#he's like ah we're old friends right kiddo

[sayhwaet]

this is so sad. this is really just so sad. first balthus, now mr. beowolf? what kind of economic injustice is this? how many more people will be unable to afford even the clothes on their backs? do better, fódlan.

bernadetta's heart breaks for him. that alone is what gives her the resolve to trudge up to him, in small bursts of anxious movement, without a single word. she pokes his arm with a shaky finger just to throw up her arms in the next moment, simultaneously hiding her face and presenting him with her own little cape. folded and fluffy, perfect for a chilly night such as this.

on a man like beowolf? it...is not going to cover much. if anything.

but the thought is what counts, right?

Oh, here we go again.

It didn't get old, and he meant that shit - funnier and funnier with each rich little fusspot that approached him about what he was supposed to look like or behave like, as though this party hadn't enough of -

Oh.

"Ah, hey there, little bit." Beowolf plopped a palm atop Bernadetta's head fondly, mussing her hair a tick. He hadn't really expected to see the skittish student out and about, especially for an event as high energy as this.

Noble expectations were truly wild, hey?

"Whatcha got there?" Gently, he took the extended item, felt the soft of the fabric in his fingers and had to chuckle. "Ah, kiddo you ain't gotta do that, I know what I'm about."

But then he saw the look on her face, the wetness of her eyes and the tight line of her lips - and the color, matching every other part of her ensemble, and it dawned on him.

"Well, hell, ain't gonna deny the kindness of a friend givin' me the clothes off their backs, am I?" With an exaggerated flourish, he filcked the capelet - thing barely covered his shoulders, let alone drifted any further south - and secured it overtop the neckerchief he'd also been give.

A tiny pose, entirely unself-conscious, and a wide grin. "Now, we're stylin', hey? Saved my bacon, didn't you? You got my thanks, little bit."

[mlobsters]

supernatural s12e23 all along the watchtower (w. andrew dabb)

CASTIEL Kelly. I told you I'd put this together. I'm very good at following instructions.

cute

welcome back, friend-o

said it many times before and i'll say it again, so glad to have pellegrino back. man, he's just so creepy as lucifer. can't get over it. they can give the same lines to someone else and it never quite lands the same

LUCIFER All right, well, I'd love to chat with ya, but, uh, why waste my time, right? It's not like you matter. I don't need to put on the old Sam suit anymore, do I? DEAN You know, if you think we're just gonna let you walk – LUCIFER Oh, hey, Dean! I know you fellas are gonna try, you know, whatever. Whatever you're gonna try. But you can't kill me. You've never been able to kill me. And with, uh, witch bitch gone, you can't put me back in the Cage, so like I said… you don't matter. Okay? Buh-bye. Buh-bye.

is rowena actually dead? i was under the impression she was in other later seasons but i don't actually know. that would be a crappy way to go out, to be sure. i know they like to kill people off, but hell, meg got an amazing episode before she was offed. made me cry! meg!! gonna assume not until proven otherwise

KELLY I'm just saying, the checkout guy looked at us like we were super weird. CASTIEL Ah, you'll get used to it.

lol. (unwanted baby tip though, even non-half-archangel newborns grow super fast so you never know how long a size of diaper will fit. some are too big for newborn sizes almost right away! lol)

what in the world. did she just leak some lucifer baby juice on the truck through her hand

how very hell-ish. so who's our mystery guest. old angel, god, benny, hell-au!dean

KELLY Hi, Jack. It's, uh… I'm your mom.

ps my youngest kiddo is named jack lol

s12e23 / star trek: generations (1994)

have to get back to the nexus!

LOL scrambling for an assist from sam, maybe not your best bet what with sam and lucifer's history

SAM Crowley…why did you do it? Save Lucifer– What did you want? CROWLEY I wanted to win. I perverted Mother's spell, put Lucifer in a vessel of my own making because I wanted to win. You have any idea how many people have made a play for my throne over the years? Lucifer, Abaddon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Too damn many. I thought if I could put the Devil on a leash… my own personal nuke, no one would ever dare challenge me again.

talk about embarrassing, good grief. i'm not sure crowley has the capacity to feel embarrassed really? so at least i'm not feeling it really either, except from a distance. he's not really bothered, i'm not really bothered! i'd like to think crowley would know better than this, but then everyone has their weak spots

curious where this "i hate my job" thing is going. sam seems dubious (as is right). but another thing i love that they generally keep to with crowley is he's playing a long game, almost always. reminds me a bit of a line about hannibal (though crowley is more mushy human regularly than hannibal is honestly)

hannibal s3e2 primavera WILL GRAHAM Hannibal follows several trains of thought at once, without distraction from any. One of the trains is always for his own amusement. ABIGAIL HOBBS He's playing with us. WILL GRAHAM Always.

CROWLEY Well, whenever there's a world-ending crisis at hand, I know where to place my bets. It's on you, you big, beautiful, lumbering piles of flannel

true and also buttering them up but also getting in a dig, all around very signature crowley, yes please and thank you

CROWLEY So if you'll forgive my transgression, I'll make it worth your while. DEAN Which means? CROWLEY After we put Lucifer back in his cage– together– I'll seal the gates of Hell. You'll never see another demon again, apart from, of course, yours truly. MARY You would do that? CROWLEY Why not? They stab me in the back, I'll happily stab them in the front, the sides, and right up their little black-eyed asses. So… we have a deal?

LOL he wanna move into the bunker too?

CROWLEY This is what you do when I'm not here? Type? DEAN Yep.

haha crowley see it's boring being the good guys too

now what are the odds that crowley does stay there, sitting down, and shutting up :p

DEAN Saving your ass. SAM You and Kelly just taking off was a stupid move. But there's no way we're letting Lucifer get his hands on that kid. It ain't happening. DEAN Look, Sam's right, okay? We'll work through our crap. We always do. But right now, we are here to get you, get Kelly, and get gone.

interesting, feels like sam rarely gets mad at cas. he was actually a little angry here, guess risking lucifer getting jack because they skipped town was a hot button

(ok i went to go look at the script to see if it said what he was thinking and wow a ton of stuff here didn't make into the episode. crowley being wayy too human and more. ok actually all of this is way different than what is happening, i gotta stop reading)

CASTIEL It's a doorway to another world. DEAN Anoth– What, like Narnia? CASTIEL No. No, through there it's Earth, but…but different. It's a– it's an alternate reality.

haha my hell-au!dean batshit suggestion not sounding so batshit!

SAM So it's a Bizarro world? Or – or like the place we got zapped to where we were, uh, uh, actors on a TV show. DEAN Oh, yeah. The supernatural wasn't real. SAM Yeah. DEAN And you were Polish.

:p silly

LOLOL oh my god hell-au!BOBBY! i did not go batshit enough. laughed until i was wheezing

CASTIEL As I said, it's– it's Earth. But this Earth is locked in eternal war between Heaven and Hell. There are armies of angels fighting hoards of demons, and the few humans that remain are caught in between.

--

SAM Yeah. John Winchester, our father. BOBBY Doubt it. He's dead. Been dead over 40 years now. Only reason I know about him is this Hunter I ran with, Mary Campbell. You get a few pints of shine into her, and she always told the same story about the man she loved– John Winchester. Azazel killed her about 10 years ago. SAM Cas, what the hell is this? CASTIEL This is a world where you were never born. It's a world you never saved.

haha so it's like SEE this is what would have HAPPENED if mary didn't make the deal with azazel!!!! so she did the RIGHT thing!!! you know i don't think she had a choice since heaven and hell were behind the scenes pulling strings, so i never felt like mary needed absolution, but okay then

MARY Okay. I think they're less than five minutes apart now. It's almost time. How you doin'? KELLY I'm dying. MARY I know. KELLY But that's okay. 'Cause wouldn't you die for your sons? MARY Yeah.

usually pregnancy/labor doesn't get to me but man this is pushing my weepy buttons unexpectedly. some of this being too relatable to when my jack was born (without the anticipated imminent death). they also deployed the mushy music

DEAN You know, Cas has faith in this kid.I hope he's right. But me? I have faith in us. You, me, Mom, Cas. And Crowley. Sometimes.

sweet and cute

shove lucifer into the nexus!

cute. and padalecki's hair always looks best to me when it's a little disheveled

well crowley surely can't be dead after this apparent self sacrifice too, right?

and now cas going in to fight when they're trying to seal the nexus. we're maxing out the drama

cas dead but what, soon to be revived by jack? chuck? somebody. and lucifer pulling mary into the nexus while she uses her amped up brass knuckles to..... punch lucifer in the face a bunch. hoookay. which conveniently now decides to seal with them both inside. with a dead?? crowley

i went back and read through the (production draft) script and things were moved around and a lot was changed/removed. i have only recently gotten in the habit of skimming the scripts when available more regularly for the ep i'm on, so i dunno how common it is for them but so far i haven't seen one even close to as many differences from script to screen that this had

[viky2318]

Let's have a change of POV. just for fun. (this chapter is so damn short confronted to the others).

"It was a day like many others in my little freedom, freedom! The day before I met some lightners, lightners, and we had so much fun together I felt enough tired to sleep for another decade or two. But in my slumber, the day I was talking about, I heard footsteps from outside my cell. Other visitors? That must have been my lucky week, week! I opened my eyes and looked at the new friends- only to see something weird. The two people were monsters, like some lightners, but weren't lightners at all! That meant only one thing… they weren't from the dark world, nor from the light world. It wasn’t the first time I met someone from outside, but it wasn’t even all that usual... "Why hello there, fellow prisoners!" I greeted them, ready to have some more fun. One of them, a kid with a very pinkish outfit and a furry looking tail, looked at me with a serious look that had a hint of that thing… what's it called… ah right! concern. "Good day to you. We need your help finding a person" she said. "Golly, who taught you how to greet new pals? My my, i’m sure you've never been to Card Castle…" I said. She just rolled her eyes and remained silent, silent! How rude! "You're Jevil, I'm Maddy, this is Grillby" the stranger said, pointing at the other monster- a very tall man made of fire with a white shirt and a pair of black trousers. "Now that we're over with the polite stuff, could you please help us?" she asked with that annoying tone. Now, as you may know I'm always open to help people, but… surely not jerks like that kid! And because I wanted her to find her friend, but I also wanted a bit of politeness, I said: "hmmmm… no. I cannot help you… Unless you say the magic word, word!". The cat rolled her eyes with some sort of despair in their eyes, which felt a bit weird because I just asked her to be polite, and then rephrased: “could you please help us find our friend? We don’t have the whole day…”. Now, now, that was way better, better! “Very well” I said. “I will help you. What does your friend look like?”.

The kid described this person to me and, would you look at that! The description matched perfectly with the one of my old pal’s new buddy! He didn’t speak to me since years, but I still kept an eye on him through that window thingie he had. You know, I cannot leave someone like him all alone. He would go crazy, crazy! Of course, by keeping an eye on him I ended up also looking at his grown up child, and now that I think of it, those buddies resembled the guys that they usually hang out with! Oh well, good to know. Back to our story, I knew from my pal’s last conversation with the friend of these kids where she was, so I told the cat I could help them… at a price. I knew the two weren’t unaware enough to let me share my freedom with the rest of the dark world, so I decided I was gonna have fun in other ways. Their visit again gave me enough energy to stay up for another long while, so I told her: “I want you to bring me with you for a very short while. I’ll go away almost immediately, no worries”. The two kiddos looked at each other for a moment, then the fire man nodded and the cat turned to me again and said: “ok, but you better not mess around”. Maaaan, this cat is such a party-pooper! Oh well, I wasn't planning to “mess around” anyway. “Great, great!” I said. I took the other side of the window thingie and opened it to the place where her friend was. “You now just have to take me and jump in here. You’ll be where your buddy is in no time!” I said before turning into the Devilsknife. The cat hesitantly held me, then looked at the window thingie. “That… is an Anti-void…” she said. “Oh really, that’s its name? I always just called it the Big Empty Space" I said. The fire guy finally spoke. I swear, for a while I thought he was mute! “Why should we trust you?” he asked. They are one more rude than the other… I looked at him with the most quizzical expression a weapon could give, then said: “oh well, you ask me for help and then you don’t trust me when i give it to you? Geez, these new generations… look, i’m almost completely harmless now! Your furry friend here has me in their grip, literally! Why should I trick you when, right now, I only risk being kidnapped by you two?”. The man remained silent. Was this his way to say “you’re right”? Aaaanyway, the cat jumped in the window thingie, and then her fire friend followed. And when her feet touched the blank ground… I jumped away from the cat’s hands and escaped here, where I am now. Guess I will hang out here with y’all for another while.”

As the jester stopped narrating his interesting story to you, a gray figure broke down the door and exclaimed: “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!?!?!”. “Who, me?” the jester asked with a joyful smile. “Author decided that we needed a new member for your ask thingie to spice things up a bit”.

START PREVIOUS NEXT

Extra thing that I did at the last minute because I CAN:

[voyage-inferno]

This has received some Likes (TM) so here's what I mean-

Bennett and Fischl were guild kids.

The two were raised in the halls and archives of Monstadt's own branch. They laughed, played, lived, and grew under the watchful eyes of the members- both those who traveled, and those who had since gone from brothers in arms to brothers in armchairs. Kei had seen similarities in them both, but recognized the very obvious difference between them. Fischl- after all- had a family with an origin. She wasn't alone, even when her parents traveled farther than anyone would have liked. Her past was a solid foundation without questions that might shake her standing, or upend her life as she knew it.

He learned Bennett didn't think the same on the first day he swore.

(Well, actually, he was confident Bennett harbored a secret foul mouth. Kei himself did too, after all. It was something they both kept to a minimum around seniority and youth respectively with the intent of being polite. That meant that- technically- he'd never actually heard Bennett swear until that moment.)

"You're the fucking worst, you know that?!"

He was startled, still just behind the bend in the hallway. Something made him pause, and he's glad he did.

"What the hell Bennett?! What are you even on about-"

"You made her cry, you giant shits! Don't act like you don't know!!"

"Ohh, no wait I get it- hey, Bennett, kiddo. You've been friends with Amy for a long time, and you're older- don't you want her to make more friends? She's a teenager now, she can't play pretend forever."

"Well MAYBE she wouldn't NEED to be Fischl if her parents cared about her!"

"...Excuse me?"

"No- you heard me! You're stupid, but your ears work!! Fischl has parents- you- you're supposed to be her family!!!! The guild would have helped you guys if it was money, because they didn't throw my dumbass to the Church! So you're just running off. Running away from a kid who needs you. Fischl needed you. But all you do is go out. You see the world and you have fun and you leave your daughter behind."

"How dar-"

"NO, HOW DARE YOU?! HOW CAN YOU ABANDON YOUR KID WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE. YOU CHOOSE YOURSELVES OVER HER, AND YOU HAVE SINCE SHE WAS OLD ENOUGH TO SERVE HERSELF CEREAL!! MOTHERFUCKERS. ASSHOLES, YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO LEAVE HER PROPERLY, YOU JUST KEPT DANGLING HOPE IN FRONT OF H-"

"That's enough, Bennett."

The boy, scarcely fifteen at the time, snapped out of the tirad abruptly. Kei could still see him shaking, though. Still nearly vibrating with fury.

"Ah, Kei, hello... good to see you. I'm not sure what's gotten into your son here, but clearly he's decided to up and forget how to talk to people."

"I-"

"Benny. Let me finish up here, alright? I'll speak with you later."

He looked like he wanted to dig his heels in. Stay and keep saying his piece- until Kei moved in front of him, turned his back to the other two adventurers, and winked. Bennett's expression said he didn't know what to think of that, but gave a heavy sigh and left.

(And Kei lets out his own breath of relief, because that meant Bennett's trust was greater than his rage.)

The couple still didn't look pleased, of course. It was likely they expected an apology- or hoped for on-the-spot discipline. And had it been over something trivial, they might have gotten exactly what they wanted. Kei- after all- only had so much tolerance for bullshit.

Which was why he'd said anything at all.

"He didn't exactly use the politest words, so for that, I apologize."

Later, he wonders if they caught on in that second.

"However, he isn't wrong. You haven't exactly been completely present in Fischl's life, which is why-"

"Amy is our daughter. Just because he's her friend, doesn't mean he has the right to scold us like we're the ones causing trouble."

"..Brother."

"What?"

"He is her brother. Unfortunately, when we take into account how often you two are out on a job, she sees much more of him than you. When other kids pick on her, he's the one who goes and stands near them later until a flock of pigeons empties themselves on them all. Bennett is the one who's there, sticking up for her, even if it means he suffers with them. Even the rest of us here see more of Fischl than you do, and while we don't always understand her, we know a good kid when we see one."

"So, you're siding with him then."

"And you think adopting that little jerk made you think you know best about raising children?"

"Well, I don't think it hurt. Just remember that we want her to be happy too, and we think of her as our own. That means we'll do everything we can to make sure she has a good, and happy, future."

"..Somehow, Kei, that feels a little like a threat. Amy is our daughter- end-of. And we will do what is best for her, even if she doesn't like it right now. You just focus on getting that boy under control."

...In, out.

"If it helps you to say that, then I wish you a good night. Goodbye, Mr. And Mrs. [[[[[[]]]]]]. I promise that I wish nothing but wellness to your family," and that you are no more a cause for her tears, "so don't worry, I'll have words with Bennett."

(Of course, he never said what kind of words he'd be having. A light scolding and lesson in Kairos- then they were all getting ice cream. Fischl included. He wasn't leaving his daughter out of this.

(And if he was surprised- and yet not- by the Electro Vision that Fischl showed him that night, he would play by whatever roles she felt comfortable in. After all, if her desire for an unending chance to be that which she took comfort in was enough to catch the eye of his first home's Archon- well, who was he to go against a will that persistent?))

Did I ever mention on here that Bennett has some beef with Fischl's parents or

[leiawritesstories]

I need more content of Rowan as a dilf🥵

Him and Aelin taking their kids to birthday parties

your wish is my command ;) sorry it took so long ahhhh got caught up with college and other fun stuff

word count: 2,174

warnings: minor language, Rowan being a DILF

enjoy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“Dad?” 

“Yeah?” Rowan glanced over his shoulder to find Lana behind him, her bright green eyes wide and pleading, the face she knew full well he could never refuse. “What is it, Lana?” 

“Can I go to Mari’s party?” 

He was completely blanking on the name. "Mari?"

Lana sighed, the expression of disappointment so much like her mother that it momentarily short-circuited his brain. "My friend Mari," she amended, her tone far too serious for a nine-year-old. "She's in my school class and my ballet class."

"Ah yes, Mari." Rowan remembered the girl now, a close friend of his daughter. Her mother was one of the few who didn't ogle at him when he came to pick up his kids. "When's her party, kiddo?"

"I told you already," Lana sighed dramatically. "It's Saturday at noon at her house and she said to bring a swimsuit 'cause we're gonna run through the sprinklers."

"I see." Rowan pretended like he had to think it over. "Of course you can go, honey. Do we need to get a present for her?"

"Yay!" Lana cheered. "Yeah, I wanna get her a present."

"What do you want to get her?"

"A dino stuffy!"

"I--" Rowan blinked. "A what?"

His daughter fixed him with an exact copy of Aelin's "really, buzzard?" face. "A dinosaur stuffed animal," she expounded, her voice so dry it sounded almost like his own for a moment. Guess he knew where she got her sarcasm from.

"Ah, okay." He winked at her. "Should we go shopping today?"

She beamed. "Yeah!"

He chuckled. "All right, we can go when Mom gets home. Okay?"

Lana frowned. "But I wanna go now!"

Rowan delivered his very best Dad Look. "Honey, don't you have a worksheet or two to finish?"

"Maybe..."

"Well, you can get those done before we go, and then you won't need to worry about them later." He stuck out his hand. "Sound fair?"

"All right," Lana agreed reluctantly. "I guess I can do my homework first."

"You guess," Rowan teased, lifting her into his arms. "Since when did you get so blasé, kiddo?"

She squirmed, giggling. "I'm the biggest sister, Dad! I gotta be 'spon-ible!"

"Responsible means you have to do your homework before we go shopping, honey," he chuckled, settling her on his shoulders and taking her out to the dining room. "Yeah?"

"Okay," she agreed, clambering off his shoulders and plopping her homework folder onto the table. "I only have spelling and math today."

"Oh really?" He settled down in the chair next to her. "Did you do everything else already?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "An' Miss Remington didn't give us homework for all the subjects."

"I see." Rowan ruffled Lana's hair affectionately, earning himself a grumble of protest. "You just call if you need help, okay? I'm gonna make sure your brother and sister are doing their homework too." Lana nodded, and he went off to find his son and younger daughter in the playroom, Bran noisily driving his beloved toy garbage truck around the room and Emmy building a tower out of blocks.

"Dada!" Bran exclaimed when he saw his father in the doorway. "Look dada! I can make garbage truck go vroom!" He illustrated by pushing the toy halfway across the room, giggling as it flopped onto its side.

"Very nice," Rowan grinned. "Does this mean you did your work, B?"

Bran went over to grab his garbage truck, not quite meeting his father's eyes. "Yeahhhhhhh."

"No you not!" Emmy squealed, smacking her block tower and laughing and clapping her hands as the blocks crashed to the floor.

"Emmy, no!" Bran cried, stomping his foot. "You said you not tell!"

"Okay, son," Rowan interrupted before either of his small children could start throwing things, "what do you still have to do?"

"Reading," Bran mumbled, hiding his face in his dad's shirt. He was in second grade, almost eight years old, and he had to read aloud every day for part of his homework. And he wasn't exactly a fan of that.

"Anything else, bud?"

"Uh-uh." Bran shook his tousled head. "Did addition already."

"Good job." Rowan bumped his fist into his son's much smaller one. "How about you pick out a book, hmm? Let's see if we can get the reading done before Mom gets home."

Bran screwed his face into a scowl. "I don't wanna read!"

Rowan sighed. The daily struggle. "Not even Officer Buckle?"

Silence.

Followed by a pair of big turquoise eyes peering up at him. "Really?"

"Yep." Rowan grinned. "Do you want to read Officer Buckle to me, buddy?"

"Yeah," Bran whispered. He loved that book, he did.

"Okay." He patted his son's back. "Go ahead and get it out, then." Bran ran off immediately, and Rowan turned to his youngest, Emmy, who was in kindergarten. "How about you, baby?"

"I not a baby!" Emmy protested.

"Okay okay, big girl."

"All done!" Emmy beamed. "No homework today, Dada!"

"Uh huh," Rowan drawled. "Should I look at your checklist?"

"Yeah!" Emmy ran off to grab it, returning a moment later with the purple sheet of paper. "See? No homework today!" She displayed the chart proudly, showing off how all the boxes for the day were already checked off.

"Good job, sweetie!" Rowan gave his youngest a high five. "How about you help me start dinner?"

Her eyes widened. "Can I spin salad?"

"Sure," he chuckled, hoisting her into the air as she shrieked with laughter. "I'll let you spin the salad."

"Yay!"

With one eye on Emmy, who stood on the stepstool and enthusiastically pushed the salad spinner, and one on Bran, who sat on the floor reading aloud, Rowan managed to start dinner prep, only taking a couple of breaks to help Lana finish her worksheets. He was helping Emmy put the salad into a big bowl while chuckling along with Bran at the funny story (which he'd heard a thousand times) when the garage door swung open and a pair of heels clicked against the wooden flooring.

"MAMA!" Emmy screeched, abandoning the salad to sprint over and clutch Aelin's legs, talking a mile a minute about her day.

"Hi, lovey," Aelin laughed, stepping out of her heels and scooping her youngest daughter up into her arms. "I missed you, baby."

"Not a baby!" Emmy pouted.

"Right right, you're a big girl now," Aelin amended, smacking a kiss onto her little one's cheek. "And I heard you don't have homework today."

"Yeah!" Emmy beamed. "Lana an' Bran both almost done!"

"Imagine that," Aelin chuckled, winking slyly at her husband. Both of them knew full well how rare it was that all three kids had their homework done or nearly done by the time she got home from work.

"Well, Lana at least has a reason," Rowan hummed, kissing Aelin quickly.

"Oh?"

"Dad and I are gonna go shopping!" Lana declared. "I gotta get Mari a birthday present."

"Right, her party's on Saturday, isn't it?"

"Uh huh! Dad didn't remember that," Lana said with the same amount of sarcasm as she'd explained the dinosaur stuffed animal.

"Dad has lots to remember, I'm sure he just needed a reminder." Aelin smirked at Rowan. How dare you forget her best friend's birthday? her eyes teased.

Rowan sighed loudly. "So little faith in me, I'm wounded."

"Love you too, buzzard," she grinned, letting Emmy return to helping her father and heading off to change out of her work clothes.

After dinner, Rowan kept to his promise to take Lana shopping, and they returned a little over an hour later bearing a large, blue plush dino stuffy and a birthday card. Lana practically talked her parents' ears off about how much Mari loved dinosaurs and how she'd love the present as she signed the card and wrote "MARI" on the envelope in big letters.

"Good night, Lana," Rowan laughed as he tucked her into bed, kissing her forehead. "The faster you go to sleep, the faster it'll be Saturday."

~

When Saturday rolled around, Lana was up bright and early, though she stayed in her room reading until it was closer to eight-thirty. Then she snuck into Aelin and Rowan's bedroom, stepping across the carpeted floor as quietly as possible.

They both heard her anyway, though Aelin pretended she hadn't.

"Mama," Lana whispered, touching Aelin's shoulder. "Morning, Mama."

"Hmm, good morning, lovey," Aelin mumbled, still not quite fully awake. "What's up?"

"It's Saturday!" the girl beamed, dancing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"Uh-huh, and it's still early, honey." Aelin squeezed her daughter's hand. "There's lots of time before you have to get ready to go over to Mari's house, okay?"

"I know," Lana whispered. "I just--"

"I WANNA HAVE SATURDAY PANCAKES!" Bran yelled, completely shattering the relatively quiet morning.

Rowan muffled his deep laugh in the back of Aelin's neck, his whole body shaking with mirth. "Someone's awake," he murmured to his wife, reveling in her little snorts of laughter.

"Thank you, Brannon," Aelin replied to her son, raising her head enough to give him a very dry look.

He had the grace to look a little abashed. "Was that too loud, Mama?"

"What have we learned about quiet voices, bud?"

"Use 'em when people aren't out of bed," he mumbled.

"Good." She rolled over, sharing a laugh-laden glance with her husband. "All right, buzzard, who's getting up to make pancakes?"

~

Rowan made pancakes.

And when breakfast was cleaned up and Aelin was helping the kids get dressed and ready, convincing Lana that she didn't need to change her outfit three more times, Rowan allowed himself to be convinced to braid his daughters' hair.

Gods, if anyone got wind of this, he'd never live it down.

"Who's taking Lana to Mari's?" he asked as he put on decent clothes, finally able to snatch a moment for himself once all of his kids were ready for the day.

"You can," Aelin answered, glancing at the clock. "I've got to be on a call in half an hour." She rolled her eyes, leaning into his warmth. "Wish I could pass it along, but tax season waits for nobody, you know?"

He kissed her temple. "Yeah, and you're right there to talk sense into your worried clients, Fireheart."

"Damn right." Rising onto her tiptoes, she pressed her lips into his, the kiss sweet and tender. "Don't let the moms proposition you!" she teased as he headed downstairs to make sure Lana had everything ready.

His groan echoed through the whole house.

~

Rowan mentally braced himself when he pulled up to Mari's house, preparing to do the polite thing and stop to say hi like all the other parents--mostly moms--did when they dropped off their kids. So he walked Lana up to the house and barely had time to say "bye" before she was running off with her friends, giggling and chattering with the glee of youth.

"Mari's gonna love the dinosaur," a woman's voice to his left said lightly.

He turned to find a woman who looked almost exactly like her daughter giving him a crooked grin. "Oh--yeah, that was all Lana's idea, I just took her to the store," he admitted. "Rowan Whitethorn."

"Asterin Blackbeak," the woman replied, shaking his hand kindly. "Brave of you to drop your daughter off."

Rowan huffed. "I'll say. Not to be offensive, but the moms scare me."

Asterin smirked. "Believe me, I'm happily married, but I too am guilty of having slightly inappropriate thoughts about that tattoo of yours."

"Gods," Rowan groaned. "Please tell me my wife wouldn't want to hear those thoughts."

"Depends," Asterin laughed. "How does she feel about the mamas eyeballing the local DILF?"

"She loves it," he admitted.

"Then no, I probably shouldn't give her more fuel for her jokes." Asterin winked. "But just so you know, that cluster at the door? Not one of them has looked away from your ass since you walked in."

"Aaaaand this is where I leave," Rowan joked. "Nice meeting you, Asterin."

"Enjoy your day!"

Rowan made it back to his car with a minimum of blushing, because he very much did hear the snickers and whispers from the aforementioned cluster of mothers. And every word he picked up made him want to scream.

Gods burn him, he could only hear so many comments about that ass before he lost it.

Which must have shown on his face when he returned home, because Aelin flashed him a knowing grin from the office and was still wearing that little grin when she got off her call.

"Poor buzzard," she crooned, letting him bury his face in her shoulder. "Were the horny moms ogling you again?"

"Too much," he mumbled.

She snickered, running her fingers through his hair. "Well, at least you won't have to deal with it any more today."

"I won't?"

"No." She dropped a kiss onto his forehead. "I'll go pick Lana up." A wicked grin curved her lips. "And we'll see how those moms react to the local MILF, won't we?"

~~~

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[show-choir-gal]

How You Two Meet - Slashers Preference

Masterlist of Masterslists

Thomas Hewitt: You were walking by the house after escaping a potential assaulter You had been walking for what seemed like hours. You had sliced clothes and open wounds. You were shivering uncontrollably and your eyes were swollen from sobbing. It was dusk when you came across a lone farm house in the middle of who knows where. You were so tired from walking, the attempted assault, and crying. Your body was finally starting to give out. You started to trip over almost every little thing. A sheriff car rolled up behind you. "Hey there, I'm sheriff Hoyt. Are you lost?" The man said as he rolled down his window to talk to you. That was the last straw and your body finally let go and you fell to the ground crying. Hoyt got out of his car and grabbed you and placed you in the passenger seat. Once you two were parked by the farm house, Hoyt called for a woman as he grabbed you and carried you into the house. He placed you down on a chair in the kitchen and a woman came running in. "Oh gosh, what happened?" The woman asked as she looked at you then Hoyt. "I don't know, she was just walking when I found her." A man in a leather mask walked into the room and immediately he was drawn to you. He stared lovingly at the woman in front of him. "Thomas, please stitch this young lady up so she can get better." The woman said as she sent the man to fetch his supplies. "I'm Luda May. I think Thomas really likes you. He'll stitch you right up and I'll fetch you a glass of water and you can explain everything, alright?"

Bubba Sawyer: Your car broke down by the farmhouse You were driving down a long dirt road when all of a sudden your car started to make a strange noise. You tried to power through it but to no avail. The car slowly came to a stop and would not turn back on. You screamed at the top of your lungs. When you looked back to the scenery in front of you, you can see two men walking towards you. "Everything good?" One of them said. "M-my car just broke down." You replied. "Ah yes, that often happens on this road. I'm Nubbins." The second man said as he smiled. "I'm sorry miss, I should've introduced myself. I'm Drayton. Nubbins and his brother are pretty good at cars and can get you on your way in no time. Would you like to come into the house to get away from this dreaded Texas heat while they work on your car?" "That would be great actually. I really appreciate the help. I'm Y/N." Nubbins stayed behind and Drayton walked you to the house. "We have a guest!" Drayton yelled as he lead you around the house and then finally lead you to the living room where an old man and another man with a mask. You sat down as Drayton explained what happend. Every now and again the other man, named Bubba, was always seeming to be staring at you. As soon as Drayton left, the old man spoke up. "Could you help me into th-" He started to ask with a smirk. "No." Bubba declared, which startled you. The old man began laughing, "Bubba seems to really like you."

Michael Meyers: You were stalked during your babysitting Your parents were going to a Halloween party and called you to come and babysit your little brother. You drove from your college to your childhood house and greeted your family as they waited for you in the living room. They handed you $20 for dinner and kissed you and your brother goodbye. You two ordered some pizza and fries and hung out for a little bit until you looked at your brother and told him that he needs to do his homework. "But why?" He begged. "Because I don't want to be yelled at for letting you get away with not doing homework. Besides, I'll do homework with you so you're not alone. After we're both done we can bake some Halloween cookies, deal?" He took and your hand and shook it, "Deal." "Alright kiddo, we got this." You two finished your homework about an hour and a half later and then once that was cleaned up you two started on the cookies. The cookies finished baking and you took them out of the oven and put them on a cooling rack. "Yo, who is that? Is that a friend of yours?" Your brother asked as he looked back out the window. "What are you talking about?" "Look!" You looked out the window to find some person in coveralls and a pale white mask, "I have no idea who that is, they're probably just trying to scare us." You grabbed a sandwich baggie and put some cookies in it and grabbed a handful of candy that was meant for tomorrow and you opened the door and looked in the direction the person was originally standing. "Halloween is tomorrow asshole, but I like your spirit. Here's some candy and cookies for the night. Make sure you stay warm, it's a bit chilly out." You placed the items on a little stool on your porch, "Have a goodnight." You said before you went inside. Michael was hiding in the woods, but suddenly felt this warmth inside him when he witnessed your kindness and just not being scared or freaked out by him.

Brahms Heelshire: You were looking after Brahms (in doll form, obvi) This goes right along with the movie, but before Greta. Forget Greta even happened.

Jason Voorhees: You were renting a cabin for the summer You just wanted a nice and peaceful summer, so you rented a cabin right by the popular Camp Crystal Lake a few towns over. You pulled up to your cabin and took a little tour before you started to bring your bags inside. Unbeknownst to you though, while you were bringing your bags inside, Jason was watching you bring your bags inside. Jason would normally be observing to kill but, he was intrigued by you. You weren't loud and partying, you didn't dress in only sleazy tops and short shorts. You were by yourself, quiet, kept to yourself. He watched as you finished unpacking and sat on the front porch and...just started to read a book . The wind was blowing your hair out of your face and you were smiling gently to yourself. Jason really liked that about you. You were different to the people he killed, and he liked and appreciated different.

Billy Loomis: He saw you at the local coffee shop You had just moved to Woodsboro with your parents. You moved because your father found a better studio to write for and so you all moved with him. You weren't one to complain, this could be worse, it could be a lot worse even. Once the final moving boxes were put away, you kissed your parents goodbye and heading to find some nice places around the town. You found some nice boutiques and parks and a beautiful movie theatre but you came across a really cute coffee shop and chose to stop by. You ordered a latte and a muffin and started to subtly people watch. Your eyes were caught on a boy who was already looking in your direction. You smiled at him and he smiled back and you finished your latte and you left. Stu was going on and on about how he should make a move, but Billy just watched you as you left the shop, a smile never leaving his face.

Stu Macher: You were assigned as partners for a project This was the final English project before midterms and you were just hoping that you didn't do all the work again. Your teacher was assigning groups aloud when she called your name, "You're working with Stu Macher." Kids snickered and the teacher shushed them all and you just slung your head back. "If you can get him to do his work, I owe you a spa day." Your best friend whispered in your ear. "You just earned yourself a bet!" You exclaimed in a whisper as you held you hand out to shake. The project was a breakdown of a book turned movie and the differences between the two. Class eventually ended and you packed up your things and headed straight to Stu's locker. You spotted him and made your way over. "Hey Stu, we got assigned as partners for an English. We can talk about the project tomorrow in class. I chose Psycho for our project, I think I remember you talking about it a few times so I hope you don't mind. See you tomorrow." You said with a smile as you walked away to your own locker.

Bo Sinclair: You stop for gas at his gas station You were on your way to visit some friends and had to make a quick pit stop to use the restroom and get gas. You pulled into this run of the mill gas station and went inside to use the restroom. Bo had been staring at you since you pulled up but you brushed it off thinking that it's just his job. You walked out after washing your hands and grabbed a few snacks on the way to the counter. You placed your items in front of the gas station attendant - Bo. "What is a pretty young thing doing here today?" He asked with a smirk. "Just making a pit stop while heading to see some friends." You replied with a smile. "Well they must be lucky to have a friend like you. How much do you want on your pump?" "$17 please." "Snacks are on me, as long as you give me your number." He said with a wink. You blushed and wrote your number down on some receipt paper and handed it to him. You grabbed your snacks and headed out to your car and then started to fill it up.

Vincent Sinclair: Bo takes you home to kill you You were just chilling at the local bar when gas station attendant Bo started to strike up a conversation with you. You two hit it off pretty well so you two decided to ditch the grimy club and head over to his place. Bo was a gentleman and opened all the doors for you. He gave you a brief tour of his house and led you to the living room, he had you sit on the couch and he asked if you wanted anything to drink. You said you only wanted a water and he smiled and went to the kitchen but there was immediately some commotion. Vincent came out to see Bo's newest victim, but when he looked at you he fell head over heels for you. Bo didn't like this, but Vincent never felt this type of way for anyone so Bo gave up his blood thirsty ideas. He came back with some water and said, "My brother Vincent thinks you're pretty and wants to get to know you." Bo said with a smile

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

❛ LIFE PLAN ❜

with Angel Reyes.

Request: Hi can I please have an imagine where your Angels girl and he and the Mc surprise you at work (I work in childcare) and he gets baby fever watching you works. Thank you x

BY @softi92

Warnings: none.

Word count: about 1k.

Aurora says: this writing hasn't been edited, you may find some grammar mistakes, I'm sorry about that!

Gif credits: to the author.

Masterlist.

“Teache’…”

You feel some soft pulls to one of the sleeves of your robe calling for your attention, while you control every kid finding their parents at the entrance of the kid garden. Bowing your eyes to the six years old carrying a stuffed rabbit, you squat to her putting away a tuft of blonde hair behind her ear.

“What's up, Sofia?” You ask her with a honeyed tone of voice and a gentle smile on your lips.

“My momma is gonna be late again”. She said somewhat sad, dancing his hips from left to right, really ashamed.

“Okay, com'ere, baby”. You say lifting her up between your arms, with her tiny legs surrounding your abdomen. “You know it's okay. I will wait with you, okay?”

“Thank you, teache'”.

Sitting on a bench, you put well on her unicorns shirt, leaving a kiss on his head. You have known her since four years ago. You have gone to her birthdays parties, because her mother turned into one of your best friends since the first time you had to wait for her. Marta works so much in a cafeteria past the border, in Santa Madre. So, crossing back to Santo Padre, sometimes she's late.

“She hasn't seen us yet, carnal”. Coco says having a puff of his cigar.

But Angel isn't listening, focused on the way you have to lift up the girl and take care of her as if she was your own daughter. Actually, she's also like a niece to him. He has known her since she was two years old, and Sofia loves to call him ‘tío Angel’. She melts his heart every time she does. And even if other days he would have already come to say hello, the oldest Reyes is sitting on his back, leaning forward over the handlebar, so rapturous in the way you look with that kid on your lap. You look radiant, happy, stunning. And his pulse is racing, just thinking for a second that he's looking at his wife holding his little girl.

You have been together for the last three years and he has considered asking you to marry him since the day he met you. That's easy. He's aware about what you feel for him, and that you won't reject it. But, having a child together? The fear of not being a good father kills him. It kills him so slowly, that gives him nightmares.

“Mom!” Sofia jumps off from the bench, running towards her mother, as soon as she sees her.

“(Y/N), I'm sorry”. She says hurried holding her girl, but you raise a hand in silence with a soft smile. “I made Angel and the guys wait for you, sorry”.

Frowning confused, you let your eyes travel through the sidewalk until finding them. How many time have they been waiting?

It's almost midnight and looks like the party just has started. The crowded yard, full of Mayans, are celebrating the opening of a new charter. But you're more focused on your boyfriend, who has been acting really weird for the last two days. Taking the advantage, when you find him alone sitting on a couch on the porch, you lead your feet close to him. Angel is totally assorted in his own thoughts, leaning over his thighs and holding a beer between both hands.

Resting your shoulder against the wooden column, you wait for him to notice your presence, touring the look on his face slowly. He doesn't have secrets from you, but you know that something is happening and not because of the club.

“He—Hey, mi dulce”. He just says clearing his throat, and leaving away on the floor his drink to welcome you on his lap.

Brushing his hair to the back of his head, using your fingers, you surround his neck with your arms leaving a kiss on his temple.

“You're worrying me, mi angel”.

“Why?” He questions leaning on the couch, so you can get comfy against his chest.

“Dunno… You look… lost. Where do you have your head, ah?”

“Nothing happens”. Shrugging his shoulders, you sit up with an incredulous look in your eyes.

“Angel, you can't hide anything from me, babe… Don't even try”.

The oldest Reyes rubs the bridge of his nose, snorting heavily and putting his gaze away from you for some seconds.

“Do you… think I could be a good father?”

“No”.

“Okay, that wa—”.

“You will be the perfect one. And you wanna know why?”

“Yeah”.

“Because you're not gonna commit the mistakes your parents did with you. Don't misunderstand me, I love Pops, but he could be better”. You reply pursing your lips, nodding a little. “But, why are you worried about it… now?”

Angel raises one of his hands to your right cheek, caressing it gently with his thumb, so bewitched profering a sigh of pure love.

“Everytime I see you with Sofia, my legs falter, baby... I want it. I want it with you. Have a crazy kiddo, have a family. Our own family”.

“And…?”

“And I didn't know how to ask'et”.

“Exactly as you're doing it right now, honey”.

“You would marry me, and have a family with me?”

“It's the only thing I want, Angel”. You nod pretty convinced of your words, bowing to his lips to catch them between yours in a soft kiss. “Come with me, baby”.

He looks a little confused when you get up and offer him a hand, helping him to stand up on his feet before guiding him into the clubhouse. The guys are there playing pool and poker, staring at you with raised eyebrows.

“Where are you going?” EZ asks taking off some bottles of tequila from a cardboard box over the bar.

“We're gonna give you a niece, boy scout”.

“Beautiful way to say that you're gonna fuck and cum inside her”.

“Yo! Brother, why the fuck you have to be so fucking specific?” Angel complains lifting up his free arm, shaking his head.

“Yeah, Coquito. You should watch your mouth…” Rolling your eyes, you keep pulling your boyfriend into the dorm zone, looking for his.

✨ Tag list:

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[the-mad-starker]

Starkercest: The Stuff of Dreams

This smutty piece was inspired by @toybandaids​​ and the use of sleeping pills in Only Me (Link here! 😏) and encouraged by my friend Keyz 😊 Tried to get this in for Father's Day but it ended up longer than expected (what else is new 😅😅) then of course, procrastinated some more by making a moodboard!

One more fic until I start on my Starker Festival bingo!

Summary:  Omega Peter watches over his father's dreams and makes sure they're sweet, pleasant dreams.

Notes:  Incest, A/B/O, Intersex omegas, noncon/dubcon, drug induced somnophilia, tiny bit of bulge kink, size kink, breeding, vaginal sex

WC: 3617

(AO3 Link)

💗💗💗 

Peter worries about his dad constantly.

People like to brush it off by saying it's an omega thing which– ugh, he doesn't even want to get into that. It's not an omega thing, it's a Peter thing because… because his dad is Tony Stark, okay?

His dad is amazing, a perfect alpha. He's a literal genius, a trait Peter inherits from his father. But more than that, his dad has such a big heart. For others, it's difficult to see under all that sass and sharp tongue of his but when he's with Peter, it's all warmth and smiles. Peter gets the sass too, but he gets everything else that his dad is too guarded to show anyone else.

He loves that about his father.

Tony's also the perfect alpha, even without his gig as Iron man or a billionaire.

And Peter worries, okay? Because all this superhero stuff takes such a heavy toll on his alpha, especially since Peter somehow gets roped into it too. But they both know that Peter wouldn't give up being Spider-man for anything. Not when it means he can be by his dad's side. Protect him. Keep him safe.

An omega protecting an alpha? Not as uncommon as people like to think. Especially when it comes to Peter. His dad is the most important person to him, of course, he'd protect him.

It's another hard night when they return home.

His dad has Friday scan him from the top of his head down to the tips of his toes. Any minor bruising or injuries Peter sustains during battles are wiped clean by the time they get home though. Even with Friday confirming that, Tony still looks him over.

"You sure you didn't get hurt?"

"I'm sure, dad."

"How about your shoulder? I saw you take that hit–"

"Dad– I said I'm okay…!"

The alpha breathes out a sigh that sounds like it comes from his very core. His hands on Peter's shoulders loosen as the tension eases out of him.

"Okay. Okay," he says, shoulders slumping, "Sorry, kiddo. I know– I know you can take care of yourself. I just worry, okay?"

If Peter was like any other teen, Tony's constant concern could possibly rub him the wrong way. Instead, the young omega soaks it all up, just melting in his dad's arms. His own come up to hug his alpha father and he's just tall enough now that he can bury his nose against his father's scent gland.

He breathes in the familiar scent of home and a soft, quiet sort of purr rumbles in his chest. His father answers it with one of his own, deep and reassuring. The sound is a private little thing between them, an intimate affair for just them alone.

"I worry, too, dad," Peter admits. Then, because he knows his dad is feeling a bit vulnerable, he asks, "Is it… Is it okay if I sleep with you tonight? Please, dad?"

He can feel his dad's huff of laughter and the warm puff of breath against his ear. He has to force his body to keep from trembling.

"Was there really any point in giving you your own floor if you're just gonna sleep with your old man all the time?" Tony's words are a soft tease but he doesn't say no. Peter knows he won't, either. He never does.

"It keeps me from cluttering the penthouse?" Peter says innocently, a light quip to his dad's rhetorical question.

"Yeah," Tony steps back and shakes his head with a fond smile. "Okay, kiddo, guess we're having a sleepover, just you and me."

It's always just them. And that's how Peter wants it to remain.

They do their routines, brush their teeth side by side. Tony strips down to just his boxers and Peter wears short shorts and an undershirt. 

His dad's body is littered with faded scars, marks from their work as superheroes. Sturdy strong shoulders and a trim waist, thanks to Peter's insistence that they try to be healthy. His dad has enough health problems as it is.

In contrast, Peter is all lithe muscles and slender lines thanks to omegan biology and then the bite.

Nothing unusual happens. It never does during this part…

But then they settle down and Peter curls up against his father's side, cuddling close and throwing a leg over his dad's.

"Little octopus," his daddy teases, "Thought you were bit by a spider."

Peter only clings even tighter when his father reaches for the bedside drawer. Even with his face half buried against his dad's shoulder, his ears pick up the soft rattle of pills.

"Dr. Banner still okaying those?" Peter asks curiously.

"Yeah, insomnia's a bitch and these have worked real good so–" Tony pops two pills and swallows it dry. "I just want a good night's sleep with my favorite son."

"I'm your only son," Peter points out, right on cue.

"Mhmm…" Tony settles down, pulling the sheets up and making sure they're both covered. "Favorite son…"

Peter pretends to drift off, eyes closed, but his mind is far too active to fall asleep. He feels the way Tony's breathing deepens; the pill taking effect fast.

While his dad is lulled into sleep, his heart thumping away at a steady, reassuring pace, Peter's is quickening.

He's about to do something unforgivable, but it wouldn't be the first time.

Fifteen minutes go by.

"Dad…?" Peter murmurs softly.

"Mm…?" Tony barely responds. It's more instinct, his father recognizing Peter's voice calling for him.

"Love you," he answers quietly and gets no response besides a soft hum.

Peter waits some more, though his little cocklet is starting to get hard. He doesn't dare rub against his dad–yet.

Another half an hour passes.

"Daddy…?" Peter murmurs.

This time, there's no response. He lightly taps his finger against the arc reactor and still, there's no response.

His dad is deep asleep, helped along by those innocent little pills that'll keep him under while Peter has his fun.

With his heart thumping, Peter carefully sits up. The sheet slips from his shoulder with a soft hiss, but he barely notices. He's gotten so excited, so wet, just laying there, thinking about what's to come. His tiny little shorts are soaked in no time.

He gently tugs the sheet away from his father's sleeping body and he does it so slowly, breath held, as though revealing a grand prize. He's seen his dad's body so often, naked or clothed, but each time he sees it like this, it's like the first time all over.

The thrill of excitement floods his system, and he takes a moment to drink it all in.

His alpha… Tony…

When Peter can't contain himself, he crawls between his father's legs and gently palms Tony's soft cock. He starts off with gentle, curious strokes and feels it respond by lengthening right under his hand.

He settles on his stomach, presses his face between the alpha's inner thigh and the now noticeable erection his dad is sporting. He breathes in the scent, mouthing at the fabric and hands greedy as he tugs Tony's boxers down.

"Ah…" Peter can't help but moan when Tony's cock is revealed.

His father isn't even fully erect but already, the size and girth of his cock makes Peter's mouth water. His eyes dart up to Tony's sleeping face as he nuzzles his cheek against his dad's alpha cock.

"Missed this…" the omega murmurs as he leads the tip to his mouth. "I know you missed it too, dad… Haven't been able to help you this week and you got so grumpy in the last meeting…"

He starts to lightly suck on the tip, thin, pink lips covering the fat mushroom shaped head. He licks away the precum right from the slit before it even manages to drip.

"I'll make it better, daddy…" he promises.

Above him, Tony's lips part open and a soft sigh can be heard. His cock twitches in Peter's hand, responding eagerly to the familiar touch. He's having a good dream, pleasure and warmth wrapped in one, as he's being serviced.

Peter takes in more. He loves sucking Tony's cock and loves it best like this. Loves feeling his father's soft cock grow in his mouth. It fits nicely in his mouth like this but not for long. He sucks and licks hungrily and Tony's cock thickens and swells right in his mouth.

It's an experience unlike any other… Feeling his efforts being rewarded in the form of a thick, rock hard alpha cock.

He's managed to get his father to come down his throat multiple times. He's only been able to take his knot once. It's tempting to try it again tonight but his pussy feels so empty… His back hole too…

Once his mind considers going all the way, he has a hard time deciding which hole he wants to use to get his father off.

His dad seems to like his pussy the best. He's not sure if Tony realizes just what hole he's fucking, but it's like the alpha's instincts kick in and the need to breed takes over.

Peter likes it best there, too, but he's still stuck in indecision. So he decides he'll figure it out in the moment. He just knows that tonight, he's getting a creampie, either way.

He continues sucking Tony off, licking and slurping to his heart's content. The alpha's cock stretches his lips wide, fills his mouth past the point of comfort.

Peter has learned how to breathe with such a sizable obstruction in the way. His eyes threaten to roll to the back of his head when the length tickles the back of his throat.

He pulls off with a wet gasp, saliva leaving the length all wet and gleaming. Thin strands of spit connect the tip to his mouth and he leans back down to lavish even more attention on it.

"Mm… There you go, dad," Peter moans softly, "Got you all nice and ready. Aren't I such a good son…?"

He gives the alpha cock one last stroke, squeezing just how he knows his father likes. Once that nice warm hole is gone from his cock, his dad's expression becomes troubled. Brows twitch and scrunch up, a line forming between them.

Peter gets up on his knees and presses his father's cock against his own smaller stiff length.

"Ah… daddy…" Peter sighs with a roll of his hips. His eyes fixate on Tony's face and the upset turn of his mouth.

He leans down, purposely rubbing the alpha's cock even more.

"I'll make it better," he promises with a kiss to the corner of Tony's mouth. "Make it better for both of us…"

He lifts up just enough to position his father's cock against his pussy. Just that might touch is enough to make him tremble as the tip slips through his plump lips. 

He's leaking so much slick already… The wet sounds are more than enough to turn the tips of his ears red. It sounds so dirty and the act itself is even more so.

"I need it…" Peter admits, eyes slipping shut as he savors the anticipation. "Need this so bad, dad…"

This entire time he's been telling himself how much he helps his father by doing this. He says he takes all of his alpha's frustration, leaves him feeling spent and relaxed and how it's good for Tony… A little stress relief.

But the truth is… Peter is a selfish brat. His daddy is his and the only omega in Tony's life is Peter.

The tip is drenched in his slick and the alpha's own precum. And even though his pussy aches at the thought, he pulls back and drags his father's cockhead to the tight little back hole that's just as hungry to be filled.

When he presses the tip there, Peter's just so tempted to sink down… He wants to feel his daddy's cock breach him there and he wants to groan around the stretch, feeling so full that he can barely breathe.

He considers it, God, he considers it… But with an impatient hiss, his hips angle back so that Tony's cock presses against his pussy again.

He sinks down without another thought or at least he tries.

"Ah…" Peter moans as he's being stretched apart. 

He can feel everything… The wide glans pushing its way inside him… the prominent veins all along the length of his daddy's cock… Warm, rock hard flesh… Bare inside him. No condom, because fuck, they're family… Father and son. This is all he ever wants… Just his daddy filling him up so good… 

His thighs tremble as he tries to control just how much he takes. There's a dark thought in the back of his head to just slam down and feel the way his daddy stretches him so obscenely.

The omega whimpers and looks down at his father through the slits of his eyelids.

"Daddy…" Peter moans shamelessly as he rocks up and down, trying to inch more and more inside him "Daddy… Ah… Daddy…"

Just halfway and he can't take any more. No, he has to work himself open on his daddy's cock just to be able to take him fully. He leans forward and groans when a few inches slip out. He feels it so keenly, the way his walls cling to his father's cock.

He sinks back down with labored panting, eyes threatening to roll to the back of his head. Tony's cock takes up every space inside him, every crevice… 

The angle is perfect, Peter makes sure it is. He's done this often enough that he knows just how to ride his daddy and get his cock to brush against that sweet spot inside him.

"Dad…" His voice wobbled and he swallows the lump in his throat. "It feels so good… so good, daddy…"

Peter reaches for his father's limp hands and intertwines their fingers. Their bodies are joined, connected, but holding Tony's hands, palm to palm, brings a whole other element of intimacy to the act.

His hips roll fluidly as he falls into a familiar rhythm, inching more and more of his father's cock inside his sopping wet pussy. He feels it the moment Tony's cockhead bumps against the entrance to his womb. He sucks in a sharp breath, lashes fluttering at the sensation.

He glances down the flat planes of his body and his breath hitches. He leads one hand to his belly where a subtle but noticeable bulge interrupts the natural shape of his body. He presses his father's hand against it, knowing his daddy's cock is right there.

"Daddy's cock…" Peter moans softly, "Feel you so deep inside me, daddy… and it's still– still, mm, not enough…"

It only makes him even more desperate to get it all inside. The bed starts to squeak, the headboard tapping against the wall as Peter's pleasured moans fill the air. 

He drags his father's hands, so warm and broad, to his hips. Presses Tony's fingers down and imagines his father guiding him as he fucks into his own son.

Pleasure grows inside him, warmth coiling tight in his belly.

"Dad…" 

Peter's moans are unrestrained and louder now that he's caught up in the pleasure. 

His eyes slip shut. He doesn't notice how his father's hands tighten around his waist nor does he notice Tony's eyes struggle to open.

He only notices when his father's hips push up violently, sinking that last stubborn inch inside of him.

"Ah!" Shock colors the yelp along with delight. His eyes fly open, terrified that somehow he's woken his father up.

Heat blooms from his cheeks and spreads all the way down. It leaves his chest flushed with mortification, his pink nipples peaked with excitement.

His father is staring right at him.

"Dad!" 

Peter cries out when Tony's hands turn harsh and drag him down so they're pressed chest to chest. His cock rubs against his father's belly and he's helpless– He can't help squirming and moaning even though he's been caught. Can't help rubbing his hard omega cock against his father's abs.

"Pete–!" His dad groans, arms snaking around his back. "Fuck! Fuck…!"

His daddy is… His daddy is fucking him! Instead of throwing Peter off, his father's strong arms hold him in place as he fucks in deep, hips thrusting up almost desperately.

"Dadd…!" Peter gasps. He turns his head, nuzzling against Tony's beard and searching for his lips. He feels like he'd die if he didn't kiss him right that second.

"Oh, fuck, baby…" his dad groans breathlessly. "Fuck… Don't wanna wake up… God, your pussy… My baby's pussy feels so good…"

"Oh…!" Peter desperately pushes against his dad's arms so he can look into his eyes. What he sees is both terrible and great.

His father is looking back at him, wonder and lust– Lust!– so clear in his eyes. The expression, one Peter has never imagined being directed at him, sends a thrill down his spine.

The terrible truth is that his dad thinks he's dreaming. But he thinks he's dreaming of fucking his own son…

"Don't wake up, dad," Peter breathes and Tony groans. He buys into it as Peter lets him fuck his pussy, encourages him with seductive rolls of his hips. "Want your cum… Want it so bad… Will you give it to me, daddy? Are you gonna blow inside my pussy…?"

His father moans, eyes refusing to close. He keeps looking straight at Peter with bleary, hazy eyes.

"Gonna– Mm, gonna fill my baby up…" Tony mumbles almost incoherently but Peter's so close that he catches every word. Excitement spikes inside him and he meets his father's thrusts with his own, desperate to feel him come.

"Do it, dad… Come inside," Peter says, eyes wide and pleading. "Do it, do it… Fill me up, daddy… Want… want your pups inside me…!"

A part of him thinks he's gone too far. A part of him thinks those words will shock his father into truly waking.

But perhaps he doesn't know his father as well as he thinks. Those forbidden words only spurn Tony into fucking him harder.

The alpha growls at the encouragement, hips slapping against his ass.

"Oh…! Oh!" Peter squeals when he feels it. 

His daddy's knot…

It's not the first time he's gotten Tony to knot him but this will be the first that he's being knotted instead of just taking it. 

It's different, vastly different with his father actually doing the deed. It adds a whole other element that was previously missing… His father's desperate groans and the way he clutches Peter tight as he ruts and ruts… Trying to get his knot to pop so that he can lock himself in.

The knot slips in and out, still too small but not for long. Peter clenches down on it, crying out with every failed attempt to keep it inside. It leaves him feeling too wide open, bereft, even though his father's cock is still stuffing him full.

Tony, too, is growling in his ear, puffs of warm breath ghosting over sensitive skin as he works desperately to tie them together. His cock touches every part of Peter deep inside… So deep…

All the while, his father's calling out his name.

"Peter… Mm, Peter, baby..."

It leaves no illusion as to who he's imagining and Peter moans in bliss, pliant and willing to be bred right then and there. With the relentless fucking, the desperate need to fill him up, it was inevitable that Peter couldn't hold on.

His entire body locks down as he finally gives him. Warmth blossoms between them, his aching cock spilling generously between their bellies. A rush of slick gushes around his father's cock, drenching his groin but that doesn't stop him.

All that slick only makes it easier to fuck into Peter's clenching pussy. Makes it easier to knot.

When the knot finally locks into place, Peter almost sobs in relief, spent as he is. The last harsh tug has tears prickle in his eyes but the sensation passes when a flood of heat surges into him.

Peter cries out, body shaking, as his father groans in completion. Load after load is released inside, his dad shamelessly filling up his little pussy… Cockhead pressed right where he wants it, soaking his insides and pushing through as much seed as possible into his womb...

The omega's nails drag down Tony's chest, leaving streaks of red lines in his wake. He feels every pulse, ever twitch… His daddy coming so deep inside him that he feels him in his stomach.

Cum drunk, Peter realizes with a soft moan. That's what he is… His daddy's filling him up so much that he's getting high off the feeling.

He kisses his dad with clumsy sloppy kisses and Tony returns them. His actions are more sluggish now that he's accomplished his goal.

"Sweet dreams…" Peter murmurs when he places another pill between Tony's lips. Another kiss and this time, Peter's tongue eases between his father's lips… His dad swallows it easily.

Tony drifts back into pleasurable dreams and Peter gingerly sits. He groans softly when his daddy's cock continues to pulse inside him. With his internal muscles squeezing down, milking the knot, he knows it'll be a long night.

Unlike all the other previous nights, Peter is now inspired. With the memory of his daddy reverently whispering his name, Peter starts to gently rock back and forth, stimulating the knot and getting ready for another round.

He'll be sure to give his daddy more sweet dreams to comfort him.

[settersprouts]

꒦ ikanaide : chapter three ! ꒦

病欠

. . : iwaizumi gets sick and doesn't tell oikawa. oikawa notices he's not at school and skips practice for the first time to take care of him.

or, iwaizumi doesn't like to take medicine and oikawa can cook.

sniffles. coughs. that's all that could be heard through the iwaizumi household at five am, the time hajime iwaizumi was supposed to be getting ready for school. hanako iwaizumi sighed, not ready to deal with a sick hajime. reluctantly making his way out of the bed he shared with aiya, he got a bucket, a couple of rags, and starting the trek to his son's room.

``hey-`` hanako started, but was interrupted by a coughing fit. ``hajime. how you feeling?``

his son smiled up at him grimly, wiping at the snot in his nose. ``like shit.``

``language.``

``sorry.``

hanako let out another sigh, wringing one of the rags out and placing the damp cloth on his forehead. ``symptoms?``

``cough, sneezing, my nose is runny- and my throat hurts,`` iwaizumi managed, his voice dry and scratchy.

``that bad, huh?`` hanako set the bucket down on the floor, pulling out his phone and thumbing at his screen. ``i'll text your coach and teachers to let them know you can't make it.``

iwaizumi nodded, letting out a small groan. his eyes suddenly flung wide open, and he sat up abruptly, scaring hanako a little. ``don't tell oikawa! he's going to try and skip school to take care of me, i'm sure.``

hanako chuckled, giving his son a little thumbs up and pushing him back down. ``i got it. i'll just let him figure it out himself.``

his son sighed in relief, letting his entire body relax. ``thanks, old man.``

``i'm not old. want some oatmeal?``

``that'd be great. thank you.``

a smile pulled at hanako's lips. ``alright, coming right up, kiddo.`` he made his way out of iwaizumi's room, leaving the door open so air could filter through.

``don't make it sweet! i hate it sweet!``

``i know that!``

hanako made his way into the kitchen, almost running into his wife. ``whoa- oh, good morning, love.``

``morning, hanako.`` aiya yawned, her face contorting into an expression of confusion. ``where's hajime? he should be getting his breakfast ready by now.``

``the kid's sick,`` hanako replied, kissing his wife on the cheek. ``i'm getting him some oatmeal for breakfast.``

aiya nodded, opening a drawer and pulling out a thermometer. she handed it to her husband. ``make sure to take his temperature, too. i want to know if i need to have a doctor over.``

hanako deadpanned, letting out a gruff laugh. ``babe, that's a meat thermometer.``

``oh, is it?`` she smiled apologetically, putting it back and switching it with the other thermometer. ``here, take this, then.``

he reached out to grab at the cool metal, letting it sit in his breast pocket as he got iwaizumi's oatmeal ready. ``can you go get him some cough medicine, or something for his throat? hajime says it's sore.``

his wife nodded, and padded over to the fridge, reaching above it to open the medicine cabinet. she sorted through bottles and bottles of over-the-counter medicine, before finally reaching the cough and sore-throat remedies. pouring a little bit into a plastic cup, aiya put the bottle back and closed the cabinet, placing the cup onto the tray with her son's water glass and oatmeal on it. ``there. have you called hajime's school, yet?``

hanako nodded. ``mhm. already done. hajime doesn't want oikawa-kun to know he's sick yet, so don't tell his mother. knowing her, she'll spill the beans somehow.``

aiya let out a soft laugh, covering her mouth as she did so. ``i understand. he'll probably want to skip school and tend to hajime all day.``

``that boy is something else.``

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

oikawa tapped his foot impatiently, standing at the intersection where he and iwaizumi usually meet up. they were supposed to get there early so oikawa could grab something from the convenience store- it was his nephew's birthday, after all, and he wanted to buy some red velvet cake mix.

he let out a sigh, pulling out his phone to check the messages he had with the ace.

› Messages with : Iwaizumi, Hajime

[Sent:To Oikawa, Toorū] go to sleep already, you idiot

[Sent:To Oikawa, Toorū] i know you're up watching volleyball matches

[Sent:To Oikawa, Toorū] it's late, get some rest or i'll hit you

¹¹⁻³⁹ ᴾᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] yeah, yeah, got it iwa-chan ಠ_ಠ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] you don't have to be so rude, you know

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] and why r u so obsessed w hitting me ?

¹¹⁻⁴⁰ ᴾᴹ

[Sent:To Oikawa, Toorū] goodnight

¹¹⁻⁴⁰ ᴾᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] goodnight, iwa-chan :D

¹¹⁻⁴¹ ᴾᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] morning, iwa (*ﾟｰﾟ)ゞ

⁰⁵⁻³⁰ ᴬᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] where r u 人´∀｀) i'm @ the intersection

⁰⁶⁻⁰⁴ ᴬᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] iwa we're gonna be late i need to go to the store φ(。。*)

⁰⁶⁻⁰⁵ ᴬᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] iwa-chan i'm leaving you >:p

⁰⁶⁻⁰⁷ ᴬᴹ

[Sent:From Oikawa, Toorū] im gonna kill you when i see you

⁰⁶⁻¹³ ᴬᴹ

despite what the messages ensued, he still hadn't left without iwaizumi. he let out another sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. he really had to leave, but he didn't want the ace to be mad once he figured out oikawa had went on without him. oikawa inhaled through his nose, and out through his mouth. pushing aside the fear of a very angry iwaizumi showing up to first period with homicide on his mind.

the sun was rising and starting to shine brightly, slightly blinding oikawa as he glanced at the star. if iwaizumi were here, he would've already been geeking out about it to him, trying to annoy the vice. he wasn't really that obsessed with space and extraterrestrial life, oikawa just liked to annoy his best friends.

``hey, oikawa!`` the setter turned at his name being called, and was instantly greeted with someone running straight into him. arms wrapped around his torso in what he thought was a hug, but couldn't be sure, since all the wind was knocked out of him in the process. familiar tufts of pink-brown hair tickled his nose, and his lips pulled into a small, genuine smile. he wrapped his arms around the attacker's torso, too, breathing in the scent he considered a second home.

``hey, makki. morning.`` oikawa smiled, pulling away to see his friend's beaming face.

hanamaki linked arms with oikawa, pulling him along. ``c'mon, we're going to be late for class!``

oikawa looked down at his phone, checking the time. 06:19 AM, it read. ``makki, it's only six twenty. we have plenty of time.``

``but..`` makki groaned, making a big show of rolling his head back and exposing his neck to the sky. whether or not that was an impression of oikawa on one of his days, oikawa may never know. ``we can be early for once.``

``class doesn't start until seven thirty.`` oikawa sang, pulling away from makki's grip and dragging him along. ``plus, i gotta get something from the store for takeru's birthday.``

his companion made an 'o' shape with his mouth, succumbing to oikawa's charms and letting himself be lead to the nearest store. ``nice. what are you getting?``

``cake mix. red velvet.``

``red velvet? holy shit, can i come to the party?`` hanamaki gasped, giving his friend his full attention now. oikawa laughed, and nodded.

``yeah. i was planning on inviting you and mattsun anyways.`` he replied, scratching the back of his neck. ``iwa-chan gets a free pass, since my mom knows him.``

makki gasped in mock offense, holding his free hand to his heart. ``she knows me too! how come i don't get a free pass? does she not like me?``

oikawa shrugged. ``well, you're kind of.. how can i say this. um-`` he laughed nervously, ``-too energetic, for her taste?``

``this is atrocious. i even did her dishes for her, once.``

``key word, once.`` oikawa retorted, eyeing the store up ahead. ``oh hey, look, there's sakanoshita. think we'll find cake mix there?``

hanamaki shrugged.  ``probably. doesn't karasuno's coach work there?``

oikawa nodded. ``hopefully tobio-chan didn't stop by on his way to school. i think i might throw up if i see him.``

``how immature.``

the two of them made their way into the small store, muttering a little "pardon the intrusion!" to the staff, who turned out to be a short, older woman, not karasuno's coach. they both let out a sigh of relief- anything could've happened if it was ukai who was sitting in the little swivel chair behind the counter. possibly just them having to endure the shameless torments from the latter, but who knows.

oikawa and hanamaki glanced at the small signs labeling the aisles, quickly finding the one they were looking for and walked down to the middle, where all the cake mixes lay. the captain sifted through the red velvet mixes while the other eyed the brownie batter with starry eyes. oikawa skimmed the backs of four boxes he settled on, tossing them all into the little basket he had picked up as soon as they walked in. turning to his partner, he couldn't help but let the wide smile overcome his facial features. hanamaki was practically drooling at the pictures of the brownies on the boxes.

he padded over to the wing-spiker and picked up a box, tossing it into the basket as well and waltzed out of the aisle- hanamaki at his heels. ``whoa, are you seriously buying that for me?``

oikawa shook his head. ``for me. to make for you when you come over later.`` he stuck out his tongue at his partner, smiling at the laugh he was able to get out of him.

``sure, whatever you say.``

the captain turned to the lady at the desk, reading the nametag on her shirt. hana sakanoshita. ah. so she was the owner. sakanoshita smiled at him, taking the bag out of his hands and scanning the barcodes on the backs of the boxes. ``find everything okay, honey?``

``yep, great, thank you! could we also get two packs of that strawberry gum?`` he pointed, putting on one of his award-winning smiles. she seemed to melt at this and nodded, quickly bagging up his stuff and handing his credit card back.

``you have a good day, boys.`` she said, waving at them as they exited. the two smiled and waved back, turning towards aoba johsai and resuming their trek.

hanamaki checked his phone, letting out a sharp whistle. ``nice. we didn't take as long as i expected- we have fifteen minutes 'till first period.``

oikawa grinned. ``told you so.``

``yeah, yeah. oh- by the way, where's iwaizumi?`` hanamaki looked around as if he were looking for the teen, turning back to oikawa once he figured out he really wasn't there with them. ``he walks with you, right?``

the latter shrugged, pulling out his own gum pack and popping a strip into his mouth. ``dunno. he didn't show at the intersection where we meet up, so i just went along without him. he didn't answer any of my texts, either.``

``huh.`` hanamaki said, putting his index finger and thumb on his chin in a thinking pose. ``that's weird. maybe he overslept?``

``doubt it. the man sleeps with his phone on so loud, he'll wake up immediately as soon as he hears one of my texts. plus, he has like, fifty alarms back-to-back to wake him up.`` oikawa replied, shutting down makki's theory so fast, he didn't even see it coming.

makki sighed. ``ah. i see.`` he shook his head as to clear his mind of any stray thoughts, and extended his hand. ``i want some gum. hand it over, peasant.``

``yes, my lord.`` oikawa said jokingly, gracefully whipping out the pack of strawberry gum and placing it in his hands. he folded makki's fingers around it, never breaking eye contact with his teammate. ``here it is. do what you wish with it.``

the two snickered at their antics, slinging their arms around one another. ``we're so going to be late.``

``yeah, probably.``

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

``oh, yeah, we're so sorry ms. sato. we got stuck in traffic- there was an accident over by my house.`` makki sighed dramatically, shaking his head slightly. ``we would've gotten a late pass, but we didn't think we were going to be so late.``

ms. sato shook her head quickly, smiling at the teen. ``it's okay, hanamaki-kun. just try not to let this happen too much, okay?``

hanamaki nodded. ``yes, ma'am.`` oikawa mentally facepalmed at his antics, and the two walked to the back to sit down in their seats, next to matsukawa, who was struggling to keep a laugh in.

``jesus,`` matsukawa breathed, ``the amount of bullshit in that was immaculate.``

``right?`` he and hanamaki fistbumped, grinning widely like the idiots they were.

oikawa sighed, turning his head slightly to talk to iwaizumi, then stopping himself before he could say anything. iwaizumi's desk stood empty next to his own. the captain frowned, checking his phone for any recent texts from the ace. nothing popped up.

makki slung an arm over oikawa, concern lining his features. ``hey, what's up?``

``he still isn't here.`` he pointed to iwaizumi's desk, the frown growing by the minute. ``and he's not answering. makki, i'm worried.``

a head full of black, unruly hair obscured the view he had of his phone. matsukawa laughed, stepping back. ``so he didn't tell you guys?`` when hanamaki and oikawa looked at him with confused expressions, he chuckled, and continued. ``guys, he's sick. coach was talking about it with ms. sato this morning. if you got here earlier you would've known.``

the captain facepalmed. ``of course, that makes sense. why couldn't he have told me though?``

``dunno.`` mattsun ignored the small pout resting on his captain's lips, shoving at his shoulder a bit. ``lighten up. he probably didn't want you to skip school and take care of him.``

oikawa let out a puff of air. ``yeah, okay. you're probably right.`` he was about to continue but ms. sato had started class, and a comfortable silence fell upon them as they gave the woman their full attention. makki and mattsun glanced at oikawa, worry clearly etched on their faces. perhaps they shouldn't have told him what happened with his best friend.

``oikawa,`` ms. sato supplied, stalking over to his desk and setting two thick packets on the hard wood. ``here's iwaizumi-kun's work. i trust you'll be able to get this to him?``

the latter sighed, looking up towards his sensei with the fakest smile he could muster. ``yes, sato-san, i'll give this to him as soon as i see him.``

ms. sato smiled, patting the boy's head and walking back to the front of the class. ``alright, so, has anyone written down the notes on the board?``

oikawa glanced at the chalkboard, internally groaning as he noticed it was completely filled with notes. where the hell did she find the time to write all that?

he let out the fifth-hundredth sigh that day, picking up his pencil and getting to work. iwaizumi totally owed him.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

``you want to, what?`` coach irihata stared at his pupil, shock painting his features. oikawa stood before him, fumbling with his practice clothes, a faint blush plastered over his cheeks and nose. ``you want to skip practice?``

``yes.`` oikawa nodded. ``it's only for today, so i can go home and take care of iwa-chan. he has a lot of work to catch up on,`` he added, holding up the many papers he had collected from his professors in each class, since his and iwaizumi's timestables were identical.

irihata stared at him some more, then shook his head quickly, smiling at him. ``alright. i don't see why not.``

oikawa brightened, clearly glad by the news. ``thank you so much! i promise i'll make it up to you!`` he chimed, switching his volleyball shoes for a pair of regular sneakers. ``all your meals this week, on me!``

``you don't have to- and he's out the door.`` irihata sighed, glancing at the now agape gym door. the warm afternoon breeze rushed in, leaving an unpleasant, humid feeling. mizoguchi came up behind him, watching oikawa sprint off into the distance. ``that boy is something else, isn't he?``

``definitely.`` mizoguchi laughed, walking forward to close the doors. ``iwaizumi's lucky to have a good friend like him.``

the older coach nodded. ``we're all glad to know him.``

dammit, someone's talking about me, oikawa thought, as he sneezed for the seventh time since leaving aoba johsai. he rubbed his nose, pissed off at the irritation of his sensitive organ. his legs already burned- he had sprinted all the way to the intersection, and was now leaning on a streetlamp, catching his breath. he probably should've put on his knee brace if he knew he was going to exert a little energy on running home, but he was in a rush.

pulling out his phone, he quickly navigated to his email, frowning at the lack of messages from his dear friend hajime iwaizumi. he hadn't read the texts either, so he probably was really exhausted. slipping the device back into his pocket, he started the rest of his trek home, popping another strip of gum into his mouth.

the grocery bag swinging on his arm contained all the contents oikawa thought iwaizumi would need : some cough and cold medicine, a couple of boxes of tissues, a mask for himself, disposable rags, and a heating pad. the materials cost him about ¥800 each, which wasn't that expensive.

finally, after what had seemed like forever, the captain had arrived at iwaizumi's house. there were no cars in the driveway, which meant his parents weren't home. what were they thinking, leaving poor iwa-chan alone while he's sick? oikawa frowned at this. what a silly idea.

he flipped up the doormat, grabbing the key that was strategically placed underneath and unlocked the door. pushing it open, he let out a little ``yahoo~ anyone home?`` to let iwaizumi know he was there. he wasn't expecting a reaction, so seeing iwaizumi come downstairs to greet him kind of scared him out of his wits a little bit.

``jesus! iwa-chan, can't you warn a dude first?`` oikawa panted, placing a hand over his heart. the ace deadpanned, walking over and snatching the bags out of his hands.

``what the hell do you think you're doing here? i'm sick, go home.`` he retorted, his eyebrows furrowing so much, they looked like they were attached to his eyes. he sifted through the bag, pausing once he realized what the plastic bag contained. ``what is this?``

oikawa rolled his eyes, taking the bag back and setting its' contents on the kitchen counter. ``it's for you. you're sick, so i decided to skip practice to come here and take care of you, and to reteach everything that you missed today.`` he replied nonchalantly, shoving iwaizumi towards the direction of his bedroom. ``go back to bed, i'll cook you some lunch, since i'm sure you didn't eat yet.``

iwaizumi didn't reply, because (a) he was right. and (b) he was shocked that the toorū oikawa skipped volleyball practice for him.

``anyways,`` oikawa said, opening his fridge and scanning its' contents. ``how do you feel about egg?``

``i can eat it. i don't feel nauseous or anything,`` iwa replied, sitting on one of the stools at the kitchen counter. ``and wait- you're going to cook?``

the setter turned around, tying an apron around his waist. ``yeah?``

iwaizumi blinked, shaking his head and leaning down on his forearms. ``nothing. continue. don't burn down my kitchen.``

oikawa grinned, having just been granted permission to make his best friend's food. ``alright! on it, iwa-chan!``

``shut up and start cooking.``

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

``you have to take it, iwa-chan!``

``NO! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!`` iwaizumi jumped onto his couch, holding a fork towards oikawa like a weapon. ``GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME.``

oikawa let out yet another sigh. ``jeez, if i knew you were going to be this bratty about taking your medicine, i wouldn't have came.`` he took another dangerous step towards iwaizumi, holding out a glass of water and a small cup of liquid cough medicine. ``iwa-chan, if you don't take this, you'll never get better.``

``so? that thing's disgusting.`` iwaizumi fake-retched, the look of disgust on his face almost believable. he should've taken the drama course at school.

another step. ``you seem to have forgotten that i have a kid nephew, who i always got to take his medicine, no matter how big of a tantrum he threw about it.`` another step. ``you're acting like a toddler. just take your medicine and get better.``

``assikawa, if you so as much take one more goddamn step towards me, i'll kill you.`` iwaizumi growled, clenching the fork tighter. of course he wouldn't kill him, he'd just said that to frighten him. somehow, oikawa didn't seemed phased, and took another step.

``hajime iwaizumi. if you don't come down off that couch and take your medicine right now, so help me god, i will bring my mother here and she will be furious when she realizes how much of a tantrum you're putting up right now.`` the setter mused, shaking the glass of water like he was calling him towards him, like a dog. iwaizumi gulped. the aura surrounding oikawa was downright terrifying. his eyes seemed almost lifeless, and it scared the wits out of him. ``on the count of three. if you haven't taken the medicine by then, i'm calling her. one.``

iwaizumi flinched, backing up slightly. could he make it out the front door without oikawa catching him? probably not. his legs were longer, so he'd cover more ground easily.

``two.``

how bad would the punishment be if he just didn't take the medicine? it's not like oikawa would actually call his mother, he wouldn't do that. right?

``three-``

``okay!`` iwaizumi jumped off the couch, grabbing the medicine and pouring it down his throat. he made a face of disgust, snatching the glass of water out of his hand and gulping that down too. he shuddered, trying to force himself to keep the atrocious liquid down. ``there. happy?``

``very.`` oikawa grinned, patting iwaizumi's head. ``good job.``

the ace burned with pride at the praise, letting oikawa's nimble fingers tread through his hair. ``thanks for coming over.``

``of course.`` his friend replied, giving the shorter a warm hug. ``don't mention it. i'll skip practice for you every time.``

``you better not.``

oikawa smiled. ``no promises.``

─── sick day.

chapter 4 !

[ainchase]

Welcome to the Mysterious Mansion

https://youtu.be/gVlaxSh93wE

Elsword: Hi! Now we're going to show you a short film we made.

Aisha: We made it so we can submit it for the upcoming Elrios Film Festival.

Rena: Even though it IS a horror film, there's no gore or scary scenes, so don't worry.

Raven: It was directed by... someone who calls himself "Dekal the Greatest Up-and-coming Director."

Rena: He was a little weird, but he sat on a big fancy chair shouting things like "Cut!" and "Action!" so it looked like he knew what he was doing.

Aisha: People who laugh weird tend to be pretty good at what they do. Kind of like Add?

Elsword: Anyway, sit back and enjoy the hottest actor-idols Elstars' newest movie: Mysterious Elrios Mansion!

Welcome to the Mysterious Mansion...!

On a stormy night, a mysterious mansion showed itself in front of me while I was wandering through a forest.

As if I was bewitched by something, I opened its doors and went inside.

Excuse me, is the master of the house here?

Elsword: Who're you? Why did you get in here?

Elsword: Did you even know where this is before you entered?

Elsword: Hmm? You want to stay until the rain passes?

Elsword: Are you sure you're not going to regret that?

Elsword: Suit yourself.

Elsword: Well anyway, my name is Elsword. I'm a maid of this mansion.

Elsword: Wait! You're sopping wet from the rain - if you move around like that, the wooden floor's going to get all water-stained.

Elsword: Wait right there and don't move!

Rena: I'm head butler of this mansion, Rena.

Rena: You look like a guest. Allow me to give you a tour of the place.

Rena: Shall we start with the dining hall?

I'm getting dizzy all of a sudden...

Lu: Welcome.

Lu: In this mansion, I'll be sure to serve you the finest cuisine that you will never forget.

Lu: Ah, there you are, Ciel.

Lu: Hasn't it been a while... since we last had a guest who was this fresh?

Ciel: You're right. We better give them something very delicious then.

Ciel: Here, try this appetizer first.

Ciel: I took an incredibly adorable and fresh hedgehog, alive...

Ciel: ...to pick these tomatoes with me to make this dessert.

Ciel: He even helped with the decoration...

Ciel: Of course, while he was still alive.

Ciel: Surprised?

Ciel: He's alive even as we speak, so you can eat this without any worry.

Just what is this place

Laby: Are you the guest?

Laby: I heard we had a guest over, so I went out to get something delicious!

Laby: Tada! Take a look! Nisha caught it for me!

Laby: Nisha's my friend - she can catch quick things alive in a flash!

Laby: Isn't she great?

Laby: There... are times when she can't capture them alive, but...

Laby: But they're still fresh!

Laby: Hmm? No, Nisha.

Laby: We better keep the guest alive.

AHH! I have to get out of here!

Raven: Ah, you must be that guest.

Raven: Why are you here?

Raven: We're currently in the process of burning off the old stained floor of the hallway to lay down new ones.

Raven: They're wood, so they stain dark red too easily.

Raven: I think we should use red ones so any possible new stain won't be as noticeable.

Raven: Hmm? Ah, d-don't tell me you thought I was talking about bloodstain?

Raven: It's, uh, actually...

Raven: Ah, yes, it's watercolor.

Raven: Our master is fond of the color red, you see.

YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?!

Elesis: Raven! If you're done with cleaning up the hallway, let's go make a window in the room on the 3rd floor.

Elesis: Oh, what's the guest doing here?

Elesis: Why are you all sweating?

Elesis: Do you need a ventilation hole too? Want me to make one for you?

Raven: Hmm, sounds better than being contaminated. I agree with this idea.

Elesis: Right? Good, good. Let's see... Where should we make this hole?

AHHH! GO AWAY!

GET AWAY FROM ME!!!

Ara: Huh? Why are you running in the hallway?

Ara: Did something happen?

Ara: Don't be scared. Calm down and go into that room over there.

Ara: If I see you wandering around alone without one of our maids or butlers...

Ara: I'll personally send you to the abyss myself.

T_T SAVE ME

Add: Wh-what are you?! Why did you get in here?! What are you staring at?!

Add: Calm down, Add. You're scaring the guest.

Add: Tch...

Add: Hey, guest-brat.

Add: Stop snooping around and stay put right there.

Add: We're still cleaning off the traces of the previous guest.

Add: You don't want to leave only traces of you like this... Do you?

Aisha: There's no need to be scared. Just take a seat and wait.

Aisha: Hmm, but I can't find where the other shoe went...

Add: Hmph, what are you going to do with the shoe?

Aisha: Well, of course, we have to get rid of the evidence...

No... My mind is... getting hazy... Am I... going to die like this...?

Eve: Excuse me... Excuse me?

Eve: You must've been exhausted. You dozed off in the middle like that. How impressive.

Eve: From now, I, the Nasod Butler, will serve you.

Eve: This is the cable for charging power.

Eve: We'll provide you with enough power, so fully charge up your energy before you go.

Eve: Now, if you'll sit quietly, I can help you with the charging.

N...NOOOOOO!!!

Chung: Excuse me, can you stand back for a bit?

Chung: I'm trying to aim my destroyer to trim some of the trees, but the firepower is too strong...

Chung: If you stay too close, you might turn to dust.

I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!!!

Ain: Are you okay?

Ain: Your hands and legs are shaking. You must be terribly frightened.

Ain: Calm down. I've no intention of scaring you.

Ain: The humans in this place can be a bit mischievous, I must say.

Ain: You must've been through a lot.

Ahh... To think there's a normal person left in a place like this.

Ain: But... you ignored what Elsword said, wandered around everywhere on your own, and stumbled into the garden without permission...

Ain: Do you want to die, dear guest?

Ain: Haha, I'm just kidding.

...!!!

Rose: Ain, I don't think that kind of joke is appropriate for our frightened guest.

Rose: Allow me to guide you from here on out. Please come this way.

Ain: Okay. I was about to get tired of this anyway.

Rose: Don't think of doing anything stupid - just keep looking forward and walk.

Can... Can I make it out of here alive...?

Just what IS this house?

It feels like the only sane person was the red-head from the beginning.

I HAVE TO FIND HIM!

THANK GOODNESS!

I FINALLY FOUND HIM!

Elsword: Eh? What are you doing out here? It's hard to find you this way.

See, actually, these people were trying to...

Elsword: What's with the look on your face? You're the one who invited yourself in.

Elsword: I did ask if you were sure you're not going to regret it.

Even... you...

When I came to, I was lying down on the floor of the mansion's lobby, alone.

What happened...?

My memory escapes me as if it was a dream.

Excuse me. Is the master of the house here?

Cast:

Elsword: Red-headed Maid

Aisha: Meticulous Butler

Rena: Kind Butler

Raven: Big Maid

Eve: Curt Butler

Chung: Maid with a Cannon

Ara: Clumsy Butler

Elesis: Red-headed Butler

Add: Embarrassed Maid

Lu: Kiddo Butler

Ciel: Maid who's Good at Baking

Rose: Butler with a Gun

Ain: Maid pretending to be a normal person

Laby: Mirror's Friend Butler

Cameo: Nisha

Production: Dekal

[deniigi]

i was reading "it's fine, we're fine" again because i am a big softy and i love jack with my whole damn heart and i was wondering if rudy ever surfaces in matt's life again?

he does!!!

All of the boxers stay in Matt’s life for as long as they can! In another fic which I never published, Rudy explains that he tried to adopt Matt after Jack died, since they were best friends and Matt was already really close to Rudy’s girls, but social services wasn’t down to let that happen.

That said!!

I also wrote a piece a while back that didn’t quite make it into the Sprawl but which shows Matt’s relationships with Jack’s old friends from the gym. I’m putting it here under the cut (sorry mobile users, it’s pretty long)

Written from Jack’s pov

—-

Prelim title: put em up

He hadn’t seen the guys since he died, and honestly he’d avoided heading in the direction of Fogwell’s out of both fear and a strong self-preservation instinct. He only had a year. And Matt was hellbent on getting himself murdered during it, so Jack had to keep himself together to arrange their double funeral.

He finally sucked it up watching Matt mope in multiple different shapes and forms all over the furniture in his living room. The last straw was him cuddling up to Tuesday to inform her of how unfair Jack was being.

Not letting him out face-smashing with two fractured ribs.

Oh, the humanity.

What a shit father he was.

Tuesday sneezed on Matt and then stood up to leave him to suffer and to sniff at Jack’s ankles. Abandoned, Matt moved on to making loud, drawn-out noises about how everyone in his life betrayed him.

“Alright, fine. Get your gloves,” Jack sighed.

Matt was gone from the living room before he’d even finished the sentence.

It was one thing to like, know that your kid was a superhuman. But it was a whole other thing to live with it. He would never get used to the silent sneaking. Or the ‘I can heart your heart beat’ thing. Or the determination to be gutted. That one, even the afterlife wouldn’t help him with.

He’d just barely stood up from giving Tuesday the requisite pets when Matt was back in his face with gloves, rattling. Just a teeny bit little excited.

“Hurry up.”

Wo-ho. Not with that attitude.

“Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.”

Wow, look. Another dish to clean.

“DAD.”

Alright, alright. Take a chill pill, kid.

 Fridays were usually slow days at the gym since most guys had dates to be on and family nights to have and so Jack thought that he might escape this interaction mostly unscathed and unnoticed. He was just there to help the blind guy, he’d say if anyone asked. He looked far too young to be Matt’s father at this point, they looked more like brothers. With the exception of Matt looking painfully like his mama to Jack. He’d never not see Grace in this boy. It was all in that slim jaw. He grabbed it and shook it every now and then to piss Matt off and it did the trick on a dime.

Matt was a regular at Fogwell’s. Jack wasn’t surprised. It had always been his second home. He was known by most of the guys there as the blind guy who apparently crammed in his headphones and punched a bag ‘til he couldn’t anymore. Fogwell let him use the place when he wasn’t there. Under the ruse of Matt feeling self-conscious about boxing in front of sighted-people.

Really, he just wanted to throw ridiculous moves at the bag.

This time, there would be no ridiculous moves. There were ribs to consider. Matt practically hung off his elbow in disappointment.

This fuckin’ kid. Ain’t got the sense god gave a goat.

They walked in the door and Jack never stood a chance.

  Folks had heard about the incident, it had been on the news, it turned out. Load of highly suspicious graves dug up in cemeteries all over the damn city. Fischer hadn’t exactly been subtle. What wasn’t quite clear to people was who these zombies were until anyone who happened to recognize those particular graves saw them.

Obviously half the gym had remembered Jack’s fucked up, now cracked headstone.

(It was nice. Grace had taken him to see it so that he could have a say in the next one. She waved at it in many different kinds of ways and called him a basic bitch without using either of those words.)

Jack couldn’t help but wonder now if Matt had texted someone to let them know they were coming.

Because he couldn’t breathe.

Rudy smelled like ass.

“Twenty fuckin’ years, man, and you still ain’t seen a shower?” he creaked out against his pal’s sweaty shoulder.

Rudy yanked him back by the shoulders to get a good look at him, blinking tears out of his eyes. He was so bald. He’d never had much hair to begin with, Rudy. But now, he was like one of them fortune-tellers’ glass balls.

“Jackie, we missed you so much,” the guy said like he was garbling glass.

“Good to—”

Well, that was him done. He didn’t need shoulders.

“Bert, you maniac, lay off,” Rudy snarled, as hot-tempered as ever.

Bert? This motherfucker was Bert?

Jack ducked out of the arms and recoiled back to get a good look at the moron and sure enough. Man.

“You finally shaved that thing off your face,” he said.

Bert was huge. Moustache was gone, though. That was literally all the mattered. Bert would never be pretty, but the pornstache had been a lot, even for them.

Bert cackled in delight.

“Look at you, Jack, ain’t a day over—uh. How old’re you again?”

God, who were these old guys? And where the hell did—wait a second.

“Matthew, nice try, you get back here,” he barked. Matt froze from where he was trying to sneak away to go finish the job on his ribs. He squinted and scowled in Jack’s direction and then made a break for it before Jack could get past Bert’s huge mass.

He didn’t get too far. They were on Jack’s turf now.

“Nooooo.”

Rudy covered the bottom of his face, but Jack could see his huge grin under it.

“Sorry fellas,” he said, “We’re having a father-son night out.”

“Get off, old man. Get off.”

The second he let go, Matt would throw himself out a window and vanish into the night. Jack had no fancy degrees but he was not stupid. He’d learned after the first two times.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” Rudy said through the deep laugh lines in his cheeks. “Can’t fuckin’ believe it, Jackie. God, you look so good.”

Did he? That scar on his temple wasn’t doing him no favors, that was for sure.

“Matty, you look just like your dad. God, the two of you together. Hold on, just one sec. I want a picture.”

Jack had plenty of pictures of the two of them together. Foggy and Karen were ace at taking secret, sneaky pictures that no one asked them to. He hiked Matt up from his ragdoll and shoved his bag in his arms.

“Pick one and then sit,” he ordered.

Matt glared at him and then made a show of storming away and feeling for an adequate bag.

Jack huffed and then redirected his stare to Bert’s creepy gaze.

“What?” he asked.

“Just amazed you’re here is all, man,” Bert said. Man, had everyone gone bald or what? “Fogwell’s gonna be so happy to see you.”

Ah, right. The person he was most determined to avoid.

“He don’t gotta come out,” Jack said, “Guy’s probably ancient at this point. Don’t want him to—”

“JOHNATHAN MURDOCK.”

No voice would strike fear into his heart like that one.

“Nice of you to finally show up, boy.”

How was this man not dead? How had he not aged? He’d only gotten marginally whiter and slightly more forehead wrinkles since Jack had last seen him.

“He doesn’t let me out of the house,” Matt popped back up to inform the old man. Fogwell saw him and gentle as sin, put a hand on his shoulder and snapped a look Jack’s way that Jack felt in his gut.

“Boy’s not glass, Jackie. You keeping him locked up now?”

Oooooh, kiddo. You’re gonna get it now.

Matt hid behind Fogwell before Jack could take a step forward. Smart fucking boy. Jack would have his own when they got back home. Tattle-telling was worth a whole afternoon of enforced R&R.

“Just ‘cause he’s a bigshot lawyer now, don’t make him smart,” Jack shot at the shoulder Matt was hiding behind.

Fogwell laughed, loud. Like a cracking whip. The sound was always heart-attack inducing and always comforting once you got past it.

“Matty’s doing just fine. He ain’t need brains to punch a bag, and all things considered, he’s still got twice as much fluff in that melon of his than the rest of us combined, don’t you, kiddo?” Matt said nothing because he was already aware of the impending consequences of his actions. Fogwell grinned down at him anyways. “We gotta call Kenny and Raph to come get a load of you two,” he decided. “They’ve been asking all over if you’d come back yet.”

Ugh.

Where exactly was his opinion in this whole thing, huh?

“Ain’t got one, short-stack. Lost all your seniority when you hit the dirt, son,” Fogwell said cheerfully, or what passed as cheerfully for him.

Ugh.

Well, it didn’t matter much anyways. He’d always been the second-youngest in the group.

“Right, well. You call the idiots, I gotta deal with my pride and joy,” Jack said, reaching around the old man to grab Matt by the scruff of the neck and to forcibly guide him towards the back center left bag. The other guys laughed and Rudy slapped his shoulder and said when he was done with that, they should have a go in the ring.

Mm. They’d see. Jack wasn’t trying to do anything to fuck with his head right then. It was kind of fragile.

Matt said that he’d fight in his place and the other guys started laughing and slapping up a storm.

Oh, honey.

No, but it was a sweet thought.

  “Why’re they laughin’ at me?” Matt asked him once gloves were on. Jack patted at his side as a reminder to keep them ribs steady.

“’Cause you’re two and half to them, baby. Always will be.”

“I could probably fight the Hulk.”

“I don’t doubt it. Let’s not.”

“Definitely Winter in hand to hand.”

Yes, and that would never not be terrifying. Let’s just be normal for an hour, what do you say, huh?

  Matt favored his right, and not just because of the ribs. He was a lefty, always had been. Had come home complaining about how the school scissors hurt his hands. He explained to Jack that his sensei (who Jack was going to maim very quietly and then suffocate when Matt wasn’t paying attention) had taught him to lead with his right so that folks thought he was a righty. From there, he could knock ‘em off guard.

It worked, he said. He did it a lot.

Still, Jack found that his right hits were just a little harder than the lefts and pointed out that scare tactics were fine, but Lefty needed to be at the same firing capacity as Righty as much as possible.

Matt told him to stop fucking moving the bag then.

Adorable. Really.

Until Kenny got there. Man screamed like a girl seeing her long-lost bestie after 20 years. Announced to the whole damn gym that ‘Jackie Murdock was back, looking like the coroner’s worst nightmare.’

Fuck Kenny. He’d always been a dick. And he was an oversized dick now, with stupid big, stupid useless muscles.

“You body-building, man? What’s up with this?” he gasped out under Kenny’s grip next.

“Hell yeah I am, here, get a load of this.”

No, no, he really didn’t—alright, he was doing it anyways, great. Yes. Very impressive. Anyone worth their salt could knock him out in one punch.

“Oh, yeah? You wanna give it a go, then Battlin’ Jack?”

People were fucking looking at him now, thanks pal. You’re doing great.

“I got a head injury,” he said flatly, which made Matty laugh at least.

“No shit. Look at that bad boy,” Kenny said. “We were fuckin’ devastated when we heard man, everyone was. You should have said something, we could have helped you out. Like—”

“How about we don’t go there?” Jack interrupted. He hadn’t come here for pity. He just wanted to wear his kid out so he didn’t go wear himself out on someone less gentle’s fists.

Kenny feel back and dropped his eyes.

“Sure. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. I ain’t here for too long anyways. You got plenty of time to go back to missing me and calling me a dumbass.”

“Not really funny, Jack.”

It wasn’t meant to be.

  Raph stumbled in about half an hour later for a repeat of this conversation with greater enthusiasm. He’d stopped boxing, actually. To Jack’s surprise. Then to his enormous guilt.

“After what happened to you, big guy, I said to myself, this shit ain’t worth it. My baby girl was on the way, you remember? So I says, nah. We’re gonna do this right. We’re gonna go to college.”

“No shit, you went to college?” Jack asked him.

“Damn skippy—got me a degree and everything. Graphic Design.”

“The hell does that even mean?”

“Means, I’m an artist, dipshit. Here, lookit these things. I been doing websites for ages now.”

Aw, Raph. You did so good! Jack was so proud.

“Me too, man. Didn’t mean to uh, use you like that but.”

“No, no. I’m glad something good came out of it, don’t even trip.”

“Aw, whatchu talkin’ about, Jackie? Look at your baby. Heya, Matty. Haven’t seen you in years, baby boy, how’s it hanging?”

Matt blinked in Raph’s direction a few times and then deferred to Rudy in a whisper.

Raph laughed.

“It’s alright, honey, you don’t remember me, it’s alright,” he laughed.

Raph had been what, twenty-two when Jack had died? He’d joined up right before Matt had gone blind. It only made sense that Matty couldn’t remember him.

“Man, you jumping into the ring?” Raph asked him, with a few gentle pops in the shoulder.

“Nah. Trying not to re-crack this melon,” Jack said, tapping the bullet scar.

“Holy shit, lookit that thing. Hey, be honest. Did it hurt?”

What kind of dumbass question was that?

Yeah, it hurt.

Worse than anything had ever hurt in his life.

That’s kind of why they call it a death blow.

He stopped talking about it though because it was making Matt uncomfortable. Instead, he made a crack about Matt being able to take Raph one-handed and everyone on their side of the gym oh’ed at the challenge.

“Do it, Matty,” Rudy said, “Show ‘im what you got.”

It wouldn’t be a fair fight by a long shot.

And it wasn’t. Matt just tripped the guy right there on the mat and the whole gym went into uproar. Raph gave it a few swings, but they were just plain bad so all Matt had to do was step back out of range.

“You even trying?” he goaded Raph, and then when that worked, he got a good one in the guy’s solar plexus.

Jack winced and hoped it was only at half-strength. Given that Raph recovered and called it a wrap, it probably was.

  Matt was much, much happier on the way home, trying to goad Jack into swinging at him.

Nah.

Never.

He didn’t care how strong or big or tall Matt got. He’d never lay his knuckles on him. No, not in a million years. Not even if it was for his own good.

His knuckles were tainted with the blood of the devil. Matt’s devil was younger and more spry and its heat burned bright at the surface of his skin.

Jack’s devil had always been a deep roil, way down in the center of his chest. That bastard was horrible and didn’t know when to stay down. That bastard was the guy who’d left Matty in foster care to begin with. Jack was keeping him well out of the picture. He didn’t want to do anything which might transfer any of his dark, bubbling fury to Matt’s skin.

“C’mere,” he said, catching Matt in a headlock instead.

You, son, get kisses. That’s all you get.

Matt made disgusted noises and ducked out.

“The old guys miss you,” he said, finally evening out and walking next to Jack like a normal person. He didn’t pretend like he needed a guide since it was so late and not many folks were bopping around outdoors. It was kind of.

Kind of wild.

To be walking next to him just like he had before the accident. No hand-holding, shoulder-holding, elbow-holding necessary. No canes or dogs.

If Jack hadn’t known better, he wouldn’t have thought there was a damn thing wrong with him, except his apparent need to wear sunglasses in the dark.

“I miss ‘em, too. Glad they’ve been there for you,” he said thickly.

Matt said nothing, then took his elbow in a loose grip.

“I don’t blame you,” he repeated. He said it a lot. He always seemed to know when Jack was thinking about that shit.

“I know, honey. I just wish—I dunno. Raph got out of it. Maybe I shoulda—”

Matt clutched at him and stopped walking. He was stronger than he let on, Matty. In so many ways.

“I don’t blame you,” he said firmly. “And we can’t move forward if all we do is run in circles on the coulda, shoulda, wouldas. Stop thinking about it, Dad.”

Right.

Right, no, that was true.

He just.

He just wished he’d been better. They wouldn’t be stuck on this timeline if he’d just been better.

“You don’t need to be better, you’ve always been enough.”

This kid. This fucking kid. Knew exactly what to say.

“Come here, gimme a kiss.”

“UGH. No.”

“Matty, lemme have one, yeah?”

“UGH.”

He relented and let Jack lay one on the side of his forehead. He snuck another in his hair before he jerked away.

It made him smile.

“I love you, Matt, you know that?”

“Course I know. I always known. I love you, too. Now stop being weird. I want Chinese.”

Jack laughed.

Sure, whatever he wanted. Anything.

 —

Hope this gives you some hope, anon!!

[cottontail20]

The Domestic Life Of The Vision And His Witch, Chapter 4: Protectors

Summary:  The Avengers make it clear to Ross that Tommy and Billy Maximoff are not to be messed with.

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18461504/chapters/44176057

After the one occasion in which Natasha had unintentionally startled Wanda as she was feeding Billy in the middle of the night, Wanda and Vision had soon adjusted to the fact that the Black Widow usually came to stay at the Barton House for a day or two after a mission.

So, on this particular Saturday morning when a bleary-eyed Nat wandered into the lounge room while Vision and Wanda burped the twins after a feed, neither of them batted an eye.

"Auntie Nat!" Lila ran to hug her.

"Morning, kiddo" Natasha smiled, lightly ruffling her hair. "Morning, everyone."

"Good Morning, Nat" Laura smiled, watching over a few sizzling pans of eggs and bacon . "Lila, can you come set the table for breakfast, sweetie? Make sure you set a place for Auntie Nat.."

Lila nodded, rushing off to do as her Mother had asked. On weekends, Breakfast at the Barton's was a family affair, and they made sure to eat at the table, together. Even Vision, who didn't actually eat, enjoyed these weekend breakfasts for the conversations they all had around the table.

Natasha turned her attention to Wanda, her eyes lighting up when she saw the twins.

"Hey, Nat" Wanda passed Tommy over before she'd even asked. "How'd the mission go?"

"Alright" Natasha grinned, cooing and fussing over Tommy, who fussed slightly, in the middle of teething, but he loved his Auntie Nat, and soon settled in her arms. "How was your Anniversary?"

Wanda glanced over to Vision, smiling brightly as she watched him attempt to pull funny faces for Billy.

"Minunat."

"Great" Nat shifted, drawing Tommy closer as she held him, seeming rather protective over him. Vision noticed this, and couldn't help frowning slightly, his grip on Billy tightening a little.

"Is something wrong, Natasha?" He asked.

"No. Well, not anymore."

"What do you mean, 'Not anymore'?" Now it was Wanda's turn to frown.

"I should probably tell you two something" said Nat, "But try not to freak out about it, okay?"

"Okay.." Wanda's brows furrowed.

"Well, we had a meeting with Secretary Ross last week.."

"That must have been awkward" Vision grimaced. Wanda paled slightly.

"You still have to work with him?"

"Not for much longer. Anyway, he asked a few questions about the boys.. where they came from.."

"He.. what?" Vision jumped up, clutching Billy tightly to his chest. "Why?"

More color drained from Wanda's face. Her time in the Raft still haunted her. Ross was absolutely the last person she wanted sniffing around her children.

"It's okay" Nat shifted Tommy to one arm, and gave Wanda's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "We dealt with it. The Avengers assembled, and we dealt with it. Nobody is coming anywhere near Tommy and Billy, I promise."

"How.. How did you deal with it?"

"Well.." --

As soon as the topic of the Maximoff twins had come up, Iron Man and Captain America, united once more, along with War Machine, Falcon, and newly-minted Avenger Bucky Barnes stood. For the moment, Nat hung back, observing.

"No one" said Tony, in no uncertain terms, "Is touching those kids."

"But surely" Ross tried, "You wonder how a robot and the witch could.."

"Vision's not a robot" Sam scowled. "And Wanda has a name."

"Still, they managed to produce.."

"Perfectly normal children" Steve immediately cut him off. "It shouldn't matter how they got here."

"I can confirm that, sir" said Rhodey. His 'Sir' had been a little forced. "There is absolutely nothing unusual about Tommy and Billy Maximoff."

"They are normal, innocent babies" Bucky finished.

All five of them stared down Secretary Ross. He finally, reluctantly relented.

"Very well.." --

"I wasn't entirely convinced that he'd drop it completely, so I called in a few reinforcements.." Nat continued. "Thor hadn't come to the meeting, he's been busy trying to find the right location for New Asgard, but when I told him.." --

"Secretary Ross?" A woman poked her head into his Office. "Uh.. Thor is here to see you."

"Is that the one who says he's a Thunder God?"

"I believe so, Sir."

"Alright" Ross sighed. "Send him in."

Soon after, The God of Thunder entered the office, Stormbreaker slung over his shoulder.

"You are the one they call Ross?"

"Yes. I'm really quite busy, so if you could make it quick.."

Thor laid his axe over Ross's desk, scattering some of his papers.

"This is my new weapon, Stormbreaker" He grinned. "It is good for splitting skulls, I used it against Thanos."

"Is that a threat?" Ross frowned.

"Of course not" said Thor. "I consider all the people of Midgard my friends. Asgardians will always take up arms in defense of their friends. Vision is my friend" He added, picking up Stormbreaker as he turned to leave. "Worthy of my old hammer.. special bond there.." --

"Bruce, understandably, has been trying to avoid any sort of interaction with Ross since he's been back in the U.S, holing up in the lab at the compound, mostly. But when he heard what happened at the meeting.." --

"We're both on the same page here Hulk, right, big guy?"

Bruce Banner strode toward Secretary Ross's office, nervous, but determined. He knew there was every chance Ross could attempt to have him arrested or contained somehow, but he had something very important to do. To remind himself just how important, Bruce glanced at his current phone wallpaper: a picture of himself with baby Billy Maximoff taken when he'd visited the Barton Farm. He nodded, more determined now, and headed inside.

Ross looked up, surprised, and though he would never admit it, maybe a tiny bit impressed when he saw Bruce.

"I'll give you one thing, Banner, it's brave of you to come here."

"I know."

"I suppose you're counting on the 'Pro-Avenger' crowd to keep you safe?" Ross scribbled on some papers.

"Actually," said Bruce, "It's not myself I'm here to keep safe."

"Oh?"

"See, the Hulk and I have had some issues recently, but there's one thing, at the moment, that we both agree on.." For a second, Bruce's face and hands morphed green, and the Hulk roared, "NO TOUCH TWINS!"

"Ah!" Ross was about to call security, but the Hulk was gone as quickly as he had come.

"That will be all.. Sir." As Bruce left, a small, satisfied smirk crossed his face. --

"And then, just to make absolutely certain" Natasha grinned, tickling Tommy's belly, "Auntie Nat stepped in.."

"Hello, Secretary Ross" Natasha greeted, clutching a piece of paper as she entered Ross's office.

Ross groaned.

"If this is about.."

"You know" Nat began, ignoring him, "That I have a very specific skill set. These days, I'm a little more selective about what I use it for.. or who I use it for.." she dropped the paper onto his desk.

"What's this?"

"A reminder of my skill set. Read up."

"Alright.." Ross did so. He seemed to grow a little pale. "You've made your point.. You've all.. made your point.

"Glad to see we're on the same page" Natasha stood, taking the paper, a dangerously sweet smile on her face "Stay the hell away from my Godsons, and we won't have a problem." --

"So.. dealt with" Nat finished. "No one will ask any more questions. And soon, once all the paper work goes through, we won't have to work with Ross anymore."

"Thank you, Nat" The color was returning to Wanda's face, "Really."

"No need to thank us. We all love the boys.. Ooh.." Nat handed Tommy back to Wanda and headed to the table as Laura began to dish up. "That smells good, I haven't eaten properly in days.."

Vision glanced over towards them. Looking over at Natasha, at Laura shoveling a generous helping of food onto Nat's plate. At Clint, returning from an early morning session of working on the cottage that Vision and Wanda were soon going to move into. He thought of Nat's story about Ross and the Avengers.

"Wanda?" He asked, still cuddling Billy close as they all moved to join the rest of the family at the table.

"Yeah, Vizh?" She pressed a kiss into Tommy's hair.

"How many Godparents can a child have?"

"Well.. As many as we like, really. Why?"

"Because" said Vision, "I think our Boys already have at least ten."

Wanda smiled.

"I think you're right."

Notes:

Translation:

"Minunat.": wonderful.

[twobitsswitchblade]

“Pool at bucks” a Dal-pop fan-fiction.

It was only 11 pm. I was laying on the couch like a sack of potato's groaning and sighing. Darry was in the kitchen fixing lunch up for later and pony was at the kitchen table being forced to study. Me? I've fallen into a state of not caring much, had no motivation.

I'm the type of guy to be out around this time and hang out with some friends but lately I've just been tired, it might be from the lack of sun, seasonal depression sucks..

"Hey Cola, what's with the sappyness?" Pony asked as I groaned. "Nah kiddo, the cloudy days aren't making me as happy." I said lifting my head up facing the kid. "Well...you can go sit infront of a light?" Pony was really worried for me, he had some worried look and pierced lips like he wanted to say more, "I'll be okay pone I promise it'll get better!" I said flopping my head back down, the kid was worried and I felt bad..but I had no idea how to get happy again, if the sun wasn't such a stubborn thing I could've asked it to come out.

I looked over under the tv to see some board games the guys and I usually play when we're bored. I mean there's pony's skates he never uses and could fit me.

I kept looking around for something to do, I started thinking of someone to hang out with. Two-bit is Proably wasted, pony has homework, Darry is to busy and a lump on a log, johnny is already so exhausted, Steve is working over time today when I took the day off.

It was like circles going through my head, fuck I hate being bored. I felt like I was missjng someone though?

"Hey dar, hey pone" Incame a deep voice and heavy boot like foot steps. I sat up a little to try and catch a glimpse of which greaser came over to lump around. Dallas came through the living entrance and plopped beside me with a weed 'n' beer.

"Hey soda," he said sticking the weed between his light pink lips. "Whats up? Buck kick you out again?" The hoodlum looked at me and took the weed from his lips and laughed with smoke coming out. "Nah nah, not this time cola. I just wanted to see my favorite brother trope" he said head locking me and gave me a nuggy. I chuckled and unlocked his arm around me sliding my hair back. He took a sip of the beer and put his weed arm on the back of the couch facing me.

"Why you drooping on the couch? Shouldn't you be at work with Steve?" He said twirling the liquid. "I took the day off, seasonal depression." I said lay my head back closing my eyes and crossing my arms. Dallas seemed worried, but, you never know when he ACTUALLY is he's like a stone statue when it comes to emotion, he grew up thinking showing emotion would label him as being a pussy to society.

He looked around the room and looked down the hallway to make sure Darry wasn't near and he came close to my ear so I could feel his smoky hot breath sending chills down my arms and legs. I opened my eyes. "Why don't we get you out of the house, you know go out for lunch?" He said backing up as I sat up and looked at him, he never was this nice to anyone unless he was trying to hook up with some girl. I was very uncomfortable with accepting this offer from a hood. Plus he's probably lonely and needs someone to fuck. "I'm good Dal, but thanks." I said stubbornly as he nudged me "come on cola it'll be fun I'll bring you back, I'm not gonna harm you." He said with worried brows making my face soften. Maybe he wasn't lonely maybe he genuinely wanted to help?

My body was still unsure and it was a hard decision. "You promise your not gonna lay a hand on me?" I said putting a brow up as he looked at me confused. "Why would I put a hand on my best buddy?" "Dallas you put hands on everyone if it's sexual or not you still do." I said putting him in his place as he side and made his weed hang out of his mouth. "Fine you caught me but please? I ain't tryin to hurt someone like you and if I did Darry would stab me." Dallas's looks looked soft like he was trying to get me to come. His puppy dog eyes didn't make it better...I could feel my cheeks heat up like a bomb fire.

"Fine" I said as he smiled "I'll tell Darry, wanna come?" He said as I nodded and we walked to Darry who was focused on food. "Hey Darrel" dally said greeting the older man with a wave. "Hey Dallas what's up?" Darry said turning around and placing a bowl of already drained noodles down. "Me and soda were just gonna go out for some lunch and maybe a drive around town? He's been down lately" Dallas said with a rough look a lit another weed. "That's fine but bring him back before midnight, hear me? Or your head is on a knife." Darrel said point a wooden spoon at the hood as Dallas nodded. "12 sharp" Dallas said and tugged my sleeve and we walked out the door.

"Why are you doing this anyway?" I said fixing my flannel collar, "to bring the old soda back" he said popping his Proably stolen car doors open. I opened the passenger side and plopped in.

He drove off, it took a couple minutes to get there but we arrived to this run down bar looking place. I was very unsure about this so I looked at Dallas who seemed to be looking for something. I didn't wanna say anything cause I knew he was only trying to help but I felt very uncomfortable. "Hey dal is this a bar?" I asked as he looked at me "no don't worry cola it might seem like it but my buddy owns this place it has the best food. I always brought dates here" he said with a smirk and I was supprised I never knew he took girls to this place?

We stepped out and walked in, the fresh smell of brewing green tea and the sound of people chatting filled the air. It seems like Dallas was already noticed by the register person. "Hey Dallas, what another date?" The cashier said sending me into shock and my face went red. "Nah nah this is my buddy soda, I've talked about him before" Dallas said sending me into a confused look, I never knew he talked about me? "Ah the guy your in-" before the guy could finish Dallas slapped him, it scared me and I was confused why he'd hit him. "Daniel shut up, funny story, table for two goodbye." Dallas said angerily and took me by the sleeve. I was still so confused.

He sat us in a booth in the corner of the restaurant. It was nicely decorated it was a type of food place Highschool kids would go to, to bring their girlfriends to. I scanned the menu and Dallas was right they had good looking food. "What do you want? I'll pay" he said with a harsh voice I knew he was still angry at whag 'Daniel' was gonna say and it made me confused. "I'll just have a water I'm not that hungry" I said not wanting him to waste his money. "No order something the tables on me, buck lended me some bucks yesterday." He said, he looked sure he wanted to do this and it made the tips of my ears red, I never gone to such a nice place to eat with someone, I only ever brung sandy to old run down restaurants I never knew a hood had better taste than me. "I'll have their....actually Dallas, surprise me." I said since Dallas wanted to be mr nice I wanted to see if he'll be nice with his choice, to see if he knew me enough. The hood laughed and nodded his head and the waiter came over. "Not you again" Dallas huffed as Daniel had a sly face and laughed "who pissed in your cereal tucker?" The boy said "tucker?" "It's my middle name." He said and looked back at Daniel "just get me a water, for him, get him a Pepsi with..." he paused and then a lightbulb practically lit up on his head "some tea cake along with chicken tenders" this boy did know me it was scary, I lit up when he said all my favorite items "that'll be out soon winston" Daniel said and nudged his head and Dallas swatted his hand away. "Who's he" I asked "high school buddy he's annoying, hhhh, but he's a good friend" Dallas said pulling a weed out. "Ha..." I thought for a minute of whag I was gonna say to him "you really do know my taste...how do you know I liked that stuff?" I said as Dallas looked at me from his lighter. "I just do I pay attention to you soda, I ain't some jerk who dosent listen when you rant" he said having trouble with the lighter and giving up throwing the smoke and lighter on the table. "Well" I picked both the things up and lit the weed instantly handing it to him, "I never knew someone listened, thanks tucker" I said handing him the smoke as his cheeks went somewhat pink and I smiled, he just looked away and smoked and we sat in silence waiting for the food.

The food came out, Daniel winked at Dallas and Dallas slapped him again. "okay okay im sorry" he said rubbing his cheek and walked off, "enjoy ur food princess" he said sarcastically just teasing me as I went red from embarrassment. "Never call me that again." I said as he chuckled "okay Pepsi" he said wish a wink and drank his water as I just rolled my eyes and ate.

Time went on asn we gossiped, talked about gang stuff and laughed. Dallas had some humor not a lot of people noticed, but i didn't know how much I was red until he pointed it out making me think of a lie. "Just cold" I said smiling as he smiled "sure but okay, by the way Pepsi I got something to show you" he said making me tilt my head, "what?" I said as he smiled "you have to wait" he said and me being impatient sighed "fine.".

It was 1 pm and we finished our talk and food. "Hey dal, done?" Daniel came over and asked and the hood shook his head, Daniel handed the bill, "just place the money on the table I'll pick it up" he said and dallas left 10 bucks, not the right amount of money but Daniel rolled his eyes. "Now scram before I knock ur head off your body" Dallas said standing up and lunging at Daniel and Dan took the money and left. Dallas looked at me and sighed me to get going. I walked with him and went out the door and suprisingly the sun was out, I looked up and smiled and he looked at me "happy?" He said with a smile as I looked at him "now I am...that was nice Dal..." I said as he smoked a bit and walked down the steps with me. "Your welcome soda, now come on I got something to show you" he said and we drove off.

During the drive I could seee bucks not to far and I already had a bad feeling. My stomach grew sick. "Dallas wnat are you gonna do to me?" I said in fear of him touching me. "Nothing buddy, slow your breathe I just want to show you what me and buck bought for some parties!" He said happingly sending me into fight or flight. "Um okay". Dallas looked sad and looked at the road.

We parked and he got out and he opened my door, "come on Pepsi" he said as I stepped out and he put a arm around me and walked with me. "Look it'll be okay" he said trying to calm me down.

We walked in and country music was playing, bucks place always gave me iffy vibes Darry didn't even want me coming. Dallas let go of me and we walked to a stair case "come on" he said and we walked down creeky stairs and I was so glad it wasn't a bedroom.

We made it down and it was dark, Dal flicked some lights on and in the middle of the room was a pool table. Dallas walked over to it and grabbed one stick and looked at me "ever played?" He asked "not in a long time," I said calming down and he motioned for me to come over, I was quite excited me and my dad use to play and I smiled and walked up to him.

He took the triangle casing off the balls and walked behind me, he handed me the stick and helped me be in the right position, he made me follow his hips into a bending like position and put his hands over mine. I was blushed head to toe, feeling the guys body on mine made me flustered, I wasn't uncomfortable j was more excited, my ears face and finger tips went pink and a lump in my throat appeared. "And then" he said and hit the ball for me, I started to remeber it and I looked at him when he stood up "got the hang of it?" He asked grabbing his own stick. Fuck I didn't want his warmth off me, it felt weird to think that but I was being honest, it made me feel safe.

"Maybe one more time still rusty" I said smiling and giggling as he gave a smile "alright alright" he said as his smiled made my stomach flutter, right when he did the same motion to me my stomach was full of butterflies, I was uncontrollably smiling and giggling and he did the same "stop laughing your gonna mess me up" he said laughing as I laughed harder and when he let the stick go it went horribly. "Soda what's so funny" he said as I stopped and smiled "I don't know" I said facing him when he got off and he smirked

"Soda"

"Yeah Dal"

"Are you gay?"

My face went fully red making me grow a sweat, I never thought about it. Yeah I've found guys pretty but never dated one. But Dallas he made me wanna run a marathon when he was close to me, even at the restaurant I was flustered as his sly remarks or sex jokes, I daydreamed about him quite a lot but didn't think much of it.

"You don't have to answer" he said caringly as I snapped "no it's okay but.." I said looking at my fingers not wanted to make eye contact being afraid of him hating me. "I'm not sure, I've found guys pretty but never had a crush, but, I've never had someone to help me with knowing if I was" I said as Dallas nodded "I understand kiddo, can I admit something?" He said as I nodded "I'm pansexual kiddo so if your gay I'm fine with that, I won't ever hate someone for finding attraction to the same sex, I'd kiss a guy and jm some tuff hood" he said as a smiled peeled on my lips as he smiled too "plus you want someone help you to see if you are?" He said "kinda" I said as I looked anywhere else but his eyes

Before I could speak another word he put his hand on my cheek asn his lips on mine. I wasn't uncomfortable I was melting, it wasn't a rough kiss it was a quick peck but my body wanted more. His lips were rather soft and his hands were warm, once he let go I froze my eyes wide and my stomach fluttering. "Did that do anything? Sorry it was unex-" before he could finished I dropped my stick and grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him into a rough kiss with tongue, my stomach fluttered my heart raced and my hands kept gripping his hair. He dropped his stick and Held my waist with one hand and the other in my hair pushing me closer.

It felt like a dream it felt so good, so right. By then I was pushing against the pool table and I wanted more of his lips, it felt so good but he let go, panting, and damn it was hot.

"Sorry" I said catching breathe as he smiled "are you kidding that was,,,great, amazing even" he said as my eyes glittered he pecked my forehead "so how do you feel" he said as I gripped the collar of his jacket. I felt so gay and I loved the adrenaline running through my veins, "I feel amazing" I said playing with the back of his hair as he chuckled, never knew a hood could be so loveable.

His lips were soft, his tongue was desperate and rough and I liked it. "I'm glad" he said "wanna keep playin pool?" He said as I nodded "need more help?" He said as I laughed, "I might've only kept asking so ur body would be against mine" I said as he said oh snd smiled "I see, I guess you need more help?" He said as I nodded.

He kept helping me as I was focused on the game and I finally was able to do it alone, I already had my turn and got a coiled balls in snd I watch focused dally try to get a good hit. I sat on the corner of the table as he let his stick go and only got a couple in, "fuck" he said as I laughed, there was a ball almost in and I dropped it in for him.

"Good job tucker!" I said smiln as his face went heated "don't call me that" he said as I fucked around "okay tucker" he went fully red and walked around the table and put his hands by my hips and his face close to mine. "What'd I say boy" he said smiling making his Smokey breathe hit my face. I liked when he got aggressive it was a good look on him. "I said tucker" I said getting in his face smirking as he narrowed his browns and put our lips together.

Not gonna lie I expected to be hit but this was better. This went on for another hour before we got tired of the game. "I'm hungry" I whined as he put the balls back up. "Buck went shopping let's go get some food sugar." He said swiping his finger under my chin and I smiled and follwed him up the steps.

The kitchen table was full of bags of food and Dallas already was snooping and I followed his steps. "Ah-ha chicken tenders" he said raising a box as I laughed and smiled "I'm down".

He cooked them up in the microwave as I sat of the table and he took them out. "Their hot" he said right as I touched one. "OW" I yelped as he placed the plat down in worry, he came up to me and put some pressure on my finger. "Are you okay?" He said as I nodded. "He kissed my finger making me flustered as he just laughed, "alright good time" he said kissing my cheek as I smiled and brung me to his room.

We walked up the stairs as I kept trying to steal a tender or two but he kept swatting my hand and we made it to the room. He sat on the bed ans so did I "now you can eat" he said as he took a beer from his dresser and handed me one "I don't drink Dal" I said as he smiled "I know" he said abs turned so the label faced me "it's root beer, I know you don't like alcohol" he said as that made my face lit up, damn a hoodlum must have a crush on me.

We ate and drank and talked but we ended up laying in bed next to eachother taking, he had his hands behind his head and I layed next to him. "What time is it Dallas" I asked as he read the clock "11:40- I HAVE TO BRING YOU HOME" he said as I stoped him from jolting up. "Dallas" I said "yes sodapop?" He said as I put my arms around his big build "tell Darry im sleeping over" I said "but Darry dosent like you at bucks?" "Tell him were sleeping at Steve's" I said as he nodded, he picked his phone up and dialed Darry.

"Curtis place" Darry said "Heya Darry me and soda are sleeping at Steve's tonight" he said with a promising voice "Alright bring him back by 10 am okay? I trust you Dallas." Darry said "okay Darry wanna talk to him to make sure?" Dallas said as Darry indeed wanted to hear my part, in a sleepy voice I got handed the phone and talked "I'll be home at 10 Darry tell pony okay?" I said as Darry made sure too, "have fun soda" he said "thank you Darry" I said as he hung up.

I looked at Dallas and put the phone down as he looked at me. "Hey Dallas" I said "yes?" "I think I'm gay.." I said as I almost got emtotional "that's okay soda...and I have a question" he said as I looked into his icey eyes. "Wanna be my boyfriend?" He says as it felt like my heart started to flutter left and right and my face lit up, my fingers gripped him tighter and I dug my face into his side "HELL YEAH" I shouted into his side as he laughed..."okay kiddo" he said stroking mg hair. "Wanna go to bed it's pretty late?" He said as I nodded and yawned. "He turned the lights out and took off my flannel and snuggled to me. "Night Pepsi"

"Night dal."

~~~~~~~

8 am

"Soda, soda" Dallas said slightly shaking me "huh?" I said opening my eyes a little trying to get the sun out of my eyes. "Good morning Pepsi, want breakfast?" He asked as I nodded, he slid out of my grip and I sat up watching him, he was in a t-shirt and pajama pants and I was in different clothes.

A big green t-shirt and ok'd Christmas pj pants. "I hope you don't mind I changed you, no I didn't look at ur dick." He said grabbing a smoke and lighter, I smiled "thanks dally" I said as he looked at me and smiled

"You gotta leave in two hours kid, want me to drive you?" He said as I looked out the window to the sun "can we walk?" I asked his face was confused but gave in.

We walked downstairs to breakfast already made and buck in the living room, "breakfast is ready, I made your friend some too" buck said as I smiled "thanks buck" I said as he nodded reading the news paper as we entered the kitchen. Me and Dallas ate the food.

After we finished Dallas put the plates away, "imma hop in the shower" he said scruffing his hair" I looked at him and a idea popped in my head. "Yeah I smell bad I need a shower like now" I said, "wanna go first?" He said as I rolled my eyes. "No dingus" I said and walked up to the taller man and when on my tip toes and planted a kiss on his nose. "Can I join you?" I asked as he went red but my puppy eyes made him give in. "Fine fine"

We went to the bathroom and he shut the door, it was a nice white bathroom buck kept clean. Dallas took off his shirt and so did I, to be honest I forgot how jacked this greaser was in build caught me off guard to the point he was snapping his fingers snd caught my attention "earth to soda" he said I as o peeked up "you gonna undress you can't shower in pj pants" he said smiling as I blushed. I was very insecure about my lower half and this man could tell when I looked down in disappointment.

"Look I won't make fun, I like your body kid, I won't make it sexual." He said holding my cheeks as I smiled. "Okay" I said and undressed.

We hoped in the shower and it was nice, the warm water made me feel clean and Dallas there some how made me feel safe. He put soap on his hand and scrubbed my hair, "do you want grease in ur hair today?" He asked cleaning my head as I soaped my body, "nah to early" I said as he smiled, "okay cause I am" he said put a shower cap on so he didn't have to dry his hair. "You look like a doofus" I said laughing histariglg as he frowned smiled. "Shut it" he said and we finished out shower.

We stepped out and I started to dry off and he took the cap off and dried his body. Sometimes I need to catch myself dozing more often. "I know my dicks nice but you have to dry your hair" he said as I jolted up "Sorry" I said with blush scattering my face.

After we got done drying Dallas insisted to watch morning cartoons with me, he got me dressed in my clothes and he did the same. We walked down to the living room when buck left for work and we turned the tv on, he put his arm around me and I snuggled my head in his side. He kissed my head.

It was 9:50 and Dallas woke me from my nap so we could go. "Come on I was enjoying my nap." I said "darrys gonna kill me Pepsi" he said as I rolled my eyes and stood up with him, "come on kid" he kissed my head and we headed out.

We started to walk and we joked and flirted all the way down, right when we got there we didn't notice and everyone was outside when Dallas had his arm around me non stop flirting makin me red, we were bt the front yard when I caught glimpse of pony looking at me and slapped Dallas "OUCH" he said as pony ran up to me "HEY SODA" he said tackling my in a hug "hey pone" I said rubbing his back as Dallas let his arm down "hey kid" Dallas said. "Hey pone how was Steve's, he came home early" Darry said walking out pointing at Steve's behind him. "Wait what?" He said I tried to over talk him "we never got together" he said "IT WAS GOOD" I said walking in the driveway with Dallas. "Darry looked mad and confused, Dallas where did you bring him?" Darry said as Dallas went pink.

"Steve's." He said "no you didn't?" Steve said "fine I took him to bucks BUT buck was nice, I made him dinner, took him out to eat, played pool, went to bed, woke up ate breakfast That BUCK made and took him home on time" dallas said "and were saying how you'd do naughty shit to him?" Two said "that too, WAIT WHAT NO" Dallas said as two bit over heard our talk. I went red and Darry gave Dallas lifted eyebrows "soda?" He said I was stuck in place Dallas froze and smiled. "Come on soda your gay same with you Dallas, YALL wanna butt fuck blah blah" two bit said as we went pink "okay not the last thing I didn't put my hands on him but" Dallas looked at me and I shook my head in approval "were both gay" he said casually.

Pony got rather excited, Steve was shocked, two already knew, Johnny only smiled cause he wasn't a party person but he was proud and Darry smiled. "Well I'm proud of both of you but I still waiting for one last thing." Darry said

"Are you both a thing and if so Dallas you have rules." Darry said as Dallas shook his head proudly as I got flustered.

Dallas and me were now sitting in camp chairs in the front yard with the gang and Darry as Darry told Dallas rules.

"No sex until atleast one month, no getting him drunk, treat him right, if there's a emergency call me, atleast keep him home some days so he's not always out" he went on and on and Dallas understood everything.

At the end of the day we all went and watched late night cartoons. Two and pony on the floor with Johnny playing cards, Steve brought his girlfriend over and they were talking in the kitchen, Darry was asleep on the recliner. Me and Dallas were on the couch and I was laying on top of him watching the tv, I never felt more free, I felt more happy and more energetic. Dallas was practically always there for me and I couldn't ask for more...and the more I realize when I was sad and Dallas was there he was like my sun, and when I was around him the sun came out more, I guess you'll find your sun some day you gotta wait till you really need it and never expect it.

I layed on his chest as he looked down at me and I looked up. He smiled and along with me, he fluffed my hair up and I laughed.

"Goodnight Pepsi."

"Night sunshine."

(5073 words)

~~~~~~~

[mason-fanfiction]

Chapter 3: A Single Bone

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Bryan responds as Mel punches his fist in the air- vengefully. “Perhaps we should go to Applebee’s Grill & Bar?”

“This is no time for delicious meals, Bryan. I’m going to find out who targeted Mason. You don’t have to follow me, but I kind of just assumed you would, you tend to follow me places.”

“I just think friendship is cool,” Bryan smiles.

"Okay. Anyways, I know where we need to go first."

---

Mel and Bryan walk into Tony's Place, looking for the men they always see playing poker. One of them has to know somebody or know something. As they walk through the saloon-like doors of the establishment, they're met with the hardened glances of the Tony's Place regulars as everyone looks at the two 16 year old's. Du Hast is blasting through the speaker.

Bryan begins to cower back into the street but Mel ignores any sign of danger and heads straight for the poker table, determination burning with every step.

"I have a question," he says to the ringleader of the poker players. He wears a neat suit with a tie, with a bowler hat tipped forward, hiding his menacing glare.

"Whaddaya need kiddo?" the mobster-like persona speaks with a stereotypical New York accent. He takes out a pipe and starts smoking. Weed.

"We need information. We're trying to track someone down." Mel responds, resisting the urge to do his anti-weed dance. Mel doesn't do drugs, and is a good student in school. "You seem like you know how to find people." Mel places confidence on his words, despite basing this assumption off of movie stereotypes, and the pin on the man's suit that says "I know how to find people."

Bryan steps forward friendlily. "What's your name?"

The man studies the two boys for a moment. "The boys call me Greasy Dick. Nice ta meet ya. And yeah, I knows a guy or two. Gonna cost yous some service though." Greasy Dick starts counting hundred dollar bills on the table.

"What do you mean by that, Greasy Dick? What kind of service?" Mel asks cautiously.

"Well, my boys and I have been shippin' some merchandise across the sound. Keeps gettin' hijacked by a coupla' bastards. If yous can stop these sons of bitches from yankin' my chain, I'll find the right guy for ya. Whaddaya say boys?"

Mel and Bryan look at each other. Bryan frantically shakes his head. "We'll do it. Where do we go?" Mel asks.

---

The cloudy sky looms above the sound. The taste of salt surrounds them, and the windy air carries the sound of ships setting sail and sailors singing sea shanties. Mel and Bryan stand on the docks, with newly fitted white blouses and black breeches. Bryan found a sword to wield.

"That's the one Greasy Dick said. The one with the bone." Mel points at a large ship waving a black flag with a single bone on it. Bryan peers at the ship and says "Right let's go then."

The two friends board the ship and reach the deck. They stop in front of a crew of people surrounded by a guy in a captain's hat.

"Bone?" Mel says, noticing his uncle in the center of the deck. "You're a merchant?"

"Oh, hi. Yeah, I'm merchant coordinator for my discord server. We do some work on the side. Why are you guys here?"

"We were sent to help you with your shipment, make sure it doesn't get stolen again." Bryan says.

"Greasy Dick sent you?" Bone thinks for a moment about the responsible thing to do in this situation. "Okay, whatever. The crew is the rest of my discord server. Talk to them, or don't. I'll be steering the ship." Mel and Bryan nod.

"Hey, Mel and Bryan, welcome aboard!" One of the crewmates greets them as they walk away from Bone. "I'm Sea Man, I'm new to the ship as well!" Sea Man whips and nae nae's, with feeling.

"Hello Sea Man, it's a lovely ship," Bryan says. "Do you know anything about the recent attacks?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Big bad guys have been ramming their shit into us. Total whackos. They got some vendetta against us, or Greasy Dick, not sure why. We're just drug trafficking- ah! Just kidding! LOL" Sea Man laughs heartily, but stops abruptly. "Drugs aren't cool. Seriously." Sea Man flips his pirate cap backwards.

Suddenly, a ship.

"There's a ship over there," Bone says to Mel and Bryan, lacking urgency in his voice, "You guys should probably go below deck, if you want."

Mel searches the horizon and spots another ship barreling towards them. Sea Man and the crew whip out cutlasses and start manning the cannons. One of the cannonballs hits the left side of the opposing ship, eliciting cheers from Bone's crew of sailors. "They're literally dogwater," Bone says.

Unfortunately, the hit does nothing to stop the ship from sailing straight into them. A plank lowers from the other side, and a group of sailors board the ship, wielding swords and angry shouts.

Mel and Bryan hide behind some barrels. "This is just like Among Us. Because crewmates," Bryan says, and Mel ignores him, watching the exchange on the poop deck.

"Well well well," says Bone, as the captain of the enemy ship approaches the center of the poopy deck. "If it isn't Party John." Party John steps out of the shadows and takes off his neck scarf, revealing his signature neck tattoo, a grizzly bear wearing sunglasses and doing a kickflip on a skateboard. "That's a sick fucking tattoo," whispers Bryan behind the barrels. "What a mad lad." Mel nods.

"Sorry to crash your party," Party John says. His mateys pat him on the back for the clever party reference. His first mate hands him a bubblegum-flavored vape pen and he sucks it dry. "But we're gonna need to take your merchandise." With that, he whips out his sword, and his crewmates follow along.

Bone slowly nods his head, and saunters to the center of the poopy deck in front of PJ. "I should have known you were behind this. You've wronged me in the past, Party John..." Bone says, abandoning his monotone voice for a surprisingly dramatic delivery. "But you will not wrong me again, you sick bastard. Heh." Bone also takes out a sword and swings it around a lot. "Go on, try to strike me down! But be wary, for I'm ranked #72 in the world for Minecraft PVP! 1," Bone smirks, and strikes his sword against PJ's. The poop deck explodes into an onslaught of swords on swords, men on men, grunting and sweating as they passionately clash against each other.

Behind the barrels, Mel frantically whispers, "We should be helping them! We can't let them get the merchandise or Greasy Dick won't give us any information!"

"Wait, I think we can resolve this," Bryan says. Mel looks at him befuddled. "This seems like a friendship problem, not a merchandise problem. They've clearly had a falling out. We should help them talk it out." Bryan clarifies.

Mel sighs. "Bryan, I know you love friendship, but these guys are pirates AND gamers. They're calling each other dogwater and being toxic. We need to...to kill them, or something."

Bryan pauses. "We can't kill Party John. I heard that guy has a fake ID. He'd cut right through us. Hold on a second."

As the fighting continues, Bryan leaves the barrels and sneaks below deck. He returns a few minutes later, hauling a Nintendo Switch. Mel prepares to argue with Bryan when suddenly the fighting comes to a halt. All the gamer bro pirates are staring at the switch that Bryan brought onto the deck.

"Hey," PJ says to Bone, "You got Smash on that?" The enemy crew waits in anticipation for Bone's reply.

"Yeah, yeah we play it a lot." Bone replies.

"Cool...cool." PJ shifts awkwardly.

"Do you wanna play?" Bone asks.

"Yeah," PJ responds.

"Okay."

The two boys and their crewmates sit in front of the switch and start taking turns playing Smash against each other. Everyone forgets about their qualms.

"Gamers before pirates," Bryan says to Mel. Mel shakes his head in disbelief.

The rest of the sail across the sound goes swimmingly. Bone's crew unloads the merchandise from the harbor to a very happy Italian man. Party John and his crew decide to leave Bone's ship alone, after agreeing to play Smash together at least once a week. Finally, after a day's journey, Bone returns Mel and Bryan to the docks.

"Tell Mason he still owes me $20," Bone instructs Mel, and departs with his crew.

—-

Back at Tony’s Place, Mel and a Bryan report back to Greasy Dick on their recent success. Greasy Dick claps his hands (and cheeks) at the news. He takes out more weed to eat as he gives Mel and Bryan the information they requested.

“Great work boys, and I did some digging. I know a guy who will probably know the guy you’re lookin’ for. The guy yous wanna talk to lives in this alleyway on Broad Street. Tell em Greasy Dick sent ya.”

“Awesome, thanks so much Mr. Dick,” Mel says.

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and you should know he’s a real short bastard. Wears these fake Gucci fits a lot. Calls himself Cristian.”

[raeloganthesonic06fangirl]

Ah, I love that part in SA2. Very satisfying moment, especially because you get to take control of the battle.

But you misunderstand me

Scared ≠ Cowardly

Also, in the aforementioned SA2 sequence, Tails had the Tornado equipped with him, and he was well prepared to take on Eggman in a mech suit. In Forces and IDW, Tails ain't got nothing but the gloves on his hands and his shoes.

In contrast, the Station Square sequence, Tails is equipped with the Rhythm Badge and Jet Anklets, but is also the last line of defense and has no other choice at the time but to swallow his fears and fight Eggman (who was absolutely much more intimidating in this bit than usual). If we're going to accept game play as canonical growth, then we should acknowledge that the upgrades and power ups are also factors into boosting abilities and confidence. 👀

In the case of IDW right now, spoiler spoiler warning ahead:

He's crying for help because Kncukles has been completely infected and is approaching him with Shadow as Cheese and Chocola grab his tails and infect him with the virus as well.

His friends. Who he doesn't really want to fight because they're his friends and they're not in control of themselves, and he doesn't know how much damage is going to actually harm them if and when the infection is cured. And the poor kiddo has been doing his best to handle things until this point. 👀

While we're at it, what about how Cream was completely emotionless sometime after watching her mother be dragged into the Zombot horde?

Or how Espio was crying after Vector sacrificed himself to hold back the invasion so that everyone else had a chance to escape?

I mean, this is a zombie type story, and it ain't gonna be cutesy fun. These characters are being pushed to thier limits and reacting accordingly.

I'm just saying, as a long time fan of the franchise that has seen the ups and downs and good times and disappointments and poured a lot of time into absorbing lore and alternate continuities and collected games, comics, DVDs, tapes, books... As someone who grew up with many of these characters as comfort characters, as someone who idolized Tails when I was a kid, as someone who's very first video game character she can recall was Tails...

As a fan myself, I just want to point out that this franchise is nearly three decades old and has been passed around many hands and been interpreted many many different ways, and we should not hold characterization of one character to such strict standards if we aren't going to extend that to the others.

Comic Tails should not be held to the same standards as Game Tails, and Game Tails has different "generations" just like Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Eggman. IDW Tails is not Archie Tails, nor is he Modern Tails or Classic Tails, or even SatAM Tails or AoStH Tails. And what of Fleetway Tails? Boom Tails? X Tails? I like Tails a lot, but which one is hard to pinpoint as the most favorite.

They all have different histories and different upbringings and different developments. We don't know of IDW Tails went through the same hardships as Game Tails. I thought IDW was a different universe?

If Tails is going to be critiqued as a whole, then I'll wait patiently for the same level of criticism of the other core characters as well. I'd love to hear those, analytical deep dives are always fun and I like to see my favorite characters be broken down and ideas presented on how they could be improved.

I'm just saying, if we're going to pick that apart, then we need to separate the continuities before we start using each of them to judge characters in other universes.

So are we combining the collective worlds or just complaining about the new stuff only?

It's almost 30 years of content, you can't tell me that everything is canon when most people say "Sonic 06" doesn't belong to the main continuity, but everyone will say Shadow's throwaway line about taking candy from babies in one of the possible storylines of his self titled game is a confirmed piece of his personality or whatever. 👀

WHAT is canon now? Is there some list I can look at or something? I'm being sincere, too, I really want someone to explain this to me.

Have you seen this twitter thread where someone tries to say it makes sense for Tails to be scared in Forces since Tails isn’t a physical fighter and that Tails didn’t canonically fight against Chaos 4 or the Egg Walker in SA1?  What are your thoughts on this?

Reply; Dude pretty much shot his credibility in the head the seocnd he claimed X was canon. Also, the Egg Walker DID canonically happen in Tails’ story. What proves this further is the fact that in SA2, Tails was even awarded an emerald for saving Station Square from it and the missile.

[godess-of-the-void]

Numinetale 7

So Papyrus, Blueberry, Gaster, and the kids are staying in Snowden. While the rest of us are going to the Ruins. Any questions?”

Chara raised their hand. “kitchen knives are in the drawer next to the sink. only as a last resort, alright kiddo?” Sans smoothed out their red hair. “stay sharp.” Chara made a face at the pun while Frisk giggled.

Gaster cleared his non-existent throat. “You can do tests on the Void Dragon SOUL. Just leave enough to make my new SOUL.” VI gave the Royal Scientist a wink.

VI, Temmie, and the boys headed to the Ruins. Sans was feeling a little chatty. “man, this just keeps bringing up memories.”

Red looks at Sans, “Good or bad memories?”

“both? alot of good. but also alot of bad.”

Red shifted next to Sans, “I don't have hardly any good memories. The only good memory I have in the Underground is when the kid showed up and we are on the surface. I mean, Boss and I was until now.”

Sans eye sockets trained on Red. He wanted to asked about his AU, but he didn't. He have already saw the two edgelord’s LV and that already gave him theories about it. Red's testament confirmed most of his theories.

“Guys? We’re here.” VI opened the door that leads to the Ruins.

***

“Sooooo... How do we get closer to him without getting attacked by friendly fire?”

“that is assuming he is friendly. He looks more like you, red. but missing the scar, both eyelights look normal, and he is freakin tall as your brother without his heels.”

“My boots make my legs look fabulous. Thank you very much.”

They been hiding by the entrance to the flowerbed for what feels like a long time. The boys noticed that he looked just a dangerous as he looks lonely. VI snapped her fingers. “Oh Mary, contrary, how does your garden grow?" The tall skeleton perked up listening to VI's voice. “Come with me, and you'll be, the seventh maid in a row."

“My answer was laughter, soft as I lowered my head.” The skeleton joined the singing. “You're too late, I'm afraid, this flower's already dead.” He looks to the entrance. “You can come out. I won't hurt you.”

VI and the gang came out to greet the tall Sans. He wear a red turtleneck and a black and red scarf. A four pointed star dangled in front of his chest. Sans was right that he looked more like Red then all the other Sans they meet. Red walks up to the taller version of himself and lifted his hand. “Take my hand and greet a new friend.” The two skeletons took each other's hand and electric sparks danced around them. “Heh. The old hand buzzer trick.”

“Always a classic.” The taller Sans winked at his shorter doppelganger. “What can I do for you guys?”

“Actually. We are here for you.” Stretch shrugged. “Something about your Soulmate back from the dead but still sick.”

“If that was a punchline it's not funny.”

“We're not laughing either.” Edge kicked a rock. “I personally would think a joke about a dead Soulmate would be a thousand times worse then my brother's god awful pun battles with Snowdrake.”

“Wait. What would you do if her brother's Soulmate was a human?”

Edge looked at him with a shocked expression. “Support him of course! Why?” Edge voice lowered dangerously. “What did your brother do?”

“Killed them a thousand times. Disowned me after my girl sacrificed themselves to open the barrier. Thinking that I was trying to protect them so I can have all the credit of freeing the monsters and stealing his glory.” Tears started to form.

Edge and Red grabbed the other into a hug. “We will be your brothers. And we will support you and your Soulmate.”

***

They returned to Snowden to the sound of battle. The gang raced to town armed and ready to fight. “Chara! Your form is terrible. Even though Frisk is only doudging their fighting stance is on point.” A scruffy but high pitch voice was heard near the skeleton's home. A loud blast was also heard followed by a laugh. “Bwahahahaha! Very nice surprise attack Asriel!

When the gang finally found the kids they stood there with hanging jaws. “Are those skeletons teaching the kids to fight?” Stretch looked at the darker version of his brother. He was as short as Blueberry, but his body armor looks similar to Edge's.

“Chara! Where have you learned how to hold a knife? Mutt! Show them how it's done!”

“Yes, M’ Lord.” A tired looking skeleton in a orange turtleneck and leather jacket with a fur lined hood moved behind Chara and showed them a way to hold their knife better.

Wing Dings stepped out and saw the others, “Ah! You are back. Come. Come. I want to introduce you to couple of friends.” Dings waved his hand at the newcomers. “Everyone this is Slim and Black. Believe it or not but these two are actually two halves of a Gaster I used to know. I used to call him Valium before he split in half.”

“Bwahahaha. So you are Wing Dings friends, huh?” Blackberry shook everyone's hand, “Sorry we wouldn't be any help for your SOUL. Our LV is too high for use to be Judges even when we were Gaster.”

VI smiled at the small version of Edge. “That is alright. We are happy to have you as allies. Were you training the kids?”

“If Fell is here I wanted the kids to defend themselves. Even if our Underground is similar to Fell's, we don't use kids the way that creep does.” Blackberry and Slim's eyelights flashed in anger. “We don't do that kind of shit to kids.” Red and Edge nodded in silent agreement.

“Thank you. Very much.” VI glanced at her friends and returned her attention back to the newcomers. “I appreciate your help with teaching the kids to defend themselves.”

“Welp. M’ Lord and I have to go.” Slim made a low bow to the female skeleton. “Fell hasn't figured out that we are Valium split into two different individuals.”

“And we would like to keep it that way till you free those other guys from the True Labs.” Black grabbed Slim by the collar and Slim teleported the two of them out of town.

***

“At least we got a clue on where to look for the others.” VI glaced around her and the group. Scanning the area for potential danger.

“I can't believe gaster have friends that are playing double agents.” Sans whispered. He didn't even wanted an Echo Flower to even hear what he was saying. “according to gaster we may have more allies then we know.”

“Oh! Do tell!” A sharp gagged bone shot out of the ground. VI and the others did a quick dodge. “Awwe. Missed.” A Sans with a red eye and fractured skull came out of the shadows, followed by a Papyrus with blooded teeth.

“Hue. Blood and Teeth. So unpleasant to meet you.” VI teleported in front of Blood. “Though, to be honest I don't think I hate you. If anything else I hate your Queen Undyne. Especially when she gave you that hole in your head.” VI brought out two containers of food from her inventory. “Hot cat and spaghetti?”

***

“I can't believe you bribed them with food!” The tall Sans, that everyone decided to call Love, was shaking his head in disbelief.

“They are from an AU where they are starving. Starving so bad that they were eating humans and was driven to insanely.” VI looked back. “I should feel sorry for them.”

Temmie hopped ahead, “Your SOULLESS, remember. It is not that you don't have feelings. It's you can't place -Ack!”

A Gaster Blaster Beam barely missed Temmie and VI. The Gaster Blaster looked weird with black Hate oozing out of the Blaster's eyes and mouth. A manic laugh was heard before a Sans with Hate dripping out if his eyes and a red target on his chest appeared. “Killer.”

“Hehehehe. That's my name! Hehehehe.” Killer of UV!GR@Rahafwabas lifted his knife and licked it with his ectoplasma tongue. “Time to die.”

Thick vines shot up, grabbed Killer, and slammed him against a wall. Knocking him out. “Sans! Papyrus! You're okay!” A cute little Flowery with big eyes popped up from the ground and wrapped his vines around Red and Edge. “Oh! You have my boot.” A blur of yellow and green went in the boot. “Finally!”

“Heh. You wasn't kidding about the boot being a security blanket.” The thick vines slithered off Killer. Another Flowery came out of the ground. This Flowery was bigger than your average Flowery, but still pretty small. He got out a case with glasses inside, “My spouse would kill me if I break my glasses while underground.”

“Spouse? You're married?” VI smiled in reconizon. “Yandere from PG!PP@Newspaper! The only Flowery that ever married.”

“Ugh! Why does the Omniverse calls me that?” Yandere but on his glasses. “Hey Boots! We found your friends. Will they help me get my spouse back?”

“Was your spouse taken to the True Labs?” Love kneeled down to meet Yandere at eye level. “My Soulmate is there as well.”

Yandere looked at Love as if trying to read the sincerity of his words before removing his glasses and placing them back into the case. “Meet me at Temmie Village!” Then the Flower was gone.

***

They arrived at Temmie Village. Boot was telling Red and Edge how Yandere and a few others found him and sheltered him in Temmie Village. There was one other Flowery, a God of Hyperdeath, a baby bones, and a gray kid with big black eyes that been teaching them about the Multiverse. They were having trouble with the baby bones, but didn't trust any nearby skeletons to help care for him.

“VI?!” A blur of black and red knocked VI down in a hug. “I can't believe you are here!”

“Player? Player of UP!OR@Yunan! It is good to see you again!” VI wrapped her arms around Player, “Still causing trouble?”

“I am a Dirty Hacker. Of course I am still causing trouble.” Sans’ and Stretch's eyes flashed at hearing that phrase. Player noticed and turned towards the others. “I may not be good, but I am not evil either. I do what I want simply because I can. However, everything I do is out of love. In fact my LV is not Level of Violence, nor Game Level, but true love I have for your Worlds.”

“Player here is from a World where the Underground is a video game. But Player wanted to be everyone's friend and sends everyone to the surface. The problem is they live through Game Codes and Worldlines trapping them in a loop.” VI patted Player's head. “My mother found them and changed their code so they can get out of the loop. Now they can revisit worlds and join their friends on the surface without triggering the loop. Where originally everytime Player breaks the barrier and join everyone to the surface the loops starts again.”

“Speaking of loops. Almost got stuck in one by entering the Lab. Your mother got me out.” Player crunch up their face. “Something is wrong with her. Her Code was different. And don't think I didn't noticed your Code, Princess! What did you do to your SOUL?”

“Storytime later! Hyper is back!” A one eyed Flowery pointed above them. A God of Hyperdeath was flying over them, going for a landing. Hyper was tall and wearing a black shirt and leather pants, his eyes were bloodshot and the fur on top of his head was black. “Hyper! How are the others? Are they okay. Is Aliza okay?!”

“Calm down Eyeball. Your human is okay so far. But I am worried about Sweetheart and Science. Fell have been dragging Sci deeper into the True Labs and Sweetheart is getting weaker.” Hyper noticed Love, “Sans! Your here! I know you don't recognize me, but it me! Your Flowery!”

“Flowery?” The moment Love noticed that Hyper was holding his jacket he grabbed the tall goat and have him a good squeeze. Hyper returned the hug. Then realization hit him like a brick. “Wait. Sweetheart?” He push Hyper way but still had his fists wrapped around Hyper's arms. “As in MY SWEETHEART!”

“You were always calling them Sweetheart, so I used that as a nickname.” Hyper blushed in embarrassment before his mood sobered. “They are really weak Sans. The flowers are all over their body.”

***

Player took the baby bones Papyrus, that everyone started to call Bean, Eyeball, Temmie, and Boots back to Snowden. Leaving VI, Sans, Red, Edge, Stretch, Love, Hyper, and a very stubborn Yandere to plan the break-in-break-out mission.

The plan sounds simple enough. Hyper enters the True Lab alone to inform the prisoners of the rescue. He will also be the eyes and ears of what's going on in the Lab. Yandere will also do the same but remain in the vents, his speed and silence will help him relay messages to the others.

Red, Edge, and Love will enter using the main elevator from Alphys’ Lab. The idea was to distract Fell, Pred, and the Nightmare Squad to the upper levels. While VI, Sans, and Stretch will enter directly from the elevator from the castle.

Simple right? Wrong.