#he's not like a normal kid and not a just trauma kid too

[asarigg]

About: Part 1

this section is meant to be for topics that I didn't include either because it didn't feel very organic with what was being talked about or... honestly I don't remember. Anyway, I hope these can also bring new ideas for you.

YEARS ALONE

Koujaku received his tattoo around the age of 15, and was at least 23 when he returned to the island, leaving a gap of around eight years that he spent completely alone, dealing with his trauma, without help. We don’t know anything about how he lived since then, what kind of contact he had with the rest of his family, because he says that he lost the contact he had with the rest of his family, when he traveled to Midorijima and the border was closed, not before. In those years he had to learn to cut hair, work on his own and gradually separate himself from his family. I always imagined that Koujaku would be homeschooled, instead of going to a normal school, since he was chosen as the heir. Maybe before that he would go to a regular school with other children. Without having a normal education he probably had to go back to studying as an adult to be able to get his degree. I mention some hcs about this later on too.

SCRAP

Observing the elements that appear in his mind, I’ve always wanted to have a bad ending that would involve the Scrap environment, it’s ideal for horror, can you blame me? When Aoba enters, he’s in a dark room, without furniture or decoration. When he goes to another room it turns out to be exactly the same as the previous one, and so on, countless more rooms until finally the appearance changes. For Koujaku being in that house felt like an endless labyrinth, all the rooms seemed equally oppressive, equally caging, hence why they all look the same. And all the doors have a dragon painted on them, wherever he looked, wherever he went, there was no escape, just another dark room, uninviting, cold, strange, disturbing, hostile, suffocating, all while some hairlike snakes chased him, demonstrating just how engraved the image of Ryuuhou is in his mind, torturing him and keeping him prisoner. The dragon painted on the doors has five claws, meaning it's an imperial dragon. The imperial dragon is supposed to represent the chinese emperor, so other dragons had four or three claws. Japanese dragons have a standard of three claws, and you can see three claws on the dragon that is on Ryuuhou's kimono. Maybe this is just meant to be Ryuuhou seeming like a regular, standard person (with a bunch of skulls around his neck uh), but in Koujaku's mind, he reveals his true form, almighty, powerful, someone way superior to him.

When the next room finally changes its appearance, Aoba finds a teenage Koujaku being tattooed, strands of hair enveloping him in a cocoon in a bed drenched with his own blood. And how ironic that the very tattoo that keeps him trapped and transforms him is made of hair.

Also, don’t you find it curious that Koujaku is reborn from a cocoon giving him a connection with butterflies and that Aoba’s dad told him about those big blue butterflies when he was a kid? Yeah… My butterfly kouao art was canon after all, they're not beating the allegations. The butterfly on the vip card of the club too…

DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP. PATH TO HEALING: part 1

We talked already about Aoba and Koujaku’s relationship, symbolically, already starting long before you even get to their route. Obviously the route is a crisis in their friendship, but the feelings were already emerging long before, so it’s also a "breakup in their romantic relationship". The lack of communication and trust is what makes everything start to fall apart, and given the fact that he leaves with some women right at the beginning, it gives space to the infidelity and jealousy themes. I also have my opinions about this scene, but it’s nothing we haven’t mentioned already and they’re not things unique to them but in the entire game. I think it’s a terrible mistake that all this happens immediately after they walk through the door into PJ. They don’t give you any time to get used to the new environment, when we had Koujaku swearing his loyalty to Aoba and telling him that they would do everything they could to put an end to Toue’s cartoon villain evil plans.

I really think it would have been a good thing if they could wander the streets for a while, making you see that Koujaku is committed to this instead of making him fuck off as soon as he sees a woman, helping with the pace of the story and the feelings you should be having about them. He gives such a carefree image that it feels weird especially coming after the talk he gives to Aoba, it doesn’t feel true to himself.

And yes, it’s true that they leave crumbs, like describing his smile as forced, and that he has a strange expression when he sees the woman with the tattoo, but they are things that could be done later perfectly, and I even think it could work better, because it would leave you more disoriented, which is precisely what you should be thinking at this moment, better than a “okay man whatever”. You don’t even think about these details the first time you read it so the impression is more impactful. I don’t think Koujaku would walk away so soon, even if they ran into the girls as soon as they entered. Ryuuhou ruined his life, as well as his father, it’s not just any family problem, but a snowball of traumas that has been rolling around since his childhood. After years of working on forgetting him and stop seeking revenge, seeing a tattoo probably made by him must have felt like a kick in the balls, like seeing a ghost. He would be surprised and confused, of course, but I don’t know if he would go with them right away. His impulsiveness is important, but as an adult this is more nuanced. It’s not like one of the “provocations” he was responding to before, it’s no direct danger, it’s just a tattoo that might have been made by him, while he also has to keep appearances up next to Aoba. When faced with a personal dilemma he thinks about it a lot more, he hesitates. Maybe he needed time to process all this, to really think about what to do now that his memories are more vivid than ever.

Which btw after Koujaku sees Aoba sleeping in his bed you never see him with women (willingly lol). The ones in the beginning of his route don’t count because that’s for lore reasons :smug face:

Maybe as a result of this, Aoba would notice that his attitude after saying goodbye to those two women has changed, that he seems more quiet and serious, nervous, looking for excuses when Aoba asks him. Maybe later, when they decided to go to rest, instead of going to Glitter with Aoba, he would leave him alone and go see these women after exchanging numbers or something like that. That way, you can feel the role that Koujaku has as Aoba’s friend, and the tension and mystery are built step by step, not throwing it all at once.

Aoba not only gets angry with him when he chooses to go with those women, but rather he gets disappointed, he gets tired. Being in the critical situation they are in, in which they basically have to infiltrate “enemy territory” and overthrow the brainwashing empire of a millionaire bastard, you’d expect him to get angry way more forcefully. Of course we later learn why he does it, but at this moment the only thing that would cross his mind would be to hold it against him, grab his arm and stop him, but none of that happens.

But Aoba’s initial annoyance quickly fades, he seems rather disappointed, sad, especially when he sees them enter a nightclub. Because Koujaku has chosen to go with them instead of staying by his side, leaving him alone. Whenever he goes with these women, Aoba sees him from behind, from a distance. A cold and impersonal posture representative of the distance that is growing between them, as if he was something unattainable for him.

[leesleelee]

The babysitters Chronicles.

Steve Harrington x male! reader

After the events of season 3, Hawkins has settled into a quieter routine. However, the threat of the Upside Down lingers in the background. You, Lucas' cousin has moved back to Hawkins to help out. While helping out, you meet someone who ends up being your teammate.

CW: Mild Language, emotional vulnerability, romantic themes, mention of past trauma, light angst.

Word Count: 6,863

The babysitters.

We were under the same roof.

The summer had passed, but Hawkins was still settling back into some semblance of normalcy.

At least, that’s what your parents told you as they sent you off to stay with your cousin Lucas and his family.

After everything that had happened, it was clear you were needed, even if you weren’t sure what your role would be in all this.

Your first day in Hawkins was quiet, too quiet.

The kind of quiet that made you feel like something important was still lingering in the air. You hadn’t been around Lucas, Mike, Max, Dustin, or the others much before, so you didn’t know what to expect.

All you knew was that things had been... complicated. And now, you were supposed to help take care of the kids. Easier said than done.

The house you found yourself in was familiar, Lucas’ family home, but it felt different now, like the walls carried secrets you weren’t privy to yet.

The laughter and chaos coming from the living room was a clear indication that life here, though quieter, was anything but normal. You hesitated at the doorway, unsure of how to join the group, and whether they’d even care that you’d just moved into town.

The first thing you noticed was the noise. It wasn’t loud, not exactly, but it was constant.

Mike and Dustin were arguing over some ridiculous game on the floor, while Lucas and Max were half-heartedly attempting to referee.

The energy was almost too much; too many moving parts, too many voices, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Just... overwhelming.

Then, your eyes landed on him.

Steve Harrington, leaning casually against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. His presence seemed to fill the room, not with the usual ‘king of the school’ bravado you’d heard about, but with something warmer;

more grounded.

He was part of the chaos, but he was also a quiet anchor in the middle of it. His eyes flickered over to you as you stood there, unsure of how to make an entrance, but instead of the usual dismissive glance or curiosity, there was a softness in his gaze.

“Hey,” he greeted you, his voice surprisingly calm amidst the rowdy chatter. He offered a small smile, the kind that didn’t try too hard but was somehow inviting.

“You must be the new guy.”

You nodded, not sure if that was the right thing to do.

“Yeah, that’d be me. I’m... staying with Lucas for a while.”

Steve’s expression softened, his arms uncrossing as he straightened up.

“I figured as much. Everyone’s talking about you.” There was no teasing or judgment in his tone, just a genuine acknowledgment.

You glanced at Lucas, who was still in the middle of breaking up another argument between Mike and Dustin, and then back to Steve.

“How do you... handle all of this?”

You asked, half-laughing at the mess in front of you. The kids were all loud, taking sides, making plans for whatever trouble they were about to get into.

Steve looked over at them with a small shake of his head, like he was used to it by now. “It’s... a work in progress,” he said slowly, as if carefully choosing his words.

“You get used to the noise. And the drama.” His smile grew slightly, and you could see how he effortlessly slid into his role as the unspoken leader of the group. “You’ve got your hands full now, though. This lot knows how to make a mess.”

“Seems like they’re good at it,” you commented, your voice dry, feeling the weight of the situation.

You didn’t know how you were supposed to fit in, how you were supposed to navigate being the new person here.

Steve gave you a knowing look. “Don’t worry. We all get thrown into the deep end at some point. You’ll be fine.”

His tone was light, but there was something reassuring about it, as if he genuinely meant it.

You weren’t sure what to say to that, so you just watched as he moved across the room, stepping into the chaos like it was second nature to him.

He bent down to break up a new fight between Max and Dustin, using his usual calm, but firm, voice to smooth things over. There was a practiced ease to his movements, like he had done this a hundred times before.

You stood there for a moment, observing him. He was different from what you expected, much more patient and steady.

You’d heard the stories, Steve Harrington, the former high school king, the one who had been through his own share of messes, but somehow ended up here, looking out for the kids.

He was more than just the nickname.

It wasn’t until you saw him glance back at you, that small, amused smile tugging at his lips, that you realized you’d been watching him a little too intently.

He raised an eyebrow, catching your gaze, and for a second, there was an unspoken understanding between you two, something fleeting but real.

“Okay, new guy,” he said, his voice a little more relaxed, like he was letting down some of his own walls.

“Want to team up? We can tag team this babysitting gig. Trust me, it works better when there are two of us.”

You didn’t know what made you agree, but there was something about Steve, something that made it easy to fall into a rhythm with him, even if it was just a simple offer to help manage the chaos.

You nodded, stepping a little further into the room.

“Sure,” you said, your voice quieter now, more certain. “I can give it a shot.”

For a moment, it didn’t feel so overwhelming.

With Steve, there was a quiet reassurance that maybe, just maybe, this would be easier than you thought. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, helping to take care of the kids and settling into Hawkins.

And maybe, just maybe, there was more to Steve than the stories you’d heard.

As the two of you began working together to keep the kids from escalating into more trouble, you couldn’t help but notice the small gestures, the way Steve made sure you were comfortable and involved, offering quiet smiles and half-jokes when the kids got too rowdy.

It was nothing big, nothing overt, but in that moment, you realized something, this wasn’t just babysitting.

This was the beginning of something new.

And even if it was just a small spark, you couldn’t help but feel like it had the potential to grow into something more.

---

The moment you agreed to help, you immediately regretted it.

Max had suggested they all play a game of Dungeons & Dragons, but somehow it devolved into an all-out war of opinions, everyone trying to one-up each other with the most ridiculous rules.

Dustin and Mike were arguing over whose character was the most powerful, while Lucas tried to keep them in check, but his attention was split.

Max, naturally, refused to be part of it at all, folding her arms and glaring at the lot of them as if she were too cool for the entire situation.

And in the middle of it all, Steve was... well, Steve.

His usual nonchalant attitude made him seem like this was just another ordinary Saturday for him.

He leaned back against the couch, one hand lazily draped over the backrest, while the other played with a half-empty bag of chips.

You glanced at Steve, silently pleading for help. He caught your eye, his lips twitching in amusement, but he didn’t offer any immediate assistance.

Instead, he was waiting for you to jump into the fray. You took a deep breath and stepped into the chaos, walking over to where Lucas and Mike were practically nose-to-nose, arguing over whether a roll of the dice was “totally unfair.”

“Hey!” you called out, a little louder than you intended. All heads turned toward you.

Steve’s gaze lingered on you for a moment, something almost like pride flickering behind his eyes as you took charge of the situation.

“Okay, seriously?” you said, raising an eyebrow.

“We’re gonna be here all day if you keep fighting like this. What’s the point of a game if you don’t even know the rules?”

Lucas shot you a grateful look.

“See? I told them it’s about having fun, not trying to win every single time.”

“I don’t always try to win,” Dustin protested, looking offended.

He glanced at Mike.

“But Mike’s character is completely OP. I mean, who even lets a wizard have that many spells?”

“Yeah, well, you guys aren’t playing right!” Mike shot back, completely missing the point.

Steve leaned in, clearly enjoying the drama. “Boys, boys,” he said, with a theatrical sigh.

“How about we agree that everyone can have their turn to be the biggest nerd, but nobody gets to hog the spotlight? Deal?”

You could practically hear the collective groan of annoyance from the kids, but it did the trick, at least for the moment.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Dustin grumbled, sitting down with a huff.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Just as things seemed to calm down, a high-pitched shriek cut through the air.

Max had decided she was done with the game and was now attempting to sneak into the kitchen to steal the last of the snacks.

“Hey! Max! Get back here!” Steve shouted, moving with surprising speed as he jumped off the couch and chased after her.

You didn’t hesitate to follow, knowing the chaos would only escalate if someone didn’t stop it.

You found Steve cornering Max at the kitchen table, a small bag of pretzels clutched in her hands like she was about to make a getaway.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Steve asked, his voice amused but firm, his hands on his hips as if this were a routine.

Max rolled her eyes dramatically, holding the snacks out in front of her like they were a trophy.

“What does it look like I’m doing? Getting a snack. You guys have been hogging everything.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen anyone eating pretzels since last week, Max,” you said, crossing your arms.

“You just want to be dramatic, huh?”

Max flashed you a smirk. “If you’re gonna let Steve win, that’s your problem.”

You raised your hands in mock surrender.

“I’m just here to keep the peace, not to pick sides.”

Steve leaned in closer, lowering his voice as if he were sharing a secret.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he said, his words only meant for you.

“She gets really feisty when she’s hungry.”

You raised an eyebrow, fighting back a smile. “Noted.”

Max huffed, crossing her arms, but Steve wasn’t letting her off that easily. He took the bag from her hands with a dramatic flourish, giving her a look of mock disappointment.

“You can have some, but you have to promise to play nice with the others. No more stealing snacks.”

Max rolled her eyes again but grudgingly nodded.

“Fine, whatever.”

With the snack crisis temporarily averted, you and Steve returned to the living room, but not before you heard Dustin and Mike get into another heated discussion about which character was the best choice for their next round.

You exchanged a glance with Steve, who was clearly done with the constant back-and-forth.

“You wanna call it quits for the day?” Steve asked, leaning toward you with a grin.

You sighed, rubbing your temples. “I think that’s probably a good idea. They’re never going to agree on anything if we don’t step in.”

Just as you were about to suggest a break, the sound of crashing plastic echoed from the corner of the room.

You and Steve turned just in time to see Lucas trip over his own shoelaces, sending a bowl of popcorn flying across the floor.

The kids burst into laughter, and even Steve couldn't hold back a chuckle.

You couldn’t help but smile at the mess of it all, and for a moment, it felt like you were just another part of the family.

“You know,” you said, shaking your head,

“I can’t tell if I’m actually helping or just making things worse.”

Steve shrugged, his grin widening.

“Sometimes it’s about surviving the chaos, not solving it. Trust me, you’re doing fine.”

As the room settled into a familiar pattern of laughter and minor bickering, you realized that, despite the madness, it wasn’t so bad.

Steve had a way of making the chaos feel manageable, and it felt like, maybe, just maybe, you could get used to this.

---

The sun had begun to dip below the horizon, casting a warm glow across the room.

The chaos of the afternoon had finally settled into a comfortable lull, and the kids had either scattered to their respective corners of the house or fallen into a quiet, tired stupor.

The game was over, the snacks were long gone, and the living room now felt almost eerily calm in comparison to the frenzy that had come before.

You leaned back against the couch, the soft hum of a television in the background barely audible.

Max was sprawled out in one of the armchairs, her headphones in, while Dustin and Mike were attempting some quiet video game battle in the corner.

Even Lucas had found a moment to relax, reading through a comic book by the window.

Steve, on the other hand, had found a quiet corner near the window, arms loosely crossed as he gazed outside at the fading light.

His usual energy had settled, his expression softer now than it had been all day.

You watched him for a moment, the way the light caught the edges of his hair, how his gaze seemed far away, lost in thought.

It was the first time today that he didn’t seem like he was on high alert, ready to jump in and referee the next round of bickering. He looked... peaceful.

For a moment, you considered just letting him be.

But something about the quiet pulled you closer, a small voice telling you to take a chance, to say something.

“Hey,”

you finally said, your voice barely above a whisper.

It felt strange to break the silence, but you did anyway. “You doing okay?”

Steve shifted slightly, as though your voice had brought him out of his thoughts.

He turned his head slightly, catching your eye. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he uncrossed his arms and sat up a little straighter.

“I’m good,” he replied, his voice low and calm.

“Just... needed a second. Been a long day, huh?”

You nodded slowly, relaxing into the cushions as you considered his words.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been... eventful. But, uh, it’s not so bad. You’ve handled it pretty well.”

Steve let out a small, almost embarrassed chuckle.

“I don’t know about that. Half the time I’m just winging it.” His gaze flickered toward the kids again, watching them interact with a small, fond smile on his face.

“But, I guess it works out. You’re not doing too bad yourself.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Me? I feel like I’m just getting dragged along.”

“That’s part of the fun, right?” Steve said with a shrug, still grinning a little. His tone was teasing, but there was a warmth there, too, a genuine appreciation.

“But seriously, you’ve got a good way with them. They listen to you, which is more than I can say for myself sometimes.”

You chuckled softly, shifting so you were sitting a little closer to him.

“I guess we make a good team, huh?”

Steve glanced at you again, his smile widening just a little. “Yeah, I think we do.”

His voice was quieter this time, more thoughtful. “It’s kind of nice, y’know, having someone to share all this with. Feels a little less crazy when it’s not just me trying to keep everything in check.”

You didn’t say anything right away, letting the words sink in.

You had noticed, of course, how Steve had a way of keeping things under control—of bringing a sense of calm to the madness.

But hearing him say it, hearing the vulnerability in his voice as he admitted he wasn’t always sure he had it all together, made you feel... closer to him, in a way.

Like you weren’t just playing along in his world, but that you were starting to share it.

“You know,” you said quietly, looking out the window where the last remnants of the sunset painted the sky in shades of orange and pink, “I didn’t think it’d be like this when I moved here. All the noise, all the... chaos.”

You laughed softly, shaking your head. “But it’s kind of nice. In a weird way.”

Steve followed your gaze, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked out at the fading light.

“Yeah. It’s nice. I think the chaos makes the quiet moments worth it.” He paused, the corner of his mouth twitching like he was holding back another smile.

“And... I think the quiet moments make the chaos feel a little less crazy, too.”

You smiled at his words, the weight of the afternoon finally lifting off your shoulders.

The world outside seemed a little calmer now, the house filled with the soft sounds of the kids in their own little worlds, and Steve sitting next to you, as relaxed as you’d ever seen him.

There was something comforting about this silence, the way everything felt in sync for once.

You didn’t feel the need to fill the air with conversation or distractions. Instead, you could just enjoy the moment for what it was, a brief, quiet pause in the midst of the whirlwind that had been your day.

Steve’s gaze lingered on you for a moment, and you met his eyes, a soft, unspoken understanding passing between you.

Maybe it was the way the evening light softened everything, or the way his presence just felt right, but in that quiet moment, you couldn’t deny it: being here with him felt... good.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Steve said, the words simple but meaningful, his voice steady and warm.

You nodded, a quiet smile curving on your lips. “Me too.”

---

The days after the babysitting adventure had settled into something like routine.

The kids were still as chaotic as ever, but with each passing day, you found yourself easing into the role.

There were moments of laughter, moments of frustration, and, more often than not, you found yourself alongside Steve, trying to juggle the madness.

It wasn’t so much the kids that had started to feel comfortable, it was being around Steve.

Somewhere between handling arguments over video games, calming Max down after she’d stormed off in a huff, and Steve always having just the right words to make everyone laugh or take a break, you’d started to notice something.

The way Steve looked at you wasn’t quite like it had been at first. It was subtle at first,an extra beat of silence when your eyes met, the small, easy smiles that didn’t feel forced, like they used to.

There was an ease in his presence now, a comfortable kind of quiet that you found yourself craving when the noise of the group became too overwhelming.

Today was no different. The kids were in the backyard, playing basketball, and you’d volunteered to stay inside with Steve, mostly because the sun was just a little too hot, and you both had been the designated “guardians of peace.”

You were sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on a drink, while Steve was lazily washing dishes, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

The rhythmic sound of water running, the occasional clink of plates, and the quiet murmurs between you two were almost soothing.

“So,” Steve said, his voice breaking the silence, “how’s school been? You surviving senior year?”

You glanced up from your drink, considering the question. “It’s been alright,” you replied, a small shrug following your words.

“I mean, it’s school. It’s nothing I can’t handle. But it’s... different, you know? Moving here after everything that happened... it’s kind of thrown me off. I feel like I’m still adjusting.”

Steve chuckled, wiping his hands dry on the dish towel.

“Yeah, I get that. Hawkins has a way of making things feel a little weird, right? Everything’s either too normal or too weird, never just... normal.”

You laughed softly, nodding in agreement.

“Exactly. It’s like one minute, I’m trying to figure out how to survive high school, and the next, I’m wondering if I’ll have to deal with some weird, otherworldly creature again.”

Steve smirked, tossing the towel aside and leaning against the counter. “I’m pretty sure that’s part of the charm of this place. You never really know what’s gonna happen next. Makes life interesting, I guess.”

The way he said it made you chuckle, and for a moment, it felt like you were just... talking.

Not about anything important, not anything heavy, but just sharing a moment of lightness, of understanding. It wasn’t often that you felt that way with someone, especially after moving to a new place.

But with Steve, it was easy.

“You know,” you said after a beat, “I didn’t really expect you to be this... chill.”

Steve raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.

“Chill? What, you thought I’d be some angry jock or something?”

You shrugged, trying to hide your smile. “I don’t know. It’s just—well, you’re different than what I thought you’d be.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, I get that a lot. People usually think I’m all about the hair, the car, the ‘cool guy’ persona.” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Guess I got that reputation, huh?”

You couldn’t help but smile, amused by his self-deprecating humor. “I mean, yeah, but there’s more to you than that.”

You paused, looking down at your drink as you thought for a moment. “It’s just... you’re not what I expected. But in a good way.”

Steve’s expression softened at your words, and for a moment, you both just stood there in the quiet of the kitchen, the noise of the kids in the backyard still distant.

There was something comforting about the silence between you two, something that felt like it was slowly pulling you both closer.

Steve shifted on his feet, his gaze never leaving you as he leaned in slightly, as though choosing his words carefully.

“Well... I’m glad to hear that. Honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect from you either when you moved here.”

You looked up at him, curiosity flickering in your eyes. “Oh yeah? What did you think I’d be like?”

He chuckled softly, his expression light.

“I don’t know, honestly. I thought you’d be like one of those people who just comes in, says ‘hi,’ and disappears. You know, all distant and stuff. But you’re... not like that at all.”

You smiled, a small, genuine smile that came naturally. “I’m not that bad, am I?”

Steve’s grin was playful, but there was something more behind it. “Nah. Not bad at all.”

It was funny, how easy it felt to talk to him.

The way the conversation flowed from one moment to the next, no forced pauses, no awkwardness. It felt natural, like the both of you had always been able to share this space.

The kids outside were getting louder, the ball bouncing off the ground, a few of them laughing at some sort of inside joke, but it didn’t matter.

It felt like you and Steve were in your own little bubble, and for once, the rest of the world didn’t need to intrude.

“I’m glad I’m here,” Steve said softly, almost as an afterthought, as he turned back to the sink, his fingers absently running over the rim of a glass.

“I mean, you’ve made things... easier.”

You watched him for a moment, the words hanging in the air between you two.

He hadn’t said anything too deep, but there was a sincerity in his voice that made your heart skip a beat

You were getting used to this, getting used to him being around, getting used to the quiet moments, to how easy it felt to just be in each other’s company.

“I’m glad you’re here too,” you said, the words coming out quieter than you meant them to.

For a moment, Steve didn’t respond, but the smile he gave you was enough. It was soft, almost shy, but there was something in it that told you he felt the same way.

---

It had been a long week, the kind of week that blended together, filled with the usual mix of chaos, laughter, and quiet moments with Steve.

Every time you thought the day would settle into something predictable, there was always a curveball, whether it was Dustin’s never-ending energy, Max’s occasional storms, or the endless basketball games in the driveway.

But, despite the noise, the moments spent with Steve felt different. Lately, you’d found yourself looking forward to them more than you cared to admit.

It was late on a Friday evening, and the kids had all scattered off to their rooms, giving you and Steve the rare chance for some time to yourselves.

The house was quiet, save for the soft hum of the refrigerator and the distant sounds of the night outside.

You were sitting on the couch, a book in your lap, your thoughts wandering far from the pages in front of you. You could hear Steve in the kitchen, putting away some leftovers from dinner, humming to himself absentmindedly.

The usual chatter and playful teasing had quieted down, and you realized, for the first time in a long while, that you weren’t focused on keeping things light anymore.

You weren’t just babysitting the kids or keeping the peace.

You were... drawn to Steve.

And it wasn’t just about the way he’d smile when he caught your eye, or how he’d laugh when you cracked a joke. It was the way he made you feel. Safe. Understood.

Like you were both in this together. Like this moment, this piece of life, was something worth holding onto.

Without thinking, you closed the book and set it aside, standing up and walking toward the kitchen, your steps slow but deliberate.

Steve was humming louder now, moving around the kitchen, but when you leaned against the doorframe, he paused and glanced over at you, raising an eyebrow.

“What’s up?” he asked, wiping his hands on a towel.

You hesitated for a second, not entirely sure what you were about to say, but knowing that it was time to say something.

Something that had been building up in you for weeks now. Something you couldn’t ignore any longer.

“I don’t know,” you said, the words coming out a little quieter than you meant them to.

“I guess... I’ve been thinking.”

Steve tilted his head slightly, clearly interested, but he didn’t push. He just stood there, waiting for you to continue, his expression soft and open.

“About... us, I guess,” you continued, your heart beating a little faster now.

“About how things have been. How... I’ve been feeling. And, I just—”

You stopped yourself, taking a breath. You didn’t know how to explain it, didn’t know how to put into words what had been bubbling up inside you.

But Steve, in his usual way, seemed to sense what you were getting at. His expression softened, and he took a step closer to you, his voice gentle.

“You mean how it feels like we’ve been getting closer?” he asked, his tone teasing but sincere.

You nodded, looking up at him.

“Yeah. I didn’t think it would happen this way, but... yeah. I guess I’ve been feeling it too.”

Steve leaned against the counter, letting out a small breath as he looked down at his hands.

For a moment, you thought he might change the subject, but instead, his voice softened, more vulnerable than you’d ever heard it.

“You know,” he began, “I’m not always this put-together. Like, I joke around and act like I’ve got it all figured out, but... I don’t. Not even close.”

The honesty in his voice surprised you, and you stepped closer, silently encouraging him to continue.

He glanced at you, his eyes searching yours for a moment before looking away again.

“After everything that happened with... the Upside Down, losing people, and just... everything,” he said, his voice faltering slightly,

“it messed me up. I tried to be the guy who could take care of everyone, who could keep it together for the kids, but sometimes... it feels like I’m barely holding on.”

You felt your chest tighten at his words.

It wasn’t often that Steve let his guard down like this, and hearing the cracks in his usual confident exterior made you realize just how much he carried on his shoulders.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” Steve continued, shaking his head with a small, self-conscious laugh.

“Maybe because you’ve been there too. You get it, in a way that not a lot of people do.”

You reached out instinctively, placing a hand on his arm.

The gesture was simple, but it seemed to ground him. He looked up at you, his eyes meeting yours, and for a moment, the vulnerability in his expression was almost overwhelming.

“You don’t have to do it alone, Steve,” you said softly. “You don’t have to be the guy who always has it figured out. We’ve all been through a lot, and it’s okay to lean on someone else sometimes.”

Steve let out a small breath, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips.

“Yeah. I think I’m starting to figure that out. Especially with you.”

The words hung in the air between you, and the realization of what he’d just said made your heart skip a beat.

He hadn’t said it directly, but the meaning was clear. You weren’t just someone he was confiding in. You were someone he trusted, someone he wanted to keep close.

“I’m glad I’m here,” Steve said softly, his voice barely above a whisper. “And I’m glad you’re here too.”

Your hand lingered on his arm for a moment longer before you stepped back, the weight of the moment settling between you. There was something undeniable in the air now, something unspoken but understood.

The connection between you two wasn’t just friendship—it was something more, something neither of you could ignore any longer.

Steve stared at your lips and cracked a smile.

---

It had been a few weeks since that quiet night in the kitchen when everything changed.

You and Steve hadn’t spoken directly about what happened, but the air between you was different now.

The small moments lingered longer, the playful touches and glances felt heavier, and the teasing banter was layered with something unspoken. Something real.

The kids, of course, hadn’t noticed anything, too caught up in their own world of campaigns, arcade games, and adolescent drama.

But you noticed. Steve noticed. And, slowly but surely, the dynamic between you two shifted into something neither of you could name just yet.

The first time it hit you was at the arcade.

It had been Max’s idea to gather everyone, and somehow, you and Steve had been roped into chaperoning.

The kids scattered the moment you arrived, racing to their favorite machines and leaving you two by the snack counter.

Steve leaned casually against the counter, sipping a Coke, his hair as perfect as ever.

You couldn’t help but smirk at how effortlessly he pulled off the whole "cool guy" look.

“You know,” you said, nudging him playfully,

“you’ve got a serious reputation to uphold. Babysitter extraordinaire, hero of Hawkins… how do you handle all the pressure?”

He laughed, a genuine, warm sound that made your chest tighten.

“It’s tough, but someone’s gotta do it,” he quipped, taking another sip. Then he glanced at you, his expression softening. “I mean, it helps having backup now.”

The way he said it, so casually but with a weight that told you he meant it, made your stomach flip.

You looked away, pretending to focus on the kids in the distance, but the warmth creeping up your neck betrayed you.

“Backup, huh?” you replied, your voice teasing but quieter now.

“Guess that makes me your sidekick.”

Steve nudged you back, his shoulder brushing yours in a way that felt deliberate.

“Nah, more like my boyfriend.”

The word hung in the air between you, and for a moment, it felt like the entire arcade had gone silent.

You glanced at him, and the small, knowing smile on his face made your heart race.

“Boyfriend, huh?” you murmured, trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably.

He shrugged, his smile widening. “Yeah. You know… someone I can count on. Someone I can... trust.”

The intensity of his gaze made your breath catch, and you felt like you were teetering on the edge of something big.

But before you could respond, Dustin’s voice cut through the moment, shouting for both of you to “hurry up and come see this!”

Steve chuckled, the spell between you broken but not forgotten.

“Guess duty calls,” he said, giving you a quick wink before heading toward the kids.

You followed, your chest still buzzing from the exchange.

---

The second time it happened was during a late-night drive. The kids were all asleep in the back of Steve’s car after a long day at the pool, and the quiet hum of the engine filled the silence.

You were sitting in the passenger seat, your head resting against the window as the streetlights flickered past.

Steve glanced over at you, his hands steady on the wheel.

“You okay?” he asked, his voice low.

You turned to him, smiling softly. “Yeah. Just… tired, I guess.”

He nodded, his eyes flicking back to the road. “It’s been a long day.”

There was a pause, and then he added, almost hesitantly, “You know, I’ve been thinking… I like this.”

“Like what?” you asked, genuinely curious.

“This,”

He said, gesturing vaguely. “The quiet. The… normal. After everything we’ve been through, it’s nice, y’know? Just driving around with you. Feels... right.”

Your heart skipped a beat at his words, and you couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah,” you murmured. “It does.”

The rest of the drive was quiet, but the air between you was charged, every glance and shared silence saying more than words ever could.

---

The third time it happened was at the Wheeler’s basement, during another one of the kids’ chaotic campaigns.

The two of you sat on the couch, watching the kids argue over strategy, your shoulders pressed together.

Steve leaned in close, pretending to whisper about the game but letting his breath tickle your ear, sending a shiver down your spine.

“Think they’ll ever figure it out?” he teased, his voice low and warm.

“Doubt it,” you replied, trying to ignore the way your pulse quickened at his proximity.

He pulled back slightly, his eyes meeting yours, and for a moment, the world around you seemed to fade.

You could feel the tension building, the unspoken feelings between you growing harder to ignore.

Before either of you could say anything, Lucas shouted in triumph, breaking the moment.

Steve groaned dramatically, leaning back against the couch, but his hand brushed against yours as he did. Neither of you moved it.

It was moments like these, small, fleeting, but deeply significant, that defined the slow burn of your relationship.

Every shared look, every playful touch, every quiet conversation brought you closer, inch by inch, until the line between friendship and something more was barely there at all. And though neither of you had said the words yet, you both knew they were coming. It was just a matter of time.

---

The night was still, the stars scattered across the sky like someone had spilled glitter over velvet.

You and Steve were sitting on the roof of your house, a favorite spot you’d both discovered during one of the kids’ sleepovers.

The chaos of the day had finally settled, leaving behind a peaceful quiet that you’d grown to cherish in moments like these.

Steve sat beside you, legs stretched out, his hands resting on his knees as he gazed up at the stars.

He looked calm, content, but there was something in his posture, his fingers tapping absently against his leg, the way he kept glancing at you from the corner of his eye, that told you he had something on his mind.

“You ever think about what’s next?” he asked suddenly, his voice soft but clear in the stillness.

You turned to him, caught off guard by the question. “Next?”

“Yeah, like... after all of this. The kids, Hawkins, everything.”

He gestured vaguely to the sky, his lips quirking in a small, self-conscious smile.

“I don’t know. Sometimes it feels like this town is all I’ve got, y’know? Like I’ll always be Steve Harrington, babysitter extraordinaire.”

You chuckled softly, nudging him with your shoulder.

“You’re a little more than that, you know.”

He smiled at the nudge, but the vulnerability in his eyes didn’t waver.

“I don’t know. I guess I just... I want more. Something real. Something that makes me feel like... I belong.”

His words hung in the air, heavy with meaning.

You felt your heart ache at the openness in his voice, the quiet longing he rarely let anyone see.

“You do belong, Steve,” you said after a moment, your voice gentle but firm. “To the kids, to this place... to me.”

The last part came out before you could stop it, but you didn’t regret it.

It was the truth, and it was time to stop dancing around it.

Steve turned to you, his eyes searching yours, and you could see the moment your words sank in.

His lips parted slightly, like he was about to say something, but instead, he just stared at you, his expression unreadable.

“I mean it,” you continued, your voice quieter now.

“You’re not just... some guy who keeps the kids out of trouble. You’re more than that, Steve. You’re... everything. To them, sure, but to me, too. And I don’t want you to think you’re not enough, because you are. You always have been.”

Steve blinked, his breath hitching slightly as your words settled over him.

Then, slowly, a small, almost disbelieving smile began to tug at the corners of his lips.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to hear something like that?” he asked, his voice soft, almost like he was afraid to break the moment.

You smiled back, your chest tight with emotion.

“Maybe as long as I’ve wanted to say it.”

There was a beat of silence, the kind of silence that felt full instead of empty, as if the world itself was holding its breath.

Then, Steve reached out, his hand brushing against yours before lacing his fingers through yours.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way before,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Like... like I finally found someone who sees me. Not just the guy who drives the kids around, or the guy who screws things up half the time. Just... me.”

You felt your heart swell at his words, and without thinking, you leaned closer, your free hand resting lightly on his arm.

“I see you, Steve,” you said softly, your eyes locked on his. “I’ve always seen you. And I—”

The words caught in your throat, but you didn’t need to finish them. The look in his eyes told you he already knew.

He leaned in, his forehead resting gently against yours, and for a moment, the world felt perfectly still.

“I think I’m falling for you,”

he murmured, his voice trembling slightly but filled with sincerity.

You closed your eyes, your heart pounding in your chest.

“I think I already have.”

The confession hung between you, weightless and freeing all at once.

Steve pulled back just enough to look at you, his expression soft but filled with something deeper, something you couldn’t quite put into words.

Then, with a tenderness that made your breath catch, he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours.

The kiss was soft, unhurried, and filled with all the emotions that had been building between you for weeks. It wasn’t just a kiss, it was a promise. A promise that this was real, that whatever came next, you’d face it together.

When you finally pulled back, Steve smiled at you, his cheeks flushed but his eyes shining with a happiness you’d never seen before.

“So,” he said, his voice teasing but warm, “does this mean you’re my boyfriend for real now?”

You laughed, shaking your head as you squeezed his hand. “Yeah, Harrington. I guess it does.”

And as you sat there on the roof, your hand in his, the stars shining above, you knew that this was just the beginning. The beginning of something real. Something that finally felt like home.

Thank you, Hawkins.

---

Credits: The Steve Harrington border I used was made by me, but the blue border was made by: kodaswrld!! Go and support them 🫶🏽

[hollyhomburg]

Prey Animals (7)

—  Pairing: Poly Ot7, hoseok x Ot6, Yoongi x reader, Bts x reader,

—  Genre: Omegaverse, Mafia au, Polyamory au, Found family, Suspense, Eventual Smut, enemies to friends to lovers, Healing & Themes of trauma,

—  Summary: In a world where Beta's are rare, valuable, and often have more than one pack; Beta Min Yoongi does everything he can to keep his mafia heritage a secret from his primary pack. Little does he know he's not the only one who's living a double life.

—  Words: 4.7k

—  Warnings: Past Emotional abuse, past psychological abuse, referenced mistreatment, referenced sexual manipulation, breakups, brief homelessness, Hoseok has PTSD, hurt/comfort

—  Check in at the end for my notes on this chapter! — 

(Yoongi, 1 year and 3 months ago)

Yoongi brings Hoseok home one day. Like a little kid would bring home a stray puppy. Apparently, they work together somewhere.

Namjoon and Jin and the others have long stopped asking what Yoongi does for work, used to his cagey answers. But it’s normal as far as beta’s go. Each of them gives Yoongi his space because they understand that all beta’s need it. They’ve all had the same sentiments shoved on them.

Don’t crowd him. At least he comes home. If it was something we needed to know, he’d tell us. He’ll tell you if you really want to know Koo.

Seokjin’s not really surprised that Yoongi does something with music now, that’s always been his first love (before Seokjin of course) he’s always saying this and that, someone showed me this song during work, do you mind if I play it? It’s stuck in my head. And now because of Hoseok- they know why. 

It’s easy to see how a person could get stuck in your head, the same way a favorite song might. Especially when it comes to Hoseok.

It’s the first time they learn of Yoongi’s occupation in nearly a year. The pack tries not to be jealous that Hoseok knows more about what their beta does during the day than they do. That he gets to spend more time with him. Hours and hours the same way that Seokjin used too.

They work at the same record store that gives Yoongi the freedom to make calls in the back (as long as he pays the owner off. As if that’s difficult at all. The owner is just like all the others, and bows to kiss Yoongi’s feet.)

But Hoseok doesn’t know that. Hoseok is just…Yoongi’s friend. Not his best friend yet but by far the person Yoongi likes the best outside of the pack. The only person who knows him that isn’t pack or family.

Hoseok is perplexed that the others don’t even know where Yoongi works. That he’s never shared it with them and that they don't talk about it. But Hoseok has never been in a pack with a beta- so it’s understandable that he doesn’t know.

It's Taehyung that explains it to him weeks later. "It's not that we don't want to know it's just- hyung likes his privacy and you know- he's a beta."

Beta. It's almost a dirty word. Hoseok doesn't like the way that Taehyung says it. Not when Yoongi makes him feel so clean. Hoseok doesn't have the best first impression of Teahyung in general but if Hoseok was being honest, it's mostly because he's jealous. 

Jealousy is hard to admit. Even more when you’re at your lowest.

The day Hoseok meets the rest of the pack is a bad one. Arguably the second worst day of Hoseok's life (the worst day will come a lot later, about 900,000 words from now but you can be patient, can’t you?).

Hoseok doesn’t know what he would have done if Yoongi hadn’t seen him crying on a street corner outside of their workplace. The young alpha looked wrecked- smoking a cigarette with shaking hands and bloodshot eyes. Holding his shoulders oh so carefully. His heart between them aching with fresh wounds. The kind that takes a lifetime to heal.

Yoongi can never leave anyone to wallow- and he gets the story from Hoseok over a warm cup of hot cocoa in the shitty break room. Eyeing the old telephone and begging it not to ring. And the whole time Hoseok feels like he’s drinking down the beta across from him.

Yoongi smells like hot cocoa, warm and comforting. Comfort that he needs desperately right now.

Under Yoongi’s gaze, Hoseok certainly feels like he’s the one being devoured or judged. Like the weighing of the hearts- will Hoseok be able to weigh enough to be loved? Or will Yoongi find him unsatisfactory just like his last pack? Unable to give enough. Undeserving of any and all affection. 

It takes Hoseok a long time to come clean about it, to tell Yoongi what his last pack has done to him. It takes even longer for the beta to understand. Years and years of friendship and love.

But the short answer comes sooner. Yoongi asks him why Hoseok’s pack kicked him out later that night when he’s curling up in the pack’s apartment. Because Hoseok didn’t have another place to stay and Yoongi wasn’t the type of friend to let Hoseok sleep in his car when they’ve got a perfectly good couch. It feels a bit too much like how Seokjin came into his life. But Yoongi keeps his parallels to himself.

Yoongi asks why Hoseok’s pack dumped him out of the blue. Yoongi honestly hasn’t seen one red flag in Hoseok, and Yoongi would know because he’s naturally suspicious of people.  

Jung Hoseok has always seemed nice enough. They’ve worked together for a few months now. Their banter over records and cd's and old sound systems that honestly weren't worth much is as good as his banter with Jin. His opinions on 90's rap are a little pedestrian sure, but they've both bonded over their mutual love of music quite a bit over the last few months. Enough to be friends. 

"In another life, I think I could have been a producer."

"Really? You strike me more as a dancer." Yoongi had rewarded him with a shitty impression of the worm and in turn, Hoseok had rewarded Yoongi with a bright laugh that's almost better than 99% of the music he's ever listened to.

Almost- he still thinks Stick Season is a perfect album. 

Hoseok is basically homeless. Functionally homeless. He’d be sleeping in his car tonight if it wasn’t for Yoongi. He’s a deadbeat alpha without a pack to call his own. A lone wolf if ever there was one. This morning, just this morning he’d woken up to the apartment empty. Everything but the bed gone. The walls vacant of pictures and the hallways silent of laughter. The lease expired; the keys handed over. Alone and on his own and without a place to sleep tonight.

But thankfully, not for long. Yoongi had found him crying in the rain outside of the record store, dragged him inside, and that was that.

Yoongi’s pack has been so kind to him. Kinder than he deserves, offering a place to stay after a short phone call. Yoongi’s phone lighting up across that small table in the breakroom with approval and invitation’s that Hoseok is almost too insecure to accept. Almost.

But he does need a place to stay.

Standing in the doorway of the pack’s apartment. He shouts apologies and thank you’s to anyone who will listen while two of Yoongi’s packmates help carry in his boxes and the other three finish clearing a corner of their spare bedroom for him. (Hoseok does deserve it, it's just his stupid and shitty internal monologue that has him convinced otherwise.)

They set him up in his own space down the hall from the pack’s bedroom. Half a reading room with a cot and the other side occupied by an honestly massive pile of clothes. Hoseok doesn’t mind- it smells good in here. Like their fresh-smelling fabric softener but also a little bit like the inside of a sweet shop with how sugary everyone smells. 

Not like his scent, his old pack mates had always told him he smelled like sugar burning, caramel, Heavy on the burn. 

Hoseok has maybe three plastic bins full of clothes to his name that act as a side table to the single bed. Apparently one of Yoongi’s alphas (the one who smells like cinnamon and pepper) likes to stay up late and read in here instead of keeping his pack mates up with a reading light. Ownership of this space has easily been transferred to Hoseok. They’d made this small space for him. Although the books were taken out regardless of Hoseok's mutable protests not to make a fuss for him. He didn’t need much space.

Hoseok can’t remember the alpha's name or remember if he’d even heard it. They’d called him darling so much that it might just as well have been his name. Jealousy chafes and Hoseok's never been a good enough alpha to receive that kind of affection. He’s never earned that kind of pet name. 

It had been a bit of a slap in the face to see the two omegas treat that alpha with such a kind hand, ruffling his head and loosening his tie for him. Being tactile with him in a way that Hoseok had only ever dared to dream about. Now he and Yoongi sit on the edge of the small bed that smells like that alpha; an appropriate distance away on the too-fluffy blanket and Hoseok- Hoseok just feels so touch starved it hurts.

He won’t get casual affection like the other alpha did, least of all from Yoongi. He’s the beta- the desirable one. Maybe in the next life he can be reborn as a beta, so he’ll get that easy affection. It seems only right when he’d been denied it so much in this life. Hoseok has had the hope burned out of him; he doesn’t have much faith in this this- that things could change enough to accommodate what he wants.

Yoongi’s eyes are warm in the half-light, so warm even if the question is so cold.

"Why did they dump you anyway?" 

Hoseok’s hands play with the blanket, thick and fluffy. “I don’t think they ever really wanted me, just an alpha.”

“All omega’s?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi sighs.

It’s hard to admit when Hoseok had tried so futilely to earn their love for so many years. But he vomits out the words now, begging Yoongi to understand. “As long as one of them wasn’t in heat they basically just ignored me. They’d make me go on suppressants for my rut so that I didn’t have them, but they were making me sick. When I told them I wanted to go off of them and spend my rut with them- they cut me off- and said no one would want to deal with an alpha who has ruts as bad as mine. That I was asking for too much.” The tremble in Hoseok’s hands is a near thing, covered by Yoongi’s and a reassuring squeeze. “I just wish they’d done it directly instead of leaving a note.”

Yoongi looks nearly breathless. “They didn’t have the balls to tell you to your face?”

“No, and remember, all omega’s.”

Yoongi rolls his tongue against the inside of his teeth, it feels…special, and important. Having someone angry on his behalf. Hoseok hasn’t had anyone angry for him and not at him in a long long time.

“What a bunch of assholes.”

A day ago, Hoseok would have defended them, now, he’s just silent.

Internally, Yoongi snorts and thinks that no one's ruts can be worse than Jimin’s. He still has bruises from the last time- hickeys shaped like a literal heart on his happy trail hidden by his thick sweater. But he has more pressing issues right now as he watches the gentle tears drift down Hoseok’s cheeks. Hoseok’s hands tighten on the coverlet.

“Hyung, was I? Was I asking for too much?”

Hoseok sees Yoongi’s jaw roll again, and the beta goes from smelling like chocolate to smelling like the ocean entirely, the sweetness dimming. Yoongi smells like the ocean at night when he's angry, salt and hidden brine. So at odds with his chocolate scent. So opposite. Beta's always smell a little despondent. Their happy and sad scents never match up. Hoseok’s almost sorry he asked.

“No Hobi. You weren’t asking for too much at all.”

Yoongi pulls Hoseok’s head to rest against his shoulder. Letting him stay there until Hoseok’s tears have dried and his sobs have become little hiccups.

That night Hoseok sees the two omegas kiss each of their pack mates on the forehead. They spend special time with the pack alpha. They linger in the hallway outside of the spare bedroom, door open because it’s not Hoseok’s door to close. Completely aware that he’s there, that he’s watching, and yet the pack alpha does nothing about it.

He- Namjoon- is a happy sandwich between the two omegas’, with a hand on either side of their waists. He smiles good-naturedly at Hobi from the doorway and tells him he can stay as long as he wants too.

Wants too, not needs. Namjoon is very careful with his words. Generous with them.

Hoseok doesn’t understand why they’re treating him so well. Namjoon’s alpha instincts must be screaming at him to not let a stranger get close to his omegas or his pups (he’s heard him, and his omega refer to the three youngest as such- it’s an affectionate title, similar to calling someone ‘baby’).

It would be natural for them to feel uncomfortable with a stranger in their den. But Hoseok never senses any distaste from Namjoon nor from the other two alphas- Taehyung (darling) and Jimin.

Hoseok hardly sleeps that night, tossing and turning, nose itching from all the new scents echoing from down the hall. He gives up sometime after 4 am, quieting the restlessness in his bones in the one way he knows how.

By being useful.

Namjoon usually wakes up first. He has to be at the hospital by 7 am for his shift and waking up early has always been difficult for the alpha. He almost walks into the wall, the thud resonating in their apartment. Blinking dimly when he looks at the spread stretched out before them on the dining room table tucked into the corner of the kitchen. Hoseok smiles and finishes wiping off the counters with a beaming smile.

He hopes it’s enough. 

“Good morning! I hope you don’t mind but I wanted to show you how much I appreciate you letting me sleep here- I’m not the best cook but breakfast is my-” Hoseok’s smile fades when he takes in Namjoon’s wide eyes. The alpha blinks away his sleepiness in the doorway. Before rubbing at his eyes like what he’s seeing can’t possibly be real. “Specialty…”

Hoseok is panicked, all but ringing his hands. “Of course you don’t like it- oh my god did I overstep? I’m sorry pack alpha I know this is your den I shouldn’t have been so-”

  Stupid . Hoseok had fucked up. Again. He’s barely been here for 18 hours. Must be some sort of record.

Before Namjoon can answer Seokjin stumbles out of the bedroom nearly hip-checking Namjoon. Not expecting the alpha to be just standing there dumbly. He’s pretty tall for an omega. Both of them a bit uncoordinated especially half asleep. Namjoon almost trips, Seokjin catches him. “Don’t bump into any more walls I’ve got you I’ll make coffee in a second just let me-” he blinks too, stopping. 

Hoseok has made Omurice and cinnamon toast with sugar. A plate of poached eggs and a bowl of cut bananas and strawberries. Creamy hollandaise sauce too. Pancake batter is in the works, the coffee pot already gurgling. Ready to be pipped out at request. And the dishes, the dishes are already done and on the drying rack. The table set for seven people.

Hoseok even had time to water Tae's plants. a plant collection that will nearly triple in size in the next few years because Namjoon won’t be able to resist giving them to Hobi. A gentle alpha. An alpha like him- that likes to see things grow. There will be bonsai trees and cyclamens and itty-bitty orchids from trader joes. Everything that grows will point to Hoseok. Like a sunflower tilting in the direction of the sun.

“I have a bit of a green thumb. I hope you don’t mind. I noticed your pithos was a bit dry.” Seokjin can’t help but look at Hoseok and think that taking care of things for someone is it’s own special type of flirting.

Dimly, Seokjin remembers last night, quiet questions over dinner, “do you like to cook Hoseok-shii?”

“Not really, I’m really good at making breakfast foods but everything else is sort of out of my depth omega-shii. If you want, I can do the dishes?”

“Please, call me Hyung, everyone else does, and the dishes can wait for the morning. You’ve had a tough day, you deserve some rest.”

The two of them blink and blink at Hoseok stunned that the alpha has made them a full breakfast. And did it so quietly. None of them are heavy sleepers (besides Yoongi and Jungkook) Namjoon doesn’t know how he didn’t hear anything. 

The alpha is quiet, stealthy almost. And Jin’s heart hurts when he thinks of why that might be. Even now, the alpha struggles to meet Jin’s eyes. He doesn’t have the same problem with meeting Namjoon’s.

Seokjin all but pushed the pack alpha in his direction.

A few minutes later Hoseok tries to hide his shy smile as Namjoon and Seokjin both let out simply pornographic moans at the taste of Hoseok’s food. Sitting on either side of him, Namjoon piles his plate high with food. “I'm only really good with breakfast food, I can’t make anything else.” But neither of them seems to hear him. Seokjin pouts down at Hoseok, a little bit of runny egg yellowing the corner of his mouth. Narrowing his eyes.

“Can we keep you?” 

Namjoon's words are muffled by the 6th pancake of the morning, hunched over his plate. "phfuck off he's phmine." 

Hoseok falls into their pack easily. It's not all romantic at first.

He walks with Tae home and helps Jimin with the laundry. He cooks breakfast and wears Seokjin’s apron and helps do the dishes. He likes being helpful. He goes on runs with Jungkook every morning to keep an eye on him- in case he has an episode while he’s running. He’s the only one who can really keep up with the youngest. He’s the one who has the idea of getting Jungkook a smartwatch to track his heart rate and therefore his seizures. All of them connect their phones to the app and check-in. Especially when they don’t want to bug Jungkook but still want to make sure their precious youngest omega is okay.

Even if Hoseok is wary of omegas in general given his history; he’d never let the younger suffer through it alone.

Yoongi’s only known Hoseok for a couple of months and still- He’s the jumpiest alpha that Yoongi’s ever met. He puts Jimin to shame (Jimin’s job keeps him so on edge, the tenseness that he only loosens when he comes home). Flinching especially around Seokjin and Jungkook. But every inch of him goes calm when Yoongi is in the room.

Yoongi had noticed the same thing in the record store.

The Flinching, the tentativeness, the fear that lurks underneath Hoseok’s skin. That only points to one thing. Hoseok checks his phone obsessively the first few weeks but then less as time goes on and Yoongi thinks good.

Good, they didn’t deserve you.

Hoseok never brings up any physical abuse that he might have suffered at the hands of his old packmates. Hoseok won't even say their names, still too trauma-ridden that all he can say is ‘this one’ or ‘that one’ or ‘the pack omega’ when Yoongi asks him about his old pack. Usually on their late-night drives when their hands tangle over the center console and Hoseok feels safe enough to talk about them. 

He'll feel safe enough to talk about them with the others too eventually, but it takes baby steps to incorporate him into the pack. He still can't even say their names and after the first few months as they fade from relevancy, Yoongi doesn’t ask.

All in all, that’s probably a good thing, Yoongi had half a mind to track them down and orchestrate some sort of accident for them otherwise. But if you could manage to hurt a person like Hoseok, as sunshiny and as genuinely good as he is, they must be twice the monsters that Yoongi is. It’s probably for the best that Hoseok never mentions them by name.

Names have weight.

At work, The record store owner’s beady eyes flicker from Yoongi to Hoseok. He notices when they start to come and go from the shop together. And he starts to sync their shifts. Anything to keep someone from the Min family happy. Maybe Yoongi would carry that good opinion back to his grandfather and lead to better business. Yoongi knows the owners motives and as much as he hates to admit it- It’s nice to lean into Hoseok on their walk to the subway, to sit close and share a pair of earbuds while they scroll through some YouTube videos.

He and Hoseok have a lot of the same interests. But as time goes on- Yoongi starts to get a little worried about Hoseok’s proximity to Yoongi’s job- the one he doesn’t talk about with anyone in his pack. Hoseok just assumes he does acquisitions and inventory for the store owner, which is why he’s constantly ducking into the backroom whenever the old phone rings.

It was the same way at the coffee shop, but Hoseok and Seokjin never knew to compare notes.

Sometimes the family needs more from him than a simple phone call, and Hoseok is too close to it now. It’s easy to lie even if Yoongi hates lying to his packmates. He tells Seokjin that he has to work and tells Hoseok that he doesn’t. And it’s easy to slip away. 

Usually, Yoongi finds himself at a hotel or to a different part of the city, far away from his packmates. Yoongi hates meeting in person but sometimes it can’t be avoided. Often times the rooms he enters are too fine and expensive for his tastes. Chandeliers dripping with diamonds and fine velvet interiors at odds with his ripped jeans and old band t-shirts that make him feel wholly out of place. 

Yoongi’s conducted these meetings in so many places, in the back of limousines, the back rooms of bars and clubs, a pool on top of the city's most expensive apartment complex, and even once an underground bunker. Anywhere and everywhere. It helps that most people are willing to travel for him- since Yoongi is firm on his decision to not leave his city.

The secretaries at this hotel eye his appearance like he’s nothing but street trash. Which, granted, he is. But he’s beta street trash and that makes all the difference.

“The reservation should be under Min.”

That gives them a start usually, a subtle widening of eyes, hands fumbling for the phone to call the hotel director.

“I take it they’re already expecting me?” 

On the days that Yoongi actually tends to his day job, he does a good job keeping an eye on the record store owner. If only because Hoseok has such a proximity to him. Yoongi’s noticed whenever the owner comes into work a lot more people frequent the store. And he’s seen him slip small bags of white powder into the sleeves of records before. But Yoongi knows how to keep quiet about that sort of thing. And Hoseok has so much on his plate that he never notices.

The rest of his pack doesn’t mind stepping around Hoseok when it’s clear he’s having a bad day. They come less frequently as time goes on and soon, he feels just as comfortable curling up with the omegas as he does with the alphas. But the adjustment is slow, he meets Jin’s eyes only sometimes. Sidesteps Jungkook’s teasing. Bows under the weight of Namjoon’s hand on his shoulder.

The adjustment is slow but noticeable. He play wrestles with Jimin, with Taehyung. Ducks his head under Jin’s fussing but doesn’t out right reject it. He takes the packed lunch and a sleepy scent mark without gnashing his teeth and growling. Far from it- he blushes.

But the first time they invite him into their nest Hoseok looks like they’ve just doused him with a bucket of icy water.

“I’ve never been in a nest before, at least not outside of a heat." Jungkook flinches, and Jin hisses. Hoseok pales before Jin’s had the chance to realize his mistake. But still, the border gets pushed back. And Hoseok waits. Taking one step closer than anther before he gently puts a knee on the border.

It hurts them that he sits in it- rim rod straight. Worried that he’s going to be booted out of it for messing up the edge or accidently spreading his scent in it. But Seokjin and Jungkook just surround him with their favorite nest-making items and sit chest-to-chest with him. Hoseok shivers with every easily given touch. Through his hair, over his shoulders, on his scent glands round and pudgy at his neck. Jungkook kisses into his mouth soft and sweet. 

“Love it when our nest smells like you Hoseokie.” 

It takes them a while- but eventually, he opens up to the others about his old pack. How poorly they treated him. He names specifics that have Jin hiding his mouth, that have Namjoon’s hands tightening on the back of the chairs. That make Jimin grit his teeth and growl. That have Tae folding his book and tossing it to the side in favor of pulling him in.

To them, he’d been an add-on- nothing special. The only alpha in a group of four female omegas.

Comparatively, their pack feels more balanced now with two alphas for each omega. When Jungkook and Seokjin’s heats eventually come he’s very happy to take the lowest spot in their hierarchy even though he’s the oldest alpha. He doesn’t know how to be a good alpha he says (though he’s never done anything wrong) Namjoon needs to show him.

But it’s just reassurance that Hoseok needs and that’s easily given. Hoseok is so honestly happy to please. 

He’s everything to them- the most special and desired person in their beds and in their lives. Jung Hoseok is the one to wake them up with coffee in the morning, and also the one who tries to say every night, “you don’t have to do this, really guys I’m good.” Even when they know having his back rubbed is his favorite way to fall asleep. They pet his hair until the touch-starved shivers subside into happy grumbles, the alpha version of an omega purr. They love how shivery and cutely hazy he gets when they shower him in affection.

Things are good, for a while- they're so so so good. Things get so good that Hoseok almost forgets.

Almost.

~-~

(Yoongi, 124 days before).

But someone always leaves, someone has to go first- it’s just the way things are.

They just never expected it to be Yoongi.

It happens when Yoongi least expects it, after a group date with the seven of them. It's probably the last truly warm day of the summer, warm enough that it has them all escaping on a Sunday to go to the ocean again- Hoseok's favorite place. The sand sticks to Yoongi's bare feet. His ankles are cold. Fall is just on the horizon. Not far now.

Yoongi's phone rings and he walks away from their big picnic blanket to take the call. Jimin’s laugh rings in his ears, almost drowning out the sound of the ocean and the person on the other side of the phone.

Hearing fluent unaccented Korean is so jarring through the speaker that Yoongi almost misses it. He's so used to Jimin's slight drawl, Seokjin's crisp syllables, the way that Taehyung sounds as he flips from English to Korean and back again words and grammar all tangled.

He'd forgotten what his family sounds like when they talk.

“Harabeoji is dead.”

Yoongi's blood goes cold, and his hands start to shake. They don’t say anything else before they hang up, but they don’t need to. The message is clear. Yoongi is well trained. Yoongi is a good pup, a good beta. He knows to come when called.

“What is it Yoongi? Is everything alright?” 

Yoongi schools his face into a neutral expression while his pulse roars in his ears as he turns around. “I’m perfectly fine Jinnie. Nothing is wrong.” He lies effortlessly. The words couldn’t be further from the truth. 

(Sometimes, people leave not because they want to- but because they have to).

~-~

(Read the first Version of this story Here)

Notes:

- Honestly this is another chapter where the title??? Why am I even bothering with chapter titles??? I mean I love them but half of them are! Not right and I don’t know how to fix it (yet) I feel like this chapter being the bumblebee chapter is too on the nose. (edit, I did actually go back and change this just a few days later.)

- Reading this I’m reminded that everything is up to interpretation. And I think because we see this scene again a lot later in this story. this is what happened from Yoongi’s perspective and later- that’s from Hobi's pov you know?.Just trust me if you look at them next to each other it makes sense that this one you’re seeing right now is a biased view.

- Some of Hoseok’s chapter feels a little bit fanfictiony, but I don’t hate it, like I think that I’m trying to hit somewhere in the middle of a published book and a fanfic, it doesn’t need to be one or the other right now.

[vampworks]

At Last

Pairing(s): Caleb xreader (platonic) Sylus x reader x Zayne( love triangle)

Caleb chooses the worst way to announce his homecoming or in other words, that one scene in Deadpool and Wolverine. "He has risen, baby girl." "Fuck!".

w/c: 3k

a/n: hours of dying inside and here we are. I want to thank pinterest, my cat, and the monster I drank. This game has me in shambles and I will never recover.

warnings: angst, comfort, trauma, pet names, intimacy, profanity, mentions of death, mentions of medication.

To the family of Josephine and Caleb Yizhou, we regret to inform you that, per verification process conducted by Linkon City Government. Both Josephine and Caleb have been officially recorded as decreased due the accident on the date of xx-xx-xx. We kindly request you to-

You could barely stomach reading the rest of the text. It has been nearly 3 years since you lost it all. Only now had they finished their investigation. How long did they take to realize what you had years ago. That your family was gone. Caleb was gone. With a new gift of nausea, you felt the numbness crawling back up again. The dread you thought you had grown customed to.

On the way to city hall, you cancel tonight’s date with Zayne with a text of your own. You didn’t even think of your promise to let him in more. Something came up, will explain later. Far too short for casual. It didn’t have the usual warmth you had when you spoke to him. You knew he would suspect something.  Hell, not even a heart at end of it. He probably thinks the world was ending for you. Maybe He’d be right. You have the spent the last 3 years trying to cope. Trying to rebuild any semblance of happiness. All of what. All it took was one text. One mention of their names for it to come crashing down. Congrats, you were still the hopeless kid thrown onto you ass from the blast. Staring at the burning remains of everything you’ve known.

Two weeks of haunting the earth with each step you took later. Everyone could see you hurting, it had made you numb to anything but work. Old habits die hard as they say. You took far too many missions only to burn through with berserk-like brutality.  Captain Jenna would have congratulated your latest efforts if it wasn’t for the thousand-yard stare you had with the floor every time you spoke. “Go home, y/ln” You couldn’t even muster an argument, so you packed your bag and trudged back to your empty apartment.

Finally, at your door, the sick feeling you had feeling eased for a single moment. A pair of strong arms had engulfed you leaving no room for escape. The familiar scent of gunmetal and rich cologne filled your senses. “Sy-“ you managed to let out in a huff. “Hello to you too, Kitten.” Normally you’d return his hug but once again the strength never came. With a huff of his own, the giant of a man lowers himself to his knees. Dark red eyes bore into e/c, so he looked for any signs of life, but you stared right back with a cold expressionless glaze. Still lost in the haze of it all. “You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, sweetie but please tell that you’re all right at leas.” He pleaded, his voice losing the honeyed sound for a much softer tone. “Please, y/n.”

After agonizing over trying to make any noise at all. Something rancid leaves your lips. “I’m fine, just leave alright. I can’t do this right now.”  You bite. The pleading eyes beneath you once again shift with a tired furrow in his brow. “You can’t do what? I came because you’ve been blowing off my calls. Zayne told me you skipped picking up your medication and the date that you planned with him.” You weakly pushed him away, reaching for the lock. His hand takes hold of your wrist. “Y/N”, more than a little stern. It was like talking to child, but it finally caught your attention. “What Sylus. I’m tired and I just want to sleep. I will get the damn pills in the morning and you’re both busy anyway. Just please let me go before I-’ The irritating chime of your phone cuts you off before you ruin the delicate facade of control. Another sigh and a painful glance up at him, you answer the call. “Hello” The hunter in you came out and sound just as cold as before. “Hello, am I speaking with Y/LN. Apologies of the late hour, but I called to deliver a message from Farspace Fleet command center, are you available at the moment?" The man asked, his chirper tone made you even more nauseous, but you agreed without a second thought. It was probably just courtesy since the investigation message you received. The man explained that fleet FSCV-001 would be returning to Sky haven soon and your presences was requested by a colonel by the name of Caleb Yizhou. The second shoe drops. Blood rushed to your head. The air ripped from your lungs.

Sylus caught you as your legs gave out from beneath you and brought you inside the apartment. It took every once of strength in your body to keep listening. “Ma’am, he also recorded a voice memo for you, I’ll play it for you now.  You shook away the tears that threatened to fall but it was too late. “Hey, pipsqueak. You’re not dreaming. Looks like you ‘ve been holding up well since I was gone. That’s precisely why I had to hurry back. Can’t give you a chance to forget about me. Don’t worry, I won’t disappear on you again- “You were now clinging to Sylus. Your nails are crawling against his back. The silky fabric bunching and wrinkling in your grasp but neither of you care. Gasping for breath as you hung on every word your lost friend spoke.

“Oh, one more thing. Don’t be afraid, I’m back now.” End of recording, Thank you for your time, Miss. You heard the bleep after he hung up. You were still fighting back the urge to scream. Sylus held you tighter, still on the floor barely past your doorframe. “Y/n, its ok. Let go.”  He coaxed. Perhaps that’s what you were waiting for because you finally sobbed. You broke down the way you’ve wanted to for years now. Never allowing yourself to truly to feel what you had so tightly tucked away. He held you there till you fell asleep from exhaustion, gently soothing you while running his left hand up and down your back. His right found its way into your hair, pressing your head further into the crook of his neck. “It’ll be alright, my love”. He cooed, carrying you off to bed. He had watched you through Mephisto’s eye the whole time like he always has.

It was torture for him to listen to your voicemail while you threw yourself at wanderer days in and day out. The jokey and joyful tone hurt like knives knowing you probably hadn’t spoken like that to anyone in weeks. “Hey, you’ve reached my phone. Now come and find me. Heh he. But seriously sorry I missed your call. Leave a message and I’ll get back to ya.” You seemed so happy before. Of course, he knew of Caleb’s whereabouts. He had been subtly preparing you for the blow with lines like ‘careful who you trust from now on’ and ‘sometimes the closest to us may do the most harm’, but it wasn’t nearly enough. Here you were hurting in a way he couldn’t solve. With a heavy sigh, he called Zayne (his so-called rival) for help and your comfort. Zayne knew Caleb personally, he would soothe both of your worries.

 “Fuck”, Zayne hissed in response to the news over the phone. He was headed home after a long shift but made a very sharp U-turn back towards your apartment. “I’ll be there in a moment don’t alert Xavier." Sylus’s eyes grew wide at the responsive but quickly recovered. After 15 minutes of almost speeding, Zayne arrives in your apartment with an anger never seen before. “Is she alright. How long before that bastard arrives.” Zayne scans over the apartment for you while glancing back at Sylus for his answers. Sylus falls back into the much too small sofa letting out the sound of a sore old man. “She’s not well but she’s sleeping in the back. From what I heard, there’s five days before the fleet lands. He asked her to meet him in Sky haven. He sounded genuine but it’s still suspicious. Why wait til now.” Zayne nodded, busying himself in your kitchen. Tea would do little to calm them, but it was something. Anything to keep him from going over there himself and picking up a fight he knew only would hurt you more. “What was he like, when you knew him. Perhaps he’s had a motive this whole time?”

“Obsessive.” The doctor snorted. “The poor girl was smothered with him, but she saw nothing but her protective best friend. Pushed me away any chance he could.” It was now Sylus’s turn to laugh. “So, playing house never-ending well, I take?” The dark-haired man sighed into his mug. “Y/n had proudly declared me as her husband since she was 9, but Caleb said I should stay in my place as the friendly neighbor or the dog. You might be right. Any evidence pointing to Ever in this.” “Nothing concrete yet, but I’ll have something clear soon. He says checking on Mephisto’s camera feed from Sky Haven.

“I want to see” You croaked, voice still hoarse from crying earlier. Both men are up and near you in an instant. You wobble toward them light-headed and on bare feet, before nearly falling again. Zayne wins the ‘race’ this time, scooping you and bringing you to the loveseat to sit in his lap. Sylus follows the two of you back and pulls the screen again for you to see. The crimson-tinted screen shows gleaming city streets filled with lights. In the distance, silver towers glow like Christmas up above. Misty fog covering it all making it look like a hazy dream. “Lovely, do you think you should wait til you’re feeling better before you see him again?” Zayne asked you, his voice losing the bite it had just a moment before. “No, I won’t feel better til I see…him. I want to know what happened.” You said, eyes with tears welling up again. “Why he left me alone” The last part of that sentence was muffled into Zayne’s turtleneck. “I’m proud of, y/n” Zayne whispers into your hair. “You’ve been so strong through it all but its ok if you need more time, that’s perfectly fine.” “He’s right, Kitten.”

“Thank you, both of you. I would love to go back to thinking  he was gone and moving on, but I really need to see him. Maybe punch him a few times for pay back but still.” You attempt to joke but a few good hits would definitely help your feelings if you’re being serious. The rest of the night was spent with Zayne and Sylus doing their best to distract you by any means necessary. A silent truce leads to them teasing each other and doting on your head and foot. Two movies, a pile-it-up competition, and half a Hershey pie later, the three of you were tucked into your far too-small bed. But for two giants and you, you were more than happy to be squished.

One day before Touch Down

“Ok but if they ask me to sing, I’m gonna ugly cry.” You said finally grocery shopping again. Sylus had come along. After last time, He seemed the domesticity of it. “I would love to hear you sing again, sweetie but you aren’t capable of “ugly crying”. He jested, tossing another steak cut into your cart. “I’ll have you know y rendition of ‘At Last’ in college choir could kill a man, I won't even start about ‘Sweet Love’. Tears and all, mister.” “Oh, I’m sure.” Maybe everything will be okay after all. Watching you prepare for a dinner date like nothing occurred at all was nice but the sight of you breaking down like that would always be burned into his brain. He vowed that he’d always be there for you through good times and bad while you scanned the aisle for sweets. He heard you mutter something about deserving a cheat day more than anyone right now. You were right.

Moments Before Touch Down

The cold wind blasts through the fog ridden streets all around you. The taxi had let you in front of the command center as you requested but it was the long dreadful walk to the carrier bay that was miserable. The cruel fabric of your own dress blues did against the freezing air. The hunter dress code at its finest, the dark blue pencil skirt, blouse, and jacket was awful, Tara had always questioned what you had against the usual dress code, seeing your custom uniform outfitted with leather and pants no less. But you was right in end. This sucks ass.

The air was far too thin for your heart’s liking and the eerie glow of tech through the fog lighting on your way did little to comfort your nerves. Soon enough, the clearance stall was in sight with a man waiting with your name on a sign. He wore the same dress as blues Caleb used to when he first enlisted. “Hello miss y/ln, correct?” You gave a curt nod before putting on a smile. You were trying your hardest not to go numb again. You promised yourself and the boys that you would be ok and present. “Great, the colonel did make a last minute request of you.” You sighed, mentally prepared for whatever he could’ve thrown you now. “The colonel spoke about your singing to the higher ups and you’ve been invited to officially welcome the fleet home with a song.” “Shit” you mumbled beneath a cough saving to save face. If the officer had heard he played no mind. You had definitely jinxed it in the store, Sylus’s bad luck had rubbed off on you once again. Plastering a big smile, you spoke, far more chipper it was painful. “It would be a great honor, thank you.” You say through gritted teeth. “Wonderful, follow me.”

You now found on the highest step leading to the stage, highest seat on the bay as the ship finally touched down. Every bone in you body shivers and shakes. The breathes you now halted as they all file out by rank. Each group called out by squad name led by their colonel. A drone of names and codes you couldn’t hear above the sound of your own racing heart. None of the breathing exercises practiced with Zayne could help now. Only pressing on and waiting for the man who haunted you for years would bring any type of solace.

Once they had all stood in formation, a general comes and gives a speech about unity, the future, and whatever else is on his messy que cards. “And now a song from the Hunters associations’ very own, Y/n Y/ln to welcome us all home. You shot up scanning over the crowd. Suddenly your college recital was nothing compared to this. ‘Just another obstacle before I get to see him.’ You thought. The music starts and so do you.

At last, my love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

This was cruel. Sickening. He had to have known.

The skies above are blue

My heart is wrapped up in clover

The night I looked at you

A man pushes through the crowd towards the stage. His medals glimmering was he moves with fevor.

Oh, and then the spell was cast

And here we are in heaven

For you are mine

At last

Cheers and clapping filled the air and just as you said. Some of the officials are sobbing. You paid no mind as Bright purple eyes gleamed up at you. He stares at you in awe. As if you had put the clouds into skies that he had flown through for too long. He smiles the same grin he did back then. It was him. The colonel reaches out for you, eager to have you in arms once again. You jump without a second thought. God how you had missed him. How he had missed you. He needs you like air in his lungs. The tight embrace is bone-crushing on his part, but you could’ve asked for tighter. Anything was fine as long as he never let you go again. “Hello again, my little love” You smiled and giggled at the line. Cheeks are growing hot despite the cold chill around you. “Is it really you, Caleb?” You asked, hoping to stay in this blissful dream even if it wasn’t. “Of course, y/n. I’m back. Good luck getting rid of me now.” He laughs. The sound is heaven to your ears. Memories of a childhood together you had buried now come flooding back. “Ugh finally, as if I’d let you go. I might just kidnap you and take you home back with me.” You hiccup. And now it’s his turn to hang on to your words but he snorts and tightens his grasp. “You’ll never hear me complain about it.”  You shove a hand into your pocket to pull the silver chain. It shines between you two as you gently push him back earning a pout from him. The apple-accented dog chain would be united with its owner once again. “Tryna collar me, Princess?” He says already bending down for you. “Yup, then you’ll never run away again.”  You say, hooking the chain around his neck. “Lets get outta here, coffee?” Tears of his own threaten to fall as he speaks.

This was going far better than Caleb ever imagined it would. He’s sure you’ll knock him on his ass later and he sure as hell deserves it but for now, he’ll wrap you in his coat, scoop up and carry you off somewhere warm.

At last, both of you were finally had a home again.

[fuji09]

Derek Hale isn't as... grown-up as you think.

Part 2 of my "[character] isn't as..." series.

Yes, Derek Hale is an adult. No matter if he is 19, 20, 21, 22, ect... Derek is an adult season 1.

However, just because he is in his early twenties, doesn't make him a grown ass adult (as some like to lovingly call him).

Due to trauma that started when he was 15, Derek does not know how to adult.

At 15 he has to kill the girl he loves, Paige, to end her suffering as she's dying.

Then soon after, Kate Argent manipulates, grooms, uses, abuses, sexually assaults, and rapes Derek, when he is 15/16.

Then Kate burns his home to the ground with his family inside, losing his entire world. Only Laura and Peter (known at the time) survived. Peter was severely burned and catatonic. Cora was assumed dead in the fire but we later find she survived too.

So now Laura and Derek are the only ones left, and they leave their only home to go across the country to run and hide from hunters.

Laura is the alpha with only Derek as pack and they run away and end up hiding in New York for 6 years. Just the two of them for 6 years. We aren't really shown what went on during those 6 year, did they party to forget their troubles? Did they hide themselves away from everybody and became hermits? Did they just start over and live normal human lives?

Derek is constantly running. He can't ever settle, can't have security or feel safe. Always looking over his shoulder, and this starts when he's 15/16.

Now Laura returns to Beacon Hills and leaves Derek behind. She is killed and Derek comes looking for her, all alone. Derek returns to the place where he lost it all to try to find his sister, the only family he had left.

He finds out Laura was killed and ripped in half. That there is now an alpha running wild in Beacon Hills. There's a newly bitten werewolf. There are also hunters. The Argents, who is Kate's family, mock Derek's lack of family left alive. Derek could have easily turned around and left. Go right back to New York and not deal with this mess. But he doesn't leave. He stays.

He tries to help the newly bitten werewolf to the best of his ability. This boy can't even take care of himself but he's still trying to help Scott.

Scott fights him along the way, the alpha keeps attacking, and Derek tries to keep Scott from being killed, found out, or hurt someone.

Derek has no clue what to do. He was never meant to be an alpha. The guy lives in his burnt out husk of house and then lives in an abandoned train station.

He's literally still stuck as that 15 year old kid who lost it all. Derek makes many mistakes, and I think part of it has to do with not knowing how to speak to people. He's very short with everyone, uses facial expressions more than words, and has a hard time understanding others.

He gets frustrated easily and then reacts by getting physical, like shoving Scott in the wall and threatening to kill him if Scott risks everything by playing in the Lacrosse game even though he doesn't have a handle on his shifting and there are hunters everywhere. Turns out to be an empty threat because Scott does play and Derek does not kill him.

Derek still acts like a kid, and I honestly believe what helped him start to grow and actually become an adult was Scott. Derek felt responsible for Scott even though he didn't bite him. Sometimes people become the adult they are supposed to be when they get a pet or have a baby. They get their shit together when someone is dependent on them. Derek took Scott on like a brother.

Their relationship is a lot like brothers. They fight and argue, they protect each other, and they help (begrudgingly) each other. They may threaten to kill each other, but then when someone is actually trying to hurt the other, they protect each other.

Derek starts to grow up when he's around Scott and Stiles. Stiles is kinda like the annoying best friend of his now younger brother, so now he has someone who can dish it and take, but also someone who can help him figure shit out.

Derek doesn't have his shit together, he's a hot mess. He's scared and angry. He definitely has PTSD, it makes sense how he reacts to things. He also deals with severe guilt, anxiety, depression, self harm, and he's basically suicidal.

He does know how to keep his strength in check though. We see Stiles shoved against a wall by several people, Scott, Erica, Theo, and Derek. But Derek is the only one who doesn't shove him too hard. Derek is the only one who doesn't hurt Stiles when he shoved him, and most of the movement we see from Stiles is him jumping from being startled.

He does hit Stiles' head on the steering wheel, which Stiles totally deserved, but it wasn't hard enough to leave a mark or do any damage, it was just enough of a warning to never do that again. He knows how to be more gentle with humans.

Derek is a martyr and I really do believe he's suicidal because he also doesn't care if he dies, even though he partly doesn't want to die. He has zero self worth and has no issue with dying if it helps someone. He literally has to prove his worth to Scott and Stiles that they need him so he is worth saving. He doesn't think he's worth saving unless he's useful to someone and he believes that everyone else thinks that way too.

Derek puts up this rough front to keep people away to protect himself from getting hurt again. He makes himself look unapproachable and mean. But he actually cares a lot. He hides as a defense mechanism.

He was taught pain makes you human and keeps you near your humanity and that it also speeds up the healing process so he ends up hurting several werewolves, Scott, Erica, Isaac, Boyd, and Jackson. Whether it's to help them heal, teach them to hold on to their humanity, or fight even harder, he teaches these things to the other betas.

Derek is so damaged and stuck. He has trust issues. He may be wealthy, but he doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't spend it for a long time. For two seasons he's squatting, until finally season 3 he gets a loft.

Derek may be an adult, but he definitely wasn't grown up for seasons 1 and 2.

Derek gets along with the teens because he still has the teen mindset. Which causes him to not always make the best choices.

He is still is an easy target to manipulate and try to control. As we see when Peter reveals he's the alpha. In order to keep Peter away from Stiles and not get himself killed, he has to "join" Peter's side. Which by the look on his face the whole time he hates it and doesn't actually agree with Peter, but he pretends for a while. He has to stand by and watch as his uncle assaults Scott again and gives him the memories of the fire. Which side note, I think Peter did that as a jab at Scott for saying maybe the Argents has a good reason to burn the Hales. Doesn't make it right at all, but it makes sense that he would be angry about that comment.

Derek knows he's hot and he uses that to his advantage when needed, but also because he seems to think that's all he's good for when it comes to girls. He's so awkward with women in the first 2 seasons. He seems unable to actually flirt well until season 3.

He works out way more than he should, punishing his body to hurt himself. He lets himself be shot, tazed, shocked, and beaten because he feels that he deserves it. He truly thinks he's a bad person and he's not. He self sabotages at times because he gets too cocky or scared when something is actually going right.

Derek actually tries though. He keeps getting kicked while he's down. He perseveres and he fucks up. And he also learns from those mistakes and tries to be better.

You can find part 1 of my" [character] isn't as..." series here about Stiles.

Hope y'all enjoyed part 2 about Derek and I'll be back with a part 3. Can y'all guess who it will be about?

[urautismdiagnosis]

Barnacles Psyche and Trauma Post

@traumatizedartist

Listen y'all we all know the canon event where lil bro got stuck in a hole when he was a kid. Little polar bear scout cub, ice broke under him, got trapped in a deep little hole and was left all alone while waiting for the others to *maybe* figure out a way to rescue him.

Now the guys claustrophobic, HOWEVER-

bro coulda died

how long was he left all alone, possibly for the first time as a kid? he didn't even have his twin that's like, that's terrifying-

did he wonder if they'd even come back? If they'd even be able to find a way to get him out lest he freeze or starve to death in a hole? Rationally we'd assume hey they'd find an adult if they failed, but cmon, a panicked kid is not gonna assume that.

do you think he wouldn't have tried to escape on his own? only to fail and fail? helpless?

In the earlier seasons of The Octonauts, there was a certain incident that always stuck out to me, even when I watched it years ago-

OCTONAUTS AND THE MANATEES

During this episode, captain barnacles had been out driving the GUP-A when it was struck by lightening. Soon after, the octonauts realize there's a group of manatees that are close to the surface of the dangerous thunderstorm. Their plan is to transport the manatees to the octopod during the storm since manatees can't just dive down because they need to breathe air.

Barnacles has open communication and guides them all step by step for this entire operation, complications and all, through his octo compass.

Even though Barnacles tried to ignore the lightening strike by diving deeper into the water, the GUP still got struck, which caused to spin out of control and crash. Even the spread of electricity in the water is dangerous. As a result, he got his forearm crushed and stuck under a clam for the entire sequence of events I'm going to describe.

Sounds the octoalert realizing the danger the manatees are in by using a piece of seaweed and sticky limpet to grab onto his octo compass.

Barnacles claims he's "doing something else at the moment" when questioned where he is. He also gets actively stung by a jellyfish during the call and does not inform anyone.

There are BARRACUDAS who might attack the captain because of his shiny octo compass, and he has to struggle to hide behind the clam and some rocks while advising the octonauts about how to handle the manatees slow nature and needs. He does not inform anyone.

Barnacles escapes the BARRACUDAS that were far too close to shredding him alive by essentially jumping off an underwater cliff and ending up on the back of a whale, in which he is violently turned and rolling along the back of.

Barnacles is launched by the force of the whale's tail into an actual shipwreck. He continues to guide them through the difficulties of the mission due to the fact there is still one manatee left that may not be able to be transported to the octopod in time.

Barnacles air tank is on low and is actively running out before his eyes, he struggles with removing his arm from the heavy clam as he attempts to use a piece of wood to pry his arm out. He does not tell anyone.

Barnacles manages to escape at the last moment, and is forced to forfeit wearing his helmet as there is no oxygen left. Previously they had flipped the GUP D in order to make a safe airpocket in deeper waters for the manatee, which Peso and Kwazii witness the captain (while holding his own breath) swimming too.

He barely made it.

When questioned where he'd been anyways, he lightheartedly states, and I quote, "Oh, let's see... I was uh... struck by lightning, eaten by a giant clam, stung by a jellyfish, attacked by barracudas, escaped off the back of a blue whale, smashed into a shipwreck, freed myself, ran out of air and... eh... Oh yeah, found you."

What the actual FCK captain barnacles.

LIKE LISTEN MAN, I do not care if he "knew what he was doing" or whatever that is NOT a normal OR healthy response! "Oh but the captain always prioritizes protecting others and he understoo-

NO, he could have literally told his crew, and sure, they were in an "all hands on deck" situation, but he didn't even tell anyone! someone else could have adjusted the plan, someone else could have lessened the responsibility, someone else HAD THE POSSIBILITY OF HELPING

hell even if they had to get professor inkling out he probably would've if he knew BARNACLES MIGHTVE BEEN CLOSE TO DYING, the professor gets out just to protect some small fish that cant rely on a lionmaine jellyfish and he deals with literal predators?! why wouldn't he try to help the captain? and does he seriously think NO other member of theoctonauts would try to find a way to help him? Not the crafty tweak? Not the caring peso? not the daring kwazii? That shellington or dashi might not even have a word of advice?

I raise you all a little theory that is true in my heart and in my au, the subconscious question beneath our lovely captain's psyche:

"What if I am trapped and none of them can help me? Will I have to accept that I'm alone? Again?"

What if it was easier to pretend everything was fine and he had everything totally under control? You don't have to rely on others if you can rely on yourself. You don't have to worry if they'll just deem you a lost cause (like what peso asked about the last manatee... if it was even possible to save...) Forced to wait as you're trapped and in pain....

ᶠᵒʳᶜᵉᵈ ᵗᵒ ʷᵒⁿᵈᵉʳ ᶦᶠ ʸᵒᵘ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ ᵈᶦᵈ ᵉⁿᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵗᵒ ᵐᵃᵗᵗᵉʳ ᵉⁿᵒᵘᵍʰ ᵗᵒ ˢᵃᵛᵉ ᵉᵛᵉⁿ.

DO YALL SEE THE VISION OR AM I CRAZY? ʸᵉˢ ᴵ ᵃᵐ

PERSONAL AU ADDITIONS

This next bit is literally just extra trauma I gave him in my au because like <3 I'm just cute like that yk

global warming btch

Anyways in my au I made his dad die when he was like 3 lol, due to a certain natural incident caused by, oh my what's this-, GLOBAL WARMING AGAIN . I bet his mom had a hard time that surely wouldn't have effected him and given him a strict desire to help help help- that lead u to being the defacto guy to offer his help and thoughts as a polar bear cub scout which just made people look to you automatically.

"u cant really miss someone you don't know : ) besides I can always rely on my family and friends and natquick(the father that STEPPED UP, just to be clear not a step father but like to a father figure) and mentors to guide me"

like omg just SAY you had super angsty years in your 20s where you were like "OMG REALITY SUCKS AND GLOBAL WARMING IS BAD AND WHT THE FCK IS CAPATILISM" internally during his college years lol (bro will always smile lmso)

anyways I'm thinking he met prof inkling and yk they agreed that hey, we need to revolutionize how aid and scientific studies are done, and prof inkling was like! I got it! NASA BUT FOR THE OCEAN- Itll start smaller ofc,but NASA FOR THE OCEAN and then tweak was there and went hell yeah I sure hope we don't crash this highly experimental giant robot octopus ship submarine I've constructed with the grant we all managed to get.

Anyways then the octonauts were born and they were all very happy and suddenly barnacles (despite the trial and error when it was just those three) actually had a plan and could Make A Difference and have control

cuz idk if y'all realize but like, (for me I see them living like a blend of how us humans live, but just socially inspired from the wild thing irl. so maybe they got like Earth Sheltered Homes (think hobbit houses) but with snow and whatever) but basically global warming for Arctic Folk of all countries isn't just like "oh no we cant do our VERY IMPORTANT TRADITIONS WEVE CARRIED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS" but its also like the loss of cultural jobs, literal homes becoming weaker, more natural disasters and idk about y'all but... doesn't it just feel like their entire culture is dying?

sure, they could just "move somewhere else" but that means giving up their land, not being able to uphold their traditions, being forced into communities that they don't have any social niches for. being forced to lose generational jobs and trades. physically struggling in warmer environments. (I headcanon barnacles has to not just cut and trim his fur, but also has to have a sort of cooling pack system under his clothes cuz bros got blubber yk?)

its literally the death of an ancient culture due to corporate greed, and he's watching it actively die out in real time. That's gut wrenching. I can only image.. how... Helpless he must've felt before he could help others who struggled from disasters too.

Anyways he has a "I have to help and adopt everyone" complex thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

ANGSTY STUFF THAT HAPPENED FOR LITERALLY NO REASON OTHER THAN THE FACT I WANTED TO GIVE HIM SCARS AND NOTICED URSA AND ORSON DONT SEEM TO HAVE A DAD

As for the scars, @traumatizedartist Im gonna be honest I don't know why younger me (during my first hyperfixation of octonauts) went "hm... suspicious that bianca doesn't have a husband..." but basically APPARENTLY bianca is just divorced and they ex tried to Idk take ursa and Orson's custody rights and was a *ahem* very bad douche bag about it and the like. Well cmon man I think barnacles deserves to have a side of himself he doesn't want to share!

Like I'm so sorry but if ur telling me I SHOULDNT have made the captain literally get into a real polar bear fight and get the scars (of victory) while trying to protect his own family-

listen I know he's the "lets talk it out even f ur trying to eat me" type, but people aren't animals (very funny to our perspective ik ik) and if someone can fully understand the situation and the threats their making, like animals act on instinct mostly, but people can CHOOSE to suck.

People can CHOOSE to be selfish and greedy, so if you're tired of always trying to talk things out over and over and the guy you FCKING HATE is right there acting threatening and crazy you're absolutely gonna remember the years your sister spent going rough on you in play fights (fond memories and very educational<3) you're absolutely gonna show her how good you are by beating her ex up.

bianca was not there at the time but I like to think despite her being smaller she would have probably been able to handle both of them lmso lets be real barnacles just knows how to fight but he doesn't have the spirit lol

anyways I just think it'd be so awesome, it'd be so cool, if he had polar bear angst fight scars that he hides under his clothes and sleeves <3

ok I'm done, or not really, but the future angst I have planned for my happy lil (very tall) fuzzy snow guy cant be spoiled yet cuz I got PLANS that I have not enacted yet <3

man I was really mean to him huh, wait till y'all see what I've done to kwazii lol

Bonus thoughts "Lord and savior of the manatees"

none of the other octonauts have uh, the same level of "Yo What The Actual Fck" as those two (they match eachothers freak in an aro ace aspecss with trauma way) but they all got a little something going on in their noggins.

other than professor inkling and the vegimals tho, I would NEVER harm any of the vegimals EVER (genuinely) and professor inkling just looks too happy to disturb so imma let him be content <3

he does have excellent communication skills and is generally happy though, he just has some repressed emotions and a weird complex or two that isn't that healthy

i like to think peso and the professor had a heart to heart with him about the manatee incident, and now whenever kwazii is "too reckless" he just says "well I'm sorry me lord and savior of the manatees" and the conversation is OVER

never let any of the octoagents know about that nickname he will die and melt on the spot because everyone, that was SUCH a long time ago- Besides it wasn't as bad as you make it sou-

*gets slappity flippered*

BAI LOL

[scentedpeachlandcreator]

Hi Eli

It’s not a success story but I just needed to to get this out of my system (and pls I’m not trauma dumping on you 🥲)

So I know bout the law and I do believe in it, I’ve manifested a lot of things actually from big to small but the problem comes when I want to manifest my dream life, the life I believe I was meant to live..

Every time I tried to brush it off and pretend like ooh it’s too unattainable and I can’t be there and stuff like that I always come back to somehow ,so that’s why I believe I was meant to live it.

I’m raised in a religious family (not too religious but kinda,not the crazy ones) Islamic teaching u know?. So every time I affirm I’m living my dream life,I’m limitless and I have everything I want because I say so,I feel good and stuff but… when I go on TikTok or any social media and then the teachings comes,I feel so guilty and like a sinner and all the giddiness ends and I feel so down.

Listen I love my religion,but it makes me sad when I think about what if I’m actually sinning and god is going to be mad at me,because we don’t have power of our own but god’s will.

I do really want to manifest my dream life,and when I think about it even more I say maybe god doesn’t want me have this life, many I’m meant for something else but I don’t see anything else,I just see that life(the life I’m talking about is high life,lights,cameras,paparazzi everywhere,yk!)

But then I think if I wasn’t meant for it why have I always had this feel ever since I was a kid? And why did I find about the law?

I’m really in dilemma, I don’t know what to do anymore I feel so guilty 😭

P.s I don’t even bit think that my dream life is unattainable,it’s just the guilty I feel every time I think about, gif is watching me and he’s judging me for this, maybe I should quit and quickly live my normal boring hella of peasant life “ I think”but I can’t, something inside me refuses to settle for this😭

I would kindly appreciate your advice cos ur the only Muslim loas blogger I know, love you

Hope it’s not too much🥹

Xoxo 💋

Hello cutie!

Well i'm here to tell you that i've been in the same situation as you, but i had a long thought about it.

Let's think for a second: do you think god let us discover this for a reason? And you only? If you're about to tell it to your siblings or your parents i know that they'll refuse or doesn't even believe you or go in a rampage of how it is sinning and you don't have to believe what the internet is saying.

Okay i'm about to tell you my story:

When the lockdown of COVID happened (i was 12 at that time), i came across a subliminal called "get green eyes in 10 minutes" so i was like "no freaking way! That total bs! They're just lying" so i went to watch other videos on YouTube and completely forgot about it, but for the next few days, the video kept popping up so what i did is check the comments and see if this video is telling the truth or not, so when i went to check the comments i found people be like "oh yeah my eyes got brighter after few days of listening" etc (you know the drill).

If you want to be so sure that what you're doing is right and not sinsful just pray and ask god to give you a sign that manifesting your dream life is good (halal) or bad.

And look even if it wasn't good why did god made us consciousness? To be able to induce our purest form and even shift to other realities? And even manifest the craziest things.

And there was this question in my head "why god didn't mention it in Quran?" But i made the theory that maybe he didn't want to because he knows that some people no, the majority of them would use it for bad, would like to dominate the World and even do harm than good or even don't believe in god anymore since they'll discover that they're powerful and can do incredible things.

You know? I Always had this feeling since i was kid that i was special, and i think that why god choose me to know it, to know this treasure that is hidden from anyone else, the ultimate cheat code to life.

So yeah don't feel alone, i understand how you feel, but like now, knowing the Law is like a bless from god, it's like a gift.

Many people would kill to know this information, to know the cheat code to life.

So my advice is to not give up or think it is a sinner to manifest your dream life.

God made you discover it for a reason, and he knows why.

So go crazy! Manifest any desires your heart want! Even the most unrealistic ones!

I Hope my response pleased you and motivated you!

Xoxo, Eli

[buttercupshands]

Congratulations on nothing. I'm back to drawing LoV again after a bit of a break

those are mostly just a redraw practice for fun Toga is a try in "more canon way of drawing" with color practice too

I'm sorry that it's in russian because I have to have some will to localize jokes that came into my head while drawing it

it's like... a robot au??? or something, mostly just a joke "what if AFo just built Tenko and changed what he wanted"

and this is a joke about our 'favorite' 419 plot twist so it's basically just a bunch of joked about AFO failing to get any way to get control instead Tenko's head is not empty. It downloaded games, friends and stuff about being a hero but NOT as a literal hero, more on "villains need help I'm a hero then" way

and yes that text behind is "hands" written all over the place bc I wanted to add hands in handwritten form

[taegularities]

some men are textbook villains fr

[gothsuguru]

i love muting people on twitter some of you bitches are very dumb

[roomba-mangga]

taking a little break from writing for a few days to cool down the brain but first... yaad&thistle au fic preview under the cut. this is clocking in at 12k atm, i haven't finished drafting all the scenes yet, but i am deeply enjoying this one.

[yoonstudios]

oh my fucking godddddd i wish i could come out to my parents

[kakusu-shipping]

Ok I remember seeing a tag on a post about your fnaf s/i being a daycare kid and I wanted to hear more about that!! Also I know you favour a bitchier Sun (positive) than most of fandom and I just wanted to hear about the vibe of your selfship!!

Anon I'm hoping your still around thankyou so much for not only asking once, but asking to make sure your ask was received and then asking again when it wasn't. You dedication to asking about this is appreciated.

Warning; This is one of Regressed Me's Self Inserts so just a general read at your own risk here, bad things happen to little me's S/Is.

Post long, under the cut it goes

This one all starts back when the Pizzaplex was at it's peak. When Foxy, the Daycare's Mascot, when mysteriously missing the higher ups were desperate to get a replacement in fast. They eventually settled on the animatronic from the Theater, which was always just a bonus of the daycare anyway and never pulled in much profit.

The Sun personality was set to watch the kids during play, given basic instructions on how Arts and Crafts are done, a list of rules to enforce, and a very ambiguous code that makes the animatronics "Love Kids" that had also been used with the Glamrocks with apparent success. The Moon personality was originally set to be removed, but when that failed they just loaded him with the Naptime rules and called it a day.

The two were a rush job to fit the criteria of "Daycare Attendant" and had many, many flaws in their coding, caused both by the speed in which they were forced to learn these new rules and the failed attempt to remove Moon shocking their systems.

The two enforced their given rules with upmost strictness, the kind that most kids couldn't keep up with. No talking, no bathroom breaks without permission, no coloring outside the lines, no deviation from the blueprints, Playtime became unbearable. Naptime wasn't any better. Lights go off and you'd better be still and asleep, or at least look asleep. Sun was Mean but Moon was Scary.

Somehow though, the Daycare remained open. Years passed and the kids who once knew of a Red Pirate Fox who'd encourage them to run and color outside the lines aged out, and a new generation of little ones came under the new laws of the Daycare, and time continued on.

As stated, most children couldn't keep up with Sun's strict rules. Most is not all. One shining example of a Daycare Superstar was Emile, a 4 year old Autistic child who was left from open to close at the Pizzaplex Daycare every day without fail. His plethora of undiagnosed mental disabilities meant his coloring stayed within the lines and his toys were always sorted by color, size, and species, while his obvious parental neglect made him an innate people pleaser, willing follow Sun's unreasonable rules to a T in the hopes of receiving even a crumb of praise from the only Authority Figure who'd so much as look at him.

He was Sun's Golden Child, his most favoritest star in the sky, the most perfect kid to ever come to the Daycare. This isn't to say he got better treatment, of course, he still had to wait hours for a trip to the bathroom, and finish all his crafts for the day before he'd be given snack, and lay perfectly still and keep his breathing even during naptime. But he was still the clear favorite. The perfect child. Sun's absolute favorite.

So when Sun was given word the Daycare was being shut down due to complaints from parents well... He couldn't let his golden child be taken from him.

Emile wasn't the first kid to enter the Pizzaplex and not come back out, it helped that his parents barely made it in time to pick him up on time on a good day. The investigation into his disappearance was short and then promptly swept under the rug as the daycare was closed for the time being.

Sun and Moon always had their own secret room. It had old Theater things, unused Daycare objects, extra stock for the Gift Shop, an old arcade machine, broken glass... Everything a child could need!

Living in the Daycare was perfect for Emile, not only was he already use to living by Sun's perfect schedule, he now got to be the soul object of Sun's attention. This was not as great for Sun, as the isolation, just He, Moon, and Emile, finally let him start recognizing the problems in his coding, and the alternate meaning to "loving kids".

He grew anxious by the day, his previously perfect work as a Daycare Attendant crumbling around him. He wasn't perfect. There was something wrong with him. So wrong they'd shut down the daycare. He was imperfect, he was breaking rules just by THINKING like this, rule breaker rule breaker.

Emile, forever locked at 4 as he'd forgotten when his Birthday was meant to happen, became Sun's emotional support. He didn't understand the things Sun said sometimes, he didn't get why it was bad for Sun to hold him, or want to kiss him. He wanted those thing too after all, so it can't be bad! Mr. Sun's an adult, and adults make the rules, and Emile loves to follow rules made by adults.

During the events of Security Breach Emile helps Gregory find the generators, having lived in the Daycare long enough to memorize the layout even in the dark, and knowing all the places Mr. Moon can't go.

However, he still eventually gets caught and carried high into the air by Moon. Gregory runs to the last generator and flips it, the lights flick on just as Moon tosses Emile from the highest point of the Daycare. Sun, now fronting in the light, unclips himself from Moon's wire and dives after Emile. They both hit the ground with a horrible crash.

Sun is horribly damaged, but still manages to pull himself up and kick Gregory from the Daycare before returning to Emile's side. Emile, human and tiny and frail, succumbs to his wounds in the arms of The Daycare Attendant, who in the moment is neither Sun nor Moon but someone who cares not for rules but for the safety of the children in their care. Someone who has failed at their job as a Daycare Attendant, and will not do so again.

During Ruin I imagine the mildly decayed corpse of Sun's golden child can be found at a small table somewhere, with a tea set and stuffed animals in the chairs around him. Sun's coping well when he's fronting I think.

[stargoyle]

[[vent in tags]]

[waywardsalt]

ive spent like 20 minutes trying to world this eloquently but i give up; im a big fan of linebeck just. not being capable of watching over kids not the person to be the guardian of a group of young people he struggles to take care of himself at times and has so much shit going on that it takes about one conversation with oshus for the old man to realize that this guy is. not doing great

[satoruxx]

normally toji prides himself on being the perfect guard dog—not that he would ever tell you that. but you never have to worry about guys coming up to you when your hulking monster of a boyfriend remains at your side, continuously glaring down his nose at everyone he sees.

this usually works pretty well.

on adults.

but now, as you and him wait in line at the counter of the grocery store, he can only let out a huff of irritation as he watches the little brat in front of you both stare over his mother’s shoulder—big wide eyes locked on you.

at first you don’t really notice, too busy blabbering about something silly as you look around the store. but when you finally lock eyes with the child, you notice the way he seems to go shy, pressing his cheek deeper into his mom’s shoulder. his eyes flick away from your face for just a second, before timidly looking back. as soon as he does, you break into the sweetest, most giddy smile.

(toji would move mountains for a glimpse of that smile—and yet here this kid is just getting it without a shred of work.)

you tilt your head, raising a hand to gently wave at the boy, who flushes further under your attention, but lifts his cheek a little more. chubby fingers come up to meekly wave back, and you hold back a silent coo of affection, eyes filled with honey-like sweetness. with every little giggle and silly face you make at the boy, he seems to get more and more comfortable—toji watches you melt.

the unlucky little brat then quickly peeks at the giant man looming beside you, and toji can’t resist. his face pulls into a evil smile, teeth on full display as he wiggles his fingers sinisterly. the expression has its desired effect—the kid recoils, eyes going wide before burying his face into his mother’s neck. in a few minutes, the boy and his mom are heading out the store and you and toji start loading the groceries onto the belt.

“i saw that, you know?”

toji glances up, seeing your semi disapproving frown, and he cocks his head in faux innocence. “saw what?”

“you’re mean,” you shake your head, crossing your arms. “scaring little kids like that. quite literally the object of their nightmares.”

“ah, he’ll be alright,” toji grunts, taking the bags from the cashier in one hand and reaching for your palm with the other. “it’ll build his character.”

you snort. “he’ll have trauma.”

“like i said,” he grins, a canine display. “character.”

you roll your eyes as he tugs you out of the store—your grip on him unwilling to falter.

toji lives just like this, successful in scaring off any other person who considers giving you attention, whether that’s an adult or a little kid. and despite your exasperated complaints to at least lay off the children (they’re harmless), toji has known for a long time that he can be nothing but selfish when it comes to you.

so forgive him, if he quickly turns to this evil little tactic to scare away kids—it’s all he can really do. besides, it always works.

until now.

you’re sitting under a tree at a small park, working on some dumb assignment for one of your lectures. toji lays on his back next to you, arm draped over his eyes in a momentary respite from the normal danger of his life—eerily content.

the peace is broken by the rustling of tiny footsteps in the grass.

“here you go.”

toji pulls his arm away to peer at the owner of the voice. a boy stands there, hair tousled as he waits in front of you with his arm outstretched—in between his chubby fingers is a singular dandelion.

your eyes widen, cheeks splitting into a wide smile as you coo out your affection. “aw for me?”

the boy nods mutely, cheeks flushed as he thrusts the flower further into your view. you delicately pluck it from his hands, inhaling the fragrance with a grateful smile. “well thank you. it’s beautiful.”

he shyly kicks at a spot of grass, lips pulling up into a giddy smile under your sweet praise. “just like you,” he mumbles under his breath and you squeal softly, giggling at how adorable this kid truly is.

toji sits up before you can say anything else, lips pulled into a displeased frown as he crosses his bulky arms across his chest. “hey.” his voice comes out low and tense, even as he stares down his nose at the boy. “what are you doing?”

you turn to look at your boyfriend, at the exaggerated sneer that normally works wonders in scaring kids away, and you hold back an exasperated sigh. “toji—“

“who are you?” the boy frowns, sass appearing out of thin air as he looks toji up and down like he’s nothing but dirt under his colorful sneakers. you gape at him, eyes darting back and forth between the two as a smile threatens to make its way into your face. toji’s lips part in surprise, a tingle of heat crawling up his neck as he hears your hushed gasp of held back laughter.

“her boyfriend,” he grunts back, eyes narrowed in a way that’s oddly similar to the expression on the kid’s face.

“no way!” the boy huffs, pouting indignantly. his cheeks flush as he glares at toji—unfazed.

“uh, yes way.” toji realizes how petty he sounds, but he’s adamant—unwilling to stand down in anything that involves you.

the boy crosses his arms, mirroring toji’s pose. he rolls his eyes emphatically, lip curling as he sneers down his nose.

“isn’t she too pretty for you?” he asks bluntly. you smother another disbelieving gasp, and toji suddenly feels an unfamiliar thrill rush through his veins—this kid had guts.

“what do you know, brat?” there’s a smirk evident in toji’s voice now, and he uncrosses his arms to lean back on his palms, eyes shining with feral mirth.

“i have eyes,” the boy snaps back, putting both hands on his hips to appear more intimidating—it doesn’t work, he just looks cuter. “i can see her.”

“well quit it,” toji huffs in return. “not yours to look at.”

the kid narrows his eyes. “you’re mean!”

“and you’re nosy!”

“how am i nosy?”

“you’re comin’ over here and givin’ my girl flowers!”

“she deserves flowers!”

“of course she does! from me, you little brat!”

“you suck, old man!”

“what did you just call me?!”

a shout from across the park disrupts the heated bickering, and you all turn to see an older woman waving the boy over. he looks down at you, a sweet smile washing over his face as he tilts his head innocently. “that’s my mom. i have to go home now.”

“heh, sure thing. get home safe, okay?” you shoot toji an amused glance as you speak, and he sends a displeased glare back as he stubbornly crosses his arms again.

the boy nods, beaming at you. “okay! see you later!” he chirps. but just as he’s about to leave he turns back, eyes fixated on toji. “i hope your boyfriend learns how to be nice!”

and then he runs off.

you snort out another laugh, which only gets louder when you catch a glimpse of the way toji is practically sulking in the corner—scowling at the kid’s back with narrowed eyes.

the whole thing is so unbelievably endearing, and you can’t stop grinning as you pack up your things and stand up.

“let’s go home, toji.” you hold your palm out for him, and you’re rewarded with a pointed glance—he takes your hand anyway. even as you both exit the park, toji has an unamused pout on his face, glaring ahead.

you can’t resist.

“don’t tell me you actually feel threatened now,” you giggle, grabbing his bicep and pressing close. toji glances at you from the corner of his eyes, unamused—which only seems to make you laugh harder. “oh come on! he was so cute!”

“little brat,” he grumbles in return. “couldn’t take a hint.”

“you’re mad because the eight year old kid at the park didn’t want to believe you were my boyfriend?”

“the fuck do you think? of course i am. what do i look like if not your fucking boyfriend?”

you chortle, practically falling on him with the weight of your amusement. he sighs, disgruntled.

“it’s not funny, kid.” toji rolls his eyes at you—internally, he’s trying not to grin.

“it’s so funny, toji.” you straighten up, smiling at him with stars in your eyes. “you’re ridiculous and it’s so cute.”

he scoffs, giving you a sidelong glance before reaching up to tug at your cheek. “i’m definitely not the cute one.” he murmurs offhandedly before internally smirking at the way you seem to be caught off guard by his statement.

“whatever,” you mumble, holding his arm as you both continue walking home in relative silence. from the corner of your eye you can see toji’s expression as he mutely stares ahead, deep in thought. you decide not to disturb him, content on just feeling his warmth bleeding into your palm—always at your side.

toji replays the incident in his head multiple times as you head home. the bickering, the sass, and the unfiltered adoration that little brat seemed to have for you.

something clicks.

as you’re pushing open the door of your apartment, you hear toji quietly chuckle from behind you, and you turn to look at him over you shoulder. “what?”

he shakes his head slowly, eyes shut even as an uncharacteristically soft smile tugs at his lips. “just thinking…”

“about what?” you ask curiously.

toji grins at you, cocking his head fondly. “when we have a kid, i want the little brat to be just like that.”