#he’s terrible with teens sure but little kids are way different

[ickypuppi3]

once again thinking about billy being good with the younger kids—

nancy calling steve up because her mom and dad made last minute dinner reservations and nancy and jonathan have tickets for this movie and this is the last night it’s showing and please steve, holly loves you! and she can hear steve pull the phone away a bit and it sounds like he’s talking to someone and then he says—

“it’s just— billy’s here.”

and nancy’s stumped for a second. because—

“billy hargrove?”

and before either of them can say anything holly’s all billy billy billy! i wanna see billy he’s the best! he does swimming and- and- and now i can do swimming!

and nancy is, once again, stumped because. really? billy? and she can hear murmuring over the phone for a minute more before steve says that they’ll be round in ten and the line goes dead and nancy’s standing there thinking, like- what? but also knowing that her mom would be happy for billy to look after holly because… well. anyway.

she turns to jonathan and he’s like so? and nancy nods and he grins and then she’s like yeah. billy’s coming too i guess and jonathan’s like yeah i guess that makes sense, he’s good with the kids, mom’s always saying and nancy’s like oh neat everyone’s joined the billy hargrove fan club suddenly but she concedes because they get to go to the movie etc.

ten minutes later the doorbell rings and it’s a weird sort of sight, steve and billy standing on her doorstep with an unnatural distance between them, like they’d moved apart the second before the door opened.

they say their hello’s and nancy invites the two of them in, tells them about dinner and bedtimes and then billy says something and suddenly there’s a blur of pink as holly runs full pelt around the corner and all but jumps at him, she’s talking non stop and tugging at billy to go upstairs and see her room because she needs to introduce him to her bears and show him her dolls and dolls house and—

nancy is, well you know it. and steve is looking sort of weirdly proud, a smile on his face as he looks at billy that feels private, like it’s something nancy isn’t supposed to see and she coughs. gets steve out of his little daze and her, steve and jonathan chat for a bit while billy gets the full tour until jonathan says about the time. nancy hovers by the door as they’re leaving and steve just smiles and says—

“we’re gonna be fine, nance. promise.”

cut to the movie finishing, it’s late and nancy makes sure to be quiet as she unlocks the door. she checks the living room but there’s no one in there. she goes upstairs and can see the light under holly’s door so she goes in quietly and is utterly thrown by what she sees. feels like she’s stepped into some sort of alternate universe, which isn’t really out of the realm of possibility, because—

holly’s in bed, fast asleep with billy sat up against some pillows to her left. there’s an open book in his lap and a steve harrington sound asleep to his left. steve’s face is hidden, sort of turned into billy as he lays on his side. the hand not tucked under him is entangled with billy’s and billy’s looking down at him when nancy clears her throat quietly.

she can see the brief panic when billy looks up, can see the way billy goes to move his hand but steve just frowns in his sleep and clutches tighter. billy’s face goes a little pink but she can also see him rubbing his thumb across steve’s knuckles, absentmindedly, naturally, like he does it all the time and—

oh.

nancy starts to put a few pieces of the puzzle together. a little late, maybe, but still ..

anyway. billy wakes steve up and they make their way downstairs, nancy’s slightly in awe at the way billy closes holly’s door silently and walks softly so as to not wake her up, considering it’s billy, and when steve and billy are leaving nancy stops billy for a moment with a hand on his arm, notices he looks panicked again so she just says a quick—

“thank you.”

and billy shrugs, says “‘s fine. she’s a good kid.”

and nancy’s like “yeah .. she really likes you. you’re, uh, you’re good with her, billy.”

and billy shifts around looking incredibly awkward, pink flush back on his face so nancy blurts it out—

“would you— you know if i—”

“you want me to babysit again?”

“mom will pay. obviously. i just— holly likes you. i think i might actually like you now.”

and billy laughs, suddenly. grins. it’s familiar, nancy’s seen this billy a thousand times. he says something about nancy paying for his company and risky business and nancy crosses her arms and rolls her eyes and huffs but it’s sort of fond, now.

now she feels like she understands him a little better.

now she’s seen the way steve and him look at one another when they know the other one isn’t watching.

“you need me, steve’s got my number.” billy says.

nancy nods and billy gives her a little salute, pops a cigarette in his mouth as he walks toward steve’s car.

nancy waves as the engine starts and she goes back inside, goes to her room and thinks about everything that happened in the past however many hours. the next morning holly is, of course, talking about billy non stop over breakfast and nancy has to agree, has to admit that he is one hell of a babysitter, which—

weird, considering. unexpected but, well— sweet. how holly talks about him, anyway.

[mynameisjag]

Because I just remembered, as author, I have power to do whatever the hell I want in fanfiction. The only powers in the universe that can stop me is my terrible ADD and terrible sleeping habits.

It’s a sequel to ‘Mistaken for Wolverine's and Wade's possible kid.'

There was a possible feral child running around with claws and a smart mouth.

“We'll take him home, keep him in the bathroom for a little while so Laura can get used to his scent and then slowly introduce them to each other.”

“…they aren’t cats…”

“Right, weasel family, close enough.”

Logan rolled his eyes with grunt, the smell of crushed ice and iron filling his nose, they had been following the kids scent for awhile now, enough for a quick change out of uniform to throw on street clothes.

Wade had thrown on an over large sweater with the hoodie pulled up with a face mask and glasses, Logan himself was dressed in one of his flannels.

“We look like the Unibomber and the Bounty Paper mascot have decided to go on a date at the local market.”

They were close, the tracks had lead them to a more public place, a small outdoor fruit market, but there was no sign of white hair anywhere. Though that didn’t matter if the kid could go invisible.

They were close though…

“So what’s the bet that baby wolvie can change his appearance to fit in?”

“Hmm?”

Wade nudged their shoulders together as he gave a subtle nod over to the next stall, black hair, blue eyes, different clothes…but the smell remained the same…

“Oh, boy, whoever made this designer baby knew what they were doing, still has those sharp claws and cute little fangs you both share. Congratulations to us? What we naming him?”

“Wade.”

“Right, assuming gender, my apologies.”

The man actually snorted in brief amusement, getting what he knew was a wide grin even if it was covered up, he rolled his eyes as the usually red covered merc grabbed his bicep, “He could be a Void escapee, I don’t smell any other human smells on him, let’s stay up wind right now.”

Wade gave the arm he was attached to a small squeeze, “Led the way Mr. Paper Picker Upper.”

They moved slowly through the crowd, eyes on the kid but still keeping a distance incase he picked up the super senses trait.

Lightly clawed hands were picking up apples, sniffing them then placing them down, head would tilt and the ears would twitch, he was still listening for any kind of disturbance. Eyes would focus on a fruit, then dart to the side, still wary and still watching out.

“The face shape and features are the same…need better proof though.”

“Lucky you and the need for the plot to move forward, looks like someone has itchy knuckles and a case of peekaboo.”

Sure enough, one hand was rubbing at the knuckles were a slight sheen glinted in the sunlight before disappearing.

The kid was frowning down at his own hands, distracted enough to not notice Wade casually stroll up behind him, “Baby boy, is that you! You’ve been gone for two years! We thought you were dead!”

Logan sighed tiredly, accepting his fate as he watched his partner throw his arms around the child in a crushing hug, wailing dramatically how they would be so much better parents now, they would support his interest in professional knitting and how dare he leave with a note written in cursive.

Phones were out, people were clapping over the tearful reunion, the poor kid looked shocked to be manhandled over to him by Wade.

“It’s your Daddy, I know he is currently cosplaying a lumberjack, but he’s still the asshole we love.”

Logan could only shake his head, letting out a huff before staring down the kid, “Ready to have that chat?”

Bright blue eyes glared up at him on a level of unimpressed that only teens could reach, “I don’t know, are you ready to go save Goldilocks, I think you better go off and get lost in the woods looking for her.”

“Oh, he is just the Sassiness! He gets it from me, I swear! Just an absolute deee-light!"

[ifyoucandaniel]

once again nobody asked, but here is a comprehensive list of my favorite shorter Batman fics. my other list was mostly fics 50k and up, so this will be under 50k and oneshots :) i feel like most people have probably read a majority of these but! i love them all so much so here they are

In Love With Justice and Battling in the Wings by Jedi_olympian, 9k, 10k, T. literally who would i be if i didn't include my day one, my bbg: the justice league recruits nightwing and meets the batfam <3

Two Against the World by carolinaa, 36k, T, completed. i reread this all the time :') this is a "tim joins the batfam a little differently" fic as well as a "tim gets an emotional support dog and dick grayson won't leave the lonely kid next door alone" fic <3

Museum Mishap by prettymisskitty, 38k, T, completed. I love smart little stalker tim joining the fam in fun ways! jason and tim get kidnapped after jason tries to figure out if this scrawny jumpy kid knows batman and robins secret identities. shenanigans ensue

Jason Todd's terrible, horrible, no-good very bad week by slenderboo, 18k, T, completed. this is another one im sure everyone has read but!! it's my bbg!! hurt jason with some big brother nightwing and concerned little brothers AND its a batfam meets the justice league fic? say less.

Say Uncle by megaerakles, 46k, T, complete. this is so fun and i actually laughed so hard at jason having legal custody of tim at 19 by accident. "teen dad(?)" this is basically tim's fake uncle AU but he hires jason to be his uncle until he can figure out how to get him to go home to the bats <3

Doc Harley by starknjarvis, 15k, G, completed. this!! i love harley being friends with the bats sooo much and her slowly therapy-ing them all is so very good and perfect. harley and dick deserve to be best friends

Dangerous and Noble Things by Destiny919, 45k, T, completed. this one reminds me of hand in unloveable hand by britishparty, and in this one tim is abducted by ra's and then years later the batfam finds out and they bring him home :) cass and tim are a package deal, do not separate!! so good and i love robin jason so very much

Savior(s) of the broken by epistemology, 13k, T. this is just some good ol' jason and dick becoming brothers again and jason slowly getting to know his siblings again <3 the end maybe made me cry just a little... right in the brother feels

Living Dead Boy by terranpheum, 22k, T, completed. im actually rereading this right now! this is where tim is there when jason digs his way out of his grave and takes him home to rehabilitate him by making him play scrabble and eat with him :) so cute and very good

Even if I'm Erased by Darkness, I Will Definitely Save You by Kirazalea, 7k, T. okay so i LOVE battison fics especially ones that include dick and this one is from selina's pov so this is my bread and butter. if anyone has more battison fics send them to me i feel like ive been through the whole tag.....

of crime lords and literature by adelfie, 23k, T, completed. everyone loves some jason begrudgingly becoming protective of tim and the two of them bonding over hamlet. whats not to like :p

Juneberries by michaberry, 68k, M, completed. tim gets kidnapped and psychologically tortured while damian wrestles with his own demons and tries to bring his brother home :’) tim and damian learning how to be brothers and realizing they would do anything for their family is just <33

Robin is Magic by flames_dance, 15k, T, completed. the way my heart actually dropped to my ass when jason found out who tim was, you had to be there... very good jason and tim bonding with a side of trauma from titans tower <3

Around Red Hood's Barn by Tori1116, 24k, T, completed. jayroy where roy doesn't realize his crush red hood and his hooligan neighbor jay are one and the same and keeps ranting to his buddy hood about how annoying his neighbor is. single dad roy x jason wanting his brothers to leave him alone and stop causing misunderstandings <3

the butlers neighbor by deargalileo, 16k, G, completed. okay i almost never see fics from alfreds pov and this is even better because its alfred adopting tim into the family while bruce and jason are just in the background accepting they have another kid. 10/10 very cute bonding between alfred and tim

lashed with riot-red and black by lux_et_astra, 16k, T. yet another tim and jason becoming brothers fic <3 they start writing notes through their windows and become friends :) i think i’ve read every fic under the tim drake joins the batfam early tag

Panic Room by envysparkler, 15k, T, completed. jason being locked in a room with his trigger while actively trying not to kill him and then getting locked in a room with TWO of his triggers is insane lmao. i love damian in this actually :’) that boy needs so much love

also i realized again that these are mostly tim & jason centric so i’m very sorry damian, dick, duke, cass, babs, and steph, i do have fics for them i promise i just have so many tim and jason ones…. pls send recs for other batfam member focused fics!! <3 i feel like that tiktok that’s like I GOT LOVE FOR YOU TOO KEVIN but for the entire batfam because i just have 900 jason and tim centric fics 😭

[steddieasitgoes]

Stolen Kisses & Sundae Wishes

3.4K Words | Teen and Up | ao3 link

This was written for day three of @steddie-week. The prompts I used were first kiss and discover! As always it ended up way longer than I intended! You can read it below or on ao3. Enjoy!

"You know this basement used to be mine before Mike took it over?" Nancy says, looking around the cluttered basement fondly.

"Those little thieves," Eddie teases, stretching out on the worn, scratchy blue carpet.

They're all gathered in the Wheeler's basements — the kids banished to the Byers' new place for the weekend — to celebrate one last hang out before their lives change for the better. Nancy leaves for Emerson tomorrow afternoon. Argyle and Jonathan to New York on Monday. Robin, Steve, and Eddie scheduled to get the keys to their new apartment near Indiana State in a little over a week.

They're growing up.

And yet, the basement looks like they're still kids who don't know what they're doing with their lives.

The coffee table is piled high with pizza boxes and other snacks. A soda can tower barely hanging on as Robin adds another empty Coke can. The basement should be filled with beer cans and Palm Tree Delight joints, but none of that stuff has the same effect on them it once did. Getting drugged by Russians, making a drunken scene at parties, and waking up from on bad drug-enhanced nightmare has them all acting a bit more sober than usual.

Still, there's a rawness in the air that Steve's only used to being around at parties when everyone is under the influence, feeling happy and chatty.

"I had my first kiss right here," Nancy says, patting the paisley couch.

"Oh, are we talking about first kisses, brochachos?" Argyle asks, sitting up from where he's been sprawled out under Mike's designated DnD table. "Mine was wild."

"I'm sure it was," Jonathan says, rolling his eyes at his best friend. "But I don't think Nancy meant for everyone to share their stories."

"Aw, come on, my dude. It'll be fun!"

“I don’t know Argyle. I think Jonathan’s right on this one,” Steve chimes in.

It’s not the answer everyone was expecting from him by the way everyone’s heads whirl around to face him. Sure, he spent his high school years making out in crowded Hawkins High hallways, not caring who was watching. But this feels different.

First kisses are special and awkward, and well, if he’s honest, Steve doesn’t want to hear Eddie wax poetic about his first kiss like he knows he’ll do because Eddie is a storyteller. He doesn’t know how to tell them anything unless it’s woven with dragon slaying and metaphors that go over Steve’s head.

Last week, Robin had to give him the SparkNotes version of Eddie’s terrible interview after Eddie went on a ten-minute rant about the horrors of job interviews.

“Now we have to hear your first kiss story, Stevie. It must be really terrible if you don’t want to share with us,” Eddie teases, sitting up from the floor.

“Hate to break it to you, Munson, but it wasn’t anything exciting. Just an innocent first kiss in a dark room. I don’t even know what she looked like.”

Eddie groans, tossing his head back onto the empty space next to Nancy on the couch. His hair flops around him, draping over her thighs. “You’re the worst storyteller ever! Come on, Wheeler, paint us a picture of your first kiss. Show Stevie how it’s done.”

Steve doesn’t think Nancy is going to take Eddie’s bait, but she does, and Steve’s reminded yet again that he really has no idea what goes on in Nancy Wheeler’s head. Never did and never will.

Nancy goes on to tell them about Connor Fritz. They were childhood best friends before his family moved when his mom got a better teaching job at Northwestern. The basement was their post-school hangout, but unlike Mike and his friends, all they ever got up to down here was homework until one summer afternoon.

“We were supposed to go to the pool but stayed in instead. It was our final day together before he moved, and he was really nervous. I was too. We were starting middle school in a few weeks, and now we were going to be totally friendless. And kiss-less since we didn’t go to Carol’s 11th birthday party.”

“The spin-the-bottle party,” Steve snorts in remembrance. He still has no idea how Carol convinced her parents to leave them unattended in her basement for hours. It’s a good thing they all thought kissing was sex at that age. If not, well, Steve’s certain at least one kid would have been conceived in Carol’s game closet.

“The very one,” Nancy smiles. “So anyway, we were just talking about how mad we were that we weren’t going to be there for each other, and then he said something like, “well, I can still help you with one thing,” and then he kissed me.”

“That’s the sweetest first kiss story ever,” Robin coos from the floor. She’s lying on the same itchy blue carpet as Eddie, her head using Steve’s lap as her very own pillow.

It’s easy from their position for Steve to glance down at Robin to check in with her. Robin has her own streak of jealousy that runs through her, so he can’t imagine this conversation is any fun for her either. Instead of finding her lips pressed thinly together and a vacant look in her eyes, though, he finds her smiling.

Huh? She’s stronger than me, he thinks.

“What about you, Robin?”

“Oh me?” Robin laughs dryly, lifting her head out of Steve’s lap and pushing herself up into a seated position next to Steve. “I mean, I guess it was at summer camp in 1980 with this kid whose name I don’t even remember. But uh, I don’t really think it counts since I don’t exactly, you know, like kissing guys.”

“What’s the girl story then?” Eddie asks.

Without hesitating, Steve reaches a hand out to Robin. Lets it rest on her crossed thigh before giving her a reassuring squeeze.

This is also why he didn’t want this conversation to take place.

“It, uh, hasn’t happened yet.”

“No need to fret, Robin Hood! There will be plenty of dudettes to mack out with at that fancy school of yours. So many little fishies waiting for your lips.”

Robin snorts, shaking her head. “I hope your right,” she says, ducking her head for a moment. “What about you, Argyle?”

“Picture this, my dudes,” he says, hopping up onto his feet. “You’ve got Palm Tree Delight in one hand, a beautiful girl holding your other hand. The sky is doing that weird painter with the missing ear thing it does when all the colors start twirling together. And then everything starts spinning, and the next thing you know you’re in the grass with a beautiful girl on top of you, and she’s not just kissing you for Purple Palm Tree Delight, but she’s kissing you because she wants to taste your lips.”

“See, that’s how you tell a story!”

“Thanks, my dude.”

Eddie hops up on his feet, crossing the small distance to high-five Argyle. Their hands’ clasp in the moment, turning the innocent high-five into a weird handholding moment that neither seems to want to break.

Steve absolutely isn’t jealous.

“Yeah, well, not all of us are storytellers, Munson.”

“Allow me to give you a lesson in storytelling then,” Eddie says, finally prying his hand free from Argyle’s grasp. He saunters into the middle of the basement and gestures with his hands. “Everyone take your seats, please.”

Robin snorts as she crawls over to the couch, taking a seat on the floor where Eddie previously sat. Nancy’s still perched on the couch next to Jonathan, and Argyle collapses to his left. Steve’s the last to find his spot, making himself comfortable next to Robin.

“First, you start with the set up,” he says, talking directly at Steve before moving to address the rest of them. “It was 1976. I was ten years old, and I was in Hawkins visiting Wayne for the summer. Usually, my dad would bring me out to visit for a few days, but he got caught up with “work,” you know, hot-wiring cars and stripping them for parts, so I spent the whole summer here with Wayne.

“It was a humid July day. The air thick and hard to breathe,” he says, pausing to turn to Steve again. “A good story always has details about the senses, Stevie.”

Steve rolls his eyes, but keeps listening.

“I remember I was covered in sweat ‘cause Wayne had the day off and needed to patch up the patio of the trailer after I tore it up, saving a raccoon family. Course, I had to help. I was sweating buckets. My hair was shoulder-length at the time, and it was sticking to me, and so was everything else.

“We finally finished as the sun was setting and Wayne must’ve felt bad for keeping me hostage all day — not like I had anywhere else to go, really. Everyone already had their own friends in Hawkins. I was just some weird outsider who liked to feed raccoons. So, he felt bad and told me to take a quick shower ‘cause he was taking me out for ice cream.

“I’m thinking he’s taking me to the new Dairy Queen that I saw on the way into Hawkins a month ago. But no, the old man takes me to some rundown, hole-in-the wall ice cream parlor in the old downtown of Hawkins. The part they eventually tore down for Starcourt.

“And this place. Man, I’ll never forget it. It was like ice cream threw up inside. Every wall was painted after a different ice cream. And not the normal ones, either. There was a rainbow sherbet wall and turtle tracks one. A giant abstract sundae mural behind the counter.

“Jesus H. Christ and the name! I was only 11, but even I knew the name was an issue. I mean, who names an ice cream shop The Lick —-

“N’ Bite,” Steve supplies.

There’s a sinking feeling in Steve’s stomach when Eddie turns towards him again. Eddie hates being interrupted, a fact Steve knows because he’s constantly getting reprimanded for interrupting Eddie’s story flow. Whatever the hell that means. But the look Eddie’s giving him isn’t his usual one of annoyance; it’s one of pure curiosity.

“You know it?”

Steve nods. “Tommy’s mom used to take us there after basketball practice.”

“Huh, wouldn’t expect to see your type at a dive ice cream shop,” Eddie shrugs, then launches back into his story.

There’s another five minutes of Eddie describing all the flavors he sampled that day in great detail — “they had this one called fresh and clean that tasted like Wayne’s laundry detergent. I was so convinced it was one of the ingredients!” — before Eddie finally gets to the kiss side of the story.

“Wayne’s catching up with the only guy working the place, and I really want another scoop of Sinful Cinnamon, so I figure, what the hell? I’ll scoop it myself. But there’s none left in the tub, so I head into the back. There’s this giant walk-in freezer in the back that has all the tubs in it, and it’s cracked open.”

The sinking feeling in Steve’s stomach returns as Eddie keeps talking. He tries not to squirm next to Robin, doesn’t want to draw any attention to himself, but he can feel his heart beating faster and faster as realization hits Steve.

“Didn’t you used to hide out at an ice cream shop when your parents started arguing?” Robin whispers.

Steve nods, too scared of what his voice will sound like if he answers verbally.

"The damn door closes behind me, and it's pitch black in this room, right. And it's cold. So fucking cold. I thought my eyes were going to freeze over. Course, the door is locked from the inside, so I'm thinking, great, I'm going to die in a damn ice cream freezer, and my dad is gonna have my uncle arrested for child endangerment even though my dad's done way worse when I catch something out of the corner of my eye.

"Next thing I know, there's this kid standing in front of me. I thought I was hallucinating! All I could see were a pair of light-colored eyes in front cause everything else was so dark, but then he lamely asked if I was here looking for ice cream too, and I knew I didn't imagine him cause, dammit he would have said something a lot cooler if I was."

“What else was I supposed to say? I was a kid!”

Eddie whirls around so fast, his legs tangle as he moves to face them, but mostly Steve. Robin’s mouth is open wide beside Steve, jaw unhinged like she’s about to have it broken in two by fucking Vecna. Steve can’t see Nancy, but he can tell by the quiet “oh my gods” she’s uttering that not even she was expecting this plot twist.

“You were there?” Eddie shouts, voice high pitched and eyes wide in utter disbelief.

“Woah, my dudes,” Argyle says, glancing between the two of them. “You guys were both locked in the ice cream freezer together? That’s wild.”

“They weren’t just locked in there, Argyle,” Jonathan hisses, elbowing him in the ribs. “They’re each other’s first kisses.”

“That can’t be true!” Eddie throws his hands in the air and begins pacing. “Steve said his first kiss was with some girl in a dark room. That’s not what I’m describing!”

“I mean, I thought it was a girl. They had long hair, and I didn’t know any guys who had long hair back then,” Steve says, pushing himself up to his own feet. He doesn’t start pacing, though, feet frozen to their spot on the floor instead. “But I did have my first kiss in an ice cream freezer. That’s why it was dark.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s, uh, that’s a little weird, but we don’t know if it was the same ice cream freezer.”

“Do you regularly make it a habit of getting locked in ice cream freezers, Munson?” Steve snaps.

He doesn’t know why Eddie is reacting like this. A minute ago, he was fondly recounting the story of kissing some boy in a freezing cold ice cream freezer, and now? Now he’s trying way harder than he ever did in school to prove he didn’t kiss Steve. As if kissing Steve is a bad thing?

Is it a bad thing?

Sure, Eddie and Steve are friends now, but maybe there’s a part of Eddie that still hates Steve for who he was in high school.

Maybe, learning that Steve took this precious first from Eddie is the final straw.

“Hey, guys, why don’t we give them a minute to work this out?” Nancy says, already yanking Jonathan and Argyle up from the couch.

Robin hesitates as she looks at Steve. He knows she’s giving him an out, but he doesn’t take it. Gives her a small nod and a tight lip smile in return and sends her up the steps after Nancy and the guys.

When Steve turns back around, Eddie’s on the couch, head buried in his hands. He takes a deep breath before carefully lowering himself onto the opposite side of the couch.

“Everything okay over there, Munson?”

“Pretty far from it, Harrington.”

Steve tries not to wince at the mention of his last name. It’s been months since Eddie’s called him anything but Stevie in that annoying tilt of his voice. But here the ugly nickname is again. Driving a dagger straight through Steve’s heart.

Steve tries to assess the situation. Digs deep into that retired athlete's brain of his and tries to come up with a game-winning plan for how to navigate this conversation. But Steve's never been good with words. It's a lot easier to find the winning move when there are actual pawns to move instead of random letters spiraling through his brain.

The way he sees it, he has two options.

Option one: apologize. For what? Steve’s not sure, but that’s never stopped him from apologizing before. It’s not the ideal plan, but it’s the only plan Steve thinks will get Eddie to look at him again. And damn, does he miss Eddie’s eyes looking at him.

Option two: take the once-in-a-lifetime shot and tell Eddie the secret he’s been harboring since a certain March night when a broken bottle was dangerously close to his throat.

Steve closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“For what it’s worth, it was a great kiss.”

“Don’t bullshit me, man!” Eddie groans. “This is embarrassing enough as it is.”

“Wow, I didn’t realize kissing me was so embarrassing,” Steve winces, recoiling in on himself.

“That’s not—“ Eddie groans again as he finally pulls his hands away from his face. He takes a moment before he turns to face Steve. “Why aren’t you more embarrassed? I mean, your first kiss was with a guy. Doesn’t that weird you out?”

“No? You know I don’t care about that stuff.”

“Yeah, but this is different. This isn’t Robin kissing Vickie or me kissing some random guy at a club. This is you! Patron Saint of Heterosexuality, Steve Harrington, having his kiss virginity stolen by some guy!”

“You didn’t steal it! I kissed you if you remember the rest of the story,” Steve says, jabbing his finger into Eddie’s scarred bicep. “And I’d do it again, because I’m not the Patron Saint of Hetereo—whatever it is you said!”

Steve's not sure how to describe the sound Eddie emits from the depths of his throat. It's a shill, almost demogorgon-like, but it lacks the danger that comes with a screech like that. Eddie's eyes are big and wild, pupils taking over every inch of the rich, warm brown Steve's come to lose himself in.

“What are you saying, Steve?”

Steve shifts closer to Eddie on the couch, eyes glued to the shell-shocked expression on his face.

It’s now, or never, he thinks. The seconds are ticking by, and he has to take the shot now if he wants the satisfaction of the win.

“I like you, Eddie,” he whispers, loud enough for Eddie to hear but not loud enough for Robin and the rest of them to hear if they’re spying on them. Which he’s willing to bet they are. “I’ve liked you since March, and I spent the entire summer of 1976 liking you before I even knew who you were.”

“Steve, that’s—” Eddie shakes his head. “That’s ridiculous, you didn’t even know what I looked like. You thought I was a girl! It could have still been a girl! We don’t know for sure it was you I kissed!”

“Maybe this will help.”

Steve scoots closer, closing the gap between them but leaving enough space for Eddie to move away if he wants. He waits for a moment, and then another and only starts to lean in when Eddie gives him the smallest nod of his head.

Eddie shakes under Steve’s steadying hand as it moves to cup his cheek. He lets his thumb trace over the still-healing flesh of his scars as he tips Eddie’s head subtly to the left. And then Steve leans in, hot breath fanning over Eddie’s face. He watches Eddie’s eyelashes flutter shut and only when he’s certain they’re closed does he press his lips to Eddie’s.

It’s soft and tentative.

Maybe even a little bit awkward.

But then Eddie presses into him ever so gently, and the sparks fly.

Steve’s entire body breaks out with goosebumps. The same way they did all those years ago in the freezer, except this time, it has nothing to do with the arctic temperature.

They keep kissing. Gentle pecks, nothing more.

Steve’s too scared of scaring Eddie away with how deep his want is, and Eddie, well, Steve’s not entirely sure what’s going on in Eddie’s head, but he imagines he’s still reeling from this new discovery.

When they finally pull away, Eddie’s smiling. Dimples deep and on full display. He’s got a mischievous glint in his eye that Steve’s come to love from afar, but now that it’s directed at him? Well, Steve’s inside turn molten.

“Think our first kiss was sweeter, Stevie.”

Steve laughs and lets his head knock against Eddie’s boney shoulder as he buries his laughter in the crook of Eddie’s neck. “I did eat like three Turtle Track sundaes before I kissed you back then.”

Eddie hums. “Guess we better go get you a sundae then and try again.

Steve pulls away and looks at Eddie with his own face of bewilderment. “You want to? With me?”

“Steve,” Eddie jests. “I dreamt about the ice cream-flavored boy I kissed for years, until I found someone new to dream about in high school. Turns out, they turned out to be the same boy after all.”

[buddierecs]

humour/crack buddie fics

all of these are general audience, teen and up or not rated (no smut) make sure to kudos/comment on these amazing works :)

nobody knows you, baby, the way i do by allyasavedtheday "buck and eddie bet hen and chimney that they know each other better than they do and a rivalry ensues. featuring one-upmanship, codependency, ravi as reluctant quizmaster and eddie believing his will is the ultimate trump card." word count: 3.7k important tags: humour, fluff, bet & wagers, feelings realization, first kiss 1001 reasons not to get drunk with your sisters boyfriend by: withmeornotatall "buck and chimney have a little too much fun on a night out and end up in a tattoo shop. when the tattoo artist asks what buck wants, he can't decide between eddie and christopher." word count: 4.3k important tags: drunken shenanigans, tattoos, possessive!eddie, getting together, sloppy makeouts, team as family the one where the 118 play "never have i ever" & chaos ensures by: dylaesthetics "playing never have i ever during a slow shift goes as well as you can probably expect." word count: 3.1k important tags: team as family, love confessions, teasing, friends to lovers, first kiss the kermit verse by: hattalove "how is eddie diaz like kermit the frog? let buck and christopher count the ways." word count: 8.7k important tags: christopher diaz is a national treasure, getting together, first kiss, memes those two firefighters by: darkfairytale "#thosetwofirefighters starts to gather a following on social media, as everyone tries to figure out if those two cute firefighters from the 118 in LA are a thing or not." word count: 64k important tags: crack treated seriously, oblivious!buddie, internet, social media, slow burn does your firehouse know? by: allyasavedtheday after chimney accidentally discovers buck and eddie are together they ask him to keep it a secret for a few weeks while they settle into their relationship. it goes about as well as expected. word count: 7.5k important tags: secret relationship, fluff, crack, pov outsider woke up the girl who looked just like you, i almost said your name by: rarakiplin "five times Eddie dates a guy a little too similar to Buck, and one time he dates the real deal." word count: 8.9k important tags: 5+1 things, jealous!evan buckley, getting together, pov outsider i just wanna tell you how i'm feeling by: calvingseason "healing through shitty memes sure is cathartic." word count: 7.6k important tags: memes, getting together, coming out, first kiss, love confessions yours apparently by: smilingbuckley "buck and eddie are accused of hiding their relationship... even though they're not together." word count: 7.3k important tags: misunderstandings, different know they were dating, feelings realisation, first kiss, idiots in love good luck, babe by: hattalove "sometimes, when you've had a bad week, all you want is a romantic evening out with your wife over terrible pizza, and what you get instead is some kind of intricate gay ritual happening two tables away from you." word count: 2.1k important tags: outsider pov, tommy kinard, marisol, social media, jealous!eddie diaz you were looking at me first by: hattalove "in which buck likes to be naked when he's at home, and eddie likes it when buck feels at home under his roof. these are two things that can definitely coexist." word count: 3.4k important tags: nudity, getting together, first kiss, gay disaster!eddie diaz the ducking of evan buckley by: browney3dgirl6 "buck doesn’t have any ducks for his jeep. eddie decides to fix that. aka 5 times eddie secretly leaves ducks for buck, and the one time he hands one right to him." word count: 13k important tags: 5+1 things, bad puns, soft!buddie, christopher diaz is a national treasure, oblivious!evan buckley, idiots in love say (don't) go by: bccalling eddie starts dropping hints he wants more kids. buck assumes he means with marisol. buck spirals about it. eddie does not mean with marisol. word count: 20k important tags: pre-relationship, getting together, kid fic, mutual pining, domestic fluff

[awhoreintheory]

(different anon) another angst idea :D Peter seeing his uncle using a gun, a weapon he despises because it so easily took away his uncle's life and destroyed his world

It will probably cause conflicted feelings for Peter

Also welcome!! Thank you for the ask :) I hope I did it justice <33

Peter won't lie. He may have gotten... attached.

Ok, ok, it sounds like a recipe for disaster. Spending time with his not-uncle from another universe? Definitely not what Mr. Falcon would've recommended, but it was actually really... nice.

He— Jason, not Benjamin here— was so like his Uncle Ben. The way he spoke, the way he laughed, even down to his reading taste. But he was so different, too. He carried himself with caution, he had more scars, his mannerisms were just slightly off, and doesn't talk about family. Ever.

Uncle Ben had loved his family so much.

His uncle had been a firefighter, then when he retired he became a police officer. He was a good man who wanted to give back to his community.

Jason wasn't a firefighter or a police officer. He said he handled real estate, and that's why he had so many apartment buildings. But, unfortunately for Jason, Peter wasn't born yesterday.

Jason was still a good man, and he did good, just... not in the same way as Uncle Ben. Peter assumed he was running with that crime lord, Red Hood. In Peter's opinion, he sounded a little scary. Who wouldn't think that when he first appeared with the flourish of eight severed heads?

But the Red Hood guy (crime lord? Anti hero? Vigilante?) Also actively tried to help Crime Alley— where Peter was currently squatting, so he consequently cared for.

Peter trailed behind Uncle— Jason, just Jason. His spidey sense adored the guy, and he knew all the cheapest places to get groceries. Also, everyone steers clear of him. No one's ever so much as attempted to mug him, which is a genuine accomplishment in this place.

"So, how long are you plannin' to follow me, kiddo?" Jason asked around a smirk, turning around just as Peter lost his cover.

Seriously, how does this guy do that??

Peter gave an exaggerated frown, running to catch up with Jason's long strides. "Seriously, how do you do that?? Are you sure you're a normal guy?" Peter gave a skeptical look, but fell into step with with his not-uncle.

"You follow me every Saturday. Are you sure you're a normal kid?" Jason gave him a skeptical look back, but otherwise slowed down for Peter.

"Hey! You always find the best prices for groceries, I need your tutelage." Peter gave a small, teasing grin. It really was like arguing with his uncle.

Jason reached out, ruffling Peter's hair. Peter batted him away, sticking his tongue out. "Ok, but in return, I need some help with my computer. It ain't workin' again. I'll pay ya'."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "You're seriosuly terrible with tech." Just like his uncle.

Jason swatted at him playfully.

Peter wasn't sure if, or how, Jason knew he was homeless, but he always helped him buy non perishables that didn't need a refrigerator or to be cooked. He was thoughtful like his uncle, in that regard.

It was... nice. Being able to shop with his Uncle. Or, well, Jason. (He really needed to start enforcing that distinction before it backfired on him.) Aunt May had been a terrible cook, so Uncle Ben did most of the cooking. He taught Peter most of everything he knew, too.

Peter thanked his uncle Jason for the help shyly, promising to make it up to him by fixing his computer for free. (Jason never let him do it for free.)

Jason watched the new Alley kid, Peter Parker, walk away. From what he'd heard, he was a skittish teen who knew his way around the shadows. A little naive, but otherwise he held his own. And, for some ungodly reason, he'd taken a shine to Jason. Not Red Hood, not Jason Todd-Wayne, just Jason the apartment guy who knew where all the good sales were.

Peter looked at him sometimes like he hung the moon, and other times with bitter nostalgia. He was about 94% sure Peter was an orphan, so maybe Jadon reminded him of a parent? Or at least someone who wasn't around anymore. It was hard to tell, with how the kids had no records, and getting him to talk about his past was like pulling teeth out of a Super.

Jason let Peter turn the corner before he started to follow. Ducking into alleys and staying a healthy distance away, Jason just wanted to make sure the Kid got back to his squat ok.

Except, just a couple minutes from where Peter was staying, he was suddenly dragged into an alley. No one looked or noticed, but Jason did.

Jason did, and he was fucking pissed.

Grabbing his spare gun, Jason rushed to help his kid Peter.

—

Peter was getting mugged for his groceries. Which wasn't desirable, as his stomach was an endless pit the consumed enough for a family of six, so he was ready to knock a guy out then head back to his place.

Except... then his uncle came rushing in, telling the man to "get the fuck away before you get hurt".

His Uncle always came rushing in like this in his nightmares. Unarmed and with that limp he got from a burning beam falling on him with he was younger and a firefighter. He would rush in, yelling and unarmed, trying to save his dumbass nephew from getting shot.

He would always get shot, he'd fall, the mugger would run away, and he'd bleed out in Peter's arms.

It was his nightmare that repeated every so often, typically joined with a nightmare about May and Tony's death, too.

Except this time... his uncle had the gun.

Jason had the gun.

"I said, back the fuck away before I blow your brains out." Jason snarled, his finger flexing over the trigger in warning.

Peter stared, his mouth filling with cotton and everything going mute.

His uncle was pointing a gun at someone, ready to shoot.

His uncle was holding the thing that killed him.

Peter felt ready to throw up.

The would-be-robber dropped his knife, running away. But Peter's eyes never left his uncles hands, in the smooth and familiar way he operated the gun. How ready he was to shoot someone with it.

Its not... Peter knows, second amendment and all. It's a person's right to own a gun. It should be for protection, but it could just as easily end someone's life.

It ended his uncles.

As a police officer, sure he owned a gun, but it was always kept firmly locked up. He'd never even seen his uncle in the same room as a gun, much less holding one.

It was wrong.

"Pete, hey hey, you're ok, Peter?" His uncle kneeled in front of Peter. When had he ended up on the ground?

He continued to stare at the gun. His uncle took the hint and tucked it away with a practiced motion.

Peter's eyes watered, and he leaned over, expelling the hot dog his uncle bought him earlier. His uncle rubbed his back as he threw up, comforting him, albeit a little awkwardly.

When Peter looked back up, he saw his uncles blue— green eyes, his white and black hair, and the unfamiliar 'J' shaped scar marring his cheek, and remembered.

'This isn't my uncle.'

'This isn't my home.'

And the worst part? He felt sadder about his uncle than his home.

He had nothing to go back to, after all.

[ahanarhorse]

Whumptober day 6: Not Realizing they're injured

So sorry this is late, I did not want to write yesterday.

unhealthy coping mechanisms | healed wrong | "It's not my blood"

I couldn't help it, I'm hurting Wild (and Warriors) again.

Warnings: Blood, wounds.

AO3 Link

The battle had ended, but not well. It was a rough one, black blooded moblins, bokoblins and even a wizzro.

No one had gotten out unscathed.

After the battle Hyrule was limping around, trying to heal as many people as he could before Legend made him sit down.

Warriors was wrapping wounds that were minor enough not to get a potion as Twilight was dealing out the red bottles.

Everyone had sat down just outside the clearing where the battle took place. No one was willing to move too far too soon.

Wind had flopped down on the floor and was being persuaded by Sky to get up.

Four was cleaning his and other people's swords, making sure they all got taken care of after the tough battle.

Warriors was wrapping a cut on Legend's hand as the latter yelled at Hyrule who was currently ignoring his own injury in favor of healing Time.

Wild was looking through his slate, trying to find a replacement for the shield he broke.

Twilight was sipping a healing potion as he sat down next to Wild. The rancher slapped Wild's back, making the younger fall forward.

"Oops, sorry Champ," he said, smiling guiltily.

"It's fine," Wild replied, looking back to his slate and pulling out a royal guard's shield.

"You alright? You musta got some sort of injury after a battle like that," Twilight responded, looking Wild up and down for hidden injuries.

"Yeah, got a small cut, already wrapped it up," He said, quickly dismissing the conversation.

"Kay kid, but you better not be lying ta me," The rancher gave Wild a glare, one that normally would have made the teen chuckle and give a good shoulder punch and maybe a bit of roughhousing.

Now, there was no response.

Instead of becoming worried Twilight just waved it off as the kid being tired after so hard a fight. Instead he went over to see how Time was doing, his broken arm now healed.

Wild continued to stand, looking through his slate once more and picking out a truffle to snack on.

The chain had finally wrapped everything up, Wind relenting to stand and get a leg bandaged while Hyrule sat down and drank a potion at Legend's nagging.

They were all off again, grabbing gear and setting off.

The pace was slower than normal, none of the group wanting to travel. They needed to go though, supposedly they were close to a town, and they needed a safe place to sleep for the night. If they were attacked at camp, nothing would go well.

Finally they could see the outskirts of the town they had been looking for. The chain let out a collective sigh at the sight. As they got to the inn, bags were dropped heavily and people dropped into beds as the sun went down and tiredness overcame them.

People lay down one by one and everyone went to sleep fairly quickly.

Only one person was not in bed.

In fact, he was not in the room at all.

Wild was on the roof.

It had only been a couple hours before one of the chain awoke from nightmares. It was not uncommon for it to happen, in fact, it was less likely for everyone to sleep well than wake up for one reason or another.

He normally would have tried to go back to sleep or stay up for a bit before laying back down, but tonight it felt different. Tonight something felt wrong.

It was the sort of feeling he got way to often during the war.

When a little Mask or Tune had made a terrible decision and he now had to sort it out.

No one had better done anything.

But he would be more surprised if anyone hadn't.

He peeking into each room, looking for anything amiss. He found everyone where they should be, everyone except for a certain errant champion.

Warriors let out a sigh, of course it was the champion.

He wouldn't say he disliked Wild, in fact, Warriors loved their feral wild child, even if he was stern sometimes.

It was that he didn't think Wild liked him.

He wasn't blind, he was a military commander at one point. He could see the way Wild learned away from him, the way he never got close enough to Warriors to touch him, even though he was the first to offer physical comfort to anyone else.

It was the way he could see the disguised fear in Wild's eyes whenever he barked an order, it was the way Wild straightened his posture when he went into captain mode. Half the time he thought Wild was about to throw a salute.

And every time, every time a flash of fear responded to an especially harsh order, every time a stony expression and straight back replaced their carefree and loose champion, every time, it made him hurt inside.

And he knew Wild had once been a knight. That made it even worse. That meant that somewhere in the past, he had a bad experience with other knights, and now he was afraid. He didn't even know if Wild remembered anything about his knighthood, or if he was reacting from instinct. If Wild had feared a captain in the past, most of his behaviors made much more sense.

The problem was he couldn't help it. He couldn't help that he took control in a battle, it wasn't his fault that he had been trained almost all his life to be who he was, and now he was feeling bad for it.

He almost woke Twilight, but decided against it. If he scared Wild too badly, he would get backup, but for now, he thought he could handle the wild child.

The problem now, was to find where Wild was, and if Warriors knew anything, he could be anywhere.

He went outside, the most likely, yet difficult, place to find the champion.

He looked around, searching for any sign of a blue tunic or blond hair. He chanced to look up and spotted a figure on top of the inn roof.

Great. Why was he doing this again?

Oh yeah, because Wild probably wasn't okay and he was the only one awake to help.

Warriors sighed, he would have to climb up there somehow.

He found a tree that would probably be easy enough to make it onto the roof and landed on the roof with only a slightly louder thump than he would have liked.

He walked towards the top, where the silent figure still sat. He made sure to make enough noise that Wild would hear him, yet not enough to wake the people in the building under his feet.

It worked, and Warriors could see Wild's ears twitch back towards him before flicking forwards again.

With less apprehension he continued forward, setting himself down a little distance away from Wild, who was still staring into the stars.

"Whats got you up kid?" Warriors asked, noticing the small flinch that 'kid' got him, he would have to remember not to use that in the future.

No answer.

"Are you hurt."

Only a small shake of the head that time.

Warriors looked to make sure, it wouldn't be the first time that Wild had hidden an injury.

And he was glad he looked, because in the darkness of night he wouldn't have caught the slightly darker stain otherwise.

"Wild, let me check your back," Warriors asked, standing.

"What? No," Wild said, vocally responding for the first time. He spun around, putting a hand up in between him and the captain.

Warriors could see it, the guarded yet fearful look on the champion's face.

"You're hurt, I need to look at it," He said, trying to make it soft, to not scare Wild, yet firm enough that the teen would know it wasn't a suggestion.

"It's not my blood, just monster guts I haven't washed out yet," Wild said arm up and still defensive.

"No, let me look at it," Warriors stated. He sure didn't want to be a captain to the young knight but he didn't want Wild to continue going on hurt either.

When no response greeted his ears he continued around Wild's back, making enough noise that Wild could always hear him.

When Wild didn't turn or push him away again he took it as a win and squatted down, talking the whole time.

"Wild, what happened?" He asked as he lifted the back of a blood stained shirt only to see more blood stained skin underneath.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" He asked, taking out a roll of bandages he kept on him for this purpose.

"I didn't need help," Wild stated flatly.

"You're not alone anymore, you know we can help, right?"

No answer.

"Wild, I'll always help you, it's alright," Warriors said, cleaning the cut and bandaging it as well as he could in such dim light.

The problem was, he could see many more marks on the young man's back, and some didn't look as accidental as the one he was currently tending to.

He would have to talk to Wild again later.

Finished it somehow!! I love Wild and Warriors bonding so much, even more with all the angst added in.

Thank you for reading!

[sunshinestardrop]

Fates Worse Then...

Heres the finished Hazbin Hotel Fic, I got a little lazy towards the end but I also have some extra bits Im working on in Alastor's POV. Hopefully it's not too terrible.

Ill prolly post it on my AO3 account later (when I can actually think of a good summary) but for now here it is on Tumblr!!

Pairing: Reader X Alastor

Summary(?): your life with Alastor told in parts, from childhood till death and then some

You had been the first to know there was something wrong with him.

Alastor had barely been a teen when you had stumbled upon him elbows deep in the bog near your homes. Being friends since you both were young, it was like you had a sixth sense for him. Always aware of his coming and going even when you couldn’t see him. Maybe it was the beginning of a new- still young- feeling deep within your heart that made you aware. Or maybe it was a more primal feeling within your mind, the same awareness that a prey animal had when a predator was nearby.

If it was, though, you never once heeded it. Instead searching him out on your own accord. The bog had been a place of solace for the both of you. A hidden away spot that others refused to stay near- especially during the hotter months- not wanting to deal with mosquitoes. You two had never been ones to socialize, so it became a common ground for both of you to play apart in silence. Over time you would find yourselves gravitating towards each other. Side to side, back-to-back, and eventually shoulder to shoulder. A place to lean on each other without judgment. 

It was probably for the best, then, that no one had come that night when you followed the trail of vivisected frogs down to where Alastor stood. He had already pulled another one out of the bog with a scalpel that could only have been stolen from class that morning. He had locked eyes with you for a moment, but all you could see was the way the knife pressed against the withering frog’s belly as he sliced.

-

With time, it would become a blurry memory that you would only think about dozens of years down, leaving you wondering if you could have done something different. But that wouldn’t have been until much, much later.

You and Alastor aged.

It always seemed like Alastor grew just right- never once having to deal with gangling limbs and uncomfortable feelings that other kids did. Words came easy to him, and he could charm anyone that he wanted to. In comparison, you found yourself unable to keep up. Despite your best attempts to connect with your fellow teens, no one ever wanted to stay for too long. You always laughed a little too loud or talked a little too long. The other girls your age found you odd, and the boys held no interest in you.

Maybe you should have cared a little more, but you quite liked the peace that came with it.

Still, Alastor allowed you a place at his side. You two talked- of course he loved to do that- but never once did either of you put a label to what you were. He had used the word friend or various words similar to it, but never once said more than that.  

Alastor had never spoken about his father to you, but you had always known when something was wrong. There were bruises in places you only saw when he had rolled up his pants so as not to dirty them with bog water. A bright purple splotch just under his collar, and- rarely- he would sport a shiner to class. Casually talking his way through any of his classmates that cared to ask. You knew they would never get an answer from him anyway.

You were sure you wouldn’t either because Alastor had always been one mystery after another. And you- who had spent your whole childhood lingering in his shadow- knew that it would be near impossible to tear them down. No matter how badly you wanted to. So instead, you stayed until late at night with him in the bog, sometimes until the sun came up. You would keep a fresh meal for him and his mother when it was needed.

You would keep your windows unlocked at night, just in case.

Alastor, for all his oddities, had the gall to lecture you about that one, “You never know what dangers could climb through,” he would say, as he did just that.

-

No one had brought up marriage until, one day, they did.

And then they never stopped.

You had been aware of the expectation, but once it was thrust upon you had no desire to be part of it. Marriage was a foreign concept to you, and sure, maybe you did like the idea, but you didn’t like anyone enough to want to tolerate them your whole life. You had seen the worst of marriage. Both from your own, indifferent, parents and from Alastor’s suffering. You never wanted to fall into that trap. So, you believed that you would die as you lived- alone.

But Alastor always had a way of throwing a wrench into your plans.

“Us?” you asked, balking over his offer.

It had been a quiet night, not a Peeper to be heard as you two sat on a blanket near the bog. You had brought a picnic basket full of treats that day, and Alastor, ever the gentlemen, had not come empty handed. His mother’s jambalaya- still warm- in some Tupperware. A long time ago you would have found the idea of eating with so many bugs around to be unappetizing, but you tolerated it with Alastor there fearing this could be his only meal for the day.

Eventually, you grew used to it.

“Well, of course,” he chirped, “It only seems logical!”

And it did, in a way, you had spent so long complaining about everyone’s comments about your non-marital status that it had almost consumed your whole life. Alastor, as well, had been fending off the advances of many women for longer than you could remember. Along with that he seemed to snag a job on a local radio show and was climbing into popularity fast.

In the end, if either of you wanted others off your backs, this seemed like the most rational step.

“Sure,” you said, offering him your hand, “I’ll marry you, my dear friend.”

-

The wedding was as quick as your disappearance.

Forms were filled out, a ceremony for only you two and a notary was found, and you both spirited away into the night. You both had quietly found a small home tucked away from the rest of the world. Close enough to his work, but far enough from the rest of the world. Peace had given you a new lease on life. With no one to hover over your shoulder- to judge all your oddities- you became more expressive. The you that only existed within the confines of that old bog was now free to spread itself further and further out in your home. Personality scattered about that merged with Alastor's.

Lingering reminders threatened to bring up a past long since buried in your mind. A bloody knife forgotten about somewhere he thought you wouldn’t see. Late night hours spent at work, and him coming home smelling of rust and sweat. The door to the basement always locked, never questioned.

You wondered if he had become sloppy over time, that maybe it was too much for him to handle. Still you kept your mouth closed, you prepared the meat he gave you.

In the end, it didn’t matter, Alastor had given you all you ever wanted and more- you were happy to spend the rest of your life in silence if it meant his happiness.

At least, that’s what you told yourself.

-

A cry.

Late into the night, you had been tossing and turned for most of it and had just barely gotten to sleep when the sound jolted you awake. You had shot up from your single bed and scrambled for the bat you kept under it. Carefully you crept down the long hallway, past Alastor's room and towards the only place you knew the increasingly louder cries could be heard.

The basement, Alastor's basement.

With shaky hands you reached out to the jiggling handle. Cold that ran through your body that made it tense. A mockery of rigor mortis, but you were living, breathing. For as long as you kept up the illusion of a happy-ignorant- life you would surely stay that way?

Wouldn’t you?

Surely, Alastor cared enough about his oldest friend to forgive them? To keep them away from the edge of his knife? Sometimes you wondered if you really were as important to him as he was to you, but you dared not to think over it for too long. Least you come to a conclusion you knew your heart could not take.

Your hand hovered over the knob. Thinking.

In the end, though, the choice had always been out of your control.

The basement door flung open, and your eyes widened in terror at the possibility of your husband standing on the other end. Face to face with your own stupid curiosity. Would he be upset? Would he be enraged? You had never seen him angry, but surely this would be the final straw.

But it wasn't.

“…he…hel…”

A man, not too much older than you, the smell of rust.

“Pl…please…help….”

You could have helped him, you should have. You never knew when Alastor would change his mind about you, or even grow bored. But that would mean all of this for naught. That would mean never seeing your loving, doting husband again. That would mean you, alone again. Another unwanted person lost in a sea of uncaring eyes.

You reared back.

And swung.

-

You awoke the next morning in your bed, no memory aside from the loud crack of a broken skull and a body tumbling down into the abyss of Alastor's basement. You curled into yourself, silence lingering as you replayed the scattered bits of what you wished was a nightmare in your mind.

You don’t remember much of that day, only brief moments of Alastor saying his goodbyes as he went off to work, and then him coming home hours later to your prone form, the same position he had left you.

When you awoke from your trance Alastor's bed was next to yours. A threat and a promise all at once. No longer could you sneak out in the middle of the night to search. No longer safe in your own home—but it was never truly yours, was it? Tucked deep into trees. A place where no one would look for you, no one would find you.

-

How odd to learn, after years of marriage, that you were unquestionably in love with Alastor.

There was something wrong with you, that much you knew. But, now faced with that monster of a man and still loving him, you knew there was something terribly wrong with you.

Fate had twisted you into something far less good then you had hoped you would be, but the love bursting into your heart still brought you comfort when doubt would crawl its way into your mind.

You decided, if he saw it fit, you would allow his knife to be the only one to take you away.

-

Three days.

You had spent three days looking for him. In the cold winter you walked from his job and back, the bars he frequented, and even dug through the snowy path to your home with your bare hands looking for the man you loved only to be given frostbitten fingers for your troubles.

It was like the world had swallowed him whole. Someone that you had once believed to be above it, now just another man lost to the unforgiving universe. All that was left was you and your little cabin- too big for one. There had been a light- in the way- at the end of the tunnel. It came in the form of two men pounding at your door hours after you had passed out form exhaustion. A flashlight beaming through your windows.

They had found him- or more accurate, his body- cold in the woods, bullet through his head.

And who could there be to suspect other than his oddball wife. You tried to defend your innocence. How dare they accuse you of hurting the man you loved! But they barged into your home without care. They tore through all your little memories like they were nothing. The couch you and Alastor picked out; shredded. The pictures on the wall; shattered. The lock to the basement; broken.

And what they found down there was enough for them.

A story for a different time, you would say. Vivisected frogs. Longer, paler. You think they had names, didn’t they? At one point surely. Now all but a body. Sectioned off in ways that told you the cuts of meat. In all your numbness all you could think of was the ways they cooked. When to go against the grain and when to go with it. Prep, marinate, cook. He never once mentioned what kind it was, and you never asked but both knew.

And in all that, the only worried in your mind was of Alastor's memory. Of the legacy he would leave behind.

You loved him.

You still love him.

And so, you would be the one to make this sacrifice.

-

“And that’s why I’m here!”

Drink in hand (Fingertips discolored, a reminder of your final days.) you smiled brightly at the young women enraptured in your story. Despite her title as Princess of Hell, you had found the girl to be a real sweetie. Charlie- the sweetie- had been gripping onto her girlfriends arm the entire time you told her about your life before death. She seemed to have a love for the dramatics, and you sure had a flair for it. All those years no longer suffocated by the expectations the 1900s had of you had allowed you to open up a bit more. Even in hell you still found yourself able to enjoy life any way you could.

Of course, most of that meant you stayed far away from other people- not wanted to socialize as much as others did- but eventually you found yourself drawn to this Hazbin Hotel. A place for sinners to have another chance in heaven. While you didn’t quite care for heaven, there was a chance your love had made it to those golden gates. Though, you were not quite sure how he would have talked his way into it, you were sure only he could.

“Oh! My!” Charlie chirped as Vaggie dabbed some tears away from her eyes, “That’s—That’s so--!”

“Fucked up,” Angle Dust piped in from behind you, holding his own drink.

“-Adorable!!”

You reared your head back and laughed, as always too loud but you didn’t care, “No no! He’s right!” You said, “It was very… Unconventional! But I quite enjoyed my life with him! Loved the fool to death too!”

Husk, the bartender, rolled his eyes. You had spent so long avoiding any sort of social interaction that you had almost forgotten what it was like to be around people that actually… enjoyed your company. People that, despite their prickly personas, seemed to quite enjoy your endless chatter and loud laughter.

A place to call your own, a home.

Still, it wasn’t just quiet right yet. A hole in your heart that you sometimes worried would never be filled. But, in time, you were sure it would fix itself. Or, if you were lucky, he would come back to fill it once again.

[azol-otl]

trick or treat!! 🧡 🖤

Oooh I'm not sure if this is the kind of treat you were expecting, but this was the idea that had me enticed back into doing this ask game in my clown shoes.

Bernard takes a deep breath trying to rein in all his anger at the situation. Text. Tim broke up with him via text. He couldn't even be bothered to tell Bernard straight to his face, no instead he just ghosts him for weeks until Bernard flipped his lid. Because it wasn't enough that Tim broke up with him via text. No, he had to do it because he got together with Superboy. While he and Bernard were still together. And Bernard only knew about it because he follows Stephanie who follows some Mia girl who follows half of the Teen Titans and on Bernard's feed was a full picture of Robin and Superboy kissing with a caption of how they've been insufferable since they got together! Bernard isn't a jealous guy, he was glad Tim reconnected with his old friends, and honestly did not mind at all that Tim used to have a crush on Superboy. He liked Conner! Well, he used to like Conner before this happened. Fuck, was it something about Bernard that had everyone leaving? He spent years shaving off all the obnoxious and grating parts of his personality for a reason. He used therapy speak and avoided feeling too strongly about his issues for a reason. He joined the cult for a reason! Bernard takes another breath and just packs all of that away into a box like the hypocrite he is. He wants to vent to someone, but due to the aforementioned cult he was a little lacking in relationships that aren't connected to Tim or darker times. He wishes Darla was still here. Sure, they weren't the closest, but if anyone would be pissed about Tim cheating on him it would be her if only because she hated cheaters. She wouldn't know what to do, would probably give some terrible advice like getting together with one of his teenage crushes but unfortunately that was Robin and Robin was Tim. Bernard stopped pacing. Except Robin wasn't always Tim. Bernard had a crush on Robin since he was eleven, and with his current insider knowledge he knows that Tim wasn't Robin until he was thirteen. That the conspiracies about the second Robin disappearing and there being a new one nobody talked about was true. It had made sense then. Robin's hair had lost their curls. He got pale. He was taller and less acrobatic and overall less athletic despite the larger body. Nobody wanted to consider a different kid. They just said it was puberty. But puberty shouldn't have changed the way he talked to people so much. More in the shadows and less a light from Crime Alley that he no longer patrolled and protected. Because why would he? Tim had no reason to focus on it as much as Robin Two did. And he was Robin because his predecessor died... Except Robin Two was alive again, and he was Red Hood. Bernard's first crush and gay awakening was alive. And he doubts that he'd say no to Bernard getting revenge on Tim this way.

tldr; JayBern, Bernard having revenge sex with Jason because Tim broke up with him via text after Bernard confronted him about being ghosted and also the fact that he was dating Kon for the last two weeks while they were still dating.

Also some neat stuff about how Bruce, Tim, and the other bats tried to hide the fact that Jason ever existed to the general public by pretending like Tim was Robin the whole time.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Do you think having to model would have been damaging to Adrien when his mother was still with him?

Potentially controversial take here, but no, I don't think child acting is a terrible thing that should be illegal and child models are just a variant of child actors. Acting in commercials or movies is arguably more serious than something like community theater or local ads, but the risks aren't actually all that different. No matter the level of the production, the risk for abuse is there. It's not something limited to Hollywood. So I have no issue with child stars as a general concept. I think I've only ever hinted at this in my stuff, but I can actually picture a scenario in which Adrien got into modeling as an act of love.

His mother was a professional actress and Adrien very clearly enjoys acting. I could absolutely see Emilie recognizing his talents and getting him involved in commercials and modeling shoots for the company so that he can try acting in an environment that she can fully control (which is not concerning given that Adrien has clearly been modeling for several years, so he started young.)

I think most "good" parents would be super hesitant to let a little kid work with people they don't know, but with Emilie's connections and the success of Gabriel's company? Adrien going into an acting career actually makes a lot of sense. Especially if Emilie acted as his agent and was always on set to make sure he was okay.

Adrien being a model only becomes concerning when we get things like the super creepy Alliance AI-Adrien. Stuff that Adrien clearly isn't okay with and that should never have been considered to begin with (you literally see the model in his underwear when Soquline is showing off the fact that you can dress him up in Jubilation.) If Adrien was actually enjoying the work and the work was all ethical? Then it wouldn't be a problem.

Creative fields are rife with abuse and poor working conditions, but they're also a source of joy for many. Minors working in these types of fields is an incredibly complex topic, but I can't view it as inherently bad. I've known too many kids who legitimately loved acting or playing sports or whatever creative thing they were into.

Oh, and random side note, but it's super weird how the show plays Adrien's fame. He's fashion model, not a movie star. He would not be as famous as the show tries to make him. I actually researched this a while back to make sure France didn't have some sort of model-obsession and I couldn't find anything (btw, please let me know if I missed something and this is wrong).

I mention all of this because I think fashion modeling is potentially a much safer way to let a kid do some acting. Commercials and one-off fashion shoots are much smaller commitments than movies and TV shows and they carry way less risk of super star fame. I actually get distracted when fanfics have Gabriel constantly pulling Adrien out of school for fashion shoots for two reasons: first, that appears to be highly illegal in France. Second, how much marketing material is the Gabriel brand supposedly producing??? Especially since Adrien seems to just be a teen model and not model for the adult line, which would be standard for the industry. You don't really become a full fledged model doing things like runways until you're at least 16. (Btw, guess what age I often scale Adrien up to? There's a reason for that.)

As far as I can tell, most models have to work with multiple brands and companies to make good money. An exclusive deal with a single company should mean that your schedule is pretty relaxed, which is another reason I could buy a loving parent letting Adrien model. Modeling, commercials, and voice acting are actually a fantastic set of options for someone who wanted to do some acting work while still going to school. It is incredibly easy to take the setup the show gave us and use it to make Adrien a child star who wasn't exploited.

[the-cookie-of-doom]

My entire day is just. Studying child development. And I don't like it (it's complicated) but it's making me really want to write a kid!fic?

Look, watching that one episode of Ingredients Did Something To Me, okay??

After some youthful indiscretions when he's a teenager, Kim get's a girl pregnant. Korn finds out and makes the problem go away. Kim might not find out at all, until years later, when the girl - now a woman - presents him with a toddler and tells him it's his. And Kim is shocked to hell, but if nothing else, he's loyal to his family, and holy shit this child is his family.

Or maybe Korn deals with the problem in a different way. He's not averse to raising bodyguards, Kim says as much himself. He could easily take care of the mother (either paying her off, attic-wifing her, or killing her), with the intention of raising his grandson to be the next heir after Kinn. He knows the chances of getting a child out of Kinn are slim to none. Now he won't have to worry about that. He has a grandchild that he can raise in his own image, in secret.

This is going to get long so I'm going to continue under a cut

However it happens, Kim eventually finds out, and like hell he's going to let anyone keep him from his child. It will take him a while to get used to the idea, to lean into fatherhood, but he's not going to let his own father raise his child to be a killer. Kim sees a chance to break his generational trauma and he takes it with both hands and runs.

Kim has no idea how to be a father. He didn't have a good role model. He know show he's raised, and he knows he won't be the same, so he just. Tries to do the opposite of whatever he went through as a kid. (He's probably the overly-permissive type, but that won't be a problem until later.)

Kim also doesn't have time to be a father. He's in his last year of university, he has a career to manage. Korn of course offers to help - with Kinn running the family now, he can play the part of doting grandpa, but Kim refuses. Hires a nanny (maybe the one that took care of him as a child, the only one he trusts with his own) to help him figure this all out.

The official story, as far as WiK goes, to protect his clean image, is that the toddler is his baby brother. WiK is seen as the sweet, doting older brother when they're seen in public together (which he tries to make sure isn't often, but he's not going to raise his kid in a box, fuck that). It melts the hearts of all his fans, and no one knows he was a teen parent, a terrible role model, someone to scorn.

At some point in their interactions, Kim lets it slip that he has two brothers, and Chay is confused. He knows about the toddler, but Kim mentioned two older brothers? So doesn't that mean he has three?

Eventually Kim introduces Chay to his kid, and Chay isn't stupid. He was raised by his own brother, he knows what that looks like, and it's not what he sees now. His suspicions are confirmed the first time Kim lets him into his apartment. He tries to hide all of the baby things, but Chay snoops a little bit. Finds a child's room behind a door that should have been locked. He confronts Kim, very gently, with the truth. He doesn't judge. He sad that Kim feels the need to hide, even from him, but he understands.

He also thinks the image of Kim with his son is so much cuter than the idea of him with a baby brother.

Kim lets himself be a little reckless, lets Chay spend more time with him and his son, and it hurts how easily Chay takes to him. Like they're a little family of their own. But it's not real.

The first time Kim lets - no, specifically asks - Chay to babysit, because he has no one else, his nanny is sick, and there's no one else he trusts with his son (which is a shock for both of them on it's own), leads to a dramatic shift in their relationship. Kim can't keep pretending this is just a friendship of convenience. He trusts Chay, maybe more than he should, but he can't deny it.

It's going to make the breakup so much harder, because his son is old enough to love Chay, to miss him, to ask where he is when he stops coming over, and Kim doesn't have a good enough answer. Is barely holding himself together, without the added pain of consoling his heartbroken child, crying for Chay to come home while Kim has to keep himself from doing the same.

TBH, the kid is probably how they reconcile. Next time SomethingTM happens and Kim doesn't have anyone to watch him, his first instinct is to call Chay. But he's not allowed to do that anymore. So he drops the boy off with Uncle Tankhun (and is barely able to make him leave that horrible house with his child inside, but Khun is fierce, he'll protect him) and at some point Chay comes to see Khun, and finds him playing with the kid who missed Chay so much, and he knows he should leave, but when he tries the kid cries until he throws up (it's gross, but it's also sweet, but it's also so, so heartbreaking) and Chay just. Can't. Kim might hate him for it, but he can't break that little baby's heart all over again.

After, both Tankhun and the kid demand regular visits. (Khun knows exactly what he's doing. Yeah he loves his nephew, the kid is in that excited dress-up stage and lets Khun treat him like a little doll, but he also thinks Kim is an idiot and needs to start talking to Chay again, and if this is what happens, then so be it).

Little kiddo excited tells Chay about anything and everything, and then does the same to Kim, telling him about his day, all the fun things he did with Uncle Khun and Uncle Chay, and. It hurts. Kim was not at all prepared for how much it hurts.

It continues this way for a while, with the kid an unintentional carrier pigeon between Kim and Chay, sharing aspects of their lives to each other. They never cross paths because Chay always makes sure he's not there when Kim drops him off or picks him up.

Until one day he is. Kim was late (his latest mission was particularly bloody, he had to take extra time to get himself cleaned up and put back together, he won't let his son be exposed to this part of his life) and his son is inconsolable. Chay is trying his best. Just got him to sleep in his lap when Kim finally drags himself, looking fierce until his eyes fall on his son in the arms of the man he loves, and he softens, and Chay sees it, and. They really need to talk.

But kiddo is still sleeping, and Kim doesn't want to wake him up just yet, so he just. Sits down. Looking at him because he can't look at Chay, and Chay tells him how worried kiddo was (doesn't say how worried he was, too), and how he's been fussy all night. Kim lets it slip how much kiddo missed Chay/looks forward to seeing him now (doesn't say how much he missed Chay, and always hopes for a glimpse of him, always disappointed when he isn't there)

They have a lot to work through, but it's impossible to fight with the kiddo sleeping in Chay's lap, so they're forced to be adults about it. Talking quietly, with Kim admitting to things he never thought he'd be able to say out loud. Does say how much he missed Chay, and how he never should have left Chay alone, and how he never should have let Chay think he never loved him, because he did, so much he saw a future with Chay that scared him, and he ran, because he couldn't bear it if Chay left him first, better to break his own heart

Chay forgives him. They don't get together immediately because forgiveness isn't the same as acceptance, and they still have things they need to work through. But he stops avoiding Kim, and sometimes Kim calls him instead of Khun when he needs an impromptu baby sitter, and slowly, that little family that Kim never let himself dream about starts to take form in front of his eyes, and he wonders how he could have ever let himself run away from this.

[herofics]

Heyy just saw your post on how many angsty themed requests you get and I hope your doing well, and please don't push yourself too hard and take care of your mental well-being!!

I also have a JJK request, so I was thinking of a platonic Sukuna x fem! teen reader (if you're not comfortable with fem then they/them is fine) and I was thinking of following kind of a fem! teen reader looking up to Sukuna but Sukuna obv being a terrible example. Also could the time period be like already future like with yuuji and jujutsu tech. Like the reader being a student in yuuji's class. Like honestly, idk if this makes any sense and I'm not sure if this is too vague.

Thank you in advancee

A/N: I decided to do teacher!Sukuna, even though that’s not really what you asked for, but I felt it was the easiest way to do this. He’s still pretty unhinged but not really as murderous as he is in canon. Sukuna is semi young in this, not the ancient relic he actually is, so something like 35 maybe? I went with HCs, since that allows me to put many different situations in the same post. I was kinda considering changing this into its own post and not the answer to this ask, but ehhh decided not to. I ended up really liking the whole teacher!Sukuna thing so I’m probably going to write some scenarios for this too… eventually

•Sukuna isn’t actually interested in being a teacher, but it was a sort of punishment by the higher-ups for one of his numerous “excessive force” incidents when catching a curse user

•So he was put on a sort of probationary period at Jujutsu High, to be a teacher for a year

•So that’s how he met you, Yuji, Megumi and Nobara, and by god you four are a pain in his ass

•Yuji being the most annoying in his opinion, there’s just something about this kid that rubs him the wrong way

•Yuji and Sukuna have a bit of a rocky relationship, Sukuna is actively trying to make Yuji’s life as miserable as he possibly can while still being at least remotely teacher-ish

•Opposite to that, Sukuna doesn’t even really see you, you’re not incredibly skilled, nor do you have an amazing cursed technique like him, Megumi or Gojo

•You’re pretty average as a sorcerer, not weak but not really strong either, Sukuna on the other hand is a special grade

•He doesn’t want any of you brats to die on his watch, not really because he cares but because he’s tired of hearing the higher-ups crap about his recklessness and negligence of students

•Sukuna very much believes in the survival of the fittest, weaklings are no good for being jujutsu sorcerers

•You were assigned to observe Sukuna on one of his missions that was supposed to be an easy one for him

•It was, but one of the cursed spirits somehow slipped past him and tried to attack you

•Sukuna grabbed you by the back of your jacket and just pulled you out of his way, as he slashed the cursed spirit to nice little cubes

•He didn’t even realize he was still holding you under his arm, before you were like “Mmm excuse me?”

•It took him a second to realize where the voice was coming from, but when he did, he let go of you, which caused you to fall on your ass on the ground

•”Ow!” you exclaimed as you hit the ground

•You got up and stretched a little, before following Sukuna, who was already leaving

•”Thank you sensei” you said to him as you caught up with him

•”Don’t thank me brat. You should’ve been able to handle that on your own, or at least you should’ve been able to dodge” he said with an irritated eye roll

•You were already disappointed in yourself for the fraction of a second freezing that had occurred, so you knew he was right about the whole dodging bit

•”You honestly think I should’ve been able to handle a grade one cursed spirit on my own? I’m a grade three sorcerer”

•”Then stop whining about it and get stronger, I probably won’t be there to save your ass next time, so if you end up dead, that’s going to be your own fault”

•That was kind of a wake up moment for you and while you had looked up to Sukuna for a while now, it was like he was even cooler now

•You started working harder and you asked to go on more missions with Sukuna, which he wasn’t excited about, he doesn’t have time to babysit you

•Sometimes you got to go with him, but it was always made very clear to you that he didn’t have time to keep an eye on you

•He always did though, and he saved your ass on multiple occasions, complaining about it every single time

•He just doesn’t want to get another lecture from those old farts at the headquarters for letting a student die

•It’s not like Sukuna hates you students, (except maybe Yuji) but he really doesn’t have the patience for this whole teaching bullshit

•Sukuna is absolutely not the kind of person you want to be, but you do admire his skills and his strength, so you put up with his asshole personality in hopes he will actually teach you something one day

[thirstworldproblemss]

Ficlet: Kindness

Pairing: Din x gn!reader* Fandom: The Mandalorian Words: 645 Rating: Teen ...maybe? Content/Warnings:  One (1) very oblique reference to sexual arousal/yearning. *Also: while this fic is technically gender neutral—(I think? let me know if you spot any gendered language that I missed)—it was written with a specific (female) "reader" in mind

Summary: A Mandalorian (ficlet) for Cindy ✨

Notes: This is a short little thing that I wrote for Cindy (@keeper0fthestars) once upon a time in response to a 'who would you ship me with and why?' ask game that was going around. I considered expanding or reworking this before posting, but somehow it doesn't seem fair to take it any further now that C's no longer here to see it… So here it is, exactly as I shared it with her. It's not my best work ever or terribly polished—it was never intended to be anything more than a silly little blurb for a silly little ask game—but it was fun to write, and sharing it with Cindy brought us both joy.  In the end, I think that's enough. In the end, I think that was everything.

[ twp’s Masterlist ]

—— 

Din doesn't quite know what to make of you at first.

You are…. Kind.  Consistently and deliberately thoughtful in a way that’s unfamiliar to him.  You’re other things too: funny and pretty and smart, and so much braver than he gave you credit for in the beginning.  But somehow it’s your kindness that always catches him off-guard.  He’s not used to people offering to help him without strings attached or being kind just for the sake of kindness.

He hires you to take care of the kid, and you do, but somehow you wind up taking care of him as well.

When he returns to the ship with a bounty, you’re there to greet him, always checking in to make sure he's okay.  The first time it happens, the attention makes him feel uncomfortable—oddly… exposed—and he brushes off your inquiries with a brusque, "I'm fine; save it for the kid,” before ingrained politeness makes him follow up with a soft, "thank you" a few moments later.  You smile at him, and he has to look away.

You are kind, always smiling at him or offering him a share of the meal you made for yourself and the kid.  He thinks at first that it's the unfamiliarity of being cared for that makes his breath catch.  And if his heart beats a little faster when you lay a concerned hand on his arm, it's just the novelty of a gentle, non-threatening touch.

The problem is that it doesn't stop happening. 

The warm smiles, the kindness, the gentle touches, the sharing of food and stories and space eventually become routine.  But it never stops affecting him.  If anything, it gets worse or maybe better.  A look from you is enough to leave him flushed, skin prickling under his armor.  The smallest interactions make his heart beat fast like he’s chasing down a bounty in full armor.  Even just watching you with the kid—loving yet firm in a way that somehow, miraculously works—leaves him breathless, yearning for something he doesn’t fully understand.

You are kind, and he grows greedy for that kindness.  Cataloging every smile and touch and glance from you. He hoards them away in his memory like precious treasures, reliving each one alone in his bunk at night and savoring the remembered warmth of your attention.  But still he wants more. Can’t help but think of all the different ways you might touch or look upon each other. Dreams of your eyes on him, your hands, your bare skin against his, unstymied by armor or helmet, and wakes hard and aching.  Wonders if he could make you ache for him in return.

You are kind.

You are kind. 

You are kind, but it feels like more. Like something half-remembered from another life, from before the culvert and the mandalorians and the droid attack.  He wants it to be more.  He wants that feeling, that life… with you. He thinks sometimes that you might want the same.  But you're so thoughtful. So good.  So consistently nice to everyone you meet.  No matter how long he watches you, he can't tell if he is special to you or just one of many.  (Maker, he wants to be special.)

You are kind, and he cannot find the words to tell you how much that means to him, so he gives you the ones he has.  He says, “thank you” and “you’re good with the kid” and “let me help you, please” and tries his best to repay a little of that kindness, to give you back some small part of the happiness and peace you bring to him.  He hopes he’s managing it.  His heart soars like a rising phoenix every time he manages to make you smile.

Maybe someday he'll find the right words and the courage to say them, but for now? 

You are kind, and it’s enough.

.

The Beginning.

.

——

Want more to read? [ twp’s Masterlist  |  Author, Fic & Fanwork Recs ]

——

End Notes & More About Cindy:

Cindy (@keeper0fthestars) passed away on December 25th, 2022—one month ago today. She was a bright light in this fandom, and she was my friend. You can read the announcement posts here & here; and more about her here (w link to her obituary), here (w link to donate in her memory), here (w her eulogy), and here (soliciting t-shirt design ideas to raise money in her memory).

This is probably as close to a memorial post for her as I’ll get, so I guess I better say what I need to say.

...And what can I say about Cindy?

Only a few weeks after she and I first traded shy DMs full of mutually admiring fangirl flailing, she spotted a single panicked post of mine (about not being able to get in touch with my seriously ill husband who I'd sent to the ER alone at the height of the pandemic because there was no one else to watch the kids).

He was ultimately fine, and I honestly don’t even remember why he couldn’t contact me. But what I do remember is that Cindy was one of two people to reach out, and she spent hours chatting with me, distracting me, and keeping me company while I waited to hear from him. I remember she stayed up long past both our bedtimes so that I wouldn’t have to be alone with my worry. 

That right there tells you what sort of person Cindy was, and I doubt that story would surprise anyone who knew her.

Cindy was a lot of things: She was smart and wickedly funny. She was humble and so, so very brave. And I think anyone who’s read her amazing stories knows that she possessed both mind-boggling talent and a gloriously debauched imagination.  But what always stood out to me was the way she was unfailingly thoughtful, supportive and kind, even in the midst of her own harsh struggles.

It was Cindy's kindness that I thought of when I started to write out some ideas for that long-ago ask game request. And of course I had to chose Din—both because she loved him and because… if anyone needs a little kindness in their life, it’s our favorite tin can space man dad. In typical hot mess™ twp fashion, it quickly got out of hand, morphing into this little ficlet, which then languished, mostly finished, in my drafts for... quite a while.

I finally, belatedly, got around to finishing and sharing it with her months and months (and months ^^') after the fact, in an attempt to cheer her up after yet another round of bad news. By that point it had been so long since the original post that I felt silly and a bit embarrassed even to show it to her. But of course... feelings like that could never survive an encounter with Cindy. Somehow, despite the fact that I was trying to do something nice for her, she was so enthusiastic and effusively grateful that I wound up feeling special too. 

Cindy was just... like that.

You know that Maya Angelou quote? The one that ends with, "People will never forget how you made them feel." Well Cindy was a master of that: she had a way of making everyone she talked to feel heard and welcome and supported. She made you feel special.... Because to her, you were. We were. Each and every one of us.

She never stopped saying how much she loved this fandom. How glad she was to have found a refuge in it. How grateful she was for the friendships she made here.

And I will never stop being grateful for my friendship with her.

Rest in peace, my love 💕

[itmeansiris]

The Solar System Legacy Challenge: Death halts for no smile Gen 1 pt.48

With the stress of Kason's business trip and the incident with Paris seemly behind them the time flies. Winter and Peyton return the kids Friday, having kept them a couple extra days to give Kason and Mercury some additional privacy. They spend the weekend enjoying their children.

Sunday evening as M lazed around on the couch enjoying a yogurt, she got a call from her teen cousin Micah.

M: Hey Micah, what's up?

Micah: Mercury...did Aunt Spirit call yet?

M: No, mom hasn't called me today. Why?

Micah: It's Uncle Jorden...he's dead.

M: ....wha

Micah tries to explain something on the other end but his voice sounds so far away. Mercury doesn't hear him, she doesn't hear anything besides the sound of her own heart pounding rapidly between her ears. Micah's voice fades back in as M hears her phone make a noise signaling she had another call. She checks the screen. It's her mom. She answers, cutting off whatever Micah was saying. When she answers, the line is silent for a moment too long.

M:...m..mom

Spirit: Little planet.

Spirit voice is calm and strong, just like M knew her mother would be. Spirit had always been comfortable and at ease with death. She remembered something her mother said to her and Beckett when they were young and their pet hamster died. Mercury whispers it to her mother, slow and deliberate. The unspoken question waiting to be answered.

M: No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.

Spirit responds back with conviction.

Spirit: And your father is no different.

The world shattered around her. Her father, her best friend, the man who gave her away and promised her a moon, was really gone. When the silence stretches for an uncomfortable period of time, Spirit tells M to come over, but she declines.

Spirit: When the grief is too much, come home Mercury.

Her mothers voice firm but filled with love and concern. Mercury realized she'd gotten away for the moment but knew she'd have to go home eventually. Too soon, if her opinion counted.

M: I will mom...I'm sorry. We'll see you in a couple of days...I love you.

Spirit: You have nothing to be sorry for. We love you Little Planet.

But M wasn't sure who "We" consisted of anymore. Her father was gone. It seemed selfish not to see her mother right away but she knew her mother didn't need her. She accepted death as a normal part of any lifespan, something she had tried to teach M and Beckett while gardening when they were young.

Her mother had loved her father in a way that shaped M's whole idea of relationships. Spirit cared for him, had been his perfect equal and she had balanced his weird like no one else could have. For all the awkward, rambunctious and clumsy Jorden had been Spirit was confident, wise and organized. He was a loving husband and a doting father. Jorden had kissed M and Becketts scrapes, read bedtime stories and taught them to ride bikes. He filled their weekends with treehouse building, woodwork project and terrible dad jokes. He'd burned plenty of French Toast every Sunday morning, then Spirit would take everyone out for Breakfast while Jorden told the story of "Burnt French Toast and Becketts birth" for the hundredth time.

The memories continued to flood her mind. She'd just seen her parents during Kason's work trip and they had planned to come back in just two weeks for the triplets and Zohreh's almost back to back birthdays. Birthday's Jorden wouldn't be present for. She was spiraling, she screamed for Kason.

M: Kason!!

He was at her side moments later. He kneels before her folded frame.

Kason: M what is it?! Are you okay? What happened?

M: My...my dad...

But she couldn't complete the sentence. Kason let it click into place and jumped into Husband mode. He gathered her and held her while she cried. When she couldn't cry anymore he took her upstairs to the master bathroom and ran a bath, leaving her to get cleaned up while he fed the kids and got them ready for bed. All M could manage was getting herself clean in between random bouts of tears she couldn't stop.

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[sarnai4]

Had a thought in my last rewatch of RoB/DoB. Alvin, Stoick, Gobber and most other Vikings are huge compared to the teens. The dragons are huge and heavy too. The size difference makes a weight difference and someone could get stepped on like a chihuahua.

Imagine a scenario in which one of the little riders, Dagur or Heather get stepped on or stomped on. It could easily break bones if Alvin stomped on one of the teens. I could easily see pre-Httyd Hiccup accidentally getting stepped on by Stoick or Gobber for just being underfoot. A busy day in the smithy and Gobber accidentally steps on Hiccup’s tiny foot and breaks his little tarsals. Younger Dagur sitting on the ground cradling a broken bone and angrily whining “He STEPPED on me!” Pointing at his attacker. (Tbh I can see him getting stomped on purpose. Despite the size difference, he does have thin limbs and that’s all it takes)

Idk if you’d find this an interesting prompt but I the mental image was funny to me

This is so funny to me! I feel bad because you have me laughing at kids with broken bones, but this really does seem like something that could happen. Let's be honest, mini Hiccup is not only so thin but so short that it would be hard to see him if you're not paying a lot of attention. Then Gobber would feel terrible and also probably be a little bit scared for his life, thinking of Stoick's reaction. If Stoick's the one who does it, he's going to feel awful and know that Gobber's going to send a lot of head shakes his way. Dagur is definitely getting stepped on deliberately which is equally hilarious and sad to me. I do want to do something with this, but I'm not quite sure how it'll be worked into a story yet. For now, I'm going to put it in my doc (because yes, I do need an entire one dedicated to this fandom's stories) and refer back to it. Thanks for the idea!

[dragon-queen21]

GUESS WHO

(before i start, metal family is originally a russian cartoon on youtube that was dubbed in english. its about in not my words “the most unhealthy healthy family ever” like the name suggests, music is a huge part of it. in later episodes there are a few trigger warnings that apply but the shows pretty good! and honestly has a lot of agere potential but)

(also i wanna drop, i was thinkin about this earlier but i like to think that nezuko is perma-regressed or close to it. she almost constantly acts younger than she is, and honestly i think it could be a way to cope with her bein a demon, and maybe it could suppress demon urges with baby urges. (like being comforted, sleepin, lookin up to someone) anyway now im thinkin of tanjiro just carryin her around like a baby when shes in her little form)

-no because your so right, i was thinkin about the zeff one and let me raise up your raise up:

zeff raised sanji, and this poor boy has a crazy amount of trauma, at the time of meeting zeff was pretty fresh too. now zeff watchin this boy grow up in his teen years, only to realize that “hey, somethings off sometimes” that zeff recongized arent sanjis regular trauma responses that zeff knows, zeff paying more attention and whys the kid not talkin durin food prep? sanji has a big mouth how hasnt zeff noticed that before? or how sanji would sometimes stand a little closer to zeff than normal, or when the customers ask sanji a question some days, he’ll look and find zeff before answering. or how his eyes would full up with tears before bein forced away like the kid refused to cry. and oh, this reminds him of the eggplant right when they started the baratie, just a bit more sensitive if the tears & fist clenchin has anythin to say about it. (later he opens one of the psychology books he got a little after he adopted sanji, and finds “age regression” and it all clicks.)

i feel like zeff wouldnt treat sanji different when hes obviously feelin little (aside from basic care just to make sure sanji doesnt hurt himself) he wouldnt treat him like a burden or annoyingly like a baby. i feel like that would make sanji feel terrible about himself, so just the normalcy even when hes little encourages him that its okay, hes still helping its okay, no one cares that your biting your nails after zeff just told you not too. zeff wouldnt tell sanji he knows that he age regresses, and sanji doesnt tell zeff hes little. (but sometimes maybe zeff, on days the baratie isnt as busy and they can afford to work slower, zeff likes to subtly do things to make the eggplant regress farther. just enough to where he can still work and not be extremely overwhelmed, while still helpin sanji cope) (it goes well, the other chefs never catch on to this, thank irene am i right)

-sanjis definitly the kinda kid to regress if he ever gets sick. hes not used to bein sick as it is, and i feel like due to this that when he does get sick, he gets *SICK* like bedridden type shit. he totally makes someone take care of him, “oh chopper you wanna do somethin else? too bad! hes sick and hes makin it everyones problem.” “oh nami you wanted to come check up on his while chopper managed to slip away, oh well you just sealed your fate, that boy is clingin to you like big sanji has never done before.”

the baby is cryin because he wont stop coughin and its givin him a headache, only to cry harder when chopper tries to give him cough medicine. hes screamin cryin because he feels icky, but hes also cryin because now he has a sore throat.

-ive seen some people say that sanji probably wouldnt throw many fits or have many tantrums, and i agree with that, but oh my irene let that kid have a tantrum, let him whine and cry and make the crew scramble to fix the problem, as a treat🫶 let him cause baby mayhem, let him create disarray, hes never done a bad thing in his life, lets get that number to one shall we?

(-zoro givin lil sanji a sip of his booze because sanji wont stop askin,

sanji takes one sip, and then promptly spits it out, zoro just laughin his lungs out.)

OKAY THATS IT, this was gonna be about lil zoro too but. sanji took it over, wow im never on track with these, f plannin lets see what happens, also wanted to ask, where are you jn one piece rn? i wanna make sure i dont spoil ☹️ (im in post timeskip — punk hazard) i try to leave these asks/rambles ambiguous to the time period because i know you only take pre time skip, but sometimes i think i make it a bit more specific so sorry just in case)

and i hope your doing well too, make sure to take breaks and everythin for yourself, mental health comes first, and thank you for the prayers 🤍 right back at ya

📷

:D heyoh friend!

~See you get it! I always thought that with Nezuko. Especially felt this after the red light district when Tanjiro’s singing is what stops her from loosing control.

~Things are a lot easier to process as a toddler simply looking up to Tanjiro to take care of her.

~But also baby space Nezuko, being swaddled by Tanjiro. Confusing everyone at first because- why does Tanjiro have a baby???

~Maybe she was regressed when the attack happened and that’s what lets her change her height/age as a demon. <-random idea anyways

Okay One Piece now

~~~

~I started a long time ago a fic with Zeff figuring out that Sanji regresses. It ended up being kind of dark with other unhealthy coping mechanisms included. Anyways sharing because I have always loved the idea of Zeff just, getting the chance to look after his little eggplant again.

~Idea: Zeff calling Sanji baby eggplant when he knows the boy is regressed without realizing, and Sanji just panics for a moment because- ‘oh hell Zeff hasn’t called me that in years. He knows! No he doesn’t. Yes he does!’

~“oh chopper you wanna do somethin else? too bad! hes sick and hes makin it everyones problem.”

<-

Jdjodbsjbdj oh my gosh XD Luffy too. They would both be so dramatic. Imaging them both being sick and regressed together. The mopiest and clingiest babies ever.

And poor Nami. Can’t even properly pry off Sanji without feeling bad. She has to just resign to her fate of getting sick from the baby.

~No I agree. Let him be fussy and inconsolable. As a treat :3 ( <- coming from the regressor who would also like to throw a tantrum sometimes but can’t) Too many big emotions that are too hard to process.

~Also Franky teaching him how to throw a “proper” tantrum. And Robin using her devil powers to catch flying books and objects thrown across the room, to make sure nothing breaks so that Sanji doesn’t feel bad after, but not exactly stopping the little. Just letting it run its course. Scribbling over the page of a coloring books and snapped crayons and ripped pages.

(<- Has too many ideas, can you tell?)

XD honestly I do the same thing. My brain is all over the place always.

Story time to answer your question! I watch one piece with my mom, as it’s her favorite anime. Currently I am at water seven although I’ve seen enough spoilers that I belive I can write most of the main crew with reason. Not the first time I’ve written fandom blind/ character blind and no ones called me out on it yet >:3 (I have about 15 or so fics on ao3 for a fandom I never watched a single episode for)

Usually watch an episode or two a day but the hyperfixation of this series called the Andy Griffith show has taken over One Piece right now so I will be on water seven for awhile longer. But feel free to mention any characters really, I’ll still do my best to comment on them :D