#he’s like those teen older siblings having to take care of their mini baby siblings

[kindaasrikal]

Au where Morro is forced to look after a bunch of dead children in the departed realm, becomes good at it, and becomes a designated babysitter for everyone who has dead children. My guy went from commanding an army and taking over all realms, to ruling a mini army and taking over the play area as he runs a daycare/orphanage.

[thecandywrites]

Micro-mermaid Chenera Part 1

So, I know I'm, like two months late for Mermay, BUT. I had this amazing dream about micro-mermaids.

So hear me out- mermaids- half fish half human right? Deep sea mermaids/sirens would get HUGE to combat the pressure and stuff right? Well take it the other direction tiny pools in the amazon or the tropics, where we find guppies and betas and little very vibrant, very little fish but with a fantasy twist- micro-mermaids. Adults as big as your fingers, with kids and babies the size of your fingertips and finger nails, based on real fish, like betas, guppies, oscars, mollys, tetras and the like.

My mom ALWAYS kept at least one fish tank growing up, usually fresh water, one time she kept a brackish tank too, saltwater tanks were always too pricy for us BUT SO PRETTY TO STARE AT- AT THE FISH STORES. It's a life long hobby for her that she passed down to at least one of my sisters, my other sister is into guppies and betas almost exclusively and the different kinds and colors just within those two varieties are almost endless. And watching fish swim in a beautiful and healthy fish tank is documented to help out mentally and ease anxiety and even depression. Imagine what it would be like to have a tank of micro mermaids! Especially multiple kinds the way most will have multiple kinds of fish in a tank. I also got the idea from watching a documentary about how TINY little seahorses can be and of course My Little Mermaid- inner tween said 'tiny seahorse needs tiny micro-mermaid to ride it!' And of course seahorses especially are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity. If micro-mermaids were real, I'd imagine the same kind of thing. An expensive hobby that most would dump money into just for the privlidge of having their own wonder of nature.

And just like we have fish stores and fish breeders, think micro-mermaid breeders. Some are really good, others can be crappy, and this story follows a responsible, loving breeder, (more or less based on my mom who I love immesurably)

But me, being...well me, I can't write anything and not have a bit of angst, a good pinch of romance, eventual consentual smutty goodness and eventual happily ever afters. So...heads up.

Also since little fish tend to have shortened lifespans of only a few years, I'd imagine a micro-mermaid's lifespan would be similar in that they'd be shortened as well, so when you read cycles, that's in days. But also don't think of it as to the mermaids being years, if a micro-mermaid is 22 cycles, aka 22 days old, it's approxomately 11 years old in human terms so these guys are literally babies and kids when we meet them and get to watch them 'grow up' so to speak. So again, cycles=days divided in half= human years as point of reference.

But considering most merfolk in the ocean would live for who knows how long- if the average beta can live 2-5 years, lets say micro-mermaids can live to be 5-8 years old. Which compared to most little freshwater fish, is still, practically ancient. time passes differently for different beings, like dog years/human years/elven years kind of thing.

Cool? Cool. Let's dive in! (pun intended)

Micro-Mermaid

Chenera

Part 1

Ethel watched with baited breath from outside the glass as your parents gently used their billowy fins to circulate fresh oxygenated water across their eggs that had they laid in their small cave, made out of a large, fancy geode that Ethel had put into their tank to use as their cave to lay and hatch their young, the pockets of facets in the geode assisting to keep the eggs secure so that they would stay put and hatch successfully.

Ethel was a micro-mermaid breeder, and your parents were considered “royal chameleon” merfolk, a breed made special in that they could, like a chameleon, change their colors to suit their environment, but their fin structure and body confirmation was as if you crossed a beta with a mermaid, but in the micro scale, their large, billowy fins, long hair and plump bodies, an ethereal ideal for the subspecies.

And at a certain stage in their lives, she would put the adolescents into a much brighter colored tank, with things like hunks of gold and platinum and special rocks surrounded by color shifting fabrics on the outside of the glass so that the adolescents would always change into fancy, bright colors with precious metal accents and shifts of colors and special effects to their fins so that they could attract an equally colorful, healthy and vibrant mate and therefore, be worth much more on the market to enhance already immaculate genetics.

Ethel’s other tanks had schools of other micro mermaids of all kinds, from guppies, oscars, swordtails, molly’s, tetras and the like. Ethel was quite the collector and seemed to have every variety of micro mermaid both in nature and that could be bred in captivity and she was highly sought after in the industry because she treated each micro mermaid with the same tender loving care that she would treat her own children, if she had ever got to have them and her home might as well have been a mini aquarium since she ran one of the high end, micro-mermaid aquariums in the city and her home was where she bred the majority of her stock and her personal favorites that she was especially attached to.

Ethel preferred to sell mated pairs of micro-mermaids since micro mermaids preferred to mate for life but others preferred the “harem method” having a few females to a single male to get more clutches of eggs and thus, more micro-mermaids to sell since all the females could be laying clutches of eggs but that was usually harder on the female since she would have to care for the eggs mostly on her own since the male’s attention would be divided among all the clutches of eggs and even in the harem style, the male would prefer the company of his favorite and thus her eggs as well, and while that method got more micro-mermaids in volume, it usually always lacked in quality, the micro-mermaids would be slim, aggressively competitive and prey driven and would only live half as long, but wild caught micro-mermaids usually died before they could produce a clutch in captivity and capturing wild micro-mermaid clutches could be almost impossible since they usually hid them so well. Especially since male micro-mermaids could be very territorial once as mated adults. But before the mating process as adults, males could be housed together as kids and teens while in captivity.

Ethel had one particular tank though where she called it the “odds and ends” tank, where usually the last of her older micro-mermaids had clutches and died before the eggs could fully develop, where she would move the clutches into the large tank to be cared for by the community, something like an orphanarium for micro-mermaids that had a little bit of everything in it and to see so many varied individuals, and sometimes divided off into schools, it was one of her favorites to sit and watch and drink her tea.

She would even get clutches from other breeders, who would usually get overwhelmed or would run out of funds to keep the tanks going since micro-mermaids could be a very expensive hobby because they had a very specific and very demanding feeding and housing requirements depending on the subspecies, the salt water varieties being the most so. But in this particular room, was the “freshies”, she had other rooms in her house, the “brackies” or brackish water types, and her most coveted, the “salties” that room she kept under lock and key since the occupants of that room were worth thousands of dollars each and everything had to be controlled specifically and carefully.

Ethel usually had the laying and hatching process down to a meticulous science, she liked to keep her tanks at a specific temperature for the “incubation” process, where the eggs themselves would incubate at what Ethel had found over the years- was the “perfect” temperature so that almost all the eggs would hatch, the adults would be comfortable, but at the same time, the food she would put into the tanks to feed the micro-mermaids would not rot and attract flies or other scavengers who would try to fly into the house and prey not only on the mico-mermaid’s food but on the micro mermaids themselves.

You were one of the first to hatch, the egg’s shell breaking to allow you to break free as you squirmed out and into your father’s hands before he caught a few of your siblings who did the same before he cooed to you and greeted you happily as you opened your big eyes up at him and snuggled into his chest before he waited for your siblings to get their first and only milk from your mother, that would set up your gut to eat for a lifetime, before you were swapped out with your siblings and once you had your first milk, then you were brought up to the surface to get just a small breath of air so your air bladders would be filled and so you could navigate the whole tank easily before both of your parents touched your head, and the heads of all your siblings to the gold nugget in the tank so that all of you would have golden heads and hair, a trait that both your parents and Ethel prided themselves on.

It also served as a marker for which group you came from, your parents were the “gold standard” of the subspecies of beta-micro-mermaids. And other pairs had different metals or different colored stones so that each pair and their children would have that “mark” to signify which ones came from which parents for future breeding purposes, so that just by looks, they could decipher your genetics instead of having to go to the master gentics manual to decipher it all the time.

Now with the air in your air bladder and your first milk in your system, now your life fully began as you fully woke up and became conscious and thus wriggly and your siblings began exploring the tank as Ethel sprinkled in “baby bits” which was a composite of larve, krill, mackerel, anchovy, feeder-fish as well as algae as you and your siblings happily began “hunting” your first real meal, some of them using the surprise attack, whereas you and a few of your other siblings used the “stalking” method, hiding behind the roots and foliage of the plants at the top of the tank before you “pounced” and grabbed ahold of your favorite little bit and bit down into it, like a big loaf of bread that got softer to eat the more it was in the water as your tiny little teeth helping you eat it as you chewed it and held it between your two tiny hands and swam down back down to the bottom and sat in the soft sandy area, which was affectionately known as “the sand pit” with your other siblings who had hatched within the last few moments as your parents were busy helping the others that were hatching and repeating the process over and over until the whole clutch hatched.

“Well hello there beauties!” Ethel greeted as she waived with a big smile as you looked over and while your first instinct was to freeze and change into the color of your surroundings, to see your parents waiving back seemed to relax the rest of you.

“It’s ok, that’s Ethel, she’s the one who takes care of us and feeds us.” Your parents introduced before you used your tiny hands to waive back like your parents had as Ethel’s smile grew wider and more excited before she sprinkled in more “baby bits” for your siblings that would be hatching in the next few hours before she left and went to her other tanks to check up on the couples and the other clutches of eggs to repeat her process as she then tried to take notes of the other hatchlings and trying to count to see how many had hatched that day and once you were all full, you piled up in the silky soft sand to take your first rest from your first full day.

Since micro-mermaids aged quickly, it was only a few weeks and all of you had grown into playful rambunctious kids, swimming and chasing each other around the tank, building up strength and stamina, Ethel had turned the temperature of the tank down to a cooler temperature to incite your appetite and help you bulk up and gain a layer of fat over your buddening muscle and your parents had given all of you names to keep you accounted for as you learned language and all the various kinds of communication, at this point in time, all of you had the same gold heads and hair but could take on the colors of your surroundings so that some of you took on the sandy color of the “sand pit” or others had taken on the green color of the foliage of the plants that grew in the tank or the colorful geode and if it wasn’t for your gold heads, Ethel would have the hardest time finding any you in the tank besides your parent's who's colors for the most part had "fixed" into permanant colors. Your mother a colorful pearlescent, your father a striking metalic green, blue, purple and black.

The very few eggs that didn’t make it, your parents had given to Ethel to dispose of respectfully so as not to incite cannibalism and in the exchange you each got to touch Ethel's larger, but wrinkled hand and had carressed it as Ethel cooed at you, watching you all fondly and noting each one's unique colors and personality.

You had been one of the ones who liked to play in the foliage and plants at the top of the tank, often leaping out of the water to splash in the water at the top of the tank, a few times, hitting the lid, at first, it was on accident, then it was on purpose, to let Ethel know that you and your family were hungry as Ethel often chuckled at your antics when you would watch her make her rounds and feed the rest of the tanks.

“Who is keeping who here?” She would often chortle as she laid a few pieces of raw mackerel into the tank to watch your parents, you and your siblings, use little shards as "weapons" from the geode as well as little pieces of bones from previous meals to stab and attack the pieces and devour it, often having to fish out the bones out later with her little net. Micro-beta-mermaids had one of the most demanding and specific diets whereas the others wouldn't be so picky. But the better the food now, the better quality the micro-beta mermaid and better health and long life you would enjoy in later life. For Ethel, it was worth the money, time and effort to make sure each little being thrived the best they could.

Ethel's younger "adopted children" who she employed were more tech savy and had cameras set up on Ethel's most beautiful tanks with the more precious and prized occupants and set up a YouTube channel and live feed channels and seeing baby micro-mermaid babies hatch was always popular and Ethel's business boomed.

And while Ethel didn’t have children of her own, she seemed to adopt many who came into the micro-mermaid hobby and you saw many of the same people, most who worked for her would come and check up on Ethel on her days off and bring their children who often stared with big, starry eyes at you and your siblings as well as the others so that all of you got used to seeing different people so that when you would eventually be mated up, being moved into the store front wouldn’t be that big of a deal to you. It had been a tried and true method for Ethel for the last forty years and most followed her excelent example.

Then, one day, a small group fairies broke into the place and roused you from your sleep as you saw the glittering glows move around the room as you left the sleep pile in the sand pit to see what was going on and swam to the top and by now, you had grown big and strong enough to lift the lid as you cracked it open just enough to see better. But that seemed to be just what another was waiting for as you were grabbed and yanked from the tank as you screamed, all the water in your lungs splashing out as you watched in horror as other curious ones had also been yanked from their tanks and were being moved to a large plastic bag with hardly any water in it, as you squirmed and thrashed and took your little stone pick like blade that you always had tucked into the longer scales around your tailfin and stabbed at the vicious creature trying to fly you to the bag as the bag was picked up and several fairies were trying to fly it out of the house.

But your attempts to free yourself from it's grasp worked, it let you go and you thankfully landed onto the back of the other fairy, pick first so as to stab it by the heart, before you bounced off of it’s back into another lid of the tank, this tank being the odds and ends one, but the force of you hitting the fairy, bouncing off the fairy, and hitting the lid- shut the lid to keep anything else from getting in or out and had actually drowned the little vicious fairy trying to steal what it could from that tank and in the darkness, you swam until you felt the gravel of the bottom of the tank and swam until you found the deepest depression, under another cave and hid yourself in the darkness, using it’s dark nature to turn yourself as black as the night’s darkness itself, except for your gold head and hair which you used to hide in the deepest part of the little crevice like cave, moving the gravel around under it to make room for you to ball yourself into.

Come morning Ethel awoke to the horror to see that her home had come under attack as none of the micro-merfolk would come up from the bottom of the tank as she opened all the tanks and once opened the odds and end’s tank to see the drowned fairy floating on the top which caused rage to fill her as she knew that someone or something had incited the fairies of all beings to break in and steal her precious stock as she immediately tried to do some damage control and try to figure out who and what was taken as it seemed each tank had micro-merfolk-children missing because a full adult would have been too big and too strong to steal and would have drowned whoever or whatever might have tried to take them as she went to her other rooms, the brackish room was thankfully locked, but she could see little scratches and claw marks at the doors and especially around the saltwater room. But the freshies were in her livingroom and thus, open to the rest of the house, that’s why it got hit. Almost all the tanks were missing at least one child, the name of each child missing being written in the little bit of algae that had accumalated on the glass since the last cleaning as Ethel used a big magnifying glass to see it and then translate it from the merfolk's language as Ethel just kept crying, her tears streaking down her wrinkled and weathered face and falling onto her reading glasses.

Ethel offered her condolences to the families that lost little ones and made a memorial for the ones who had been taken and fed all the tanks a “funeral” meal, which was the most expensive and most comforting food she could as she made some calls to her friends and business partners and employees, as well as the police to see what could be done as soon the police arrived and detectives arrived along with all of Ethel's friends and neighbors came to give Ethel comfort as the police and investigators tried to document the break in and get statements from everyone about the theft and make notes so that Ethel, who had each and every single one of her micro-merfolk insured, could contact her insurance company and begin the claim process.

Meanwhile Nona had awoken to see a couple of his adopted siblings had been attempted to be taken but something had shut the lid on the fairy so their particular tank had survived from losing anyone. Although with it being the odds and ends tank, not much of really high value was in the tank to begin with. But looking out over to the other tanks in the room, he could see that the other tanks were mourning the loss of their own as the police were there, although they were finishing up the investigation and leaving with the drowned fairy and other pictures as proof of what had happened. But that also meant that they got a whole raw mackerel for the whole tank as everyone was feasting on it while he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, something gold - flashing, catching the light before it disappeared again.

He paused in eating and took off a hunk and went over to where he thought he saw the glint of gold and heard the gravel move under the cave before he got down on his belly and peered into the crevis under cave that was it's own little cave he supposed but he didn’t see anything but black but felt the most subtle pressure wave, as if something was moving around in the crevice under the cave. He took a chance and simply set the hunk of mackerel down at the mouth of the cave and went back a fair distance to see if anything would come out and take it and hid behind the base of one of the plants and waited a few long moments before he could just barely see a small glimmer of gold again, before a small, light sandy colored hand attached to a small goldish sandy colored arm reach out and grab the bit of mackerel before it quickly took it back into the crevice and he could have sworn he heard munching sounds of someone eating it.

He quickly went back to the whole mackerel and tried to swipe a larger piece and carry it back to the crevice and tore it into two pieces and laid one at the mouth again as he slowly chewed on the other half, only he didn’t swim away, instead he sat and tried to peer in to see what was in there before he saw a glimmer of gold then it quickly vanished.

It was definitely another micro-merperson. He just had never seen anyone like it before.

“Hello?” He called into the crevice but you were still too scared to venture any closer.

“Are you ok in there? Are you hurt? What’s your name?” He asked but instead you just tried to sink down into the darkness. The water was different in this tank. It didn’t smell or taste like home. It was foreign to you and you didn’t know what tank you had fallen into. You knew some micro-merpeople did not tolerate intruders and you were afraid that if you ventured out, you would be attacked, you were unarmed and only an elder child, you were no match for an adult or even subadult.

So instead, Nona finished his hunk of mackerel and gently used his colorful tail fin to push the rest of it into the crevice before you took the offered piece and ate that too, not knowing when you would get another chance to eat again.

“See? I’m not gonna hurt you. But I just really want to know if you’re ok. Are you’re ok in there?” Nona asked worriedly as he came in and you backed up as far as you could and tried to make yourself as small as you could, folding up your own billowing fins as small as they could be before he came in and started gently grasping around the crevice for you.

“It’s ok, I promise it’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you.” Nona tried to reassure you as his fingertips grazed your fin and you quickly dove to another corner of the crevice to get away from him, but your movement caused the little bit of light to glint of your golden head and the shimmering black of your body as you moved and Nona could hear your labored breathing as he felt the water move around as you moved and settled again before he found the back of the cave and stretched out his hands as wide as he could and began to go forward again before you dove for the other corner on the other side, this time your outline was shown against the light coming in from the mouth of the crevice and all Nona saw was gold from your head, down your hair before it flowed into a shimmering pitch black again before Nona realized that you were no bigger than he was, in fact you were a little smaller than him and the scent on the water told him you weren’t from this tank, from another but he couldn’t recognize the scent because a clutch had never come into this tank from yours before. You were a kid, obviously from another tank, you must have been dropped in by the fairy, having grabbed you from another tank and trying to grab a second from his own tank.

“My name is Nona, and I’m 22 cycles old and we’re in the odd’s tank. You’re ok, you’re safe, no one is going to hurt you, not in this tank. Ethel’s really good about if there are any bullies, she pulls them out and puts them in the bully tank. You are not in the bully tank so you’re safe. I promise you, you’re safe. No one is going to hurt you. I won’t hurt you and I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you either.” Nona tried to reassure you as he came forward again as he closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of your breathing and even he could feel your fast heart rate pulse in the small crevice’s water, this time his hands forming an open reaching motion before his hands settled on your face and jaw before he opened his eyes to see two gold ones blinking back at him rapidly as he could feel your fast heart rate stay fast before it eventually started to slow before he chanced a small swipe of his thumbs on the apples of your cheeks as he just stared in awed wonder at you before you finally broke down and flung yourself at him and pinned him down onto the floor of the crevice, clinging to him and crying.

“It was awful, I saw all these pretty moving lights, it was glowing and glittering like the jewels do only it was from on the outside and I swam up to the top of the tank and once I did I was yanked out of the water and my mother always told me to keep a weapon in my tail so I took it and I stabbed at it as much as I could and it dropped me and I hit another fairy and I lost my blade and I fell down and I could feel the other monster that was at the top begin to drown but I just dove down and tried to find the safest spot I could but I didn’t know what tank I’m in and I thought I was in one of the shark tanks and I thought if I left, I was gonna get eaten!” You wailed into his chest as he wrapped his arms around you and comforted you.

“Do you know what tank you’re from?” He asked.

“No, I just know that my parent’s names are Avarian and Miralia.” You shook your head no.

“Ok, well I’m sure when Ethel cames back for dinner, once she sees you, she’ll know which tank to return you too so you can be with your family.” Nona consoled you.

He had never felt another mergirl’s hair as soft as yours, it was like it was softer than anything he had ever felt before, or felt one who was so young to have hair so as long, it went to your tail and usually only the elder micro-mermaids had hair that long but they kept it in braids to keep it from being tangled. But you were also a bit heavier than most girls would be at your age and your fins were bigger than his! He was a delta guppy micro-merman himself, known for their massive and colorful tails but his own was dwarfed by yours.

“So, what’s your name?” He asked again.

“Chenera.” You sniffled.

“Well it’s nice to meet you Chenera, like I said, my name is Nona.” He repeated.

“Do you know how old you are?” He asked

“I think only 19 cycles, 20, counting today.”

“Ok, so you’re younger than me.” Nona realized.

“Are you sure you’re ok? You’re not hurt or anything?” He asked again.

“I am.” You finally admitted as you could already tell there was bruising all over you and scratches from that vicious fairy’s claws.

“Ok, well do you want to go to the healer or do you want the healer to come to you?” He asked.

“Can they come here? I don’t want to leave.” You admitted.

“Ok, well, stay here then, and I’ll go get them, I’ll be right back ok? Two flicks of a tail.” He reassured you before he gently eased you off of him before you curled in on yourself in the darkness and he got out and raced towards the eldest merperson in the tank, who was especially inept at healing magic.

“I found someone.” He said as he tugged on her arm as she sat and ate the head of the mackerel, the best part of the fish.

“Found who?” She asked.

“The fairy that drowned in our tank, trying to steal the little ones, it was carrying another from another tank, she got away and hid under the big cave where we keep the half clutches. She got really hurt. Her body is all puffy.

“If she’s a goldfish micro- her body should be a little puffy.” She argued.

“She’s not like any other goldfish micro. She’s something I’ve never seen or smelled before.” He insisted.

“She’s hurt, she’s scared, she’s younger than me by a few cycles, she’s in the wrong tank and thinks if she leaves, she’s gonna get eaten. It took a lot just for me to get her to talk to me. Her name is Chenera, and she doesn’t know what tank she’s from. All she knows is her parent’s names. She says she’s hurt, she needs you.” Nona pleaded desperately.

“Ok, ok, I’m coming, I’m coming.” She finally relented before Nona practically dragged her to the mouth of the crevice.

“She must be a young one to fit inside here.” The elder- Thya noted.

“Chenera, I have the healer here, but she can’t fit in there, can you just come to the mouth of the cave so she can see you?” Nona asked before he stuck his upper body inside.

“It’s ok, she’s not going to eat you.” Nona reassured you.

“Here, I wouldn’t introduce you to anyone dangerous. Take my hand, it’s going to be ok.” Nona encouraged as he reached his hand out to you before you tentatively took it and he gently guided you to the mouth before you stuck your head out, your long golden hair suddenly picking up the cross current and being taken away in that.

“Oh my gills.” Thya murmured in awe.

“Hey Chenera was it? Hi, I’m Thya, I’m the eldest mermaid here and the healer of the tank, can you show me what hurts?” She asked.

“My head, and my back and, my arms, and most of my tail, just, everything.” You answered as you looked from her to Nona, back to her worriedly.

“Nona, go get Abaria and Fonta, she’ll need a mother’s touch.” Thya urged Nona but your tightened your grip on his hand ,kept him from going.

“Here darling, take my hand, let him go get some more help, he’ll be right back ok?” Thya offered as she offered her own hand to you before Nona simply put his hand next to hers so it wouldn’t take much for you to let go of him and hold onto her before you hesitantly transferred your hand from Nona’s to hers before he quickly swam away again and came back with three mother looking figures, the two Thya suggested and his own.

“Oh you poor thing! Did that vicious fairy drop you into here?” Abaria asked as she came and sat closest to you as the other mothers crowded around you as you nodded.

“Well you’re in the best tank in the place, we’re all found family here. No one is going to hurt you here. It’s ok to come out. Or are you too hurt to come out?” They asked.

“Come here darling. It’s ok. I know you must miss your mom something awful, but until we get you sorted out, I’m adopting you and I can be your mom until you’re reunited with your other one ok?” Abaria offered before you looked from Abaria back to Nona.

“She’s one of the best moms in the tank besides my own. She’s mom to most of the kids in the tank and she takes care of everyone like she laid the eggs herself.” Nona reassured you before you hesitantly crawled out of the crevice as the others scooted back so that all of you could come out.

“My goodness, how did all of you fit in there?” Thya asked once you were out and your fins unfurled. You had bigger fins than the adults even.

“Like this.” You contracted all your fins until it was just your body and a thin folded fin was behind you.

“You’re a plump little thing aren’t you?” Fonta noted.

“Not any more than any of my siblings, we’re all shaped like this.” You defended, unfurling your fins to cover yourself- self consciously as you pouted under her scruitinging.

“Well that’s good, that means that you and your siblings are well cared for and are fed well. And with a head like yours but a body like yours, it’s hard to know what tank you’re from.” Abaria sighed with an apologetic smile as she pet your head, feeling your silky soft hair before the other kids came around to curiously look to see you, all of them of different ages, some as young as three cycles and some as old as 30, one of the oscar-micro-mermaids, who was 27 cycles, already seeing all he needed to see, you were, in his opinion, the prettiest girl in the tank, therefore, you were going to be his future mate as the other girls in the tank looked at you with both weary suspicion, jealousy and a bit of pity because you clearly didn’t belong in the tank and with as black as you were form the chest down, you stuck out like a sick fin, but with a head and hair like gold, it was still a beautiful combination.

“Who’s that?” They asked.

“The fairy that attacked us last night, took her from her home tank and dropped her in here while they were trying to steal you guys.” Thya answered them.

“She didn’t fall from the fairy that came into our tank, she fell from way higher, like another was carrying her from way higher, she hit the fairy, hit them into the water, bounced off of their back, hit the lid and made the lid close and drowned the fairy, she saved us.” The kids that had been involved offered.

“Oh my gils, is that what happened?” They asked you as you nodded yes as Thya used the glowing of her hands to highlight all your bruises and cuts so that most of body glowed blue from injuries before she went through and healed each one, and noticed that the black then took on a midnight blue appearance, which she had never seen before and puzzled everyone around you.

“Oh you poor baby, come here.” Abaria gathered you into her arms and comforted you, and held you to her chest and gently rocked you comfortingly once your upper body was healed while Thya worked on your tail.

But sadly, Ethel left to go to work before the others could grab her attention. You spent the rest of the day talking to Thya and Abaria about what your tank looked like and what the names of your siblings were as it was clear to them that you were one of the more ‘special’ tanks but because of your coloring, you didn’t look like any of the other tanks that they could see from there.

By night time, though, the automatic feeders fed all the inhabitants of all the tanks and then not long after, the lights shut off, signalling it was time for bed.

But when Ethel came home late, the movement of her and her using the flashlight in her phone to make her way to her bedroom, was too much like the fairy’s light as you quickly squirmed out of the sleep pile and dove for that crevice again, hiding away as she passed and went to bed herself but once again, you were scared of coming out.

Your squirming had caused Nona to wake up again since he was nestled close to you, his hand in yours as his own instincts told him to stay put on the bottom of the tank until the light passed by but when he looked over to see where you had been sleeping with Abaria, her mate and their brood, you were gone but he had a feeling he’d know where to find you.

But the thought of sleeping on the gravel instead of the soft sand just hurt him to think about, so he swam around and collected bits of moss and leaves so he would cover the inside of that crevice so you would have a comfortable place to sleep for the night at least.

“Chenera,” Nona whispered when he came closer.

“Nona?” You asked as your head peeked out and saw him.

“A cave under a cave surrounded by gravel is no place to spend the night. Here, all this should make it a little more comfortable at least.” He offered what he had collected before you smiled gratefully at him, your white pearly teeth and golden head a sharp and beautiful contrast to the darkness before he passed each thing to you before you had Nona come in and help you to move even more of the gravel out of the way and dig down so that there was a deeper and more comfortable depression inside before Nona and you set the leaves down first and used the moss to make something of pillow before you laid down and refused to let go of Nona’s hand.

“Can you please stay here with me?” You asked, your big golden eyes too much for him to resist, even at his relatively young age before he laid down beside you, keeping himself between the mouth of the crevice and you as you cuddled into his chest, your fins wrapping around him as his’ tried to wrap around you in turn as he used his arm as your pillow as your hair was almost like a blanket for both of you as your colors changed again, a dark emerald, shimmering green now with black and gold as you settled down before he soon felt you relax completely and fall asleep before he did the same.

[okayoonoh]

TAEYONG’S FAMILY

a/n: here is the third part!

i just sorted everything and there is a lot for me to do, but I’M DETERMINED!!!

anyway, i hope you guys like this! taeyong’s kids are pretty iconic imo :)

here’s the masterlist for all things nct dad related! 

LEE TAEYONG:

has two kids, 1 boy and 1 girl. lee youngchul is 8 years older than his little sister, lee youngmi.

LEE YOUNGCHUL: >> as a baby <<

you know how taeyong has big doe eyes?

yeah, that’s your son

he was even considerate to his parents

you and taeyong were very very stressed when you were raising youngchul

you and taeyong just had so much love for the little baby but like you were nervous bc he was your first baby

like most days, you guys were just fine

but on somedays, you and taeyong were just so stressed

because you guys weren’t used to the balance yet

the balance of baby, work, and celebrity life lol

but like on those days, youngchul would hold in his tears

you and taeyong didn’t notice it at this time

but when you had youngmi and everything was a little more chill

you realized that youngchul almost knew to take it easy on you two

his eyes are just so mesmerizing

like everyone in the group are entranced by his eyes

youngchul didn’t smile too often

but when he did, oh was it a treat

he was more on the shy and quiet side as a baby

he wasn’t super social, but he did like being around all of his uncles

he was really bad with strangers tho

like when all of the members met him, they went in cycles and youngchul was just not vibing with any of them

youngchul eventually warmed up to them tho!

he’s really generous and considerate with everything

like if he was playing with another baby (this is even before he could formulate words)

and someone would hand him a toy

youngchul will look at it for like a couple seconds

and then he’d give it right to his friend

just a really nice and considerate boy who kept it easy on you and taeyong’s beginner selves!

>> as a child <<

take all of the uwu’s that you and taeyong have combined and bam

you have youngchul

he is just the sweetest little thing in the whole universe

he’s so considerate of everyone and everything

he is a little shy, but when he’s around his family and friends, he’s just having fun

he’s a lot of fun to have around

he’s best friends with doyoung’s oldest son, kim minyoung (they’re born the same year)

they have the same dynamic as doyoung and taeyong tho

like they play fight, but they’re like brothers

youngchul is still the most considerate little bean tho

minyoung knows that youngchul doesn’t like strangers

so minyoung always makes sure that youngchul isn’t along when running errands, or just going outside

they’re like always hanging out together

they practically live at each others houses

like it got to the point where minyoung would sleepover at your and taeyong’s house, you guys got another bed

doyoung got another bed for youngchul too

they’re honestly just brothers at this point lol

anyway

around this age, youngchul started to learn that he loves to dance

youngchul has a hard time expressing a lot of his emotions

bc honestly, he’s full with so much anxiety

but he always saw his dad dancing growing up

and he learned quickly that he loved dancing too

he learned the dances to all of taeyong’s songs

taeyong is so proud of him

like taeyong LOVES to teach youngchul all of the dances too

youngchul’s favorite thing to do at this age is go to dance practices with his dad

and whenever there’s a break, youngchul is in the studio and he’s dancing

he’s honestly just a mini taeyong

you’re always so happy to see him dance with his dad

bc you can tell that youngchul is at his happiest when he dances

a lot of people want to be his friend

he’s shy, but he still knows how to greet and talk to people

if you’re lucky and you become his friend?

oh man, you’re set for life

he loves and he loves hard

if someone plays him?

ooh boy

you’re going to have to answer to all of his family

(oh yeah, i’m talking about all of nct and their kids)

he’s not super sure with what path he wants to go down

like if he just wants to be a dancer

or if he wants to go into a group

taeyong does his best to show him all of the options

he just makes you proud every single day 

he’s the type of kid to give you the biggest hug everyday he comes home from school

when he learned that he was going to be an older brother?

he was so happy

he was so excited to be an older brother

(youngchul and noah seo, johnny’s oldest son, are born the same year)

he’s watched noah take care of his younger siblings and he honestly wanted that?

like he’s so close to minyoung, but he wants a sibling that he can see everyday

he’s such a good older brother too

he’s just such a good kid :,)

>> as a teen/adult <<

ooh boy

he’s still really kind and considerate

he’s speaks in tiny like jungwoo

like even his whole aesthetic is just soft

he decided to become a choreographer

and like ooh boy

when he dances

it’s like taeyong’s nonexistent 3rd child

like his aesthetic is so soft

but then you get him in the studio or on stage?

it’s like

he’s a completely different person

like his duality is just????

he decided he didn’t want to join a group so he became a choreographer

and he’s just living his best life

okay

so like his exterior and aesthetic is all soft, right?

then one day, he kinda realized that he’s really skinny

now there’s nothing wrong with that

but he wants to do some stunts and stuff like that

but he’s having a hard time bc he’s so skinny

so, to solve this, he starts working out with noah

(this is when he’s like 16-17)

he told you and taeyong that he started going to the gym with noah

and y’all trusted him, especially if he was going with noah

so when he’d leave you guys were just like “okay, don’t hurt yourself.”

a couple months pass and it’s summertime

the families decide to take a trip to the beach or the waterpark or something

and like everyone remembers youngchul as just a skinny kid

but when he took off his shirt

everyone was shook

like he wore oversized clothing a lot, so everyone thought he was still skinny

oh, how wrong you were

dancing + noah’s gym = greek god

and, lo’ and behold, your son, lee youngchul

he shocked everyone so well

even taeil’s oldest daughter, moon yoojin, blushed

anD NOTHING EVER PHASES HER

noah felt a little betrayed

but like

youngchul doesn’t quite understand

he starts getting shy again but minyoung is hyping him up

anyway, everyone had a fun time regardless

he’s really good with kids

his goal is to open his own dance studio

he opens his own dance studio with ten’s oldest, kaleb

he works at dance studio as a choreographer

usually for the rookies and the newbies and the youngins

he’s the good cop

kaleb is the scary and bad cop

but in the end, their both sweethearts tbh

and he’s living his best life there

girls asks him out all of the time and he just gets so shy whenever they do

honestly and truly, if anyone wants a chance to be with him, you have to be his friend first

like if you just ask him out the second you meet him, he’ll say no

just because you’ll make him so shy he doesn’t know how to answer lol

he’s apart of the 1st gen of kids, so he’s also like an older brother to everyone

people don’t usually come to him for advice, but they’ll go to him if they want to rant

he’s really good at listening and providing adequate input

he’s pretty reliable too

oh, he’s really protective of the younger ones too

like he doesn’t like when he has to be intimidating

but he will if anyone hurts the younger ones

or his younger sister

he’s just a quiet but sincere boy who cares a great deal about his friends and family

LEE YOUNGMI >> as a baby <<

she was very active

like crawling everywhere

she started showing signs of loving music/dancing at this age

she was dancing before she could even sit up on her own lol

as a baby, she had big eyes like her brother did

she smiled more than youngchul did

but she did cry more than youngchul did

youngchul took care of her a lot at this age

he wanted to, dw

youngchul was just so happy to be an older brother

he had a hard time understanding that she could not understand him at al lol

anyway

one of the easiest ways to calm youngmi down when she was crying was to put on some music 

she occupies herself by dancing when you add music into the mix

she loved strangers

she was a lot more social than youngchul was

she was pretty talkative too

the second she could formulate a sentence, she did

whenever taeyong was on tour and she missed him

all you would do was put a dance practice or interview or something

on the tv and she would eat it up

as a baby, she could watch him for hours

her first word was “appa”

she’s such a daddy’s girl

taeyong has so much love for his daughter too

youngmi hated to be separated from taeyong tho

it got to the point to where taeyong started bringing her to work

the members didn’t mind in the slightest

like when youngchul was at school, youngmi would be at work with taeyong while you were at work as well

while taeyong was practicing with his group, the members from the other groups would take turns watching her 

she was pretty chill tho

she wouldn’t cause too much trouble

she’ll just wait patiently for her dad to be done

she loves you too tho, don’t get me wrong

like if your at home cooking food for her, she’s so intrigued

you’ll sit her on the counter and she’ll just enjoy watching you

she loves to give eskimo kisses 

(that’s when you rub your nose against someone else’s)

she’s honestly just a sweetheart <3

>> as a child <<

just like her older brother

she started dancing at this age

except, she also started getting interested in rapping at this age

she thinks female rappers are super cool

she’s also a daddy’s girl 

like taeyong loves his kids equally

but youngmi is really clingy with him lol

like youngchul, she wants to hangout with her dad as much as possible

in school, a lot of guys have crushes on her

she couldn’t care less lol

she’s best friends with johnny’s youngest daughter, luna seo, and ten’s youngest daughter, amarin leechaipornkul (aria)

they’re like the powerpuff girls

youngmi is buttercup

she’s kinda tough

she’s more like buttercup because she’s really active

she’s pretty good at sports and stuff

in the group, she’s the fun one

like she’s down to do anything and everything

she’s an adrenaline junkie

she’s just down to do whatever, whenever

but she’s more into dancing

like everyday

she learns from her brother

like she learns how to do a lot of hip hop and like strong moves from youngchul

so she breaks the stigma for girls doing just feminine moves

she’s really good at dancing too

like at a young age, she was already freestyling

she learns dances really easily too

like youngchul will explain things with counts like once or twice

and she’s already got it

she started learning how to write lyrics at this stage too

she knows that she wants to do something with music

but she wasn’t sure at this stage

she knows that she wants to have fun wherever she goes

she’s honestly just a fun individual

she’s adores everyone in her family

she thinks you’re amazing with everything you do

she thinks her brother is so cool and that he can do anything

and she thinks taeyong is simply the best dancer/rapper in the world

>> as a teen/adult <<

SHES SO PRETTY

she has a mix of yours and taeyong’s eyes

like she has your eye shape but has the sparkle that taeyong has

anyway

she becomes the main rapper and dancer for a girl group

she’s having a grand old time doing it all tho

she writes all of her own raps

she still asks taeyong for advice with certain things

but she’s pretty independent with a lot of her stuff

anyway

she has taeyong’s laugh

like how his laugh isn’t on the exhale, it’s on the inhale

she’s apart of the same group that luna seo is in (plot twist, aria is in this group too)

not only is she an amazing rapper, she has a really sweet singing voice too

she prefers rapping tho

her vibe isn’t soft/shy all the time

it’s like her stage presence

like she just gives off this energy that’s purely her

she’s one of the most real idols out there lol

she still looks up to her brother even tho she’s more well known then he is, technically

she’ll go and ask him for advice as to how to do this dance and stuff

she tries to set him up with other idols lol but he gets flustered every time

she’s pretty sassy tbh

like she comes up with a lot of comebacks really easily

she’s really funny too

her favorite types of jokes are dad jokes tho :/

she’s the leader of the group

she’s really good at speaking

she’s a really good leader like her dad

she doesn’t have a hard time in front of a camera at all

youngmi becomes famous because she’s really good at tracking the cameras

she doesn’t let her status get to her tho

she’s apart of one of the younger generations tho, so she’s not the big sister type

she is happy being the youngest in her family tho

youngmi has to deal with aria already lol

honestly, youngmi just makes all of you so proud

like she can spit bars

and she still comes home as often as she can

she’s a machine tho

she doesn’t stop working 

when she does stop, she just sleeps

she firmly believes that sleep is for the weak tho

she can eat her entire body weight, easily

she eats a lot

bc she burns so many calories dancing

but still

she can shock the world with how much she can eat

she’s a little awkward with little kids

she’s really good with people who are older than her

but like little ones?

she doesn’t know how to act around them lol

all in all, youngmi is an amazingly talented woman who makes you, taeyong, youngchul, and just the whole world, really proud

---

the power that youngchul and youngmi hold? crazy.

anyway, i hope you guys liked it!! yuta’s family is up next!!!

- amy <3

[elliotfm]

hey guys ! i’m jules and i’m super excited to open; i have two super clingy cats in case any of you ever need a visual pick-me-up, i’m a uni student in canada and a Big skincare and dark chocolate junkie, more than likely gonna be typing replies while indulging in either jsyk ! i tried to keep it short since i’m a rambly bitch, but links to elliot’s basic stats and her wc page will be up soon — though i have some under the read more — as well as a playlist whenever i find the energy to set it up here FLDKSJGSD also pardon the lack of theme, i forgot the url for the preview and code link for the one i wanted to use but i’ll have it figured out shortly ! anyways, without further ado:

◤  *  kim doyeon  ;  twenty-one  ;  cis female  ;  she/her  —  is  that  who  i  think  it  is  over  there  ?  outer  banks  very  own  kook  ,  elliot hong  .  makes  sense  ‘cause  i  can  practically  hear  into it  by  chase atlantic  blasting  through  their  headphones  .  plus  who  else  would  you  find  out  at  the boneyard  right  now  ?  some  say  they're  pretty  astute  ,  but  it's  the  imperious  reputation  i'd  watch  out  for  .  i  wonder  if  they're  still  a student / heiress  and  obsessing  about  keeping  up  with  their  bongs, random shoes and empty bottles of dom on the living room floor  &  a bite as big as her bark  vibe  .  [  ooc  ;  jules/21+/nt/she/her  ]

tw: drug and alcohol mention

the middle child of her parents, elliot is the fourth of her father’s five children

her mother is his second ( now ex — ) wife, though they remain cordial and have since moved on

grew up with a silver spoon, her dad being a wall street giant who would split his time between nyc and, once upon a time, connecticut — though it ultimately became a back-and-forth from nyc and the outer banks when elle was about four

her mother was adopted into an old money family ( on the lower end of that group ) in charlotte when she was a baby and had become something of a socialite when young, but shifted to becoming an entrepreneur. of what ?? i still haven’t figured that out LFJDGS

has a half-sister and half-brother from her dad’s first marriage, tallulah ( aka tally, a pain in my ass over on my indie fdlkjgs ) and bennett, and is basically a mini tally as all she really had were brothers and was Attached to her big sis whenever she’d visit

and as for her older and younger brother..... they might be wcs soon enough so we’ll leave that be for now DFLSGKJ

now onto ELLE ! she was the princess of the younger three hong kids, like the apple of her mother’s eye and her father’s Biggest tormentor

aka would hog the phone whenever he couldn’t come home for the night to tell him good night, hounded him to read her bedtime stories, pretty much always got her way in the most wholesome way when she was a kid

like i said before, moved to the obx when she was four because her mom used to visit when she was a kid and loved it; it was also due to its convenience in seeing her maternal grandparents regularly, its quieter nature in comparison to the affluent hubs for businessmen outside of manhattan and just in general

her dad just went along because it’s what his wife wanted and fuck it, at least the kids wouldn’t hound them to take them to places beyond their urban surroundings as often DLSFJDS

growing up, she wasn’t Too much of a brat but liked having the spotlight on her — she’d accredit it to tally’s influence AND her parents caving to her whims more often than not — and was very sociable and respectful even back in primary school

LOVED to explore, and, while not a tomboy per se, would take part in some activities her brothers or other boys in her grade participated in; be it to bond, trail along her siblings’ every move because she didn’t wanna stray far from action, or to prove that she can hold her own, she’d do it

uhhh overall a cute, if not high-maintenance, kid, but her teen years ?? yikes, people would be in for a ride bc this is when she REALLY started to emulate tally and shift her boldness towards riskier shit

basically could’ve been a main character on outer banks itself with her reckless antics and partying as a teenager…. and now, even SGDLKF

could’ve been considered a typical kook, save for her wild streak; she could hang with the pogues and wouldn’t let her slight superiority complex come into play unless she was challenged or something, otherwise she’d chase the party and the fun wherever she could find it

loves fashion and being the hottest in the room, didn’t need to step on toes to get further but would do so at times Solely to make a point/to call someone out on their shit

is now attending columbia u, rather she’s taking a Break as she makes sure she’s content with the path she’s taking ( aka being the trashy 21 year old she wants to be, chilling at the family home with just her siblings and daddy’s money with no Major worries involving the near future )

isn’t the most studious person, but she’d gotten far enough to begin wrapping up her major whenever she decides to head back

though.. the entire time has been mostly spent sleeping with some of her rich friends, drinking and smoking pot, with the occasional hit of whatever clean enough drug that one of her friends had on them

also spent a lot of her time meeting up with her socialite big sis as a plus one to some cooler events, so while she’s not famous, her name has made the rounds where it matters given her surname’s already established relevance in nyc

when she’s not getting an education and is homebound instead, she’s pissing off her neighbours with her house parties at the family home on the beach, doing dumb shit the second she’s inside of a gala or club — albeit with partial discretion that’s completely ignored whenever around other young adults — and just chilling poolside and staying hydrated fgkldjsg

personality and shit

if i were to use a label to describe her, she'd be a mix between the princess/baby doll, the hedonist and the reveller i think ?? i don’t even know where to place her LKSDFGJLK

self-confidence is through the roof, KNOWS she’s pretty and doesn’t really let rumours or negativity get her down — aside from wanting to unleash hell if someone keeps irritating her for whatever reason

she’s messy as hell, but around the uptight, live-through-your-kids parents of kooklandia she puts on the façade of a poised young woman who has Some fun because she knows it bodes well.. only even then, she doesn’t maintain it bc honestly, who cares —

she’s not a complete dick per se, but she can be snide and boastful when provoked

has something of a superiority complex, independent and lives lavishly with reckless abandon

non-committal yet sensible when it comes to who she sleeps with; typically has a couple of stable fuck buddies but has had some one night stands if she’s feeling it

keeps her true inner circle small, but gets off on attention and likes to stay cordial with some people, so she’s got quite a few friends all the same

like i said earlier, will hang with the pogues and thinks the whole class rivalry thing is kind of stupid when it means sticking with her own would mean dealing with parent pleasers, polo shirt enthusiasts and either being too straight-laced or too destructive for her liking

.. so she’s a far cry from her sister in that regard, otherwise rip GLSKJ

though that doesn’t stop her from unleashing her pompous attitude onto a pogue when it seems appropriate, aka doing anything to piss her off

there really isn’t much to expand on tbh, though i will say that her emboldened nature and need for a good time however she can get it comes out more than her uglier side ( except her vanity. that’ll never go away KSFDG )

some quick plot ideas

a childhood friend or two, pretty standard idea there

could carry over into a trio type of thing depending on where she stands with either of them, or they’re a different couple of pals she’s made over the years

family friends, aka nyc kids or people who’ve rubbed elbows with either of elle’s parents, though they don’t Actually have to be friends of course JGDSFKL

her best friend and confidante, someone she can have cute moments with between the chaos and one of the few people that elle would probably accost someone for if they hurt the other in any way

enemies are always fun ! probably rooted in a competitive streak more than anything else but i’m all ears for a more complex reason

ex-hookup(s), current hookup(s), throw it all at me klgfjd

a hateship/ewb would be fun with her too, oh my god sfdgklj

FAKE FRIENDS !! either in the past or currently, probably stayed friends for the sake of their appearances but have a lot of quiet disdain for each other — though elliot wouldn’t be too bothered by that situation beyond being around someone she deems soul-sucking, face value hype and knowing they probably need her more than she needs them gives her too much satisfaction fkskgls

an ex-something, open to anyone. either someone her parents forced on her to straighten her out a tad that she wound up liking…. after a good period of her telling them to fuck off sdglk or someone she’d been seeing for a while at her own accord, likely someone her parents wouldn’t approve of so readily. would’ve ended the same way: with her calling it off because she didn’t want to settle down, not even for a relationship ( and perhaps bc she’s scared of commitment with her cracked family dynamic that’s been a thing since birth, but that’s another story jsdfkg )

or we can just as easily do high school exes who only really stayed together until graduation bc their parents were being Some level of overbearing with how they’d be such a good couple — not that there was nothing there, just nothing beyond sex and being some kind of status symbol to each other, idk lfkgsd

her designated event pals would be super fun ?? sdgkflj like they go to all of these big parties and galas with their families, break off to do their own thing bc those events are boring as fuck, and head back to her place before she throws an after-party of sorts. they’d be decent friends beyond this though, them being someone she trusts a good bit compared to others in her circle

[loveforpreserumsteve]

Those Who Fall: “APTF” Story (Modern Domestic Stucky AU)

Thirty-One:

It wasn't until they were climbing out of their vehicles that Steve noticed the shirt that Katie was wearing. A long sleeve black crop top with skeletons holding pumpkins that were very clearly supposed to represent breasts. At the house, Katie had been wearing a cardigan, so Steve didn't see it at breakfast. He especially didn't see it once Steve and Bucky started placing the wooden Candy Land inspired decorations around the front yard.

Good-humoredly, Steve shook his head, "Cute."

"Felt it was appropriate," Katie agreed with a shit-eating grin. Then, she said, "Auntie Tibs sent it in her care package."

"Tabitha," Bucky reprimanded, not looking at the shirt as he was busy getting the wagon out from the trunk.

"Geez, throw me under the bus," Tibby feigned offense as she slung her camera around her neck. Pointedly looking at her brother and brother-in-law, she accurately accused, "As if you two haven't worn suggestive shirts."

Remembering the shirts that Natasha had gifted them and had only stopped once they decided to become foster parents. Steve remembered the time the pair wore matching shirts with Bucky's claiming, "Good Things," and Steve's solidifying, "Small Packages," and Winifred told them to explain why they found it so funny to a confused nine year old Tibby. After that, they stopped wearing the gag-gift shirts around family and refused to go anywhere that children might be.

"Fine," Steve rolled his eyes, then quietly warned, "If the minis start asking questions though, I'm having you answer them."

"Fine," Tibby scoffed as she gladly accepted Sophia's hand. Swinging their arms, Sophia led Tibby towards the pumpkin patch while she asked the little girl, "What are you thinking about carving this year?"

"A scary face," Sophia exaggerated, scrunching her face and hunching her back as she wiggled her fingers in Tibby's direction to seem spooky.

Holding her hand to her chest, Tibby pretended to be frightened by the expression as she said, "I don't know, Soph. That might be too scary."

Steve chuckled under his breath and helped Ethan out of the van. When Jonas finally arrived, pulling up beside their van, Steve's brows furrowed. First by the way Jonas was vaping, and exhaled a puff of cinnamon donut scented vapor out the cracked window. Second was when Vis climbed out from the back and assisted Wanda out of the older model vehicle.

"Hi," Steve greeted, brows still furrowed.

"Hi," Vis smiled, fidgeting. Almost as though he was worried he wasn't welcomed.

Steve smoothed out his expression and asked, "Ready to pick some apples? Find a pumpkin? You're coming over to carve them, right?"

"Oh," Vis bit back his lip at the offer, "I wasn't sure if you'd want me around since I was there yesterday."

"Nonsense," Bucky confirmed, taking Holly from Steve and sitting her in the stroller wagon. Buckling the -- now -- eleven month old baby into the seat, Bucky assured, "We were going to make tonight a whole thing."

Steve agreed, "Make some apple crisp. Carve some pumpkins. Watch some Halloween movies."

"C'mon, it'll be fun," Wanda encouraged, lovingly nudging him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Even Ethan started excitedly hopping up and down as he begged, "Please, please, please!"

Clearly about to cave before he finally agreed, "Yeah, it sounds like fun." Sheepishly peeking over at Steve and Bucky as they placed the canopy onto the wagon and asked them, "If that's okay."

"Of course, it is," Steve grinned, placing a blanket and a diaper bag in the stroller wagon.

Bucky closed the trunk door and teased, "We'll even let you pick a movie."

"Guess we know who the favorite is," Jonas joked, fixing the collar of his jean jacket.

Removing the light pink vape pen from his pocket, he inhaled a deep huff. Completely appalled, Bucky herded the older teen away from the younger teens. As Steve helped Ethan zip his windbreaker jacket, he heard Bucky reprimand, "What the hell are you thinking? Do you have any idea what that could do to your lungs? Or your siblings' with you doing it around them? And what about pops? He's got asthma, for fuck's sake!"

"I don't do it every day," Jonas weakly defended himself.

"It doesn't matter!" Bucky threw his arms up in a mix of exasperation and incredulousness.

"Okay," Steve clapped his hands to gain the attention of the other kids in front of him, "Should we pick apples or pumpkins first?"

"Pumpkins!" Ethan jumped in place, beside the wagon. Affectionately, Steve ruffled his white-blond hair. Crossing his arms, he complained, "Papa!"

Sweetly, Steve winked at the little boy and held out a stocking hat to him. For a moment, Ethan pouted, but eventually took the hat from him. Smiling, Steve leaned over to accept the kiss Ethan pressed to his cheek.

"Shouldn't we wait?" Luke asked, glancing between the two minivans where Bucky was talking to Jonas.

Steve attempted to lead the youngest teen towards the pumpkin patch where Sophia, Tibby, and Katie were picking out pumpkins. With Ethan helping push the stroller wagon, he reassured the fifteen year old, "It's okay."

Luke worried his plump lower lip with his teeth and nodded. Reminding Steve of how anxious Luke got whenever anyone was disciplined. Even though the brothers had been in Steve and Bucky's custody for four years, the younger still grew anxious and afraid that the punishments would be physical the way they had been in their childhoods. And while Luke still tensed at any time that anyone was reprimanded, there was progress. At least now he wasn't having panic attacks and locking himself in the bathroom as he harmed himself.

Rubbing Luke's back, Steve asked, "Are you excited for the dance tonight?"

Shrugging, he admitted, "Not really."

"Why not?" Steve's brows furrowed, genuinely confused. Idly noticing Wanda and Vis walk ahead of them with Ethan holding their hands. Since Luke wasn't going to answer anytime soon, Steve told him, "You know you don't have to go, right? You can just stay home with us." Playfully bumping Luke's side, he teased, "We might even let you pick a movie."

"I wanna go," Luke quickly argued. Giving another shrug, he admitted, "I just wish that I had a date."

"Sweetie," Steve deflated, feeling the sting of rejection from his own youth. Trying to help soothe his son's heartache, Steve said, "Sometimes dances are better when you go stag. Jonas almost always went date-less. It doesn't mean you can't have a fun time."

Taking in a deep breath, Luke nodded and dismissed, "I know."

Steve quietly laughed at himself and bumped into the teen again as he tried to cheer him up, "You can always ask her to dance."

Chewing on his lip, he looked over at Steve, "What if she says no."

Feeling a heartache that only ever came from knowing their child could potentially experience heartbreak. Not knowing how to reassure him, Steve helplessly reiterated, "Then she says no."

Nodding, Luke redirected his attention to the ground as they walked across the gravel parking lot. Making sure that they weren't in a spot to be hit by a vehicle, Steve stopped walking. And since Steve stopped, so did Luke. Steve put the lock on the wagon and turned to face his son.

"If she says no, it won't be the end of the world. I know that it'll feel like it, but it won't be. And we'll all be here for you," Steve reassured, "Even if you lock yourself in your room, we'll be here. Always. And just because this one girl might say no, doesn't mean that every girl will."

Nodding, Luke kicked at a rock and said, "I know." Looking up at Steve, he continued, "I just really like her, pops."

"I know, honey," Steve confirmed, pulling the fifteen year old into a hug. Rubbing his back, Steve repeated, "I know."

Leaning down to rest his head on Steve's shoulder the way he did when he was shorter, Luke hugged Steve just a little tighter. Steve knew that heartache was a part of growing up, but he wished that it wasn't.

Giving the boy's torso a comforting squeeze, Steve said, "C'mon, let's go find some good pumpkins. You know they're always the first ones to go."

Nodding, Luke pulled out of the embrace. From the wagon, Holly was gibbering away. Her tiny, chubby hand covered in slobber while the other one was gesturing towards her older siblings already in the pumpkin patch. Steve bent down to fix the hat on her head with the cute little bear ears and kissed her forehead.

When he straightened again, Bucky wrapped his arms around him. Startling him for a second before relaxing in the warm embrace. It was a rather warm day for autumn, but that didn't matter for Steve. Steve was always cold, and Bucky was always warm, it just made sense for them to cuddle as much as possible.

Jonas walked up to them with his hands in his jean jacket pockets and stopped in front of them. Focusing on Steve, he apologized, "I'm sorry."

Steve moved out from Bucky's arms and gave their oldest a hug. Rubbing his back, Steve told him, "We just care, sweetie."

"I know," Jonas assured, squeezing Steve's petite frame before letting go. With Luke not too far ahead, Jonas jogged to catch up, and draped his arm around his brother's shoulders.

After Steve unlocked the wagon again and started pushing it, Bucky hugged him from behind. Holding the petite blond close, Bucky made their walk awkward as he placed his feet on the outside of Steve's, causing them to adopt a waddle. In his laughter, Steve tossed his head back, resting it on Bucky's chest.

Once the boys were out of earshot, Steve said, "I hope you weren't too harsh with him."

Pressing a quick, loud, kiss to the side of Steve's neck, Bucky scoffed, "Not nearly as harsh as I'm going to be with Tabitha."

Brows furrowed, Steve tilted his face up to look at Bucky. Not having to ask, Bucky clarified, "She's the one who bought it for him."

"Of course," Steve shook his head. Looking up at Bucky, he told him, "Just wait until you see the shirt she got our daughter."

Feigning exasperation, Bucky said, "Now I understand what my mom meant when she said you were a bad influence."

Rolling his eyes, Steve playfully elbowed his husband in his ribs, and gladly accepted the kiss on his neck. For a moment, Steve just listened to Holly's baby gibberish, Ethan's high pitch squeal when Jonas tickled him, and Tibby occasionally telling someone to hold a pose for a picture taken by that fancy camera of hers.

Sure, they were a loud bunch, but they were good kids. Even if some of them weren't technically kids anymore. Tilting his chin up Steve asked, "We did a good job, right?"

Squeezing Steve's middle, Bucky good-naturedly scoffed, "Ya kiddin'? We're doing a great job!"

In reply, Steve rubbed the back of Bucky's hand. When they started heading through the pumpkin patch, Sophia called out, "Daddy! Papa! I found the pumpkin I want!"

"I'll help her," Bucky confirmed, pressing a kiss to Steve's lips when the blond looked up at him. Once Bucky untangled his limbs from his husband and started to walk away, Steve made sure to smack him on his cute, firm, bum. Surprised, Bucky looked back at Steve and jokingly warned, "You just wait, babe!"

[sungchanlele]

“The Rain”The importance of Rasmus Andersen.

Okay listen up, imma going to speak about this amazing and probably misunderstood character who I have learned to love very dearly: Rasmus Andersen.

Now, i don’t know if you (reader, yes, im speaking to you) have finished watching The Rain but I’m about to drop some big fucking spoilers try and show that Rasmus is a very important character who deserves respect and love, so be warned.

Now, I’ve seen either here or in Twitter some people talking shit about Rasmus, calling him a spoiled brat, childish prick, crybaby kid etc etc…in very few words: a completely annoying character.  Well I disagree to that, so  I’m about to drop in this mini rant and be warned: this is MY OPINION about this character and what I learned about him during the course of the series, so by the end of the day if this mini rant helped that’s great, and if people agrees with me that’s also amazing, so with all that being said let’s proceed shall we?

In the first episode of The Rain, we just get kind of introduced to these fantastic characters in a very stressed environment, why? Because the rain is coming, and it’s a very dangerous rain tbh, so the character of Simone and Rasmus are shown tense and scared. We get to meet Rasmus in the car, and is a kid, a 10-year-old kid, who basically, at his very young age, lived basically the eradication of humanity. 10 YEARS OLD and in the span of an episode: he experimented a kind of a apocalypse, a 2012 shit, his dad left them and to worse thing up here: he saw his own mom getting killed/infected by the rain with his 10 YEAR OLD eyes. By this rate, he has many reasons to be traumatized, but worse of all: By the end of the episode, we see Martin’s gang entering the bunker and Rasmus just got to see the grass and the sky for at least 5 seconds before being shoved back to the bunker, and he is again taken from freedom.

Now, by this point, everybody watching the series probably started to think about Rasmus as a childish baby because he says things like: “I want to get out NOW” and him reacting when Simone tries to comfort him saying “LEAVE ME ALONE” but its actually the other way around: how would you feel if you managed to get some freedom after being 6 years locked on a friking bunker with limited space and no sunlight and fresh air, and suddenly that freedom gets snatched again in less than 5 seconds by some fucking strangers with guns (BIG ASS GUNS) threatening to kill you, your sister and locking you up in a EVEN SMALLER PLACE (because lets be clear, the bunker may be big, but it can get small when you get used to the zone).  So, it can be reasonable Rasmus’s anger, yes I agree that he could have controlled it, but lets be real here, everyone would be scared and even claustrophobic if you were in his place.

Moving on, allow me to leave one thing clear, of all the brilliant characters of this amazing series, there’s one that I feel fucking pissed with, and its Beatrice.  (but ngl, she’s written brilliantly). And before you come here as a mob to murder me, let me explain myself why I don’t like her. At episode 1, I started to like her a lot, she helped Simone and Rasmus and stood by their side, and I appreciate her for that (but at this point I dunno if she did that just for convenience; because she liked Rasmus since the moment she laid eyes on him; she really supported Simone and her decisions; or she liked to contradict Martin’s orders) I kinda hoped it was the last 2, and I carried on watching the episode with that mentality, until I noticed the pairing that it came to be Rasmus and Beatrice.  Now listen up, why I find this pairing odd? Because Rasmus in a 16 year old kid who spend 6 years locked in a bunker with no other human contact but Simone, and most of his life before the events of the rain he was constantly sick

so he spend many time also with his parents getting checked and being supervised, laying on the bed. What am I getting at? This kid is NEW to the business of love, not sibling love, like love COUPLE, and this woman, (because lets be fucking real Beatrice is older than Rasmus), comes in and starts seducing this kid. THIS KID, WHO STARED IN AWE WHEN HE SAW TREES. And not just that, Beatrice is a manipulative person who lied to Martin when he said that his parents were in the church or something, to not get separated of them 

and then lied to Rasmus again with his parents being dead in the bed. (LIKE WTF WOMAN WHY U GOTTA LIE TO A KID?)

Now, I don’t know how to interpret Rasmus’s expression when he saw Beatrice and Martin having sex on episode 2, Lucas’s expression there is brilliantly masked in an amalgamation between shocked/curiousness, and that’s when he started to feel a spark of probably jealously. 

And don’t get me wrong, is probably normal for teens to get attracted to adults, it happens, but for adults to respond… its weird, and even more weird in this case, giving Rasmus’s past years of the very few many human interaction he had during 6 years. Get my drift?

Okay, back to Rasmus, having reviewed the past traumatic experiences that he has seen and experienced in the first episode and after being outside, in the span of a very few days, Rasmus:

• Was stabbed and almost died of blood loss and that injury got really infected, so he was in pain.

• Almost got murdered by a crazy doctor by being injected the virus.

• Was probably almost murdered by the other doctor at the house of the old people in episode 5.

• ATE human meat, like WTF people.

• Had a drug addiction to morphine and it was getting bad…

• The person he loved (why Rasmus why) died, and is probably HIS fault.

And the worse of all: his father didn’t help him in the end, on the contrary: he was about to get killed by his own hand. And even if it was for humanity’s own good, this in not Infinity War bro, and that dad wanted to pull a Thanos up in this bitch, like NO dude. Rasmus didn’t deserved to get that gun pointed at him by his own dad. He deserved to get cured, which is the principal reason that his dad left them on episode 1, and I MEAN, the dad is a scientist, THAT’S HIS JOB! One would say that when you know that your own son has a dangerous virus, one would do everything in his power to get his kid cure, right? Not Rasmus’s dad, which is fucked up.

THE POINT HERE IS: of all that messed up shit that Rasmus experienced, the moment he lost Beatrice is when he reached breaking point. Although some people might say that Rasmus fell into that depressive point because of her, my thesis is also that all those traumatic experiences that Rasmus has gone through the series, and loosing many important people, Beatrice is the trigger that sunk him deep. Those emotions invaded his mind, clouded his reason, and not even Simone could bring him the solace he needed, and that’s saying much because Simone was usually the one calming him, offering reassurance and protection. But nothing mattered to him in that moment this focus was the loss of another person important to him and Patrick’s reaction didn’t helped at all, it worsened things up by leaving Rasmus literally alone, Simone showed him affection but she was more focused on getting him away from Beatrice’s corpse (which I don’t blame her at all, I would have done the same), while the others were too shocked like Martin to calm him.

But you know what made Rasmus’s character powerful? What scene that made people seems to misunderstand? The scene in which he injects himself the virus saying: “No more people should die because of me” in episode 7. It’s such a powerful scene that shows how Rasmus is not childish or annoying; it’s the contrary, he’s a boy who wants to protect the people he loves because he doesn’t want to loose anyone he cares for. 

He has grown up in a very violent environment and he’s so fucking scared for the people he loves that he’s willing to die for them just to keep them alive. So the moment Simone tells him: “People are gone because you needed protection” he takes a decision, a dangerous decision; he injects himself the virus, sacrificing himself for the others sake. 

What people are failing to see (by my perspective) is that Rasmus’s character evolved and changed in the course of days, and he is far from a crybaby or a childish person; he is a boy that is scared and reacts to his emotions, he is overpowered by them and he is a very intelligent person that acts instinctively, so the worse thing is that the minute his father said: “I’m not sure I can” (help him) and Simone backing away from him and Rasmus asking: “Am I contagious?” he comes to understand the dangerous person he has become and the high probability of being the reason of Beatrice’s death.

So what can I conclude from Rasmus’s character? What do I see in him? I see a boy who, had to experience traumatic events since he was 10, had to pass 6 years locked in a bunker not experiencing life like a normal teen, had a very complicated love experience with a person who is older than him, had an drug addiction to morphine, had to witness a person very dear to him (his OWN dad) point a gun at him ready to shoot him. I see a boy whose emotions are powerful because he has not known how life works, he’s scared, he just wanted to see the sky…and of course, he could have handled many situations with more calm, but as a teen who is now starting to live life after 6 years of lockdown, he doesn’t know how to react to some things. Rasmus deserves to be seen as a person who is traumatized, who deserves happiness and love thrown to him, to be protected and be saved from that virus.

[avesagittarius]

lost mal-evolence // 2

WORD COUNT // 1725

summary ! The youngest of the Maximoff siblings had lived through heartbreak twice now. First her parents’ death and then her older siblings’ abandonment. She didn’t know what she’d done wrong, only that she searched for them for 3 years before HYDRA recruited her. She joined them when she learnt Pietro and Wanda had came here after leaving her. Now 6 years after their departure, she was in the process of becoming HYDRA’s best asset ever.

a/n ! sooo part 2, i was feeling inspired... hope you like it :))

warning ! okay so this isn’t really a warning but let’s pretend my baby Pietro is not dead in this series alright :)

GIMME FEEDBACK PLS :))))

part uno

________________________________________________________________

“You have to try HARDER” Madame HYDRA was now screaming at her. They had been training for five hours now, but Mal never backed down. She knew she had to control her power and if she had to train herself to exhaustion then she’d do it.

Katya Sarkissian, had succeeded her mother Ophelia and was now in charge of this operation. She was quite proud of her recruit, she’d accomplished so much since she had become a mutant. 

But the goal was to channel her protégé to the top. She could do great things now, she could do even greater if only she trained more.

“Come on Mal, make him do it !” Narrowing her eyes, the head of operations was getting frustrated with her trainee. “Stop.”

Mal’s posture immediately tensed, awaiting the worst. She hated not being able to do something, she hated disappointing Madame HYDRA. Because she knew her actions had consequences. 

She turned her 5′5 frame towards the imposing woman and kept her head high, not an ounce of fear radiating from her body. But deep down she could feel the dread coiling and tugging at her insides.

“What’s distracting you Mal ? You need to concentrate !” The anger in her tone made Mal shiver and want to lash out at her at the same time.

“Nothing, Madame. I have to try harder.” No emotions in her voice, she knew better than to show any vulnerability.

The sigh of frustration that followed her statement almost made Mal wince.

“Don’t lie to me Mal, why can’t you do it?” Miss Sarkassian was cold, she was going to get her to do what she wanted.

“It’s like I can hear the electricity of his nervous system” said the teen while nodding her head towards the man who had been standing there for a few hours now, “but I can’t seem to reach and interfere with it”

Mal’s hands were held in front of her as she has been instructed to do for six years now. When someone talked to her, they had to be able to see her hands, the most dangerous weapon in the facility.

Every person who worked here as HYDRA’s staff or scientist knew that with one touch of her hand they could be dead. 

Everyone but Mal. 

16 years old Mal Maximoff knew her powers were the result of an experiment that still haunted her at night. But she didn’t feel any remorse, she was proud to be special, to be someone who mattered for once. 

To be someone they needed. 

In fact, it’s the only thing that mattered for her. That for once in her life, those people weren’t going to let her go as easily as her parents or as her sister and brother did.

She didn’t really know who HYDRA were or what they needed her for, but to be honest she didn’t really care either. She had gained something from them.

Power and a strange sense of stability.

Mal was brought back to reality as the woman in front of her spoke once again. Calmer this time, but there was still an edge to it.

“Well we have to repair that. Try again” It was an order.

The young girl faced the man once more and concentrated. She could feel her own body thrilling and crackling with the electricity flowing through her veins.

She focused on the man and she could hear it, the millions of nerve signals running at incredible speed in his head. 

Madame HYDRA decided Mal was in need of a little motivation to achieve and complete her training session.

“You can do it, reach for it like you were reaching for your siblings when they left you, when they abandoned you” She smirked.

Mal reacted to that comment, her green eyes turning a glowing but gloomy purple. 

“Come on, don’t you want them to pay, for leaving you, for not caring about you. Once you control that man you control anyone, you control them Mal” 

The maleficent woman knew this kind of anger called her power to the surface. She had seen her achieve unimaginable things when annoyed with her past, with her siblings.

And she knew exactly what to say to get her to electrify herself as well as a whole city.

Mal knew deep down that Katya Sarkissian was only trying to get in her head, trying to anger her. But it worked.

Every. Single. Time.

She just couldn’t get past the fact that they had left her. 

So she growled while her features were morphing into one of intense concentration. A growing mist invaded the room, making the man cower a bit in fear, under the pressure of Mal’s dominating presence.

“If they had been there, they’d already have done it” That was the final straw. 

Mal was burning with anger, she had always been afraid of not being good enough. But she was done of that, she deserved more than being compared to her pathetic siblings.

She finally accessed his brain, hearing and feeling every part of his spine where nerve signals circulated as the man wanted nothing more than to get out of this place. 

Madame HYDRA’s words kept on repeating over and over again in her head, she had enough.

She wasn’t afraid. Not anymore. 

She intercepted the subconscious nerve signal which allowed the man to breathe without thinking about it.

She intercepted it and blocked it. Along with all the upcoming ones who were trying to seep through her barrier. 

She had to prove that she was worthy of this power flowing through her veins. She had to prove to the woman in the room she could trust her, that she could do it.

She wanted more than anything to prove to herself that she wasn’t afraid of death.

And so Madame HYDRA was left speechless and she saw the man clawing at his own throat and then fall limp head first on the floor.

His head cracking open with the impact.

Suddenly the mist vanished and Mal’s eyes returned back to their everyday color.

The head of operation couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the corpse in front of her. She had expected Mal to react to her comments, to achieve the goal they had set for this session.

What she hadn’t expected was for her to be able to kill that soon. She had figured it would still take a few more months, maybe a year with good preparation and manipulation.

She clapped and went to hug an emotionless teen. 

“Congratulations my child ! You did it !” It looked almost as if she was going to start jumping and dancing around the room. It was a rather unusual sight for Mal to see Madame HYDRA that content.

“I am very proud of you, you will get a meal tonight !” She smiled at the young girl.

At this Mal lifted her clouded eyes, and smiled slightly. “Thank you Madame”

Mal never got more than a meal a day, so this meant her trainer was really happy with her.

But now that the anger had subsided, was Mal ever going to accept the fact that she had killed someone? Out of her anger for her family.

New York, Avengers Tower, a week after the first meeting.

“Sooo, anything new on Miss Thunderbolt ?” Sam chuckled when entering the lab where Tony, Steve and Bruce where currently searching for new informations on the girl that had fascinated more than one Avenger.

Tony looked up and pouted “I thought we had agreed on Mini Thor”  

“Nah, it’s too confusing” Sam winked and turned to Bruce who readjusted his glasses before speaking.

“Not since yesterday, I’ve tried countless times to run the facial recognition software on that picture but nothing comes out, it’s too pixelated”

Steve sighed and took a seat next to him.

“She doesn’t look very old, that’s what we know”

“How old ?” interrupted Clint who had just arrived.

“I don’t know, she doesn’t seem older than 20. Pretty sure she’s younger than the twins” 

Other than confirming that you were in fact part of HYDRA and that the Siberian facility had been in use for the past few years, only the underground part though. That’s why they hadn’t been aware of it. 

They weren’t coming up with enough informations to be flying out to Russia and bring down HYDRA.

Even though they knew everything about the location and Bucky had helped with the layout of the facility, they still couldn’t find the identity of the girl which was essential if they even wanted to try and free her of the hold the organization had on her.

“What about the leaders of her experiment ? Do we know anything about them ?” 

Ever since Clint had learnt that it was the evil organization behind the powers of the girl, he had tried to help. It felt like he just needed the confirmation that they were going to think this through and get a bit of rest.

Tony pointed his index towards him “That my friend, we can tell you more about”

He stood up “FRIDAY, files on the mean Lady please” 

He then proceeded to show them to everyone in the room, even though Bruce and Steve had already seen them. “That” he pointed to a tall and fierce looking woman in the picture “is Katya Sarkissian, head of operations at the Siberian facility, daughter of the infamous Ophelia Sarkissian”

“So she’s following in her mother’s footsteps” Sam was trying to piece it all together, the name seemed quite unfamiliar.

“Yes, well not exactly her mother, Viper, had an on-going narcotics business and was set on world domination, it seems our current Madame HYDRA inherited

the title but that’s it” Cap explained, a serious look in his eyes.

Tony nodded before continuing with the infos.

“We know she moved up the ranks pretty fast, having learnt quite a few things from her mother until now, where she is officially ‘researching on chemical and biological weapons for the Russian Army’. Those being human trials apparently.”

They all seemed to understand so he finished.

“We suppose she is the supervisor of the operation and she has multiple persons with advanced abilities under experiment including Mini Thor”

“Okay, that’s great” Clint was being sarcastic, he knew they had to bring this operation down before it took a nasty turn.                                                                                                                                               

part 3

[delkios]

Take a Chance on Me (DC TV)

Title: Take a Chance on Me Fandom: DC TV Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 5992 Characters: Lisa, Len, Mick, random original characters Summary: Five blind dates Lisa set Mick up on and one she didn't actually. Lisa sidled up to him and it immediately put Mick on the defensive. He loved her and was willing to kill any man or woman that did her wrong but Lisa was also a brat who wouldn’t hesitate to use that same affection for her own gain. Which Mick respected but still meant he knew when to be wary around her. “Hey, Mickey,” she said sweetly which meant whatever she wanted, Mick probably wouldn’t like it. “How’re you doing?” He put the schematics for an alarm down- a brand new system that they’d be facing in Len’s latest heist. “Just get it over with, Lisa.” She pouted but Mick knew better. She had a plan and small talk was just getting in the way. “Fine. Would you be willing to go on a blind date?” “I ain’t dating one of your high school friends. Not even pretend. I’m an asshole, not a creep.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “I have older friends way older than the high school ones.” Mick abruptly shoved the alarm aside so he could place his elbow down and loom. “Yeah?” He growled. “And where are you making these ‘friends’?” If Lisa hadn’t known him for almost ten years, she might have been intimidated. “None of your business. Are you going to answer my question?” “You wanna hook someone up, try your brother.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, as only a teenager could. “Already tried, remember?” The memory brought a grin to Mick’s face. He didn’t know what actually happened on the date but it was bad enough the siblings had such a row over it and Len gave Lisa the cold shoulder for three days until she swore never to mess with his personal life again. “You’re practically a second brother and you’ve seemed kind of lonely since,” Lisa’s voice trailed slightly and Mick braced himself, recognizing what was coming next, “since Alexa.” He stifled a reflexive growl. The name wasn’t as much a sore spot as it had been not long ago and Mick could admit- now -it was half his fault, letting her manipulate him into doing just about anything. If it weren’t for Len’s instincts, Mick would’ve ended up dead instead of with a few new scars. Didn’t change the fact that Lisa was kind of right. Mick missed having a relationship, even if he’d been paying more attention to his dick than anything else. He pulled the alarm back to him, determined to ignore the bundle of mixed-up feelings remembering Alexa still brought. “Fine, whatever. Where and when?” Lisa squealed and clapped her hands. “Great! This Friday, 8 at Mint.” Mick wrinkled his nose. The Mint was a higher class place than Mick prefered given it was more lounge than bar, let alone a dive. “Fine. I’ll be there.” “Awesome! I’ll give you a pin to wear on your jacket so she can recognize you. You have, like, a sports coat or a blazer, right?” “Lise, if this pin of yours is one of those fucking flower pins…” 1. Crossed-Wires The pin was small- for buttonhole flowers, anyway, three mini white rose-looking things with some leaves, about a finger’s length but Mick still felt like an idiot wearing it. It wasn’t helped by the fact he had a glass of some over-priced beer he wasn’t drinking because it was one of those fancy, craft flavored beers that was disgusting. Because his only other options were even more expensive cocktails or seltzer water. He hoped his date was open to going somewhere else, otherwise it was going to be a very short night. Either way, Mick was not planning on sticking around. “Holy fuck, please tell me it’s not you.” Mick looked up to see an unpleasantly familiar face. “Yasmine,” he greeted with a returned grimace. In theory, Yasmine was the kind of person Mick could easily be friends with. In practice, however, it just didn’t work. Mick chalked it up to the fact that, in all the jobs she worked with them, Yasmine made it clear she was sweet on Len and considered Mick a cockblock. How Lisa read this so wrong, Mick had no clue. If it weren’t for the glowering, Mick would’ve told her she dressed up nice. Maybe would’ve even made an attempt at the date thing. It was clear, however, that Yasmine wasn’t willing to do the same. “Lisa said the guy she was hooking me up with was clever and capable and fun to be around. She said he was gorgeous,” Yasmine said with a sneer. “Can’t believe she was talking about you.” “You really think she’d call her own brother gorgeous?” True, Mick didn’t consider himself all that attractive but the most complimentary he’d ever heard Lisa get about Len’s appearance was, “He’s attractive, I guess”. “Look, obviously this ain’t gonna work so why don’t we go our separate ways and try to salvage our nights, huh?” Yasmine nodded tersely. “Yeah. And tell Lisa next time she needs a blind date for someone, I’m not doing it.” ~*~*~*~ After his retelling of the ‘date’, Lisa sat back with an incredulous look. “Really? I thought for sure… But that’s so weird!” “What is?” Len asked, coming in through the front door. He had a couple bags of groceries and Mick could see a box of Ho-Hos peeking out of the top. Definitely wasn’t on the list Mick left for him but, really, he wasn’t going to complain. “Lisa tried to set me up with Yasmine.” “Yasmine? The woman who we get for the complicated electronics?” When Mick nodded, Len scoffed. “Why? She basically hates you for whatever reason.” “‘Cause she wants in your pants.” “Not going to happen,” Len said, beginning to unpack his groceries. “Love me, love my partner.” “Ugh,” Lisa flopped in her seat. “Okay, sorry. I don’t know how I messed that one up so bad. Next one, though,” she pointed at Mick. “Next one’s going to go better. For starters, I’ll actually make sure they want to date you first.” She paused. “Do you have a preference? Girl or guy?” He shrugged. “Dick, breasts, both- I don’t care.” “Lisa,” Len said, pausing in his unpacking, “why are you setting Mick up on a date?” She retorted, with teenage superiority, “Because it’s not like you’re going to.” 2. Age Gap The next one was at Dirty Trix and Mick’s date- a guy this time -would have on a black collar with a silver heart on it. Not Mick’s style of accessory but it wasn’t like he’d be wearing it, so whatever. He got himself a drink and got himself a seat when someone tentatively said, “Hey, Mick.” He turned to the newcomer and broke into a smile. “Carlito!” The smile faltered when he noticed the collar. “Uh, are you my date tonight?” Carlos nodded and took a seat by Mick, perched like he was ready to take flight at any moment. “Yeah, I guess I am.” He smiled, sweet and shy, and it made Mick’s skin prickle. It wasn’t that he had a problem with Carlos- he was a good kid and that was half the problem. Three years older than Lisa put him squarely in college age, sure, but he still wasn’t even old enough to drink (legally). The other half of the problem was that Mick couldn’t shake the feeling Carlos’s infatuation with Mick was mostly due to Mick putting the kid under his protection in the pen. Eighteen and in for some bullshit charge, Mick took care of him because Carlos had reminded him of a younger Len in some ways. Protecting him also netted Mick- he found out after the fact -a permanent alliance with Luis, a well connected lifer who was also Carlos’s cousin. Point was Mick didn’t want to be part of some Bodyguard fantasy with someone ten years his junior. Besides, he had enough hang-ups with the last asshole he saved. “It’s just a date,” Carlos said. He was fiddling with a glass of something bright blue and Mick realized he’d zoned out. He cursed to himself- he hadn’t meant to make Carlos feel awkward. “If it doesn’t work out, then whatever.” He peered up at Mick through his lashes. “We’re just giving it a shot, right?” “Sure,” Mick agreed, knocking his drink back. “Let’s give it a shot.” It was… datish. For all that Mick knew how they were supposed to go. The only way he’d ever been able to distinguish a ‘date’ from ‘hanging out’ was sex at the end. And, no matter how often Carlos pressed against him, gave him sweetly sinful smiles or draped himself in enticing positions, Mick still couldn’t shake the image of some skinny teen, laying in Mick’s bunk half dressed like he owed it for Mick’s protection. It was nice having a cheerleader while he worked a pool table, though, passing him his beer and singing his praise after every round. At the end of the night, when Mick couldn’t pretend he was trying to put it off any longer, he escorted Carlos home. They stood at the bottom of the steps for a while until Carlos asked, biting his lip, “You wanna come up?” Mick could see Carlos bracing himself for rejection. “Nah.” Mick shoved his hands into his pockets. “Probably best not to.” “Just one night,” Carlos said, desperation in his expression. “One night can’t hurt.” Mick reached out a hand, cupping Carlos’s jaw lightly, just enough to tilt his head back. Mick kissed him, testing, and it was too soft, too tentative and Mick couldn’t feel any stirring to make it anything more. He pulled back and Carlos’s shoulders slumped, disappointed. “I’ll see you around, Carlito,” he said before heading off with a wave. ~*~*~*~ “So? How’d it go?” Mick scowled as Lisa’s beaming face. “I told you I didn’t want to be a creep dating a kid.” Lisa drew back, hands on her hips and expression insulted. “I know that! Carlos isn’t a kid- you met him in jail!” “You can go to jail at 17 if the crime’s severe enough.” Lisa blinked. “Is he really that young?” “He’s twenty.” “Oh.” Disappointed by the turn of events, Lisa flopped on the couch. “I thought he was like Lenny and just looked young.” Len paused in his planning and looked up. “Wait- that Carlos? The one that followed you around like a lovestruck puppy?” Mick made a face. “Yeah.” He gave a huff of laughter. “Just as well it didn’t work out. Luis would’ve killed you when he found out you were schtupping his baby cousin.” Mick blinked in revelation. “Oh shit, he would’ve.” Luis was the kind of progressive who was supportive unless it was family and was a firm believer of ‘prison doesn’t count’. “But Carlos is such a sweet guy!” Lisa whined. “If he weren’t so gay, I would’ve gone for him!” Len paused to give his sister a surprised look. “Even with his being gay, that might be the best dating choice you’ve ever made.” She threw a cushion at him. “Shut up. Also, the next one will be better.” 3. Sugar Baby Ruby Skye was not the kind of place Mick spent time in. Firstly because it was a club, one of the kinds that considered itself- and thus its clientele -’trendy’ at that, and secondly because it was close to a college campus and thus mostly full of college students. And yet there he was. Standing outside of it like an idiot because of Lisa and her stupid blind date plan. To make things worse, Mick had been standing there for twenty minutes looking for someone with a cabaret-style hairclip with a skull and colorful feathers pinned to their hair. At least it wasn’t a busy night so there wasn’t a line at the door. He made small talk with the bouncer for a bit, but eventually wandered closer to the street as time stretched on. If whoever it was didn’t show up within the half hour, Mick was gone. And Lisa could whine and berate him all she wanted but really, she was lucky Mick hadn’t left after ten minutes. A woman walked up to him. “You got a light?” Mick dug into his pocket for his lighter, holding it up to the woman’s cigarette until the end caught. She exhaled a breath and it smelled like cloves. “You been waiting long, sugar?” She was older, wrinkles lining her face and she was dark all over save for a handful of gray curls in her hair. It was too short for her to clip anything in. “Longer than I normally would,” Mick admitted. “Supposed to be a blind date.” “Shame about your date. Hopefully it’ll work out in my favor, though.” He looked at the woman, somewhat thrown. Sure, he’d been propositioned before but usually there was some kind of lead-in. “This a prank?” It didn’t feel like one which just made it all the more confusing. The woman wasn’t overly well-dressed but definitely had the look of someone not used to dressing down to Ruby Skye level, let alone Mick’s. “Honey, I’ve got means and all I need is someone to keep me company. ‘Stead of your date being a bust, how ‘bout you let me take care of you tonight? I’ll take care of your needs and you,” she looked Mick up and down very deliberately, “can take care of mine.” Mick stared, confused. “Is one of us supposed to be a hooker?” She laughed, “Oh, heavens no! You can consider it a business arrangement if you want, but I just turned fifty and feel I am overdue a mid-life crisis. Even if I only plan it to be one night. And I’ve always been partial to beefcake. So whaddya say, handsome?” Her lips were quirked and glossy even in the street light. “I supply the hotel room, you supply that booty?” Mick looked out into the street but there was no one matching his blind date’s description. “What the hell, never been a sugar baby before.” He put on his best, rakish grin and held his arm out to the woman. She took it readily, shamelessly feeling the muscles there. “I’m yours for the night.” ~*~*~*~ He didn’t make it back to the apartment until close to noon the next morning and Lisa didn’t get to grill him about it until she got back from school. “Well?” Lisa asked the moment she walked through the door. She paused and wrinkled her nose. “What are you wearing?” Mick was spread out on the couch, pleased as punch in a brand new, black and deep red silk robe he’d been given the night before over a t-shirt and boxers. “It was a gift.” Next to him, Len starting snickering. Mick had told Len the story earlier along with the fact that, on their way to a hotel they made a stop at an adult store first where Gladys had bought him the robe as well as sheer black boxer briefs to go with it. Sensing something not quite right with the story, Lisa asked carefully, “So it went well?” “Date never showed up. Got picked up by Gladys.” “Who?” “Older lady. Loaded as hell. Wanted a boy toy for the night.” Lisa’s jaw dropped. “You ditched your date to play Pretty Woman for some lady?” “I waited half an hour for them to show up! You wanna be pissed at someone ‘cause the night didn’t work out how you wanted, be pissed at them!” Lisa was still obviously pissed but, given there was really nothing she could argue about on Mick’s side, she stomped off to her room, dragging her bag on the ground behind her. “Ugh, you’re impossible!” The two men sat calmly, both chuckling as Lisa’s door slamming shut. Len rolled his head back, warm where it was resting against Mick’s arm. “So how much do you like this Gladys?” “We ain’t gonna rob her, Lenny.” “Damn.” 4. Job Interview The next date was at The Shack which was a sports bar. It was also happy hour which meant half-off wings. Given Lisa said his blind date was the one that requested the time and location, Mick had to say the night was off to a good start. He was five wings and half a glass of beer in, a boxing match on one of the televisions, when someone sat down opposite him. It was a guy with sallow skin, knobby nose and a perpetually nervous grin. “Holy, shit! Stan!” Mick held up a gnawed-on wing as a salute in lieu of reaching for a handshake. “Didn’t know you were out!” Stan laughed, a glass of something light-gold in his hand. “Just got released. Uh, three days ago?” Mick narrowed his eyes. Stan was wearing a Hawaiian shirt which- Mick would assume was not a coincidence -Lisa had said his date would be wearing. “That’s a pretty quick turnaround to be dating again.” “Oh, what? No- well, sort of. It’s not- it’s more like an excuse?” Mick flicked his bucket- a big plastic basket but advertised as a bucket -of wings at Stan in silent encouragement. Stan picked one up and twirled it in his fingers as he said, “I’m not in a great place financially speaking. I’m staying with my ma but, y’know- old as she’s getting, I don’t wanna burden her.” “Sure,” said Mick, not having actually met a parent whose children liked them. “So I was out looking for some, uh, work, and I heard you were looking for someone? I mean, I know it’s for a date for some reason but I thought… hey- why not see if you got anything lined up? Snart’s always got something planned and you and me are buddies, right?” “Right.” “So maybe you’d put in a good word for me?” He grinned a kind of hangdog grin. “If you need a wheelman?” Mick took a long drink, eyes flickering to the television. There really wasn’t a need for Mick to put in a good word with Len. They both worked with Stan a couple times before, there really wasn’t a better driver around, certainly not one that could improvise routes on the fly while maintaining a calm demeanor or able to drive damn near anything with wheels. “I’ll let him know you’re looking.” Hell, Len might not know Stan’s out, either. “Awesome! Thanks, Mick!” Stan finally took a bite out of his wing. “Damn, still surprised how good real food is.” Mick laughed and waved one of the servers over, requesting they put on whatever motor racing was on one of the other screens. Stan didn’t care about sports unless it had vehicles in it. They sat together, eating wings, drinking and cheering whenever something spectacular happened in their chosen sport. After a while, when a commercial break came on, Stan asked, “This, uh, this isn’t going to be a problem, right? This date?” Mick’s brow creased. “This actually a date? You’re the straightest fucker I know.” Even six months into his sentence, with no one around him but men, Stan hadn’t been able to keep it up long enough to get off. Mick had witness Stan’s frustration enough to know it wasn’t for lack of trying. “Well no but,” Stan fidgeted slightly, “this isn’t gonna hurt my standing with Snart, will it? Even if it’s not a date?” “Why would it?” “You’re… partners.” “Not that kind!” Mick’s mouth twisted slightly. He certainly wouldn’t object if they were. Nor could he blame Stan for thinking that- he and Len had cultivated the image on occasion for various reasons. Mainly to deter certain types of attention in prison. Stan studied him for a moment before turning back to the television. “Sure, whatever you say.” ~*~*~*~ It was late when Mick got back but not late enough to pretend anything of interest happened. If someone’s interest was sticking their nose in other people’s sex lives. Len tutted from his place at the table, “Lisa will be so disappointed.” “Pretty sure she’s getting used to it.” Mick shrugged off his jacket and tossed it across the back of the couch. He went to the table and picked up the mostly empty coffee pot and lukewarm mug, ignoring Len’s grumble as he went to toss their contents down the sink. It might not have been terribly late but definitely late enough that certain hyper-focusing perfectionists didn’t need help staying up. “Date was Stan.” Len paused. “Stan? As in the driver?” Mick nodded, making his way back to the table. “Didn’t know he was out. Also I’m pretty sure he’s straight.” “The fucking straightest. He was hoping I could get him a job.” Len pressed his lips together, obviously calculating. Eventually he stood back, “We could use a wheelman. It’d free you up and it’s starting to look like I’d need an extra body to cover the back.” “Nice. I’ll let him know tomorrow.” He took Len by the arm and muscled him away from the table. Thankfully Len hadn’t been in the middle of any fiddly part of the plan and didn’t put up more than a cursory struggle. “C’mon, bed.” “Whatever, Dad.” Mick shoved him forward with a scowl. “Ass.” 5. For Fun The moment Lisa said the next date would be at Cocktails and that he’d know when he saw them, Mick had a pretty good idea who to expect. When he walked in and heard his name called out, Mick just grinned and enveloped his date in a hug. “Mickey! It’s been too long, I haven’t even seen you at my shows!” Charleen pulled back, lips pouting at him. “You tell Snart not to work you so hard.” Mick laughed, letting himself be pulled to a table. “Not Snart’s fault this time. Well, not Len. His sister’s been making me go on blind dates. “You mean I’m not the first one she called?” Charleen gasped in mock outrage. “I’ll be giving her a talking to later.” Mick relaxed into one of the more private booths, the ones reserved for the dancers and their guests. A server brought them their drinks without waiting for an order. Mick had been there often enough they knew his preferences. “How’ve things been with you, doll?” “Ugh, Kevin finally broke up with me. Not that I wanted him to but it was so obvious he wanted to I nearly did it for him!” “What a piece of shit,” Mick said, amicably and honestly. “You deserve better.” “That’s what I love most about you, Mickey. You always speak the truth.” They snickered at the joke, catching each other up on their lives. Mick had a soft spot for Charleen. Between her pre-transition period and Len’s general existence, they helped Mick realize he wasn’t straight as he thought he was. “Seriously though, you want me to kneecap the asshole, I will.” “Oh, Mick.” Though she was still cheerful, Charleen’s took on a less teasing note. “You say things like that and I just can’t believe why you haven’t had any luck on these dates.” She paused. “I mean I do but I think there’s plenty of people out there that would think you’re worth the risk.” Mick sat there, brain momentarily unable to comprehend the sentence. “What?” “C’mon, Mick.” When he kept sitting there blankly, Charleen sat up straighter. “You can’t possibly... Your partner, Mickey.” “What about him?” “He’s the reason Lise is having a hard time finding dates for you.” Mick bristled, “What’s wrong with Len?” She laughed loudly. “Great God Almighty- you two are made for each other! Bet you didn’t notice how much he wanted to rip apart that Alexa bitch you were ass over teakettle for.” “Yeah- I mean, she shot me.” You got revenge when someone wronged your partner like that, that was obvious. “Before all that happened.” At Mick’s responding silence, Charleen gave a huff of laughter and squeezed Mick’s thigh. “Forget it, I need a distraction from Kevin. Let’s just enjoy the night, no strings attached.” Mind still trying to decypher Charleen’s words, Mick said, “Sure.” ~*~*~*~ Mick didn’t make it back to the apartment until close to dawn, crashing out on the sofa. He was rudely woken up by a backpack being dropped on the small of his back. “What the fuck?” He mumbled into the cushion. Lisa stood over him, beaming proudly, Len behind her with a weird twist to his smile. Len must be getting ready to take Lisa to school, Mick realized blearily. “Had a good night, I see,” Len teased, reaching over to snap the elastic band peeking up from under the waist of Mick’s jeans. It was lace and pastel. “Fairly certain this isn’t your usual style.” “The hell would you know, you never do laundry.” Mick rolled onto his back and pulled his shirt down to cover up his waist. He wasn’t embarrassed- Mick was only marginally aware of what ‘shame’ was -it just felt kind of weird, the way Len was looking at him. “‘S Charleen’s.” Len froze, just for a split second. “Oh?” Lisa, having rescued her bag from Mick, beamed even bigger. “I knew you two would work out! You always looked happy whenever you talked about when you were together before and since she broke up with that asshole she was dating, I figured you two should get together again!” “She really is something,” Len agreed though it was more of a murmur. “Yeah, she is. She’d be better with someone else, though.” The two stopped and stared at Mick. “What?” “’S why we broke up in the first place,” he said, yawning hugely. “Couldn’t seem to get serious about each other, decided it was more fun when we were just flings.” “But…” At an utter loss from yet another failure, Lisa flung her arms out wide and wailed, “Why?” “I dunno. Too much alike, I think.” His eyes flickered, for the briefest moment to Len. “Need someone to challenge me.” Lisa stared at him, a hard, considering look on her face and Mick could practically see her flipping through a mental rolodex for her to wrangle into a date next. She headed towards the door, still deep in thought and Len, after shooting an indecipherable look at Mick, followed after. Alone, Mick flung an arm over his eyes and slowly drifted back to sleep. +1. Partners “No, Lisa.” “C’mon, Mickey! Pleeeeeease?” “No! Those dates I went on were, frankly, shit.” Mick held his hands up, washing them of the entire ordeal. “Half of ‘em didn’t even end up being actual dates!” “This one’s different! I swear!” Mick stood and glared, arms crossed and absolutely set to out-stubborn her this time around. From his sprawl on the couch, flipping through a newspaper, Len said, “Just go, Mick. One last date and if it doesn’t work out, Lisa will give up.” He considered it for a moment before turning to Lisa. She caved quickly. “Fine! If this one doesn’t work out, I’ll leave you alone.” Mick scowled but nodded. “Deal. We’re meeting at Saints- they don’t like it, they don’t have to come.” Lisa wrinkled her nose. “Whatever. He said he’ll be wearing a yellow kerchief.” “The fuck’s a kerchief?” “It’s like a bandana or scarf,” Len said, still not looking up from the newspaper. “Great. Awesome.” Mick scowled. “Let’s get this over with.” ~*~*~*~ Mick walked in and looked around, trying to spot a yellow kerchief anywhere in the low lights and bustle of bodies. Instead his eyes landed on a familiar figure alone at a table. There was another seat open at it, despite the crowd, and a frosted glass still dripping foam down the side sat opposite Len’s own. Mick’s heart clenched- if Len was on a date with someone, there was no way in hell Mick would be able to stick around without punching someone’s teeth in. Then, because Mick was a fucking masochist, he went over. “Hey, Len.” He stood behind the empty chair, hands on the back, trying not to imagine them around the neck of whoever was with his partner. “Didn’t expect to see you here.” He swallowed something painful. “You on a date?” “I would be,” Len drawled, lips upturned in that small little smirk that haunted Mick’s dreams, “if he’d show up.” His fingers clenched harder. It was one thing knowing some jackass was on a date with Len, but it was something else entirely that they would disrespect him enough to make him wait. “You need me to drag the bastard here?” “No need.” Len’s eyes flashed with amusement. “It’s you.” There was a long pause as the words wriggled passed the thrumming music and angry fog, into Mick’s head. Then another as his brain processed them. “Me? Wait- are you my blind date?” The amusement grew into a full-on smirk and Mick finally noticed the yellow kerchief around Len’s neck. “Yeah.” If Mick didn’t know Len as well as he did, Mick wouldn’t have seen the lurking fear in his eyes or heard the timidness in his voice. “You okay with that?” “Okay with it?” Mick pulled out the chair and sat. “Shit, Lenny- only reason I didn’t ask is ‘cause I thought you wouldn’t want me.” An eyebrow rose. “Why wouldn’t I want you?” “‘Cause I’m…” Mick waved his hand vaguely, unable to put into specifics just how ‘Mick’ he was. He awkwardly settled for, “Didn’t think you’d want to mix business and pleasure.” Len shrugged, shoulders relaxing. “You know I’ve never cared much for rules. Especially if they get in the way of what I want.” Mick couldn’t help flushing at that. He felt clumsy and giddy. He took a gulp of his drink- because apparently Len got it for him and it’s one of his preferred beers because of course Len paid attention to that sort of thing. Mick opened his mouth a couple times before closing it, every attempt at starting a conversation suddenly making him feel foolish. He just… he couldn’t wrap his head around the idea that a guy as amazing as Len would want to date a meathead like Mick. “Is something wrong?” Len asked. He leaned back in his seat like a lounging cat, but Mick could see the tension was slowly creeping back up on him. “Nah. I’m just being dumb.” “You’re not dumb, Mick. Just tell me.” He shrugged, tracing aimless designs in the condensation that fell onto the table. “I, uh… I’ve wanted something like this for so long it… just doesn’t feel real is all.” The silence between them stretched and when Mick looked up, Len was leaning forward with an expression and intensity Mick hadn’t seen in him before. “How long?” Len’s voice sounded almost strangled and Mick strained to hear it over the music. “I dunno. Always, I guess? Even in juvie, I thought I hated people touching you ‘cause you were so tiny and didn’t really know how to fight. Then I realized I was kinda always obsessed with you and I told myself there was no way you’d go for it so I made myself back down ‘cause you needed to do your thing and didn’t need me getting in the way.” Suddenly Len was there, a hand against Mick’s neck and jaw, anchoring him in place and Len’s lips were on his. It was a fleeting kiss, chaste save for the intensity and it took Mick’s breath away because it was Len and Len didn’t do PDA. The pressure on Mick’s lips lingered, just the barest brush of tongue, and Mick realized he wasn’t the only one that had been wanting this. Len pulled back, still close enough that Mick could feel his breath over his face. “How attached are you to your beer?” Mick swallowed hard, throat dry as he got lost in Len’s eyes, pupils swallowing up the blue until it was a pale, barely visible ring. “I can get another one whenever.” “Good.” And, with a strength belied by his lean frame, Len dragged Mick from his chair and out the door. ~*~*~*~ The next morning, when Mick finally managed to pull himself out of bed, Lisa was already at the table with some coffee and a Jimmy Dean biscuit sandwich. She took one look at Mick’s satisfied expression and grinned, happy and smug. “Well!” Lisa leaned forward eagerly. “I take it last night went well?” “Yeah, it did.” Very well. Extremely well. Not that Lisa would be getting any details. Mick liked her too much to traumatize her like that. Len yawned, big and loud, as he shuffled in. “Still coffee?” He asked, blearily making his way over. He was never very functional so soon after waking up. The night before- or, rather, earlier that day -couldn’t have helped much. He was also wearing one of Mick’s shirts. Which wasn’t new- Len had snagged a number of them over the years because, to him, laundry was a thing that happened to other people -but this time it made Mick want to ravish him until Len was flushed and begging. All the more because now Mick knew this was something he could do. “You know,” Mick said to Lisa, even as his eyes followed her brother, “you didn’t have to go through all that.” “Go through what?” “All the secrecy and stuff. If you asked me to go on a date with Len, I would’ve agreed in a heartbeat.” Lisa’s brow creased- almost like confusion -and she turned to look at Len who simply raised an eyebrow back. When she turned back to Mick, Lisa’s smile was a bit on the plastered-on side. “Where’s the fun in that? Everyone went home satisfied in the end, right?” “Yes,” Len drawled, taking his own seat at the table, maybe scooting his chair to be marginally closer to Mick. “I made sure of that.” Mick felt like he missed something in the exchange. “Good.” Her smile turned into something more genuine. “You two suit each other. I’m glad this worked out.” Mick turned to his partner and could practically feel the warmth and fondness radiating out of himself. He could see a flush creeping up Len’s neck as he pretended he wasn’t hiding a pleased smile behind his coffee. “Yeah,” Mick said, shifting his leg over so his knee pressed against Len’s thigh. “Me, too.”

[lovemesomesurveys]

If you’re pale, do you get made fun of for it? No.

Are you white/black/asian/mexican/etc? I’m white and Mexican.

How old are your parents? Early 50s.

Did your family move to America from another country? Nope.

Have you ever been to any other countries? Yes.

If so, where and for how long? I’ve been to Mexico, but we only spent a few hours there. My grandparents live in Arizona, so it was a day trip.

Ever been to Washington D.C.?: No.

Did you get to meet the president of the time?:

Have you seen Fahrenheit 9/11? If not, you should.: Nope.

Anyway, ever been to NYC Or LA?: I’ve been to LA a few times. I’d love to visit NYC.

If so, how were your experiences there?: It’s fun. Disneyland is a major plus.

Ever known anyone who did business with a prostitute?: No.

Are your real parents divorced?: No.

Were you adopted?: No.

If so, have you met your biological parents? How about biological siblings or grandparents?:

If your parents are divorced, how old are your step parents?

Do you like your step parents, or are they assholes?

Ever had an abusive parent or other family member? No.

If so, what’s the worst they did?:

Got any step siblings? If so, how many? Are they annoying or cool? No.

Are either of your parents engaged but not married yet? My parents are married.

Ever walked in on your parents while they were getting busy? If so, how many times and how old were you?: Nooooo.

How many siblings do you have?: I have two brothers.

How old are they, and what are their names? 18 and 32.

Do they have the same hair color and eye color as you? Yep.

Do you like older or younger siblings better? I love both of my brothers, but I am closer to my younger brother.

Ever had to take care of a baby sibling? If do, did you feel responsible, or were you just annoyed?: I helped out with my brother when he was a baby, but I did it because I wanted to.

Do you like children, or do they piss you off? They don’t piss me off, no. They can be cute and funny, sometimes annoying, but it’s nice when I can just say goodbye and they go back with their own parents haha. I can only handle so much time around kids, they’re exhausting.

Think you’ll ever have kids of your own one day? I really don’t see it happening.

Have you ever had a close friend get knocked up early? No.

Have you yourself ever gotten close to getting pregnant? No haha I’ve never had sex <<<< Same, so thankfully that isn’t something I’ve had to worry about.

If you were to get pregnant as a teen, what would happen? I’m twenty-eight, so I don’t have to worry about that do I?

Do you know if anyone in your family ever got knocked up as a teen?: Yes.

Do you prefer baby boys or baby girls?: I wouldn’t say I prefer one over the other.

Know anyone your age who sucks on a pacifier for fun? No.

Enough about babies; what’s your favorite color? Thank you. My favorite colors are yellow, teal, mint green, and pastels.

Do you prefer black or white?: Black.

Do you have a favorite number? What is it? Yep, it’s 8.

Do you have a favorite letter? No.

Are you one of those losers that buys things with the letter of your name?: Well that’s rude. Yes, I have.

Do you label people at school based on their appearance? No.

If you could be in a music video, which video would it be and why? I wouldn’t be.

What was the highlight of your day? It’s 12:55AM, not a whole lot has happened.

What’s the first website you go on when you get online? Tumblr is already open.

Have you played mini golf recently? I haven’t played since I was a kid.

Have you ever seen a stand up comedian? Only on TV.

Corn on the cob or canned corn? Canned corn.

In the summer, do you get tan or burn? If I actually spend a significant time outdoors, which is quite rare, I burn then tan.

What’s your favorite form of transportation? Car.

Are you a fan of pepperoni and green pepper pizza? I just want extra cheese and extra sauce with ranch to dip it in.

What did you last take a picture of? Something on TV, I think.

Do you use napkins or wipe your hands on your pants? Napkins preferably, but I am guilty of wiping my hands on my pants.

Who’s singing the song you are currently listening to? I’m not listening to any song.

Would you rather go to Germany or Spain? Hmm. I’d love to visboth.

Do you have any plans for tonight? Sleeeep.

[lavieboheme930]

85

If you’re pale, do you get made fun of for it? I’m extremely pale.  And I make fun of myself for it actually HAHA.

Are you white/black/asian/mexican/etc? I’m white

How old are your parents? My dad is 70 and my mom is 65

Did your family move to America from another country? My great-grandparents came from Italy

Have you ever been to any other countries? No

If so, where and for how long? N/A

Ever been to Washington D.C.?: Yes

Did you get to meet the president of the time?: No.  He wasn’t even there.  This was in 2005.  But I did get to take a picture outside the White House

Have you seen Fahrenheit 9/11? If not, you should.: No, I should though

Anyway, ever been to NYC Or LA?: I live in NYC

If so, how were your experiences there?: I can’t stand tourists...They ruin our city

Ever known anyone who did business with a prostitute?: No

Are your real parents divorced?: No

Were you adopted?: No

If so, have you met your biological parents? How about biological siblings or grandparents?: N/a

If your parents are divorced, how old are your step parents? N/a

Do you like your step parents, or are they assholes? N/a

Ever had an abusive parent or other family member? No

If so, what’s the worst they did?: N/A

Got any step siblings? If so, how many? Are they annoying or cool? N/A

Are either of your parents engaged but not married yet? They’re already married

Do you think it’s silly for grown adults to still be dating around? No

Ever walked in on your parents while they were getting busy? If so, how many times and how old were you?: Never happened

How many siblings do you have?: None

How old are they, and what are their names? N/A

Do they have the same hair color and eye color as you? N/A

Do you like older or younger siblings better? N/A

Ever had to take care of a baby sibling? If do, did you feel responsible, or were you just annoyed?: N/A

Do you like children, or do they piss you off? I like them...but I can’t stand kids when the parents let them get away with everything

Think you’ll ever have kids of your own one day? I hope so

Have you ever had a close friend get knocked up early? No

Have you yourself ever gotten close to getting pregnant? I never had sex

If you were to get pregnant as a teen, what would happen? I’d keep my baby and give them love. They’re my child. I’m against abortion, I’m not killing an innocent human being <---Completely agree

Do you know if anyone in your family ever got knocked up as a teen?: Nope

Do you prefer baby boys or baby girls?: Either or

Know anyone your age who sucks on a pacifier for fun? No

Enough about babies; what’s your favorite color? Black

Do you prefer black or white?: Black

Do you have a favorite number? What is it? 5

Do you have a favorite letter? No

Are you one of those losers that buys things with the letter of your name?: WTF...why is that considered being a loser?  Sometimes I do cause I want to.

Do you label people at school based on their appearance? No

If you could be in a music video, which video would it be and why? None

What was the highlight of your day? Texting with Ricky 

What’s the first website you go on when you get online? The library

Have you played mini golf recently? No

Have you ever seen a stand up comedian? I go to a comedy club every week...and Sal is my favorite comedian and I’ve seen him 7 times now.  Oh, and I’m becoming a stand up comedian myself

Corn on the cob or canned corn? Neither

In the summer, do you get tan or burn? Neither I’m just pale LOL

What’s your favorite form of transportation? walking.  I’d say subway, but the MTA sucks

Are you a fan of pepperoni and green pepper pizza? No

What did you last take a picture of? a dress

Do you use napkins or wipe your hands on your pants? pants LOL

Who’s singing the song you are currently listening to? Warrant

Would you rather go to Germany or Spain? Neither are on my list.

Do you have any plans for tonight? Sleeping

[okayoonoh]

JUNGWOO’S FAMILY

a/n: i honestly can’t believe i’ve gotten this far! i’m so happy that i’ve been keeping up with these and i hope you guys have been liking them so far!

here’s the masterlist to all things nct dad related! go and check it out! i have so many other parts written already :)

KIM JUNGWOO:

he has three kids, all daughters. kim jia is the oldest, 3 years later, kim jieun was born, and 3 years after that, kim jiyoung was born.

(when jiyoung was born, jia was 6 years old while jieun was 3 years old)

KIM JIA: >> as a baby <<

she comes runner up in the position as calmest

she was so freaking chill like?

when jia was born, jungwoo saw his entire universe the second she opened her eyes and looked at her appa

you know how when jungwoo smiles, he looks like the little dumpling ?

yeah

that’s jia

she looks more like the dumpling then jungwoo does lol

jia was also pretty small when she was born

but that didn’t stop her!

when she gained weight, she mostly gained it in her belly and her face

she like was fine proportionally, but her belly was just so big lol

it honestly was the cutest

jungwoo nicknamed her mandu bc she was honestly just the sweetest little dumpling

she wasn’t shy when it came to her smiles

she was a little wary around strangers but that’s okay

jungwoo was honestly a really anxious dad

like he just would think that anything and everything can go wrong and he was just so nervous

but like jia took it easy on him dw

like if you had to leave for something for like a couple days

jungwoo would be so anxious about taking care of jia by himself

but then jia would just give her appa a pretty little reassuring smile

and he knew that he got it

jungwoo is honestly a really good dad

like naturally

he read a couple books and such

but a lot of his skills come naturally

he knew all of the things jia liked

he knew how to calm her down

she was honestly the worst with strangers

like if jungwoo or you had to leave the room

she would cry as if you left her forever

jia slowly learned that you guys still exist even if you leave the room haha

she was just so loving with her parents

>> as a child <<

she’s still just so chill dude

like obvi she’s a kid and when she gets excited, she’ll get excited

but she’s not like the “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” kind of kid

she’s more of a “woo”

she’s best friends with jeno’s oldest, lee juwon

juwon is a lot like his dad

he thinks that it’s so cool that jia is so smart

she’s kinda panicky lol

but juwon is just like weird with his humor and stuff

they still vibe together well tho

they both have the greatest smiles

like it’s one of those situations that they don’t have that much in common

but they just vibe so well together

she’s. so. smart.

jia is one of those people that school comes easy to them

like learning is just so easy for her

she was already learning really complex topics for her age

and she just kept wanting to learn more

she’s not super competitive with being top of the class tho

jia will tutor anyone who asks

even tho she’s smart

when she’s with juwon, they don’t make the best decisions

like if you send them to the store to buy more soy sauce or something

they’ll forget the soy sauce

but they’ll buy you like a pan or something

they once clogged the drain and turned the shower into a vertical bath tub

how?

no one knows

it was HE double hockey sticks to drain tho lol

when juwon and jia play, they play hard

like jia is the type of girl to be covered bruises

and she won’t care

she’s a really good sister to all of her siblings

she doesn’t really boss them around

but she will use her older sister powers if one of them steps out of line

like if one of them annoys her while she’s studying or something

she’ll use her older sister voice

she rarely uses it tho lol

>> as a teen/adult <<

she’s so heckin smart dude

honestly, probably the smartest person in the entire group

she decides that she really enjoys helping people when they’re at their worst

and she becomes a orthopedic surgeon

like she achieves to be head of surgery in her hospital

even tho she’s a doctor, she still believes in all the medical myths lol

for example

if it’s really cold outside

and jiyoung is going out for a run

jia will make jiyoung where like 500 layers

jia: “yoU’RE GONNA GET SICK”

jiyoung: “you literally just told me how that was a myth whY -- UNNIE I’LL BE OUT FOR LIKE 30 MINUTES I DON’T NEED TO WEAR MY SNOW COAT AND YOUR’S! IT’S NOT EVEN SNOWING.”

she’s so caring towards her siblings like it’s crazy

she’s proud of everything they do

jia watches every single one of jieun’s blogs

she watches every single one of jiyoung’s soccer games

she’s there for everything

jia doesn’t know what sleep is lol

she’s constantly studying and improving her skills as a surgeon

like even when she’s on vacation

she’s reading her books and stuff

her favorite place to study is qian fen’s cafe

she vibes so well in there

she’s honestly obsessed with her skin

lowkey a dermatologist at this point

jungwoo still occasionally calls her mandu lol

juwon is like one of the only people that knows how to get her to relax lol

she’s honestly a bit of a workaholic

jia can’t help it

she still cares so much about her entire family

she’ll get them in with the good doctors (discounts too)

whenever she’s overworked or overstressed, she goes home

being around family reenergizes her

she relates a lot with her dad

she’s honestly a mini version of jungwoo

if jungwoo can tell that she’s struggling, he’ll do the things he did to her as a baby

like seriously lol

he’ll find her plushy she had when she was a baby

and sing her the same songs 

it would make you cry every time because it was so gosh darn cute

KIM JIEUN: >> as a baby <<

also super chill

jieun was honestly so chic

like it would take a lot to make her smile

like if know rohui from return of the superman

like she had the brightest and goofiest smile

but jieun had to keep her chic aesthetic and couldn’t show emotions lol

even when jungwoo and you were jumping up and down making yourselves look ridiculous, she still won’t smile

when, and it was rare, she did smile, it was a big smile

she would give you guys the biggest smiles just so show how happy she is

she wasn’t a super playful baby lol

she was just so chic like idk what else to say lmao

when jieun was around her squad™ she would smile a bit more

but she still maintained her image

she loved to babble

jieun wanted to talk as soon as she could

she would talk even before she knew how lol

like omg imagine

so like you’re with jia for something and jungwoo wants to take a roadtrip with his little princess

she’ll babble the ENTIRE way

none of them are actual words other than “appa” and “eomma” 

and jungwoo would respond so well to everything 

like he would have actual conversations with her

jungwoo wasn’t as stressed this time around

it’s different with two kids tho

but it’s okay

he still kept those natural dad instincts 

jungwoo is so caring towards all of his children it’s just the sweetest

jieun honestly was just a chic baby 

>> as a child <<

she’s super feminine

like she loves all things pink

all things frilly and pretty

soft™ 

her favorite game was all games related to being a princess

she really was your family’s princess tho

jieun was so creative from an early age

and she was so artistic

like she took up drawing, sketching, etc. all from an early age

and she’s super talented with it too

jieun is in the squad of her, jaehyun’s son, jung leon, hendery’s middle son, wong liuwei, and haechan’s middle daughter, lee haeun

jieun is the calmest out of all of them

but they honestly can all be so crazy

generally, jieun is like the one who is trying to calm everyone down

but when she’s in the right mood, she’s right up there with them in crackheadedness

she speaks in tiny

she’s still super girly tho lol

she starts to get interested in makeup in this age

jieun didn’t really like playing with dolls and such

but she did enjoy playing with those makeup sets

she would do her makeup

your makeup

jia’s makeup

jungwoo’s makeup

jiyoung’s makeup

e v e r y o n e

she becomes obsessed with beauty

jieun is one of those girls who you’re like “yeah, she is a GIRL.”

and she loves it!

it’s just her aesthetic :)

>> as a teen/adult <<

she becomes a well known makeup artist

still super duper chic and artistic

she’s known for her colorful and technically perfect style

she does makeup for all of the models and celebrities of the group

like if they want to go for the aesthetic look, they go to her

and she does an amazing job

she’s so talented with all things dealing with beauty

hair, makeup, nails, e v e r y t h i n g

whenever she models for anything, she does her own makeup

her fashion sense is always trendy

jieun has a pristine self image and she tries to maintain it

guys hit on her all of the time lmao

she handles it so well tho

she looks them right in the eyes, as intimidating as possible, and takes a deep breath

she then uses words that don’t match with her image at all

but they’re so scary

like people would think she was a delinquent in her past life with all of the things she says

everyone in her squad find this kinda entertaining

she just gets annoyed because she hates creeps

even tho she cares a lot about her self-image, if someone is being weird around her friends, she’ll do the same thing she’ll do for herself

it usually shocks the dude so much

she can beat them up too lol

jieun is chic and stuff, but being in the squad, she learned how to fight

and she can take care of herself haha

jieun is pretty reliable

like if she makes an engagement, she won’t run from it

she does a really good in keeping up with everything

she gets along well with all of her siblings

jiyoung takes interest in fashion and jieun helps her out

honestly, jieun really is that girl and it’s just so cool

KIM JIYOUNG: >> as a baby <<

she’s been a soccer player from the start

she had such strong legs as a baby

like being pregnant with her was not a fun time

when she kicked, she kicked

even when she was born

her legs were just aching to start running

jiyoung was very similar to jia when she started gaining weight

except her legs were a lot more chubby than jia’s was

jiyoung was an early riser from the start

every day, you would begin by stretching out the little baby

that’s when all of her gigles were

stretching time was jiyoung’s favorite time

out of all of your kids, jiyoung was the most social

jiyoung was fine with strangers

and jiyoung would give you guys way more smiles than jieun did 

jiyoung just seemed constantly happy about life

it was a treat to see

in all physical things, she was advanced

literally the second she started walking, she was trying to run

she was just so active and wanted to explore the world

when she was a toddler oh no

you didn’t want to have to get one of those baby backpack leashes, but you had to

she was just too fast

even jungwoo couldn’t keep up with her 

she was so excited all of the time haha

nothing seemed to calm her down

she would be full of energy until she collapsed pretty much

jiyoung was such a happy baby tho it was honestly so endearing

>> as a child <<

super duper athletic

she kinda seemed intimidating if you didn’t know her

but she’s chill dw

she put all of her energy into sports and she excelled

jiyoung is so talented in all of her sports

but her favorite is soccer

mainly because her dad was so good at soccer, she loves how she can relate with him

she’s generally happiest when she’s playing sports

she enjoys being the baby of the family tho

jiyoung is pretty independent in most situations

but when she’s around her sisters, she changes lol

like a lot of people think that she’s super cool and independent and no one can hold her down

but the second jieun needs help with something, jiyoung is on her way ASAP

jiyoung wasn’t super needy or high maintenance

she would just appreciate everything you would buy for her

she had really tan skin because she was out in the sun tho

even tho it’s “against the beauty standard” to have tan skin

she embraced it

jieun, the beauty guru of the entire group, said that jiyoung and the best skin

jia is willing to fight ANYONE who makes fun of jiyoung’s skin tone

jiyoung embraced herself and loved herself from such an early age

she’s best friends with yuta’s youngest son, nakamoto itsuki

itsuki is also a soccer prodigy

they relate a lot with soccer

they honestly compliment each other so well

like itsuki is a little goofy and stuff

and so is jiyoung

they both are super tan and athletic too

they just were meant to be from such an early age

jiyoung wasn’t really into things that were super feminine tho 

she prefers “dirt over skirts”

jiyoung is such a hard worker

like she works through all of her sore muscles and everything

but she just does such a good job and maintains a positive attitude

>> as a teen/adult <<

a soccer player ™ 

she goes and plays professionally

she’s just so gosh darn athletic it’s so cool

she just genuinely enjoys playing soccer

jiyoung does have those days where she pushed herself too hard

but she just needs to see her family one more time to get back into the swing of things

whichever team she’s on, she becomes the face of the team

jiyoung honestly has the brightest smile and everyone loves it

when she speaks in any situation that’s not a soccer game, she speaks in tiny

but when she’s out on the field

she’s LOUD

so LOUD

she doesn’t know why she’s so quiet off the field but she just is lol

she starts to take an interest in fashion and such after establishing herself as a professional soccer player

jieun is like “dw jiyoung, i gotchu bb”

jieun knows her sister’s aesthetic and just rolls with it

jiyoung wears everything jieun tells her too

like even tho jiyoung has taken an interest in fashion, she sucks at choosing her own outfits lol

itsuki and jiyoung get together

everyone knew it was gonna happen lol

they were honestly soulmates from the second they met

athletic power couple of the century

if they have a match on the same night, they’ll wear the same color headbands and shoes

they do subtle things

like the even have customized cleats with each other’s names in them 

on their biggest game days, they wear those cleats

honestly, it’s the cutest

like ugh

i guess you can say that itsuki and jiyoung are goals *badum tssssss*

jungwoo just wants to be there for all of her matches

jiyoung makes sure that the two of you get season tickets to the best seats in the stadium

jungwoo is so happy whenever he sees all of his daughters happy and together

he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

---

junguwu really out here with the uwuest family of them all :,)

i hope you guys liked it! i was struggling a bit with these three because i knew how they were in my head but i just couldn’t put it to words haha

anyway, lucas’s family is next~

- amy <3