#he wants my magic lasagnas

[fruitgoat]

I was having a Bad Brain Day so I declined My Dad’s less than subtle suggestions that I attend today’s Costco trip. My parents have been gone for over three hours. I feel I made the correct decision.

[yandereunsolved]

When you have the time, yandere chain reaction to reader wanting to help by making dishes from our world for them? Like pizza, breaded chicken, spaghetti, lasagna, grilled cheese sandwiches,ect. Dishes you don't see in hyrule ya know? Maybe they first got to cook for them when wild is too exhausted or sick to cook? Actually, I don't think they know how to make boiled eggs or popcorn. Be funny if reader invented popcorn for hyrule. Hope you have a great week

Okay, I love this. You too, anon! 𖹭 ( part 2 )

cw: a mention of them possibly crossing your boundaries (at the end)

We'll set the mood by saying The Chain has had an absolutely exhaustive day. They've had to fight off multiple monsters of varying varieties, and to top off the sundae of shit, you have the rotten cherry of all of you being pushed into another portal. You're soaked in things you don't even want to imagine; all of your yanderes are neglecting their health and trying to take care of you; and you are hangry. You end up snapping at them and then getting gaslit for about twenty minutes. 

That's when they learned about the wonderful world of ✨ human cuisine ✨ —peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, meat pies, puff puff, zapiekanka, etc...

You were on the edge of your seat, and Wild was exhausted, so you told them that if they left you alone for an hour, you'd cook for them. After a bit of convincing the more worried and overbearing yanderes, you finally got more than five feet away from them. That's when you cooked a dish from your homeland.

Let me tell you, you just fell into a deeper hole than you already were. They are already dependent on you for love, affection, and attention. Now, they want you to always cook meals for them. They are all trying to get the recipes for your favorite meals out of you so they can win your favor. Naturally, Wild has them outmatched in this sense, and none of them are happy about it.

Wild gets all of your attention when it comes to cooking things. You get to share recipes and learn from each other. Sometimes Sage is able to join since he has more refined cooking abilities, except his Zonai arm always acts up because it reacts to his suppressed yandere tendencies towards you. It's a weird quirk his arm has gotten into. He still isn't sure why. Everyone else in The Chain always tries to undermine Wild's cooking skills when you aren't around. 

It backfires when Wild gets to be the one to cuddle up to you, and he manipulates you by telling you how the others hate him. They hate him because he is different. They hate him because he has you. They hate him because he is everything they are not. It just all seems so vulnerable and raw. Why would you not believe him? Do you not trust him? Do you not love him?

Over all, they are fascinated, and it only feeds into their worship of you. They are enamored by the foods you have brought them. Any of them practically drops dead when you make one of your native snacks for just one of them. Oh my, you made it just for him? No one else. You must really love only that Link! Fierce is even willing to use his deity magic to get ingredients from your world for you. 

How did Fierce do this?

Does this mean he is able to get you home?

No, uh—his power is limited because of the mask. Something, something, a convincing lie to get you to stay and not question him. He is a deity, after all. He knows better than you.

They may crave your food, but there is one thing they long for more—you. How long will you be able to deprive them of your body before they take what is rightfully theirs?

[orphicdreamers-wp]

I want to send a request for the umich boys. So every Sunday they have a “family dinner” where the friend group comes over with their girlfriends and they make an actual good dinner every Sunday night. Readers cooking and her boyfriend rutger gets handsy, so they sneak away and come back just in time for dinner, and just in time for the boys to tease rut about the hickeys on his neck

Get Your Lovin On — Rutger McGroarty

Summary: In which your boyfriend gets handsy while you guys are cooking

Content Warning; mild suggestive content(making out & hickeys), cussing, established relationships, UMich hockey players teasing Rutger & Reader

Pairing; Fem Reader x Rutger McGroarty

A soft laugh left your lips as your boyfriend placed a kiss on your bare shoulder, “Rut, we’re cooking.” Rutger placed his hands on your hips, “Well how am I supposed to focus when you look so pretty?” You hummed, “Tell you what, finish your task of cutting bread for garlic bread while I finish checking this lasagna and we’ll talk then.” Rutger grinned as he pressed a kiss against your lips, “Yes ma’am.” You grinned to yourself as your boyfriend returned to the other side of the kitchen and went back to the task in front of him.

You had turned lasagna and put it back in the oven, setting a timer in 45 minutes to take it out, when you approached your boyfriend and wrapped your arms around his waist, “So how about we go talk? In your room.” Rutger smiled widely, “I’ll meet you up there.” You grinned as you walked out of the kitchen. Luca munched on a handful on grapes as he watched you whisper something in his friends ear and then magically you both left the kitchen.

The moment your boyfriend entered his room your lips were interlocked. Your hands found their way to Rutger’s hair like they always did. His lips lightly sucking at your neck eliciting a soft breathy sigh to leave your lips, “Rut, as much as I love this, all our friends are here. So we can’t do anything more than this.” Rutger looked up at you and smiled, “This is all I need. To be in my girlfriends arms.”

You smiled, “Keep talking like that and you might be getting lucky when they’re all gone.” Rutger grinned, “You say that like I shouldn’t be excited.” You grinned as your lips attached to your boyfriend’s neck. Leaving small hickey’s across the base of his neck. Rutger let out a breathy sigh as he nuzzled his head into you chest. You grinned at your boyfriend as you laid your head against his pillows, “What’s going on in your head pretty boy?”

Rutger shook his head as he traced shapes on your bare arm wrapped around him, “Just thinking about how lucky I am to be with you. Sometimes I think about how crazy it is that your with me.” You furrowed an eyebrow as you sat up crossing your legs over each other, “Why’s that so crazy Rut?” Rutger blew out a breath, “Your perfect, your kind, smart, hilarious, the easy going person I’ve ever met, you have an energy that people gravitate towards. Also your the most stunning person in the world. And I’m just me.”

You smiled at your boyfriend, “I think you are the most amazing person I know, your considerate to everyone, your extremely kind you’d give the shirt on your back to a stranger if you thought they needed it, you are the most reassuring person I know. You say things that make me melt into a puddle because of how sweet you are. You have the prettiest eyes I have ever seen. Your laugh makes me feel so safe, and the way your looking at me right now, makes me feel like I’m the only person in the world. I don’t know who I’d be without you.” Rutger grinned as he placed a soft peck against your lips.

Rutger sighed as he melted into you, “We should probably head back out there now. Before they get any ideas.” You laughed, “I’ll be right down. I just wanna fix my hair.” Rutger nodded as he kissed you and headed out of his room. You walked into the bathroom he and Ethan shared and ran your fingers through your hair straightening it. You did your best to cover the hickey’s that were prominent across your collarbone. You made your way to the dining room where Ethan and Mark where prancing around in matching aprons Luca had bought them as a gag gift for Christmas. The two boys were tasked with bringing all the food to the table from the kitchen.

You slid into your seat in between Rutger and Ashley, Mark’s girlfriend. Luca sat directly across from Rutger with a smug smirk on his face upon seeing Rutger leaving his bedroom adjusting the collar to his shirt. You guys sat around the table laughing over whatever had happened in the week since you all had dinner together. You had been reaching out to grab your cup when your hair fell to the side revealing the growing purple hickey on your neck, it was only visible to Ashley and Luca, who both decided to say nothing even though they had both noticed.

You and Ashley were engrossed in a conversation about the professor in your shared public relations lecture. Rutger had thrown his head back as he burst into laughter. Luca grinned to himself as the hickey’s planted across Rutger’s neck was now visible to not just him but the entire group, “So that’s where you snuck off to Rut.” Your eyes immediately widened as Ethan walked over to your boyfriend and pulled his shirt away from his neck, “Damn Y/N you sure do mark what’s yours. Mark look at this!”

At the call from his best friend Mark waltzed over and tried to bite back a laugh, “Hold on she has some too.” Ashley moved your hair to the side revealing the maybe two hickey’s on your neck compared to the many on your boyfriend’s neck. Mark burst out laughing, “I knew Y/N had the power behind closed doors.” Your face was beat red as your boyfriend and you burst into laughter. You jokingly smacked Rutger’s arm, “We need to get our own place.” Rutger nodded, “Agreed.”

[unclewaynemunson]

'No no no Steve wait, don't throw that a...way.' The end of the sentence died on Eddie's tongue as the leftover lasagna, basically in slow-motion, tumbled out of the dish and into the bin. Eddie could almost hear a funeral march start to play over the dull thud and the sound of crushing eggshells.

'Fuck,' he said, emphatically.

'That was barely half a portion,' Steve remarked with a careless shrug while putting the empty dish back on the kitchen counter.

And Eddie groaned, tried to count to ten in his head but didn't even make it to two.

'I was gonna have that for lunch, man, add a slice of bread and an apple and I'd have a decent meal!'

There must have been something in his voice that told Steve that he wasn't just being overly dramatic but genuinely annoyed, because his face dropped and he shot a quick glance at the dish, as if that would magically summon the lasagna back into it, untouched by gross eggshells and coffee dregs.

'Seriously, that was perfectly good food, why would you throw that away?!'

'I can buy you lunch tomorrow?' Steve suggested sheepishly.

And, well, that hit a sore spot.

'That's not the fucking point!' Eddie exclaimed in frustration. 'I'm not your charity case or some shit, I can take care of my own meals – as long as you don't throw my food away!'

And again, it was like Eddie saw it happen in slow-motion: Steve flinched, took a stumbling step backwards, created as much distance between himself and Eddie as possible in the trailer’s tiny kitchen by bumping his back against the counter; something crossed his face that Eddie had never seen there before. And... shit.

All his frustration dissolved right on the spot and he immediately took another step away from Steve, even though everything inside of him wanted to cross that distance and hold him. He raised his hands in the air, cautious not to move too sudden.

'Steve, I'm not mad at you,' he said, forcing himself to sound as calm as possible despite his heart beating like crazy. 'I got annoyed, sure, but – it's okay. We're okay. You're okay. I didn't wanna hurt you, I promise.'

Steve swallowed, let his eyes dart everywhere except at Eddie's face while he tightly crossed his arms in front of his chest. The fear seemed to have disappeared from his face, replaced by something else; something expertly concealed within seconds. Anyone less well-versed than Eddie in the craft of noticing every little detail about Steve Harrington wouldn't notice; but Eddie did.

'You wanna talk about what happened there?' he asked, hesitant.

Steve didn't answer right away, his eyes still frantically darting around the trailer and his lower lip sucked between his teeth.

'What do you mean?' he finally said.

'Can I come closer?' Eddie asked. He felt like it would be so much easier to have this conversation if he could touch Steve; if he could smell him and have him in his orbit.

Steve nodded; Eddie sighed a breath of a relief and crossed the distance between them to rest his hands against Steve's sides; not quite an embrace, but something grounding for both of them nonetheless.

'I kinda recognized that look in your eyes, I guess,' Eddie quietly admitted. 'And the way you flinched. Like you were scared I was gonna do something bad.'

'I know you wouldn't –'

'I know,' Eddie was quick to reassure him. There was a beat of silence and Eddie wondered how much he should push. But he knew that he needed this conversation to happen, that it would keep gnawing at both of them if they didn't talk about it now.

'It's because of your dad, isn't it?'

Steve nodded, still looking slightly past Eddie.

'I'm sorry.' Eddie exhaled sharply, trying to keep his emotions under control; he knew that aimless anger at Steve's father wouldn't get them anywhere; not here, not right now. 'I mean, I knew he was bad, but I had no idea that it was... like that.'

He could hear Steve breathe out while he stared at some point just above Eddie's head.

'Sometimes I think all that crap is behind me now,' Steve quietly started to explain. 'But then something like this happens and it – it just catches me by surprise, is all. Like I'll never completely be free of the fear.'

Eddie nodded. 'Uncle Wayne, he... He looks a lot like my father - even though he's nothing like him. Took me years to fully trust him. He makes sure to never raise his voice, but still, sometimes when I see him make a sudden movement from the corner of my eyes, I just... freeze. Like it's some kind of instinct that’ll always stay with me.'

Steve finally looked Eddie in his eyes again, stunned and a little bit shocked.

'Your dad, too?'

Eddie nodded. 'Mhm.'

And wordlessly, Steve pulled him closer, until Eddie was enveloped in his warm arms and their chests were pressed against each other. Eddie let his eyes fall shut, breathed in Steve's familiar scent while he nestled his face in the crook of his neck and tightened his own grip around Steve's back.

They stayed like that for minutes, maybe even a whole eternity.

'Should we make rules?' Steve finally asked, in a hesitant voice and without pulling away from their embrace.

'What kind of rules?'

'Like, things to make sure that this doesn't – that we won't get scared. I know we can't promise not to fight, but...' He trailed off; Eddie could feel him shrug his shoulders.

He started slowly stroking one hand up and down over Steve's back. 'What was the thing that got you afraid, earlier?'

'Your loud voice – and the way you stepped into my space, I guess.'

'Okay.' Eddie nodded. 'So no yelling, and we try to keep our distance when shit goes sour. Sound good?'

Steve hummed against Eddie’s neck. 'Yeah. And for you? You mentioned the sudden movements, with Wayne?'

'Yeah, no sudden movements would help,' Eddie admitted.

'Okay, I can do that.'

Eddie squeezed Steve tighter. 'Thank you.'

Steve huffed. 'You're the one who started this conversation; I should be thanking you.'

Eddie lifted his face to press a gentle kiss against Steve's cheek, and another one at the corner of his lips.

'I'm sorry for startling you.'

'That's okay, you couldn't know.'

'Can you stop doing that, please?’ Eddie said with a chuckle. ‘Let me say thank you, let me apologize. Let me take care of you.'

Steve chuckled too; never before had Eddie been so grateful to hear that sound. 'I'll try.'

'You wanna stay the night?'

Steve shuffled, pulled back a little bit so that Eddie could see his face; there was a frown between his eyebrows.

'I'm not sure if I'm in the mood, after, you know...'

'Hey,' Eddie said, softly. 'You can stay the night for other reasons, too, you know. To have some comfort. To fall asleep together. To let me make sure that you're doing alright.'

'You sure?'

'Hell yes.'

Steve's head dropped down to Eddie's shoulder again, and Eddie lifted his hand to comb through his hair.

'Yeah, I'll stay.'

[hayanwulf]

Ironstrange omegaverse Stephen being protective or overprotective maybe? Love your writing!

Thank you, dear. Have some badass Omega Stephen.

Sorry for the anti-Steve vibes lol, someone needed to be the victim of Stephen’s wrath ;D

“Tony, wait.”

Tony sighed tiredly as Rogers arrived to block his path out of the meeting room. Again. From the corner of his eye, he saw Stephen’s lip curl down in an almost palpable distaste.

“Whatever it is, Rogers, I’m not interested. So will you please be kind enough to get out of our way?”

“Tony, this is important.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it is.”

That seemed to tick Rogers off. “For once will you listen to me seriously?” He stepped forward to reach for one of Tony’s arms, and Tony jerked away from the other Alpha purely out of reflex.

Before Rogers could grab his arm, however, he was stopped in his tracks by Tony’s omega, who now stood between them, shielding Tony from the super soldier’s sight.

“Just how many times does he need to repeat it before it gets through that thick skull of yours?” Stephen growled. “Leave Tony alone.”

Rogers stared at Stephen with a thoroughly unfazed expression. Instead of addressing his mate, the soldier looked at Tony. “You shouldn’t let your omega speak for you like this, Tony.” His tone was almost chastising, as though he was speaking to a naive child.

“And you should address to me while I’m talking to you, Rogers.” Stephen’s voice fell several octaves below his normal. Tony could feel his omega’s carefully suppressed anger, bleeding through their bond.

And he knew that, if this did not escalate right fucking now, things were going to go very, very south.

“Stephen..” He placed a placating hand on his mate’s shoulder.

Stephen ignored it, his focus fixated on the soldier as he challenged, “Or are you afraid of looking me in the eye?”

Rogers stared the omega down, his eyes sharp.

“I’m not afraid of you, mister. I just prefer to be respectful of an omega’s boundaries, especially one as delicate as you. I don’t want to accidentally scare you.”

Tony closed his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath.

The first time Rogers had been dismissive of Stephen’s abilities and position among the Avengers, it had been in the battlefield, where Stephen had declined to take a life. Stephen haid paid no heed to the soldier’s remarks back then, firmly abiding by his Oath.

The second time Rogers had been dismissive of Stephen’s place in Tony’s life as his mate, it had been in the Avengers common kitchen, when the soldier had walked in on Tony lovingly feeding Stephen with his own hands, the delicious lasagna he had prepared for his omega. Stephen had dismissed Rogers right back, roasting him over how he had no skills required to please an omega, unlike Tony who was thoroughly endowed in every way, therefore making the soldier unwanted, whereas people would die to have a chance at being taken care of by Tony. Tony had then quickly rushed Stephen out of the room before it could have escalated.

Now, though.

Now Rogers had dug his own grave, and there was no saving.

Stephen’s eyes ignited with a fierce golden glow. The air around them crackled, charged with magic that was palpable on their skin, feeling heavy and electric. When he spoke, his voice was a low, chilling resonance that reverberated like distant thunder, holding an edge that could freeze blood.

“It seems you have mistaken my dislike for causing harm.. as my inability to do so.”

Tony saw it the moment a flicker of fear appeared in Rogers’ face, the soldier taking an unconscious step back. He wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“What’s the matter? Are you scared of me, Rogers?” Stephen took a menacing step forward.

Rogers took a step backwards.

Stephen’s lips curled up with remorseless satisfaction. “So where was I? Right,” Stephen took another step towards the soldier, and that was the moment Rogers realized that his back was pressed against a wall. Stephen didn’t relent, stepping closer and closer, until he was in Rogers’ personal space. Then, he leaned further in, and whispered into the soldier’s ear,

“Try to talk to Tony one more time. I don’t care if it’s related to the team, or personal. Dare to talk to Tony ever again, and I promise you, you’ll wish you had never existed. I will make you remember what true fear feels like, and leave you to live with that knowledge for your remaining life.”

Stephen leaned away.

The next moment, Rogers fled the scene.

Tony tried to stifle the smile forming on his lips as the heavy feeling of magic in the air dispersed. “You didn’t have to go so hardcore, y’know.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Please. You enjoyed the show.”

Tony threw his head back and laughed.

[princecharmingwinks]

Sterek Fic Rec - April & May 2023. Sorry team, I know I am late and now combining months. Been busy with other things so while I hope to keep doing rec lists, they may be less monthly overall. But I promise I am still here! :)

Orbit (yours is the only one i'd follow) by whenwordsmakesense (1/1 | 1K | Teen)

Stiles flashes back to the nights and mornings he has spent in Derek’s bed, only because he’d fallen asleep researching the latest trouble in their town and Derek hadn’t felt like waking him up, only to drive sleepily and more than likely end up on his computer again once he got home. And he thinks of this pack, his family, has tied them to each other—all of them—and he thinks of how love has filled them up where the holes of loss have taken place.

OR

Stiles muses on what love is.

The Ink Under My Skin by rainsoakedshoes (1/1 | 10K | Mature)

Derek is looking for an Emissary. What he finds is Stiles Stilinski; resident witch.

Stiles would do whatever it takes to protect the Hale pack and his Alpha.

***

“I want to protect my pack as well as I can,” Derek continued. “Emissaries traditionally keep balance, having someone who wants to tip the odds in our favour may come in handy.”

Figure it Out by Gia279 (1/1 | 5K | Not Rated | Podfic by josilverdragon)

“He isn’t cursed,” Derek said suddenly, “I am.” As he spoke, no less than three lizards tumbled from his mouth. He caught them before they hit the ground, clutching them in folded fingers.

Dream Mate - Real Mate by TheyDraggedMeInNowIAintLeaving (1/1 | 4K | Teen)

Stiles is hired to put magical protection on the Hale house, Derek is incapable of making words in his presence. Somehow they still manage to get a happy ending

Derek Hale--Even in the Wind His Hair Is Perfect by literaryoblivion (1/1 | 2K | Teen)

It’s not the greatest job in the world, but someone’s gotta do it. And Stiles makes the most of it, okay?

Writing captions for the live broadcasts as well as helping run and write the copy for the online news stories can get rather tedious and boring, but Stiles tries his best to keep himself entertained. Slipping in a movie or comic book reference inside a human interest story just to see if someone comments about it, putting up a funny headline to see if someone catches it and puts it up on reddit, you know harmless things that to the casual viewer and reader will go unnoticed but to those that actually pay attention, they might get a kick out of it.

Recently though, he maybe has been… abusing his power.

(There's) no smoke without fire by Ark (1/1 | 6K | Explicit | Podfic by  pricklywhicket)

They kiss for entirely too long. If anyone found them in the woods just then they would be like, dudes, this is excessive.

“Stiles, I was talking about the lasagna” by quackquackcey (1/1 | 2K | Teen)

The time Stiles thought his dad could read minds and ended up confessing his inner most thoughts starring Derek—twice.~ 🐺💝

Couldn't find the words by Tails89 (6/6 | 21K | Teen)

*Complete*

John stands, holding out his hand for Melissa. “I never thought I’d be happy to see my son dating Derek Hale."

“They’re good for each other.” Melissa lets John pull her up onto her feet. “I’m happy for them.”

a.k.a

Five times someone thought Stiles and Derek were dating (plus one time they finally used their words and were!)

all my blossoms by WeAreTheLuckyOnes (1/1 | 7K | Mature)

Stiles has to nudge Derek over as he climbs into bed and under the quilt, but Derek goes easily, rolling onto his side and curving around Stiles's body when he settles. He puts his face into Stiles's throat, nose nudging against Stiles's jaw, arm sliding around Stiles's waist. Stiles is asleep in mere moments, comfortable and warm and safe against Derek's body.

Or the one where Stiles and Derek just get to be happy.

You Always Make A Bloody Mess by Sweetsyren (1/1 | 5K | Explicit)

Stiles is used to hiding his scars.

princecharmingwinks special mention (the found family vibes are so sweet!)

here is the deepest secret nobody knows by owlpostagain (1/1 | 22K | Teen)

“Derek,” Stiles groans. “You have me. You’ve always had me, you absolute moron, how many physically impossible feats of life-saving heroics do I have to perform before you get it?”

See you next time team! Hopefully not as long before the next list. Remember to send all the love and kudos to our fabulous writers (and podficcers!).

[chaifootsteps]

Ahhh I'm so happy that were getting more Stellitz talk on your blog! I was really worried that people wouldn't like them, and just think I ship them out of spite, so it's great hearing that other people like them too! Anyway, here are some random Stellitz hypotheticals because I love them so much :]

Blitz teaches Stella how to cook. Obviously neither of them are very good at it, but they both try their best. However, since they grew up eating very different things, they're proficient in very different recipes. Stella can make things like calamari and lasagna, while Blitz is better at things like enchiladas and chili.

Stella realizes that since everyone at I.M.P. has opened a portal to earth, they're all capable of learning magic, and she begins giving them weekly lessions. She's incredibly happy to get to pass down her ice spells to even more people, and I.M.P. are able to show her that imps and hellhounds are just as capable as royals. The first time Loona is able to create ice cubes, everyone hugs her so hard her back cracks.

After some time of them dating, and reuniting with Fizz, Blitz sits Stella down and explains something important to her. He's not just pansexual, he's polyamorous. Stella is confused at first, but once he makes it clear that he wasn't going to stop dating her, she brightens up and accepts him happily. Blitz ends up dating Fizz, Asmodeus, and Striker alongside Stella, and while she can't quite get on Striker good side, she makes fast friends with Fizz and Ozzy. (And maybe something more with Ozzy? I've thought about making Stella poly too but I can't decide)

One day Stella requests I.M.P. to kill someone for her. When she provides them with angelic weapons, everyone expects the target to be Stolas, but it ends up being Andrealphus. She's very cagey as to why she wants him dead at first, and it's only when she and Blitz are alone that she comes clean; Andrealphus is verbally abusive to her, demeaning her in ways that lead to her lashing out at others while hoping he would one day be proud of her. Blitz completely understands, saying that his relationship with his father was similar, and that he'll always be proud of her. They hug it out, they cry it out, and then they kill Stella's shitty brother.

Anyway! These are just a fraction of my Stellitz thoughts, so please tell me if you want to hear more, because I would love to write even more! Hope you have a great day!

- What-If Anon

Ahh, this is all wonderful! Thank you for lighting this particular flame, and by all means, please feel free to share more!

I especially adore the idea that Stella's good at making lasagna. Lasagna, especially good lasagna, is a labor of love...it takes time and effort to make and you really get back what you put into it. It just flies in the face of this notion that Stella is a stupid, soulless cow who doesn't care about anyone or anything but herself.

[jerzwriter]

A Little Holiday Cheer

Happy Holidays!

@lilyoffandoms had no idea what they were creating when they wrote a tiny drabble about these three sets of loons. Since then, Lily, Dani (@storyofmychoices), and I have expanded on their hijinx, and it just gets more fun with time. I asked the lovely, talented, and all-around amazing @/artbyainna (IG) to create this commemoration not only of the friendship between Ethan, Merida, Bryce, Olivia, Casey & Tobias but, more importantly, the friendship between us! 😊 As always, she MORE than delivered! I hope this brings you a little smile.

Book: Open Heart Pairings: Ethan Ramsey x Merida (@lilyoffandoms), Bryce Lahela x Olivia (@storyofmychoices), and Tobias Carrick x Casey (mine!) Rating: Teen Words: 825 Summary: It all started at Ethan & Merida's place, so it's only fitting that we go back there again!

There was something about this time of year... even the mundane seemed to morph into magic, and tonight's gathering of friends was no exception. While the robust aroma of lasagna competed with the sweet scent of sugar cookies baking in the second oven, neither managed to diffuse the fragrant pine from the Christmas tree. Music served only as a background to the laughter and lively chatter, but while Bryce and Olivia were too engaged in the conversation.. and each other... to notice the music shift from soulful renditions of holiday standards back to melodic strings and woodwinds, Merida didn’t miss a beat. Resplendent in her holiday attire, she halted slicing provolone for the charcuterie board long enough to shoot Ethan a menacing glare. 

“Ethan Jonah Ramsey, so help me God! If you turn Stevie off to put The Nutcracker back on one more time, I will not be responsible for my actions!”

“I’d be careful,” Bryce advised. “She is holding an exceptionally large knife.”

Ethan started to open his mouth, then thought better of it. With a quick flick of the wrist, “That’s What Christmas Means to Me My Love” blared through the air once more.

“What did it?” Olivia teased. “Knowing you were outnumbered, or the large knife?”

Ethan leaned against the counter, popped a piece of chorizo in his mouth, and shrugged. “It’s the season of goodwill. Let's go with that.” His half-smile quickly retreated when Merida slapped his hand.

“There will be no goodwill in this house if you keep sneaking food! You have to wait until all of our guests arrive.”

A sigh tinged with frustration escaped him. “I fail to see why we all need to starve because Carrick is late... again.”

“Technically, he’s not late,” Olivia advised.

“She’s right,” Merida agreed. “It’s only seven-fifty, and dinner starts at eight. They have ten minutes before we can declare them late.”  

Ethan turned to her with astonishment. “But I was there when you told him to be here at seven!”

“Yes,” Merida said matter-of-factly. “I told him that to ensure they’d be here by eight.”

“But since it's Tobias and Casey we're talking about,” Bryce interjected. “You probably should have told them six."

"True," Olivia nodded, biting into a fluffy cheese puff. “Knowing Casey, she’ll want to redo her hair and makeup.”

Ethan raised his eyebrows in disbelief as Merida smiled. “What?” she asked.

“Olivia is eating a cheese puff and not an ounce of chastisement from you... but I sneak a sliver of sausage, and you considered dismemberment!”

“Ethan...Olivia is a guest! Besides, she’s too cute to dismember.”

The doorbell rang, and the friends looked at their phones at 7:58 PM.

“Wow! They’re early!” Bryce exclaimed. “And they say Christmas miracles are a thing of the past!”

“Great,” Merida laughed as she wiped her hands with a dish towel. “That means they probably didn’t get it all out of their systems, and they’ll be horny on main all night.”  

“And that would be different from every other time... how?” Bryce laughed. 

Merida scurried down the hallway, high heels clicking, but her irritated boyfriend beat her to the door, swinging it open to find Tobias planting kisses on a giggling Casey’s neck.

“Do you two ever stop?”

“What?” Tobias protested with a sheepish grin. “We weren’t doing anything. We were just stuck in....”

“TRAFFIC!” The four friends shouted.

“That is what they call it these days,” Olivia winked, all too proud of herself.  "Aren't they?"

“Hey! You can’t blame us,” Casey said, tossing her fuzzy coat over Ethan’s unextended arm. “Boston is just filled with traffic!”

“Mmmhmmm,” Merida greeted her friend with a warm embrace. “And you two are always without GPS.”

“That’s right,” Casey smiled. “We prefer to go by... feel.”

“Can we send them home now?” Ethan groaned.

But Merida and Casey were already halfway down the hall, linked arm-in-arm and giggling like schoolgirls. Ethan jumped when Tobias’s hand landed on his shoulder with a thud.

“You were saying, buddy?”

Running a hand down his face, Ethan surrendered. “Olivia is right. I’m outnumbered.”

Moments later, the couples were assembled around the kitchen table, with wine generously poured. Ethan happily partook in cured meats as he endured one too many jokes about salami from his best-freinemy.

“Tobias, I swear, you never escaped adolescence.”

“Was that something we were supposed to escape?”

Bryce raised his glass with a smile. “Only during working hours!”

“And these are not working hours,” Merida gleefully stated. “A toast... to friends, who have become family.”

“And by family, she means you’re inescapable!” Ethan grinned.

“Just like adolescence,” Casey beamed, clinking her glass with the others.

Merida set her eyes on Ethan’s, a radiant smile on her lips. “And would you have it any other way?”

Wrapping his arm around her waist he pulled her close. "No," he beamed. "Despite each of you, save Olivia, causing me more grey hairs by the moment... I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Several drinks in, you know they started teasing Tobias about his "Ho-Ho-Ho" sweater. Everyone except Olivia, who wasn't sure what they meant until Bryce whispered it in her ear. Merida and Casey quickly agreed to corrupt the poor dear much more before their New Year's Eve gathering!

Happy Holidays! :)

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanart @openheartfanfics

@choicesholidays "I'm Thankful for You"

@choicesdecember2023 Christmas

Tagging others separately.

[nerdieforpedro]

Chucho’s Magic Pickles

A Pickled Peña Fic

Javier Peña x Luna (plus size OFC)

Fanfiction 18+

Javier Pena Masterlist / Main Masterlist / A03 link

Word Count: approx 3.2k

Warnings: Chucho is his own warning (we kinda see where Javi gets it from), food (besides the pickles - this is me people), father/son time, overuse of pickles, angst, cursing, fluff

Summary: Javier Peña had something that he wanted to discuss with Luna. His father’s been mentioning it every chance he gets. Chucho sings of the wonders he has found with his jar of gherkins.

Notes: I actually had a difficult time coming up with an idea for this fic because I haven’t written much for Javi P. I enjoyed giving him a bit of comedy because my other fics with him were angsty. Hopefully I can write some more fics for him this year. 😎 I dabbled in Canva for the graphic and the banner. 💚

Luna knew several things:

Her coworker Anna needed to come back to work to pick up her part of this project.

Her boyfriend’s father was the cutest old man who seemed to call every woman at the clinic he went to “Bonita (pretty)” and reserved “Hermosa (gorgeous)” for the older receptionist, Maria, who she may or may not have seen at his house when she dropped off food to him on occasion.

She wasn’t sure if she should tell her boyfriend about this, but she did encourage Chucho to talk to his son about it.

She’s been with her boyfriend for two years and she’s very happy with that. She doesn’t want anything to change. It’s the happiest she’s been in years.

Chucho sat on the couch, patting his thigh. He’d just come in from brushing the horses when he heard a truck pull up. It belonged to his only child Javier. He was happy to see him, they agreed to have lunch twice a week now he was home from Columbia and retired from the DEA. There were many things said about his son, some of which he’d heard from a few of his lady friends. They said that he was a coward for running away from his then fiance at the time, all the way to Columbia. They also said that his son had quite a way with women, not unlike Chucho did back before he met his dear late wife. He took all these with a grain of salt, especially when he finally returned to the United States.

He worried for his son, who he thought may remain unmoored while back in Loredo. It turns out, it was for naught as Javier worked with the sheriff’s department. He had responded to a sighting of a fugitive which didn’t pan out, it was an overeager young cop who thought they saw someone on the most wanted list but it was really old man Loggins who hadn’t been by the barbershop in two months due to a fishing trip and not wanting to leave his house.

As Javier walked up the steps to his father’s porch, he carried some lasagna that he was handed in town to deliver to his father from one of Chucho’s lady friends Ms. Lucia. It reminded him of when he met Luna, his girlfriend, she had been eating the same meal that day.

Two years prior…

It was a blistering hot day in Loredo, temperatures were over one-hundred degrees in the direct sun and even in the shade, they hovered around ninety-five degrees. Despite Javier forgoing his tan jacket to match the tan pants and shirt that went with his uniform, he still had large wet spots under his arms and around his neck. He stopped in Ms. Lucia’s restaurant hoping she’d take pity on him and not charge him for some iced tea. He wouldn’t be getting any whiskey until after he was off duty. His drinking had significantly cut down due to his hours, but his smoking not so much. Thankfully, Ms. Lucia gave him the water and iced tea in exchange for saying hello to his father for her. His father was popular with the older women despite spending most of his time on his range with the animals. The restaurant was fairly full for the lunchtime crowd and there weren’t really any open seats, Ms. Lucia walked Peña over to a table and sat him down across from a woman in a baby blue sundress.

He saw a woman who had a sheen to her skin from the heat despite the air conditioning. It was likely from the number of people in the restaurant, talking, eating, laughing and the like. She had a head full of hair and a mouth full of pasta when she looked up after hearing something across the table he assumed and covered her mouth as she was confronted with a grinning Javier sipping some cold ice water, feeling a few drops dribble down his chin and chest. It felt refreshing in this sweltering heat. The woman swallowed her food, her wide eyes trying to figure out who he was. He didn’t recognize her so she might be a transplant, just moved back or someone who came after he left. She cleared her throat and sipped some of her own water that some of the ice had melted clearly.

“Sorry about that. I didn't expect Ms. Lucia would sit someone at my table. I thought she’d give me a warning at least.” She smiled softly, clearly a little embarrassed but he found it endearing that and the small splotch of tomato sauce that was on the corner of her mouth. Peña grabbed a paper napkin from the dispenser in the middle of the table and tapped her cheek, wiping inward toward where the sauce was. He surprised himself by the action, he’d meant to hand it to her and point it out, but his hand moved on its own. What surprised him more is that she didn’t move, she just let him wipe her cheek, closing her eyes for a moment until he pulled back.

“Did you get it all?”

“Yes I did. Are you typically a messy eater?”

A soft chuckle rolled from Javier as he sat back, setting the napkin on the table. The woman folded her hands and sat a bit straighter, exposing that her sundress was form fitting on the top, hugging her chest, while it looked like the bottom flowed out from under her bust, it had short sleeves that stopped short of her elbows and were similarly stained as his shirt was.

“I can be at times. The lasagna here is delicious. Thanks for wiping that for me.” He saw her move a non-existent piece of hair behind her ear, probably a nervous habit. “I haven’t seen you here before? Do you know Ms. Lucia?” She asked, drawing him back from watching her movements.

“Yes, I knew her from when I was little and she’s aquanitted with my father.” A sentence Javier never imagined saying, he’d found that he’s said it a times about several women his father knew. He found himself wondering if this is how people thought of him, in Columbia and when he was last in Loredo. Her brows furrowed, did she know his father too? Normally Chucho went for age appropriate women, this would be a first that his father had a lady friend in his age group.

“Is your father Mr. Chucho? I see him sometimes at the market a few times a month. I remember him because he always had his large white hat on and a big smile. You guys have the same mustache.” A loud giggle made her body bounce. Javier shook his head and smiled, but was still unsure if he liked being compared to his father or not.

He nodded adding, “I don’t know about the mustache though. Mine still has color.” Pena flashed a toothy smile as he watched her face soften after her laugh. “What’s your name cariño (dear)?” Javier took a few more swallows of his water before setting the empty glass down, licking the last of the water off his lips. He watched as she tilted her head, grinning.

“You haven’t told me yours yet you know, but because I’m nice and you did see me with a mouthful of pasta, I will answer. My name’s Luna, Luna Stevens. Given who your father is, I assume your last name is Peña?” She quipped and his eyebrow raised, she was a smart one, he liked that. He reached across the table again and held her hand.

“My name is Javier Peña. You come here often, Mrs. Stevens?” He asked, eliciting another laugh with his cheesy joke. She squeezed his hand when she answered.

“I do and it’s Ms. Stevens. Never been married, no children. You?”

“Almost was once, but never did. No children either.”

After establishing some very basic facts about each other, it took about an hour before Peña’s partner came looking for him and said they had to head back to the office. Javier frowned but duty called. He stood and so did Luna, she walked him to the door, stating that she also had to get back to work, she’d been gone for too long. Thankfully, it wasn’t so busy today so she’d be able to catch up. Before Peña could ask, she told him that it could be made up to her with a date and handed him her phone number and name on a napkin. She told him to keep it safe and Javier did. He stuck it in his front chest pocket so no sweat would get on it and called the number that night. They ended up talking for a few more hours and set up a date later that week.

Back on Chucho’s porch…

“Hey old man! I’m here. You alright in there?” Javier walked into his father’s home, heading to the kitchen first to put the dish in the fridge and then went to the living room. He watched as his father had his hand in a jar of pickles, removing one and gave it a loud crunch.

“Hey hijo (son)! In here!” Chucho waved with his free hand and continued to chew the pickle before swallowing it and washing it down with some whiskey.

“You can’t be drinking that. It’s the middle of the day and didn’t the doctor tell you to back off a bit?” Javier chides him and takes the glass, downing the remainder of it. Chucho frowns.

“I’m an old man. Leave me be. It cleans out the pipes. Plus the pickles will wash it out too. Want one?” He offered and Javier declined, going back into the kitchen and pouring two glasses of water. He set one next to his father and sat in the chair across from him.

“This is your lunch, these pickles? I bought lasagna from Ms. Lucia, now you’re not gonna eat it.”

“I’ll still have room for the food. Don’t worry hijo. Plus I need to eat just a few more just to be ready for tonight. You should consider some of these. Maybe then I’ll see you married with children before I meet your mother again.” Chucho finished his current pickle and started another one pointing it at his son, “I know you’ll tell me no. But don’t tell me you haven’t thought about moving Luna into your house and making an honest woman out of her. Neither of you are spring chickens and these pickles have been better than those little blue pills they show on TV. Now I have two things I want from you hijo for the upcoming year: the first is to at least ask Luna to move in with you and second, is to Maria on a small road trip.”

Javier slumps back in the chair and covers his face, he is not having this conversation with father and he cannot take this seriously while he is eating pickles.

“Pop, I’m gonna go. You enjoy your pickles and I’ll be back later this week when you don’t have your hand in that jar, okay?” He stood up and left, sitting in his truck for a bit before driving back home. Luna was supposed to be stopping by tonight for dinner and a movie so he was going to straighten up the house and make some tamales and rice.

He would like to talk about what they’re future was going to look like. Had he still been in Columbia he’d be fine with having a life separate from the woman he was seeing. That was actually necessary both there and when dealing with the Cali cartel. Now he’s at peace, sort of, he was out of the DEA and now just keeping track of weird shit that happened with cows, horses and highways. It was boring, but a good boring that he welcomed along with something he never thought he’d have, a steady girlfriend and at this point, he felt she was a partner. Not in the same way Steve had been but someone who he could rely on, like when he got sick with whatever flu that was, she took a few days off to stay with him and take care of him. Maybe he pouted a little extra and got her to feed him a bit but he was sick and not feeling well and why can’t he be babied a little? Point is, Luna did it with only minimal teasing and even gave him a back massage too.

Luna arrived at Javier's house at seven on the dot. He promised her dinner, a movie and knowing her Javi, they may make it to the bedroom or not. She brought some wine and chocolate cake that she had made the day before when she’d gotten home earlier. Javier wasn’t really one for sweets, but she could convince him of some red wine and cake after dinner. She knocked on the door and heard him yell that he was coming. Javier wore a light blue polo shirt with a pair of dark wash jeans. He didn’t have any socks on and she frowned, he’d just gotten over a cold not too long ago.

“Javier, where are your socks?” Luna asked as he took both bags that she had been carrying, while she held onto her purse. She was wearing a purple sundress that had a deep V in the front and was complemented by her red lipstick and black ballet flats. Luna reached in her purse and pulled out a small bag when she had a small pair of slippers. She made a point to put them on in the foyer so Javier would see.

“Bebita (baby girl) relax. I’ll go put something on my feet in a few. Let me take the wine and dessert out, then I’ll go set your overnight bag in the room.” He gave her a small kiss on her cheek, followed by one on her neck, purposely rubbing his mustache against her skin. That earned him a giggle from her and removed her frown. She entered the kitchen and removed the cake, wine and a gift she had gotten from Chucho earlier in the week. The elder had told her that his son loves them so she figured she would bring them over and Javi would eat them later. They don’t quite go with the tamales they were going to eat tonight.

Javier returned to the kitchen and saw an abomination of his counter, Luna was dishing up their plates and turned to her boyfriend confused by the look of anger on his face. “Javi? Javier? What’s wrong? I normally dish up the plates.” Shaking his head, he stomped over and picked up the jar, shaking it.

“This! These damn things! Why are they here? Did you bring them?” Peña screamed and Luna was taken aback, never in their two years together had this happened. Sure she’s seen him pissed but never yelling. Setting down the plates, she crossed her arms and tilted her head.

“Javier Peña. Why are you yelling at me right now? Are you really yelling at me about pickles?” She questioned, confused as to why pickles of all things would set him off.

For the last few weeks, Chucho has been preaching to Javier about the merits and blessing of pickles both for health and in the bedroom. He needed no help in either place he assured him, but then he would talk about marriage and for Javi not be scared of it. It’s a good thing, obviously Luna is not Lorraine. She’s not trying to trick you into anything. Hell, he’d never heard the woman say the words marriage, bride, wedding or engagement. On the same token, because it’s never been talked about, it also felt like he could never bring it up.

“I just need these out of my house Luna. I can’t look at them.” He set the jar down as they both looked at it. “Lo siento mi amor (I’m sorry my love). My father keeps talking about what his magical pickles can do for him and mar-marinating them.” Javier embraced Luna and she wrapped her arms around his back, she took a step back to look at him.

“Your father only marriantes meat Javier. What else does Chucho speak to you about? What aren’t you telling me Javi?” She asked, knowing him well enough that when he sucks on his bottom lip like that, he’s holding back something. Javier sighed and released her, starting to pace with his hands behind his head.

“You stand there and accuse me, but where were you at the time?” He fired back.

“That makes no sense, you have lunch with your father twice a week, while I’m at work. How would I be-”

“I mean after work, before work and on weekends. You’re not here. You’re at your apartment and he might not keep bugging me about marriage and kids if you were here with me in my house. We’re going to go into another year without talking about it.” Javier has let it all out, though angrily instead of calm and over dinner like he planned. Fucking pickles. He snuck a glance at them before looking back at a bewildered Luna.

“So, your father, bugging you about getting married and having children, is my fault because I haven’t moved in with you? Javier, I am a woman in her late thirties living in Texas! You don’t think I hear that weekly and sometimes daily, especially this time of year!” Luna yelled back, Javier took a few steps to the left, placing the kitchen island between him and his girlfriend. She pressed her palms into the island and exhaled. “What do you want Javi? Do you want to marry me? Do you even want children? We’ve never talked about this. I’d been nervous to bring it up because I don’t really care either way.” Luna’s voice softened, “I’m just happy to be with you Javier. Do we need to do all those other things?”

Peña cleared his throat and walked over to Luna, kissing her forehead and took her hands in his, “Mi amor, I’m so sorry. I love you too and I don’t need anything else. Never really thought about having them to be honest. I do know I would like to wake up to you without seeing that damn overnight bag in the corner of the bedroom.” The pair raised their hands together and laughed again, making their way back over to the food, dishing it up and sitting down at the table. After finishing dinner, they popped open the wine and cut up a few slices of cake. Luna brought over the jar of pickles to watch ‘The Last Seduction’ Javier squinted his eyes at the jar as she set it on the coffee table.

“I figured since it made us have a serious conversation, sort of. The pickles could join. Maybe there’s something to what Chucho says.” Luna chuckled as she curls up in Javi’s arms and he leans his head back on the couch.

“You, my father and these damn pickles. As soon as you doze off during this movie, I’m tossing them. Don’t accept any more pickles from Pop. he needs to keep them over on his ranch.” Taking a sip of the wine, Javier started the move and kissed Luna’s shoulder.

He cut his eyes at the pickles again - fucking magic pickles. Javier would never tell his father that the old man may have been onto something.

Admirers of Javier’s pouty lips 👄 :

@fhatbhabie @morallyinept @pedritapascal @pascalsanctuary @nissaimmortal @grogusmum @tinytinymenace @beefrobeefcal @goodwithcheese @megamindsecretlair @movievillainess721 @pedrodascal @theywhowriteandknowthings @trulybetty @perotovar @joelslegalwhre @josephquinnswhore @mandoisapunk @secretelephanttattoo @for-a-longlongtime @legendary-pink-dot @sin-djarin @maggiemayhemnj @seratuyo @sp00kymulderr @intoanotherworld23 @linzels-blog @joelmillers-whore @guelyury @laurfilijames @missladym1981 @pamasaur @alltheglitterandtheroar @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @rhoorl @yorksgirl @maggiemayhemnj @saturn-rings-writes @gwendibleywrites @angelofsmalldeath-codeine @undercoverpena @musings-of-a-rose @soft-persephone @katw474 @javierpena-inatacvest @mysterious-moonstruck-musings @magpiepills @handspunyarns @i-own-loki @papipascaaaal

[life-winners-liveblog]

JUST RYN THEN IDK WE HAVE RSN OUT OF OPTIONS. Either that or you have to explain to Dl Jimmy what you two are..doing when hooking up. Yikes

LimL!Jimmy: Well this was nice but I think we should go now bye- *grabs Martyn and starts running*

DL!Tango: Where are you going?!? Come back-

LimL!Jimmy: See you at the next duskbringer meeting!

...

LL!Martyn: He is running after us...

LimL!Jimmy: But he's a faster runner then me!

LL!Martyn: Then find a way to slow him down.

LimL!Jimmy: Like what?

LL!Martyn: Like this. Trow it at them.

*LimL!Jimmy grabs the plushie at Tango, Tango stops to grab it in confusion, Double Life Jimmy stops too.*

DL!Tango: Where did you even get this?!?

~~~~

LL!Martyn: They are still chasing... we are going to lose our advantage soon enough. We need something else-

*Martyn and LimL!Jimmy duck, the lasagna continues It's flight towards the ranchers and hits DL!Jimmy*

DL!Jimmy: Ack!

DL!Tango: Jimmy?!! Are you ok?

DL!Jimmy: I'm fine, just didn't expect lasagna to hit my face...it's very good though!

DL!Tango: Well now I'm hungry.

DL!Jimmy: Well i'm all covered in lasagna now I do need someone to clean me up.

DL!Tango: oh?

~~~~~

LimL!Jimmy: Ok they stopped...now they are doing...uh... I don't think I want to know...we can rest too-

LL!Martyn: They can still see us they are going to reach us and I'm not going to start running again.

LimL!Jimmy: We can't just magically blind them Martyn-

LL!Martyn: You were saying?

LimL!Jimmy: Let's just go to the bad boys HQ and we'll be fine.

LL!Martyn: It's going to be horrible, but sure.

[inawickedlittletown]

Dragon Chosen (BuckTommy fic) - 5/6

Summary:

In a world where dragons exist and where they pick their riders, Buck doesn't expect his perfectly normal Tuesday to include a dragon and his rider, Tommy, showing up to ask for his help with an injured dragon…a dragon that has picked Buck as his rider. Buck doesn't know who captivates him more his new dragon or Tommy.

Rating: M

Words: 3.8k

Ao3

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

-

Chapter Five

“They don’t want us to do anything,” Eddie said. “They’re going to take care of finding her. They asked that I put up some barriers around your property that can alert you if she shows up again.” 

Tommy should have expected that. The Dragon Guild was not to be trifled with. They would find her and take care of her as the threat that she was to young dragons. If she was a witch from a coven, then her coven would get involved too. Tommy had no doubt that they would take care of it. 

“They didn’t seem too worried,” Eddie added, looking towards Evan. 

“Do you know what would have happened if she came while Cyra and I were here?” Tommy asked. 

Eddie shook his head. Evan even looked like he wasn’t entirely sure of the answer. 

“She would be ashes,” Tommy said. 

In his mind, Cyra agreed. 

“Oh,” Eddie said. “She’s powerful, though, I’m sure she prepared for that.” 

Tommy nodded. “The point is the guild knows Cyra can take care of herself. Gwyn is young, but he is still a dragon and now that he’s bonded he isn’t as vulnerable as the last time she attacked.” 

Even if the witch had been wearing protection runes or enchantments, Tommy knew she wouldn’t have gotten away. It was interesting, in a way, that she had shown up at all. It could be coincidence, but Tommy doubted it. Had she known that he and Cyra weren’t there? 

“I just…I just wish we knew why she was after all that power,” Evan said. 

“Does it matter? She hurt Gwyn and came after him again,” Tommy said. 

You know who he is, Cyra said in his mind. He’s compassionate and curious.

And he had a relationship with her

Cyra sent her amusement. Jealousy doesn’t look cute even on you.

“Probably nothing good,” Eddie said. “Attaining power like that taints it and nothing good could ever come of it. From how dark her leftover magic felt, I wonder if she hadn’t already gone something similar to get that power.” 

It left a bad taste in Tommy’s mouth to think that this witch had been out there gaining power for herself by unnatural means. He hoped that her power wasn’t a result of another young dragon’s death or a forced bond. 

By the time that Eddie and Chris left, Tommy felt exhausted. Although Eddie had said yes to the guild about putting up barriers, he’d still needed help. So, while Evan went inside to cook them all food, he, Eddie, and Cyra went to the perimeters of the property. 

“Why aren’t you a practicing witch?” Tommy asked. “I mean, you’re powerful as far as I can tell.” 

“I wasn’t always,” Eddie admitted. “I grew up in Texas and my parents are leaders of the coven. My dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps but I was never powerful enough for them and when some things happened I decided to come out here with Chris instead.” 

“And he’s not a witch?” Tommy asked. 

Eddie didn’t respond for a while, concentrating on the barrier and the connection it needed to have to Tommy. Cyra for her part, bent her head to touch Eddie’s shoulder and Tommy felt the way that she shared some of her own magic to bolster Eddie. 

“He could be,” Eddie said. “His mother was human. My parents wanted to start teaching him, but it’s not innate for him. I can barely feel any magic in him and I don’t want him to be disappointed, but sometimes he does do some accidental things. I guess I’m waiting to see if his magic grows with him or not.” 

After they were done, they ate the lasagna that Evan had made. It was nice to have Eddie and Chris around and Tommy couldn’t wait to have them over again especially since Chris seemed so eager to see Cyra and Gwyn again. 

“Are you as tired as I am?” Tommy asked Evan. 

Evan shook his head. “You’re definitely more tired, but I don’t want to do anything for the rest of the day either.” 

Despite that, Evan didn’t join him in the living room after they finished cleaning the kitchen. Instead, Tommy heard him head outside. Curious, he followed. 

Gwyn and Cyra were out on the grass. Cyra’s massive body curled up around the smaller dragon. She was asleep, but Gwyn was not. Tommy watched from the house as Evan approached his dragon. He didn’t spend too long with him before he turned and headed back. 

“Oh,” Evan said when he saw him. “I just wanted to check with him again. He’s still shaken by everything.” 

“Who could blame him,” Tommy said. 

“Yeah. I’m a little shaken too,” Evan admitted. 

Tommy grabbed his hand, pulling him closer. 

“I always knew she wasn’t a good person,” Evan said. “Taylor, I mean. When I first met her I was in a bad place and then the second time she was in a bad place and we kinda…I guess it was more about having someone else there but fundamentally we disagreed on everything. Then Lucy kissed me and I didn’t stop it or tell Taylor and she never told me she was a witch. I guess we never communicated well. Or at all.” 

Tommy wrapped his arms around Evan and he felt Evan lean into him and wrap his own arms around him. 

“We’ve all made bad decisions,” Tommy offered. 

“Yeah,” Evan said with a hum. “I suppose so.” 

“Good ones too,” Tommy said. 

“Yeah?” 

“Evan, I have many regrets, but you aren’t one. Inviting you to stay here, getting to know you, having you in my bed, it’s been kinda amazing.”

Evan pulled back enough so that he could look at Tommy and Tommy was surprised to see the awe in his face, as if he somehow hadn’t expected for Tommy to feel that way. There was vulnerability there that was almost a bit shocking with how forward Evan had been with him, but Tommy could understand that. 

“I don’t want it to end,” Tommy admitted. “We haven’t talked about it, but I want this — us — to mean something.” 

Evan’s smile grew and he leaned forward, pulling Tommy into a kiss that was sweet and soft and that ended as quick as it started. 

“It does mean something,” Evan said. “Maybe even everything.” 

—

The Dragon Guild couldn’t find Taylor. A whole three weeks after she had shown up searching for Gwyn and they had nothing. Apparently Taylor had abandoned her job, not been at her apartment in months, and she didn’t seem to actually have any friends. Evan had confirmed her lack of friends and even how the witch rarely spoke about her family. 

“They think her name is not actually Taylor Kelly,” Tommy told him. 

“Really,” Evan said. “I guess that tracks.” 

Tommy bumped his shoulder. “We’re not going to worry about it unless she shows up here again.” 

He didn’t add that the guild was very worried about younger dragons and Taylor possibly switching her attempts at finding another young dragon. Although the dragon population had dropped some, there were still quite a few dragons. Dragons and their riders were taking turns guarding the spaces where young dragons resided. Tommy was the only one not going out there because they preferred he stayed close to Gwyn though there had been talk of maybe persuading a couple of the dragons to go and stay with them as well. Tommy was open to the idea. 

He and Evan walked out to where Gwyn and Cyra could be found right on the grass. Gwyn was stretching his wings out. Cyra was splayed out next to him almost lazily. She looked up when he and Evan approached and turned so she was still low to the ground, but ready to stand. 

He’s ready

Wouldn’t stop him if he wasn’t. 

You’re not wrong.

Gwyn dropped his wings down at their approach and he immediately turned to Evan. 

“Come on,” Tommy said, grabbing Evan’s hand. 

Evan got onto Cyra first and Tommy joined him. Evan’s arms came around him at once and he felt Evan nosing into his neck and hair before he dropped a kiss to Tommy’s shoulder. 

Gwyn pushed off first, wings beating fast as he got himself into the air. Cyra followed a moment later. Tommy could feel Gwyn’s joy even if not directly. Evan laughed against him. 

“He feels so happy,” he said. 

“Dragons are supposed to be in the air,” Tommy reminded him. 

Gwyn flew upwards. Cyra kept herself a bit below him and for a while they were all just up in the air without any real direction. Gwyn seemed intent on just doing anything and everything he could in the sky. He did twists and dropped and went back up. He dove down and lifted up at the last moment. 

“I love seeing him like that,” Evan said against Tommy’s ear. 

“Me too,” Tommy said. “And just wait until you can be on his back.” 

Evan let out a nervous sigh. “Is it bad how nervous that makes me?” 

“In what way?” 

“I guess here on Cyra I’m with you. I can’t imagine doing it on my own.” 

Tommy found Evan’s hand on his stomach. “You’ll do just fine when the time comes. Don’t worry.” 

Evan relaxed against him. Gwyn was flying back towards the house when Tommy felt the jolt from the barrier. Taylor was back. 

“Evan, she’s here.” 

Bypassing Evan entirely, he shouted to Gwyn. Don’t go down. 

Cyra snarled and Tommy felt her annoyance and how she was reigning in her anger. 

“What do we do?” Evan asked. 

Cyra did her part by reaching out to see if any other dragons were nearby — they weren’t. Tommy fumbled for his phone tucked into a pocket that was too tight specifically to keep his phone from flying out while in the air. If the witch hadn’t seen them yet, she would soon. 

Tommy finally got his phone out. He made the call. No one answered. He tried again. No answer again. He left a message. 

“No luck?” Evan asked. 

“No,” Tommy said and he felt Evan reaching for his own phone. 

“Eddie,” he heard Evan say. “She’s here. We can’t get ahold of the guild.” 

The call didn’t last long. 

“What did he say?” 

“Bobby is contacting dispatch,” Evan said. “And they’re coming our way.” 

It could have been easy for them to just leave even if he wasn’t sure what Eddie and the 118 might be able to do. Eddie wasn’t powerful enough of his own, but if they had another witch maybe. 

The part of him that wanted to protect Evan and Gwyn and Cyra didn’t want to go confront her. He wanted to fly away and come back once they knew she was gone. He couldn’t do that, though. Not when she was a danger to more dragons. There were so few already and they couldn’t afford to lose any more. 

We can take her.

I know. Don’t burn her to a crisp unless necessary. 

Cyra sent back her amusement and agreement. 

—

He could feel Gwyn’s worry. His fear. It was such a switch from the excitement that he’d been feeling from his dragon and yet he understood it. He hadn’t expected for Taylor to return, though at least this meant she hadn’t left California. Buck didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. 

“I guess it’s up to us,” Tommy said. 

Cyra began her descent and Gwyn followed close behind. Buck was shocked when Cyra actually opened her mouth and shot out fire into the air. It was more of a warning than anything else. Looking down was dizzying with how fast they were moving, but he thought that he actually saw the distinctive red hair. The closer they got, the easier it was to see her and when Cyra touched down, Buck could even hear her. Cyra made a point of flapping her wings in Taylor’s direction. 

Taylor almost toppled back. She seemed to be mouthing something. A spell, Buck thought. Buck couldn’t worry about that. Gwyn had landed and he rushed forward, wings out and roaring. Fire shot out going right towards Taylor. Despite how direct it was, the fire just went around her. 

Taylor took a few steps back. She had to know that she wouldn’t hold her own against two dragons even if one of them wasn’t fully grown. Buck did see a problem in that Taylor was rather close to the house and it was in danger of catching fire if Cyra’s fire went too close to it. 

“I think maybe I should talk to her,” Buck said. 

“What?” Tommy asked. “No, that’s insane.” 

“What’s insane is thinking we can get through this without your whole house going up in flames and Taylor getting away. It’ll take them at least ten more minutes to get here. We have to stall. She won’t be expecting to see me.” 

Buck didn’t like it and Tommy didn’t have to either. Tommy actually grabbed onto Buck’s hand before he could let go and it wasn’t, as he expected, as some kind of reassurance, as much as because he placed a ring on the middle finger of Buck’s left hand. It fit a little loose, but Buck could feel the power in the ring.

“What—”

“It’s protection,” Tommy said. “I don’t like this, but if you must then you’ll wear that.” 

Buck had never seen the ring before, he realized, couldn’t remember ever seeing Tommy wear it. It had to have something to it that kept it hidden. Sure enough when he looked at his hand, he could feel it on his hand, but he couldn’t actually see it. Cyra didn’t lower herself for him, but that didn’t matter because she gave him a way down her back. 

Be careful, little one Cyra said. Don’t do anything stupid.

Evan, what are you doing? Don’t…don’t go Gwyn said it complete with panic that nearly made Buck want to stop and turn and go to Gwyn. He couldn’t.

I’ll be okay. Trust me, Gwyn.

Fine. I don’t like it, though.

I know.

He stepped around Cyra, but kept close to her. Taylor didn’t even notice him, not at first. She looked bad. She’d always been thin, but she looked like she’d gotten even thinner. Her face was gaunt, cheeks sunken in. Her eyes looked wild too. He could feel her magic and it felt wrong, corrupted. 

“Buck,” she said and even her voice sounded rough. 

“Taylor,” he said and then didn’t know what else to say, so he kind of stared at her. 

“What are you doing here?” she asked and she seemed to have a hard time looking away from Cyra. 

“I should be asking you that,” Buck said, “seeing as you’re trespassing and these dragons aren’t taking that very well.” 

Taylor’s eyes flitted to Cyra and then Gwyn and she took a nervous step back. “I’m — I was—”

“And you didn’t tell me you were a witch,” Buck said and he took a step towards her. “What’s going on, Taylor?”

“You wouldn’t understand,” she said, snappish. 

Buck could feel Gwyn’s worry, but he couldn’t actually focus on that. 

“What I do understand,” he said, eyeing Taylor, “is that you tried to force a bond with a young unbonded dragon. What I don’t understand is why. He almost died, Taylor.”

Taylor inhaled a breath. “Buck, you…what are you doing here? You can’t be here.” 

She looked like a cornered mouse and Cyra looking down at her was the cat. He almost felt pity for her, until he remembered that his dragon had been hurt by her and that Taylor had come here for the second time searching for Gwyn. 

“No, what are you after here? The dragon? He’s bonded now, you can’t have him. You can’t have any dragon that hasn’t chosen you.” 

Taylor looked like she was seconds away from attacking him. She looked angry and Buck could feel the way that that anger actually fueled her magic. Something stopped her and she began to laugh. 

“You,” she said, “you’re a dragon rider.” 

Buck didn’t deny it. 

Taylor rushed towards him. Buck stepped back and she stopped. “Help me,” she said. “You and your dragon. You can help me.” She looked towards Cyra and then Buck with something akin to expectation. 

“Help you,” Buck said. “I don’t think so.” 

Her face hardened. She looked crazed and Buck knew enough to know that if someone was that desperate they really had nothing left to lose. Suddenly, he didn’t know if this was Taylor just trying to get power for herself. Maybe it was bigger than her, but that didn’t matter when she was the one that had attacked Gwyn. She was selfish and self-serving and Buck had always known that, but he was seeing a different side to that. 

They’re almost here, Gwyn said. 

“Wrong answer,” Taylor said and the next thing Buck knew was the feel of her magic and how it stretched out towards him. 

The ring on his hand began to heat up. It grew so hot that Buck thought it was actually burning into her finger. He heard Gwyn say his name and the sound of sirens. Fire flew right over his head, he felt the heat and heard the way that Cyra roared. Taylor cried out. The ring was hot until it wasn’t, going from hot to cold in seconds. Buck was pushed backwards and he hit something solid. Someone was yelling his name, he thought it was Tommy. 

—

Tommy was tense the whole time Evan was talking to the witch. He could hear them and didn’t know that he appreciated Evan’s stalling tactics. Cyra was keeping Gwyn in line, but just barely. When she actually pointed out rightly that Evan was a dragon rider, Tommy knew that things could only go badly. He couldn’t wait for Eddie to come and he couldn’t expect for Eddie to be enough to make any kind of difference. 

Can you hear the 118?

I think so. What do you want to do? 

He wanted to get down there and grab Evan and put him back on Cyra and fly him away. It was not an option. Obviously. 

Tommy could feel it, the moment that she shot a spell at Evan. The ring did its work, keeping Evan from harm. It did throw him back right into Cyra. Before he could even think about it, Tommy was dropping down from Cyra’s back.

“Evan!” he cried out. 

 Gwyn was shooting fire at the witch and while the first few bursts didn’t hit, the last one did and she dropped to the ground, spelling the fire away. Gwyn didn’t wait, going over Evan right to the witch and literally pinning her to the ground. 

Don’t roast her, Cyra said to Gwyn, connecting the three of them. 

We need her alive, Gwyn. She’ll face what’s coming to her.

I want to tear her head from her body and charr her remains, Gwyn said back. 

I don’t disagree with you, but we need her alive. We need answers and she needs to pay for what she’s done. Cyra’s voice was steady, but Tommy could hear the protectiveness in it and the way that she fought her very nature. 

Tommy made it to Evan’s side. He’d fallen right against Cyra’s legs. She’d cushioned his fall as best as she could but between being thrown and the effects of the ring, it wasn’t surprising he was passed out. Tommy could see that he was breathing and he was sure that he was fine, because if he wasn’t Gwyn would have torn the witch apart. His restraint was admirable. 

Tommy still pressed his fingers to Evan’s neck and he lowered him onto his back. 

“Evan, can you hear me?” 

He touched Evan’s face and then grabbed his hand. The ring was glowing a little. The spell had worked. He couldn’t think of what might have happened if he didn’t put the ring on Evan. 

Gwyn snarled. Tommy heard the witch make a whimpering noise and then Gwyn snorted, a puff of smoke hit the witch and she should be glad it was that and not flames. 

The sound of the sirens distracted him from Evan and then he heard the familiar voices of Hen, Chim, Eddie, and Bobby among others. Tommy was reluctant to leave Evan, but he did when Hen’s hand landed on his shoulder. 

“What happened?” she asked. 

“Spell was cast at him, he was wearing a protective charm. Knocked him into Cyra, but he’s breathing. Pulse is steady.” 

He could see her running his own checks and he was too focused on that to see what else was happening. Eddie and a younger guy he’d never met were standing by Gwyn looking down at the witch. Tommy saw Bobby approach them. He was torn between going to them or staying with Evan. 

Eddie calling his name made him reluctantly walk in their direction. Hen gave him a reassuring smile. 

Taylor Kelly was under one of Gwyn’s legs, his talons pointed at her chest. Gwyn was reluctant to step back and Tommy didn’t blame him. The witch seemed to be holding herself completely still other than her eyes which flitted from the dragon and then to Eddie. 

“What happened?” Eddie asked. 

“Evan decided to talk to her. She tried to use a spell on him and when Evan was thrown back Gwyn burst through her protective barriers with fire and then jumped on her.” 

Tommy reached out and placed a hand on Gwyn’s neck, rubbing up and down. Gwyn leaned into it, but he never looked away from Taylor. 

“We’ll need to seal her magic,” the guy Tommy didn’t know said. “It’s wild. Dark.”

“Tainted,” Eddie said. “I know.” 

Eddie turned to Tommy, then. “The guild did finally pick up. It’s a busy day, apparently, though they didn’t tell me why seeing as I’m not a rider.”

“Of course,” Tommy said. “Can you and—”

“Ravi,” Eddie said.

Ravi was currently crouched down, hands on the ground next to the witch.  

“Can you and Ravi do this on your own?” 

Eddie nodded.

Meanwhile, Evan was being put on a stretcher. He was still passed out, but his chest rose and fell. 

“He’s fine,” Hen said. 

“Magically exhausted,” Chim said. “So he’ll sleep for a while. A few hours, but it could be more.” 

Tommy reached out for Evan, hands landing on his left arm. He was warm and he was breathing and his heart was beating. When he looked back at the witch, it seemed like Eddie and Ravi were already getting to work. Cyra was watching them carefully. 

“Are you taking him to the hospital?” Tommy asked. 

“Not necessary,” Chim said. “We should get him inside, though. He’ll sleep for a while.” 

“I can do that,” Tommy said, “just open the door.”

Evan wasn’t light, but Tommy knew he was strong enough, so he slipped his hands under Evan, made sure that his head rested on his shoulder and he followed Chim towards the house and then up to his bedroom. Chim didn’t say a word as Tommy put him down. 

“Got it from here?” Chim asked. 

Tommy barely nodded, incapable of tearing his eyes from Evan. He took off Evan’s shoes, socks, pants, light jacket, and shirt, leaving him in his underwear. He tucked Evan in that way and lingered a few more moments before he leaned over and kissed Evan right on his birthmark.

[luigisblueoveralls]

luigi doing oral on fem!reader, please.

You got it!

A Blissful Mess

Luigi x Fem!Reader NSFW

Summary: Luigi decides to treat you to a blissful evening.

Notes: NSFW, Luigi performing oral, hardly any plot, just Luigi being the kind and worshipping boyfriend he is.

I'm sorry if this is trash I wrote this at like five in the morning and wanted to get it out I just hope it is good for you and I also put a little bit of dominant Luigi in here too cause why not I feel like he would be dominant just once in a blue moon.

💚

Ever since you woke up this morning, you were absolutely horny for Luigi. You wanted him, you craved him, you wanted him to do his magic but unfortunately, he had to go to work and so did you. He had promised to make it up to you for tonight and you were going to hold him to that promise. You were counting down the minutes that Luigi would be home and since he was going to treat you tonight, you decided to make him a warm and hearty dinner as a way to pack him back before he even treats you. You just prayed that Luigi would have a decent day and not a bad one because if he is in a bad mood, then you didn't want to force him to give you oral. It was eventually time for Luigi to be home and by the time you finished his dinner, he had walked in through the front door.

"Ooo what smells so good in here?" Luigi asks as he hangs up his hat, gloves and takes his shoes off.

"Some hearty and warm lasagna!" You answer, bringing Luigi's plate to the dining table with a ice cold light beer.

Tomorrow would be Luigi's day off so you knew the beer was an okay choice.

"Why thank you, (Y/N). You didn't have to do this." Luigi reassures you but you place a kiss on his forehead.

"Well of course I did. You worked all day and it's only fair." You reassure him back and he smiled in response.

"You're so good to me." He softly said.

Even though you were doing this cause you really wanted him to get you off, but it is also cause you care for him and love him so much. He truly was the best guy you have ever been with. The two of you sat down and ate the delicious dinner you made. It was so good, that you were impressed with yourself. Once finished, you got up and started cleaning up the kitchen when Luigi came up from behind you and held your hips. You can tell he was hesitating for he hasn't done anything like this before.

"Yes, Lui?"

You can tell he was blushing because of his silence and his hesitation in his movements.

"You can touch me. I don't mind." You suggestively tell him, trying to give him a confidence boost.

You felt Luigi grab you by your hips softly and bring your butt onto his crotch. He was hard.

"I want to give you what I promised you this morning. You're still...horny, right?" Luigi asks you, with a hint of flustering in his tone.

"I very much am. I have been waiting for you all day, Lui."

You could feel Luigi's erection get harder from you saying that. It turned you on so much.

"I'll clean up the kitchen, my love. You have done so much for me so let me treat you for the night." Luigi told you.

You dropped whatever you were doing, turned around, and gave Luigi a deep, passionate kiss. Luigi softly moaned into your mouth from your actions, sending waves of euphoria to your body. You pushed your tongue into his mouth, exploring every inch of his mouth. Luigi didn't even fight back. He let you have your way with him. You could tell by the noises he was making, though, that he was enjoying every second of this. You then ran your fingers through his soft, short hair. It was greasy. He needed a shower, but it still felt so soft. You felt Luigi grab your shoulders, lead you to the couch, and make you sit down without breaking the kiss at all. Luigi pulled away and looked deeply into your eyes. You were ready.

"My lady," Luigi starts as he gets on his knees and spreads your legs apart, "do you still want this?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." You were practically begging for Luigi to pleasure you at this point.

Your clit was throbbing for him. You wanted him so badly. Luigi then starts to take your pants off. You weren't sure if he was doing it slow on purpose or not, but you were mentally screaming for him. Your pants were finally off, and all that was left was your underwear.

"Luigi, please." You sternly said.

"Please, what?" Luigi questioned you.

You were getting slightly irritated, but you also didn't want to irritate or piss Luigi off, so you took a deep breath in and then out to calm yourself.

“Please sir.” You utter as electricity runs through your body from wanting.

“Good girl, Y/N” Luigi says with a tiny hint of dominance as he kisses down your body, causing you to get wetter.

He looks up at you, beaming his blue eyes at you as he notices you getting wetter and you’re squirming.

“What’s wrong? Can't take it?" Luigi asks as he goes slow.

Oh, so he was being dominant for once? Interesting. You moan and bite your lip as your eyes meet his, you give him the fuck me eyes. Basically, you were nonverbally telling him to fuck you and get on with it. Luigi just smirked as his teeth tugged on your panties, his big blue eyes peering at you.

"Luigi, please." You were getting frustrated.

"What?" Luigi asked.

"I want you. Please." You begged.

Luigi's expression softened, going back to his usual self.

"Sorry. Couldn't help myself." Luigi softly said as he grabbed your panties and pulled them off of your body, the cold air hitting your wet vagina.

You were that wet for him. Luigi then touched your wet core, sending chills down your spine. You moaned softly at his touch. He wasn't even doing anything to you, but just feeling his touch made you feel so good. Luigi then stuck one finger inside of you, sending shockwaves throughout your body.

"L-Lui." You moaned, wrapping your legs around his head.

You brought his face closer to your core, wanting him so badly at this point. Luigi didn't mind it at all. He just wanted to make sure you felt good. Luigi began moving his finger all around inside of you, hitting every little nerve. He knew what to do to make you nearly cry out in pleasure.

"Is this good?" Luigi asks you for your approval.

"Y-Yes. More, please."

"As you wish."

Luigi then stuck another finger inside of you, filling you up.

"O-Oh. Oh, Lui." You moan deeply at his action.

Luigi twists and turns his fingers all around you, feeling every inch inside of you. He was going slow, whether it be on purpose or not. It still felt so good to you. Luigi then curved his fingers and hit your good spot.

"Oh, Lui!" You shouted at what he did.

Silently, Luigi chuckled to himself. He just knew what to do to make you feel good, and he was always proud of himself. Luigi then starts to rub his fingers roughly against your spot, making you twitch aggressively. He wasn't worried about being too rough, albeit you were so wet already that he was using you as a lubricant.

"Don't stop, Luigi. Don't stop, please." You beg of him.

It felt so great, the best ever even.

"I won't. I promise, my love." Luigi says deeply in a very romantic and passionate way.

Suddenly, you felt Luigi's tongue lick your entire core, making you cry out.

"O-Oh! Yes! Please!"

The feeling of Luigi's fingers penetrating you as well as his tongue licking your core and clit nearly overwhelmed you, but it didn't. It all felt right. Luigi went faster with his finger and tongue, and you could feel a deep, warm feeling building inside of you.

"Are you getting close?" Luigi asks.

"Y-Yes. Please don't stop. Hmhmm." You moaned, which nearly made Luigi cream in his pants.

He himself was super hard, and he nearly couldn't help himself.

"My love, is it okay if I relief myself while still relieving you?" Luigi asks.

The thought of Luigi rubbing himself while rubbing you turned you on so much.

"Y-Yes. Yes, you can." You approved his ask.

Before shutting your eyes from pleasure, you see Luigi reach his free hand down his pants while he continues to pleasure you. Your orgasm was coming strong, and it caused you to shut your eyes from the deep pleasure you were feeling.

"Oh Lui, oh Luigi." You moaned, which made Luigi moan into your clit causing you to nearly scream.

You never imagined that this would be how your night ended, but you weren't complaining at all. Suddenly, you were on the edge of your orgasm. Luigi's fingers were getting a little sloppy but his intense work on your clit with his tongue didn't change at all. He was getting close, too.

"Make me cum, Luigi. Please." You deeply moaned, which drove Luigi crazy.

"A-Are you close?" Luigi moans.

"Yes. Are you?" You ask, seeing that his body was trembling.

"Y-Yeah." He moaned, but immediately continued what he was doing with you.

He wanted you to cum first, so he slowed down his hand movements on himself to make sure you did cum first. The warm feeling spread out to your legs and your core. It was coming fast. Super fast. Oh there it was.

"O-Oh!! Oh Luigi, oh Lui!" You screamed out, your orgasm hitting you hard with intense pleasure.

You gripped the couch cushion and Luigi's hair as your orgasm continued to radiate throughout your body. As you caught your breath, you heard Luigi scream out in moans as he finished himself. You screaming his name out as you cummed was all it took. Your legs were so numb as well as the lower half of your body thanks to Luigi. It felt that good. It was perhaps the best he had ever done. Luigi pulled away from you, and you could see some leakage on his mustache.

"Oh damn, sorry about that." You shyly apologized, not thinking you could ever do that.

"No, it's okay. I'm just glad that I was able to make you feel that good." Luigi smiles at you.

Luigi cleaned himself up, as well as his face, and gave you a big kiss.

"Should we finish upstairs?" You suggest.

Luigi's face grows red. No matter how many times y'all have done the deed, Luigi still gets very flustered at the thought of it.

"S-Sure thing. Anything you want." Luigi accepts your request.

The two of you hurried upstairs and entered into a night full of bliss and love as well as for a possible noise complaint.

💚

I hope you enjoy it! Sorry for it being so late I had a busy week as well as a busy weekend but I hope you enjoy it!!

[valleymyristica]

FOP What it takes [ Ch 5 sneak peak ]

You can read chapter 1 [ here ] on AO3 And chapter 4 [ here ]

This is a little peek on what's to come on Friday Do hope you like it!

[ Masterpost ]

Oh, just a normal lovely day, with Dev and Peri being all okay, hehe, right? Well, don't worry, surely nothing bad will happen, it will only be good and fun times all around! It's gonna be GREAT!

We even get to meet Hazel for a bit, isn't that just a blast? Gosh, I do like messing with you guys Hope you're also having fun! HAHAHA!

“Magical? Eh- Yeah- No. It’s- It’s just some new Dimmadome technology my dad wanted me to try out.” Does that make sense?

“Oh! That sounds really cool.” That makes sense.

He wins!!

Of course he does, he’s a Dimmadome after all. He should always come out on top. He’s so proud of himself, so happy. He actually had quite an easy time climbing all of that, still need to work on technique, but still, he won and that’s all that matters.

“Dev?” Hazel asks, approaching the tree.

Panicking, Dev chugs his headphones into the pond nearby. That way she can’t ask about them, right?

“Yes?” He tries to play it off cool.

“Did- did you just throw your headphones in the water?” She asks, having seen it all.

“Wha- Nooo?” He tires.

“Why?” What happened to her? Maybe she has something similar to his lactose intolerance?

He does appreciate the hug, but is very unsure in how he should reach to it, mostly opting to not react at all.

“I wish I had a nice, fulfilling meal.”

“Sure, thing kid.” The fairy said, wiping up a nice big plate of lasagna with a few cucumbers to the side.

“I wish it was lactose free.” Forgot, got to be specific, it’s like a monkey’s paw, better be careful over what you wish for. It’s fine though, he knows how to handle this now. “Actually, I wish all of my future wishes were lactose free.” Meaning, next time Dev won’t be as lenient over such a mistake.

It’s dark. 

His eyes are wet. 

He doesn’t make a sound. 

It’s scary. 

He didn’t mean to. 

I’m sorry.

[diamondzoey]

Sammy: *eating a cinnamon roll*

Duarte: Cannibalism.

Sammy: *confused chewing noises*

——————————————————————————

Adriana: An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Victor : An apple a day can keep anyone away if you throw it hard enough.

——————————————————————————

Victor : What’s up with Azren ? He’s been laying on the floor for like….an hour now?

Nash : He’s just a little overwhelmed.

Victor : Why?

Nash : jemma smiled at him.

——————————————————————————

When some of the bugs babysits Asher

Emerald: Why are there little handprints all over the walls?

Duarte, whispering: Why are there little handprints all over the walls?

Asher, whispering: Because I have little hands.

Duarte: Because they have little hands

——————————————————————————

Teacher: Your child was in a fight.

Jemma : Oh no, that’s terrible!

Azren: Did they win?

——————————————————————————

Duarte : Do you have any skeletons in your closet?

Victor: Literally or figuratively?

Duarte : I have to specify?

——————————————————————————

Raine: Two truths and a lie, I’ll start!

Raine: I’ve killed a man, I will kill again, and it burns when I pee.

Joan, visibly nervous: I don’t- I don’t like this game.

——————————————————————————

Duarte , looking at a dead phone: How do we bring this thing back to life? Magic? Live sacrifice? I know a guy in town-

——————————————————————————

Actress!Jemma: Since we're in a relationship now, your clothes are my clothes too. Don't ask me why I have your shirt on, this is our shirt.

Actor!Azren: Fine, but when I come strutting in with your fuzzy socks I don't want to hear shit.

——————————————————————————

Korey: Onion rings are vegetable donuts.

Marco, used to Korey being dumb: Sure...

Korey: Your stomach thinks all potatoes are mashed.

Marco: Okay?

Korey: Lasagna is spaghetti flavored cake.

Marco:

Korey: Lobsters are mermaid scorpio-

Marco: Divines, that one is a little-

Adriana , interested: No, no, Korey, keep going.

——————————————————————————

Azren : Do you love me? 
Jemma: We’re literally married. 
Azren : Yeah, but as friends or—

——————————————————————————

Azren, points at the guards: Distract them! I'll be right back! *leaves*

Victor: Okay!

*five minutes later*

Azren: *returns and sees the guards unconscious on the ground* What did you do? I said distract them, not knock them out!

Victor: There's just no pleasing you sometimes.

——————————————————————————

*after the Squad's plan goes horribly wrong*

Adriana : Now it seems we're back at square one-- finding Easton.

Void : For the record, I already found him.

Malachi: And you let him get away before we could have a meaningful conversation.

Void: They stabbed me!

Adriana : I'm surprised they waited this long, Vincent . We've all had the urge.

——————————————————————————

Jemma to Sammy: First rule of battle, little one... don’t ever let them know where you are.

Vincent, shooting out of frame: WHOO-HOO! I’M RIGHT HERE! I’M RIGHT HERE! YOU WANT SOME O’ ME?! YEAH YOU DO! COME ON! COME ON! AAAAAH! Whoo-hoo!

Jemma: 'Course, there’re other schools of thought.

——————————————————————————

Bloodmoon!Chester : Emerald , my old friend!

Bloodmoon!Emerald : I think you tried to kill me at some point.

Bloodmoon!Chester : That was obviously just my way of getting to know you.

——————————————

Bugs and croc boy in this

Sammy- @ccstiles

Duarte- @puffin-smoke

Adriana- @idontevenknow7878

Victor&Vincent- @littlesiren79

Void- @wilderrorcard

Nash- @lightdragon789

Malachi- @stxph-artist

Korey- @rozeliyawashereyall

Azren- @strayharmony943

Raine- @willowve01

Joan- @rustycopper4use

Emerald- @aspenm00n

Marco- @magebunkshelf

Chester- @not-5-rats

Jemma- @diamondzoey (me)

[mxlfoydraco]

Do you happen to know any good Drarry fic with the "De-aging" trope? I've read Away Childish Things and was wondering if there are other similar stories out there

I was so sure I already had a list but apparently not? I'll add ACT as well for future reference, it's one of my all time favorites! I'm also including de-aging a few years, not to a child. Linking a relevant list of mine: Age Difference

Away Childish Things by lettered (153k)

Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

Malfoy Child by Vorabiza (94k)

A potions accident turns Draco into a four-year-old and Harry takes over his care for the next four months.

Pinky Promises Are Powerful Magic by megyal (12k)

Ickle Harry wants to stay with his newest hero.

Teddy Bear Troubles and Other Such Oddities by Kandakicksass (61k)

During potions tutoring with a certain blonde, Harry makes a big mistake. Now he's stuck with a four year old aging a year a week, and he's not sure the boy will make it back to eighteen without turning his world upside down in all sorts of ways.

You Send Me (Honest You Do) by firethesound (37k)

As far as potion accidents go in general, and deaging incidents go in particular, Draco knew this could have been so much worse. Harry only lost about ten years, and all his memories are still intact. But the sight of him looking as if he’s stepped straight out of Draco’s Hogwarts memories has dredged up a whole mess of complicated feelings Draco thought he’d buried years ago, and Draco really doesn’t know what to do with any of it.

'Twixt the Sun and Sward by November Snowflake (30k)

A potions mishap has Harry and Draco meeting on entirely new—or is it old?—ground.

Not Nineteen Forever by @sorrybutblog (5k)

A rogue charm hits on a mission and suddenly, Draco is nineteen again. Harry is still thirty-five and doing his best to look after his de-aged Auror partner (and forget about his long unrequited crush) until St. Mungo’s can brew the antidote. Only, Draco insists on wandering around Harry’s flat wearing nothing but Harry’s pants, flirting like his life depends on it and in the end, Harry’s only human after all.

Christmas with Draco by dracogotgame (9k)

Harry tries to give a two year old Draco the best Christmas ever.

Auld Acquaintance by @aibidil (2k)

All Draco wants for Christmas is for Harry to get home so they can charm their holiday cards and make four different lasagnas to meet their children's and grandchildren's varied food needs. What he does not want is for Harry to get home wearing red Christmas joggers and looking eighteen years old.

Chrysalis by Elfflame (55k)

After the war, the Ministry decides to reform the Death Eaters, and Draco Malfoy is one of the first chosen for the program.

Halloween Night by @dorthyanndrarry (3k)

Halloween only tends to remind Harry of his parents death, there's nothing happy or fun about it. Its a dark day for him. Draco decides to try and change that, to take Harry out and experiences something new. To make new memories. Together.

Growing Pains by SensiblyTainted (190k)

The summer after Sirius’ death: the abuse at the Dursley’s leaves him broken. Snape is asked to try and help, and discovers that the key to saving Harry may be Draco, who has returned after his own difficult summer.

A Change In Perspective by Roozette (121k)

Once there was a potions accident... Ha! Harry turns five, much to the distress of the I don't want to be a Death Eater brigade.

To the Moon by VCCV (35k)

Draco is turned into a child. Harry takes care of him.

Life From the Start by LunaParvulus (74k)

A botched up de-aging potion and Harry suffers from the results. Now, Draco is hands full of one adorable Harry. What if Draco came to like Harry in his baby-state? Can both pretend nothing happened when Harry is back to normal?

P.S. This trope used to be more popular, I got to link from ffnet again since forever ago!

[mama-qwerty]

A Bad Idea Made Better

Okay, I'm done staring at this thing. Hopefully it came out better than I think it did, because it's bugging me for some reason.

Anyway, enjoy!

(Who is Callie?)

~~~~~

“You can’t be serious.”

Maddie and Callie were sitting at the counter in the ‘kitchen’ of the Sanctuary. A handful of Knuckles mingled in the various areas—the game corner, the sparring area, behind them rummaging through cupboards in search of snacks—and the moms were there in case anyone needed anything. The redhead cast a cocked eyebrow to her friend. “Tell me you’re not serious.”

Maddie shrugged. “He’s already started three fights in the last half hour,” she said, and a commotion drew their attention to another starting. “Make that four.”

Callie turned toward the noise with an annoyed sigh. “Dread, KNOCK IT OFF!”

“I be innocent as a newborn babe, lass! T’ain’t me fault that Rennie here be so easy to rile!”

“DON’T CALL ME RENNIE!”

The two continued to bicker as Callie rolled her eyes and turned back to Maddie. “And you want me to take him to my house? Why not just ship him back to No Place?”

Another shrug from the vet. “He came in today with a note pinned to his back from his crew.” She slid it toward Callie. ’Don’t let him come back until he’s less of an ass.’

The redhead snorted out a laugh. “He’d never go home, then.”

“Right?” Maddie sighed, rubbing her temple. “Look, I know it’s not ideal, but if he stays here, he’s gonna cause a multi-versal brawl. Just . . . take him for an hour. Two at most.”

“Have you forgotten I have my own gremlin at home? You think I can handle two of them?”

Maddie sat up straighter, clapping a hand on Callie’s shoulder. “I have the utmost faith in you, Madam MacPherson. Keeper of the Gremlins. Controller of the Most Troublesome.”

Callie heaved a defeated sigh. “Fine. I’ll take him. But if, no WHEN, this blows up in my face, you owe me.”

“I’ll make you a batch of my incredibly tantalizing lasagna. With extra ricotta.”

The redhead hissed in a breath. “Oh, you temptress.”

“I may even make it for you anyway. I know this is a big ask.”

“Yeah, but you’re right,” Callie said, glancing over to where Dread and Ren were starting to throw hands. “He’s in rare form today. Maybe a change of scenery will help.”

“Thanks, Cal.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She pushed herself away from the counter, clapping her hands as she walked closer to the two fighting echidna. “Break it up, boys! Dread, you’re coming with me. We’re going on a field trip.”

~X~X~X~

Silver sat on the couch with Eclipse, trying to catch up in Mario Kart. He’d gotten better over the last few months, but still had trouble with curves.

“I’m so gonna beat you!” the darkling laughed as he maneuvered his way around the track. “You’re so slow.”

The hedgehog didn’t answer. He focused on his car, moving his thumbs over the controls to try and gain some ground.

He’d just started the second lap when the portal that led to the Sanctuary opened. He didn’t quite understand everything about this magic place his mom went to. Something about it being another dimension, one that didn’t follow the normal rules of time. She would go through, and then come back a few seconds later, even though she would say she’d been there for a long time.

Silver kinda wanted to see what this place was like. Mom said there were a lot of different Knuckles there—like that one Spiderman movie with all the different versions—and they have fun sometimes, but sometimes there are fights, or it’s sad and she helps them not be sad. He didn’t doubt that—his mom was really good at helping people feel better.

He normally didn’t pay a whole lot of attention when she came back, but today she wasn’t alone. The portal opened in the archway between the living room and kitchen, and she walked out as usual, but someone followed. He looked a lot like the Knuckles they knew, but he was dressed in funny clothes.

He looked like a pirate!

“Cool!” Silver gasped, dropping his controller and rushing over to where his mom and this new Knuckles stood. “Hi! You look so cool!”

The echidna startled, his hand going to the hilt of his sword, when Callie reached down to grab his wrist.

“No swordplay,” she said, her voice stern. The Knuckles flicked his eyes to her, then back to Silver, a look of confusion on his muzzle. “These are my boys. My sons. Silver the Hedgehog, and Eclipse the Darkling.”

Silver gave a little wave at his name, and he heard Eclipse pause the game and wander over.

“Who’s that?” the darkling asked, crossing his arms. “Why’s he dressed so weird?”

“Eclipse, don’t be rude,” Callie sighed, and a frown passed over the echidna’s face.

“I be the legendary captain Knuckles the Dread.” He raised his hand in a flourish as he flashed a smile, the light shining off his gold tooth. “The strongest, most dangerous pirate on the seven seas of No Place.”

Silver’s ears flicked back slightly. A pirate? Weren’t pirates mean? His mom wouldn’t bring a mean pirate home, would she?

Beside him, Eclipse’s body language changed, and he wore an excited smile.

“A pirate??” he exclaimed, moving forward and bouncing on the balls of his feet. “That’s so cool! Do you attack other pirates? Do you swing on ropes around your ship? Do you have sword fights?” He gasped. “Can I see your sword??”

“Eclipse, pull it back, kiddo,” Callie said, moving to push the darkling back a little. “Dread is here as a guest for a few hours today. You will both be polite and not crowd him, or ask all sorts of nosy questions.”

“Nonsense!” the pirate cried, moving forward to pat Eclipse on the shoulder. “They be curious ‘bout the life and adventures of such a far-traveled pirate! Ye can’t begrudge them a few tales, can ye, lass?”

“Yeah, Mom!” Eclipse said, trying his best to give her puppy dog eyes. “C’mon! I wanna hear some pirate stories from a real life pirate!”

Silver flicked his eyes back and forth between his brother, the echidna, and his mom. She seemed pretty calm. If Dread was dangerous, he theorized, she wouldn’t have brought him here in the first place, and would be much more protective. He relaxed some, his ears returning to a more upright position.

Pirate stories did sound pretty cool.

“Did you ever find treasure?” he asked, and Dread smiled wide.

“Oh, lad,” he said, throwing an arm around each boy and bringing them close. “Ye have no idea.”

~X~X~X~

Dread was in his element. He stood before the boys, telling tales of his greatest adventures, gesturing and miming his actions as he spoke. They were enthralled—eyes wide and cheering in just the right places.

He flicked his eyes over to Callie, and the lass sat to the side, a small smile on her lips. She shook her head slightly occasionally. Okay, maybe he was . . . embellishing a bit. Just a bit. Just enough to keep the boys’ attention.

This felt good. Felt right. Having all eyes on him, admiring his feats. No one at the Sanctuary gave him this much attention. Not without ridiculing him, or doubting every word he said. There he felt as though he were constantly being judged, constantly dismissed. Tolerated at best.

But here? He felt welcomed. Valued. Appreciated.

And it made a warmth spread in his chest. It was a feeling he’d never really experienced before, and he liked it. He liked it a lot.

Yessir, this was a nice change of pace.

~X~X~X~

Callie gave a little eye roll as Dread continued his tales. She’d heard most of these before—Dread wasn’t shy about telling others of his deeds—but the details seemed to be a bit . . . stretchy. There were more foes than she remembered, the kraken was much bigger, (oh, and now there were two), and some of the timelines didn’t seem to add up.

But, whatever. He was having fun, no one was fighting, and the boys seemed completely spellbound by his stories. She was checking this as a win.

~X~X~X~

Eclipse leaned closer as Dread spoke of monsters and battles, treasure and triumph. He was so cool! Not like the Knuckles they knew. Knuckles Wachowski may have been the most dangerous warrior in the galaxy at one time, but now he was more interested in gardening and doing yoga. Always talking about how ‘fighting is only a last resort’ and ‘live a life of virtue’ and blah blah blah.

What a load of bunk. Eclipse was a weapon. A soldier built specifically to fight and win. Sure, he liked not having to fight now, and living with his mom and brother was a lot better than his life on the Black Comet, but that didn’t mean he was some weak pushover! Dread’s life sounded so fun!

The pirate finished up another story, and Eclipse cheered.

“That was awesome! I wanna be a pirate! Mom, can I be a pirate like Dread?”

“’Course ye can, lad!” Dread answered before Callie could open her mouth. “In fact, both ye and yer brother here c’n be honorary members of me crew!”

The two boys moved in sync, hopping to their feet and flashing him a salute. “Aye, aye, Captain!”

“Okay, let’s not get carried away,” Callie said, just as her phone rang. She pulled it from her back pocket, giving it a tap to answer. “Hello? Linda? What’s wrong?”

Eclipse sighed, rolling his eyes. Linda was one of the other ladies who worked at the library. She was nice and all, but kinda boring. She always seemed nervous around him. He didn’t know why—he’d only almost bit her that one time. Almost. Hardly something to hold a grudge about, really.

“Is he okay? Good. Come in? Oh, I can’t, I have . . .” She glanced at Dread. “Company. From out of town. Call Karen and see if she can . . . oh she can’t?” She sighed. “Okay. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

She hung up and turned to the three by the couch. “I have to head into work. Linda’s son broke his arm and they’ve gotta run him to the hospital.”

“Oh,” Silver said, his ears flicked back. “Is Jake okay?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. Just needs his arm set.” She chewed her lip slightly, her eyes on the echidna. “Dread, can I talk to you for a sec?”

“’Course, lass.”

He followed her to the kitchen, just as Eclipse turned to Silver.

“Remember when I said Knuckles wasn’t cool?” Silver nodded. “I take it back. This one is soooo cooool.”

~X~X~X~

Callie led Dread into the kitchen, around the island to speak quietly with him.

“I’ve gotta head into work, and can’t take the boys with me.” She paused, pulling her lips tight. These next words out of her mouth were really gonna hurt. “I need to know I can trust you to watch over them for an hour.”

Her voice was soft, but firm, her eyes locked with his. She didn’t want to do this. This wasn’t an ideal scenario. On any other day, she would have simply closed the library for emergency reasons, but there was a book club meeting there in 20 minutes and she couldn’t leave them in the lurch.

Dread looked back, a little scowl on his face.

“Lass, ye offend me,” he said, crossing his arms. “When have I ever shown meself as untrustworthy?”

She gave him a look. One that essentially said ‘Do you want that answer alphabetically, or in order of importance?’

He seemed to catch her meaning, and dropped the scowl with a guilty smile.

“Aye, that be a bit of bad phrasing on my part,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. He stood straighter, bringing his fist to his chest. “I give ye me word, lass. I’ll guard them with me life.”

A little smirk curled her lip, and she gave a slight chuckle. “Not sure that will be necessary, but I appreciate the thought.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, giving a little squeeze. “God forgive me for what I’m about to say, but . . .”

She took a breath, pulling her lips tight.

“Dread, you’re in charge.”

~X~X~X~

Silver sat at the kitchen table, watching Eclipse and Dread rummage through the fridge. There were plenty of leftovers, and before his mom left she said they could have what they wanted if they were hungry.

“Blimey!” Dread had exclaimed when Eclipse opened the fridge door. He reached his hand inside with an expression of wonder. “It be colder than a witch’s—” He caught himself, flicking his eyes to the boys before clearing his throat. “I mean, heh, it be mighty cold in this cupboard.”

“It helps keep food fresh,” the hedgehog said as he moved closer to pull out some leftover macaroni and cheese. “The cold makes sure it doesn’t spoil as fast.”

“Bloomin’ brilliant,” the pirate muttered as he peered into the shelves.

Eclipse piled leftover spaghetti on his plate, shoving a forkful into his mouth before crinkling his nose. “Ugh, too cold.”

“I’ll warm it up,” Silver said, priming his power to move the plate to the microwave. Eclipse balked, waving him away as he carried the plate over himself.

“I can do it!”

“Mom says you’re not allowed to use the microwave. Not after what happened last time.”

Eclipse waved a dismissive hand, uttering an annoyed ‘tch’. “Mom’s not here, is she? And that was weeks ago. Ancient history.”

The darkling popped the plate into the microwave and pressed a few buttons. The machine hummed to life, but shortly thereafter it began to spark and issue loud snaps. Silver gasped.

“You forgot to take your fork off the plate again!”

“You distracted me!”

“Get it out!”

“I will, don’t rush me!”

Eclipse turned to reach for the microwave door, when Dread jumped in front of him, pushing the boy back and drawing his sword.

“Watch yerself, lad! That be dangerous!”

And with that, the pirate swung his sword, slashing the microwave and cleaving it in two. It fell to the counter with a mighty crash.

Silver’s eyes went wide. Oh. Ohhh no.

“You killed our microwave!” he yelled, his hands pressed to this cheeks. This was so bad. “Mom’s gonna kill us!”

Dread looked confused, snapping his head back and forth from Silver to the now greatly deceased machine. “I thought . . . it be sparkin’ like a lightning storm, and I didn’t . . .”

The cats’ automatic feeder kicked in then, startling Dread, who spun and hurled his sword toward the new sound. It struck the feeder, splitting the side and spilling dry food all over the floor. Much to Bloom’s delight.

Silver shrieked. “Stop breaking things!”

“It ain’t me fault!” Dread cried back, hurrying over to pull his sword free.

“What are we gonna do??” Silver cried, wringing one of his long head spikes. “Mom’s gonna be so mad when she sees this!”

“Calm down, we’ll just . . . fix it,” Eclipse shrugged, poking at the pieces of microwave littering the counter. “Think Tails could come over?”

Silver shook his head. “Tails can’t fix that! It’s destroyed!”

“Then we’ll just get a new one!” the darkling yelled, throwing his arms over his head. “How much could they cost? $20?”

“Do you have $20?”

“No!”

“THEN HOW ARE WE GONNA BUY A NEW ONE??”

“I DON’T HEAR ANY IDEAS FROM YOU!!”

“QUIET!!”

Dread’s shout snapped the two out of their argument, and they turned to him. He sheathed his sword, walking toward them with a contemplative expression.

“Yellin’ and fussin’ ain’t gonna solve nothin’,” he said, stopping with his hands on his hips. “We need a plan. Be there any shops in town that carry those warming box things?”

The boys exchanged a glance, and Silver nodded. “Charlie’s should. They have a bunch of stuff like fridges and washing machines and stuff.”

The echidna nodded. “Then we go to this Charlie’s and see what we can do to get a new one.”

“But we don’t have any money.”

Dread smiled, in a smirky, confident kind of way. “Ye leave that to me.”

~X~X~X~

Ten minutes later and they were walking into town. Most of the townspeople didn’t really bat an eye at them, but Dread’s outfit drew some double takes. Eclipse supposed they weren’t expecting to see the red echidna they were used to dressed up like a pirate.

“What’s it like being a pirate?” the darkling asked. All of Dread’s stories sounded so fun. “Is it hard?”

“Oh, the pirate life be full of danger and adventure,” Dread said, a fond smile on his face. “Sometimes more danger than adventure, and there be plenty o’ times I nearly got me head handed t’ me, but it be the only life I know.”

“Don’t you have to . . . hurt people, if you’re a pirate?”

Eclipse flicked his eyes to his brother. Part of him wanted to feel annoyed at the hedgehog’s sensitivity to things like this, but another part fully understood Silver’s point of view. The world Silver came from was hard and violent and scary. Not something he wanted to relive.

Dread seemed to sense the boy’s mood, and he curled an arm around Silver’s shoulders to pull him close.

“Aye, sometimes there be no avoidin’ a battle,” he said, his voice soft. “Sometimes fighting be all we can do to keep ourselves safe. We try not to seek out fights, but we deal with ‘em if they come to us.”

Silver seemed to think about this. “So you’re . . . defending yourselves.”

Dread nodded, that smirk on his face again. “Aye. We defend ourselves and what be ours.”

“I guess that’s okay.”

“It’s not just okay, it sounds awesome!” Eclipse said, moving to walk backward in front of them. “Think you could teach me to sword fight? Man, I wanna come to your world and fight a kraken! I bet I could take it!”

The echidna cocked an eyebrow at the boy. “Do ye even know what a kraken be?”

Eclipse felt his muzzle warm. “I dunno. Like a big turtle?”

“’Fraid not, me lad,” Dread said with a chuckle. “It be a giant leviathan from the depths of the ocean. A creature longer than most ships and bearin’ a grudge against anything that breathes the air. It wraps its thick tentacles ‘round yer boat and drags it below the waves, to drown everyone aboard and eat them at its leisure.”

A beat of silence. “I could still take it.”

Dread barked out a loud laugh. “I bet ye could, lad. I bet ye could. Ye have the soul of a pirate, ye do, with the bravery to match.” He leaned a bit closer, dropping his voice. “Though don’t tell yer mum I said such a thing. She’d box me ears somethin’ good.”

Eclipse nodded with a smile. He wasn’t exactly sure what ‘box me ears’ meant, but he got the gist of it. His mom could get a little scary when angry. And a little over protective when it came to him and Silver. If she found out Dread was encouraging any dangerous or risky behavior, he’d be on the receiving end of that anger.

And even a seasoned pirate didn’t want to face her wrath.

“There’s Charlie’s,” Silver said, pointing across the street.

Dread nodded. “Aye. Let’s get what we came for.”

~X~X~X~

The building was larger than any shop Dread had ever been in. It held many different machines, and he could only guess what they were made for. Since they were designed for humans, most were larger than him. This world made him feel so much smaller than his own. It was unnerving.

He let the boys take the lead, since this was their world, and they were more comfortable navigating it. He still kept a sharp eye and ear on their surroundings—he’d promised the lass he would care for them, and come hell or high water, he would. They would not be harmed under his watch.

“Over here,” Silver called as he headed down an aisle. Dread followed, and they soon found themselves before a row of boxes with a picture of a microwave on the front. “This one looks like ours.”

“Aye.”

Dread stepped forward, and pulled the box off the shelf. It was heavier than he expected, but nothing his strength couldn’t handle. He hoisted it over his head, turning to the boys.

“Now what?” Eclipse asked.

The echidna paused. He was at war with himself.

Part of him wanted to do this the right way. Callie had trusted him, and he wanted so badly to make her proud, to do right and prove her trust in him was well placed. That part said to go to the owners of the shop, discuss terms, and see if there was some deal they could make. He had some gold in his jacket pocket, but he didn’t know how it compared to the currency of this world.

“What be the price on this?”

Silver looked at a little tag on the shelf. His ears flicked backwards. “Two hundred dollars.”

Eclipse grimaced. “That’s . . . a lot more than $20.”

Dread gave a little hum as he thought. He had no idea what a ‘dollar’ was, but he didn’t have that many gold pieces on him. He supposed he could have gone back to No Place to get more, but honestly, that was a lot of hassle, and he was getting impatient. He didn’t know when Callie would return home, and wanted this solved quickly.

And the other part of him, the part that told him all that ‘do the right thing’ stuff was a load of bollocks, slowly got louder.

It looked like there was only one solution.

“Ye know, this Charlie be pretty selfish to keep all these to himself,” he said, keeping his voice casual. “Look how many be on the shelf. He won’t miss one.”

Silver turned to him, eyes wide. “What do you mean? Are you saying we should . . .” His voice dropped low, and he looked around. “Steal it??”

“It all be a matter of perspective, lad. If ye were really hungry, would ye steal a loaf of bread?”

The boys exchanged a glance. Eclipse shrugged.

“I guess,” Silver said, pulling his head spike around to squeeze and twist. “But this isn’t the same, is it? You can’t eat a microwave.”

“Nay, but ye can make food in the thing.” He shrugged. “It be a gray area.”

The hedgehog continued to worry at his head spike, and now pulled his lip in to chew on. Dread flicked his eyes to Eclipse, who seemed less bothered with the whole situation. “Ye understand, don’t ye, lad?”

Eclipse seemed to consider things for a moment, before turning to his brother.

“C’mon Silver,” the darkling said, his voice tinged with annoyance. “It’s not like he’s even gonna notice it missing.”

“Can I help you kids?”

The three froze, and slowly turned to see an older man standing at the end of the aisle. His eyes flicked up to the microwave over Dread’s head, and the echidna’s pirate instincts kicked in.

“RUN FOR IT, LADS!”

And without bothering to check on the boys, Dread sprinted toward the front door.

~X~X~X~

Eclipse’s tail went rigid when Dread took off. He left them?? He was this cool pirate and he left them??

Snapping his head back around, he saw the look on Mr. Charlie’s face. First he was confused, then shocked. Then he was mad.

Oh. Oh no.

“It’s not what you think!” Silver was saying, his hands held out in front of him. Eclipse lunged forward to grab his brother’s wrist, before teleporting them back to the front of the store.

~X~X~X~

The door was in sight. Dread ran for it, holding his prize high above his head. All he had to do was get through that door, and he’d be good as gold.

Right now he wasn’t thinking about Callie. He wasn’t thinking about the two boys he left back in that aisle. He was running on ‘pirate brain’, consumed with winning and doing what he wanted, what he needed, to get his mission accomplished.

And that’s when he was hit in the middle by a screeching darkling.

“You’re gonna get me in trouble!” Eclipse yelled as he wrestled with Dread. The microwave went flying, and the echidna was surprised at the strength and agility the boy possessed. He tried to grab him to pull him off, but the darkling was too quick.

“Get off me!” he bellowed, right before he suddenly realized he couldn’t move. Glancing to his left, he found Silver with his hands extended out. A strange cyan glow surrounded them, the same glow that held him and the microwave captive. “By Neptune’s beard . . .”

“I’m sorry!” Silver said, his voice shaky and high-pitched. “I’m sorry but you can’t steal!”

Dread tried to break free from this strange hold, but his muscles would not obey him. It was as if he were completely frozen. Paralyzed. He struggled for another moment, before uttering a frustrated growl and giving up.

“Aye, lad,” he said with a sigh. “Ye got me. I surrender.”

~X~X~X~

Callie sat at the red light, lips pulled tight and feeling like the top of her head was about to explode.

Dread sat beside her, in the passenger seat, and he kept his gaze out the window. Her boys were in the back seat, and the microwave she apparently had to buy because the one at her house had met with an unfortunate fate was tucked in the cargo area of her Subaru.

No one said anything. She wasn’t sure she would have been able to speak anyway, considering how angry she was. At least not without a lot of colorful words sprinkled into the mix.

When she got the call to come to Charlie’s, she’d just seen the last of the book club out and was about to lock up anyway. Good thing. Because apparently the supposed adult she put in charge of her children had thought it a good idea to take them to be accomplices to attempted larceny.

At least Charlie had been understanding. Well, as understanding as he could be in such a strange situation. Trying to explain to him that this was a Knuckles, but not the Knuckles he was familiar with had taken a few tries. But when it suddenly clicked—”Like that Spiderman movie?”—he’d been much more willing to just let everything go.

Which was more than she was willing to do.

The light turned green and she pulled away. The ride to her house was a quiet one. She flicked her eyes to the rearview mirror, and saw two guilty looking kids in the back. Well, one guilty, and one pretty pissed kid. Eclipse kept shooting Dread dirty looks. He’d really been enthralled by the pirate, and when Dread essentially ditched them in favor of saving his own skin, it apparently left a sour taste in the darkling’s mouth. She didn’t blame him, really.

And she honestly wasn’t mad at them. They had done the right thing in the end and stopped Dread from running out with the microwave. That made her pretty proud, actually.

She pulled into her driveway, killing the engine and turning in her seat to talk to her boys.

“You two head on inside. We’ll be in in a minute.”

They nodded quickly, and hurried into the house. Callie turned to Dread, a finger tapping on the steering wheel.

“An hour. I was barely gone for one freaking hour.”

Dread said nothing, his back still turned to her.

“I trusted you.”

A beat of silence. “Aye. I know.”

She sighed, sitting back in her seat, tilting her head back against the rest. “Suppose it’s not your fault. You are how you are. I knew that and trusted you anyway.”

Now he turned, his lip curled in a snarl. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means?” she asked, turning to him with her own snarl. “You’re a pirate! Knuckles the Dread! I should’ve known you’d do something to try and warp my kids’ minds to your pirate ways.”

His snarl became more pronounced. “I did nothing to those lads. I would not hurt them.”

“No, instead you dragged them off to shoplift a microwave!”

“There be a problem, and I found a solution!”

“A problem YOU caused!”

“It weren’t me fault! I was tryin’ to make ye proud!”

Callie uttered a sharp laugh, her temper flaring. “Proud?? For making my boys accomplices to your crime?? I trusted you! THEY trusted you! Do you realize just how badly you messed up? Those boys come from really bad childhoods! They were both used and abused by someone they trusted, someone who should have taken care of them. They—”

“SO WAS I!” he shouted, his hands curled into fists. “Ye don’t know anything about me childhood. I be a child of five when taken by a cruel man. He . . . his crew . . . they did the most awful things to me. I be just a child and they hurt me. Tortured me. I had to turn into this to survive.”

Callie quieted, and just stared at him. She didn’t know that. She didn’t really know anything about his childhood. He had always acted like being a pirate was the only thing he’d ever wanted. But, now that she thought about it, he’d always said it was the only thing he’d ever known. That was different, wasn’t it?

“Yer boys be good lads,” he said, some of the anger fading from his tone. “And aye, I admit it made me feel good to see them look up to me. To see their excitement when I told me tales.” He sighed, sitting back in his seat. “And ye be right. I could’ve done things diff’rently. Seen if I had enough gold on me to cover the cost. But instead I let me pirate instincts kick in and caused ye all this trouble.”

Silence descended over them, and Callie’s anger dissipated. She saw Dread in a different light now, and recognized the hurt little boy he used to be. Yes, he was a gremlin. Yes, he caused trouble and poked at the others and started fights. Yes, he seemed to behave in ways that were almost self-destructive.

But she’d seen that before, hadn’t she? When Eclipse first came, he’d acted out very similarly before he acclimated to the family. (And honestly, even now he could devolve into gremlin mode every now and then.) It was all a cover for the hurt he still carried. The pain from a life of abuse.

And sometimes that pain caused anger, and selfishness, and violence born of fear. Fear of being loved. Fear of being hurt again.

She could have kicked herself. Dread was suffering from the same trauma her own children were. And she’d never seen it.

“Those pirate instincts are what kept you alive,” she said, her voice softer.

Dread stared at his feet. “Don’t make what I did right.”

“No, it doesn’t.” She quieted. “Dread, I didn’t know.”

He shrugged, letting out a tired sigh. “I didn’t want ye to. Didn’t want anyone to. Me childhood be something I try to forget. Try to ignore. Pretend it happened to someone else. ‘Cause if I think about it, remember it, it would drive me mad.”

A quiet moment passed. The familiarity of his past trauma was almost funny. She seemed to attract the aliens with the abusive childhoods, while the Wachowskis attracted the ones with the abandonment issues.

Considering her own past, she supposed it was a case of like attracting like, only on a much more universal scale.

Callie reached over to cup his muzzle and turn his face back toward her.

“Our pasts hurt us whether we want to remember them or not,” she said, a sad smile on her lips. “My boys . . . they remember their pasts. Still have nightmares about them. I can’t change their past, or take those memories away. But what I can do, is try really hard to make sure their present has as much love and happiness as I can possibly give them.”

He stared at her, and his eyes grew shiny.

“They be lucky to have ye,” he whispered.

Callie’s heart nearly broke in half. For all his bravado, all his boasting and confidence and arrogance, Dread was still a lost little boy, trying to find someone who would love him.

“Ya know,” she said, rubbing her thumb over his muzzle, where a tear may or may not have fallen. “The boys seem to be under this really weird impression that you’re cool. So, I guess, if you wanted to, you could hang out here whenever you wanted.” She gave him a more stern look. “So long as you keep the crime sprees to an absolute minimum. Like zero.”

His eyes grew wide. “Ye . . . ye still want me around?”

She shrugged. “What kind of person would I be if I let a little thing like microwave destruction and attempted theft push away someone whom I consider one of my best friends?”

He froze. “B-best . . . ?”

“One of,” she said, keeping her voice light. “In the top five. It varies. Sometimes minute-by-minute.”

Dread stared at her for another moment, before a smile spread across his muzzle. “Ye be an angel, lass,” he said, and he blinked quickly to hide his tears. “An absolute angel made flesh.”

Callie wrinkled her nose, uttering a little grunt. “Ugh, don’t get all mushy and make this weird. C’mere.”

She pulled him to her, and took his hat off to rest their foreheads together.

“You ever need anything,” she said, her voice soft, “you come to me. Understand? You ever feel like you’re gonna explode if you don’t talk about something, or if your past is poking at you more than usual, or just need someone to be there, you come to me. Anytime. No judgment. My home is your home now. And you are part of my family. Don’t argue with me, just accept it.”

At first Dread didn’t seem like he knew what to do, how to feel. But after a moment he relaxed against her, and brought his hand up to cup the back of her neck to hold her to him more firmly.

“Aye,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “It be an honor to join your family.”

They sat like that for a moment, before pulling away. Callie gave him a little smirk, and dropped his hat back in place as she turned for her door.

“C’mon. Let’s get the new microwave in and then you need to have a little chat with a couple of boys.”

“Aye. Yes, ma’am.”

~X~X~X~

Eclipse sat on the couch with Silver. He crossed his arms, trying not to look at the stupid pirate standing before them.

His mom seemed to have forgiven Dread. They’d sat out in the car for a while after getting home and he’d watched through the window. They seemed like they were yelling for a bit, which was good because he wanted Dread to get into trouble. He was supposed to be this cool guy, this much cooler version of the Knuckles they knew. But instead he was just some jerk who ran off to let him and Silver get in trouble for something that was his idea.

Dread stood with his hands behind his back, a serious expression on his face. After standing quietly for a moment, he coughed into his fist before speaking.

“Yargh, I suppose an apology be in order for the way I behaved back in the shop.”

“You ditched us!” Eclipse snapped, his muzzle curled in a snarl. “You were gonna leave us to get into trouble!”

“Aye. I did.”

“The Knuckles we know wouldn’t do that,” Silver said, crossing his own arms. He wasn’t as angry as Eclipse, but wasn’t overly happy with Dread, either. “He’s a good friend and always does what he thinks is right.”

Dread shrugged. “I ain’t him.”

“No kidding,” Eclipse asked, jumping off the couch to get in Dread’s face. His arm spikes flared, tail flicking in angry whips. “I thought you were cool. You told such awesome stories. But you’re just a jerk and all those stories are probably lies, too!”

The echidna kept his composure, but a little smirk curled the corner of his lips. “Oh lad, they all be true. They be the more tame stories. There be many others, some would give ye nightmares for a week.”

Eclipse paused. More stories? With more danger?

He narrowed his eyes, casting a suspicious glance at the pirate. “Like what?”

A grin split Dread’s lips, and he tossed a glance over his shoulder. Callie was distracted in the kitchen, cleaning the messes from the old microwave and split cat feeder. The echidna turned back, leaning forward and speaking in a low, conspirator-like whisper.

“Like the time I single-handedly took down two pirate ships, while in the middle of a monsoon, and a kraken decided to have me for its lunch!”

Eclipse’s eyes went wide. “Really?”

“May lightning strike me down if I be lyin’.”

Silver took a moment to look to the skies outside, while Eclipse grabbed Dread’s wrist. He dragged the pirate behind him, heading for the kitchen door.

“We’re going outside, just to play and not to hear any more pirate stories that may be too scary for Silver!” he said, barely putting space between his words.

“Hey!” Silver whined, hurrying out after them. “I’m not scared!”

~X~X~X~

Callie smiled as she watched her boys through the window. Silver and Eclipse sat on the deck, watching as Dread gestured and mimed and told his grand—and in no way embellished—stories of his life as a pirate.

An eventful day, but everything worked out.

Her boys were happy. Dread was happy. She was happy.

Yep. She’ll call that a win.