#he didn't get upset or pressure me or try to convince me or anything

[no-one-hears-me]

boutta ask my bro if he has any hot friends to send my way as a distraction

[roosterforme]

Some Things Take Time | Bob Floyd x Reader

Summary: Bob is a man well known for his patience. He never rushes things in the air, and he tries to live by a similar philosophy on the ground. You and he are both on the same page about welcoming a child into your home through foster care, but it's hard for him to watch you try to bond with her unsuccessfully. He soon realizes that Avery is a lot like him, and that some things are worth the extra time.

Warnings: angst, fluff, mentions of infertility, mentions of foster care and adoption, Bob making all other men look like trash

Length: 5800 words

Pairing: Robert "Bob" Floyd x wife!reader

Happy birthday @wkndwlff! Check my masterlist for more!

You were laying on the couch with your head resting on your husband's lap, spinning his wedding band around on his finger while you tried to put your thoughts into words. You could tell he knew you were on the verge of speaking, sending you several expectant glances as you and he both pretended to watch the movie he started an hour ago. But Bob would never rush you, and you were thankful for that, because you wanted to make sure you got this right. 

"We've been trying for a long time," you whispered, and Bob's blue eyes met yours as you looked up at him. "Almost two years."

He nodded once and smiled softly. "We have," he murmured, squeezing your hand in his larger one. You pressed your lips together as tears stung your eyes. Bob never seemed upset that he was pushing forty years old and in spite of trying and trying, you'd never gotten pregnant. He never put pressure on you to keep trying or to stop. You were convinced he never would, but you wanted to know what he was really thinking.

"What if we... stopped. Stopped trying. And just went with an alternative?"

"Honey, I already told you I'm happy with things how they are. We can stop trying if you want to, or we can talk about alternatives if you want to do that. But there's nothing wrong with just you and me. In fact, I'm really quite enjoying myself."

You closed your eyes as his fingers drifted along the curves of your side. It would be delicious to get back into the habit of having sex when you wanted to instead of when your cycle demanded it. You and Bob sharing your undivided attention with each other was something you were craving, but you still wanted something else, too.

"What if I said I wanted to look into fostering and adoption again?" you asked softly as you started to sit up.

He pulled you closer so you were straddling his thigh. "Then I would say we can call our lawyer on Monday and get some answers."

You smiled as you nudged his glasses with your nose and kissed his cheek. "And what if I said I'm not fertile today, but I want you anyway?"

Bob reached for the remote and turned the movie off as a soft blush rose in his cheeks. "Then I would say it's time we got in bed, Honey."

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

Bob was a man who was well known for his patience. He never rushed things in the air, and he tried to live by a similar philosophy on the ground. He knew he wanted to marry you about halfway through the first date. He also knew you would have looked at him like he was insane if he admitted that to you halfway through the first date. So instead of rushing things, he took the time to make sure you were on the same page he was and that you were comfortable. He always tried to do that.

When a baby just didn't seem to be happening, he was more than willing to keep trying, but he was also completely content with the idea of no kids at all. It wasn't worth rushing anything as long as he had you in his life. But you had recently convinced him of a third option, and his lawyer helped the two of you smooth out the details. 

And this is how Avery ended up at Bob's house on a random Monday evening. She was eight years old and in need of a foster family, and you were adamant when you answered the phone call that you and Bob were more than ready for her to be dropped off even on such short notice. 

"I'm so nervous," you whispered as you held Bob's hand and watched through the front window as a van pulled up. 

"I'm excited," he told you with a soft laugh. When he thought about having kids, he always pictured a little girl. For some reason, the idea of reading princess stories and painting a bedroom a putrid shade of purple really appealed to him. As he watched Avery being led up the walkway, he realized she didn't look one bit like you or him. He also realized that having a child who resembled him was actually never part of his dreams. 

As the doorbell rang, you bounced in place and whispered, "She's here. She's really here." 

Bob pulled you in for a kiss as his heart thudded. He realized he needed to tamp down his excitement a little bit. The two of you were merely fostering Avery. Nothing was set in stone even though you told the lawyer you wanted to eventually adopt a child. But right now your eyes were glittering with hope and anticipation, and Bob couldn't take that away from you. 

"Let's make her feel welcome," he said as you both headed for the door. 

Avery stood there with an unreadable expression on her adorable face, and Bob noticed right away how the case worker seemed to rush through everything. There were papers to sign and a schedule to keep, and even though all of it pertained to Avery, she ended up sitting quietly at the kitchen table while everyone else talked about her.

It was late by the time you and Bob were alone with her, and now her unreadable expression looked something like sadness. "Avery," Bob said softly. "Do you want to see your bedroom?"

She looked up at him and nodded without saying a word, and then you helped her down from the chair. You had taken the time to freshen up the extra bedroom and buy a pink glitter toothbrush and a pair of pajamas in her size. But Avery just sat down on the edge of the bed with her bag and asked, "Do I have to go to school tomorrow?"

"Yes," Bob replied with a smile. "I'll drop you off on my way to work, and then I'll pick you up in the afternoon."

When she didn't respond, you asked, "Is there anything you want? A bedtime snack or something to drink? I could make you some hot chocolate or get you a cookie. Bob makes the best oatmeal cookies, and there are a few left from the weekend. Maybe you can help Bob make the next batch." You were rambling now, and Bob reached out to squeeze your hand as you said, "We're just excited that you're here."

But Avery shook her head and told you, "I'll just read my book. Thanks." Then she untied her shoes and took a well worn copy of The Secret Garden from her bag, but she sat on the bed with rigid posture, not looking at either of you.

Bob wasn't quite sure what to do. You'd already shown the child where the bathroom was, and she seemed to have all of her essentials. He swallowed hard, deciding not to rush Avery even though he could feel your disappointment radiating off of you. He cleared his throat and said, "We'll leave our bedroom door open in case you need anything. And we'll get you up around seven for school. Good night, Avery."

She just nodded and squinted down at the tattered book cover like she was going to cry. Bob led you down the hallway, through your room and into the en suite bathroom where he gathered you in his arms as tears filled your eyes. "I don't think she likes us," you gasped before you buried your face against his neck.

Bob kissed the top of your head and whispered, "I just think she needs some time. Let's not rush anything." 

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

You cried yourself to sleep the first night. You knew that your response wasn't fair to Bob or Avery or even to yourself, but you'd imagined meeting a little girl who was at least a little bit more talkative if not upbeat. You had your hopes set on fostering a child who at least gave the impression that your home was better than another alternative. You'd been given a vague picture of where Avery had come from, and you wanted her to be comfortable here, but now you felt stupid for buying the glitter toothbrush and the Minnie Mouse pajamas. 

Bob's hand drew lazy circles on your back as you turned away from him and cried softly. "It's just the first night," he reminded you in that sweet, even tone that you loved so much.

"I know. I just wanted this so desperately," you admitted between shaky breaths. His hand on your body helped you eventually fall asleep, and the next morning, Bob was up before you, making breakfast. When you tapped on Avery's door which was ajar, you poked your head in to find her once again sitting on the bed reading.

"Did you sleep okay?" you asked, and she nodded in response. "That's great!" you said in a tone of forced excitement. "Do you need help getting ready for school?"

"No," she said softly, setting the book aside.

You took a deep breath and said, "Bob's making breakfast. Do you want to come downstairs and eat?"

"Yes."

That was the last word you heard her speak before Bob led her out to his car in his uniform. He smiled at you over his shoulder as he told you to have a good day working on your true crime novel, but you knew you weren't going to. You spend two hours trying to write, but you ended up with three and a half new sentences. Instead, you spent most of the day thinking you'd made a huge mistake and hating your own body. Avery would probably last two weeks tops with you and Bob before she was begging to go somewhere else. You didn't even know if you could stand to see her melancholy little expression when your husband brought her home from school today, but you didn't want to call her case worker for help yet.

In the afternoon, you bought everything you needed to make oatmeal cookies along with the rest of your usual groceries. You paused next to the checkout line where there was a display of children's books and grabbed a few of them. Avery appeared to like her book more than anything else, so maybe she would appreciate these ones, too.

But when Bob brought Avery home with him after school, she barely spoke. She didn't want to help make any cookies, and after dinner, she went back to her bedroom. Bob tried to help her with her homework, but she told him it was easy and she already finished it. When you dropped off the new books, she told you she already had a favorite. 

"Oh," you said, standing in the doorway with your hands full of the unwanted books. "That's good... that you have a favorite. I have a favorite book, too."

She looked up at you and nodded, but soon you were backing out of the room and trying to hide your tears from Bob. "It takes time," he reassured you as you balled your hands into fists and cried on him again.

You knew you needed to be as patient as he always was, but you just weren't like him. And you started talking before you could stop yourself. "If we could have gotten pregnant, we'd have our own child," you sobbed. "One that we raised from day one who would love us and bake cookies and read new books."

Bob kissed your ear and whispered, "Nothing is easy, Honey. But sometimes the harder something is at first, the more rewarding it is later on."

You cried yourself to sleep again.

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

Bob tried his best for that first week. He watched you start to pull away and retreat into yourself the more Avery kept to her bedroom. Every day when he dropped her off and picked her up, she thanked him for the ride. When he asked if she would rather start taking the bus, she told him it didn't matter. When he asked if there was something special she wanted to eat for dinner, she said she wasn't picky. 

And all the while she just squinted down at her book. Just The Secret Garden even though you brought home some others. When he pulled up to the curb in front of her school one morning, he said, "Avery, would you like me to take you to the library one day? Or maybe a bookstore where you can pick out what you want?"

She looked at him as she grabbed her backpack in one hand and her book in the other. "Maybe." Then she climbed out of the car, and he waited to pull away until she was inside the school building. That was the most promising answer he'd received yet. He drove to work thinking about signing her up for a library card, and when he got there, he was in a much better mood.

Natasha was the only one who knew that Avery was under his care. He didn't want to give anyone too many details, but she sweetly asked him the same question every morning after they got to work. "How are you and the Mrs. making out with your houseguest?"

And this morning, he said, "Maybe a little better today, Nat. I'm just trying not to rush it."

She patted him on the chest and smiled. "You never do, Bob. You're a man of details."

She was right. He spent the day thinking about all of the details that he knew about Avery. She was eight years old and very quiet. She only wanted to read one book even though you offered her more. She seemed to find the most comfort when she was alone. She was honestly a lot like Bob.

When he picked Avery up from school, he watched as one of the teachers patted the top of her backpack and sent her on her way. She squinted toward his car before trudging over in his direction with a frown on her face. Bob sighed as she climbed into the backseat and buckled herself in. "How was your day, Avery?" he asked as he shifted into drive. But today he got no verbal response at all. Instead he heard her crying.

Without another word, Bob pulled his car around and into an empty parking spot before killing the engine. He opened his door and closed it before taking a few deep breaths, and then he climbed in the back door and settled in next to the crying child. He let one hand gently rest on her shoulder, giving her a small squeeze before asking, "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

She just shook her head as tears flowed down her cheeks, and she stared at her feet. "It's stupid."

Bob smiled slightly. "You might think so, but I'd probably find what you have to say fascinating."

She turned her head to look at him, examining his face to see if he was being honest. But of course he was. He just wanted her to tell him what was on her mind. It took a few minutes before she started to settle down, but eventually she said, "I failed my eye exam with the nurse today." She unzipped her bag and pulled out a yellow sheet of paper and handed it to him. "She told me my eyesight is terrible and that I need to get glasses."

Bob looked at the page and had to hide his alarm from her. Avery failed her eye exam spectacularly. It was a wonder to Bob that she was even able to see in her classroom. But now her squinting and her preference for one, well worn book were starting to make sense. As he filled in the blanks in his mind, he said, "Glasses aren't so bad," while he tapped his own silver frames. "They certainly make my day a lot easier."

She kind of rolled her eyes and said, "But you're an adult. People aren't going to make fun of you for wearing glasses."

"You think you'll get made fun of?" Bob asked softly, folding the yellow paper in half.

"Yes," she replied immediately as she wiped at her tears. "I already do. Glasses will make it so much worse."

Bob wanted to press her for more details, but he didn't think this was the right moment. Instead he asked, "Is that why you only like to read The Secret Garden? Because you already know most of the words by heart?"

Avery looked at him like she couldn't believe he solved a very complex riddle. "Yes."

He nodded and asked, "Would you like to be able to read other books, too? Because glasses would definitely help with that."

She shrugged and sniffed as she said, "I like books about gardens and flowers and fairies. I don't know of any other ones I would like anyway."

Bob patted her on the shoulder one more time and said, "I like those kinds of books, too. And I think I can help you get glasses that look cool and help you pick out more books. If you'll let me."

Another partial shrug was his only answer, but at least she wasn't telling him no. As he climbed back into the driver's seat, he sent you a quick text telling you that he and Avery were fine and to go ahead and have dinner on your own. Then he drove along to his optometrist's office, hoping they would squeeze an extra appointment into their schedule.

"You're in luck," the receptionist told him when they arrived. "There was a last minute cancellation. Have a seat, and we can take you back shortly."

The rack hanging on the wall was filled with books and magazines for people of all ages, but Bob watched Avery squint as she took a seat empty handed. He skimmed a magazine and offered to read an article to her, but she said no. When ten minutes had passed, Bob asked her, "Are the kids at school mean to you?" 

He was already considering other options that might make her feel more comfortable when she said, "I just don't fit in. Everyone else has parents or grandparents. Everyone else is loud, and I like it better when it's quiet. Everyone else already made friends."

Bob nodded his head. It was like she was living his own childhood in many ways. "I like it better when it's quiet, too. So does my wife. And making friends can be hard at any age. I still struggle with it."

"You do?" she asked him, eyes wide and interested.

"Absolutely. Sometimes I still get nervous and stumble over what I want to say, and I'm thirty-nine. And you know what?"

"What?"

"There's nothing wrong with that."

He watched Avery take a deep breath and look down at her hands before both of their names were called. Once they were in the exam room, Bob got to witness her fail the test for the second time in one day, and then her tears started up again. The crying was only made worse when the receptionist popped in and tried to quietly tell Bob that Avery wasn't approved for any vision insurance. 

The child was clearly smart as a whip, and if she was having a hard time fitting in at school, he didn't want to make it worse by making her feel like she didn't fit in with you and him either. "I was planning on paying out of pocket today," he told the receptionist who just nodded in response. Then he turned to Avery and said, "Looks like the nurse was right. How about we pick out some glasses?"

She looked at the displays while she wiped at her eyes with a tissue, but she wouldn't tell Bob which ones she wanted to try on. "Which ones are the cheapest?" she asked softly.

"I have no idea," Bob replied easily. "What's your favorite color?"

"Purple," she whispered, and Bob followed her squinting gaze to a purple frame sitting on a shelf above her head. 

"I like purple, too," he said as he reached them down and handed them to her. She held them for a couple minutes, and Bob decided not to rush her. She finally slipped them on and looked in the mirror, and he told her, "I think they look cool."

She nodded a little bit. "They're pretty good. But nobody else at school has purple glasses." 

As she removed them and tried to hand them back to him, Bob quickly looked at the adult sized frames. There was one pair that came in a deep purple, and he kind of liked them. "Just hang onto those for a minute. I need help picking out new glasses for myself, okay? What do you think about these?" 

When he removed his wire frames and replaced them with the purple plastic, it seemed like Avery couldn't help but smile. "I like them."

He nodded once. "Then I'll get them. That way we can match since we both like purple. Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome," she replied quietly, looking at the glasses she was still holding before handing them to Bob.

He took both pairs in his hand before nodding toward the door. "I'm feeling like it's a good day to get ice cream for dinner and look around the bookstore. I can think of at least two more books that you might like to read once your glasses are ready for you to wear. Sound good?"

"Yes."

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

You didn't know what to expect when Bob brought Avery home after seven o'clock on a school night, but you definitely weren't prepared to hear her laughter for the first time. You'd barely made any progress on your novel since Avery arrived a few weeks ago, merely existing in your own funk all day long. But the sound of Bob's voice followed by her light giggle as they walked inside left you feeling better than you had in ages.

"Hi," you said, your voice dripping with optimism as Bob headed your way with a shopping bag in his hand. 

"Hi, Honey," he replied, kissing your cheek while Avery took her shoes off.

"How was school?" you asked her. 

"Terrible," she told you with a smile aimed up at Bob. "I failed my eye exam."

"Oh," you gasped, already making a mental note to call the eye doctor first thing in the morning so she could get some glasses. "We can take care of it for you."

"Already did," Bob said as he squeezed your hand. "Stopped on the way home and picked them out. Should be ready next week."

"Really?" you asked in surprise as he pulled two books out of the bag. Both were covered in vines and flowers, but one was clearly a novel for an adult while the other was much slimmer and looked like it was for Avery's reading level.

"Yes," he replied softly. "Now, on the drive home, I told Avery that you're a writer, but that you're also really good at reading books out loud." When you nodded and looked at her, she was squinting up at you. Bob handed you the smaller book and said, "I didn't get to take a shower before I left work, so I need to go do that now. But I promised Avery that you'd read a chapter to her after she gets ready for bed." He patted her on the shoulder and then made his way upstairs.

Your head was swimming with information. New glasses and new books and a child who was looking up at you with hope in her eyes. A husband who set up some time for you to spend alone with her. Tears stung your eyes as you said, "I love reading books out loud. Do you want to change for bed and brush your teeth now?"

Ten minutes later, you were sitting next to Avery on the spare bed, reading to her about a magical garden filled with flowers that turned the characters into superheroes. You read all sixteen pages of the first chapter, and then she asked you to read more. 

It was a little bit past bedtime when you finished the third chapter, and she was yawning. "How about I go get you one of my bookmarks from my office? And we can read more tomorrow night?"

"Okay," she replied easily, and when you returned a minute later with a bookmark that had a purple tassel, she smiled. "I like this book so far, but I think I'd like it a lot better if there were fairies, too. Thank you for reading to me."

"You're very welcome," you told her, barely shutting off the light in time for a tear to slide down your cheek. "Goodnight, Avery."

When you rushed into your own bedroom, Bob was in bed reading the other new book. "How did you do it?" you asked him, quickly climbing under the covers with him. "How did you get her to open up a little bit?"

He set the book down with a soft smile. "She just needed some time, Honey. She's a lot like me. She can't be rushed."

"No," you said, pushing your fingers through his hair as you cried a little bit. "That's not it. I think you're actually magical."

"Maybe," he agreed. "But her vision is so bad. That's why I think she kept reading The Secret Garden. She probably has it memorized and didn't want to tell anyone she couldn't see."

"Poor thing," you whispered, realizing that most of Bob's magic came from his patience as you fell asleep in his arms.

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

A week later, Bob noticed you were exhausted, but you seemed a lot happier, because Avery seemed a lot happier. You had successfully read two books to her, and she was starting to become more vocal around the house. He was hoping she was having an easier time making friends at school now, too. But he was a little bit concerned with how late into the night you'd been working.

When he got a message around lunchtime letting him know both pairs of glasses were ready, he smiled. Pretty soon Avery would be able to attempt reading a new book on her own. He sent you a text letting you know that he'd be home with Avery after a quick stop back at the optometrist's office. And when he picked her up from school, she squinted at his car before climbing in the backseat. 

"Ready to go get our new glasses?" he asked before pulling out onto the road.

"Yes," she replied softly. "I've decided that wearing glasses is a better alternative than not being able to read new books. At least until I can get contacts."

Bob chuckled. "A wise choice."

A few seconds later, she asked, "Will you take me to the library this weekend? There have to be more books there that I'd like."

"Of course I'll take you to the library. We can ask the librarian to help you find you as many books as you want to read."

He hoped that would make the new glasses an even easier decision for her. He parked and led her inside where the eye doctor got them both fitted correctly before handing them a mirror. "What do you think?" Bob asked as he smiled at Avery. "I think they look cool on you."

She shrugged. "They're okay."

"Can you see better?"

"Yes," she whispered. On the way outside, she said, "Thanks for getting new glasses with me. I like yours, too."

Bob checked himself in the mirror before he backed out of the parking spot. "I think it's kind of my color."

You were waiting in the living room for them when Bob opened the front door. The house smelled like dinner cooking, and you had a stack of bound pages on the couch next to you. When you jumped to your feet, you said, "You both look great!" as you bounced in place a little bit.

"Purple is kind of our color," Avery said, making Bob laugh as you covered your massive smile with your fingertips. 

"It really is," you replied, wrapping Bob in a quick hug before cautiously placing your hand on Avery's shoulder for a beat. "I have something I wanted to show you. I was hoping to get your opinion."

"Me?" she asked, looking up at you, eyes wide behind her purple frames.

"Yes," you told her softly. "I've been working on a new story for the past week, and I really think you'll be able to help me with the ending."

"What kind of story?" she asked you, and Bob slowly made his way into the kitchen where he could still hear the two of you talking. 

"Well," you told her as she joined you on the couch, "it's about a fairy who gets invited to live in a magic garden. And she starts to learn how to use magic herself while a friendly witch and a kind wizard supervise her. And the garden is really pretty, and she loves it there and starts to make friends with the other creatures. Do you want to take a look at it?"

"Okay."

Bob hovered in the doorway and watched you hand the bound manuscript to the little girl next to you while you chewed nervously on your lip. He knew you wanted this to work out; he did too. He was also very surprised that you'd been working on this for the past week without sharing your secret even with him. But it truthfully wasn't really for him. It was for her. And you.

The child looked up at you and whispered, "You named the fairy Avery."

You just nodded and smiled. "Your name is so pretty, and you remind me of the kind of little girl who would have magic inside her."

Avery turned back to the page in front of her and snuggled in a little bit closer to you. She started reading out loud, and after a few pages, handed it over to you for a little bit. The two of you went back and forth like this for an hour before Bob carried in two plates of dinner and set them on the coffee table. 

"Even magic fairies get hungry," he said softly before leaving both of you to the story.

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

When you woke up a few weeks later on Avery's ninth birthday, you were beyond exhausted. The past few nights had been late ones for you as you tried to finish up and edit the story you'd been working on. The title that the two of you came up with was The Littlest Fairy in the Garden, and you were just as proud of this as your true crime releases. 

Then you realized that there was actually a reason why you woke up. You could hear Bob talking. It sounded like he was on the phone even though it was barely eight o'clock. You climbed out of bed and stretched before finding him sitting on the floor in the walk-in closet talking softly on the phone in his pajama pants, undershirt and purple glasses.

"I'm sure she's going to agree with me. We want to move forward if that's what Avery wants, but I'll call you back in an hour or two. Thank you so much."

He ended the call right when you asked, "Who was that?"

Bob jumped a bit as he looked up at you with a tentative smile. "Our lawyer," he whispered. 

"What did they say?" you whispered back as he got to his feet and wrapped his arms around you. 

When Bob's lips found your ear, you shivered at his words. "It was just a preliminary conversation, but they asked if we would be interested in pursuing adoption."

"With Avery?" you gasped, and he nodded against you. 

"Yes. With Avery."

Tears filled your eyes as you clung to him. You thought about all the books she'd been reading with you and the birthday cake waiting in the kitchen. You could practically still smell the oatmeal cookies she and Bob made a few days ago. You could picture her smile and imagine her laughter, both of which were coming more easily with each passing day. "I want to adopt her. She belongs here. With us."

"I think so, too," he replied immediately, and you could hear the unshed tears in her voice. "I think we should have a conversation with her about it today. The process could take a little time, but I want to be sure it's what she wants as well."

You nodded, a jerky motion against him as your heart pounded faster and faster. "Let's talk about it when she wakes up."

Bob led you downstairs to the kitchen, his fingers laced with yours, and he started to crack some eggs while you made coffee and fresh orange juice. Avery had picked the menu for each meal today for her birthday, and the plan was to take her to the zoo after lunch. There was currently a purple banner with flowers and fairies on it stretched across the kitchen along with a large assortment of balloons. You couldn't remember being this excited about something in such a long time.

"Good morning," came a soft voice from the bottom of the stairs, and you nearly dropped a mug on the floor as you turned to look at her.

"Happy birthday!" you and Bob replied in unison, and then all three of you started laughing. 

Without another word, Avery made her way into the kitchen in her Minnie Mouse pajamas and gave you a hug around the waist. You gasped softly as you hugged her back, her purple glasses pressing against you. Then she tucked herself against Bob's side and hugged him right after that. "Thanks for all the birthday stuff. And thanks for being so nice to me and getting me glasses and everything."

You and Bob shared a look over her head as he rubbed his hand along her shoulder. "It makes us happy that you're here, Avery," he said softly, and you had to swipe at your tears. "Let's have your breakfast, and maybe we can talk about making this permanent."

"Permanent? Like me staying here for a while?" she asked softly as she looked up at him.

"Like you staying here forever."

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

This is a little birthday treat for @wkndwlff! I hope you have a great day, Taylor! I set out to write a nice little story based on this mood board, but somehow it turned into this angsty thing instead. Thanks to @sylviebell @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

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[colorfulbard]

Random headcanons about Katakuri and his wife

This is based on the short one shot I wrote for Katakuri. You don’t have to read it to understand. I just thought it’d be fun to write a couple of things about their family in that fic. I'll probably think of more random headcanons for fun.

Taglist: @emmaiscool22 @i-am-vita @mercymccann @tazuduck Hope you guys don't mind me tagging you in this. I know you enjoyed the fic, so I hope you enjoy this while I hey part 2 done.

‿︵‿︵‿︵‿꒰͜͡ ♡ ͜͡꒱‿︵‿︵‿︵‿꒰͜͡ ♡ ͜͡꒱‿︵‿︵‿︵‿꒰͜͡ ♡ ͜͡꒱‿︵‿︵‿︵‿

🧁You got married to Katakuri was 23, and you were 21.

🧁Ages now (🍓 represents how old you were when you had the kids)

Kata - 48

Reader - 46

First kid - 23 (🍓23) Boy

(2, 3, 4) Triplets - 21 (🍓25) Boy, Girl, Girl

(5, 6) Twins - 20 (🍓26) Boy, Girl

(7) one kid - 18 (🍓28) Boy

(8, 9) twins - 17 (🍓29) Boy, Boy

(10, 11, 12) triplets - 13 (🍓33) Girl, Girl, Girl

(13) one - 12 (🍓34) Boy

(14) one - 11 (🍓35) Boy

(15) one - 10 (🍓36) Girl

Names (💙Boy 🩷Girl)

1 Warabiko💙

2 Manju💙

3 Vanilla 🩷

4 Matcha🩷

5 Gelato💙

6 Apple🩷

7 Dorayaki💙

8 Caramel 💙

9 Maple💙

10 Peach🩷

11 Kiwi🩷

12 Mango🩷

13 Dango💙

14 Fritter💙

15 Madeline🩷

🧁Katakuri was petrified of having kids. Marrying you didn't help that fear either.

🧁What if after waiting 9 whole months, your baby comes out looking exactly like him? With his fangs to match.

🧁In his mind, you'd be disgusted, like his mother was, and neglect your children.

🧁Meanwhile, you were daydreaming how adorable your kids would be if they were a mini version of your husband.

🧁You had two years of Katakuri all to yourself. Then came your first child, Warabiko. He was a result of Big Mom pressuring the two of you to hurry it up. If you had it your way, you would have waited a little bit longer.

🧁You knew Katakuri was holding her off as long as he could for you, but you could see how stressed he was. That's when you suggested to start trying and that you were ready. You never told him the truth.

🧁Despite the stress of Big Mom on your ass, you still loved Warabiko more than anything.

🧁He looked exactly like his father. Katakuri was worried you'd be upset, but you were so happy.

🧁You clutched him to your chest and cried. "He looks just like you, Kata!" You had squealed.

🧁Although you had to admit, you were slightly disappointed he didn't come out with Kata's fangs.

🧁Every child you had after that wasn't a result of Big Mom pressuring you. It was you jumping Katakuri every chance you got.

🧁It wasn't your fault he was constantly training without his vest and scarf on.

🧁One time, he was carrying one of the babies like that. Needless to say, that's how your first set of triplets came.

🧁Katakuri could take some of the blame. He knew exactly how to rile you up. That's why he always had his scarf and vest off whenever he was training, but you didn't need to know that.

🧁He was a bit too embarrassed to outright ask you. That's why he always resorted to taking his vest and scarf off. He knew you'd lightly tease him if he did ask.

🧁The whole 9 months you were pregnant with Warabiko were spent convincing Katakuri to take his scarf off when he was taking care of the baby.

🧁"I can't. My face will probably make them cry." He'd say, turning away from you.

🧁You'd pout at him. "No, they won't! They won't even understand that other people think it's "scary"." You put air quotes around scary.

🧁Sure enough, you were right. Warabiko loved seeing his father without his scarf. And the second Katakuri put it on, he immediately began to scream at the top of his lungs.

🧁You laughed when Katakuri was forced to take off again. "It's like he thinks you went away! How cute!"

🧁Every child after that behaved the same way Warabiko did. They refused to see him with his scarf on.

🧁You could never get over how much of a natural Katakuri was at fatherhood. Seeing him be so doting and sweet with the kids just made you wanna have more.

🧁He probably got good practice from taking care of his own siblings.

🧁You'd probably catch up with Big Mom sooner or later at this point. But could anybody blame you when your husband looks like that?

🧁Every name that your children got was a result of your pregnancy cravings. Sure, it was silly, but you liked how all the Charlotte kids have dessert themed names.

[cravingsfromatwistedone]

Hi, there! :D 🌼

First of all I must say that your blog was one of the first blogs that I discovered and read when I just entered the TWST fandom and I must say that I thought your fics and drawings were great. So seeing that this blog was taking requests again made me excited as you have no ideas. So I won't waste my shot, I'll try to make a request here (I hope I do it right)

Reader: Female. Type: Headcanon or Fic (Romantic). Scenary: Inspired by the fic of the first year boys simping the reader. In this scenario, a boy from another class slowly becomes so close to the reader that he decides to ask her out. She innocently accepted without knowing that the boy wanted to steal a kiss from her on that date. But the first-year boys won't stand by, they'll spy on her date.

I think it would be good angst and comedy material. xD But well that would be my request, if my request does not convince you you can discard it without problems but if not take your time and without pressure. Thank you so much💐💕

LET'S GET SUPER MEAN ! [ HEADCANONS / FLUFF ]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REQUESTING DARLING! THE WAY YOU REQUESTED IS CORRECT SO NO NEED TO FRET! IT'S SUPER SPECIFIC SO IT HELPS WITH MY WRITING! HOPEFULLY, THIS COMES OUT JUST AS HOW YOU WANTED IT! ENJOY READING, DARLING! TW: NONE! NRC FRESHMEN X FEM! READER

╭───────────────── ╰──➤(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ FLUFF ♥

┊❥ First things first, they, the five of them, are a literal mess. The first person to spread the news to the other four was Ace. The redhead caught a glimpse of you talking to another student who seemed way too giddy for his own. Of course, he had to stay and listen in to the conversation; who knows what trouble you've dug yourself into

┊❥ Ace's jaws turned slack right at the moment you happily accept the date, the other student gleefully thanking you before walking off. Did he heard that right? You're going on a date? With some rando that he or the others didn't even know about? 'This won't do, this can't happen!' is what runs in Ace's head as he scampers back to tell the others

┊❥ The redhead is out of breath the moment he arrives at the designated spot after having call the others on his phone while running. The moment they picked up the phone, he just shouts 'NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! JUST COME OVER! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!!' and hangs up. The desperation and urgency present in his voice is what convinced the others to get moving to the regular hangout

┊❥ Once the five of them had gathered, Jack and Epel had to repeatedly ask Ace to slow down because of how fast he was trying to explain the situation of you going on a date with some guy; the redhead choking on his own spit and breath from watching the incident unfold an hour ago

┊❥ It was only after that Ace (finally taking the time to explain word by word) explained, the other four faces' were drained of colour. Deuce is panicking, Epel is furious, Jack is in denial and Sebek has half the mind to scare off the other guy (or more like, lecture the guy's ears off until he decides to leave you hanging on the said date)

┊❥ They settled on the idea of spying on your date is much more preferable than having to maul the guy alive (there's a chance that you might be upset at them for interfering with your romantic life) so with courage and jealousy in hand, the five of them sought out to set the plan in motion

┊❥ Your date with the close classmate of yours was in the greenhouse, right after the bell for lunch had rung too. The bastard really had to pick such a time because he knew that there weren't that much students hanging around outside of campus in fear of food running out. Luckily, the gang waited and hid among the plants, their eyes following your every move as the both you chat up a storm

┊❥ Sure, they agreed on not interfering with your date but they didn't say anything about one of them sabotaging just a little bit (newsflash, they all lent a hand in sabotaging the date without realizing. Dumbasses.) When the guy wasn't looking, Ace would purposely stick out his feet so the guy would fall head first on to the soil-oh wait, he didn't fell into soil, he fell face first into chicken fertilizer!

┊❥ The male student wretched in disgust when bits of it accumulated in his mouth, feeling embarrassed under your apologetic gaze as you offered up your hand for him. If you listened closely enough, you can hear Epel snickering in one of the bushes nearby. Hoo boy, it gets even worse from there. Jack would make you split up with guy just so Sebek could turn on a dirty water tank on the student, the brown stained water coating him from head to toe

┊❥ The final nail on the coffin was when Deuce made one of the pots break directly on the guy's head (No life threatening injuries, don't worry!), leaving a painful bruise appearing on the centre of his hair. After having to fall flat and even tasting chicken fertilizer, his pristine uniform stained with smelly water and a lump forming on his skull, the male student just had enough; abruptly telling you that he's had enough of the date and storming off without even batting an eye to your confused state

┊❥ Looks like they scored this one, fellas! Don't worry, they'll slip away from the greenhouse and act too smug for their own good while simultaneously trying to play off that they're oblivious to what transpired during the date ! The five of them are likely to do jabs at the poor sod aloud from time to time in the next classes they're in

[bcolfanfic]

hi hi! I would love to hear all the angst that happens during the time period where Bucky is drinking again and the build up to the intervention. Did Bucky struggle with drinking before this? How does he act when he’s drunk? How does buck react if Bucky tries to initiate anything intimate when he is drunk(if he ever does) does Bucky ever resort to other substances to cope? Does Gale feel ‘angry’ with Bucky for drinking to cope instead of coming to him for help, if so how does he deal with those em? Does he lash out or go self deprecating? Thank was a lot sorry! But I would love to hear your thoughts on literally any of these things or whatever you have thought about this time period so no pressure at all ofc!! I just absolutely love this au it’s so special to me 🫶🏻

lmao re: other substances i have a 'in my head wip' thing about *gale* having a bit of a pill problem. and rachel and i gave kenny that issue too once. poor boys </3 but re: bucky in my head he just sticks to alcohol. i think he has some issues with paranoia re: his ptsd and that something like taking pills or other drugs is just too shrouded in what ifs that drinking alcohol from the store isn't y'know?

timeline wise i think he was always *susceptible* to having a drinking problem but knew that to the extent that he kinda harm reductioned himself? drank quite often, got *drunk*, but esp being with gale was pretty good about having limits and sticking to them. which becomes shakier post-suicide attempt when he's picking up the pieces from a months long mental breakdown. starts to feel like it's all less scary to deal with if he's more "loosened up"- which is what starts the more for-emotional-comfort drinking ie: keeping a flask on him or around him almost 24/7.

my experience with alcoholism comes from someone i know really well- and the thing with them was that outside of like nighttime party drinking they could be drinking heavily during the day and about 75% of the time you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know them. when it's a habit like that you learn how to Function to hide the problem which i think bucky is pretty good at at least to begin with. plus he's always been more of a loose canon personality sober too, so to put it bluntly just ~being a little weird~ isn't necessarily a red flag.

but gale *does* know him, better than anyone so he does pick up on it eventually. which is hard at first because he *wants* to be wrong so so badly that he tries to brute force convince him he is. and then he finds a flask that john had hidden somewhere and the lying to himself about this being a capital p Problem gets a whole lot harder </3 doesn't even know how to bring it up because even though this is obviously /bad/ john is doing miles better than he was before his attempt. less nighttime episodes, less depression fatigue, seems a lot happier generally speaking. which gives gale so many conflicting feelings because it's different than the alcohol issues his dad had but. still issues. but not as bad so maybe its fine right? right?

i had a 'in my head wip' thing a while ago about john going out with some local buddies and getting a little 'lost along the way' getting back. ends up calling gale slurring his words begging to be picked up, which gale of course does but. poor john is a mess. needs quite a bit of help to get in the house, gets sick and now he *is* starting to remind gale of his dad which makes him itch so bad.

is so apologetic too when gale is helping him clean up and get into different clothes so he can sleep- and i think that's the only situation he'd really try to initiate something when drunk under. just feels so vulnerable and guilty and wants gale to kiss it better </3 kills gale to see him upset too when he has to reject him but just kinda. squeezes the back of his neck tells him not now and keeps chugging on getting him into bed so he can sleep.

coping wise i think gale goes right into self-deprecating mode. gets a bit angry during the whole debacle when they're in new york and john gets into that fight with croz and brady, because all their friends now know what's going on and he's embarrassed. but otherwise is real internal about it all. feels like he failed at Fixing him like he was supposed to and that they're never going to be truly settled/there's always going to be Something. which is also hard itself because he's so used to their life just being. like that. that he gets somewhat resigned too. even when curt is trying to push him on the intervention thing after the new york incident he has to pull teeth a little to get him on board because gale is just well. well it might not work /: it's fine i can handle him, i always have /:

couples therapy. couples therapy for everyone lmao but in all seriousness i do think this pushes them there once john is actually one foot in front of the other on the sobriety road. something they probably should've done after john's attempt to begin with it but they were a little in lalaland re: if john is okay gale will be okay and then we're both okay (: thinking.

[floralembarrassment]

Hi been a while since I’ve sent you a request but one was triggered today while catching up on the last few days shorts. One of my fav head cannons is that Reg is a black cat animagi. Would love to see something fluffy with that head cannon, maybe James finding out or Reg sneaking around at Hogwarts? Whatever you write will be amazing, I’m sure!

-A 💕

Hello again! I love this request so much. And this story just made me so excited as it started to form! I hope you enjoy it just the same. with love

Garden Cat (1/1) (jegulus)

Sirius and James were sitting in one of the many garden alcoves of the castle grounds. This one had a secret passage that led right up to Gryffindor tower and they were nearly certain know one knew about it since the entrance to the tower was through their dormitory room's shower.

It was silly and they only found it because James had fallen in the shower and found the latch when his head hit it.

But know it was one of their favourite spots to sneak out to at night when they couldn't sleep.

So here they were, Sirius having lighting a second cigarette and James refusing again. He didn't say anything this time because Sirius had woken up in a sweat from a nightmare and James was deep in his head about Regulus that he had been wide awake.

They were really talking. There truly wasn't much to say. Once you know the nightmare was just a dream, a lingering in your body of a horror once known, it's really all just trying to convince yourself that something that had happened to you wasn't actually real this time.

And for James well, his thoughts were also just a dream. Wishful thinking really - Regulus would never want him.

"Hey, there's that cat again," Sirius nudged James' shoulder and pointed to the slim black slinking around the bushes. It always came when they sat out there, and sometimes it would just pass through, rub against their legs, and then walk on. Other times it would lay sleepily on the wall of the garden. And the first few times it would sit and stare at them pointedly.

They could've sworn it was Minnie, and even tried to call her out the first few times, but it didn't have the right colour pattern, nor did she ever seem to know or scold them for them being out of bed.

James thought he recognizes the grey eyes staring up at him, but never could place them. They reminded him of Regulus most, but he figured he was just so smitten that he could help but see Regulus everywhere. And the cat was so loving and cuddly Remus laughed at him for 5 minutes when James told him this thought.

In the end, they figured the cat was just a cat. It did always make them feel better though. When Sirius was really distraught, it would curl up on his hand. The pressure always calmed Sirius, reminding him of how he and Regulus used to sleep holding hands when they were kids after bad days.

When James was hurting, it would jump on the wall behind him, and lean its head against his shoulder. It reminded him of the one time Regulus hugged him from behind, a moment James thought would be the beginning of something, and maybe it would have been if it hadn't been just before the summer Sirius came to live with him.

Tonight, it slinked through their legs and then hopped up on the bench between them. It's almost as if it could sense both of their upset, both of their need, but couldn't choose between them. Sirius ended up petting its back gently and James scratching its head.

They breathed together for a while, Sirius finally finishing his smoke.

"Ready?" Sirius said looking at James, who replied with the same, "Ready."

They both kissed the head of the cat, and pushed the pattern on the brick wall to get back in before climbing their way back up to bed. The cat watched them go, and then trotted off along the grounds to an entrance to the castle. Through the shadows it snuck down to the dungeons, easily falling through the fake wall, and right back up to the Slytherin dorm, turning back into himself before entering.

"Reg how do you go out every night and not get caught?" Barty asked running his eyes with sleep.

"Light on my feet I guess," Regulus said before quickly changing and falling into bed.

[animeyanderelover]

Hi, can i request Narancia Ghigra with the prompt 56?

I changed the Prompt lightly because his Stand fits very well with this. Also, studies have started once again for me so expect slower updates since I'm going to be busy.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy mindset, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, delusion, clinginess, abduction

Prompt 56

You had miscalculated. You hadn't known that he would return a whole two hours earlier than he had just told you this morning, the prospect of leaving you clearly upsetting him. Because if you would have known, you would have planned everything differently. Painstaking days of scheming how to escape from the mobster, indulging him in his delusions to earn his trust, sneaking around the house to carefully collect and hide the things you would need to break free.

Practicing how to pick open locks when he was gone so that everything would go smoothly the next time he would have to leave you for his next mission. Successfully convincing him to only lock up the doors, a minimum of security. All this hard work, all the act of being nice to him. Only for him to prove to you once again that you truly couldn't count on him.

A fleeting image of colors was all he could see from the corner of his eyes when he returned before it disappeared into the dark streets, leaving him standing there shocked for a second or two before his purple eyes shifted to your home. The door gaping wide open, a sloppy move you wouldn't have committed if he had just come back home later, only leaving you with the option to run as fast as you could.

One second of silence. Two seconds of silence. Three seconds of silence.

"(y/n)!! (y/n), please don't do this!!"

Lowly dimmed street lanters which barely allowed you to figure out where you were even going. To you that didn't matter though as long as you could get away from him and out of this town as soon as possible. It was your only goal.

At night the streets reminded you of a maze more than anything, you took countless turns left and right to shake your pursuer off, the quickening footsteps behind you and the hysteric cries ringing in your ears fueling you on. Long forgotten had been your plan to try to find the outskirts of the town as you lost count of how many times you turned left and right, running blindly around. It seemed to pay off though as eventually the footsteps behind you faded and so did his voice yet you still didn't dare to turn around. Your legs just kept on running and running until eventually you stopped, feeling nauseous and dizzy all together as you leaned against one of the walls, heart burning in your chest and your ears ringing. You couldn't allow yourself to rest though as you quickly looked around, eyes squinting together as you tried to spot even the slightest hint of Narancia around you.

Only darkness seemed to be there though. Darkness and utter silence. The silence should have been soothing but in this situation it frightened you as the abyss of any noises was nearly deafening, causing your own heartbeat to sound like thunder. Moments of silence passed by where you flinched even at the slightest of sounds yet nothing happened.

Had you lost him? If yes, would it be wiser to continue running or stay for now here and wait? What if he would find you again if you were to continue running? But he could just as well catch you if you would stay still.

Making a decision had never seemed more difficult to you than right now as you stood there, pressed against a wall and thinking about what would be the best move. Every time you were a milisecond away from making up your mind, doubts started to fill your mind again, plunging you back into the dangerous circle of overthinking. Your freedom depended on this situation, an insane pressure.

"(y/n)! (y/n), you're here, aren't you?"

Your train of thoughts was shattered when you heard his voice, sounding out of breath and indicating that he must have run around like a maniac this entire time. His voice didn't sound too far away and you knew almost instantly that if you would try to run away now, he would most definitely spot you. He was surely out of breath but you were quite tired yourself and not confident that you could outrun him.

So you did the nextbest thing to hide from him as you moved deeper into the alleyway, back pressed against the wall so you wouldn't be spotted by him. There were no lights at all and your heart dropped when you realized that you had entered a dead end, your leg bumping against something solid. When the smell hit your nose, you knew that it was a trash can. You quickly crawled around it, making yourself as small as possible to not be seen if Narancia would pass this alleyway by. It was terribly frustrating but the only thing you could do now was praying, praying that he wouldn't check out this small passage. All your plans thrown out of the window and wasted thoughts only, now all you could do was rely on luck. It was unfair.

He had gotten quieter and that scared you, you could only make out his footsteps from somewhere near you yet he didn't utter a sound anymore, focused.

"(y/n), let's-let's just talk about this all, alright? I'm sorry if I did something to anger you. But if you just tell me what made you so upset, I'll try to make you happy again and fix the problem."

Your problem was Narancia himself but you knew that he would never accept your truth as his own obsession kept him from realizing the truth. He was demented.

"Sweetheart...where are you hiding? Come out, come out, wherever you are."

He was met with the same deafening silence, one that consumed this night as not even a breeze was heard.

"Babe, please don't do this. I don't want to use ropes and handcuffs again to tie you down when I'm gone."

Your wrists throbbed upon recalling the rough material against your sensitive skin, peeling it away and leaving you with burning marks at the end of he day. Narancia had never intended to harm you but then again, he had also been the one who had kidnapped you and had tied you up in the first place so you had little sympathy when he apologized with tears in his eyes, trying clumsily to bandage your wounds and apply ointment on it to help the healing process.

You gave no answer, only made yourself smaller. You didn't want to return. You simply couldn't.

He had stopped moving, you could tell by the absence of footsteps which spiked your anxiety. He was standing in front of the alleyway, an unknown sensation crawling up your spine that caused your skin to erupt in goosebumps, your hair standing just as much on edge as your nerves did in that moment.

"I'll find you anyways. I can see your breathing."

What did he mean by that? You didn't know but you felt yourself only that far away from crying when you heard him stepping into the alleyway as the feeling of defeat settled in. He had found you. You didn't know how and why but you knew he had even before he spoke up with a shaky tone.

"Let's stop this and just go home together, okay?"

You remained frozen in your position though, a wave of despair crushing you as you bit down on the insides of your cheeks infuriated. You had failed.

[quirkle2]

love your mogami arc thoughts… do you think there’s a parallel between the irrationality of mogami’s actions and how ritsu acts in big cleanup arc? Like neither of them make sense really but it doesn’t have to because it’s an expression of deep seated stress and guilt

[context]

it took a couple of watches for me to actually Get cleanup arc, but i do think clean up arc makes sense. maybe not from a logical point of view, but given ritsu's history of trauma and perfectionism, pressure to never act out or upset his brother for obvious reasons, and desperation for control in his own life, i think ritsu's actions made sense. they were Terrible actions, and they definitely go against the logic and hindsight of an outsider's perspective, but it was all the result of that stress and guilt and secretive hatred toward an aspect of his brother that caused it, and maybe a little bit of grief for a sibling relationship he wishes was still intact

u make a rly interesting point tho, bc Yeah, on your first watch, neither of these guys make sense to you. at least they didn't for me. i understood part of ritsu's reasonings at the beginning, but it sorta delved into... quoting ritsu, "violence for the sake of violence." and honestly??? i don't know Why ritsu's arc is sm more compelling to me than mogami's, bc rly, they're very similar in that way

at least it seems that way? im,,, honestly convinced the exposition for mogami arc was just,, rushed, or incomplete for whatever reason, bc it feels So Close to making sense, but it's just missing a couple of pieces. ritsu's arc has more substance to it, i think. i believe the biggest difference here is that mogami blamed other people for his misfortune, and didn't see anything wrong w what he was doing. ritsu made no such excuses. he Knew what he was doing was wrong, and he kept doing it. and that, to me, is Fascinating

even ritsu's "violence for the sake of violence" motive makes some sort of sense to me. he said it himself: "i was just tired of being myself. maybe i wanted to find out what it would feel like to be a fool." when u break it down, it's him exploring.... other options. until 7th division arc, he's of the mindset that if he had psychic powers he'd be Better, in all aspects, that he's nothing without psychic powers. he puts his entire identity and self-worth on having the abilities of an ESPer

now that he has them, he feels limitless, he feels unstoppable. he's so tired of being himself, of being perfect, of being the well-behaved younger brother w perfect grades and perfect attitude (bc let's face it, he's definitely a gifted kid, and gifted kids tend to develop habits of perfectionism, and eventually become exhausted). so he switches tactics, to find out what it would feel like to be a fool.

i honestly think cutting mogami's messy backstory and making him "evil" for the sake of being "evil" woulda been better. im sure not everyone agrees w me on that, and i can absolutely see why, but sometimes simple is "better" (imo). an underdeveloped villain is better, to Me, than a villain that is trying too hard to have a compelling motive. mogami's character feels like it is trying too hard, and branching out in too many directions, and it ends up just feeling,, stretched thin

i like shimazaki more than mogami. hell, i like shimazaki more than Any of the villains, and we all Know it's not because he has a good backstory (or one at all). he's not even very compelling to me, i just think he's cool, and i'll forever be stoked about how they let a character use teleportation powers right for once. sometimes simple is better

i'm not a fan of any of mob psycho's other villains, but they serve their purpose, and yaknow what, mogami serves his. i think seeing him as an "unreliable narrator" instead is a rly fun way of looking at it

[midnightshard06]

Fictober 24: "You didn't do anything wrong"

You can check it out on ao3 here if you prefer.

Summary: Shadow accidentally hurts Sonic when he tries to get him inside to eat something. Sonic is not expecting the reaction afterwards.

Set in my Lost and Found AU

Warnings: Mild blood and injury. Nothing graphic.

Word Count: ~1050 words

“Tails?” Sonic poked his head into the fox’s workshop. “Have you seen Shadow around recently? I’m trying to get him to come eat something.”

The fox paused in what he was doing and looked up. “I think the last time I saw him he was curled up under the table out back.”

“Thanks little bro.” Sonic saluted him and walked off. Once he got to the backyard he scanned it with his eyes. Just like Tails’ had said Shadow was underneath the table. The other hedgehog’s eyes were nervously darting around, like he was waiting for something to come for him. Sonic took a deep breath. It was going to be hard to get him to come out huh? Well, best to test the waters first, and risk bodily harm after he knew the extent of the situation. 

Once he was a few feet away, a possibly safe distance as long as Shadow didn’t decide to lunge, he leaned down. “Shadow?” Sonic asked, keeping his voice neutral. Shadow’s eyes snapped to him before narrowing. The other hedgehog dug grooves in the ground as he flexed his claws. His quills raised defensively and his tail flicked behind him in agitation. Alright. Bad mood then. “You’re ok.” He let his voice drop to something he hoped was more soothing. “But you do need to come out and eat something.”

Shadow seemed even more defensive at the mention of needing to come out and Sonic internally sighed. Sometimes he wondered if he really was cut out to help the other hedgehog; especially with not knowing what had happened to him. Amy had told him he needed to be patient and that Shadow clearly had experienced something that made him weary of people in general. Sonic could deal with people who‘d experienced bad stuff in their life, but that was made a lot harder when he didn’t know what it was.

“Look.” Sonic sighed, trying to keep his voice light. “I don’t wanna push you, but you need to eat. Plus hiding under here all day can’t be good for you mentally.” He slowly held out a hand and stepped closer so it was just under the table. Pretty much a second after he stopped Shadow’s hand whipped out. His claws collided with Sonic’s arm and he pulled it back and put pressure on it with his other hand as quickly as the strike had come. Sonic hissed in pain and winced as he could already see red starting to stain his gloves. Well he was probably due to change them out anyway.

When he looked back Shadow was wide eyed and trembling. Sonic blinked. That had not been the reaction he’d been expecting. He’d fully expected Shadow to still be acting defensive, not scared like this. He leaned down slowly. “Hey. It’s ok.” Sonic trying to keep the edge of pain out of his voice. Based on Shadow’s reaction there was no way he was going to let the other hedgehog know how much it hurt. He could clean it up in a moment. “You didn’t do it on purpose right?” Shadow frantically nodded. “Ok.” Sonic nodded back. “Then we’re fine. You didn’t mean to do it. I scared you, so I kiiiiinda deserved it. You gave me plenty of warning after all.” He let out a slightly pained chuckle. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I should have been more patient.”

Shadow didn’t look convinced but at least he wasn’t trembling anymore. Slowly he positioned himself so he could raise his hands. ‘Hurt you.’

“Eh I get hurt all the time. I’m fine. Really.” Sonic smiled. The way Shadow eyed the slowly growing red on Sonic’s gloves told him the other hedgehog wasn’t likely to believe him entirely. “Seriously, I'm not upset.” He put a bit of force into his voice but regretted it once Shadow flinched. “I’m not going to do anything to you because of this.” He said much softer.

‘Not lying?’ Shadow looked unsure.

“Promise.” Sonic smiled. “You already gave me my fair share of scratches and bites before anyway. Did I do anything to you then?” 

Shadow blinked before hesitantly signing. ‘No.’

“There you go then.” Sonic’s smile widened. “I’m gonna go clean up and grab a new pair of gloves now. You should come in and eat something.” He stood up and started slowly walking towards the house. A moment later he could hear Shadow move out from under the table and start to follow him. Good. He could get the other hedgehog cleaned up too.

The walk to the bathroom was short and thankfully Shadow still followed him. Sonic winced as he removed his hand from the scratches on his other arm. They were pretty deep, but not deep enough to need stitches. With the help of experience he started to clean the wound. First washing the wound with some water and soap after removing his gloves. He couldn’t help the hiss of pain that left him when he started to gently scrub. Somewhere behind him he heard Shadow shift his weight. After things were clean Sonic grabbed a towel to dry the area before grabbing some bandages and beginning to wrap it. Once he felt it was tight enough he nodded and turned to Shadow. The other hedgehog had been watching him closely. Sonic held out a hand. “Let me see your hand real quick.”

Shadow hesitated before placing the hand in Sonic’s offered one. There wasn’t too much to clean but it would be easier to do now then when it dried. He grabbed another towel and quickly wet it before starting to gently wipe off Shadow’s claws. Shadow’s brow furrowed in confusion as he watched Sonic. “There.” Sonic grinned before putting the towel on the sink. “Now both of us are good.”

The two stood there, Sonic still holding Shadow’s hand, for a few moments before Shadow suddenly pulled it back. ‘Thank you.’ Shadow’s sign was a bit shaky but thankfully still understandable.

“Of course.” Sonic walked past him and out of the bathroom. He’d come back to clean that up later. “Now then… let’s get something to eat.” Sonic now maybe had a little bit of a clue as to what happened to Shadow before, but he really wasn’t liking the picture he was starting to put together.

[jeanmoreausautismstickers]

hello I absolutely adore Imogen as a character and I'd like to talk about her a bit.

CW: Heartstopper spoilers for seasons 1 and 2

okay so Imogen's character's really interesting to me in the way that she sort of parallels Nick (mostly in season 2 but a bit in season 1 also).

in season 1, she's shown to be more popular. she's good friends with Nick and most of the rugby players and I'd assume probably has many friends at Higgs also. I see her depicted as a 'bad' person (more before season 2 was released than after) simply because she's one of Nick's love interests and it's odd to me?? it isn't like she really did anything wrong, excluding lying about being with Nick to Tara, Darcy and Elle. like yes sure she's friends with Harry, his lot, and later on Ben, but she's honestly not that bad. when she tells Tara and Darcy she's an ally (this is one of my favourite bits) she genuinely believes that she's doing the right thing. I'm not saying they have to be grateful or anything, but she doesn't know any better and she really is an ally.

sure, she can be a bit annoying, maybe a little overbearing but keep in mind she is sixteen years old. she has a crush, or at least she feels like she's supposed to, on a guy she's friends with. she asked HIM out, HE said yes. she didn't ambush him or anything, in fact I believe she didn't really want Harry and the rest of the group there when she asked Nick out. it wasn't her fault he felt pressured to say yes.

when Nick tells her he doesn't feel that way about her, she doesn't get angry with him or try and convince him to be. she accepts it, regardless of how much that has to hurt, and moves on. she doesn't even tell their friendship group that it's Nick's fault it didn't work out, she says SHE can do better. and she can. I love Nick, but she fully deserves someone who genuinely loves and is attracted to her as a person.

in season 2, it's shown that she's still good friends with Nick! she's moved on, she doesn't try and pressure or force him or anything. granted, the guy she develops a crush on isn't great, but she doesn't know that. when Nick tries to tell her, she (understandably) gets upset and I do not blame her. she believes Ben, the same way Charlie believed him when they started kissing and stuff, and that's not her fault. Ben is shown to be really good at manipulation.

when she ends up realising Ben sucks and hanging out with the 'Paris Squad' it's shown that she's much happier. I think my favourite part of this, however, is how close she grows with Sahar.

her breaking up with Ben was my FAVOURITE thing she's ever done it was such a good scene. it also shows how much she's grown as a person to be able to recognise she really does deserve better and needs to turn her focus back on herself.

her and Sahar help me circle back to when I said she parallels Nick because the situation is a bit similar. she and Sahar start off as friends. she believed Sahar was straight, and when she said so and Sahar got upset, you can see the confusion and panic on her face because she really does feel guilty for assuming and feeling like she's hurt Sahar, and it's shown that she follows her offscreen (showing she HAS been working on herself, btw). it's after that initial realisation that she starts looking at Sahar a bit differently.

the biggest one though is when she sees Sahar on stage (sort of like Nick with Charlie and his drums in the orchestra) and the bi flag coloured lights flash across her.

I think it just parallels nicely with Nick and Charlie's relationship because of the similarities (l cba to list them) in how their relationship began and how her's and Sahar's MIGHT begin (if we get a season 3 and thats a storyline Alice wants to pick up)

overall I think she and Nick are very similar (she also is very golden retriever ish) and she's such a good character and I'm glad she's in the show. she creates conflict (like the date in season 1 and Nick being anxious about telling her in season 2) but not so much that she can't be redeemed or loved as a person/character.

also!! I love that she did the ally to (potentially) queer person pipeline because that's a very realistic queer experience and it brings me a lot of joy to see that depicted onscreen.

dunno I've rambled enough and this honestly probably doesn't make much sense considering I've not slept but I hope you enjoyed this 🫶

[kachikirby]

GranEssex Chronicles: Chapter 10 - Boarding the VictoriousArc

A month and a half had passed since Meta ordered the enchanted cape and it had finally arrived. Meta was happy with how it turned out, though for the time being he decided to use its magic to keep it small enough to fit in his pocket, still not entirely used to wearing a cloak. Today should have been a good day for the young swordsman, but it was anything but.

"Sensei, why are you making me do this?"

He looked up at the vast exterior of this battleship VictoriousArc and gave a slight sigh.

"Meta, I've already explained this to you. You will be spending a month on Reedy's ship, where you'll learn to interact with complete strangers. You need to get better at being sociable. Not only that but as you get older, you will be forced to work with other soldiers. It's for your own good." Kurabe replied in a stern tone.

"But I don't think this is the way to do it, sensei..."

"Yes, but you seem to learn better under pressure. Now I want you to be on your best behavior, ok?" She asked getting a nod in reply. "Oh, and be sure to call me twice a day. Once in the morning and again in the evening."

The youth just stared back at her. It was quite apparent that he didn't want to leave. His mentor placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Meta, it will be only one month, you can handle it no problem." Kurabe said with a small bit of hesitance, as if she was trying to convince herself more than her student.

"Don't look at me like that. We both know you can handle it. Reedy is someone that can be trusted, as much as I hate to admit it..." She mumbled the last sentence.

Meta sighed at that. As much as he wished he could argue, he knew Kurabe right. He needed to learn to cooperation, regardless of how annoying it may be.

"Alright, sensei, I'll do it." He said, still clearly upset.

His mentor quickly hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Meta. Again, please remember to call me twice a day."

The youth quietly nodded, picked up his luggage, and began to walk toward Reedy's ship while waving goodbye to Kurabe and Mercury. The warrior watched on with a sad smile.

"Do you think I made the right decision, Mercury?"

The vice captain smiled. "I think you did. If anything, this is going to make him learn the hard way about needing to interact with strangers. Besides, he at least has two people he already knows and can talk to if needed."

Kurabe looked at her friend with a smile, but couldn't quite shake the feeling of unease.

"If you ask me, both of you need some time apart." said Reedy, who was now revealed to have watched the entire conversation between Meta and Kurabe from afar.

"Why do you say that?" The warrior replied with an irritated pout.

Reedy adjusted his glasses. "Are you joking? We all know how much you baby him. Maybe not in terms of training, but in regular day to day life. If Meta leaving for a month is already making you unwell, then imagine if he was gone for a year or longer? You two are attached to each other and you both need to get used to being separated."

Kurabe only continued to pout, unable to refute anything that was said. Mercury, however, gave a look at Reedy.

"Bit hypocritical of you Reed, considering that you keep your kids on the ship at all times."

"That's a different matter altogether, Mer, and you know it."

"No, it's really not. I agree that some time apart will do some good though."

"Yes... yes... glad to see that you agree." Reedy replied, seemingly ignoring the first part of that statement.

"Then you wouldn't mind leaving one of your kids here with us, right?" Mercury asked with an innocent smile.

He only glared at her. "I should be going then. Oh, and Kurabe? Do remember that you asked for this."

"Don't act like I don't already know that!" She replied with a pout.

"Then stop acting like you don't."

"Ok, enough you two." Mercury quickly said before an argument could break out. "I guess we'll be seeing you in a month then, Reed."

"That you will. Goodbye, Mer, Kurabe."

With that, Reedy left to join up with Meta to show him around the ship. As she watched him walk away, Kurabe clenched her cape tightly.

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Mercury said, smiling towards her.

"I... I hope you're right..."

---------

Meta entered and took a look around. The interior of the VictoriousArc was clean and well kept. A bit too clean in his opinion. Every surface was sparkling, and he could see his reflection in everything. It was a bit unnerving for Meta.

"Quite a beauty, isn't she?" Reedy asked with pride.

"It sure is." The youth responded flatly.

Already he missed the GranEssex. In truth, the VictoriousArc was a better-looking ship, but it all felt superficial to the young soldier.

As if noticing how quiet he was, Reedy continued. "First impressions are the most lasting, so we keep the entryway as clean as possible. You wouldn't trust someone who can't keep their living space clean, would you? It's also because our housekeeper is quite enthusiastic, but that's another story."

"Enthusiastic?" Meta uttered under his breath.

That reminded him of something Tam once told him. "Enthusiasm is the same thing as being eccentric." When asked what that even meant, all Tam had to say in response was "Sensei."

Meta looked at Reedy in the eyes.

"Is your crew... eccentric?"

"...very much so." Was the blunt response. "However, you don't need to worry. They are well aware that you are our guest."

The youth nodded then noticed what looked like a trio of heads peeking out from behind a wall.

"Are those silver wings?" He thought to himself.

"Mr. Reedy, are they a part of your crew?" He asked while pointing at the general direction of the mysterious figures.

Reedy looked in the same direction. He then gave a slight chuckle.

"How about you three come over and introduce yourselves?" He then called out.

Hesitating a little, three silver figures walked out and looked at Reedy, and then Meta. The youth instantly figured out who they were, thanks to those silver fairy wings they all had.

"Are they your children?"

The man gave a nod in reply. "Yes, they are. Now how about you introduce yourselves to each other? You will be seeing each other for the rest of this month, so it's best if you got to know each other."

Meta nodded, honestly just wanting to get this over with.

"My name is Meta. Member of the GranEssex and student of Kurabe. I'll be here for the remainder of the month."

The second youngest looking of the children pouted. "Daddy said that someone from GranEssex was coming and I thought that Auntie Mer was gonna be here... this is dumb."

Reedy knelt down and flicked them on the forehead. "Don't be rude."

The eldest of the children walked up. "My name is Lyze. I'm currently twelve years old and I'm the older sister of these two troublemakers. I tried to stop them from spying on you, but it was easier said than done. I hope we can get along." She said while holding her hand out.

Meta took her hand and shook it.

The middle child walked forward. "My name is Mark! I'm currently seven. It's nice to meet you!" The boy said cheerfully.

Meta nodded in response before looking at the last one, the youngest. The youngest shuffled their feet, clearly nervous.

"My name is Ciel. I'm five years old." She responded shyly.

"At least I'm not the only who has trouble talking." Meta thought to himself.

"It's nice to meet you all." He replied.

Reedy gave a slightly satisfied smile. "How about all of you go play while I give our guest a tour of the ship?"

The children nodded.

"And Lyze, please try to keep a better eye on them. Use the lullaby trick your mother showed you in case it's necessary."

"Understood, father." She nodded.

"Let's go, we can talk to Meta later." She said grabbing her siblings' arms and dragging them away.

Reedy just smiled before turning to the young guest. "Shall we begin the tour, Meta?"

The youth nodded in response.

"Great. Then follow me."

---------

The setup of the VictoriousArc was surprisingly similar to that of the GranEssex. Not exactly the same layout, but similar types of rooms. A training facility, a cafeteria, a meeting room. Though there were two facilities that didn't exist in the GranEssex.

"Here we have our recreational room. Or as my children call it, the game room."

Meta looked around. "So, this is where you guys take breaks?" He then asked.

"Yes. It's a place for the crew to relax in between missions."

"Isn't that what bedrooms are for? To relax and get rid of stress?"

"Ah, so that's how it's done on the GranEssex... it's no wonder you're so socially stunted..." The man grumbled before continuing. "There's one other purpose for this room: it's a place to encourage social interaction with others in the crew."

Meta glared at Reedy. He hated his condescending tone.

"Before you make any more assumptions, we do have a facility the GranEssex to socialize. It's called the lodge. It's where students go to talk about matters that aren't related to training. Subjects I have very little interest in."

The man crossed his arms. "I see. If that's the case, you should visit there more often. Even if you are uninterested in the subjects there, socializing will help you work better with your fellow crewmates. However, this room is unique in the sense that socializing is done through things such as games."

Meta was thoroughly uninterested. Why waste time playing games when he could be getting stronger? Strong enough to protect his mentor. Strong enough to prevent anything from harming Mercury ever again.

Reedy seemed to notice this. "Meta, do you know why recreational activities are important for a soldier?"

"...they aren't." He replied in a somewhat cold fashion.

"Incorrect. Soldiers, no, all living creatures need something they can do to escape from stress. Stress can eat away at you, making one irritable and prone to making terrible decisions. In some cases, people have died because of stress. Being focused on your duties as a soldier is good, but you mustn't let yourself be consumed by the soldier mindset."

Meta still looked at him doubtfully.

"I'm sure if you ask Mercury or Kurabe, they'll say something similar, if you don't believe me."

The youth, begrudgingly, agreed with that statement. Both his mentor and Mercury had various hobbies they did that had nothing to do with being soldiers. Kurabe loved to cook even though she didn't have to, as well as making the occasional ice sculpture. Mercury liked to design new clothes for herself on a regular basis and judging by the pool table she keeps in her room; she also enjoyed a game of billiards.

"What about you, Meta? Surely you must have some kind of hobby?" Reedy asked.

"...I like to read."

The man seemed to smile. "Well, if you'd like, I could show you the library."

The youth looked a bit confused at that. "Library? Why would you need something like that on a military ship?"

"Two reasons. One, as the owner of this ship I'm allowed to install whatever I deem necessary. Secondly, I'm the head of intelligence for the Organization. By extension, this ship is the intelligence squad headquarters. So, a library is only natural."

The youth nodded in understanding.

"Every vessel that is in the command of a Top Five member also doubles a headquarters for a certain branch of the Organization. We are the intelligence branch, where we specialize in creating strategies, relaying information to other forces. Diplomatic duties as well."

Meta continued to stare at him, but it was clear that he understood what was being said. "Is that why I've noticed a lack of weapons on this ship?"

Reedy smirked.

"So, you noticed that detail, did you? I expect no less from a natural born fighter. That's right, the ship doesn't have anything more than standard issue vulcan cannons. As far as handheld weapons are concerned... well, you'll soon see that most of my crew don't need to carry weapons with them." He uttered cryptically.

"Then how do you defend yourselves if attacked?" Meta asked in a blunt fashion.

"Not every problem can be solved with brute force, Meta. We here prefer to do things quickly and precisely. We have cloaking technology that keeps us hidden from all types of sensors. We tend to avoid battles before they can become battles. And if needed we have an expert hacker that can take over an enemy ship."

"But the thing with life is that not everything can be quick and precise. You can plan all you want, but sometimes you'll get dealt a bad hand. That's what sensei told me. What about then?"

"Please, I plan for anything and everything, Meta. I'll have you know we haven't been infiltrated or shot down a single time." He bragged.

The youth had a feeling Reedy was trying to impress him and make himself sound better than Kurabe. However, there was something that Reedy said that really pissed him off.

"You plan for everything, is that right? So, are you saying that you planned for the hivemind to almost kill Mercury? Because that's what it sounds like."

"...there are a few exceptions."

Meta kept glaring.

"No wonder sensei can barely stand this guy. I'm this close to taking over this ship and going back to the GranEssex." He thought to himself.

Reedy took off his glasses to clean them. "I assure in the unlikely event we do get attacked, I'm still the most powerful Limet."

"Physically, perhaps. But as a person, Mercury is stronger..." The youth thought.

Reedy put his index finger to his head and closed his eyes. To most this would be an odd gesture, but this was a pose Reedy took when he tried to think of a way to change subjects.

"Alright, Meta, let's head to the library, since I'm sure you're excited for that. I also have a question for you. Has Kurabe taught you about each of the branches, or divisions of the Organization?"

The youth nodded in reply. "She's given me a basic rundown."

"Then tell me what you know as we walk."

"Alright then."

The two then began to walk down the hallway.

"There's the combat division led by my sensei. I'm a member of this division. We specialize in front line fighting, escort and bodyguarding. We are the go-to division for physical labor and battle. As such we all train in the art of combat every day to keep our skills sharp."

"Alright, next?"

"Next is the intelligence division. As you mentioned, this is your division. They specialize in negotiations and gathering information, especially on suspicious clients. You also specialize in formulating strategies."

"After that?"

"The stealth division led by Bio Raiden. A force that specializes in espionage and assassination. They handle affairs we don't want to go public."

"And then?"

"The mage division lead by Momo. A force that specializes in magecraft."

"Well, you do seem to have a solid grasp on each division. Good for you."

The man nodded before then stopping.

"Alright, we made it." Reedy said as he opened the door to the library, showing him inside.

---------

Upon entering the room, the youth looked up at the great number of bookshelves in amazement.

"This library is bigger than the training room back at the GranEssex." He said absent-mindedly.

"Of course it is, would you expect otherwise?" The man asked with pride.

"I wasn't expecting anything." The youth bluntly responded.

"Somehow I should have known you would say that..." He gave a sigh. "Well, would you like to take a look around and choose a few books to read?"

As soon as he said that, Reedy noticed that Meta had already left his side to explore the library. "Incredible, to think he'd be that interested in books."

What honestly amazed Meta was that there were not just simple research books. There were books from all kinds of genres. Romance. Horror. Science Fiction. Mystery. Thriller. So many to choose from and from various eras. A few of his fellow students had thought it was wasteful to have so many physical books, but there was something that smelt nice about bound volumes and they felt nice in his hands.

"Tell me, Meta." Reedy said as he caught up to him. "Besides Kurabe and Mer, is there anyone else on the GranEssex that shares your interest in reading?"

Meta had to think about that. He knew Tam loved romance novels, but he really wasn't interested in that subject. Outside of her, none of the other students read as far as he knew.

"At least one other person."

"I see then." Reedy replied, his expression unreadable. "Why do you enjoy reading, Meta? I assumed you would have no interest in hobbies that won't make you stronger."

"...honestly, I don't really know myself. There's just something about books that draw me to them." He replied.

"That's fine then. Living creatures are complicated beings. We often gain interests for no reason. We often gain dislikes for little to no reason as well. Tell me, what type of books do you like?"

"Um... I like adventure, mystery, and some science fiction. The only genre I don't really like is romance." The youth said.

"I assume stories of heroes utilizing their skills and tools to fight interests you?"

"Yes, they do."

Reedy smirked. "Let me guess. The heroes you read about remind you of Kurabe. That's why you like them so much, isn't it?"

Meta averted his eyes in embarrassment. Reedy was completely right. Brave warriors with kind hearts that fight with no mercy. Kurabe was just like that in his eyes, so naturally stories about figures similar to her would interest him.

"Well, I guess that doesn't matter." The man then said. "Follow me, Meta, it's time you met the rest of my crew."

For whatever reason, the tone the man used made the puff uneasy.

---------

The two made their way to the cafeteria. Along the way, Meta couldn't help but notice that it was still unnaturally clean. It all felt superficial to him.

"...I feel like Kouta might have overdone it with his housekeeping recently... no matter." Reedy uttered, with a slight wave of the hand.

"...Kouta?"

"The person we have in charge of housekeeping on this ship. While his attention to neatness is appreciated, he tends to go a bit far at times to the point where he tends to scream at people who even ruin his cleaning work a tiny bit. At least, unless you're my children, of course..." The man replied.

The puff only nodded in response and in a few minutes, they reached the cafeteria. Meta stood at attention as his guide walked further into the room.

"Alright, now that we've made it. It's time to introduce yourselves, everyone." Reedy said while snapping his fingers.

Soon, Meta was practically cornered by a group of Limets. Instinctively, the youth reached for his sword but Reedy stopped him.

"Relax yourself, Kurabe Jr. They're with me. Allow me to introduce Task Force Zetta."

Hesitantly, the youth took a look at the squad members. They were all humanoid-looking, just like Mercury and Reedy, but they all wore a uniform that was quite different to Meta's own, especially the white mantle with a colored stripe worn on the outside of it.

"Task Force Zetta?" He asked in confusion.

"My elite force of Limets. They are some of the strongest Limets in the universe. Now, introduce yourselves. Meta here will be with us for a month so it's important that we're all on the same page."

The group seemed to give a collective nod.

"So, to start, let's have Meta introduce himself. I believe it would only be fair." He said, causing the puff to tense up slightly.

It honestly took him a few minutes for him to figure out a good response.

"My... my name is Meta! I'm from the Lady of Shadows Corps and have been stationed here for a month by my mentor to better learn how to operate with other forces outside my own! It's a pleasure to meet you!" The puff said, sounding somewhat stiff in his response.

However, the gathered reaction didn't appear to give a reaction to that. Reedy gave a slight sigh as he adjusted his glasses.

"So, which of you would like to go first?" He then asked, turning to the squad members.

Almost immediately, one of them stepped forward. He was easily one of the tallest members and wore a headpiece resembling a falcon. Most noticeably, his arms were also very wing-like in shape.

"My name is Calzone, leader of the task force and Commander Reedy's second in command." He said with a lazy smirk.

After that, another tall man walked forward. He was just slightly shorter than Calzone and wore a strange device over his right eye.

"My name is Tiramisu." He said however there was something strange about his voice... or, more accurately, voices.

"How did you that? Speak with two different voices, I mean." The youth asked.

"Hmph! Why should I tell you anything kid? Soon, one day, I will be the ruler of this ship and you all will have to answer to me!"

Meta was shocked by the sudden change in personality. However, it was what happened next that shocked him even more.

"Shut up, idiot brother!" Tiramisu said as he proceeded to punch himself in the face.

The youth stared at him silently in complete puzzlement. "...is he ok?"

Reedy sighed upon hearing that. "Which one are you referring to?"

Upon seeing Meta's confused expression, the man decided to explain. "Are you familiar with the concept of twins?"

"Uh... yeah, two of sensei's students are twins."

"Then this should be simple to explain. Like other creatures, Limets can be born as twins. However, unlike other species, the cores of twin Limets are fused together at birth. In other words, two personalities, two souls, one body. For all purposes, both of them are named Tiramisu, though to make things easy on us we refer to the one with a mean punch as "Tira" and the wannabe supervillain as "Misu"."

Meta looked back at Tiramisu, who was now restraining himself. "I assume they can't be separated?"

"Trust me, kid, we would have done that a long time ago if the process didn't kill us." Tira replied.

"If twin Limets try to separate, their core will shatter completely." Reedy clarified.

The youth blinked. "That sounds horrible..."

"Oh, it's not all bad."

"Speak for yourself, Tira!"

"I am, dumbass."

"...yeah, it seems pretty bad." Meta thought.

"Alright then, who'd like to introduce themselves next?" Reedy quickly asked before anything else could happen.

"My name is Pandoro." said a female Limet who had a x shaped scar on the side of her face.

Meta looked her over, noting the calm expression on her face and, most importantly to him, the sword sheath on her side.

"I see you noticed my weapon. Allow me to give you a better look."

As she said that, she drew out her sword, or more accurately a sword hilt with no blade attached. Meta was momentarily confused before understanding what it meant.

"You place parts of your body into the hilt in order to create any type of sword you want, don't you?"

"Yup!" She said happily. To demonstrate this, she pulled off one of her fingers, which quickly reformed, and placed it in the hilt. Then immediately a blade resembling a scimitar was formed.

"As you can tell, I'm our designated sword fighter. Perhaps we can spar later?"

Meta nodded with a small smile. Finally, there was one person on this ship he could potentially get along with.

Then the shortest of them walked forward.

"My name is Parmigiana. Physically, I'm the weakest Limet, but I'm the best healer on the ship. Well not counting Mrs. Raita anyway. Well, kid, I'm glad to have met-ya." He said with a cheeky grin.

Before anyone could groan at that joke, another member walked...or rather, stumbled forward.

"I am Granita." She uttered in low voice as she tried to keep herself standing up straight.

Meta looked a bit concerned as he noticed the bags under her eyes. "Are you alright?"

Granita chuckled at him. "Thank you but you have nothing to worry about. I'm just always tired, just usual stuff."

"Is there any reason for that?" He then asked.

"I can't sleep. I have narcolepsy or something like that. I mean not really a big deal since Limet's don't really need sleep."

"...I thought all living things need sleep."

"They do." Reedy said. "But Limets can go fifty days without sleep, if needed." He continued.

The youth silently nodded.

"So how do you fall asleep if you can't do it normally?" Meta then asked.

"I keep a frying pan in my room."

"...what's the frying pan for?"

"...I thought that would be obvious. No medicine can put me to sleep so I need to use more forceful methods."

The youth only stared. Now another member stood forward. He was of average height, comparable to Reedy. The most interesting thing about him was the gas mask he wore which had an X symbol on it. He then raised his hands and transformed them into different letters, effectively writing out a sentence.

"Hello, my name is Bicerin. I am the crew's expert stealth and espionage expert." Meta read aloud, looking a bit confused by the situation when he was finished.

"He's mute." Reedy clarified.

"And easily the most reliable partner I could ask for." Said a new voice. This belonged to another unidentified member who now stood next to Bicerin. "I'm Minestrone, head of communications and expert hacker."

Meta nodded along. While he wasn't too knowledgeable about hacking, he knew it must be a mentally taxing job. Suddenly, the youth's instincts went off and he quickly turned around to catch an object that was thrown at him from behind.

"A rose?" He said looking at the object.

Indeed, it was a rose, but it was completely silver.

"Fettuccine, how many times must I tell you to stop throwing roses at guests?" Reedy said in an annoyed tone.

The puff looked at the person apparently named Fettuccine. She had a very youthful appearance to her, looking considerably younger than all the other Limets.

"My name is Fettuccine and I'm the newest member of Task force Zetta! I do hope we can get along!" She said cheerfully while extending her hand towards Meta.

"Ah... good to meet you, too." He replied and shook her hand as well. However, he also had another question that he decided to keep at the back of his mind. Specifically, how old was this woman?

"If you're wondering how old I am, I'm twenty-one. I'm one of the youngest Limets to ever reach the rank I currently have!"

He blinked in surprise.

"Can you read minds?" He asked, to which the young woman laughed.

"No, I don't have ESP, I'm just great at reading other people. That's why I'm the ship's main integrator."

That statement made the youth pause.

"Is that why you threw that rose at me?"

"My, you are perceptive. That's right, Meta. You see, you can learn a lot about someone based on how they react to something."

"I see. In that case I assume you like perform spontaneous acts to see if people react in a certain way?" Meta questioned.

"That's exactly correct and thanks to your actions I've come to decision about you."

The youth stiffened slightly. "Which is?"

Fettuccine pointed her finger at him in an exaggerated motion. "I want you to be my apprentice!"

Meta blinked. "Excuse me?"

The young woman smiled. "With your attentiveness and attitude, I just know you'd be a perfect interrogator!"

"Thank you for the offer, but I already have a sensei." The puff replied instantly.

Reedy nodded and spoke before anything else could be said. "Next is..."

A large man with short hair and wearing a large cloak walked up.

"I'm Risotto. Occupation, mage." He said in stoic tone.

"What kind of magic can you do?" The youth asked. "

Watch my hands." Risotto then held out his hands and mana began to pour out of them.

"Hear my call and come to me, O mighty beast." He chanted under his breath and then clapped his hands together.

Suddenly, a large wolf like creature was standing behind him.

"Wow, that's amazing!"

"Isn't it?" The man said while petting his summoned creature. He continued to stare in admiration.

Then a loud sigh could be heard.

"Guess it's finally my turn. I'm Capellini, expert brawler. Gotta say kid, you don't seem that strong when I look at you. Guess Kurabe's teachings aren't what they are all cracked up to be." He uttered in a condescending tone.

Meta glared at him but tried to calm himself down. He knew this guy was just trying to provoke him into a fight.

"If you can't properly judge your opponent..." The puff uttered before teleporting behind Capellini with his cape and pointing his sword at the back of his chest, right where his core would be. "Then maybe you aren't the expert you say you are?"

"What was that!?"

"Capellini, remember that regardless of what you think, he's our guest and you shouldn't be rude to him." Reedy said with a slight glare.

"Fine." The aggressive man said while walking away.

"I apologize on behalf of my subordinate, Meta. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again." The man gave a slight sigh.

"It's nothing to worry about, Mr. Reedy. But why do you keep someone like him around in the first place?"

The man took off his glasses and began to polish them. "Sometimes it's important to have someone who acts on instinct and emotions rather than logic, loathe I am to admit that."

"...I don't understand. What situations would that be useful for?"

"Situations in which thinking is impossible. Here's a hypothetical one for you. Say someone has kidnapped someone you care about, and they'll only let them go if you cut off one of your limbs. If you don't, then they will kill the hostage. You have ten seconds to decide, what do you do? Answer me in ten... nine... eight..."

The question while simple, proved to be quite the difficult quandary for Meta. Of course, he'd want to save a hostage, but we would no longer be able to fight if he lost a limb.

"Five... four... three... two..."

"I'll cut off a limb!" Meta yelled cutting off Reedy's counting.

"...what's stopping them from killing them anyway or killing you then?" The man then asked.

The puff didn't know how to respond to that. "But I only had two options..."

"Incorrect. You were given two options, but you didn't need to pick either of them. You could have made a third option."

"...is that where instinct comes in?"

"Exactly. Capellini lived through the scenario I just gave you. Do you know how he solved it?"

"How?"

"In his own words, he punched them really hard in the face before they could do anything."

The youth pouted. How did he forget about something so obvious?!

Reedy gave a slight smile. "Don't beat yourself up, Meta. In a stressful situation, it can seem impossible to think of the alternatives. Which is why we need those who care very little for logic. In order for a group to grow, we need those with different viewpoints. That's the main point of Task Force Zetta. A group of individuals with different skills, thought processes and ideals that work towards the same goal."

The youth nodded as he looked at him. However, at the back of his mind, he was somewhat wondering if this was really the same person who seemed to love bullying his mentor. He still didn't like the man, but maybe he could learn to trust him at least.

"People of different ideals working together. Is that how you and sensei seem to work together well?" He asked, thinking back to how the two rivals acted during the incident with the hivemind. More specifically, how they were able to throw all animosity for each other to the side for the sake of Mercury.

"Precisely. Kurabe and I are fundamentally polar opposites. There are aspects of her I cannot stand but the reverse is also the same. However, when it comes doing what needs to be done, there's no one more trustworthy than her."

"Working with polar opposites... so that's another lesson sensei is trying to teach me." He thought to himself. "But can I really do that?"

Well, if anything, he'd have to learn it whether he'd like to or not. Reedy then clapped his hands.

"Now that introductions are over, let's head to the recreational room everyone. It'll give a certain someone more opportunities to grow accustomed to us."

"You're just saying that because that's where your kids are. Right, boss?" Calzone asked playfully.

"...perhaps."

The task force members laughed and even Meta smiled slightly but quickly wiped it off his face.

---------

After that, they all walked to the recreational room and, sure enough, Reedy's kids were there, but that wasn't all.

"Ah, Meta, how nice to see you again!"

It was Raita, who Meta remembered was Reedy's wife.

"It's good to see you, Mrs. Raita." The youth replied politely.

"Oh, please, there's no need for that. Just call me Raita, I insist."

He then nodded. "Ok, Raita."

"So, how's Mercury been?" She asked, concern evident in her voice.

"She's doing a lot better now, thankfully. I took up some of her duties for the past month or so just so she could rest."

"That's good." She replied with a sad smile.

It was obvious to Meta that she still blamed herself for what happened.

"It's not your fault, Raita. It was the hivemind." He said.

"Yes, I know, but it was because she went with me that she was attacked..."

Before she could say anything else, she was embraced in a hug by Reedy.

"It's in the past, dear. It'll do no good to keep thinking about it." He uttered, gently stroking her hair.

"I know, Reedy, but I still can't help but think about it..."

"I know, my dear. It's something neither of us will ever forget. However, there's no point in dwelling on it." The man said before looking at his children and then at Meta. "We have a future to live for..."

"I know... I know..." She whispered.

The youth quietly stared, not really knowing how to react to this. Deciding to leave them alone for a bit, Meta looked around to see various crew members playing games with one another, talking, and just generally having a pleasant time. While it was nice to see, it made the youth feel strangely lonely. But why? He never had a problem with everyone on the GranEssex talking to each other and hanging out. So why did it bother him now?

"Something wrong, Meta?" Raita asked, a little calmer than when he saw her before.

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just... I feel so lonely right now..." He replied with a slight sigh.

"Is it because you don't know anyone here all that well?"

"Yeah... like when I see everyone on the GranEssex talking to each other, I don't really care. But here, I just feel lonely..."

Raita gained a thoughtful expression. "It seems to me that you have a case of homesickness, Meta."

The youth looked confused. "What's homesickness?"

"That's a bit of a tough question to answer but I'll try my best. Homesickness effects everyone differently but the cause is usually the same. Whenever a person is away from the place they consider home, sometimes they experience feelings of loneliness. Sometimes it can even cause pain to the poor soul."

Well, that did sound like how he felt right now.

"I guess that makes sense, but there's something I don't get. The planet I grew up on would be considered a home, correct? Yet I felt nothing since leaving it. In fact, I haven't thought about that planet in what feels like forever. So why am I feeling homesick now?"

"Because you're thinking about the GranEssex, aren't you?" Raita asked.

"Yes, but what's the difference?"

"The difference is that you know the GranEssex is your real home. You can be born on a certain planet, but that doesn't automatically mean it's your home. Home is a place you feel safe, and you belong in."

Meta fell silent, processing what he heard.

"There's an old saying on my home planet. Home is where the heart is." She stated, looking directly at Reedy, who was playing with their children.

"I see..." He replied. "I've left the GranEssex multiple times though..."

"But you always returned to it by the end of the day, right?"

"...I did." He averted his gaze slightly.

"You've never been gone from home for longer than a day at most. It's only natural that you would feel like this, Meta."

The puff then clenched his fists. "Will I feel like this throughout the whole month then?"

"That's difficult to say. Homesickness effects everyone differently. Some get over it quickly, others aren't so fortunate. But there are ways of combating it."

"...really? Like what?"

Raita giggled. "Knowing how Kurabe is, she told you to call her every day. Am I right?"

The youth nodded. "Once in the morning and once in the evening."

"Oh, I see. Darling, what time is it?"

"It's..." Reedy took a moment to look at his watch. "...8:23 right now."

"Well seems like it's evening now, Meta." Raita commented with a smile.

"Alright. I'll go call her then." He gave a nod.

"Go down the hall and to the left. You'll find an open guest room. That will also be where you're staying for your time here." Reedy explained.

"Ok, thank you." The puff replied before making his way out.

---------

Once arriving to the room Meta immediately took out his phone and dialed Kurabe's number. In truth he really wanted to hear from her.

"Come on sensei, hurry up..."

In a few seconds, he heard a voice on the other end.

"Meta?"

"Sorry for calling a bit late, sensei. Meeting Reedy's crew took longer than I expected."

"It's all right, Meta. I'm just happy to hear your voice right now." She replied sweetly.

Hearing that caused a wave of relief to wash over Meta, momentarily ridding himself of his homesickness.

"I hope Reedy hasn't been too much of a Reedy to you." She then added.

"Not too much, honestly."

"Not too much is still too much if you ask me."

He chuckled. "I know, sensei."

"So, what's on your mind, Meta? I can tell that something is bothering you."

He gave a slight sigh. "It's nothing, sensei. I just wanted to say hi."

"Meta, even if I can't read your mind right now, I can still read your voice. What's wrong?"

The youth hesitated for a moment before finally giving his reply. "I... I want to go home..."

"You have homesickness." It wasn't a question, but a statement and something about it truly got on his nerves.

"I just wanted to hear your voice again!"

Admittedly, he startled himself by snapping the way he did. However, Meta could only hear a soft chuckle from the other end.

"You sound just like I did when I was your age. My sensei had me spend a month away from him as a form of training. Just like you, I developed homesickness almost instantly."

"...really?" The youth uttered in surprise. "Of course. Like you I grew up as an orphan, although the planet I was born on was covered in perpetual darkness. I was used to being alone... that is until my old man found me and took me in. His ship became my new home. I became attached to both it and him. Of course I would react negatively to being alone again, away from where I felt safe."

"But how did you get over it?"

"I changed my mindset. I took my feelings of loneliness and fear and turned it into motivation. Motivation to see my sensei's test to the very end and prove to him that I could handle being on my own. Of course, it's not as if I went under an instant transformation. It honestly took me a few days to adopt that mindset. But once I did, the situation became more bearable."

The youth became silent upon hearing that. "Is that so...?"

Kurabe sighed at that somewhat dulled response. "Meta, I'll be completely honest with you. I would love nothing more than to bring you back, however this is necessary training. You have two goals now: Become able to work alongside strangers and overcome that homesickness. Can you do both of those?"

"Ok, sensei." He nodded.

"Great! When you get back, I'll make you your favorite chicken parmesan... after I get to hug and cuddle with you of course." She uttered happily.

"SENSEI!" He blurted out, completely embarrassed and glad no one could hear this conversation.

"What? It's going to feel a bit lonely on the ship without you."

By her tone, the youth could tell she was pouting.

"Sensei, I'm not a child anymore..."

"Please, you'll always be my child."

As embarrassed as he felt, Meta developed a warm feeling in his chest upon hearing that.

"Thank you, sensei. I'll call again in the morning, I promise."

"Ok then. I'll be looking forward to hearing from you, Meta."

"Good night."

"Good night, my little knight. Sweet dreams." She replied gently before hanging up.

Meta sighed happily. He still wanted to go home, but for his sensei's sake he would see this through to the end. He then gave a yawn, tired from everything that happened today. He reached into his luggage bag and pulled out a small container before crawling into bed. He then opened it, revealing the silver stress ball. He attempted to get comfortable but soon noticed that this bed was nowhere near as cozy as his own back home.

"It's a good thing I brought you with me, huh?" He thought while giving the ball a good squeeze.

"You leave me in a tin box and that's the first thing you say? Rude!" The blob said in a teasing way.

Meta quickly sat up in shock and stared at the ball.

"...I'm too young to be going insane."

The blob laughed. "Meta, did you really forget that I could talk through pieces of myself like this?"

The puff relaxed upon hearing that. "Mercury, you haven't used that trick in years."

"Well, I thought it'd be a bit rude normally, but I heard a bit of Kurabe's conversation with you and thought I'd say something through this to make you feel a bit less lonely."

"Well, thank you, Mercury. Have you ever dealt with homesickness?"

"Homesickness, huh? Yeah, I have."

"Even you? I guess everyone experiences it at some point."

"Yeah, it's more common than you think."

Meta smiled, glad that this wasn't just an issue exclusive to him. "Since I've already gotten advice from sensei, maybe you can give a different kind of advice. Do you have any tips about handling Reedy's crew?"

"Hmm..." The blob took a moment to think. "Well, thankfully, most of them are pretty cooperative. There's an expression that goes something like "treat others the way you want to be treated". If you present yourself as respectful and cooperative, then they will treat you with respect as well. Well, most of them will... there's one odd duck who doesn't really follow that idea, however. He prefers to let his fists do the taking. Prove your strength to him and he'll ease up on you."

Instantly, Meta knew who she was talking about. "I understand."

"There's also a certain animal lover on the ship too. He may seem intimidating at first, but trust me when I say he's one of the kindest people I know. Stay on his good side and he'll stick up for you."

He nodded quietly. "Anything else?"

"They may all seem like strange individuals, and they are, but they are all good-natured people. Don't be afraid to speak to them. The first step to cooperation is establishing a connection."

"Ok, Mercury. I'll try." He replied.

"Good and please try to get along with Reedy. You don't have to be friends with him but at least attempt to tolerate his existence." Mercury remarked with a chuckle.

He responded with a quiet laugh. "I'll do my best to."

"Then I'll take my leave. If you need anything, squeeze as hard as you can. Good night, Meta."

"Alright then. Good night, Mercury." The youth laid back down, still holding onto the ball.

He closed his eyes and began to think about the crew he would be interacting with for the next couple of weeks. As he started to slowly fall into the realm of sleep, there was one last thought on his mind.

"This will be one long month..."

-

Toyhouse Pages for appearing Characters

Lyze

Mark

Ciel

Calzone

Tiramisu

Pandoro

Risotto

Fettuccine

Granita

Bicerin

Minestrone

Parmigiana

Capellini

[dustyoo10]

Very tired and I can't sleep, this thought is stuck in my head and normally I just bottle it up and let it fester but I have an outlet now where I can talk about these sort of things, so might as well. Hopefully it'll help me sleep.

Warning for discussions about death and some pretty serious stuff:

In 2022 I lost my cat Bailey. This was easily the most painful time in my life, and it was my first real experience with loss. I had lost relatives before, pets too, but never like this. It was about 2 months of excruciating pain and anxiety.

We would let her out and she would usually hang in the backyard or front yard. She loved to sunbathe. Part of me blames my dad for her death but I feel any one of us could have made this mistake, I still struggle with it. I should have looked, too. He didn't check to see if she was inside when he set out her dinner. She was stuck out there all night during a heatwave.

When I woke up in the morning and noticed she wasn't inside, I tried to see if she was outside, I found her at the side of the house on the hot concrete, barely awake. She was struggling to breathe and her skin was loose and saggy. I picked her up and brought her inside and told my dad something was wrong with her. He insisted she was fine and that her raspy breathing was actually "purring". She could hardly move. I woke my mom and told her what was happening, and I had to convince her to take her to the emergency vet. It felt like no one saw she was dying except me.

After a checkup and some shots she appeared to be doing better, I believe they said it was dehydration. I had stayed up all night and I stayed up even longer watching her. That's what hurts the most. I was awake during the night when she was out there on her own.

Regardless, this marked a complete turn in her health. She was in good shape for 14, but that drastically fell after that day. I didn't go to our family reunion so that I could watch after her. Honestly, I don't know how my family was fine with her being alone for several days whilst dying. Even if I didn't care for her as much as I did, I wouldn't leave anyone like that.

I struggled to get her to eat anything other than sips of tuna water, and it seemed like she never slept. She couldn't, she was too weak. I couldn't sleep either. I've always had bad insomnia, but this was much worse.

A few weeks later I convinced my mom to take her to the vets again. I was adamant that if we just took her to the vets they could fix her, even though a part of me deep down knew that wasn't true. The morning we were supposed to go I was in the restroom when I noticed that I didn't feel anything in my chest. my heart wasn't beating. I had a vasovagal response, it's when your blood pressure drops rapidly due to immense anxiety, which had never happened to me before. It was a good minute before I nearly collapsed downstairs. I was pale and struggling to breathe while my mom was trying to help me recover.

The vet ended up being closed that day, and we only learned whilst we were in the car with Bailey, who was extremely distressed. I think it was a good thing. If they were open it would've served no more than to prolong the inevitable and to keep her suffering. There was no fix for this. I believe she had air in her lungs, from the post-mortem scan. Some sort of cancer or disease she had from being a barn kitten. So there really was nothing we could do. Well, there was something I could do.

When we got back home I sat and thought, and I decided to take initiative for once rather than waiting for something to happen, or hoping some miracle would fall down from the sky. I went to my mom and told her she needed to be euthanized while tearing up. My mom didn't say it, but she already knew this. She went along with my idea that something could help her so as to not upset me. At the vet she'd either have been euthanized there, or told that she doesn't have long regardless.

She called a mobile vet so that she could be put to sleep her at home. We brought her out to the deck for the last time, and I sat with her, constantly wiping snot from my nose, and trying my best to enjoy that last moment with her. At this point she was falling apart, she could hardly keep herself concious.

The vet came and put her to sleep. When the syringe went it she bit down on my hand, leaving a mark that's still there. Then her eyes just sort of glazed and she began to drift. She couldn't get the euthanasia needle into the right spot in our house, so she took Bailey to her RV and did it there. She let us come see her one last time and I regret that. I put my ear on her chest and felt nothing, so I left really quickly after that. My mom came over to me while Bailey was leaving our driveway to be cremated and hugged me, and I started sobbing while she held me.

I went inside, got in the shower, curled up and started crying harder than I ever had in my life. I wasn't good enough to her, there was a lot of things i didn't do right, and that was the first day in my 19 years of life that it truly dawned on me that people will die. You don't get an infinite amount of time to make up for your mistakes, and you don't get infinite time with them.

In a way it was both sad and relieving. She was in pain for so long. Now she could finally sleep, and so could I. I no longer had to worry about waking up and finding her dead, or laying in bed restless because I didn't want to leave her alone. She died on September 6th, 2022.

Over a month later, I got B.B. after much convincing from my mom. Bailey was originally my sister's cat, but my mom ended up taking responsibilities for her since my sister was only 14, although i had to convince her that I was older and more responsible. I had lived the majority of my life with a cat, and a part of it was just empty without her. B.B. wasn't meant to fill that hole in my heart that Bailey left, but to give me something else to love, and this time I would do everything right.

Apologies for anyone who didn't want to read something like this.

[the-ultimate-dissapointment]

this is a bit of a dark ask but it's something that crossed my mind. in the hero chuck au, does Becky get pressured into becoming a villain? or does she do it out of her own volition/free will? since Becky doesn't really seem like someone to become actively evil (and aware of it) without any sort of influence. I also wonder this because of how evil!wordgirl says that canon!wordgirl (please pardon my paraphrasing here): "chose heroism over here friend/mentor"

so it makes me wonder what lead to this line of thought.

also, does dr two brains know her identity in this au?

and what happens with huggy/bob?

Thanks for the question! It's been a while since I thought about this au and it really got my brain working up again since I've been ill.

It's a little complicated. In this au, Becky has a slightly more conflicted view of things after Steven turns to TwoBrains. She didn't want to give up on him just yet. At first her desire was to make him turn good again, convinced if she tried hard enough she could have both her heroism and her mentor figure back. Of course TwoBrains didn't remember anything about their friendship so was annoyed with this kid coming over all the times and trying to give him moral lectures. He gave her an ultimatum, that if she was going to be around she was going to be on his side or else they were going to fight. He didn't mean to manipulate her, as from his perspective this was just some random alien kid with supernatural powers that kind of showed up, but it put thing in perspective for Wordgirl.

The main deviation in this au is that in the cannon series, Wordgirl didn't think twice about choosing her hero career. In this au, she chose to stand by whatever was left of her friend, even if he was switched to the villains side.

To be honest, she doesn't really put her all into villain work. She could flatten the town and make TwoBrains successful in all his plans if she really wanted to, but she doesn't. It's more like a game. She knows the bad guys aren't supposed to win in the end, so she lets the plans fail only to try again next time because it means that she can still hang out with the only adult she's ever trusted enough to tell her identity too. Although, sadly, in this au TwoBrains knows just about as much as cannon TwoBrains does, meaning he doesn't remember much, let alone Wordgirl's identity.

As for Huggy, he does not approve of this decision at all. He tried everything to convince Becky otherwise but she had her mind made up. Their relationship is strained, as he's still on the side of good, even if independently now. But at the end of the day he's there for her. He knows she's just a kid going through something really rough. He still lives with her as Becky, even if they aren't close. It's kind of like a relationship between a rebelling teenager and an upset but concerned parent.

[dxstielhehe]

Title: Touch

Summary: Castiel found out that Dean was touch starved.

Warning: none, I'm afraid I'd be cringe

Dean Winchester was exhausted after the long hunt. All he wanted to do was flop down on his bed and pass out. But as he entered the bunker, Castiel was waiting for him in the map room.

"Cas, what's up?" Dean asked, stifling a yawn.

"I just wanted to check in, see how the hunt went," Castiel replied.

Dean gave him the basics - vampire nest cleared out, no major injuries. As he spoke, Castiel walked over to stand close by his side. A bit too close, in Dean's personal space bubble. He took an involuntary half step back.

"Well, I'm beat. Think I'll hit the hay," Dean said, eager to escape to his room. But as he turned to leave, Castiel reached out and hugged him.

It was brief, nothing more than a tight squeeze around Dean's shoulders before Cas withdrew. But it caught Dean completely off guard. He froze, arms stuck out to the sides, brain short-circuiting.

Castiel didn't seem to notice Dean's reaction. He just smiled and said, "I'm glad you're safe. Goodnight, Dean." And with that, he strode from the room.

Dean remained frozen in place for several long moments, replaying what just happened in his head. Cas... hugged him? Dean couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged. Probably mom, years and years ago. As an adult, physical affection wasn't really something he did.

Shaking himself from his daze, Dean retreated to his bedroom. But he couldn't stop thinking about the hug. Cas's arms around him, the warmth and pressure of another body holding him close. It stirred something unfamiliar in Dean's chest, something he didn't want to examine too closely.

He laid awake for hours, unable to shut his mind off, replaying every moment of that brief embrace over and over. The feeling of being... cared for? Cherished, even? It was foreign but not entirely uncomfortable. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone.

The next morning, Dean emerged from his room still deep in thought. He made a beeline for the kitchen, hoping coffee would help clear his head. But Cas was there, poring over some old tome at the map table.

"Hello, Dean," Cas said without looking up. His casual greeting sent a jolt through Dean. He tried playing it cool as he poured a mug of joe.

"Mornin'."

Dean turned to leave, not wanting to get pulled into conversation. But Cas's voice stopped him. "Dean, may I speak with you for a moment?"

Reluctantly, Dean sat across from the angel. Cas regarded him with an unreadable expression. "You seemed distressed last night, after our interaction. Did I do something to upset you?"

Dean felt a blush creeping up his neck. Dammit, why was Cas bringing this up? "No, man, you didn't do anything. I was just tired, is all."

But Cas wasn't convinced. He tilted his head, gazing intently at Dean. "You froze. Your heart rate and breathing increased dramatically. You've exhibited signs of avoidance this morning as well."

Dean looked away, unwilling to meet those piercing blue eyes. "It was just... unexpected, okay? Didn't mean anything by it."

"Physical affection makes you uncomfortable," Cas concluded.

Dean shrugged, eyes fixed on his coffee. He hated this subject being analyzed.

After a moment, Cas spoke again. "Dean, would you like a hug?"

Dean's head shot up in alarm. "What?! No, Cas, come on."

But Cas was watching him closely. "I think it could help you. May I?" He stood and took a step toward Dean.

"Really, man, it's fine. Let's just drop it." Dean stood as well, backing away instinctively.

Cas followed, worry evident on his face now. "You're touch starved, Dean. Don't try to deny it, I can see the signs. Please, let me help you."

Dean was backed against the table, heart pounding. His mind screamed at him to run, but his legs wouldn't move. Cas halted a foot away, hands raised slightly in a non-threatening gesture.

"May I hug you, Dean?" His voice was unbearably gentle.

Dean swallowed hard, eyes locked on Cas's. After a long moment, he gave the tiniest of nods.

Cas closed the distance slowly, wrapping his arms around Dean's rigid frame. Dean stood frozen, every muscle tense, not daring to breathe. But Cas just held him securely, one hand rubbing soothing circles on his back.

"It's alright, Dean. You're safe," Cas murmured. Gradually, delicately, Dean began to relax into the embrace. His hands came up hesitantly, fingers curling into the fabric of Cas's trench coat.

Cas hugged him tighter, resting his cheek against Dean's hair. "I've got you. Let go, Dean, I've got you." And with a small choked sound, Dean melted into Cas's hold, arms wrapping desperately around his waist.

He buried his face in Cas's shoulder, whole body wracked with silent sobs. Cas cradled him gently, letting him get it all out, whispering reassurances the whole while. At some point Dean's legs gave out, and they ended up on the floor together, Cas's arms still shielding Dean from the world.

Eventually the tears subsided, leaving Dean exhausted and empty. But he felt... lighter, somehow. Cas gently urged Dean to look at him, brushing away the last remnants of tears with his thumb.

"Are you alright?" Cas asked softly.

Dean took a shaky breath. "I don't know. But...thank you, Cas. I think I needed that."

Cas smiled tenderly. "Of course, Dean. Any time you need comfort, I am here."

Their eyes caught and held for a long moment. Dean saw all the compassion and care shining in Cas's gaze, and knew it was directed entirely at him. Something shifted inside, some puzzle piece slotting into place. Dean's heart swelled with a feeling he dare not name.

All he said was, "Thank you, Cas," but he hoped his eyes conveyed everything else he couldn't say. The angel regarded him with such understanding and affection. In that moment, Dean knew he was truly cared for.

[inflamearc]

i've been thinking a lot about that [disgusting] scene in s1 when dr. jacoby goads bobby into crying / into saying that laura Wanted To Corrupt People, out of bitterness or spite. firstly, you can't trust anything there, because he is a grown man who is throwing a fit because he is jealous that he didn't get to fuck this kid's girlfriend. who was his patient. and a high school student. secondly, this is one of few areas where bobby wouldn't really know what laura was like: he's the one who introduced her into that world. why would she try to spare him from something he was already a part of? she didn't 'make' him do anything; they were on completely equal footing. he knows that, realistically.

(she did laugh at him for saying he loved her the first time they had sex. it was for depressing reasons --- and also, laura just laughs when she's nervous --- but she did do that, according to the diary. i never want to seem like i'm trying to absolve her of everything she's ever done. bobby's undeniably got plenty to work through there. just preferably ... with a therapist who didn't get his degree out of a cereal box. and isn't obsessed with teenagers.)

anyway, here's the real post.

the thing that's so unbearably bad about that take? laura is obsessive about not corrupting anyone. like, yeah, she doesn't want people to judge her, but she can deal with that. she doesn't lead a 'double life' because she's afraid of not being liked. she --- insofar as it's within her control, at least --- leads a 'double life' because she believes she's poisonous. literally. to the extent that she's convinced that if you so much as borrow her clothes, she'll contaminate you with her essence. that she will make you 'bad'. like her.

(don't worry. we are getting her therapy for that ocd.)

she is trying so, so hard to hang onto anything good and 'pure' within her life that she feels she can get away with (i.e. it won't get anyone killed). she doesn't put so much work into separating The Bad Laura from donna because she's ashamed of her: she's trying to protect her. she doesn't want her to change because of her. she doesn't want her put into situations where she'll be pressured into doing anything. by anybody. when she says "i don't want you to be like me", it's not petty and it isn't hollow: she wants her to have choices that she never had. she doesn't get annoyed when donna brings up losing her virginity because she thinks she's being juvenile: she's upset because she assumes (correctly!) that donna is talking about sex to try to impress her, and she can't stand that. she can't stand that donna's already dating a boy she doesn't like just to stay close to her because he's bobby's best friend. like she feels like she has to.

she doesn't want to 'corrupt' james, either! she has no desire to change him in any way! it's pretty clear that he sets the pace and tone of their relationship! like, i talk shit, but he is not a joke to her. she is with him because she is so relieved that for once in her life, she gets to be a 'normal girl'. that she can have a sexual / romantic place where she isn't expected to be (on some level or another) the "bad laura". like, yeah, their relationship is toxic in other ways --- he is ultimately very judgmental, however well-meaning --- but it moves laura that he thinks she could be worthwhile at all without the drugs and the sex and all of that. that he thinks there'd still be a person left to love. she needs to hear that. she needed to hear a lot of things from a lot of people --- ideally, none of them This Random Guy --- but we can only work with what we have.

anyway. don't listen to grown white men who live in twin peaks. especially when they are saying things to or about children. is the thing

[ninjastormhawkkat]

The Fall of Fair City - Chapter 17

"Oh really." Two Brains spoke with genuine surprise. He didn't really expect Becky to find anything immediately. Not because he had no faith in her skills. He honestly thought he was just made the fall guy because he was there and The Learnerer was already in prison. Becky nodded with determination. "Mhmm. I went over to the building to talk to the owners and the police commissioner was there along with Mrs. Botsford. I tried to convince them that there was no evidence nor any possible motivation for you to destroy the gadgets, but only Mrs. Botsford was one my side." Becky crossed her arms with an annoyed frowned. "They all thought I was "too young and naive" to fully understand how "dangerous" of a threat you actually were." Dr. Two Brains frowned, sympathetic and upset she was put down like that for trying to defend his character. "Look kiddo. Thank you for trying. You really didn't have to go that far for me. The people of this city would have forgotten or moved on in a few days. It's no big deal for me." Two Brains tried reassuring his daughter. "But dad this is a big deal." Becky exclaimed, causing Two Brains to look confused and surprised. "Huh?" he stated aloud. "Dr. Corngraves is the one who made you out to be the scapegoat. I think he has been hiding stuff and being very secretive about his true work I talked with Professor Tubing who used Bosco to get Bob and my own attention. He had stumbled onto a file that implicates Dr. Corngraves not only of plagiarism, but also potential sabotage of other scientists' works that were in that storage unit." Dr. Two Brains now looked really invested and intrigued. "Okay but if that wanted to keep such a tight lip on what he did, why did he still say I did it?" Becky once again hesitated, looking apprehensive as she seemed to be trying to pick her next words carefully. Dr. Two Brains looked at his daughter with worry and was about to ask what was wrong before she finally spoke up. "Okay, so do you remember that machine that blasted you yesterday?" Two Brains nodded solemnly. Becky took a deep breath before continuing. "Well according to Professor Tubing, Dr. Corngraves claimed to have built that machine. It was actually in far worse damage than the other gadgets in that storage unit which made it look like the machine was targeted and someone wanted the police to think that the unit was destroyed out of chaotic reasons, that there no specific targets. Well Professor Tubing found some photos and files which he took pictures of in a folder belonging to Dr. Corngraves. One of those photos was of the original blueprints of the machine. There was a signature on one of the bottom corners of the blueprints that showed that someone by the name of Dr. Brandon Boxleitner created the machine, not Dr. Corngraves." Two Brains couldn't help but give a small gasp at the name he had not heard of in such a long time. He soon felt an invisible force squeezing around his heart and lungs as he lifted a hand over his chest area. Becky and Bob could see the look of pure fear flash in the scientist's eyes. They both gazed at each other with worry and concern before Becky faced her dad again. "Dad. Who is Brendan Boxleitner?" Becky asked with sympathetic concern. Dr. Two Brains tried to shake off his daughter's worries as he attempted to steady the pounding of his heart. "He's none of your concern kiddo. Just a relative that we don't talk about anymore." Two Brains replied, albeit a bit shakily. Becky wasn't satisfied with her dad's response. "Why hasn't anyone mentioned him before? What did he do?" Becky pressed on. Dr. Two Brains eyes darted rapidly as his body was under immense pressure and sweat. He needed to find some emergency cheese to calm him down. Sadly there was none available out in the open. "Look Becky, you don't need to be concerned about that man. Just drop it will you." Two Brains asked, becoming very agitated with his daughter's well meaning, but invasive questions. "I just can't drop it dad." Becky spoke with exasperation. @melodythebunny @dualnaturedscientist