasons you loved him, he always knew how to make you smile no matter what the situation was.

— I bet you loved hearing his riddles all night. —

— Believe it or not, that wasn't even the worse part. I had to soak my suit for an entire week. —

— But seriously, how are we gonna get out? — You asked as soon as the laughter died down.

— To be honest, I have no idea. —

You both tried yelling at the door to see if anybody would show up. Then Dick tried doing the credit card trick he often used to open doors, it didn't work. 

You started avidly searching for something you could pry the door open with. Eventually you encountered Damian's arsenal. The fact Damian kept a stash of deadly weapons inside his closet didn't surprise any of you.

Dick tried picking the lock with a sai and you tried slashing the doorknob with a sword. Dick would have found quite hot the way you wielded the katana and made a perfect dash attack, would have, that was if you didn't almost slice him with the sword on accident. As the last shot, Dick tried to force the doors open by throwing himself at them, the doors were blocked by something neither of you could tell and Dick lightly hurt his shoulder.

— Don't worry. I've been through worse. — Dick reassured.

— Dick, that does NOT leave me less worried about you. You could have a paper cut or a gunshot wound and I'd worry the same. —

— So you're worried about me, huh? — You could see his remarkable smirk dimly lit by the flashlight.

— I'm always worried about you, you idiot! — Dick's smirk grew wider at your reply. — Gosh, sometimes I wish I could wipe that smirk off your face. — You grumbled as you crossed your arms.

— Then why don't you try it? — Dick snapped in a flirty tone.

You inclined yourself towards him and your lips touched his. It was just a peck, it lasted for a couple seconds but for the two of you it felt like the time froze.

— Did that work? — You lifted an eyebrow. But then rolled your eyes when you realized that his wide smirk had become a full grin.

— I think you should try it again. — Dick pulled you closer to him.

Once again your lips met. This time the kiss was hungrier, needier. If only you knew that kissing him would feel that great, you wouldn't have held back for so long. Now that you were there, so close to him, you were free. And so was he.

Dick always pictured how it would feel like to slide his tongue in your mouth as you tugged his hair. And it was so, damn, good. Better than he ever wondered it could be. Dick felt in cloud nine, sensing goosebumps as your fingertips roamed around his abs. He grabbed your hips and pulled you closer to him, your chest was pulled flush against his, yet it still wasn't close enough.

You both pulled away breathless. The room was dimly lit, but as Dick tried to regain his breath, you could see his sapphire blue eyes with the pupils blown out.

— I guess that worked. — You joked.

— I should try being cocky more often. — He replied with that same flirty tone. — So… How long did you…? —

— For a while. —

— Yeah, me too. What took you so long? —

— Well... I was afraid things would get awkward between us. I wasn't sure if you liked me back. —

— Are you kidding me? I've been dropping hints for months! — He chuckled. — After all of this is over do you want to go on a date with me? —

— I'd love to. — You grinned.

You two were about to continue your makeout session when suddenly the creek of the door was heard, the bright light from the bedroom almost blinding your eyes since you got used to the dark from being locked in there. Both you and Dick jumped out of each other, in an attempt to not get caught.

— Okay kids, seven minutes in heaven is over! — Jason mocked after opening the door to your way out. Damian right behind him.

— Seven minutes? We've been locked here for two hours! — Dick protested.

— You say it like you weren't enjoying it. C'mon, just thank us. — He smirked.

— What do you mean by "thank" the two of you? Wait… You planned this? — You questioned.

— It was actually Damian's evil master plan, but I helped him execute it. Ya know, making Dick's phone run out of battery, hiding your purse, pushing the desk in front of the door so that you couldn't bust the door down. That kind of stuff. — Jason shrugged his shoulders.

— And apparently it all went well. — Damian nodded. — TT. Maybe too well. —

— Dami! — You rebuked. — Why did you do that? —

— I figured that if you started dating Grayson, you would have an excuse to visit us more often. — He crossed his arms as his cheeks blushed.

— You're aware that if that happens she will come here to visit just Dick, right? — Jason asked.

— Lay a finger on her and you're a dead man, Grayson! — Damian snarled and grabbed your hand, dragging you along with him as he started running. You couldn't help but chuckle at the fact the 11-year-old was so protective of you.

— Hey! I want my date back! — Dick whined and started running after you.

You rolled your eyes at the two boys as you ran, you knew tonight would be a long night since you first arrived at the Manor.

[linhyyboo12]

Across the World

The chime of your phone brings you out of your thoughts, your hands quickly finding the device and bringing it up to your face. 

3:43am reads the time. 

My Lover: Hey love, I know it’s late, but do you have a few minutes to call?

You immediately sit up and a tired smile is brought to your face, you swore you had never moved that quickly for anything. Your boyfriend, Changmin, had finally gotten a chance this week to message you. Despite how late it was and how tired you were, you were ready to sacrifice it all when it comes to getting even the slightest of chances to talk to him.

See, your boyfriend just so happens to be an idol in a Kpop group, The Boyz. It took months for him to reveal that minor detail about him in the time you two had been talking. You understood why, though. How could he trust a secret like that to someone he had never even met?

You two had met on a chatting site a couple years back, one that no one even uses anymore these days. You were there to make friends, while he was there to talk to normal people who didn’t know what he was. Little did you both know, you seem to mean more to each other than you ever thought you were going to. Quick messages from different sides of the world turned into late nights for each of you as the other was trying to get through their days.

Yes, please!! Went your reply to him as fast as your fingers could even type the message. 

Not even a whole minute later, a Skype call rings through your phone and you press the answer button, revealing your gorgeous boyfriend dripping in sweat from what you assumed to be dance practice. 

“Hey, love.” he breathes out softly as he takes in your stunning features. “Just as beautiful as always. How are you doing today? Or night, rather?” A sheepish smile graces his lips and he doesn’t miss the gentle blush dusting your cheeks. 

A soft yawn escapes your lips for just a moment as all the tension in your body leaves the moment his voice hits your ears, feeling peace for even just a second. “I’m fine, love,” you spoke so softly, he almost didn’t catch it. As he stares at you for a moment, however, and before he even gets a chance to respond, you shake your head and sniffle lightly. The pent up emotions you had been feeling the past week pouring out to him in a matter of minutes. “Actually, I’m not fine. This week has just been absolute shit. Work was stressful, I haven’t been sleeping very much at all and I honestly just miss you.”

“I’m sorry, love. Please don’t cry. I know things are really hard right now, and I’m sorry I can only do so much for you. I’m sorry I’m not putting in the effort I can feel you putting in for me. I’m sorry I’m failing you, love.” his voice falters into a soft whisper by the end, your heart aching at the sadness laced in his voice. 

“Wait, please don’t say that. You’re doing so much already. The fact that you even think of me when you’re practicing and call me when you get any chance to means the world to me. I would give it all up tonight just to be able to talk to you at all.” you tell him, sincerity dripping from every word that falls from your lips and his heart melts. “Speaking of, shouldn’t you be getting back to practice? I know your breaks aren’t meant to be very long and I now feel bad..” You trail off with a small pout. 

“Psh… are you kidding?” He says with a quiet chuckle. “I’m with these idiots all the time and I get to talk to my beautiful girlfriend once? You bet your cute ass I’m going to take advantage of every second I get and more.” Your face turns beet red at his words before you hear a commotion coming from his end. 

“What’s happening th-” before the words are out of your mouth, you hear someone yelling. 

“YOU HAVE A WHAT?” Eric, from what you remember Changmin teaching you about his group, is the one making a scene. “I come to grab you back for practice because Sangyeon hyung needs us but you have a WHAT?” 

“Shut it, Eric! Jesus,” Changmin sighs and shakes his head before mumbling underneath his breath. “There’s probably a reason I didn’t tell anyone.”

“Sorry, love,” he whispers to you and you shake your head with a giggle. “Hey, baby-”

“BABY?” Eric whisper-yells, shocked Changmin even kept a secret like that from them for so long.

“Yes, Eric, now GO AWAY,” Changmin lets out a groan of frustration, before he turns to you in the camera again. “Things will be okay. I’m going to try harder for you from now on, okay? I love you, darling.” he says and Eric, who had not left yet, sputters over his friend’s words.

“LOVE?” the younger one strains in his whisper yell once again, dramatic as he is. This causes you to giggle and wipe your tears. 

“I love you too, Changmin. I really do. Now, go make your deobis proud.” You tell him and blow a kiss through the phone before preparing to end the call. He gives you a quick bye before the call drops and you set your phone off to the side, eyes falling heavy as you can finally sleep peacefully, knowing everything’s going to be okay between you two.

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

So this is my first writing piece I guess? This is lowkey kinda based off a true story. my current situation with my mans. I hope this is okay ;;

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Rewind Chapter 4 - Fiddleford to the Rescue

Stan started when there was a sharp knocking at the front door. He hadn’t thought anyone was coming – but evidently Ford had known, because he jumped up to let them in. The person who stepped inside was a twig of a man, carrying a duffel bag in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. The guy looked pretty tired – sorta like those people who sometimes slept under the jetty with bloodshot eyes and cans scattered around them. But this man didn’t reek of beer and cigarettes. Blue eyes darted around behind thick glasses before landing on Stan and softening.

“Ah. This is your brother, I ‘spect?” The stranger spoke with a thick accent. Stan hadn’t heard an accent like his before.

“Yes. Thank you for coming.” Ford was a flurry of motion, darting here and there and packing things in a big shoulder bag. “I need to go, I have to get this barrier up as soon as possible. I should be back by this evening. There’s food in the fridge, I’m not sure what bills I’ve paid recently so there may or may not be hot water, and Stanley, behave!”

With that Ford disappeared, the front door slamming behind him. Stan froze, voice squeaking in a totally cool and manly way.

“Wait – Ford? Where are you-”

Yeah, he was already gone. Leaving Stan alone with this strange man. Stan stood self-consciously in the middle of the lounge, hyper aware of those eyes on him. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

The stranger broke the silence first, kneeling down to be at eye-level with Stan. “You must be Stanley. I guess Ford forgot ta introduce us. Wouldn’t be the first thing ‘e forgot.” The guy smiled a slightly crooked smile and held out one hand. “I’m Fiddleford, an old�� friend of ya brother’s. I’m here to look after ya for a while. Is that okay?”

“…I guess so.” Stan stepped forward hesitantly to shake the man’s hand. Despite its thinness his hand was rough and calloused, worn with work. His smile was infectious and Stan found himself mirroring it. “You can call me Stan. Everyone does.”

“Well then, you can call me Fidds.” Fiddleford’s bright eyes combed over him for a moment before the man started riffling through his duffel bag. “Now, I got some old clothes of my son’s that I figure will fit better than that shirt. You wanna give it a shot?”

Stan nodded eagerly. “Yeah! Who’s your son? Is he coming too?”

“No, Tate’s in California right now.” The man lifted a couple items of clothing. “Alright, let’s take a looksee at what we got.”

 Stanford’s little brother was cute as a button. Well, twin brother apparently, not that that made much of a difference right now. The boy was all gap-toothed grins and twinkling eyes and curious questions. Fiddleford let him choose some clothes he liked – a pirate shirt and a pair of faded yellow shorts – and helped the little kid get dressed. Stan chatted excitedly the whole time.

“S’weird! I just woke up here yesterday and Ford was all old. He’s grumpier now too. So if this is the future how do we know you? When do I meet you? We probably haven’t met yet while I’m this age right? No, I think I’d remember seein’ you even if you were a kid like me! You got a mem-or-ab-le nose. Kinda like mine!” Stan poked his own pink nose to demonstrate. “’Cept mine and Ford’s are wide and yours is long. Does your son have the same nose?”

Fiddleford laughed and slipped the shirt over the squirming boy’s head. There were so many questions, he figured he’d try and answer them in order.

“Ford is grumpy now, isn’t he? And I’m a friend of Ford’s from college. This is the first time we’ve met at all, so you wouldn’t know me even as an adult with all yer memories. And Tate does have my nose, unfortunately.”

Stan blinked up at him owlishly. Fiddleford smoothed down his ruffled cowlick. “So… you know Ford but not me? Why doesn’t future-me know you?” Then Stan shook his head with a smile. “You said college, right? I bet that’s why! Pa says I’m too stupid for college. But o’course Ford got in. He’s real smart, ya know!” The kid finished proudly. Fiddleford hesitated.

“Your father says…” Stanford hadn’t spoken much of his family. Fiddleford was starting to see why. The idea of a man telling his son – his son who couldn’t be any older then twelve – that he was stupid filled his chest with fire.

Fiddleford tried to stamp out the anger before Stan could see it on his face. No sense in scaring the child. Instead he changed the subject, carefully poking at one of Stan’s hands.

“So, ya got hands like ya brother’s?”

“Oh, no, I just got the borin’ five fingers.” Stan waggled his fingers to demonstrate.

“Really?” Well that was interesting. “But yer practically identical otherwise! Well, I guess it makes sense that yer not totally the same, seein’ as you don’t have the same eyesight anyway.”

“Oh, we do.” Stan chirped, leaving Fiddleford flabbergasted.

“But ya don’t have glasses!”

“Oh yeah, I don’t need em ‘cause I’m not smart.” Stan’s smile faltered for a moment before recovering. “Pa says glasses are expensive and Ford needs his, so I don’t. Hey, you got glasses too! You must be smart.”

Fiddleford once again tried very hard to not let his anger show. He must not have done a very good job, because Stan shrank back.

“Er – I’m sorry?”

Darn it, and he’d been trying to get the little tyke to trust him! Fiddleford forced an apologetic smile on his face.

“You got nothin’ to apologize for. I was just thinkin’ I’d like to have a word with yer brother when he gets back.”

Stan still looked dubious, so Fiddleford tried another strategy.

“You know, I reckon Ford’s gotta have a spare set of glasses lying around. Do you wanna look for ‘em, borrow ‘em for a while? The prescription should be close enough. I got some old books a’ Tates you might like and it’ll be easier if you can see ‘em.”

Stan twisted his hands together. “I dunno. Ford got pretty mad when I messed with his stuff before.”

“He’ll be fine. Besides, I’m just as adult as him. I think I can make decisions without that worrywart around.”

Just as Fiddleford had thought he would, Stan laughed. “Yeah, he is a worrywart! An’ Ford’s let me borrow his glasses before when we were switchin’ clothes to play a prank on Crampelter. So he can’t get mad now!”

The kid seemed to have immediately forgotten about his upset. That made Fiddleford’s smile come a little easier, a little warmer.

“Well, now that that’s settled, how about we go look for those glasses? And we’ll see if you like any a’ these books. Ya feel like learnin’ about isopods?”

“I have no idea what that is!” Stan whooped.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

 _______________________________________________________________

It was nice, Fiddleford reflected, having a child around. He hadn’t interacted with kids since he’d last seen Tate. How long ago had that been…?

Fiddleford made sandwiches for lunch, and they ate while flipping through picture books. Stan especially liked the one with krill and whale sharks. Then the kid had started telling delightful stories about old ships and adventures on Glass Shard Beach, and who was Fiddleford to interrupt?

By evening Stan had worn himself out, and Fiddleford made him a cup of hot chocolate while he decided what to fix for dinner. Of course Ford had little in the way of food. There was some frozen and tinned stuff, but little in the way of healthy foods. Stanford was terrible at taking care of himself.

Fiddleford glanced out of the window at the ever-darkening sky. Sure, he was still hopping mad at Stanford, but… he couldn’t help but worry. Not when the man had been gone all day in the snow. And when his adorable little brother was getting antsy.

“Fidds, when’s Ford gettin’ back?” Stan whined, right on time. “You said he’d be back soon.”

Fiddleford busied himself with looking in the fridge. There were some assorted vegetables lying around, wrinkled with age but not rotten – he could make fritters. Satisfied, he started gathering the ingredients.

“He’ll get here when he gets here.” Fiddleford rooted around until he found a grater. Stan sulked into his hot chocolate. He certainly had Stanford’s stubbornness! Fiddleford wondered if it was a family trait.

As if on cue, there was a commotion outside the front door. Fiddleford tensed. It swung open, and thankfully a familiar figure trudged inside.

“Ford!” Stan squealed in delight. He scrambled from the kitchen table to throw himself at his brother’s legs. Ford, looking snow-flecked and rather frazzled, patted his head absently.

“Yes, yes, hello Stanley. Fiddleford.”

Fiddleford rolled his eyes and continued making the fritters. Trust Stanford to make a dramatic entrance. Still, he eyed the man as he took off his snow-covered coat and boots. Stanford looked… rough. Not physically, but exhaustion was etched into every line on his face.

Fiddleford tutted and poured the man a coffee. Ford blinked as it was pushed into his hand.

“Oh – thank you, Fiddleford.”

“Didja meet the unicorn?” Stan pulled on his brother’s shirt, his own tiredness evidently forgotten in his excitement. Ford sighed.

“Yes, though she still stubbornly refuses to give me any of her hair. I did manage to obtain the rest of the ingredients though, so as soon as I get the hair I’ll be able to ward the house.”

Unicorn hair? Fiddleford was confused for all of two seconds before he shrugged it off. With Stanford, everything was a surprise. You just learned to roll with it.

And now that Ford was here…

“Stan, wouldja do me a favour?” Fiddleford asked gently. Stan nodded. “There should be a blanket up in the closet upstairs, all red and gold with snowflakes printed on it. It’s my favourite one. Could you go get it for me?”

“Sure.” Stan chirped, darting out of the room. Ford made a sound of confusion.

“I don’t remember that blanket.”

“’Course ya don’t, I made it up as an excuse to get Stan out of the room.” Fiddleford put down the grater and turned to meet Ford’s wary gaze from across the kitchen bench.

“…okay.” Ford said. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Stanford.” Fiddleford fixed him with a serious look. “Yer little brother’s a good kid.”

Ford sighed. “Twin brother. We’re twenty-seven.”

“Well right now he’s just seven. And you’d better not mess ‘im up. I’m watchin’ you.” He added with narrowed eyes.

Ford laughed nervously. “Honestly, what do you take me for?”

“A scientist who’s obsessed with his work and has no idea how to care for a child, ‘specially not a child who’s been abused.”

Ford’s eyes widened. “Abused? I can assure you that Stanley hasn’t been abused.”

“I beg to differ!” Fiddleford said sharply. Ford had the audacity to look insulted. “With what the kid’s been tellin’ me, there’s no way he hasn’t been abused. For god’s sake, he doesn’t have glasses when he needs ‘em! And ‘e flinches when I so much as raise my voice – or my hand, for that matter. E’s got bruises all over, too. What am I supposed to think?”

“Stanley… he refuses to wear his glasses.” Ford said weakly. Fiddleford snorted.

“He’s been usin’ yer spare ones all day. Says ‘e likes bein’ able to see for once. In fact, he basically said yer father refused to buy ‘im glasses after his old pair got broken!”

“He’s been wearing my-?”

“Of course you didn’t notice. Have ya even laid eyes on the kid?”

“Of course I have.”

“So you did notice him wearin’ your spare glasses? No wonder ‘e thinks he’s stupid, he can’t read the words on a page two inches from his nose!”

Ford looked devastated. Right now, Fiddleford didn’t care. “But… no, that’s not right. Stanley always told me he hated wearing them.”

“Even besides that, what about the bruises?” Fiddleford challenged. “The kid’s covered in ‘em. And I’m givin’ you the benefit of the doubt here, because I don’t believe you’re the one who’s been roughin’ him up.”

“I – I-”

“So you’ll forgive me for bein’ a little concerned here! What kinda father would I be if I just sat back and ignored this? Yer brother’s been abused, plain and simple.”

Ford floundered. Fiddleford sighed, a little of his anger evaporating.

“Well... I suppose if ya are really twins, ya probably wouldn’t have had a hand in it. An’ I don’t know the full story. But I do know this.” He leveled a finger at Ford’s face. “That kid trusts ya, more than he probably should. An’ we’re gonna have words if you hurt him, or put him in danger, or do anything that’ll cause him harm. The boy’s suffered enough, I’ll not stand around and let it happen again. Ya understand?”

“Yes.” Stanford said quietly. “Yes, I do.”

“Good. Now that’s outta the way, I gotta ask; why on earth didja not tell me about him before? We went to visit Shermie and his kids during that Christmas break a while back an’ no one mentioned another brother.”

Stanford flushed. “It’s… a family matter.”

Fiddleford leveled a cold stare at him. After a moment Ford sighed and averted his gaze.

“When we were teenagers Stanley sabotaged my one chance at getting into my dream college. He says it was an accident, but… anyway our father kicked him out and I haven’t heard from him since.”

Fiddleford held up a hand. “Hang on. Are my ears decievin’ me? You’re telling me your brother, who got booted outta his own home as a teenager, hasn’t been mistreated? My friend, you’ve got issues.”

Ford opened his mouth to argue, but he was cut off by Stan’s return. Fiddleford turned his attention to the sheepish boy who was currently wringing his hands and wincing at the doorway. “Um, sorry Fidds. I couldn’t find it.”

“That’s alright, I musta left it somewhere else. Now, didja wanna help me with makin’ dinner?”

Stan perked up at Fiddleford’s breezy tone, as if surprised he wasn’t in trouble. “Jeez! Can I?”

“Well sure, why wouldn’t you?” Fiddleford flashed the boy a smile. Stan beamed in return and scrambled to join him in the kitchen.

“Pa says cookin’s for ladies and we shouldn’t do it.”

“Well, your Pa seems to be wrong about a lotta things. Now, you know how ta use a grater? I’ll show you.”

Fiddleford could feel Ford’s gaze searing into his forehead. He flicked his attention up from Stan and cooking, just for a moment, to catch the conflicted stare. Ford looked away when their eyes met and cleared his throat.

“I’ll just – um – put these ingredients away for later.”

“You do that.” Fiddleford agreed coolly.

Stanford walked away, more subdued than usual. The sight of his slumped shoulders was enough to send a spark of guilt through Fiddleford’s chest. He knew he was being too hard on the guy – especially with how wrecked Ford was looking – but his blood boiled for this gap-toothed child with his cute curls and nervous laughs.

Fiddleford couldn’t comprehend the idea of kicking out his son. The idea was as foreign to him as the idea that they should all put sticks of butter under their hats and walk on their hands instead of their feet. Tate was his son – his boy, his child. Fiddleford was sure that there was nothing Tate could do that would made Fiddleford throw him out. The idea of Stanley and Stanford’s father kicking out a helpless teen? No matter what mess that teen had gotten himself into, it shouldn’t have happened. He felt a fierce protectiveness rise up in him.

No, and it most certainly wouldn’t happen again. No kid was getting kicked out on his watch. Nor hurt, even unintentionally by an oblivious scientist of a brother. Fiddleford would make sure of it.

He made sure both the Pines boys were fed before packing up his things with the promise of returning tomorrow. Stanley hugged his legs with a surprisingly strong grip – Fiddleford crouched down to return the hug properly.

“I had a real good time today. We’ll have to do this again some time, huh? Now, you got my phone number? Good. Call me if you need anything. Especially if that brother of yours gets into any trouble, okay?”

“Yes sir!” Stan saluted enthusiastically. Fiddleford laughed and ruffled his hair before glancing up to meet Stanford’s eyes. Ford was hovering in the doorway, seemingly unsure of whether to join them.

Fiddleford took pity on him and offered his old friend a smile. “I’ll see ya later, Stanford. Take care of ya brother.”

Ford smiled back nervously. And maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be okay.

 _______________________________________________________________

Stanford couldn’t smother the huge yawns that bubbled out of him. Curse this sleep deprivation! It made everything harder than it had to be. His sentences kept being interrupted by his own body’s involuntary reflexes.

Stanley followed him like a baby duck – a rather apt description, actually – while Ford bustled around the house. Ford sighed in annoyance when he very nearly tripped over his brother yet again, upon doubling back to retrieve a piece of equipment he’d forgotten.

“Stanley, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

Stan glanced away and rubbed his arm. “Well, I guess. But every time I go to sleep I get these weird dreams. I dunno, I was kinda hoping I could hang out with you?”

Dreams – dammit, Ford had forgotten to warn his brother! He dropped down to be at eye-level with Stan, who blinked at the sudden movement.

“Uh, what-?”

“You’re having odd dreams, correct?” Stan nodded so Ford continued. “Rest assured, they won’t be able to harm you, so long as you never make a deal. If you come across anything triangular or yellow while in a dream you must not talk to it. It will talk to you and try to be your friend. Don’t trust anyone with yellow eyes, even if – no, especially if that person is me. Don’t talk to it and never shake its hand. Do you understand?”

“Um, yeah, but why? This is all soundin’ like Ma’s predictions.” Stan perked up. “Can you tell the future too? Does that mean I can as well?”

Ford sighed. “No, I can’t tell the future.”

“…can you make the weird dreams go away?” Stan questioned hesitantly.

“Yes, when I manage to get that unicorn hair – though I fear it may be a hopeless endeavor.” The weight of the day’s events – how could he ever hope to be pure of heart with all the wrong he had done? – sat heavily on his shoulders. Ford lifted a hand to rub at his forehead. “Go to bed, Stanley, and remember what I said about people with yellow eyes.”

“Yeah, yeah, never make a deal, I get it.” Stan paused, eyes flickering to the journal resting in Ford’s pocket and lighting up. “Can you tell me some more stories from your book before bed? Yesterday we got to the hidey-thing!”

“I don’t have time to read you stories, I have important work to do.”

Stan pouted. He looked up at Ford with those big brown eyes that were bigger than usual. It was then that Ford noticed the glasses – yes, Fiddleford had mentioned them, hadn’t he? Stan was wearing Ford’s spare glasses and they threatened to slip down his nose at every movement, far too big for him. They also had the added benefit of making him look very, very cute.

“How about I lend you my journal?” Ford relented. “You can read it by yourself before you go to sleep. I can tell you other stories later.”

Stan hesitated. “…yeah? I can borrow it?”

“So long as you don’t damage it, you may.” Ford dropped the book in his brother’s hands and turned to gather up an armful of equipment. “Go along now.”

Stanley scurried off to read, and Ford descended into the basement where his work waited.

When he emerged at seven thirty the next morning, Stan was gone.

[sleekervae]

The Neighbour [0.2]

Masterlist

Eva clung especially tightly to Pluto as she followed Remington back to the front gate, her cheeks burning red hot with humiliation. It didn't help either that this kid happened to be wickedly handsome and sans shirt all the while.

Remington wasn't so bothered by the incident, worse case scenario he could convince the guys to order a pizza like he was craving. Nonetheless, he didn't blame Eva; he tried to put that across by keeping the friendly smile on his face and putting her at ease.

"You know, it's not a big deal -- with the food and everything," he assured her, "We'll just order a pizza or something,"

Eva shrugged, "I know. It's just -- you know, I guess this isn't how I expected everything was going to go," she said, "Moving is tough enough with everything going on, and now it seems I got to get a play cage for this little monster,"

Remington patted the top of Pluto's head, "He's not so bad, just a little hungry. Cute little guy, aren't ya?" The pale tabby closed his eyes and rubbed his scruffy head against his palm.

Eva smiled a little, "He likes you. You should be honored, he doesn't warm up to strangers so easily,"

"Well of course he likes me. We have the same hair colour," Remington grinned, subconsciously running a hand through his black and blonde hair.

"You could be twins," Eva chuckled sardonically.

Remington opened the gate for her, "So... do you like the neighbourhood?" he asked.

"It's nice so far," Eva nodded, "I'm still unpacking all my boxes and shit so I haven't really had the opportunity to explore. And given the circumstances and... I -- I forgot my face mask too, fuck,"

Remington shrugged, swallowing the ball of nerves creeping up his throat, "You look pretty healthy to me," he said.

Eva smiled politely, hoping she could attribute the flush in her cheeks to the heat. There was something about him, he was familiar to her. She didn't come right out and say it, perhaps he just had one of those faces one sees and recognizes from somewhere else.

"Well, I should get going. And tell those guys I'm sorry again," she said, walking backwards to the sidewalk.

Remington simply shook his head, "Honestly, don't even give a second thought. Welcome to the neighbourhood, Eva"

"Thank you, Remington,"

There was something about the way his name rolled off of her tongue that sounded so sweet to him. He continued to stand at the gate and watched the pretty young girl cross the street and back into the apartment courtyard. Eva turned and took one last fleeting glance, a zing of electricity zipping down her spine when she saw Remington was still standing there.

Slamming the door to her apartment, she placed Pluto back on the floor, washed her hands thoroughly, and went back to her kitchen to continue with her baking exploits. She tied an apron around her waist, pulled out her ingredients and tried to find a good recipe on her phone. She also made sure to close the window.

She was unbothered when Pluto jumped onto the counter and took a seat, staring at his owner curiously. Eva stared at him just as intently, having half the mind to shoo him off the countertop. He seemed to almost be smiling at her.

"And what are you looking at, sausage thief?"

Some days passed; days filled with doing absolutely nothing. If everything was normal, Palaye Royale would have been smack in the middle of their European tour. Instead, Remington was sitting in his room, bored out of his mind as he continued to press the buttons on his xbox controller. He had played this game so many times, it was too easy. The challenge was gone.

Today was Friday, another Friday that was filled with perpetual boredom and misery. Riding around on his scooter wasn't fun, video games weren't fun, even trying to annoy Emerson wasn't as fun. There was little drive for him to do the bare minimum; it was just an achievement alone that he forced himself to shower this morning.

Lying back on his bed, he stared up at the empty ceiling, closing his eyes and trying to go back to sleep. Maybe the time would go faster if he slept more, like a hibernating bear? However, the notion of sleep was swiftly yanked away when he heard the doorbell ring.

He groaned audibly and turned over, his dark brown eyes still shut tight, "Emerson! Someone's at the door!" he called. There was no response, not even the shuffling echo of feet. Was Emerson even home? Maybe he'd ordered something off Amazon again and conveniently forgot to tell Remington while he was out.

If it was a package and he'd missed it, he didn't want to hear Emerson going off about having to drag himself down to the post office to sign for it -- in a pandemic no less. A month in and this pandemic was already getting to be old news.

Nevertheless, Remington pulled himself out of bed and jogged downstairs, hoping the Amazon guy hadn't left yet. He didn't take into account that he was only in his indigo dotted shorts and nothing else, throwing open the door without a care. However, he was surprised to see a plastic bag at his feet, at the gate was Eva.

Eva had just pulled back the latch to the gate when she heard the door open, and she was no doubt taken aback to see Remington standing there... again without a shirt. He looked weary and tired, the complete opposite to Eva's glowing face and yellow summer dress.

"You're not the Amazon guy," Remington spoke candidly.

Eva cocked her head, "Uh, no. Afraid not," she shrugged, "You expecting a package?"

"No," Reming shook his head, "I mean, my brother might be, but he's not home and I have no... um, nevermind. What brings you over here?" he leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms, trying to collect himself a bit more.

Eva pointed to the bag at his feet, "I made some bread. The recipe made three loaves and I don't need that many carbs," she chuckled awkwardly, "I thought maybe you guys might like one?"

"Oh," Remington picked up the bag and pulled back the plastic, finding a round, crisp loaf of bread inside, probably a bit bigger than Mishka, "That's very nice of you,"

"I just felt bad about the other day --"

"I told you, it's no big deal,"

"I know," Eva nodded, scratching at the skin behind her ear, "I ... jeez. Just being neighbourly, I guess?"

"I'm the one who should be fucking neighbourly," Remington grinned, "You want to come in for a drink or something? ... Or maybe we should sit on the lawn instead? That's social distancing, right?"

Eva smiled sheepishly but shook her head, "I actually have to stop by my storage unit and pick up the rest of my things. I'm just looking for a Waive,"

"You don't have a car?" he asked.

"Well, it was either the apartment or the car, and I figure I can survive off public transit for the next little while," she replied.

It was then a truly incredible idea entered Remington's head, "... I can drive you over, if you want," he said.

Eva smiled graciously, "Oh no, that's okay. There's one up four blocks from here, and I don't want to be a bother," she replied.

"It's no bother at all," Remington grinned, "As long as I'm back in time for my set schedule of nothing, followed by nothing, and then more nothing," hey, it was at least a reason for him to get out of the house.

Eva crossed her left leg behind her right, clearly a little unsure. It wasn't advisable to get into a car with a stranger when circumstances were normal, and now couldn't have been an exception.

"I don't know, Remington,"

He could see the apprehension spread over her delicate face, and he didn't blame her for being on the edge. He wasn't even sure if she should've even been in his backyard the other day. Then again, he knew he was being safe, and as far as he saw Eva never went anywhere, or had anybody over.

"I get it if you're uncomfortable," he told her, "But I don't go anywhere. And the only people I ever really see are the people you met the other day. That's it. I just... I wanna' do everything right so we can go back to normal as soon as we can. And you seem like a nice girl and I would hate to know you're having to suck up quarantine by yourself,"

Eva took a minute to think it over. She glanced down the street, maybe thinking she could catch sight of the shared car her map was telling her was within a four-block radius. Then again, she wasn't all that comfortable having to use a car-sharing service since the pandemic started, but she couldn't take her stuff on the bus and she couldn't afford Uber rates. Besides, Remington was only one guy...

"... If you don't mind," she said finally, "Maybe we can just leave the windows down and have our masks on?

Remington tried to hold back the big grin that wanted to explode over his lips, "It's seventy-five degrees out, you bet your ass I'm gonna' have the windows down," he said, "I'll just go throw on a shirt,"

"Do you have a habit of going without a shirt?" she asked.

Remington smirked, "Only on Wednesdays... and when beautiful women happen to be around,"

Eva rolled her eyes, but she was smiling nonetheless. She actually found him to be quite charming, "Well, it's not Wednesday," she took a brief look around, "And there are no pretty girls here,"

"Oh, come on, don't sell yourself short, Eva," he winked coyly as he rewrapped the bread in the plastic, "Just outta' curiosity, is this --?"

"Sourdough," Eva nodded shyly.

"What is up with this sourdough fad?" he asked.

"I don't know," she threw her arms out, "I just wanted to fit in and be cool, I guess,"

"You named your cat after an Edgar Allan Poe book, you're already cool,"

Eva waited patiently outside as Remington dashed into his room. However, he stopped short when he found a post-it note was stuck to his door. He must've blown past it when he went to answer downstairs. It was notably written in Emerson's chicken scratch and he read it to himself.

"Remington, I'm off with Shy to the beach. Text me if you want to cook or do take out, unless of course I come home before you open your door... and you won't find this note," he glowered at the dark blue ink, "Seriously?"

About an hour later, having collected the rest of her boxes from storage, Remington followed Eva up three flights of stairs to her little corner apartment. Eva had a bit of a rough time trying to put the key in the lock without dropping her box, but she was finally able to get the door open and push her way inside. Pluto was in his bed, none too bothered by his owner's presence. It was only when he smelled the unfamiliar scent of men's soap and hair product that he turned his head to Remington.

He was quick to leap up and come trotting over, nearly scaring Remington out of his skin when he started rubbing up against his leg, "What the --? Oh, hi Pluto," he grinned at the pale and black-striped tabby.

Eva huffed at her cat, setting down her box and going to scoop him up, "Pluto! Let him in before you start whoring," He gave a yrowl of protest before he was dropped back into his bed.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"It's no problem," Remington wasn't shy about having a few glances around her small studio space. It was cozy, yet not fully furnished as the walls were still bare and her shelves were empty. On the right hand side, two perpendicular walls separated the kitchen space from the bedroom (it was more like a bed cubby), and on the other side she had a small couch with a glass coffee table, and beside that a desk that prescribed the definition of 'messy'. Looking out through a sliding door, Eva had a small balcony with two chairs and small dining table -- where she had a perfect view of his house.

"Please forgive the mess, too. I'm shit at organizing," Eva said, having now pulled down her blue medical mask so it rested under her chin. Remington did the same.

"It's definitely a lot cleaner than my place," he said, still gripping tightly the cardboard box, "Where would you like this?"

Eva set down her box on the kitchen counter, took a glance at the writing at the side before directing him, "Just down by the bookcase, is fine," and she started pulling apart her own box.

Remington set down his box and opened it as well, astonished and impressed to see rows of vinyls lined up and packed tightly. She had music that ranged from Billie Holiday to Harry Styles; some sleeves more worn down than others. Unable to help himself, Remington had a flip through her music, you could always best judge somebody by what they threw on the turntable. Remington's smile grew when he found his own record, Boom Boom Room Side A.

"You have good taste," he said, turning and holding up the vinyl.

Eva turned from her box full of novels, a tinge of red spreading over her cheeks when she saw him crouched over her music and holding a record. But when she realized the worn down sleeve was for Palaye Royale, it suddenly clicked in her mind where she'd seen Remington from. A small warmth flooded through her gut.

"I knew you looked familiar," she blushed, "Your hair's different, that's why I didn't recognize you,"

"I take it this is your only record of ours?" he smirked.

Eva shrugged, "It was a birthday present. I liked a lot of what I heard, though," she ruffled a hand through her short hair, "There was one song I heard and I just fucking loved it. It went something like... oh my gosh, like um..." she started humming the chorus to something that sounded like Mr. Doctor Man.

The melody was instantly recognizable to Remington, but he let her carry on longer than necessary to watch her, the giggle she let out while she hummed simply delicious. He could never sing that song the same way again after hearing that.

"I think that's supposed to be Mr. Doctor Man," he chuckled once she had stopped giggling.

Eva pointed a finger at him, "That's it! I loved it because it sounded like The Killers!" Eva couldn't believe she just hummed that song to Remington fucking Leith. She wasn't sure why she had let Palaye Royale fall off her radar, having remembered how much fun she had jamming to that vinyl in her old place. And the voice on Remington was so sexy, she couldn't help but be so enthralled by those raspy high and low notes he would hit.

"That's probably one of the best comparisons I've had, yet," he told her, "They also happen to originate from Vegas,"

Her cheeks were still burning but she lifted her eyes slowly back to his and gave a tentative smile, "What is it with all you cool rock bands coming out of Las Vegas?"

"Like they say; Vegas is built on hopes, dreams, and crazy people," he gave her a wide, toothy grin just to make his point.

"Who said that?" Eva asked.

"I don't know, but it makes a fuck ton of a sense," Remington replied, "Would you like me to put these in the shelf?" he pointed to the bookcase.

Eva shook her head, "No, you don't have to do that. You didn't even have to help me haul all this shit upstairs," she said.

"And leave a lovely lady to break her back on her own? My own mother would be so ashamed of me," he scoffed back, waving his hand at her, "And besides, as your new friend I insist on helping you out,"

Eva cocked her head, "So, you and I went from acquaintances to friends all within an hour and some?"

"Well, if you had hummed my song earlier, we would've been friends before Pluto even stole the sausage," Remington grinned, then glancing at the tabby, "No hard feelings, Pluto," The cat simply stared back at him.

He glanced back at Eva, "... Why does he keep staring at me?" he whispered.

Eva smirked, "He's a very personable cat. Either that, or he wants your shoes,"

"So, if I leave my sneakers on the stairs of my house, he'll come over and actually make a meal out of them?" he asked.

"I've lost so many shoes to this cat, I swear I have to keep them locked up in my closet," she replied.

Remington glanced at the cat again, narrowing his eyes as though to mockingly challenge the feline, whispering menacingly "I got my eye on you, bitch,"

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Share a Lair 03 || Somebunny’s in the Holiday Spirit

Charlotte had gifts, decorations, and stockings in the trunk of her car. She pulled into the driveway near the tower entrance and texted Henry to meet her outside and help her with boxes. Max had already sent an email to their lab that under no circumstances were they to do anything “Chrismasy” in the shared space.

After being approved as a guest, Charlotte tried to be mindful of the roommate’s wishes. Henry and Jasper were on the “we pay rent here too” side of the issue. Neither of them actually DID pay rent, really. Jasper’s checks came from Junk N Stuff, and didn’t go into this place ever, at all. Meanwhile Charlotte received 2 checks - one from Junk N Stuff and one from S.A.L. Inc… because whenever she worked from the lab in the shared lair, she got a check for that. Share a Lair was a little bit more organized than the Man Cave. Henry was making Kid Danger money, but his rent was paid in successful missions by S.A.L. Inc.

Share A Lair was to help heroes get out on their own, so as long as they were working, they had a place to stay, basically for free. If they worked like Max did… nearly everything was free. Max hadn’t had to foot a bill of any sort since he was there.

Charlotte tried to explain to Henry that if he had a different roommate, some of their amenities might skip at times. In essence, to be grateful that Max Thunderman was his roommate, because Max always had high end assignments and those meant more resources in the lair and less that Henry had to contribute to the lair.

The least they could do was respect his wishes about shared space. So, she kept the decorations limited to the tower and Henry’s lab. But, she also didn’t want to leave him out completely. After everything was set up, she went to the shared space with one of her hand made Christmas stockings and a gift, which she wrapped and labeled “From Your Lairmates,” then simply left outside of the door to his section of the house. She turned around and almost bumped into Max, but he stopped her with his hands on her arms and she yelped in surprise. He smiled and let go of her. “What are you doing sneaking around my lair?” He wasn’t in his uniform, but she could tell that he had been working. He had a certain “after mission” look to him. Kinda sweaty and tired, but skin still glowing and hair probably made perfect again immediately following battle.

She huffed out a breath and said, “I was leaving your stocking and present that we got you.”

“We, or you?” He wondered, reaching down on the floor for the items.

“I mean, I’m the one who actually physically knitted and filled the stocking and shopped for and wrapped the gift, but it’s from the three of us.”

“You’re the only one who works, of the three,” he noted. She was going to debate that, but he had a point, and he started talking again anyway, “Well, I’m not really a Christmas kinda guy. I do stuff with my family, for their benefit, and that’s about it, but thanks anyway.” He tried to hand her back the gifts, but she stepped back to avoid them.

“You touched it last. Yours now,” she said and headed back for the tower. Max rolled his eyes, sighed and watched her leave. He went into his chambers, secretly giddy and curious what she’d gotten him. He did a little dance as soon as she was out of sight and rocked his head from side to side in excitement.

First off, inside of the stocking were some very nice mini hair supplies - organic stuff with honey, lavender and vanilla. She complimented his hair a few times and he noticed that she had began following all of his social media platforms and often liked photos where he knew that his swoosh was IT.  

Then, there were a few gadgets that he wasn’t familiar with and he wondered if she maybe made them herself. 1. A flexible compact mirror that could attach to your hand to be held in your palm without actually holding it - it bent with the movements of his hand, but returned to a flat surface when he looked at himself again. 2.  A device that claimed to be a patch that helped glands with odor… He didn’t know how he felt about THAT, but he was a heavy sweater and tended to get smelly easily when he had to fight, so she’d probably gotten a whiff of that a time or two in the past few weeks. That troubled him. He’d have to be sure to be fresh and clean whenever he saw her next. In fact, he sniffed his arm pit and grunted. WHY? Maybe it WAS his glands. 3. A safety detector. This one claimed to be able to program up to a dozen people’s vitals into it and always be able to check and see that they were okay. He smiled. That could be a HUGE comfort while he was away on missions… But also… She had treats in there! He effing LOVED treats.

Fudge square Rudolph, snowflake shaped peppermint bark, large snowman sugar cookie, chocolate Black Santa cupcake… They were goofy, but wound up being super delicious. He felt bad, not because he stuffed his face and went into the kitchen after his shower to gorge himself on every treat that he could find in the place.. He KNEW that she’d been the one to do all of this and he hadn’t even considered getting any of them anything…

.

Max rushed into his parents’ house and jetted by Phoebe and their parents on the couch.

“Well, hello to you too!” Phoebe teased.

“Can it, Pheebs. I’ve gotta find a Christmas present for my… roommate’s assistant…” he heard himself as he said it and knew it sounded silly. He went into the lair in the basement, anyway. Phoebe followed.

“So… finally ready to admit that you’ve got a crush on Charlotte?” She teased.

“What? Never. I’m just pressed for time and was given a gift last night.”

“What was the gift?” Phoebe wondered.

“I don’t know, Phoebe. Christmas hasn’t happened yet.” He opened a vault and grabbed out a bunny, “Oh! What about this? A woman would like this, right?”

“A stuffed bunny? I guess. Not necessarily for Christmas, but…”

“This isn’t a stuffed bunny. Know what, I don’t need your help. You don’t even know her.”

“Excuse me? We met for coffee three times since I saw her at your place.”

He set the bunny down and tried to look casual. “She say anything about me?”

“That you’re a cocky know-it-all.” He frowned and picked the bunny back up, “I don’t have time for this. I need to make adjustments on this thing and make it more suitable for her.”

“Good luck with your crush!” She cheered as he made his exit.

“Good luck with your pores!” He called back.

She gasped and touched her face, then said, “He’s psyching you out. Your pores are excellent.”

.

This was Henry’s first Christmas out of his parents’ house. The tree that he and Jasper put up and decorated had only a few gifts under them that they opened on Christmas morning. The three friends were opening things whenever Charlotte heard the call beep from the two way lab screen and went to answer it.

Max was there, with bedhead… though she couldn’t tell if that was natural or forced. Still extremely cute, though. “Merry Christmas, Max!” She cheered. He fought a smile. She was SO STINKIN’ CUTE in an elf suit onesie, with a hat and brown elf ears, holiday paint on her face, and red and green glitter in her hair. She watched him curiously as he stared at her, then when her smile began to awkwardly fade, he remembered where he was.

“Hey. I’m gonna send your gift through the chute,” he said.

“Oh, you didn’t have to rush some gift. We didn’t get you something so that you could get us something.”

“I didn’t get “us” something, I’m giving you something. It’s coming through the chute,” he repeated and pressed the button. Charlotte opened the chute and it was a large plastic chest with padding and a wrapped present inside of it. She opened the chest and got the box out. “Wanna open at the same time?” Max wondered.

She looked up and saw that he had the present that she left for him. She was surprised that he hadn’t opened it yet and just hoped that whatever he got her wasn’t going to put what she got him to shame. She nodded and they both tore into their presents, like little kids, smiling and then taking a moment to examine what they were looking at. “OH MY GOD!” She squealed. “Is this one of your ingenious gadgets?” she wondered.

Henry and Jasper came over to investigate as Max proudly answered, “Yeah. It’s not exactly new, but I thought that you could appreciate it. I call it the Productivity Pet. It’s basically like a little minion, to help you complete your tasks, since you’re the only person over there that ever actually does any work.”

Henry scoffed, “I do work! I do superhero work!” He said.

He was ignored. “Awww, Thanks, Max! Well… Hopefully, you don’t hate what I got you, then. You’re not very easy to shop for, because as far as I know, you either have or create everything that you could possibly need! But, I didn’t find any indication that you had one of these bad boys.”

“It looks like a mini food replicator?” He tried guessing.

“Accurate!” she cheered, “Well, sort of. It’s a portable auto snacker with about a thousand desserts programmed into it. I heard you liked sweets.”

“Where’d you hear that?” Max asked, only slightly distracted from the fact that he was about to eat about 50 lbs of sweets from that thing, “And also, did you use this to make the desserts that were in my stocking?”

“I didn’t, but you can bet that I programmed the recipes into it.”

He hugged it to his chest, “I’m not sure why I HAVEN’T made myself one of these!”

“Happy Christmas, Max!” Jasper cheered.

Max winced a smile and said, “You too.”

Charlotte picked up her Productivity Pet, which was in the form of a brown bunny with a puffy tail and grabbed the instructions. She forgot to shut off the screen, mainly because Max usually did that, and so he watched her go with her friends and study her gift. He heard Henry ask her, “Why didn’t he get US a present?”

“You’ll have to ask him,” she said, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Max annoyed her at times, being cocky and kinda rude, but she now thought that there was someone softer in there. She had no idea that he was having trouble leaving the screen, because he could still see her admiring her gift across the room.

.

Charlotte had gotten jewelry from Jasper, some e book collections from Henry, a ton of great stuff from her family, a weird hat from Schwoz, and a photo of Ray from Ray. The only thing that she was actively using was the Productivity Pet, which she had began calling Penelope. She also had given her bunny clothes that she made, programmed a ton of stuff into her database and carried her around in a small pet carrier. Henry and Jasper made fun of her for it, but this bunny was one of the best things to ever happen to her. She was basically a little smart device that looked like a bunny! And Charlotte was able to put her in little flower crowns and do numerous things with her. She was a diffuser, an ambient light, a calendar, could make calls, download media - Charlotte had her reading the books that Henry bought her as she worked. She could access all of Charlotte’s social media, AND she was a projector, so Charlotte could use her in a similar fashion as the Whiz Watch.

She was on Henry’s couch with Penelope on her lap, reading her a story, while she worked on some homework for one of her courses and waited on Henry to return from an assignment when she heard moving around in Max’s lab. They must’ve left the comm open on the 2 way caller.

Who knows how much power was probably wasted? She went to turn it off, with her bunny tucked cozily beneath her arm like a pillow, and saw that Max had two bunnies of his own, moving around in the lab. That probably was NOT safe. She was going to press the emergency button to alert him, but he came in before she could and fussed, “Colosso! Balfour! What are you two doing here?”

“What did you do with Bunny Clyde?” One of the rabbits asked.

“Ugh. I gave her away. She was just sitting in a vault anyway.”

“You think I hadn’t been in and out of that vault?” The one called Colosso asked.

“You broke up a happy home!” The one called Balfour fussed.

“This is SO weird.” Charlotte said, and they turned to look at her.

“Oh God, "Max said.

"Bunny Clyde!” The rabbits cheered.

“Sorry. Ignore this! I mean, ignore what? There are no bunnies!” Max said and turned off the screen.

“And it got weirder.” She pressed her luck and went to his lab, where he was vigorously fussing with two rabbits while she waited for access. Nobody just walked in there. What if there were protocols in place? He sighed and granted her entry.

“Hey.. How many of these do you have?” She wondered.

“We are not the same!” Colosso said, indignantly. “But, she is the only lady bunny that I ever get to see.”

“She’s not REAL, Dr. Colosso!” Max said, exhausted.

“Wait.. these are REAL RABBITS???” Charlotte asked, wide eyes and super intrigued. “Did you TEACH them to talk, or was a device involved?”

God, he wished he could take credit for this. But, he couldn’t, and anyways, Balfour said, “We were humans. We’re now imprisoned in bunny bodies by The Thundermans and this one, the WORSE Thunderman of all, took away our Bunny Clyde to give to his stupid new crush."

"Hey!” Charlotte and Max both said. But next she said, “I’m not stupid,” while Max had said, “She’s not my crush!” Then they looked at each other and said, “Or what he/she said."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The LEAST you could do is set up playdates!” Colosso insisted.

“Okay… I guess my fake bunny could have playdates with your real bunnies that are actually villains is bunny body prisons. Starting now. I need… a strong tea.” She handed Penelope to Max and left the lab.

“Ugh. Look what you’ve done. She thinks we’re weirdos!” Max complained.

“Who needs her?” Colosso asked. Max just fumed and sat Penelope down on the table. She was still reading Charlotte’s story.

Whenever Charlotte came back to get her, Max explained, “He gets lonely and used to have stuffed animal friends sometimes. I made her to help him out, but whenever he got his son, I figured that he didn’t need her anymore.”

“I understand if you need to keep her,” she lied.

“No. She’s yours now…”

“Oh thank God, she is literally the best gift that I’ve ever gotten!” She cheered, accepting her back. He smiled brightly. That was literally the best compliment that he had ever gotten. I think I’m starting to like this girl, he thought. It sounded vaguely familiar in his mind. Like he’d felt this way before. Oh shit. This was how he felt when he first really saw Allison. He liked Charlotte. Ugh. He did have a crush. He had just admitted it to himself. Phoebe was right. He watched Charlotte smiling at her bunny as she held a paw up and waved it at Max on her way out. Oh well, he thought, with a goofy grin as he waved back to a robot bunny.

[you-a-southpaw-doll]

Deaf ~ A Max (The Resident) One-Shot

Summary: Max gets a new tenant...and maybe a new family? With all the silence, will Leigh be able to draw Max outta the walls and into her life? 

Warning(s): Angst. Happy ending. Single mother OFC. Mentions of cheating. Bisexual OFC. Hearing issues. Deaf infant. Implied PTSD. Implied childhood trauma. Panic attack. Self-harm. First aid. Non-canon. OOC Max. Slight voyeuristic tendencies. OFC’s P.O.V. Soft Max. Hurt Max. Scared Max. Touch-starved Max. Max just needs some love.

Author’s Note(s): So, I watched The Resident (2011) a couple nights ago, and got this idea. I don’t do rape, so I changed Max’s character so he never goes that far. I also decided to do this from the OFC’s P.O.V. and show a different side of Max, one that would hopefully, kinda sorta, explain why Max seeks the refuge the walls give him. For people that suffer from PTSD, and other mental illnesses, everyone finds their own way of coping with their struggles. I’m not in any way condoning what Canon Max did. I just wanted to try and a different, less creepy, softer side. Also, in this story, Max is not a rapist, nor is he a murderer. And...I wanted a happy ending for Max, so that’s what I gave him.

Word Count: 7,982 words.

Relationship(s): Max x Leigh Sullivan (OFC) [romantic]. 

Characters: Max. Leigh Sullivan (OFC). Maxwell Dean Sullivan (OMC). Chris Sullivan (OMC). 

Taglist: @negans-network @prettyboynegan @mychemicalimagines @spnnnxangelsx @rockinkel21 @misskittycat02 @band--psycho @ofxallxwexlost @iron-halt @thamberlinawrites @ravenwings73 @lettherebepink @stoneyggirl @sebs-padawan

_______________________________________________________________________

Story Time:

Leigh’s P.O.V. ~

It’s been two weeks since I moved to New York City to start my new job at the museum and try to get on with one of the numerous publishing houses for my next books. Two weeks of sleeping in a cheap hotel room. Two nights of frantically searching for a somewhat cheap apartment that would be big ‘nough.

Two weeks of missing having his little body snuggled up next to me. Two weeks worth of triple FaceTime calls to my brother back in San Deigo just to see his cute little face. Two weeks of missing my baby boy. Two weeks of missing my adopted, six-month-old son, Maxwell. Two weeks of being completely alone in a new place for the first time in years.

It’s been two days since I saw that flyer pinned up on the hospital bulletin board after passing out from dehydration. Two days since I went to that old building that’s close to the huge bridge stretching out over the river. Two days since I saw the fancy apartment still being renovated that was clearly well outta my price range.

Two days since I met him and saw that beautiful dimpled smile hiding under the construction mask. Two days since I felt my heart flutter for the time in nearly half a year. Two days since that deep, slower than molasses but sweeter than honey voice told me it was mine for only $3,800 a month, minus utilities. 

It’s been two hours since he, my new landlord left my apartment after sitting down to enjoy a dinner of takeout from the nearby Chinese restaurant once we’d finished moving my meager belongings in. Two hours since he and I opened up a little bit to each other, getting to know the other person. 

It’s been two hours and I still haven’t stopped smiling. 

Leaning back in my chair, I slide my iPhone outta the pocket of my men’s holey, Skinny Flex American Eagle dark blue jeans. Holding my thumb down on the button so it recognizes my thumbprint, I wait for it to unlock before I click on the FaceTime app and call my brother. I take a deep breath, relaxing, as I wait for him to answer. 

Only...he doesn’t. Instead of my slightly younger brother answering, I get the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. The moment I see my son’s face fill the screen, I tear up and smile. 

“Hey, baby boy! You playing with Uncle Chris’s phone?” I coo in a soft voice.

I don’t get an actual response, but that’s ok. My son Max is deaf. He was born that way and the doctors said it’d be a few more months before we could even try to get him fitted for hearing aids. The said it was a side effect from where his birth mother had been using hard drugs for 99% of the pregnancy, even though I tried to get her help.

Max makes a bunch of soft, cooing noises as he holds the phone close. I realize that he hasn’t noticed that I’m the phone yet. Especially once I see his gums get closer to the camera. I laugh, knowing he’s trying to gnaw on the rounded corner of my brother’s iPhone. Hearing movement on the other end, I watch as the phone jostles, and a loud thunk echos to my end. 

A moment later, two small, chubby hands grasp the phone and my son’s face fills the screen once more. I watch as his eyes widen and he lets out a high pitch squeal, giggling, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Max has finally noticed that I’m on the phone. Smiling, I wave to him and blow him kisses.

It just makes him squeal more, louder, and happier. I giggle and happily listens to his giggles, squeals, and babbles. After nearly 15 minutes of listening to him, and slouching in my chair, the phone jostles once more and I hear Max let out a whine and hear him sniffling, knowing his ‘bout to start crying. 

A second later, my brother’s face fills my phone’s screen and his eyes widen too, making him chuckle.

“Hey, sis. Sorry. Didn’t realize you were on the phone. I guess Max got ahold of mine when I went to fix him a bottle and a small jar of that mushy baby food you picked up for him before you left.” He says.

I smile. “Nah. Max didn’t call me. I called. He answered. Took him a hot minute to realize I was on the phone. Then he started telling me ‘bout the stuff y’all did today. Sounds like a productive day.”

Chris laughs and I watch as he gets settled on the couch in his apartment, holding my son in his lap, keeping him to where he can still see me on the phone.

“Oh yeah.” He chuckles. “Real productive. 3 naps, 6 poopy diapers, and a few bottles.” 

I giggle. “Sounds like it.”

He chuckles more and shakes his head. “Anyway. How’s the city? D’you switch motel rooms? That don’t look like the one you’ve been staying in.”

I grin from ear to ear. “That’s actually why I called you. I found a place. By the river and train tracks.”

“Yea? That’s great! You all moved in?”

“For the most part. All that’s missing is little man. Oh. And the actual furniture. I was thinking...think you and Max could be out here tomorrow?”

“Uh...yea. I still got 3 more weeks’ worth of vacation time saved up at work. Give me a sec to pull up flights and shit.”

I smile and nod, waiting as Chris sets his phone down. After listening to some shuffling and the protests of my son, my brother and my son’s faces are visible once more. I help guide my brother through the process of looking for, booking, and getting two cheap plane tickets. I tell him my card info so he can type it in.

“Alright, sis. It looks like we’ll be flying out ‘round noon our time. And, after a 5 and a half flight, we should be to the city by dinnertime. How’s that?” Chris double checks.

“Sounds fuckin’ good to me! I can’t wait. I’ll meet y’all there!” I grin and cover my mouth as I yawn.

Chris chuckles. “Good. Looks like you need to get to bed. It’s what, 11 there?”

I nod. “Yea...I think so. It’s been a long day.”

“I can tell. Well, get some sleep. We’ll be there tomorrow.”

“I can’t wait to see y’all. It’s been a long two weeks.”

“I bet. I honestly don’t see how you’ve been a single mom for the last 6 months. I’ve been watching this little monster for 2 weeks and I swear, I’m never having my own kids.”

I laugh. “Shut up! He’s not that bad. He just misses his mommy. And, you never wanted your own kids. You’ve always been too scared. Couldn’t even sit down if there was a kid in the room.”

“Hey! I just didn’t want to risk accidentally sitting on them and squishing them!” 

I giggle as my brother grins. “I know, bro. I’m just giving you shit.”

“Yea. Just like your son’s been doing all day.”

I laugh, yawning again. “Shouldn’t have given him the sweet potato mush. I warned you.”

He rolls his eyes, chuckling. “Whatever.”

“I am proud of you, bro. You’ve done so well with him, and I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me. I know it’s been a long couple of months, not just the two weeks I’ve been out here.”

“I just wanna see you happy again, sis, and I’m always here for you. That’s why I’m more than willing to help you.”

“I know. And it means the world. Give him kisses for me and tap his little tummy twice to tell him I love him?”

Chris smiles. “I will. Be careful, yeah? We’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll try. Love you.”

“Yea. Ok. I know.”

He grins and waves, getting Max to copy him as he hangs up the call. I smile to myself. My brother’s never been one to say “I love you” to someone. He’s been like that since we were little when he was 5 and I was 6. So, I don’t take it personally when he just responds as he does. I know he still loves me. 

He’s been there for me, just like I’ve always been there for him. After my last relationship hit the fan and I caught my fiancé cheating on me with a man and said she no longer felt like being a mom in a same-sex relationship, just a few weeks before Max was born and we were supposed to gain custody of him, Chris offered to let me move in with him once Max was born. 

So, that’s what we did. Max and I left Kentucky where I’d been living all through and well after college and moved to San Diego to live with my brother. The 5.5 months we were there, I looked ‘round for a job that I could use my history degree in, while also working on my last novel. After getting an offer from a museum in New York, I broke the news to Chris that Max and I would be moving to the city.

He’d been shocked at first since we were both from a small town in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and I’d sworn I’d never live in a big city. ‘Specially one in the North since it got too cold in the winter and I’d always been made fun of for my strong Southern accent. I’d explained to him that I had to do what was best for Max, that I had a son to think ‘bout now.

He’d understood after that and was willing to watch Max while I traveled back across the country to a new place, to look for a good living arrangement, and get settled in for my new job. He told me that once I got settled, he’d bring Max out and then help me get all moved in and everything. Which is what led us to tonight. 

After hanging up with my brother and my son, I plug my phone up, set a few alarms, and curl up in the chair to try and get some sleep, knowing that tomorrow’s gonna be an even bigger day. All while never knowing that I was being watched by landlord peeking through a strategically placed and well-hidden hole in the wall.

When I wake up the morning, well early afternoon really, groaning and blindly reaching out for my phone to shut up the annoying alarms, I stretch and rub my eyes. I’m definitely not a morning person, and usually, get my best work done between the hours of 1 and 7 am. It’s been great since Max still hasn’t picked up on the whole sleeping through the night thing.

I finally push myself up outta the chair, my joints protesting the clearly uncomfortable position I just spent the last six hours in while curled up. Making my way to the kitchen, I get a pot of coffee going before padding back across the apartment to the bedroom and bathroom. I shoot my brother a text, letting him know that I’ll still pick him and Max up from the airport. 

After my shower, and downing the entire pot of coffee, I put some music on as I start to plan how I want the apartment set up and start looking up furniture stores on my phone, even ordering a few things online to be delivered in a couple of days.. I get lost in my search, that it takes me several long minutes to notice someone’s knocking on my door. 

Clicking my phone off, I tuck it in my pocket and make way to the door, opening it to find my landlord.

 He and I talk for a few minutes until I suddenly realize the time.

“Oh shit! I gotta go!” 

Max, my landlord, raises a brow. “Hot date tonight?”

I smile. “You could say that. I gotta go pick the love of my life up from the airport.”

I watch as Max’s face falls and he gets a sad look in his eye. 

“I thought you were single?” He asks. 

Scrambling to put my boots on, I reply to him. “I am. But, I still gotta pick him up.”

“Oh. Well, alright then.”

I look at him as I grab my drawstring bag that I use instead of a purse and put it on my back. 

“I’ll be back soon. If you wanna come over, I’d love to introduce you. You’ll see him ‘round a lot.” I say, grabbing my key.

“Um. Maybe. I know I’ll be busy with the renovations in the other apartments. I just thought I’d stop by and check on you, see how you settling in.”

I smile and gently place my hand on his shoulder, trying my best to ignore the rush of excitement that courses through my body at the touch. My landlord is not only smoking hot, but he’s also well built and I can feel his muscles under my hand.

“Thank you, Max. I greatly appreciate it.” I say.

He just nods and stares at my hand for a moment. 

“Oh...sorry.” I apologize, dropping my hand, quickly remembering how shy he is. “I’ll...uh...see you later, maybe? I’d really love for you to meet him. He’s a sweetheart.”

He shrugs and rubs the back of his neck. “We’ll see how the renovations go.”

“Sounds good! Don’t work too hard!”

“I am working too hard!”

I giggle, playfully smacking his shoulder. 

“Don’t do it.” I giggle.

I quickly leave after locking my door and hurry downstairs, hailing a cab and head to the airport. Thankfully, there doesn’t seem to be too much traffic, which surprises me since the first I noticed when I got to the city was all the traffic. When I get there, I realize I’m still a few minutes early, so I make my way over to the gates to wait. 

Nearly half an hour later, I spot my brother, holding my son, carrying only the diaper bag and a small book bag, and rush over. As soon as I reach them, I happily take my little boy in my arms, peppering his chubby little cheeks with kisses, which has him squealing happily and patting my head. I giggle and tilt my head back to look at him, despite the happy tears rolling down my cheeks.

Tapping my finger against his belly twice like I’ve done since the moment I first held him and the moment the docs told me he was deaf, I let my son know I love him. He giggles and curls his fingers ‘round mine, holding it tight. I lift my shoulder, turning my head in an attempt to wipe my tears away. Once I’ve done that, I look up at my 6’2” tall brother, grinning from ear to ear.

He just smiles and pulls me in for a hug. I lean against him since my arms are full from where I’m holding Max. Laying my head against Chris’ chest, I smile. He just hugs me a little tighter, but not too much ‘cause of Max.

“Missed you, sis.” He says.

“I fuckin’ missed you too, bro.” I reply. 

He laughs and lets go of me, looking at me. “You look happy.”

“I am now! I’ve got my little boy in my arms, and you’re here. But, I’m sure you’re hungry?”

“Always am!”

I laugh. “C’mon. Let’s go get some food and head to my place. You’re really gonna love it!”

He chuckles and follows as I carry a giggling and snuggly Max outta the airport. I look up Chris. 

“You’re taller. Hail a cab.” I say.

He raises a brow. “How?”

I giggle and tell him since it’s the time he’s ever had to do it. Growing up in our small town, we didn’t have taxis, and then when he moved to San Diego during my senior year of college, he already had his own car, so he didn’t have to worry ‘bout taxis out there. It doesn’t take long before one comes to a stop in front of us.

Piling in, I give the driver my new address, and we set off towards home. Well, my home. Chris and I spend the time talking while I just hold Max close, patting his butt. Right as the driver makes it to the apartment building, the air suddenly smells shitty. I know Max has pooped himself, and I soothe him before he can start crying and apologizing to the driver, giving him a decent tip.

Ushering Chris out the cab, so I can get out with Max, I shift my son in my arms. 

“Don’t worry, baby boy. Mama’s gonna get you upstairs, and get you all cleaned up!” I coo, softly, my lips near his ear so that he can feel the vibrations of my voice as I talk.

Max settles down a little as he sniffles, clinging to my shirt. I kiss his head and led the way inside and up to my apartment. Shifting him once more, I dig my key out, unlock the door, and step in with Chris right behind me. 

“Let me get him changed. Feel free to look around. There’s not much, but we’ll fix that tomorrow.” I say.

Chris nods and drapes the strap of the diaper bag over my shoulder. I carry Max into the bathroom and set him on the tiled floor. I keep him distracted while I change his diaper, and tap his tummy twice after buttoning his onesie and slipping his little shorts back on. He lets out a giggle, holding his hands up.

Giggling myself, I scoop him back up in my arms, tossing the dirty diaper in the small trash can as I walk out. 

***

Over the next couple of weeks, Chris helps me move furniture in, get the apartment set up, takes turns with caring for Max, and even teaching me some of the new recipes he’s picked up. He’s come along way, considering that the kid used to burn cereal when he tried to make himself some when we were kids.

We take a few days, once the apartment’s set up, to explore the city. I haven’t done much sight-seeing myself since I arrived. It was mainly ‘cause I was too busy trying to find a place and everything. A few times, I spot my landlord while we’re out and about, and I try to wave him over so he can meet my son and my brother.

Especially since he never showed up the night Chris arrived. I’d been really excited to introduce them. I couldn’t explain why, other than the fact that I wanted Max to meet my son and my brother. Yet, Max never comes over. He always pulls his phone out when our eyes meet and presumably takes a call, walking in the opposite direction.

Two and a half weeks after Chris arrives in New York, Max and I take him to the airport to catch his flight back to San Diego. We stay with him till it’s time for his plane to be boarded. As he hands his ticket over, he assures him he’ll text me when he lands in California and when he gets home. I give him one last hug and lift Max’s hand in a wave.

***

After Chris leaves, Max and I settled into our normal routine. I wake up shortly after he does, get him changed and dressed for the day, and then lay him down on the living room floor for tummy time while I get to work. The position I have at the museum allows me to work from home, occasionally going in once or twice a week, with Max, to take care of some things there.

When I’m not working for the museum, I’m attempting to work on my novel. After I get done with work, I feed Max and me, before we settle on the couch with a Disney movie or one of the three Despicable Me movies playing for naptime. Even if Max can’t hear, he still loves watching the screen, giggling. 

He absolutely loves the minions and squeals every time he sees them on the screen. After naptime, he and I lay on the floor for more tummy time while I try to teach him the sign language I’ve been learning. My baby brother, Eli, was also born with hearing issues, so thankfully I knew some when he was growing up, but I’ve also been teaching myself more since I found out Max was deaf.

At the end of the day, and getting some more work done, along with dinner, I give Max his bath. He’s always loved bath time, except for the few times water lands in his ears. Since it’s his favorite, I give him one every day, which doesn’t put too much strain on the water bill ‘cause Max’s baby bath is small and doesn’t take a lot of water.

When bedtime rolls ‘round, I curl up on my new bed with Max cuddled to my chest with my shirt tightly gripped in one hand and his shark blankie in the other. I rub his back and hum softly so he can feel the vibrations from it as he drifts off to sleep. We keep the routine up for the next month a half. During this time, I never talk to my landlord, not even when I go to give him the rent.

I mean, yeah, I’ll see him occasionally ‘round the building, but he doesn’t say a word. He just looks at me for a moment, before dropping his head and walking away. It breaks my heart ‘cause I want to talk to him. We had so much fun talking and goofing off the night he helped me move in. But, since that day I had to rush off to the airport, we haven’t spoken.

I just resigned myself to knowing that he obviously thinks we’re nothing more than landlord and tenant. Which, honestly, make me sad ‘cause I thought we’d have become friends. He was the first person that was actually nice to me after I moved to the city. I also tuck down the feelings of the crush on him I have.

He reminds me a lot of Papa Winchester from my favorite tv show, Supernatural, and I’ve always had the hots for the oldest Winchester. Even my ex-fiancé knew that, and she agreed. See, we’re both bisexual, but I’d always thought she was the one. Until I caught her in bed, our bed, with a man, and she’d told me what she did.

The six months after we broke up were the hardest, ‘cause I’d been ready to marry her. But it didn’t work out. And after I’d moved to New York, met my landlord Max, and realized I’d had a crush on him, I was starting to come to terms with maybe moving on. Getting back out there. I mean, I knew there’d probably be nothing more than a friendship with my landlord, but I was ok with that.

But, I don’t even have that anymore. I sigh to myself, urging my thoughts to go down a different road, as I pull the clothes out the dryer. Just as I finish pulling the last few clothes outta the dryer, I hear whimpering. I listen for a moment to try and figure out where the sound’s coming from so I can go get my son.

After a moment, and the realization that the sound of whimpers is coming from the falls, I try to tone down the feeling of panic that’s quickly spreading through my body. Max started crawling shortly after we moved here, and I know he’s been exploring the apartment. I just hope he hasn’t gotten himself stuck somewhere. 

I quickly leave the clothes on the dryer and walk further into the apartment, closer to the sound of the whimpers.

“Max? Honey? Don’t worry, ok? Mama’s coming to get you.”

I call out, without thinking ‘bout the fact that my son’s deaf. I call the words out based on instinct and the need to assure my son that he’s gonna be ok. I follow the noise, getting closer to the kitchen and my eyes widen. Did I forget to put the baby gate up so he couldn’t get in there? When I reach the kitchen and realize that I did indeed forget to put the baby gate, my heart drops to my stomach.

“Fuck!”

I step into the pantry where the sounds of the whimpers are louder and look ‘round. I don’t see my son anywhere. Then I hear the whimpers again and realize that they’re coming from the other side of the wall. I gently push against the right wall, to give myself leverage, as I keep looking, thinking there’s no way that the whimpers are coming from the walls.

My eyes widen as the wall shifts a little with my touch, and they nearly pop outta their sockets when I realize the wall isn’t just a wall. It’s a door that’s already slightly open. My heart starts beating faster as I realize that there’s a slight chance that Max could’ve crawled in here, and through the small opening.

I take in a shaky breath as I push the door open enough for my small frame to fit through. Once I’m through, I notice two things from the get-go. One, the whimpers get louder. Two, the door leads to what looks like an old set of maintenance hallways. I know older buildings used to have them, so it makes sense that this building would have ‘em too.

I just never really put the thought into asking or caring if the building had them. I make my way deeper into the hidden hallways, being careful not to trip or hit my head on anything. Keeping my eyes peeled for my son, I get closer to the sound of the whimpers until I finally reach the source. My eyes widen when I see who’s making the sounds.

“Max?” I ask, softly, getting closer.

My landlord doesn’t even look up as he flinches at the sound of my voice. He just whimpers and bites harder into his wrist. 

My heart breaks and I crouch down next to him, gently taking his hand and pulling his wrist from the tight grip his teeth have on it.

“Max? Honey, it’s ok. You’re safe.” I murmur.

He whimpers a little more and hides his face. I immediately realize what’s going on. He’s having a panic attack, and it looks to be a bad one. Rubbing my thumb across his knuckles, I lean closer to him, gently wrapping my arms ‘round the slightly older man, and pull him close to me. I reach a hand up and run my fingers through his hair, softly and silently convincing him to lay his head on my chest.

I soothe him, calm him, and help him relax ‘nough that he slowly eases outta the panic attack. Not stopping my fingers as they continue to run through his hair, I start humming softly. I know panic attacks are one of the worst things to go through. Especially all alone. It takes several minutes, but I eventually feel Max relax, sagging against me as the panic attack leaves him.

Even though he’s outta it, I continue to run my fingers through his dark curls. 

“Better?” I ask softly.

He nods, just a quick, subtle little jerk of his head against my chest, but it’s still a nod. 

“Will you come back to my apartment with me? I wanna take a look at your arm. You bit down on it pretty hard.” I explain after he looks at me with uncertainty swirling in his muddy water brown eyes.

He takes a deep breath but nods again. I smile.

“That’s a good boy. C’mon. We’ll get you all fixed up.” I say, not sounding patronizing, but rather motherly.

I smile to myself as a light blush covers his cheeks at my words. I gently pat his shoulder before we stand up. As I lead him back through the maintenance hallways to the door that leads into my pantry, I notice other little holes in the wall, discreetly checking them out. When I realize they show off different points of my apartment, I raise a brow but don’t say a word.

After peeking through one of the holes, I see Max, my son, sleeping peacefully in his little playpen and let out a soft breath of relief, remembering that I’d laid him in there when I went to do laundry. I hold my landlord’s hand the entire time we walk through the hallways if nothing more than to keep him calm.

When Max and I get to the door leading to the pantry, he suddenly stops, jerking me to a stop too since I wasn’t expecting it and had been leading him by the hand. I turn ‘round and look at him.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, confused.

“The love of your life? Where’s he at?” He asks after, nervously, after a moment.

I smile. “He’s sleeping, in the other room. It’s ok.”

I watch as more hesitation and uncertainty fill Max’s eyes. I give his hand a gentle squeeze. 

“Hey. It’s ok. He won’t mind you being in there. He gets a bit protective over me, but I just know he’s gonna love you.” I assure him.

“I...I don’t think so...guys typically don’t like me. Neither do girls. I’m a loner.” He mumbles, looking at his feet while flicking his thumb against his finger on his other hand.

“Max?”

He lifts his head, looking at me. “Hmm?”

“Trust me. He’s gonna love you.”

He shrugs. “Nah. He won’t. ‘Specially not since he has you.”

“Hey. Stop doubting yourself, ok? He’s gonna love you ‘cause I like you.”

“You...you like me?”

I smile and nod. “I do. And you’d know that if you hadn’t been avoiding me since I had to leave so quickly to get to the airport.”

A small smile tugs on his lips. “You’ve been busy.”

“I’m never too busy for you, Max. Now, c’mon. Let’s get your wrist all cleaned up, then you meet the person who stole my heart with just one look. And, he’s gonna steal yours too.”

I giggle and gently squeeze his hand as he looks nervous. I lead him into my apartment from the pantry, and into the living room. 

“Have a seat on the couch, ok? I’m just gonna go grab the first aid kit. Don’t try and leave. I’ll follow you and kick your door down if you do.” I playfully threaten. “I don’t mess around with first aid.”

Thankfully, it gets a chuckle outta him and he takes a seat on the couch, holding his hands up in surrender. I grin and head to my bathroom to grab the first aid kit. Walking back through my bathroom, I stop by the playpen, lean down and kiss my son’s head, covering him up more with his shark blankie.

Watching him for a moment, I smile to myself and head back to the living room. Max is still in the same spot he was when I left him a moment ago, but this time, he has his hands on his lap as he picks at the bite mark on his wrist. I gently slap his hand away. 

“Stop that, mister. You’ll do more damage than what you’ve already done.” I say, kneeling on the floor in front of him, between his knees. 

He raises a brow and mutters a quiet, “I’m sorry.”

“Good boy. Now hold your hand out so I can look at it.”

He blushes a little but does as I ask. Gently taking his arm in my grasp, I inspect the self-inflicted bite mark on his wrist. After cleaning it with some alcohol wipes and putting Neosporin on it, I gently wrap some gauze ‘round his wrist and tape it so it stays in place. Without thinking ‘bout it, I place a gentle kiss on over the wrapped wound.

It’s outta habit that I do it since I do it whenever my son gets a boo-boo. I hear Max suck in a deep breath and my eyes jerk up to meet his. His bottom lip is captured between his impossibly white teeth and his cheeks are a shade pinker than they were before.

“I...I’m sorry. It’s outta habit that I do that.” I mutter, trying to explain as quickly as I can.

“I...it’s fine. I’ve just never had anyone do that before.” He mumbles.

I raise a brow. “Your mama never kissed your boo-boos?”

His eyes get that sad, lost look in his eyes. He pulls his arm outta my grasp and, not answering, he walks over to the window. I sit back on my ankles, packing the first aid kid up. 

“Max...I’m sorry. I didn’t...you don’t have to talk ‘bout it.” I say quietly.

He just sighs and stares out the window, not saying a word. 

“My…” He starts, still staring out the window. “My parents died when I was 10. My grandfather, August, he’s the one who raised me.”

I stand and gently pad over to him. “I’m so sorry, Max. I didn’t know. I didn’t think before I asked that.”

He glances at me then looks back out the window. Without thinking, and just doing it, I wrap my arms ‘round his waist and lay my head against his chest. He tenses up immediately at my touch.

“What...what are you doing?” He asks.

I tilt my head back to look up at him. “It’s called a hug. It’s supposed to be comforting. I can stop if it makes you too uncomfortable.”

I watch as his facial expression changes with several different emotions before a smile finally settles on his lips.

“Nah. It’s not too uncomfortable. I’m just not used to this.” He says after a few moments. 

“This?” I ask.

He nods. “Hugs. I can’t even remember the last time I had one.”

I tighten my arms ‘round him and lay my head back on his chest. I feel his arms slowly make their way ‘round me, loosely holding me close, and I smile. 

“Whenever you want one, just come to me and I’ll happily give you one.” I say. “I’m not really much of a hugger, but with you, it just feels right, so you can have a hug whenever.”

“Really?” He asks.

I nod against his chest. “Mmhhmm.”

“Thanks...but...what ‘bout...the love of your life? Is he ok with you giving random men hugs?”

I giggle and look up at him. “You’re not a random man, but yes. He’d be ok with me giving you hugs. He loves them, so he’ll probably try and give you one too.”

“Um…” He hesitates, slowly dropping his arms. “I dunno how I feel ‘bout your man giving me hugs.”

I giggle. “You’ll change your mind when you meet him.”

“I dunno.”

“I do! Stay here. I’ll bring him out to you.”

“Ummm…”

I giggle and lean up to kiss his cheek. “Just wait here.”

He swallows deeply, making his Adam’s apple bob up and down. “Ok.”

“Good boy.”

I giggle and leave him in the living as I walk into the other room where I know my son is. Reaching into the playpen, I scoop him up, making him giggle. I heard him cooing to himself a few moments ago, so that’s how I knew he was awake. I kiss his cheeks and gently tap his tummy twice. He makes a happy noise and snuggles to me.

I smile and hold him close as I walk back out to the living room. Max is looking out the window again, this time, though, he’s got his arms wrapped ‘round his torso, almost like he’s giving himself a hug. I giggle softly and make my way over to him.

“Max?”

He lifts his head and turns his gaze from the river to me. His eyes widen as he sees my son in my arms. Shock, confusion, and another emotion flash across his face. 

“Who? Who’s that?” He asks.

“Max, this is the love of my life. My son.” I say, grinning from ear to ear.

“Your son? Love of your life?”

I giggle and nod. “Mmhhmm. I adopted him when he was born. I can’t have kids myself, and my ex-fiancé and I had talked ‘bout adopting. So, we decided to do it. Found out that this little guy’s mama was putting him up for adoption before he was even born. Then, just before he was born, my ex-fiancé and I split. I still adopted this little monkey and it’s just been he and I against the world since.”

“But...that man...who was here...was that your former fiancé?”

I giggle and shake my head. “No! That was my oldest younger brother, Chris. He’d been watching Max for me while I got settled in the city. After I moved in here, I called him, and he brought my son out here and helped me get furniture and whatnot. I really wanted you to meet him while he was here...but you kept getting phone calls…”

“Your brother?” 

I smile and nod. “He’s the oldest of my two brothers, and I’m the oldest of all the kids.”

“Oh…”

I giggle. “Yea.”

“Those phone calls...they weren’t actually phone calls.”

I raise a brow. “You mean to tell me you faked ‘em just so you wouldn’t have to come over?”

He looks down, nodding. “You just seemed so happy with him. I thought y’all were together and that the kid was y’all’s. It…” He shakes his head, cutting off the rest of his sentence.

“Max, I wasn’t lying when I told you I was single the first night I spent here. But I also didn’t tell you that there is a guy I like.”

“Oh...well...I don’t wanna meet him…”

I giggle. “Too late. You already have.”

He frowns. “I have?”

Nodding, I grin and take his hand. “C’mon. I’ll show you who he is.”

“I don’t wanna…”

“Tooooo bad, mister.” 

I giggle and lead him to the bathroom, standing him in front of the mirror as I stand next to him, holding my son.

“I thought you were showing me someone I don’t wanna see.” He says, his voice quiet.

“I am. Tell me who you see.” I say, grinning.

“Me. I see me, you, and your son.” 

“Exactly. So, you see the guy I have a crush on.”

“Isn’t that a little weird to have a crush on your son?”

I giggle. “Yea. So, it’s a good thing he’s not who I have crush on.”

His brows furrow in confusion and I giggle and gently turn him to face me.

“You’re adorable.” I say.

“How?” He asks, confused even more. 

“You’re just not getting it, are you?”

He shakes his head. “No?”

“Max, you’re the guy I like.”

“Me?”

Nodding, I smile. “You.”

I watch as he gets the cutest, dimpled smile on his face, making me giggle more. He blushes and ducks his head down for a moment before looking at me.

“You really like me?” He asks, softly.

“Mmhhmm. I do. I just thought you didn’t like me since you kept ignoring me.” I say.

“I was just trying to distance myself...I thought you were with that guy, who’s actually your brother...I thought he was your ex-fiancé that you’d mentioned that first night...that you’d taken him back.”

I giggle. “Oh, Max. My ex-fiancé was a woman. Who cheated on me with a man. In our own bed.”

His eyes widen. “You were with a girl? But...you like me?”

“I’m what you’d call bisexual. I play for both teams. I like guys and girls.”

“Oh!” He lets out a soft chuckle. “So...what’s this mean? For us?”

I giggle. “It means, that I’d like to date you. If you want that.”

He grins, making his dimples show more. “I’d...I’d like that.”

“Me too! We just have to get someone’s permission first.”

“Permission? From?”

I smile and turn my son ‘round to face him. “Max here has to approve first. I have to think of him now, especially when it comes to relationships.”

Max nods and looks at my son, then back at me. “Wait. His name’s Max?”

I smile. “Maxwell Dean Sullivan. Sometimes, though, I’ll call him Deaf.” (Deef.)

“Why?”

“Oh. He’s deaf.”

“Oh!”

I smile and nod then look down at my son as he wiggles in my arms, reaching out for Max. I giggle and gently hold him out, waiting for him to take him. Max gently, and somewhat nervously, takes my little boy, and cradles him.

“Awww! You’re like a pro!” I grin.

“I’m not gonna lie. I’m scared shitless. He’s so small.” He whispers.

I giggle. “You’re also really big. Max and I are both small compared to you. And you help me close and gently.”

This gets a soft chuckle from my landlord and he visibly relaxes, shifting Max so he’s a little more comfortable. My son giggles and reaches up, patting Max’s cheeks, squealing at the feeling of the short beard tickling his tiny palms. I smile and lean against the mirror, watching them. 

“I think Deaf likes you.” I say.

“Yea? You really think so?” Max looks up and he visibly tenses as he soon as he sees me leaning against the mirror. “Don’t lean against that. Please.”

I raise a brow, but step away from the mirror. “Why not?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t, Max. It seems like a sturdy mirror. Plus, the wall behind it keeps it up.”

He lowers his gaze and hands my son back to me, much to my son’s protests and my own confusion. 

“I...I should go...just please don’t lean against the mirror.” Max says quietly and turns to leave.

I reach a hand out and curl my fingers ‘round his upper arm. 

“Hey. Stop. You don’t have to go.” I say.

He nods. “I do. There’s stuff you don’t know ‘bout me...I’m not a good man…”

I raise a brow. “Max. Aside from ignoring me for the last several weeks, we’ve still been good to me. You are a good man. I know you are.”

He shakes his head. “I’m not. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, but can’t help.”

A thought hits me and I look up at him. “You mean the holes in the walls? That allows someone to peep through into my apartment?”

His face pales and I get my answer. I reach up and cup his cheek. 

“Max. It’s ok. I saw him when I was leading you back to my place to fix your wrist. The walls...they’re your safe place, aren’t they?” I ask, softly.

“It’s quiet in there. I like the silence.” He mumbles, closing his eyes. “I can watch...and it calms me.”

“Have you watched me?”

He swallows deeply. “I tried not to...but I…”

“Shhh. It’s ok, Max. I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?”

“No. I’m not. Some might think it’s creepy, but in a way, it’s like you’re watching over, protecting me. Me and Deaf.”

“I...I didn’t think of that.”

I smile and tuck a strand of his hair behind his ear. “It helps you stay calm, watching me?”

He nods. “I can’t hear the voices…”

“What voices?”

“The ones telling me…” He shudders.

“Breathe, Max. It’s ok. What do they tell you?”

“That I’m a coward. A pervert. A creep.” 

His reply is so quiet I almost don’t hear it. But I do. I place my palm back against his cheek.

“Is that why you bit your wrist earlier?” I ask softly.

He nods. “To make them shut up.”

“Well, you don’t have to do it alone anymore, ok? I’ll tell those voices to shut up too.”

He opens his eyes and looks at me, unsure. 

“I will.” I assure him.

“But...why?” His child-like voice breaks my heart.

“Because, they’re lying to you, Max. The things they tell you, they’re not true. You’re not a creep. Not a pervert. And you are definitely not a coward.”

“But...I am.”

“No, Max. You’re not. You’re not any of those. You’re just a man who needs someone to show him what it’s like to be loved. You didn’t have a good childhood. Losing your parents, and having your grandfather raise you. But you survived. You grew up. You coped with everything thrown your way in the ways that you knew how. You’re a survivor, Max. And, that alone makes you the furthest thing from being a creep and a coward. As for being a pervert, I don’t think you’re that either.”

He doesn’t say a word, but he leans into my touch more.

“How do you know?” He asks after a few minutes.

“I know, because I can tell you’re not. Believe me, I grew up ‘round ‘nough perverts to know that’s not you. You’re nothing like them. That’s how I know.” I whisper.

“You still like me?” He lifts his eyes to meet mine.

“I do, Max. And, I’m gonna show you what it’s like to be loved. We’ll get there. And Deaf here, this little boy in my arms, he’ll show you too. I told you he’d love you when he met you.”

“He does?”

I smile and nod. “He doesn’t reach out to just anyone. It took him months just to go to my brother. But it took him maybe 5 minutes to go to you. And, kids are usually really good judges of character. Just like dogs. So, I can assure you he doesn’t think you’re anything like what the voices tell you.”

He nods slowly and looks down at the little boy in my arms. 

“He is cute.” He mumbles.

I giggle. “Damn right he is! He’s my son.”

Max chuckles softly. “That’s true. But...you’re not cute.”

I raise a brow and look at him. “That’s not exactly the best thing to say to your new girlfriend.”

He grins. “Girlfriend? I like the sound of that...but you’re not cute. You’re beautiful.”

I blush. “So are you. Ain’t you can’t argue with me. The girlfriend’s always right.”

He laughs softly. “Is that so?”

“Mmhhmm! Now. I believe there’s a little boy who wants to be held by you.”

He smiles and kisses my palm before standing up straight and gently taking Max from my arms, holding him close. 

“As for the mirror, Max. We’ll just board up the other side.” I say, getting the picture, from his reaction, that it’s one of those mirrors like police station interrogation rooms have. “And, you won’t have to go back into the tunnels anymore. You have me and Max now. We’ll be here for you.”

He swallows deeply and nods. “Promise?”

“I promise promise, Max. But, know that if you ever cheat on me, I’ll cut your dick and balls off.”

His eyes widen as he nods. “I...I wouldn’t do that to you.” 

I smile. “Good. And I wouldn’t do it to you either.”

He lets out a breath of relief. “So...does this mean...that I have a family?”

I smile. “Yes, Max. It does. We’re your family now, and you’re our family.”

[hockeybabestars]

New Year Same Us - Auston Matthews - Nine

a/n: guys we’re so close to the end! only one more chapter after this! I hope you enjoy part nine!

December 31, 2018 - January 1, 2019

Mitch and Stephs New Years party was pretty amazing. They had decorated with shiny banners and confetti and there were hats and beads and glasses to wear to ring in the new year. Everyone was having a good time mingling or dancing or doing their own things. Music softly played through the living room speakers with ease and the NYC countdown was playing on the T.V. Everyone was dressed up and looking their best. And Aus was no different. 

I spotted him across the room chatting with Freddie. He wore a simple black suit with a white button up underneath, some of the buttons undone showing his toned chest. He looked hot. I thought he would go for something more bold but he insisted on matching me. I thought it was cute. My silver cocktail dress would for sure clash with the other suit he had in mind, so we compromised. His eyes met mine and I sucked in a slight breath. The twinkle of his gaze really doing it for me as he grinned. I smiled back shaking my head. 

He had seemed different since John and Aryne’s wedding. The night that almost was, as I had been referring to it. I had wanted to kiss him badly, but it felt like the timing of it all was horrible. I had decided that night that I was going to try to get over him. I was tired of hearing that we were perfect together and knowing an end for us was never in sight. And then he goes and pulls me back in with his lingering touch and lips ever so slightly ghosting over mine. 

An almost. A should’ve been.

Since then he’s made subtle changes. In the kitchen he would put a hand on my lower back as he brushed past me to grab something from the fridge. He’d been sneaking into my room late at night, just to talk or snuggle. And every time we go out he keeps an arm slung around my waist and eyes down every guy in the vicinity. It’s not fair, honestly. That he gets to stake a claim without the weight of officiality looming over his shoulders. It felt like he had decided to dance around whatever this was. And I was over it. My heart felt like it was being pulled in different directions. Option one was listening to my heart and diving head first into us, and the option two was telling me to listen to my head. And my head kept telling me that I would ruin us, some way, somehow, and I didn’t want that.

But for now, I would happily ignore all of that just to have a good time with my friends. I constantly needed a distraction from will-we-won’t-we with Auston, so I decided tonight that I would let him do his own thing and see where it took us. 

It felt like there were so many things going on, but maybe a refill would do the trick. I found myself in the kitchen, looking through the fridge for something to make a mixed drink with. One drink was not doing me enough of a service tonight, but I wasn’t planning on having more than 2. Maybe 2 and a half at the most. 

I pulled out some champagne and orange juice when I heard a voice from behind the fridge door. “Aren’t mimosas a morning kinda drink?” Willy asked as he shut the fridge door. He leaned casually against the wall and watched me fix my concoction with a smirk on his face. I flipped him off, but smiled as he opened the fridge back up to let me put the drinks away.

“No William. Can’t a woman drink what she wants? It’s new years, you think you could let me live a little.” I grab my drink and swirl it around as I move to step out of the kitchen but he steps in front of me, not allowing me to pass. I flick my eyes up to glare at him but he just laughs and grabs my wrists swinging them a little in front of us. I steadied our hands but he still lightly held me there.

“You seem like you're already over the night and it’s only begun. Wanna play a game?” He smirked.

“I am not up for your shenanigans tonight William!!! I mean business. And I absolutely can not be drunk.” I took my wrists back, one of which had my drink, and took a long sip.

He glared at my drink, “Sure, ‘absolutely can not be drunk’ my ass. Why can’t you live a little tonight? It’ll be funnnnn. Besides it’s fucking New Years. You deserve to be plastered (Y/N).”

I glanced around the room and spotted Auston, he had moved on from Freddie to Steph, and I wondered what they were talking about, both wearing serious expressions. “Just trying to keep a clear head is all.” I mumbled. I was about done with all the feelings swirling around in my head and my heart, and I wasn’t sure I could keep them in if I got plastered. Especially with the way he had been acting lately. What a mess that would be. So for now I keep tabs on how much I’ve had to drink.

“(Y/N/N)” Willy grabs my attention again, having picked up on my worries and this time he’s a little more serious, giving me a knowing look, “don’t worry about anything. Just worry about you. You know how to have a good time. Don’t let what ifs plague you tonight. I promise you everything will workout.” I smiled and wrapped my arms around him.

“Thanks Will. That’s just what I needed to hear.” I mumbled into his chest.

He pulled me back his smile turning into a smirk like a switch had been flipped, “game?”

I rolled my eyes, but smiled all the same, “what game? Is it a drinking game? You’re such a fucking child.”

I felt a pair of arms snake around my waist and pull me in closer. His toned chest hit my back before he spoke, “yeah what game William. You fucking child.”

I laughed swatting his hands that only tightened around me as I looked up at him. The height difference was kinda perfect actually. He glanced down, giving me a wink as I gave up my struggles of escaping his grip. He rested his chin on my head as Will looked at us with a smirk.

“I'm the child here?” He playfully asked, “We’ve got options. Captain Dickhead? Truth or Dare? What Are The Odds? Seven Minutes in Heaven? Fear Pong? What do we want?!?” 

“Truth or Dare?” I deadpanned, “This is exactly why you aren’t in charge of this shit!” I laughed. 

“Hey you never know what can happen with the right people at the right time. It can be… fun?!” He chuckled and threw me a wink. I knew what he was doing. I wanted to kick that mischievous little smirk right off his pretty face. I could see right past his feigned innocence here.

“Are you buying this shit?” I turned in Auston’s embrace to look up at him, and he looked back down at me. 

He shrugged, “Captain Dickhead is always fun.”

“I don’t wanna be drunkkkk.” I grumbled.

“Whyyyy notttttt.” Auston teased but his eyes softened as he looked down at me, “you know if you wanted to I would take care of you. I haven’t had a drink yet.” 

I squeezed his arm in thanks, “I appreciate it, I’m just not in the mood tonight.”

“It’s New Years this is the best mood!” Willy exclaimed but dropped it when I glared at him.

“Can’t I just be soberish damn it! We already went over this!” I laughed. Auston shook his head at the two of us.

“Fine, What are the odds?” Willy crosses his arms exasperated. “That can be sober!”

“I hate you.” I laughed. “I don’t wanna play your games Willy. I can already tell you have some plan formulating that I don’t want to be apart of.” Willy’s calculated expression wore off as I smiled. I pried myself out of Auston’s grip as I went to pat Will on the shoulder. “Sorry for being a buzzkill buddy!” I turned and saw confusion on Auston’s face as I walked past him, grabbing my jacket from the rack, and cradling my drink out to the balcony. 

The cool air of the night settled in my lungs as I rested my arms out on the glass railing. The city lights roaring to life as the clock got closer and closer to midnight.

I knew what Will was doing. He and Kappy were probably scheming some way to force Auston and I into a situation that would turn out embarrassing for me or something. 

I didn’t want our first of anything to be forced. I wanted him to want me because he had feelings for me, not because we were drunk at some wedding, or Kap and Will made a stupid bet or meddled as per usual. I wanted him to want me, but not like that. 

I shoved my thoughts aside, taking an alarmingly large sip of my drink, more like a gulp, and stared out at the sky. This was bullshit. I should be inside having fun with my friends, not trying to clear my thoughts as I overthink like I always do. I toyed at the sleeve of my dress, thinking back to when we were kids, how easy things were when the pressure of liking someone didn’t exist. When we were just us. Before I even thought of us as an “us”.

I heard the door slide open and turned to see who it was. Steph stepped out onto the balcony with me, the metallic material of her red dress shining against the moonlight.

“Hey.” She says softly, coming to stand next to me. I look at her, my expression wavering as I almost let out a few tears in frustration. “Oh honey.” She pulls me into her grasp and I lean into her. She drags me over to the breakfast chairs and slyly pulls my jacket and drink from me to set them down on the table. I sit with a huff and just breath for a minute as Steph just holds my hands. I’m thankful that she gets me, and let me collect myself before listening to me. 

“Willy, god love him, he kinda irked me back there.” I say. She looks at me confused as I continue. “He was all like ‘ I get you, don’t worry about anything’ and then he was all ‘let’s play a game with the right people at the right time and see what happens’ like no.”

Steph just laughs and I can’t help but let my frown fall away as I laugh with her.

“(Y/N), don’t worry about Will. He just wants you guys to be together as much as the next guy so he meddles a little bit.”

“I won’t let him meddle.” I smile, but I know it doesn’t reach my eyes.

She looks at me seriously, observing me before speaking, “is this why you don’t wanna be drunk tonight?”

I nod, “I just don’t want to ruin anything, and I know what will happen the minute I get out of control,” my hands fall to my lap as I play with my fingers, clasping and unclasping them to distract myself. I had meticulously avoided drinking the last few times we all went out together. I felt like I would be overkill if I let myself off my own leash. “I don’t want to ruin anything.” I mumble.

“(Y/N), babe,” she pauses, “why don’t you just tell him? You’ve been sitting with this on your chest for years now. And you’ve been dealing with it by yourself. Just let yourself breath.” she pats my hand in my lap.

“I can’t just come out and tell him I love him.” I suck in a breath. “I don’t think I could bear the rejection from him. Not from Aus. I care too much about him to lose him this way.” I stress. 

“What makes you think it would automatically be rejection? How do you not see it?” She smiles before getting up and pulling me with her. I arched a brow. “Take a moment, but then go back in there and have fun. You deserve it.” She gave me a quick squeeze and headed back inside as I found my way back to the railing. 

I took a breath and closed my eyes as I just focused on clearing my mind. It was peaceful out here. The city was different at night. It felt more alive.

I heard the balcony door slide open and click shut for the second time, as footsteps came to a heavy stop next to me. It was silent for a second, just the sound of the city in the background. The air was charged around us, like he had something to say but couldn’t quite say it and I held my breath. He rested his hands on the balcony next to me, letting out a sigh before he spoke, “Were you ever going to tell me how you felt?” 

I turned to look at him then, eyes wide in shock and the embarrassment I felt was surely showing on my face, “I uh-how did you-“. He moved closer then, still not touching me but closing the distance between us slowly, and it felt like I was suffocating in his presence. “You weren’t meant to hear that.” I breathed lowly, scared that if I spoke louder maybe I would break. The chill of the Toronto air had set in and I shrugged my leather jacket over my shoulders, wrapping it tighter around me and allowing my arms to subtly wrap around themselves. But Auston saw through me. He reached out and gently peeled my arms from around myself and brought me closer to him, his scent, his voice, his presence invading my personal space from every angle.

“But I did. I did hear you.” He was so quiet I almost didn’t hear the words escape past his lips. His forehead rested on mine and his lips were so, so close. All I had to do was push up on my tip toes and his mouth would finally be on mine.

“And?” I breathed in anticipation, eyes lidded and heart racing so fast it could beat out of my chest. When did this go from me being fearful of losing him to being wrapped up in him? His fingers traced my hand as one slowly curled around my wrist and the other reached out to my waist to draw me closer.

His eyes flickered down to mine and I could hear the countdown at 10 from the living room. And if he was so cliche as to-

He kissed me on 8. His lips slowly working on mine in long drawls. His grip on my waist tightened and the hand that was in mine slowly cupped my face. His hand feels so masculine against my cheekbones, the calluses coarse against the expanse of my soft skin but I leaned into it. I brought my hands up to his broad shoulders, pushing myself as close to him as humanly possible, feeling his taut muscles ripple against me. His body heat radiated off him and warmed me up in no time. His tongue was slow and calculated in my mouth. I could feel all the passion he felt in that moment and it caused me to whimper in response. Which in turn made him tighten his grip on me. He tasted sweet like dessert wine. I could hear the cheers of our friends as they rang in the new year but I just I smiled into him. I felt him smile back as I slowly pulled away and caught my breath. 

Somehow both of his hands found their way to my waist, keeping me flat against him. I clasped my hands around his neck and scrunch my nose as he leaned his forehead back to mine gently.  I close my eyes and revel in the feeling of him against me.“That was-“

“I’m in love with you.” He interrupted and I opened my eyes. “You wha-“

“I’ve been in love with you for way too long... I just didn’t realize it. And you’ve been right in front of me this whole time. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before or why it took me so long to admit, but,” the city lights reflected in his eyes making them glimmer as he looked down at me, sincerity gracing his face, “It seems like everyone else caught on before I did. I never want to lose you. My best friend. I always want to be that for you. But I can’t just settle for it either.” His smirk started to peak out at the corners of his mouth, as I felt myself start to smile a little at the normalcy of it. This. This felt normal. That stupid smirk too.

“I need you to be mine.” He says slowly, like he’s scared, that after all of that, that I would somehow say no. 

“All you had to do was ask.” I smile as he tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. I felt a little more confident about my feelings now. 

“I love you, Auston Matthews. Nothing has ever changed that, and nothing ever will.” I place both hands on his cheeks and give him a lingering peck on the lips. His eyes flutter open, staring into mine fervently, and I start softly, “I’ve been in love with you since we were 16 and you dragged me out on the ice. You were so mad about the outcome after your game. But you didn’t say anything about it. You just laced me up after it was over and said you could think better when I was there. I never took that too lightly.” I grinned at the look of awe on his face as he sat down in the chair I was previously in and pulled me down with him. I faced him on his lap as he placed his lips over mine again, thumb lightly rubbing a circular path along my jaw. And as he pulled away I caught my breath.

“I’m glad I get to do that anytime I want now.” He smirked.

“Anytime you want?” I played.

“Anytime,” he pecked along my jaw and I instinctively closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of his lips burning on my skin, “anywhere.” He kissed my lips again but I was the one who pulled back this time. 

“Happy New Year Aus.”

“It is now.” He grinned and I lightly swatted him, his laughter filling my ears, “that’s not going to change is it?” 

“Same old us, you still want your best friend right?” I smirked.

He smiled genuinely. The one that filled my heart to the brim, “Same us, (Y/N/N).”

-

[grxsszennie]

jisung x reader, ready player one au

by: solar ☀️

word count: 1.7k

for context: you’re new to the oasis, and jisung is one of the best players of all time (besides the high five obviously). also (y/a/n) means your avatar name

for more context: if you haven’t seen ready player one, the high five are the main characters (parzival, art3mis, aech, daito, and sho). the oasis is a virtual world where anyone can do whatever they want and be whoever they want.

you had just finished designing your avatar. you looked around at the great, looming quartz-colored towers of the main lobby, and observed all the experienced players walking and talking around you. since you were a noob, you were expecting everyone to ignore you.

you couldn’t hide the fact that you didn’t know where to start. you didn’t know how to earn coins, or get new clothes and items. you were stuck with a basic pistol and a t-shirt and jeans. you decided the best option would be to ask the players around you.

you noticed a man who carried himself with confidence, as if he knew that he was a skilled player, almost. you ran to catch up with him, and tapped him on the shoulder. “excuse me...?” he turned and faced you, studying you with an almost amused expression. “what can i do for you?” he asked mockingly. “i... um... i’m obviously new here and i just wanted to know, where do i start?” he laughed and grabbed you by the wrist.

people whispered among themselves. “is that the vastificus with a noob?” you kind of felt awkward with everyone’s eyes on you. he led you to a dark alleyway, and you gulped. “alright, that’s better. i didn’t want the general public to see me with a newbie, that wouldn’t have been good for my repuation...” he explained, kind of trailing off at the end. “why not? isn’t it good to help a new player out?” you asked innocently.

“this community is kind of against noobs for some reason. i wish i could help people like you more often, but i’m kind of well known, so it doesn’t really work out.” he sighed. you nodded slowly. “but if you join my clan...” a screen appeared in front of him. he pressed a few buttons and a box appeared in front of you. it read “vastificus has invited you to a clan! join?” you tapped yes and he smiled. “i can bring you along with me on an artifact hunt to earn you some coin.” he offered. you smiled and bounced on your heels in excitement.

“you’re definitely a teenage girl,” he said lightheartedly. “but before we do that, we need to bring you to the shop. come with me.” he gave you a cloak of invisibility from his inventory. “give this back to me afterwards.” you put it on and followed him out of the alleyway and into the street. he brought you to a giant marketplace.

soft 80s music played from overhead as the two of you walked around looking at everything in awe. “spend your coin on anything you’d like. i’d recommend one new outfit and one gun.” he whispered, just loud enough for you to hear him over the music and the other players talking. you quickly found an outfit that fit your avatar’s appearance and started looking around at the weapons. “which weapons are good?” you asked.

“oh, here!” he pointed to a gun. “this one’s on me.” he purchased the gun and handed it to you. you took it in your hand awkwardly and lifted it up and down, getting used to the weight of it. you took off the invisibility cloak and gave it to him. he looked at your new outfit and nodded slowly.

“now come with me.” he opened a portal and stood in front of it. “where are we going?” you asked, becoming a bit nervous. “don’t ask too many questions.” he dragged you into the portal and you were instantly met with the sounds of gunfire and metal hitting the ground. “this is where most of the clan hangs out. it’s called planet doom. there’s jax-“ he pointed to a player fighting three monsters at once. “-and there’s taeyeong.”

you looked at the players he pointed out, and noticed they had green markers over their head. it must mean they’re clan members. “now, if you see a monster, shoot. if you kill it, it will drop coins and they’ll automatically go into your account,” he explained. you nodded and began shooting at monsters.

if they came close to you, you decided it would be a good idea to just kick the shit out of them like a fucking legend. and surprisingly, it worked. vastificus looked at you in surprise. he believed in you, but he didn’t think you’d be this good in your first time on planet doom. you eventually ran out of ammo, so you ran back to him. “oh my god, (y/a/n), that was fucking awesome!” he praised. you smiled. “you really think so?” he smiled back. “yeah! i’ve never seen a newbie fight that well!” a clan member, who was introduced as taeyoung, appeared behind vastificus. “hey, who’s the newbie?” he asked, looking at every detail of your avatar.

“oh, i’m (y/a/n), it’s nice to meet you,” you introduced yourself. “i’ve never heard that name before, you new around here?” he asked. “yeah, this is my first day in the oasis-“ taeyoung gasped. “wow, really?! you looked like sho out there!” you tilted your head in confusion. “you don’t know who that is... okay. he’s a member of the high five, the group that runs the oasis,” he explained. you nodded. “well, i suppose he’s really good then. so thank you!”

vastificus took you by the wrist. “let’s go, i have some more things to show you.”

-

you woke up every morning eager to do artifact hunts with vastificus and the clan. they became like your second family. they were more supportive of you than you first thought they would be. when vastificus told everyone that you were new, they sent coins, weapons, and other spare items to you. you were getting the hang of everyday life in the oasis, and you were really happy that you had the chance to meet these amazing people.

you were at vastificus’s virtual room, and he had designed it to make it look like the inside of a castle. you listened to him tell a random story about how he almost got mugged by a random furry, when you had a sudden thought. “what’s your name?” you asked.

he shot you a look. “you can never share your real name on here. never.” he snapped. “oh... i-i’m sorry, i didn’t know...” you responded. “it’s alright.” he shook his head. “actually, maybe just this once... but if you mention it around anyone at all i’ll kill you. and you have to tell me yours after.” you quickly nodded. “deal!”

“alright, my name... my name is jisung.” you nodded slowly. you repeated his name in your head. “and mine is (y/n).” he smiled a bit. “t-that’s a p-pretty name,” he stuttered. you were kind of surprised, he didn’t really seem like the awkward type. “thanks,” you replied. “and... a pretty name goes well with a pretty face,” he said, in a voice so small it was almost a whisper.

“huh-? this isn’t how i really look,” you said, shocked. “i-i know, but i bet you’re r-really pretty in the real world.” he looked at the ground. “i’m really sorry about all the personal questions but how old are you? please be honest.” he laughed at your question. “i knew this was coming, i’m seventeen,” he replied. “what, really? me too!”

“if we ever met up, please don’t expect... this.” he gestured at his avatar. “i’m not this. but i’m also not a fat kid who lives in his mom’s basement, so at least i’ve got that going for me,” he joked. “no matter how you look, i bet you’re handsome,” you said. he made a strange noise then immediately took his headset off. his avatar disappeared, leaving you alone in his house.

you teleported to the city, figuring you’d leave him a message for when he saw the screen on his headset. you tapped on his name in your friends list and typed out a quick message. “i really hope you’re in seoul, if so, would you like to meet up?”

he immediately came online after that, and sent you a message back. “of course, where?” you thought for a moment. you sent a location of a coffee shop that’s about a ten-minute walk from your house, just in case he was a creep. you took off your headset, gloves and ankle straps and shoved them into a backpack, then ran out the front door and to the coffee shop.

-

you opened the door, and a little bell rang. you looked around the shop to see a few people, but you had no idea which one was jisung. a male looked at you awkwardly from across the room, and he had two cups in front of him. you nervously approached him, and you both stared each other down as you took each step closer. “um... are you...?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. you recognized his voice immediately, so you wrapped your arms around his neck in a tight hug.

you could hear his heart beating so fast, you were wondering how he hasn’t died of a heart attack yet. you let go and pulled the chair across from him out, then sat down. “i didn’t know how you liked your coffee so i just got you the same one i got,” he said.

“i knew you’d be handsome!” he hid his face in his hands and made another strange noise. you pulled one of his hands away to reveal his face, now tinted red. “a-and i knew y-you’d be p-pretty,” he stuttered, his face turning even redder. “oh my god, you’re so cute,” you gushed, pinching his cheek.

“you’re not what i was expecting but in a good way, because online you’re intimidating but in the real world you’re the cutest and softest little-“ he cut you off. “my heart can’t handle this!” he whined. “this is my first time being complimented by a cute girl!” you giggled and twined your fingers with his. “i’m really glad you asked what my name was because i would’ve never had my first kiss,” he said. “wh-“ he cut you off by placing his lips gently against yours.

“we need to keep this a secret, but will you be mine?”

[neshabeingchildish]

Somebunny's in the Holiday Spirit

Share-a-Lair 03

Okay... If you’re not here for Thunderbolt, I fear that I have wasted your time for a couple of chapters and I sincerely apologize, because it looks like that’s the bulk of what is happening here. We’ll see a little Hensper sprinkled in, but Thunderbolt has taken over both my life and more directly, this story. So, Thunderbolt Thots Assemble! @adorkable-blackgirl @chenoahchantel @kiddangers (This is a Christmas chapter that i didn’t finish until today. Hopefully the NYE one won’t take as long. 

Charlotte had gifts, decorations, and stockings in the trunk of her car. She pulled into the driveway near the tower entrance and texted Henry to meet her outside and help her with boxes. Max had already sent an email to their lab that under no circumstances were they to do anything "Chrismasy" in the shared space. 

After being approved as a guest, Charlotte tried to be mindful of the roommate's wishes. Henry and Jasper were on the "we pay rent here too" side of the issue. Neither of them actually DID pay rent, really. Jasper's checks came from Junk N Stuff, and didn’t go into this place ever, at all. Meanwhile Charlotte received 2 checks - one from Junk N Stuff and one from S.A.L. Inc… because whenever she worked from the lab in the shared lair, she got a check for that. Share a Lair was a little bit more organized than the Man Cave. Henry was making Kid Danger money, but his rent was paid in successful missions by S.A.L. Inc.

Share A Lair was to help heroes get out on their own, so as long as they were working, they had a place to stay, basically for free. If they worked like Max did… nearly everything was free. Max hadn't had to foot a bill of any sort since he was there. 

Charlotte tried to explain to Henry that if he had a different roommate, some of their amenities might skip at times. In essence, to be grateful that Max Thunderman was his roommate, because Max always had high end assignments and those meant more resources in the lair and less that Henry had to contribute to the lair. 

The least they could do was respect his wishes about shared space. So, she kept the decorations limited to the tower and Henry's lab. But, she also didn't want to leave him out completely. After everything was set up, she went to the shared space with one of her hand made Christmas stockings and a gift, which she wrapped and labeled “From Your Lairmates,” then simply left outside of the door to his section of the house. She turned around and almost bumped into Max, but he stopped her with his hands on her arms and she yelped in surprise. He smiled and let go of her. “What are you doing sneaking around my lair?” He wasn’t in his uniform, but she could tell that he had been working. He had a certain “after mission” look to him. Kinda sweaty and tired, but skin still glowing and hair probably made perfect again immediately following battle.

She huffed out a breath and said, “I was leaving your stocking and present that we got you.”

“We, or you?” He wondered, reaching down on the floor for the items.

“I mean, I’m the one who actually physically knitted and filled the stocking and shopped for and wrapped the gift, but it’s from the three of us.”

“You're the only one who works, of the three,” he noted. She was going to debate that, but he had a point, and he started talking again anyway, “Well, I’m not really a Christmas kinda guy. I do stuff with my family, for their benefit, and that’s about it, but thanks anyway.” He tried to hand her back the gifts, but she stepped back to avoid them. 

“You touched it last. Yours now,” she said and headed back for the tower. Max rolled his eyes, sighed and watched her leave. He went into his chambers, secretly giddy and curious what she’d gotten him. He did a little dance as soon as she was out of sight and rocked his head from side to side in excitement. 

First off, inside of the stocking were some very nice mini hair supplies - organic stuff with honey, lavender and vanilla. She complimented his hair a few times and he noticed that she had began following all of his social media platforms and often liked photos where he knew that his swoosh was IT.  

Then, there were a few gadgets that he wasn’t familiar with and he wondered if she maybe made them herself. 1. A flexible compact mirror that could attach to your hand to be held in your palm without actually holding it - it bent with the movements of his hand, but returned to a flat surface when he looked at himself again. 2.  A device that claimed to be a patch that helped glands with odor… He didn’t know how he felt about THAT, but he was a heavy sweater and tended to get smelly easily when he had to fight, so she’d probably gotten a whiff of that a time or two in the past few weeks. That troubled him. He’d have to be sure to be fresh and clean whenever he saw her next. In fact, he sniffed his arm pit and grunted. WHY? Maybe it WAS his glands. 3. A safety detector. This one claimed to be able to program up to a dozen people’s vitals into it and always be able to check and see that they were okay. He smiled. That could be a HUGE comfort while he was away on missions… But also… She had treats in there! He effing LOVED treats. 

Fudge square Rudolph, snowflake shaped peppermint bark, large snowman sugar cookie, chocolate Black santa cupcake… They were goofy, but wound up being super delicious. He felt bad, not because he stuffed his face and went into the kitchen after his shower to gorge himself on every treat that he could find in the place.. He KNEW that she’d been the one to do all of this and he hadn’t even considered getting any of them anything…

.

Max rushed into his parents' house and jetted by Phoebe and their parents on the couch.

"Well, hello to you too!" Phoebe teased.

"Can it, Pheebs. I've gotta find a Christmas present for my… roommate's assistant…" he heard himself as he said it and knew it sounded silly. He went into the lair in the basement, anyway. Phoebe followed.

"So… finally ready to admit that you've got a crush on Charlotte?" She teased. 

"What? Never. I'm just pressed for time and was given a gift last night."

"What was the gift?" Phoebe wondered.

"I don't know, Phoebe. Christmas hasn't happened yet." He opened a vault and grabbed out a bunny, "Oh! What about this? A woman would like this, right?"

"A stuffed bunny? I guess. Not necessarily for Christmas, but…"

"This isn't a stuffed bunny. Know what, I don't need your help. You don't even know her."

"Excuse me? We met for coffee three times since I saw her at your place."

He set the bunny down and tried to look casual. "She say anything about me?"

"That you're a cocky know-it-all." He frowned and picked the bunny back up, "I don't have time for this. I need to make adjustments on this thing and make it more suitable for her."

"Good luck with your crush!" She cheered as he made his exit.

"Good luck with your pores!" He called back.

She gasped and touched her face, then said, "He's psyching you out. Your pores are excellent."

.

This was Henry's first Christmas out of his parents' house. The tree that he and Jasper put up and decorated had only a few gifts under them that they opened on Christmas morning. The three friends were opening things whenever Charlotte heard the call beep from the two way lab screen and went to answer it. 

Max was there, with bedhead… though she couldn’t tell if that was natural or forced. Still extremely cute, though. “Merry Christmas, Max!” She cheered. He fought a smile. She was SO STINKIN’ CUTE in an elf suit onesie, with a hat and brown elf ears, holiday paint on her face, and red and green glitter in her hair. She watched him curiously as he stared at her, then when her smile began to awkwardly fade, he remembered where he was.

“Hey. I’m gonna send your gift through the chute,” he said.

“Oh, you didn’t have to rush some gift. We didn’t get you something so that you could get us something.”

“I didn’t get “us” something, I’m giving you something. It’s coming through the chute,” he repeated and pressed the button. Charlotte opened the chute and it was a large plastic chest with padding and a wrapped present inside of it. She opened the chest and got the box out. “Wanna open at the same time?” Max wondered. 

She looked up and saw that he had the present that she left for him. She was surprised that he hadn’t opened it yet and just hoped that whatever he got her wasn’t going to put what she got him to shame. She nodded and they both tore into their presents, like little kids, smiling and then taking a moment to examine what they were looking at. “OH MY GOD!” She squealed. “Is this one of your ingenious gadgets?” she wondered. 

Henry and Jasper came over to investigate as Max proudly answered, “Yeah. It’s not exactly new, but I thought that you could appreciate it. I call it the Productivity Pet. It’s basically like a little minion, to help you complete your tasks, since you’re the only person over there that ever actually does any work.”

Henry scoffed, “I do work! I do superhero work!” He said.

He was ignored. “Awww, Thanks, Max! Well… Hopefully, you don’t hate what I got you, then. You’re not very easy to shop for, because as far as I know, you either have or create everything that you could possibly need! But, I didn’t find any indication that you had one of these bad boys.” 

“It looks like a mini food replicator?” He tried guessing.

“Accurate!” she cheered, “Well, sort of. It’s a portable auto snacker with about a thousand desserts programmed into it. I heard you liked sweets.”

“Where’d you hear that?” Max asked, only slightly distracted from the fact that he was about to eat about 50 lbs of sweets from that thing, “And also, did you use this to make the desserts that were in my stocking?”

“I didn’t, but you can bet that I programmed the recipes into it.” 

He hugged it to his chest, “I’m not sure why I HAVEN’T made myself one of these!”

“Happy Christmas, Max!” Jasper cheered.

Max winced a smile and said, “You too.” 

Charlotte picked up her Productivity Pet, which was in the form of a brown bunny with a puffy tail and grabbed the instructions. She forgot to shut off the screen, mainly because Max usually did that, and so he watched her go with her friends and study her gift. He heard Henry ask her, “Why didn’t he get US a present?” 

“You’ll have to ask him,” she said, but she couldn’t stop smiling. Max annoyed her at times, being cocky and kinda rude, but she now thought that there was someone softer in there. She had no idea that he was having trouble leaving the screen, because he could still see her admiring her gift across the room.

.

Charlotte had gotten jewelry from Jasper, some e book collections from Henry, a ton of great stuff from her family, a weird hat from Schwoz, and a photo of Ray from Ray. The only thing that she was actively using was the Productivity Pet, which she had began calling Penelope. She also had given her bunny clothes that she made, programmed a ton of stuff into her database and carried her around in a small pet carrier. Henry and Jasper made fun of her for it, but this bunny was one of the best things to ever happen to her. She was basically a little smart device that looked like a bunny! And Charlotte was able to put her in little flower crowns and do numerous things with her. She was a diffuser, an ambient light, a calendar, could make calls, download media - Charlotte had her reading the books that Henry bought her as she worked. She could access all of Charlotte’s social media, AND she was a projector, so Charlotte could use her in a similar fashion as the Whiz Watch.

She was on Henry’s couch with Penelope on her lap, reading her a story, while she worked on some homework for one of her courses and waited on Henry to return from an assignment when she heard moving around in Max’s lab. They must've left the comm open on the 2 way caller.

Who knows how much power was probably wasted? She went to turn it off, with her bunny tucked cozily beneath her arm like a pillow, and saw that Max had two bunnies of his own, moving around in the lab. That probably was NOT safe. She was going to press the emergency button to alert him, but he came in before she could and fussed, "Colosso! Balfour! What are you two doing here?"

"What did you do with Bunny Clyde?" One of the rabbits asked. 

"Ugh. I gave her away. She was just sitting in a vault anyway."

"You think I hadn't been in and out of that vault?" The one called Colosso asked. 

"You broke up a happy home!" The one called Balfour fussed.

"This is SO weird." Charlotte said, and they turned to look at her.

"Oh God,"Max said.

"Bunny Clyde!" The rabbits cheered.

"Sorry. Ignore this! I mean, ignore what? There are no bunnies!" Max said and turned off the screen. 

"And it got weirder." She pressed her luck and went to his lab, where he was vigorously fussing with two rabbits while she waited for access. Nobody just walked in there. What if there were protocols in place? He sighed and granted her entry.

"Hey.. How many of these do you have?" She wondered.

"We are not the same!" Colosso said, indignantly. "But, she is the only lady bunny that I ever get to see."

"She's not REAL, Dr. Colosso!" Max said, exhausted. 

"Wait.. these are REAL RABBITS???" Charlotte asked, wide eyes and super intrigued. "Did you TEACH them to talk, or was a device involved?"

God, he wished he could take credit for this. But, he couldn't, and anyways, Balfour said, "We were humans. We're now imprisoned in bunny bodies by The Thundermans and this one, the WORSE Thunderman of all, took away our Bunny Clyde to give to his stupid new crush." 

"Hey!" Charlotte and Max both said. But next she said, "I'm not stupid," while Max had said, "She's not my crush!" Then they looked at each other and said, "Or what he/she said." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. The LEAST you could do is set up playdates!" Colosso insisted. 

"Okay… I guess my fake bunny could have playdates with your real bunnies that are actually villains is bunny body prisons. Starting now. I need… a strong tea." She handed Penelope to Max and left the lab.

"Ugh. Look what you've done. She thinks we're weirdos!" Max complained. 

"Who needs her?" Colosso asked. Max just fumed and sat Penelope down on the table. She was still reading Charlotte's story. 

Whenever Charlotte came back to get her, Max explained, "He gets lonely and used to have stuffed animal friends sometimes. I made her to help him out, but whenever he got his son, I figured that he didn't need her anymore."

"I understand if you need to keep her," she lied.

"No. She's yours now…"

"Oh thank God, she is literally the best gift that I've ever gotten!" She cheered, accepting her back. He smiled brightly. That was literally the best compliment that he had ever gotten. I think I’m starting to like this girl, he thought. It sounded vaguely familiar in his mind. Like he’d felt this way before. Oh shit. This was how he felt when he first really saw Allison. He liked Charlotte. Ugh. He did have a crush. He had just admitted it to himself. Phoebe was right. He watched Charlotte smiling at her bunny as she held a paw up and waved it at Max on her way out. Oh well, he thought, with a goofy grin as he waved back to a robot bunny. 

[pulpwriterx]

WOODS (2)

They agreed to meet in the place where they had first met.

You asked for it, O Best Beloved, so here it is...

The next week, Rey flew to another forest.

When Rey landed her X-Wing, Kylo’s TIE Fighter was there.

He had hidden it with some brush, and Rey did the same.

When they got to the spot, Rey saw that Kylo had brought a big sleeping bag, and two pillows.

He wasn’t wearing his full uniform, just his tunic and his boots.

And those black leather pants.

“Can you stay until tomorrow? I’m in charge. I get to do what I want.” He asked.

“I can. What’s in the grey box?”

“It’s a cooling box. Food.”

“Real food?”

“I always eat real food. There’s a huge bruise on your shoulder blade.”

“I know. I fell, when I was trying to fight the drone with the blast shield down. How am I supposed to feel where it is?”

Ben shrugged.

“I never could. But before it fires? It makes a tiny whirring sound. Aim your lightsaber in the direction of that sound. You'll never miss, again. Now, sit up. Keep your back straight.”

He put her shoulder back in place.

“That’s much better! Sorry about the ugly bruise. What happened to your hand? Your knuckles are all purple.” Rey asked.

“I was questioning one of the late and unlamented Snoke’s toadies that I turned up. He could withstand sophisticated Force techniques, so I just punched him in the face over and over again until he screamed he’d tell me anything. He talked.”

Rey nodded, sagely.

She was more concerned with what he was unpacking from the grey box.

A plate of sandwiches, made from thick slabs of bread, nerf steak and cheese.

Potatoes, fixed up with vegetables and eggs and some kind of sauce.

And then a small white carton, that was very cold.

“Here. Eat this first. Before it melts.”

Rey opened the carton.

There was something ice cold and blue in it.

She got the spoon from her mess kit, and tasted it.

It had a smooth consistency, and it was cold, but creamy and sugary, and it tasted like blue milk, and vanilla, and a little like cinnamon.

“This is so good! It tastes even better than it looks!”

“Rey, you act like you've never eaten ice cream.” Ben laughed.

“I haven’t!”

“You never ate ice cream? Ever? Go ahead. Finish it. I have more. How could you have never eaten ice cream? In your life?”

“Because I never had parents. Or a home. Ben, when I was 13, I ran away from my miserable life as my guardian’s near slave. With a flyboy named Dack Rann, who told me he was thirty, but later I found out he was closer to fifty. By the time I was 14, he had dumped me back in the sand on Jakku, and I was on my own. Maybe you think your family were neglectful, and I believe you that they were. But you had one. I have nothing.”

“You have me. I promise, I won’t leave you, Rey. Even if I have to come back from the dead. I’m a Sith Lord, a Jedi Master, and a Skywalker. Don’t ever believe I’m dead, unless you’ve buried me with your own hands, and I haven’t come up out of the ground in a week. Gods, I thought you were just on a diet, like women are. I didn’t know you were starving. Eat. Eat more.”

“Are you sure you can trust your cook?”

“You’re looking at him. I can’t trust anybody. I cook all my own food. I even butcher the meat.”

Rey ate all the ice cream, one of the giant sandwiches, and a heap of the potato thing, and she was stuffed.

Ben ate the rest, but he offered more to her, first.

He ate like a Wookiee; his table manners were awful, but Rey had no way of knowing that.

Hers were worse.

Ben didn’t tell her.

He’d never told her that fancy women from Coruscant and other such places took a razor and shaved their underarms and their legs like men shaved their faces.

And some women even shaved their bush.

Ben didn’t mind a little leg hair.

And he was partial to bush.

“What are you thinking about?” Rey asked.

“Your bush.”

“Not now, Ben! I’m so full I think if you got on top of me, I would explode! I need to walk some of this meal off.”

“What kind of bullshit gung-ho Jedi Uncle Luke crap is that? You sleep off a big meal. I’m getting in the sleeping bag, and lying here with the sun shining on my face through the trees and I’m going to take a nap and snore. You should, too.”

Ben even got undressed.

Rey followed his lead.

It wasn’t warm, but it was a lazy day, and the big meal made her drowsy, and Rey fell asleep curled up with Kylo, listening to his snoring and the other comforting sounds of the woods.

***

“Rey. Rey? Wake up, little angel. You’re so cute, when you’re asleep. You snore, and drool, and fart. And when I touched you, you called me Dack, honey, and asked me to put my old Imperial uniform on. Boots, too. So, you like flyboys, huh? Imperial flyboys, too. I’ll bet you want the Imperial Act. But you’ll never ask me for it. You don't have to."

Rey was mortified, but Ben got up, kissed her, and grabbed his clothes.”

“Stay right there. Don’t get dressed.”

Ben went to his TIE Fighter.

“The safe word is Chandrila. But you won’t need it! I’m not that kinky!” he yelled.

He returned in full regalia with his cape on.

And his gloves.

“So, young Jedi. You’ve walked right into my trap. You have not committed yourself to my cause, and yet, you want access to the corridors of power.”

“I…I…” Rey stammered.

“SILENCE!” Kylo Ren roared.

His dark, ancient eyes glinted with Imperial fanaticism and insistent lust.

He clenched his black-gloved fist against his chest as he backed Rey over to the sleeping bag.

Backed her down to her knees.

“Didn’t I tell you I could take what I wanted from you? You’re all alone on this planet. No one will hear you scream. Only me. You think you won’t scream? I promise you, Rebel scum. You will.” He purred.

He casually pushed aside the bottom of his surcoat, so that Rey could see he was visibly and certainly most entirely aroused.

“I can do whatever I’d like, to you. So, I suggest that if you value your freedom, Rebel Girl?”

Kylo Ren caressed Rey's face with his gloved hand, almost tenderly, but there was no tenderness in the way he pushed her face against his black leather thigh.

“I suggest you suspend work on all your projects for the Resistance, on this mission…”

He unbuckled his belt.

“…and start working on me.”

Kylo Ren unbuttoned his uniform trousers, and got his cock out.

“You know what I want.”

Rey nodded.

And when he'd had enough, he made her stop.

“No more for you, you hungry little beast. I can’t believe it, but you like this, don’t you? You dirty little Rebel whore.”

“Please, Supreme Leader. I want you to ravish me. I don’t know why I feel like this about you. But I need your big, stiff Imperial prick.”

He tore her panties off her body, and then Kylo Ren got Rey on her hands and knees, got behind her, and gave her a little slap on the ass.

“Chandrila! Chandrila!” Rey yelped.

“OK. What should I stop doing?”

Rey expected him to be mad.

He didn’t sound mad.

“I told you before. Don’t stick it in my ass. I don’t trust you flyboys, in that position.”

“I wasn’t after your ass. But you just killed your paramour, Rann. When I find him? I’ll kill him just for giving you fear. Why would I want your ass when your cunt is soaked? You want my Imperial cock? I’ll give it to you. Are you ready, prisoner?”

“Yes. Oh, yes!” Rey panted.

The Supreme Leader started screwing her, doggy style.

“If you please me, I may even give you special privleges.” Ben purred.

Now Ben had his hand between Rey's legs, rubbing his gloved fingers across her hot button while he gave it to her.

In his full Imperial uniform.

With his boots on.

Rey couldn’t help it.

“Oh, fuck, Ben, you are so much better at this than Dack Rann!”

“That’s because I’m the King, baby…”

“Ben…”

“…King of the Sky…”

“Ben!!!”

“…hail to the King, Rebel Girl…”

“BEN!!!!”

“…I’ll tell you this, no two-bit flyboy is ever gonna make you come just like this! You’re my Rebel Girl, now! That’s a good girl. squeeeeeeze my cock in your wet, dirty cunt and let me fill you with my hot spunk!!!!”

Now they were both screaming, and then they fell into a jumble of arms and legs on the sleeping bag.

“That’s how I do the Imperial Act, sweetheart. Boots, and all. But I am thinking about killing Rann. It’s bad enough him taking you from your home planet when you were a kid to do it to you, let alone trying to pressure you into butt stuff you obviously didn’t want to do. Rann isn’t even a good-looking older man. He’s a big slob with a beer belly who always looks like he needs a shave. Why him?”

“Chandrila.”

Ben got undressed, again.

“Okay. But I’m getting undressed. I’m sweating like a Hutt.”

“You don’t think I’m a pervert, do you, Ben?”

“Nope. You'd be surprised the things girls asked me to do that I refused. Especially in uniform. Did I give you everything you wanted?”

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Of course not.”

“You did, Ben. I just wish we had some more ice cream.”

“Me too.”

Ben fell asleep, but Rey couldn't.

She woke him uo.

“I lied, Ben. I lied to you. And I don't want to get Dack killed for my lies. I wasn’t 14. I was 16. The Galactic age of consent. Don’t kill him, Ben. I had other offers. Dack was just so…he couldn’t have been anything but a man. He was macho, and funny, and a real tough guy. He used to come back and see me every three months or so. He never did anything I didn’t want him to. Just asked for it. And they don’t call him Two-Gun Rann just because he wears two long-barreled blasters. He has three. I am a pervert.”

Ben kissed her forehead.

“Not so much as me. Do you know who Hela Darkstar is?”

“Red Hela, the Chieftain of the Wolf Clan? The High Queen of Arkanis? Your mother sent me to Arkanis on a diplomatic mission. The Throne of Blood and Iron is made of swords, knives, axes and electroplated skulls and bones. She murdered her own father and stole his throne. There’s a space at the top. She says it’s for the skull of the Great Beast, the warrior and wizard who wronged her. She keeps her first cousin as a male concubine. But she did send us some Arkanian warriors. Why?”

“Fenrir Darkstar is not dead. He retired to Tattoine, and opened a bar and registered whorehouse in Anchorhead. That space you mentioned? It's for my head, but she’s had plenty of opportunities to take it, and never did. Fenrir sent her to the Jedi Temple with her cousin, Armitage Hux, who was Force null, to keep her out of trouble. It didn’t work. When she was dismissed, she drugged me, kidnapped me, and kept me prisoner in her private rooms for three months. I was allowed free reign in Hela's private apartments, but she wouldn’t let me have clothes. Or shoes. I was 20, and I had never even kissed a girl, before Hela took me. When my father made a deal with her father, to release me? I didn’t want to go. We promised each other never to touch anyone else on Tuesdays, the day we met, or Saturdays, the day she made me a man. Even though she hates me, now? I go to Arkanis every Tuesday and Saturday I can. I’ve never been asked to leave.”

“So if I run into Dack, and it’s not a Thursday?”

“If it’s a Thursday, I’ll kill him.”

Rey just laughed.

“Agreed.” She said.

[whenimgoodandready]

*SVTFOE Bloopers, Finale Season

Hey Starlings! Today’s the one year anniversary of “Star vs. The Forces of Evil”! I remember when we were all hyped up for the show and I got sooooooooooo into it. And I mean really really into! My reviews grew from joining the fandom, I collected the merchandise, I met some good friends and I even got to meet Daron Nefcy herself! As tribute to the shows anniversary, I finally got the chance to write my Season 4 bloopers! (like how I did with the first 3 and “Battle for Mewni”) I admit I haven’t really worked on it much since last year cuz I’ve been busy (mostly lazy), but when I heard the one year anniversary was coming up, I decided to get off my a** and write it! With help from my good friend @agentpfangirl1997. Thank you so much! As I was writing this out. I accidentally deleted it and was in shell shock cuz I worked really hard on typing this all out and putting it together, but I picked myself up and rewrote it like a true writer! I hope you guys like it cuz if you get the references in this. It’ll be even better. Enjoy! @daronnefcy I hope you see this! Like you promised from your Q&A!

•Butterfly Follies

-(Star pulls the string of the Queen Moon doll)

Queen Moon Doll:”You’re doing just fine, sweetheart”

(Star pulls the string again)

Queen Moon Doll:”I love you!”

(Star pulls the string once more)

Queen Moon Doll:(in a deep demonic male voice) “I command you! In the name of Lucifer to spill the blood of the innocent!”

(Star shakes her head in disbelief looking standing upright and shocked. She darts her eyes to the doll. She pulls the string yet again)

Queen Moon Doll:(makes demonic shrieking noises)

(Star darts her eyes to the camera still in shock)

-“Queen Moon”:(to Star and River) ”Um, I have to tell you something”

(“Queen Moon” takes off their wig to reveal themselves to be a male actor)

(Star and River gasp)

River:”You.......you’re a brunet!” (the staff off-screen laugh. River laughs as Star holds back her laughter. The Queen Moon actor just smiles. River turns to the staff off-screen shrugging) “I forgot my lines!”

•Escape from the Pie Folk

-(The Pie King is lounging on the giant pie wheel as he spins it. It spins for a moment before it slowly stops)

Star:”I’d like to solve the puzzle!” (The Pie King falls off the giant pie wheel laughing. Star laughs as the staff off-screen laugh too. Star turns to them shrugging and smiling sheepishly) “I like “Wheel of Fortune!”

•Moon Remembers

•Swim Suit

-(Behind the Scenes. Star, Marco and Tom are staring up at the giant crystal prison Globgor is in, but he’s not right now (cuz he’s CGI-ed in), so they’re just astonishingly staring up at the big empty crystal prop)

Marco:”How big is this f***ing thing!?”

•Ransomgram

-Ransomgram Monster:(singing and dancing) 🎶You stole our sword, so we stole your dragoncyclllllllllllll🎶 (stops singing and dancing to laugh at herself holding herself up by her knees. She turns to the staff off-screen) “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, can-can I try that again please?”

•Lake House Fever

•Yada Yada Berries

•Down by the River

-(Behind the Scenes. Toffee is sitting on a chair reading a script from for his upcoming cameo appearance in “Meteora’s Lesson” while holding a coffee mug in one hand and drinking from it. He’s only wearing his white shirt and black pants and matching shoes. Suddenly, the child actors that portray the Maizley kids, Manny and Mendel, run up to him grinning and stare intensively at him on either side. Toffee notices this and stares up from his script. The children continue to stare)

Toffee:”Can I help you?”

Mendel:”Hiiiiiiiiii Mr.Toffee” (rubs her arm up her other arm looking at the ground and then up at Toffee), “We’re huge fans of yours and we just wanted to meet the biggest actor on the show”

Manny:(points at Mendel) “She’s got a big crush on you!”

Mendel:(looks embarrassed then glares at Manny) “I do not!” (turns back to Toffee and shyly holds her hands behind her back and traces her foot on the ground in front of her looking down at it and then up at him) “Anyways, we were wondering if maybe you can help us go over our lines for our episode”

Toffee:”Well, I don’t know, I’m already going over my own lines for my own episode and-“

The Kids:(pressing their heads together with big eyes, cute smiles and clasping their hands together) “Pleeeeease” (they bat their eyes unsynchronizingly)

Toffee:(sighs and then miles) “Oh alright”

(the kids cheer and Manny runs off-screen. He comes back dragging a chair, places it next to Toffee, climbs up on it, pulls out his script for “Down by the River” and Mendel hands Toffee her script. Manny opens both scripts to a certain scene)

Manny:(to Toffee) “Ready!?”

Toffee:”Yes”

Manny:(clears his throat and reads his line) “Hey! You wanna bet I can scream really loud!?”

Toffee:(reads Rivers line from the script) “”No”, okay, so then Moon says-“ (gets interrupted by Manny screaming in his ear. Toffee was startled by it as it made him jump out of his chair and drop his coffee mug having it spill and break on the floor. He was covering his ears when he turned to Manny annoyed) “What was that!?”

Manny:(smiling) ”That was my line! I scream in Rivers ear!”

Toffee:”Yeah, but I wasn’t-“ (gets interrupted by Manny screaming again. Toffee cringes) “I wasn’t-“ (gets interrupted again by Manny screaming as he cringes again) “Now see here, I-“ (gets interrupted once again by Manny screaming as he once again cringes) “Will you st-“ (yet again he’s interrupted by Manny screaming as he cringes once more. Manny screams in-between pauses as Toffee cringes with it. Toffee groans and covers his ears as Manny’s continuous screaming gets louder from his pauses. Mendel pulls out a pan and spoon and starts banging them against each other while howling. Toffee is startled by that and turns to glare at Mendel screaming ) “WHAT’S WITH THE ONE WOMAN BAND!?”

Mendel:(screaming so Toffee can hear from Manny’s screaming) “IT’S THE SCENE WHERE MY FAMILY AND I MAKE LOUD NOISES TO WARD OFF THE HOOKMAN!” (she giggles) “IT DRIVES MOON CRAZY!”

Toffee:(exasperatedly) ”She’s not the only one!” (he sighs and slumps in defeat as Manny is still screaming in pauses as Mendel bangs her pan and spoon together howling. He walks off dejectedly as Manny jumps on his back continuing his screams and Mendel following him howling. We hear Toffee off-screen yell) “WHY DID I AGREE TO COME BACK TO THIS KIDS SHOW!?”

•The Ponyhead Show!

-Pony Head:(on the set of her characters Show-within-a-Show) “Okay, um, so when I said I wanted my own spin-off, THIS ISN’T WHAT I HAD IN MIND!”

-Eclipsa:(singing and playing her guitar as she’s magiced in the air by Star) 🎶Centuries from my home, Can't go back, so let's start some-🎶 (the harness that’s keeping her up for Stars magic breaks leaving her hanging by only one strap now) “Oh! Oh my!”

(the background music for Eclipsas song stops on a record scratch and Star, Pony Head (after spitting out the crystal cupcake prop), Marco, Kelly and Seahorse rush over and try to reach up to Eclipsa)

Marco:(jumping up and down) “I gotcha! I gotcha!”

Pony Head:”Hang on Eclipsa! I gotcha!” (flies up to the harness that’s wrapped around Eclipsa and tries breaking it free with her teeth. Seahorse flies up and joins in)

(the single harness now is slightly torn lowering Eclipsa down with her screaming)

Star:(fearfully) “Eclipsa!”

Eclipsa:(worrying) “Some one get me down!”

(Everyone tries to help Eclipsa and the camera pans to Toffee causally sitting in a chair wearing only his white shirt with a couple of buttons undone and his black pants and shoes while holding his coffee mug and next to him is Rosemary, the little girl who was the only one to like Eclipsas song, sitting on a chair leveled to Toffee sipping her juice box and both are staring up at the chaos of Eclipsas harness failure as people rush in to save her and we hear them murmur)

Toffee:(to Rosemary keeping his eyes on Eclipsa) “Think they’ll get her down?”

Rosemary:(while keeping her eyes on Eclipsa) “Not a chance”

(they click their drinks without looking and sip)

•Surviving the Spiderbites

•Out of Business

-Marco:(to the Quest Buy Sloth) “Hey! My Dude! We’re pros at these, uh, situati-“ (gets tripped on his back after doing a back flip by the “Baby Marco with Wheels for Hands” prop as it zooms by. Marco sits up groaning. He turns up to his left) “Janna!” (Janna comes onto the set with a remote control device laughing and makes the “Baby Marco with Wheels for Hands” prop circle around them. Marco groans at Janna)

•Kelly’s World

•Curse of the Blood Moon

-Tom:”Uh, Relicor says he’ll guide us to the Severing Stone, cuz he’s my grandpa” (sways his hips back and forth) pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-pa-“ (stops to laugh at himself) “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! It was just too funny! (laughs some more. Turns to the director off-screen and waves his hand dismissively) “Just-Just shot again, okay!”

(Take 2) Tom:”Cuz he’s my grandpa” (sways his hips back and forth) “pa-pa-pa-“ (stops again to laugh and holds up one finger facing the director off-screen) “One more time! One more time!”

(Take 3) Tom:”Cuz he’s my-“(is about to sway his hips back and forth, he stops to hold in his laugh, but after awhile, he bursts into laughter bending forward holding his stomach and tapping his foot. Star is annoyed and rolls her eyes groaning. Janna pulls out her iPhone playing with it and Marco sighs)

-(Star, Marco, Tom, Janna and Relicor are in the elevator. Tom is whistling and holding his hands together stretching them around. Star looks annoyed)

Star:”Tom!.....Tom!” (Tom accidentally hits Star in the eye with his stretching hands) “OW!” (Star covers her eye)

(everyone looks towards Star concerned)

Tom:(panicky) “Oh my God! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to and-“

Star:”Damn it! Tom!”

(The staff come onto the set and hover around Star as we hear one say, “The medics on their way!”. Tom panics to himself and a bell rings signaling to stop rolling)

-(Behind the Scenes. Star and the gang are waiting for Vexicor to show up for the scene. Star is slouched down holding a hand to her head moaning silently, Marco has his arms crossed and is tapping his foot impatiently, Tom is looking worriedly at Star, Janna is laying on the couch playing on her iPhone, Relicor is flying in place and Abraxacan is in his tower resting his head on one hand and tapping his claws on the window sill)

Marco:(about Vexicor to the staff off-screen) “Is he here yet!?”

Staff Member Off-Screen:”No, not yet”

(Marco sighs impatiently)

Tom:(walks over to Star putting his hand on her shoulder) “Hey, is your eye okay?”

Star:(stares up at Tom sternly) “F*** off, Tom”

(Tom backs away slowly holding his hands up in front of him in fear. We hear a door open and slam as everyone on set looks towards the noise. We then hear foot steps and Vexicor in his demon costume comes onto the set holding up a fast food bag in one hand and a drink in the other)

Vexicor:”What! What! What! What’s everyone looking at!?” (slurps his drink)

Marco:”Dude! You went to get fast food!?”

Vexicor:(irritated) “Well why not!? You kids cleaned me out on the donuts, so I had to walk all the way to the restaurant” (gestures to his costume) “in this getup! Getting weird looks from strangers and I’m sweating my balls off in this thing and-“

Director Daron:(off-screen) “WAIT! WAIT! Hold up!” (everyone looks at the camera) “This could work!”

Star:”It can?”

Vexicor:”What!? Me and this scenario!?”

Director Daron:(off-screen) “Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! It’ll be funny! Okay places everyone! Let’s shoot this!”

(everyone gets into their positions for the new rewrite scene)

-(Star and Marco are wearing their formal outfits waltzing to the “Blood Moon Waltz” with red lighting. Suddenly, the music shifts to Lil Nas X ft.Billy Ray Cyruses remix song of “Old Town Road”. Star and Marco are startled by it and break apart)

Pony Head:(flies onto the scene screaming) “Okay! That is it! Where are those creepy twins!? Imma bust their heads!” (scans the area as the music plays) “I swear, I don’t care if I get sued for this! Those two are dead!” (she notices the music still playing) “CUT THE TRACK!” (“Old Town Road” stops on a record scratch as the lighting turns on to color. Pony Head groans and flies off. Star and Marco just awkwardly stare at each other from Pony Heads outburst)

Marco:”Well” (scratches the back of his head and then shrugs) “least it’s not “Despacito” (crookedly smiles)

(Star covers her mouth from laughing)

•Princess Quasar Caterpillar and the Magic Bell

-(Behind the Scenes. Janna (before CGI makes her a Cyclopes) is bouncing up and down with glee next to Quasar)

Janna:(pleadingly) “Do the thing! Do the thing! Please! Please! Please!”

Quasar:(laughs and playfully waves off a hand) “Oh C’mon!”

Janna:”Pleeeeeeeeease!” (holds up one finger) “Just this once!”

Quasar:(playfully rolls her eyes) “Oh okay!”

(Janna cheers clapping her hands)

Quasar:(clears her throat and gets into a starting position pose. She raises her hand in the air) “JUPITER STAR POWER! MAKE UP!” (gracefully twirls around while waving her hands in the air. Janna awes with joy)

•Ghost of Butterfly Castle

-(Moon is walking the hallway of the abandoned ruins of Castle Butterfly looking at the sewn tapestries on the walls. She suddenly stops and sneezes. The staff off-screen laugh as she smiles and sniffles)

Moon:”I’m sorry” (sniffles again) “It’s just so dusty in here that’s all”

•Cornball!

•Meteora’s Lesson

-(Behind the Scenes. Star is in Toffees huge dressing room putting on his mullet wig for his young characters self. She’s adjusting it in the mirror and starts doing poses with it. She does air guitar and makes guitar noises with it thrashing around. As she does that, she doesn’t notice Toffee walk in dressed in his young characters 80’s outfit while wearing a bald cap for the wig and carrying a coffee mug. He’s perplexed seeing Star goof around in his dressing room and wig)

Star:(singing) 🎶I love Rock n’ Roll! So put another dime in the jukebox, Baby! I love Rock n’ Roll! So come an’ take your time an’ dance with me-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! YEAH!🎶 (she grabs a chair and smashes it on the ground. Then she goes down on her knees and holds both her hands up in a “Rock On!” sign) “THANK YOU! GOOD-NIGHT!” (sticks her tongue out “KISS” style)

Toffee:”Ahem!”

(Star breaks out of her “rock persona” and looks to see Toffee glaring at her. She quickly gets up grinning sheepishly. Keeping her eyes on Toffee, she dusts the broken pieces of the chair behind her under a lounge chair, scoots herself near his wig bust, removes his wig from her head, places it on the bust, brushes it down with her hands and takes a big step next to him. She giggles nervously then frantically zooms out the room. Toffee watches her leave and signs wearingly)

-(Toffee dressed as his young characters self is gripping Glossaryck in his hand and Meteora crawls over to Toffees leg. She starts pounding on it, but then stops and cuddles it cooing. Toffee chuckles and picks up Meteora in his other arm. He turns to the staff off-screen)

Toffee:(embarrassed) “Can we edit this so it looks like she’s attacking me?”

•The Knight Shift

•Queen-Napped

-Ransomgram Monster:(fearfully peaking from the door holding a hand full of envelopes) “It’s just the mail! Please don’t make me dance!” (the staff off-screen laugh. The Ransomgram Monster turns to them embarrassed and shrugs) “I’m not much of a dancer!”

•Junkin’ Janna

•A Spell With No Name

[scribblestatic]

Midoriya Haruto is the name engraved on the tombstone. The name of his wife, Midoriya Suzume, is engraved on it and painted in red, an indication of the still-living. And yet, Izuku hasn’t really seen much of her either, honestly. But he stands there on a bright Sunday afternoon, after his maternal grandmother and most of his aunts, uncles, and cousins have already visited. He can tell by the way the gravestone has already been washed, how there’s already a fresh set of flowers and peaches in front of the tombstone. Incense is already burning softly. And so, his mom puts down the pail of water and begins to pray, not using the water and ruining what has already been done.

Izuku stands beside his mom in prayer, wearing one of his school button-downs and jeans. Upon the end of the prayer, he watches his mom add the flowers she’s brought to the ones already there, carefully arranging them like she’s a florist. She sighs and straightens up when she’s done.

“Hello Dad,” his mom begins, and Izuku stays silent as she tells him about the past year. His eyes flit around to the other tombstones. Names flash past his vision as he stares at flowers and bees. Some tombstones are made from marble, others from lesser stones. A cat is eating fruit given to one person’s ancestors, and the cat’s kittens are gathered behind their mother. An elderly man is sharing a rice cake between himself and an old tombstone, and he laughs with it like it’s his old friend.

“Izuku is doing well, too. His grades are always improving! It’s only his first year of middle school, but I know he’s going to excel.”

There’s a butterfly fluttering around before it lands on a stone and rests, occasionally flapping it little blue wings in the wind. A little toddler is hugging a tombstone further down as a man stands behind her, his face a bit wet. A bird is building a nest near a smaller stone one, gathering little branches and moss to make its home.

“I really wish you could’ve met him, Dad. I mean...you did. Once. But I wish you...I wish you spent more time with us.”

Other names are painted in red on the tombstones. Spouses who have yet to pass away and join their loved ones. One of them is abandoned altogether. Had it not been for the funeral home, he’s certain spider webs would’ve already been set up around them. It’s off in a quiet corner, away from the sunlight. Abandoned by the living. Alone. All alone. All alone and by itself without anyone to wish their soul well…

“Izuku?”

He blinks, then turns his head towards his mom, who gazes at him with wet eyes, expectant. He glances quickly at his mom’s dad’s stone, then at her. She does it as well, nodding her head towards it.

He looks back at the stone. Well loved. Well cared for. The red name of a living spouse without any chipped paint. Perfectly done. Perfectly scented. The perfume of flowers and incense becomes suddenly cloying to him.

Izuku knows good and well his grave will never be like this.

“Hi. Uhm… Hope things are good over there.” He nods a bit and fiddles with his fingers. “I wish…” 

Breathe. 

Why did you abandon your daughter because of me? Why didn’t you want to see me? Why didn’t you love your daughter despite me? Why did you let me make Mom’s life worse? Why did you abandon us? Why?

Why am I here with you instead of with Tadao?

Swallow.

“...wish you well in the afterlife.”

Izuku wants to go back home.

— —

Izuku has a quirk. He knows he does. He has a quirk, and it makes him unlucky.

Because of all the things to do, while walking through Northern Higashiyama, he finds himself knocking into his mother’s sisters. Three of the four of them, anyway.

“Oh my gawsh~! Look at you, baby boy! I haven’t seen you since you were thiiiiiiis little!” one of his aunts cheer, her green-tinted hair straight down her back unlike the style his mom puts hers in. She smiles, but it’s false. There’s a superior tilt to it, obviously in reference to her own son, his cousin, who is being greeted by his mom at that moment with kind smiles and genuine appreciation. “How old are you now? Ten? Nine?”

“I’m 12.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry! You must’ve inherited your mom’s short genes, hahahaha!”

Her lips are painted red, the brightest of the sisters as they toddle around and coo at the little chicks they’ve all brought up. One of his aunts isn’t there, staying at his old grandmother’s side. So if his grandmother never meets him, by extension, anyone watching over her won’t see him. He finds himself wishing that all of his aunts were taking care of her.

“So, little mister, you just started junior high school, huh? How is that going? With a cute face like yours, I’m sure you have all the girls gaga over you!”

Izuku stares off to the side, wanting so badly to back up and just...walk back to Musutafu to see Tadao. He’d rather tell the baby boy about all the interesting things he’s seen at the graveyard than be here now.

“Mmmh.”

“Oh come on, speak up clearly, won’t you? Your mother did say you had a mumbling habit. You need to speak clearly so people will understand what you’re saying!”

“Yes ma’am.”

She smiles brightly, red lipstick stark against her pale face. “That’s better, that’s better. Now then, how about you, Yuji, Junpei, Kamiko, Souma, and Kawaru all play together for a while? I’m sure you guys will have a lot in common. My boy, Yuji, he’s a second year in junior high now! He’s in the basketball club, you know? Do you play any sports?”

He shakes his head, and his aunt frowns a little. “No ma’am.” The smile returns.

“Gosh, that’s such a shame. I bet you’d be good at sports...something like ping pong? Tennis, maybe? But, well, you’d have to beef up a bit, wouldn’t you? Maybe you could ask my boy Yuji for some tips, hmm? I’m sure he’d love to tell you how to...hmm...how do they say it now? ‘Get swole’? Yeah, that’s it! Hahahaha!”

Izuku smiles so tightly his lips curve in a bit. When his gaze leaves her to look past her, the boy who his mom has been talking to is nodding down at her. He’s taller, like Kacchan. His hair’s more green and much straighter than Izuku’s is, and he doesn’t have any freckles or pimples. His eyes are smaller than his own, so with that and his muscle, he looks older by a good three or four years instead of the one year difference between them. He’s an ikimen for sure. The name ‘Midoriya’ is a blessing wherever he goes.

And Izuku’s a loser who can’t become a hero. His one good feature is that he can somehow get Tadao to stop crying by being there with him.

He wants so badly to go back to the hospital.

“Are you in any clubs? You should join a club, even if it’s not for sports! Like painting or homemaking. Those aren’t very manly things, but you’d have some skill for it, I’m sure! Oh, but Inko says you’re a smart boy...you should be in the reading club! Or the science club! What do you think about those? You should join one of them!”

Izuku smiles. “I’ll think about it.”

I won’t.

Suddenly, his aunt gasps. “Oh goodness, here I am just talking your little ears off. Precious boy!” She grabs one of them and tugs a little like one would tug his cheeks, and he winces, resisting the urge to smack it off. Her touch feels...not that great. “Here, you know what? You should spend some time around people your own age. Let me get out of your hair, alright?” She turns around then. “Yuji! Why don’t you and your cousins spend some time around town while us ladies keep clucking on?”

Yuji turns away from his mom and nods. “Okay.”

He sounds more mature, too. His voice is deeper. How is it that a one-year difference has done such a thing?

A few moments and some cash exchanges, and the four sister Midoriyas are walking off, chatting amongst each other. He watches as his mother lags behind a step or two, not quite in the group though certainly among them. Sighing a little, he turns back towards the group of kids he’s been unfortunately grouped with. 

Yuji isn’t actually the oldest, though he looks it. The oldest is Junpei, who’s already 14. He has straight hair like the others, short cut and more mature-looking. He wears glasses, too. Kamiko is 13, too, and she’s really pretty. She looks kind of like his mom when she was younger, before she began stress-eating from his quirklessness, and she wears a headband in her long hair, the tips touching the small of her back. Souma and Kawaru are younger than him—Souma’s born in August, and Kawaru’s 10. The two are siblings, Souma being the older brother with sharper eyes and a scar over his nose, and Kawaru somehow gaining a little curl to her short hair, some of it pulled into a ponytail on the side of her head.

The group of cousins chat amongst each other like they know each other well. They probably do. But Izuku, like his mom, stands a little further away and observes what’s around him. Watches them like he’s watching a TV show, trying to gage what they’re all feeling. But he does get a little distracted. Distracted enough that he doesn’t really realize when Souma’s walking up to him.

“Hey, my mom says you’re disabled. But you don’t look like it.” Souma crosses his arms, a frown on his face.

Izuku blinks for a moment at the slightly taller boy before what he said registers.

“Uhm…”

Souma opens his mouth to say something again, but suddenly, a slightly blue highlight of a hand appears and smacks him on the back of his head. Behind him, Kawaru’s face has flushed up, but it’s Kamiko’s hand that glows blue.

“Hey, don’t just say things like that! Are you stupid?” she hisses.

But Izuku’s not really paying attention to the insult anymore. He’s more focused on the quirk.

“Is that...is that your quirk?” Izuku asks, watching as the girl blinks at him. “It looks like a kind of telekinesis, but it’s more like projection.”

“Oh, yeah.” Kamiko smiles cutely and puts her hands into peace signs. They glow a little, and two hands show up at her sides, larger and glowing, making the same peace signs she is. “I can make a projection of my hands to move out at a distance from my body~ It’s really useful for picking up far away things, like the TV remote!”

The conversation seems to pick up from there, and Izuku moves in closer as his cousins start talking about their quirks.

— —

Junpei’s quirk is more memory-based than physical. He can read a book and remember every word in it for up to 48 hours on one single read. After two reads, up to 96 hours, so on and so forth. Eventually, he just remembers the book entirely. It’s even more efficient for signs and maps, which are much shorter than books. He’s been top in his class since 1st grade and not a single person has been able to beat him since.

Yuji’s quirk is an attraction to objects, similar to his mom, but rather than just small things, after training his quirk, he can attract larger things. Nothing bigger than a mini-fridge though, or his head starts to hurt. He can also push things instead of only pulling them. Pulling and pushing a basketball during a casual game rather than one for his team is very fun to do, according to the guy. He also likes pulling on his girlfriend’s sweater from a distance to get her to come closer, which makes Izuku blush red while Souma calls him gross, a similar flush over his own cheeks.

Kamiko, of course, can project her hands and hit and grab things as need be. There’s a range where she can’t reach, but the closer she is, the faster the hands are. She showed off her particular skill by swiping a little kendama from an old woman’s little market store so quickly that no one but a camera would notice it. Even then, it would be blurry. After playing around with the toy, which made Kawaru rather silently distressed, she eventually put it back much to her own displeasure.

Souma’s quirk allows him to pull himself to objects or pull the objects to himself. Rather than being affected with a headache or a nosebleed by the weight of the object, the weight relative to himself and the object is what affects what happens. If he weighs less than the object, he’ll be pulled towards it. If he weighs more than the object, it’ll be pulled towards him. However, he hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it. In fact, the scar on his nose is from when he pulled on a lighter object a bit too quickly and broke his nose when it collided with his face.

Kawaru’s quirk almost seems to come out of nowhere. Rather than pulling or pushing or anything of that sort, her quirk is memory-based like Junpei’s...sort of. She can touch inanimate objects and see a brief history of the object or things that have happened near the object. However, for the moment, she can only look at an object’s history once. Once before, she used her quirk to figure out who stole some fundraising money by looking at the history of the desk the money had been placed in. She was able to identify the culprit by the feeling of the hand that reached in and took the money. Her school life, as it turns out, is a little turbulent because of that.

Izuku can relate, only, for a different reason. Which ends up rearing its ugly head when they ask what his quirk is.

“Oh...uhm...I’m actually...uh...quirkless.

There’s a sudden silence among the kids. A realization...no. A remembrance, like they had forgotten something and his statement suddenly flipped a switch. 

Izuku feels himself start to sweat. “I-I mean, I just really like quirks, you know? I think they’re really interesting, so I’m always...well...studying them. I guess.”

The warm atmosphere becomes colder. Eyes begin to avert from his body. He sees a slight smirk on Yuji’s face before it quickly clears off, and Junpei’s glasses seem almost to cloud over. Kamiko’s smile becomes pointedly pitying in a way that he really, really hates.

“Oooooh...that’s what Mom meant by you being disabled,” Souma says, eyes wide.

He gets another smack to the head, but it’s less harsh.

As they keep walking on down the stairs at one of the more populated areas, lanterns on and people shopping, the group begins to separate from him. Their steps become a little faster, they ask them fewer questions, and their group seems to close in. Though Kawaru sends him occasional, sympathetic glances, peer pressure wins out and she abandons him like the rest of them do.

Eventually, two people could fit between the distance they’ve built away from each other, like they’re a happy group and he’s their freckled, curly-haired stalker.

Well...Izuku went into this expecting something like this to happen, but it hurts no less. In fact, knowing that they’re family, that they are likable, that they could’ve been friends...it makes it hurt even more than being abandoned by everyone at school and in their neighborhood.

It’s not fair. But nothing is.

So Izuku decides that, if he’s going to be dragged around like the ball at the end of a chain for the rest of the day, he’s going to do it doing things he enjoys. So he takes out his phone and turns on the camera setting, and he starts taking pictures.

A lantern glows before evening at a storefront, hanging from the roof of an old Heian-styled building made of wood. A window of one of the shops has a lot of little glass figurines that glimmer from the white Christmas light display they have around it and little golden lucky cats that wave their paws to invite luck. An older woman fans herself as she wears a kimono, sitting on a bench as she calmly eats her mochi. Crows land on a fence and caw at each other, having gathered in a solid murder, eyeing a nearby tempura place where enough customers have given them treats that they wait to eat.

“Hey.”

He nearly takes a picture of Kamiko’s face, but stops before his finger hits the button.

“Uhm...what is it?” he asks. A quick glance up shows the others waiting, antsy and curious.

“We’re going to this shrine we like to visit. Keep up, okay?”

Izuku nods. “Yeah, okay.”

She smiles, satisfied, and turns around as she rejoins the group. Surprisingly, he’s grown even further apart from them, so he speeds up a little to make sure he’s closer.

He catches the word “weirdo”, and decides a solid two-people distance from the group is good enough.

With his phone still out, he sends a quick text to his mom.

[I’m tired. Can we go back to the hotel yet?]

She responds faster than he would’ve expected had she been talking with her sisters.

[Not yet, sweetie. Just have a little fun with your cousins, okay?]

…

[K.]

[beepbeeprichiellc]

97!

97. Are you trying to flirt? Because, you’re embarrassing yourself.

The liquor was harsh against the back of his throat, burning a trail to his stomach. His once pristine tux now hung off of his shoulders lazily, his tie undone and shirt open. Luckily the open bar welcomed his sorry ass with warm arms, listening to his complaints and his bitter comments. The reception conditioned to rage on behind him, people danced, sang and rejoiced all the while he drowned his sorrows with bourbon. 

“Are you going to sit around and mope or are you going to actually participate?” A sharp voice asked, making Richie flinch. “Your best friend just got married, the least you an do is pretend to be happy.” 

“Listen Beverly,” The name came out in a slur, making his head ache. “I agreed to come, I didn’t agree to be happy.” 

“Wow.” She whistled, unnamed. “You are really going to milk this entire thing aren’t you?” 

“Looks like it.” 

The girl beside him sighed, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder making him cringe at the sympathy that was in the action. Richie didn’t want this, he didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. He and Bill had broken up over a year ago, so what he had met a pretty young thing in LA and so what they were expecting a baby and getting married. That shouldn’t make him feel so shitty, so worthless and yet here he was with a hole in his heart and a sick feeling in his gut. Life was moving on and as per usual, Richie Tozier was being left behind. 

“Look, why don’t you try and find someone to take home? Huh, a good romp in the sheets would do you good.” 

“Are you suggesting I have a one night stand?” He faked a gasp, clutching his chest and looking over to her swollen belly and annoyed look. “Is Miss ‘commitment is key’ telling me to slum it with some slut?” 

“I didn’t say slut.” Beverly corrected with a snap, “Ben and I are just tired of hearing you bitch about life and if getting your rocks off with someone you will never see again breaks you from this slump then so be it.” 

“Hmmm.” Richie hummed, taking another long drink. “I’ll think about it.” 

Beverly rolled her eyes, “You do that.” She left then, patting his arm and walking away from the stench that came from his breath. 

Richie swirled his bourbon, looking down the length of the bar and watching as a well dressed man stepped up, motioning for the bartender. The guy was cute, with his soft brown hair and gentle eyes. He wasn’t tall or muscular which is what Richie usually went for but desperate times called for desperate measures. Slinking down three seats he forced a smile, brushing back his matted hair and adjusting his glasses. 

“Hey there handsome, you uh-come here often.” 

The guys eyes snapped to him, am annoyed frown crossing his features. “Excuse me?” He asked, offering Richie an escape. 

Which of course, Richie opted to ignore. “I haven’t seen you around before, you a fan of the groom or bride? I bet you are for the groom right?” 

“Are you trying to flirt? Because, you’re embarrassing yourself.” The man snapped, a growl rumbling from the back of his throat. 

“Fuck.” Richie groaned, rubbing his temples forcing the entire charade to melt away. “Yeah, sorry. I haven’t done this in a long time.” 

The guys features softened at the honesty in Richie’s words, his drink being placed in front of him but he ignored it as he turned to face the trashmouth full on. Richie looked up to him, noting how absolutely adorable he looked with his heart shaped face and button nose. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t really want to come here except my friend dragged me because he thought he couldn’t get a date but he found some guy on the dance floor and now I’m drinking alone.” 

“Oh. That sucks.” 

“Yep, story of my life.” 

The music slowed, and it was apparent that it was an indication of some kind of wedding tradition. Richie tried to busy himself, not to watch his ex and his new bride twirl around the dance floor, blissfully unaware of his sullen emotion. “So you didn’t answer, are you here for the bride or the groom?” 

The nameless man raised an eyebrow, taking a sip of his martini. “I honestly thought that was a question to ask if I was gay.” He laughed, the noise so light that Richie felt his head spin. “The bride is a coworker of mine, we were invited because she want’s to transfer into my ward.” 

“Your what?” 

“I’m the head pediatrician of the children ward at Saint Francis hospital.” He explained, shrugging the title off of his shoulder. “Most nurses want to work with kids, they are so much nicer than adults. Audra has been trying to transfer for months.” 

“Ah, so a doctor huh? That’s hot.” 

“Right, sure.” He jeered, scoffing. “Long hours and late nights. Totally screw worthy.” 

“Meh, you would be surprised, a lot of people have a doctor fetish. Me included” It was just an add in, an shot in the dark but it caught the man’s attention none the less. Richie sputtered for a moment, the words lacking until he finally spat out. “Honestly I was just looking for a one night stand but I can see you’re not that type of person. It’s just nice to talk to someone who isn’t gushing over the lovely couple.” 

“A one night stand huh?” The guy asked, tapping a finger against his drink as he hummed. “What are you having some kind of self destruction streak?” 

“Kinda.” Richie admitted, “The groom is my ex.” 

“Oh really?” The man asked, turning his head and staring at the dance floor for a moment before coming back to Richie. “Do you have a room upstairs?” 

“I do but I don’t think-”

“Alright let’s go.” He cut, downing his martini in one gulp, whipping his lips against his extensive suit. “Mike’s gone and I’ll have to call a cab anyways so might as well end this shitty night with a bang.” 

“W-what?” Richie sputtered, gaping awkwardly. 

“You’re attractive, in your own dorky looking way. I’m sure you are acquitted in bed but I’ve got to be honest, it has been a long time since I’ve well-you know.” 

The song behind them ended, the venue erupting in a cloud of cheers. Richie couldn’t pry himself from the man that stood before him, the once caramel eyes now dark and lustful. It was like some kind of movie, a shitty romcom that ended with a cut sex scene and shitty confession. Still, there was an appeal to the man, a honest feeling boiling in the pit of his stomach. “I don’t even know your name.” Richie confessed, slightly whimpering as the man placed a scorching palm on his inner thigh, leaning to whisper into his ear as if it was a secret. 

“Eddie.” 

“Richie.” He replied back, chewing on his inner cheep to conceal the moan in the back of his throat. 

“Well Richie, are you going to take me upstairs or what?” 

Fuck, Richie thought as he lead the eager man though the sea of people and towards the exit. This guy is going to be the death of me.

[pinkfluffy-kathichu]

I’m not sure if any of you are actually still interested in my ocs because I haven’t posted about them in a long time but I’ll talk about them anyways xD

A little bit of story first~ Edit: I added a “Keep Reading” since this post is actually little bit longer than I thought; I also tried to fix the formating

Valmè stood on the balcony, looking down into the garden. The posh teaparty had turned into a wild cake fight. But she had expected nothing else. Those two were the children of Serafine afterall. "I admire you for how well you can handle them.", she answered Seto, who entered the balcony. Valmè continued: "I never understood Serafine's decision to let you take care of Katherine because you were still a child yourself, but to see how well she developed in your care, I am glad she chose you. The same goes for Mio. Mio's fate was tragic and yet by all means she raised Sora the best she could." Seto leaned his back against the railing and sighed "It wasn't that easy. Because she didn't have parents I had to compensate for that and had to make a lot of sacrifices. For both her and my little brother. I could imagine a better life for an 11-year-old." "You still conquered all obstacles in the best way possible.", said Valmè in a gentle tone. Seto continued: "I was amazed when I first met Sora and saw how similar their personalities were, even though they didn't know each other." "Well, that is twins for you, as they say. I have been in this world for a very long time and I have seen this phenomenon countless times. Even if no one wants to hear it, Seto, but even Taro is probably more like you than you thi-" "Oh, stop that. You're right. Literally no one wants to hear that." Seto was visibly angry at Valmè's statement. Valmè sighed "It is truly unfortunate." The two stood there, silently, watching the cake fight taking place below. You could no longer identify anyone because of all the cake. Even the servants, who first tried to calm down the situation in panic, partied along with joy.

Later that evening...

Sora laid on the fluffy rug in the middle of the room, yawning loudly, stretching his arms and legs. "I think I might have some cake left in my ears. You guys really missed something, big bro! I bet you and Yusei didn't have as much fun at your dreary lessons as we had today!" he teased at Ryuga, who sat on the windowsill, writing something on his laptop. "Choose your next words wisely, otherwise I'll wring your neck.", replied Ryuga uninterested. Yusei answered from inside the bathroom, though amused and with a slight sarcastic tone: "Sora you'll never believe the awesome stuff Pollox has taught us today! An ultra cool secret technique that I'm not supposed to tell you about!" At the words 'secret technique' Sora jumped up and leaped towards the bathroom door.

Before he could ask, what this supposed 'secret technique' was about, Kitty came into the room with Oskari in tow. Oskari seemed very excited. Kitty quickly went to her red backpack, took out the small digital camera she had received from Tsubasa as a premature birthday gift, and gave it to Oskari. "This is a digital camera.", she said. Oskari held it in his hands like a sacred artifact that could break at the slightest movement. "And with that, you can create a completely realistic picture of the happening present?" Kitty nodded and Oskari seemed to be completely over the moon. "Humans are incredible beings! Inventing something so complex, completely devoid of magic, and so compact!" He let the camera dangle in front of his face with the holder cord. "It's not that complex.", murmured Ryuga, whereupon Oskari, who was completely shocked by Ryuga's statement, replied: "By all the respect that I have towards you, my Prince, but I have to disagree with you! For me, these marvels of human technology are of great interest! A process in which light is used to analyse and to then store said data. To be able to think of something like that is absolutely fascinating! The same goes for the portable computer you are using right now!" Ryuga growled annoyed and continued to focus on whatever he was doing on his laptop. "Oh, come on! Let him be passionate about something, you buzzkill.", said Yusei, who had come out of the bathroom and got a t-shirt from the dresser.

Oskari continued to inspect the small camera with wide eyes. A bright and big smile spread over Kitty's face. She was so happy to finally make someone else happy again. It was an extremely good feeling. "Do you want to take a picture?" she asked Oskari. His jaw dropped. "Really?" "Yeah, sure!" He did not quite know how to handle this question, but a few seconds later he asked, very nervously, "May I take a picture of you, my Princess? It would be of great honor for me!" "And I would be honored if I were on your first self-made digital camera photo, Oskari. Also, I told you before, you don't have to address me with Princess. I don't like the formal stuff." She winked at him. "Exactly! Kitty! So, photo ... how?" He was staring frantically at the camera from all sides. "Wait, I'll help you." Yusei stepped behind Oskari and turned the camera to the right position. Kitty took on a cute, relaxed pose, ready for the photo. "Hey, I want to be in it too!" Sora shouted, quickly positioning himself behind his sister. And Oskari pressed the button.

All the time they had left to spend in Neverland should fly by as slow as possible.

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

Some context~

Who are the characters?

(I will skip the introduction for Sora, Ryuga, Yusei and Seto, since they are canon characters to MFB and Yugioh; Kitty was also introduced before)

Valmè Nur'Atal:

Eldest of Neverland. High priestess. (Sorcerer). Her actual age is unknown (according to rumors she's around 500 years old); Can contact the spirit world and could in some cases bring back people from the dead with her healing abilities.

Serafine Neverland:

Former Queen of Neverland and mother of Kitty, Sora, Ryuga and Yusei. Vanished in the battle against Ergethar Diothee. (did she die? who knows? Her soul was never brought to heaven nor hell....); Posessed the power of Elemental Energy (Category: Fire; Type: Yellow Lightning)

Mio Akatsuki:

Serafine's maid and best friend since childhood. Mio took care of Sora after the battle against Ergethar. Unfortunately, she died of a heavy illness when Sora was 9-years-old; Elf of the summerside of Neverland. Doesn't have any outstanding magical powers but is very passionate about plants (or was...)

Taro Diothee:

Twin brother of Seto who followed after their father Ergethar's dream to create a, in their eyes, perfect world. Taro is the #1 evil dude in this story.

Pollox Ludeia:

Teacher for "Power Control" (Not exclusive to the royals). Former teacher of Serafine and her siblings. Has been Kitty's teacher since she was 6 years old. Has weird punishments if you don't succeed a task. Overall very strict dude who has no favourite students. (But is more chill outside of lessons)

Oskari Nur'Atal:

best boi. he's so sweet and I love him to death. same age as Kitty and Sora. The Nur'Atal family is a family of sorcerers. He anticipates to be a healer and potion maker. In his free time he likes to do research in 'human history and technology' and human stuff in general, since it is something that is rarely talked about and/or used in Neverland. Oskari is trained to be one of the four upper guardians of the royal family of Neverland. (He's also very important for Kyoya's character development in this story)

"So what exactly is the situation in the text above?"

The four siblings and Seto live on earth. Kitty learned how to use her powers from a young age from Pollox (and a little bit from Seto), Sora only a few years of his childhood from Mio, Ryuga was not interested in the powers (since Doji talked about it as it being not important; he also had other plans with Ryuga) and Yusei never knew about anything. Since the four of them are the Guardians of Destiny they should definetely know what every bit of their power can do. So they went to Neverland to train. And there happened to be an opportunity where all four of them could go there. (Ryuga and Yusei have to take extra lessons since they are totally inexperienced). The teaparty was supposed to be a little formal get-together for the 'kids' but it ended with Kitty dumping someones head in the chocolate fountain and Sora screaming "CAKE BATTLE!". (this 'someone' is also a very important person who I'll tell you about another time ) This takes place shortly before Kitty's and Sora's 18th birthday.

"What is Ryuga doing on his laptop?"

At the time all this stuff is happening, both Ryuga and Kitty have some trouble going on in their love life. What might that be? You'll find out soon enough

If you made it this far then THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING ❤❤❤❤❤

And I hope you liked it at least a little bit ^^’ (my writing skills aren’t very great)

(I also posted this on deviantart, so you can go check it out if you want to)

bye~☆