#hello everyone! look at how shiny and sparkly my nails are!

[avene-s-whore]

Would you look at my new nails 😌

He/him

[haus-seeblick]

Suptober Day 3: Rainbows

Title: We’ve Got Your Back, Jack

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 1,660

Tags: Mild (brief) Angst, Dean Winchester and Castiel are parents, De-aged Jack Kline (he did it to himself), Jack Kline is twelve, Fingernail painting as therapy, Claire is an excellent big sister, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Canon Divergence from 15x18 (twelve years later), Jack has a guinea pig named Nougat

Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Claire Novak/Kaia Nieves, Background Sam Winchester/Eileen Leahy

On AO3 Here

When Jack is teased at school for wearing his favorite rainbow jacket, his family comes together to help build him back up.

“Sunshine, you gotta calm down.” He moves to stand behind Cas where he’s sitting at the kitchen table and squeezes his shoulders reassuringly. There’s hardly any give; Cas is a single ball of tension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean sets a steaming mug of tea in front of Cas, who glares at it with such intensity that Dean’s surprised it doesn’t shatter on the spot.

“I can’t calm down,” Cas growls. “He was bullied. The sweetest boy in the world, and they made him feel small. How are you calm, Dean?”

Dean sighs and pulls up a chair. “He seemed fine, Cas. I mean, he is God. He was already talking about changes he wants to make once he comes back into power.”

Cas grips his mug and takes an abrupt, angry sip. “I wish he could make them now.”

“Me too, buddy. But he’s learning. Every shitty person he deals with, he learns something. That’s why he’s doing this whole human thing, remember?”

The kitchen’s quiet for a moment while Cas contemplates. He cups his hand over the tea, steam escaping between his fingers in lazy tendrils. “It’s just my instinct to shield him from cruelty.”

Dean nods. He scoots closer, sliding an arm around Cas’ warm, solid waist. “I know.”

Some of the rigidity in Cas’ posture softens and he leans into Dean’s side. Dean presses a kiss to his temple.

“What can we do?” Cas asks quietly. “For now. I want him to feel happy at school.”

Dean hums thoughtfully. “Not sure. The school already talked to the other kid's parents, so that part’s taken care of, and Jack said it was just the one boy. I think we just gotta be there for him. Remind him he’s awesome.”

“I just want to wear my rainbow coat.”

Dean and Cas turn around to see Jack standing in the doorway, rubbing his eye. He’s wearing the bee-patterned pajamas Cas got him for his twelfth birthday in the spring, and is cradling his guinea pig, Nougat, in one arm.

Cas immediately stands up and beckons Jack over. “You couldn’t sleep?”

Jack shakes his head, as earnest and deliberate as he does everything. He pads across the kitchen and hands Nougat to Dean before sitting down in Cas’ empty chair. It took Dean a while to get used to the guinea pig, to her sharp nails and shrill squeaks, but now he likes having her warm little body against his chest.

Cas flips the kettle back on to make Jack a cup of tea, too. “Did that boy’s teasing start with your coat?”

Jack plays with the strings on his pajama pants and nods. “I don’t understand. When he said those mean things and laughed, he felt—” Jack pauses, blinking thoughtfully at the ceiling. “He felt afraid, like he was cornered. Defensive.”

“His emotions must have been strong for you to sense them,” Cas says gently, pouring the steaming water into Jack’s favorite mug, a blue one with a big sun on the side. Dean slowly strokes a finger over Nougat’s soft brown head. His chest feels tight.

“Yes, they were. I feel bad that he’s scared,” Jack continues. “And I’m going to work on helping people like that when Amara gives me my powers again. But I also just want to wear my coat.”

He’s twelve, Dean thinks. He’s God, and he’s twelve.

“You’re gonna wear your coat, kiddo,” he says, bumping Jack’s foot with his own. “That other kid, it sucks that he’s hearing shitty stuff at home. And it’s not your fault that he took it out on you. Trust me. If you wanna go to school decked out in rainbows, we’ve got your back.”

Cas nods and crouches down next to Jack, handing him his mug. “Dean is right. Our priority is helping you be yourself and be happy during your time as a human.”

Jack shuffles his feet a little. He cups his hand over the mug just as Cas had done. “Um, in that case, can I ask something?”

“Yes, of course,” Cas says.

“Well, my friend Mallary likes painting her nails. They look so cool. But she said boys don’t usually do that.”

“And you’d like to,” Cas prompts. His eyes meet Dean’s for a moment.

Jack nods. “Rainbow.”

Dean stands up, cradling Nougat snug against his chest as the guinea pig emits a startled squeak. “Well, then, you’re gonna have rainbow nails. I know just who to call.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Claire sweeps into the house the next morning — Sunday — in a whirlwind of hair and shopping bags. Even though they heard her coming all the way up the driveway, swearing and dropping things, it’s always a shock when she bursts through the door. Kaia follows quietly, with a fondly exasperated smile on her face. She rolls her eyes at Dean and he stifles a laugh.

Claire stomps into the living room and dumps her mountain of bags onto the couch. “Hi, old men. Where’s my brother?”

“Hello, Claire,” Cas says, lips quirking. “I see you’ve come quite prepared.” He’s leaning in the doorway to the living room, arms crossed, an old t-shirt of Dean’s stretched over his broad shoulders. From his perch on the couch, Dean lets his eyes roam appreciatively; Cas has been ageing ever since he returned from the Empty a human, and the years look good on him. He even has a bit of silver in his wild hair. Twelve years together, and Dean still can't believe his luck.

“Yeah, well, Dean calls me saying my baby bro needs a confidence boost, I’m gonna go all out.” Claire starts emptying the bags onto the coffee table. “I brought every color I could find.”

As if on cue, Jack appears in the doorway next to Cas. His hair is still rumpled from sleep but his eyes are shining, taking in the rows of nail polish that Claire is lining up on the table.

“Wow, is that all for me?” He practically bounces into the room and sits cross-legged on the floor, picking up a blue bottle.

Claire ruffles his hair, disheveling it even more, and sits down next to him. “Hell yeah. And for your dads, too.”

Dean blinks. “Uh— you want us to— yeah, that idea was for Jack, actually.”

This time it’s Kaia’s turn to stifle a laugh, and Dean shoots her a dirty look. Cas chuckles and pushes off the doorframe to join Dean on the couch. He takes Dean’s hand in his own and lifts it up, lightly stroking one finger at a time as he looks at the short, blunt nails. Dean may work hard at the garage, but he’s hygienic and doesn’t bring any grease home, under his nails or otherwise.

Now, he blushes a little as Cas brushes a kiss onto his knuckles. “Dean will look beautiful. Just like Jack.”

Jack whoops and shoots Dean a dazzling smile. Dean can’t really say no to that face.

It’s decided that Kaia will paint Jack’s nails rainbow, a different color on each nail (Jack insists that some should have polka dots, too), and that Claire will do Cas’ and Dean’s. Dean tries to ask for just black, like Baby, but gets shouted down by everyone in the room and grudgingly agrees to a dark green. When Claire is done wiping down his nails and applies the first brush of color to his thumb, he has to admit it looks nice.

Jack keeps exclaiming in delight every time Kaia starts on a new color, and nearly loses it when she reveals that she got some tiny glittery stars to sprinkle on the drying polish.

“It looks like a galaxy,” he breathes, eyes wide, moving his fingers gingerly in the light from the window. Dean glances at Cas, who’s getting his nails painted a holographic blue, and is surprised to see a bright sheen in Cas’ eyes as he watches Jack. He’s smiling softly. Dean reaches over (careful of his own drying nails) and lays a hand on his shoulder. Together they watch their kid — sort of God, sort of not — reclaim his happiness one sparkly fingernail at a time.

Once everyone’s clear coat polish is dry (Dean had no idea there were so many steps involved), they take a bunch of pictures to send to Sam and Eileen. Dean almost considers hiding his own hands, but Jack’s gazing at him so excitedly that he splays them on the table next to Cas’ without a second thought.

They do look cool. Sam even says so in his text, after a string of heart-eye emojis.

Claire and Kaia head out after lunch (Cas quietly packs up about half of the nail polish they brought, pressing it into Kaia’s hands to take back home with them). Jack spends the rest of the afternoon picking out a suitably colorful outfit to match his nails at school tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“This was a wonderful idea, Dean. Thank you,” Cas says that evening as they’re back at the kitchen table, Cas nursing his usual mug of tea and Dean packing Jack’s lunches for the week. “He was so happy. I hope he’ll be okay tomorrow.”

Dean slides the last sandwich into the fridge and lays his hands back on Cas’ shoulders. They’re warm and pliant tonight. He digs his fingers in, leaning down to kiss Cas’ cheek.

“He’ll be okay. He knows we’ve got his back.” He’s quiet for a moment and runs a hand through Cas’ thick hair, following a silver strand with his shiny-green thumb. “That counts for a hell of a lot.”

Cas twists around, covering Dean’s hand still on his shoulder with his own and gazing up at him. “You are a good man, Dean Winchester. A good man and an excellent father.”

Dean sucks in a big breath. “All right, sunshine. That’s about all the feelings I can handle today.” He grins down at Cas, though, just to assure him he’s fine.

And he is.

[gemstoneconstellations]

Pretty Pretty Princess

Summary: Kaminari’s daughter wants to play dress up, so he becomes a princess for the evening.

Wordcount: 1808

“Mommy, can we play dress up?” You wave a tired hand at your daughter, who was following you around the room. You could feel her tugging onto your dress as you laid out paper plates and plastic silverware.

   Today was a special day; it was the baby shower for the unborn twins inside your belly. Lucky for you, they have been calm so you can get things done, but now your six year old is demanding your attention. “Miuko, I can’t. I’m setting up the party for your siblings. Today we get to find out if the babies are boys or girls.”

   Miuko puffed out her chubby cheeks, pulling on her dirty blonde pigtails. “But I wanna play princess tea party!” Her hair started to become staticy and her strands started to stand on end as she crossed her arms, pouting on the couch.

 “Heheh, now she looks like her dad when she does that. She’s so cute all the time, you forget her dad is Denki.” Kyouka came into the room, holding the cake for the party. Momo followed close behind her with balloons. Oh thank god, the other adults are here to help.

   You sigh happily as the girls came over to you and gave you side hugs. “Hey, Kyouka, that’s rude!” Speak of the devil, your husband pouted as he walked over to you. His arms wrapped around you tightly as he showered your face in loving kisses. “Hello my beautiful, darling, glowing, light-of-my-life wife. How are you feeling? How are the little lightning bugs?” His hands wandered down to your belly; the twins seemed to sense their father, as they shifted inside you...

   “We are good, don’t worry. Just worried about getting the party together in time for everyone to get here…” You looked back down at your daughter and then motioned your husband closer to whisper in his ear. “I think Miu is feeling a bit left out. She’s been begging to play princess all morning.”

   Denki looked down at his pouting little girl and then winked at you. “Oh man honey, I don’t think I can help with decorating. I’m really bad at it! I guess I have to keep myself out of the way. Hey Miu, do you know what daddy could do while we wait for the party?”

   Miuko gasped, jumping up and down on the couch. “Princess tea party!”

   Denki let out a dramatic gasp as he grabbed his daughter's hand. You giggled at his ‘excitement’ as you mindlessly rubbed your belly. “Princess tea party?! That sounds like sooooooo much fun! Let’s play in your room!” The two of them skipped down the hall; your daughter’s bubbly voice could be heard all the way to her room.

   “Man… that was cute.”

   “Makes you want a child of our own, Kyouka?”

   “M-M-Momo!”

   ~

   The party was still being set up when the guys showed up. Sero, Kirishima, and a Bakugo being dragged via headlock by Kirishima. Which meant they were sent to see where Denki was since they couldn’t be trusted to help or keep fingers away from snacks. “Holy shit! Pwahahahahahah! What the heck Kaminari?!” Both Sero and Kirishima fell to the floor, laughing at the sight before them.

   Denki had bows, clips, and glitter in his hair with random braids everywhere, as well as messy sparkly pink eyeshadow that didn’t stop at his eyelids and Barbie pink lipstick. Denki was sitting at his daughter’s play table, squeezing his large body onto one of the mini child chairs.e.

   “Is that an effing tutu, dunce face?” Bakugo, who was filtering his words in front of Miuko, pointed to the frill around Denki’s waist.

   “Yes, yes it is. And my name is Princess Dazzling Unicorn Sparkle.” Denki stated his new title proudly, taking a pretend sip from a very small plastic pink teacup, pinky out and everything. He is not ashamed that he plays with his daughter or that he lets her use him as a dress-up doll.

   Miu hopped to her feet, dressed in one of her princess costumes from Halloween. She ran over to the men that were more than triple her size. “Uncle Ei! Uncle Hanta! Uncle Suki! Are you here to play too?!” She grabbed Kirishima’s and Sero’s hands, pulling them and forcing them to sit at the table as well. It was amusing to see someone as big and bulky as Red Riot sitting in a chair that was smaller than one of his calves.

   “Uuuhhhhh…” The men looked at each other, unsure of what to do. Miu was looking at them with big puppy dog eyes; there was no way they could fight it. They both gave reluctant nods, but were rewarded with one of the brightest smiles they'd ever seen on Kaminari’s daughter’s face.

   “Eff that. I’d rather help with the dumb baby shower.” Bakugo tried to turn away, but small hands glued him to where he stood.

   “Pleeeaaasssse Uncle Suki? It won’t be as fun without you. I wanna play with you too.” Bakugo flinched at the tears starting to flow out of her eyes. Small sparks of electricity buzzed around her. If there is one thing Bakugo learned over the years from being around the small Kaminari child is to avoid any possible tantrum, at all costs. There is no way someone who didn’t have an electric quirk would survive. The moment he let go of the doorknob, she knew she’d won. “Yay, you are going to be Princess Butterfly Glitter Bomb!”

   ~

   You sighed from your spot on the couch; all the energy you’d had before had been sucked away when the twins decided to switch spots inside your stomach. “Alright, everything is set up. We just have to lay out the snacks and wait for everyone to show up. I’ll get the boys and the princess to come out and join us.”

   Walking down the hall, you could hear your daughter telling the story of how her prince in shining armor came to rescue her. “That’s stupid. Why would you wait for some dude to save you? You can do it yourself.” Ah, that was Bakugo talking.

   “But I want to be saved! My prince will give me a kiss!” Slowly, you opened the door; the first thing you see is your daughter being pampered by two pairs of hands. One was skillfully putting winged eyeliner on her, while the other was delicately placing flowers inside her French braided golden hair. Your eyes widened as you opened the door more; you immediately placed a hand over your mouth to hold back a snort.

   “You can fight some dragon on your own with your quirk, why wait for some dumb prince?” Bakugo, who was applying makeup to your daughter, had a butterfly clip holding back his bangs, a large amount of bright sparkly pink eyeshadow and neon pink lipstick. The makeup must of have been from her princess makeover kit that Denki had bought her for her birthday.

   “Katsuki, you are missing the point. She wants to be swept off her feet. To be romanced. You did that for me, bro.” Kirishima, the manliest and largest man of the Bakusquad, had many different assortments of colorful sparkly costume bracelets hooped around his spikes, flowers drawn in what you assume is the same red lipstick that was currently on his lips on his cheeks, and is that… your eyelashes from your Halloween costume last year?

   To the side of him was Sero, who was holding his hands out to Kirishima. “Shut up and focus on Soy Sauce’s nails. Anyways, you don’t need to be saved to be smooched, especially not from some random prince.” Sero was frowning down at his nails as Kiri continued to paint. The tape hero didn’t look much different to the redhead; his hair was in numerous ponytails that were being held up by beaded hair ties and bow; he had been given the purple lipstick.

   Your daughter held up the toy that she was clutching to herself right into Bakugo’s face, interrupting his work on her eyes. “It won’t be a random prince! Ingenium will save me!”

   “Glasses? Really?” Bakugo grabbed her face again, finishing the last bit of her eyeliner wings.

   Kaminari placed the final flower in his daughter’s hair. He was the most put together out of the rest; most likely he’d put his makeup on while your daughter did the rest of the guys. “She could do worse than our old class president. As long as she’s happy and he treats her right, I’m happy.”

   “All done.” Kirishima cheered as he closed the bottle of nail polish.

   Sero held up his hands to look at Kirishima’s work with an exasperated look; he was obviously not enjoying this as much as the others. “This is going to be hell to take off… why sparkles… I can’t imagine having a daughter who makes you dress up like this…”

   Kirishima leaned onto an open palm perched on his knees. “I don’t know bro, I feel kind of pretty.”

   With a straight face, Bakugo looked up at the redhead without any hesitation and said, “You are always pretty. Homo intended.”

   “Awww bro.”

   Now that no one was holding Miuko’s attention, she looked over to see you and excitedly stood up pointing to her face. “Mommy! Look! We princesses!”

   You giggle as she ran around the room, presenting each man and describing what she did to them with glee. “I see. Will your highnesses please join us in the living room; the party should be starting soon.”

   Sero sighed with relief as they all got to their feet. “After we get this makeup off…”

   That was the wrong thing to say. Miuko stomped her feet standing between Sero and Kirishima. “No! Princesses can’t be seen without their makeup! What if your prince comes? You have to look battle ready! Let’s go Princess Shiny Rainbow Bubbles and Princess Strawberry Sunshine Sugar.” She took Sero and Kiri’s hands and you watched as your six-year-old pulled the full-grown pro hero men out of the room.

   Kiri reached out and grabbed Bakugo’s hand, pulling him along as well with a cheeky smile. “Lucky me, I already found my prince…er, princess.”

   “Shut up, you sap.” Bakugo rolled his eyes as he let himself get dragged along.

   You were giggling to yourself as you could hear people gasping in surprise, soon followed by loud laughter. Denki came up beside you, offering his arm for you to take and escort you. You couldn’t help but chuckle and make a comment on his appearance. “You look beautiful, honey.”

   Denki flipped his hair dramatically with his free arm as the two of you walked. “I know, right?” You are sure the children in your stomach did somersaults due to your muscles flexing from how hard you laughed that day.

[phaniecastello-blog]

Challenge 2: First date.

Winter night and city lights

(( This is the continuation of the last side fic, cause it happened on the same day. Thank you, Claire, for this RP and Grace for the last one, again because I know you have been very busy. Good luck with exams and projects, everyone! Also, thank you to the people who read my stuff, means a lot! <3 ))

I will never forget the expressions of the pair of faces I found when I got to my room after leaving Prince Maximus at the hospital wing. I was worried about the time, too, that’s why I had made my best to run in the most discrete and lady-like way I could to start getting ready for the date, but Lily and Rebecca were looking at me like it was the end of the world. I can’t help but to scoffed a laugh when I looked at them. 

“Lady Stephanie! Thank God you are finally here! Tracey is still looking for you outside” Rebecca exclaimed. “Yes, I know, it’s late… I’m sorry, I had an unexpected matter to take care of, downstairs” I said out of breathing, as I started to take off my clothes to get a shower “But we looked for you everywhere…” Lily handled me a bathrobe. “I bet you didn’t look at the hospital wing” They both gasped at the same time “Everyone is fine… or I hope so” I said thinking if I should have stayed until the Prince could walk to his room by himself, but he said he was going to be okay, so I tried to concentrate in making fast movements in order to be ready in time.  “I will tell you everything later” I said as I got in the shower. Hair, makeup, nails, dress, we did everything at the speed of sound; at the end, we finish everything 10 min before Nate’s arrival. I told my maids I could take care of the accessories and shoes while they could have some deserved Green tea at the kitchen to calm themselves; they wanted to stay but then admitted that the tea was more than necessary and wishing me the best of the lucks, the three of them headed downstairs. While I was picking a pair of earrings to wear my phone rang, I wasn’t surprised by it, I knew Loretta was going to call me, so after making sure the sparkly, white, earrings were secure on my ear, I turned my cell phone off and keep it on my night table, slamming the drawer closed.

I really should get a new phone number. A knock on the door took me out of my thoughts. Nate was as punctual as they told me he would be. I guessed as a Prince it was a quality he must have learned since he was a child. “One second, please” I shouted as I put my shoes on.

“Hello...” I said as I open the door, I was about to call him “your majesty” as I used to but then I remember he let me call him by his name “Nate” I said smiling and inviting him to come inside with a hand gesture.

He smiled back and took a pair of steps inside “Hey, are you ready?” “Yes, I’m ready! ... I don’t know what we are doing, so tell me, am I well dress for it?” I asked looking down at my dress and hoping he wouldn’t have planned to do some horse riding because the length of the dress would have been a problem. “You look amazing” I could almost feel the blush on my cheeks. "Let’s go” He held out his arm for me. “Thank you! You’re looking great, too” I passed my hand under his arm. For some reason that simple touch made me remember the night we talked at the gym “never stop using that method of yours” I joked, making him remember our conversation, too; where he confessed his method to look great all the time.   He smiled “I’ll try not to” We started walking through the corridors and then, for my surprise we headed upstairs, but in order to not ruin the surprise, I didn’t ask why. “So, how have you been these days? How are we treating you? I mean we, the selected” I smirked He started to chuckled “Just fine, nothing too crazy... yet” “I’m glad” I giggled. “ Let’s hope everything continues like this” I continued, crossing my fingers. “Let’s hope. It probably won’t though” He laughed. I had thought the same, it was almost impossible to have 26 ladies, all from different provinces, different ways of thinking, different personalities, living in the same place and expecting the peace to last, but I didn’t want to stress him more than he should have been, already. “Oh! Do you see some crazy things coming? ... now I’m curious!” I smiled   Nate shook his head quickly “No, it’s just that something always happens” I couldn’t help but wonder if he was saying that by its own conviction or if his father, King Spencer had share some experiences from the past, with him. Hopefully, they won’t include any specific names. “Okay, better be aware, right?” looking around, I realized we kept going upstairs He laughed “Always be on the lookout” He opened a door and that’s when I found out we had arrived at the rooftop terrace of the palace. “That’s a very wise…”  I stopped talking, distracted by the beautiful, small, fancy garden I was at. There was a place full of plants and flowers and a stone path that led to the rest of the place with a normal tiled floor. We keep walking and I spotted a wooden table, decorated with warm yellow lights and settled for dinner. “Oh... this looks beautiful!” I walked closed the balcony; the first afternoon lights from the buildings, houses, and streets looked small and shiny from up there. “and the view from here is unbelievable” Then I turned to face him “thank you for bringing me here”

“Yes, I know it sounds impossible but I’m good at learning just by watching other people doing things... that’s how I learn the only three steps of ballet I know” I chuckled “who thought you?” “A combo of my mother and Lady Collette, actually. Mostly Lady Collette, but my mother helped out a lot.”

He smiled “You’re welcome, we do have a really nice view”

We talked about the place a little more. How it was a calm, remote place to relax. He mentioned it to be quite nice to do some music  

“Oh! You should have brought your guitar with you, it would’ve been awesome to hear you play after dinner”

“I didn’t think of it, I could always play for you another time” He promised.

“Deal!” I stood by the table where a delightful smell reached my nose. I hadn’t had the time to eat anything since breakfast because I got busy taking care of Prince Maximus! The memory of him made me realized I had to find a moment to tell Nate about what had happened earlier, It wouldn’t be nice for him to found out by someone else. Even when it was an accident, I shouldn’t act like if I was hiding it.  

Let’s wait for the right moment

“What are we having for dinner tonight?”

“Steak and potatoes, is that okay with you?” he asked kindly

“Yes, of course, I love meat.” We sit at the table. I was so distracted by our talk that I didn’t realize when a waitress came from someplace to serve dinner. “You like cooking right? What’s your favorite meal to cook?”

“Yeah, mostly sides or if I want to try something new I go for like a pasta dish. Do you cook?” Nate asked.

The mention of pasta made me remember the time when my mother used to send me to Italy on vacation.

“Really? Actually, I just know how to cook pasta because my grandma was Italian and she tried to teach me when I was younger. But besides that... nothing” I enjoyed being with my nonna, she wasn’t a very affective woman, but she used to demonstrate her love by taking care of me and spending time with me.

“Like homemade pasta?” Nate asked as if he was surprised.

I laughed to myself. I didn’t understand why he looked so surprised…

I don’t get it, I have this domestic appearance... I joked in my mind. I hadn’t had enough time to learn those kinds of things, but considering that one of my biggest dreams was to have my own big family, I might start to learn.

“Yes, I know it sounds impossible but I’m good at learning just by watching other people doing things... that’s how I learn the only three steps of ballet I know” I chuckled “who thought you?” “A combo of my mother and Lady Collette, actually. Mostly Lady Collette, but my mother helped out a lot.” I could sense a tone of pride in his voice, which I liked. I found nice and enjoyable to hear him talked about his family and his likings; it made me feel like I was talking to Nate, the person, and not just the powerful Prince of Illéa. Not that the last part was a bad one, on the contrary, I had always admired the way he did his job, but that was the part everyone knows... I was interested in knowing so much more, the big and little details. 

“Oh! That’s great! Lady Collette looks intimidating, but I guess she’s as sweet as the Queen” I gave him a smile but then I dropped it “... Speaking of your family ... I’m...I’m afraid I broke your little brother” I felt embarrassed “I hope he’s doing better now”

“You broke him?” I couldn’t look at him, but his tone sounded confused. I explained everything about my first meeting with Maximus, how I accidentally hit his nose with the Women’s room door

He waved it off with his hand “He’ll be fine. Come on he was literally hit on by a girl” Nate laughed. I bite my lower lip to hold my laugh “I really hope he’s doing better…” I guessed my worried expression made him want to know more about it. 

“How badly did you hurt him?”

I told him the second part of the story, the one that included me sacrificing my neck to carry the younger prince to the hospital wing. Of course, I didn’t tell him the sacrifice thing. He curled his lips and gave me a thoughtful face “Oh God, it’ll be fine they can take care of him” “Okay....” I couldn’t change my concerned look, and even when the silence just lasted a few minutes, it felt like hours. We continue eating, the meat had a light taste of fine herbs and the potatoes had a special spice I couldn’t identify. Of course, I couldn’t, I mean I don’t even know any spice’s names. “If you could go anywhere where would you go” Nate asked.  “Hmm... I think would go to Paloma. It has the best beaches. When I have my own home I want it to be near a beach” I answered smiling He nodded “I get that, I’m personally not a beach person but the oceans pretty neat” “Yes, it is ... How was growing up in this huge palace? I asked having the last piece of my meat. He shrugged “To me, this is normal, which is really strange, but it is. It’s fun to watch everyone like look around and be amazed by something I’ve seen every day of my life. 

I chuckled, remembering most of the ladies, including myself, had got lost in that enormous palace; “I understand, it must be normal for you all the meetings with important people and the fancy parties... How good are you dancing at balls?”

“Well I’m quite a professional” He said that with a serious face but the tone of his voice had a sarcastic tone… which one is telling the truth?

I gave him a suspicious look “I’m not sure if that was sarcasm or..., but can’t wait to find out” He laughed “I’m good I promise” I smiled at his effort to sound convincing, but he was just making grow my curiosity. I sipped my glass of water “Can I ask for a demonstration?” He hesitated for a second “Yeah totally” I sensed a shy tone in his voice.   “Don’t worry I’m not any good at …” I looked for the right word in my head “waltz? Is it?” He nodded “Yeah” He affirmed, then he stood up and walked around the table to stand in front of me offering his hand. That definitely was one of those scenes that while you are living them, you instantly know you will keep them forever in your mind, like an HD photograph and even when I was responsible of that, I would lie if I say I wasn’t nervous. Hopefully, that wasn’t obvious. I had all those thoughts crossing my mind but I didn’t hesitate of taking his hand “Of course” I said standing up. “... wait, if I remember correctly here’s where I bow” and I did “or is it just at the movies?” I chuckled. Okay, maybe the plan of hiding the nerves wasn’t working He waved his hand and laughed at me “It’s just in the movies” I felt my face burning with embarrassment and I pictured it all read, so I tried to cover it with a hand on my forehead. “I know nothing.”

“I’m joking” He chuckled Ohh so, this is how real shame feels like

I could just laugh at myself “You are cruel... I getting to know you” I joked smirking at him He smirked back “I’m not that bad” “Do not take advantage of the fact that I have only been at parties where they move like this” I danced as if electronic music were playing in the background, exaggerating every move thinking and mocking the people at the recurring parties organized by House Castello, they happened so often that they had become kind of boring, not to mention the people in them. “They’re fun, but I can only bare them for a couple of hours” “Balls are nothing compared to those” He acknowledged. I had suspected that, but I thanked God anyway. “Which one do you prefer? Be honest” 

He thought his answer for some seconds.“Parties are very upbeat and stuff but everyone is just close and it’s sweaty but balls are” He whispered the next words as if someone were listening to us, and they probably were; it was easy for me to forget that we had guards close to us, all the time, and for sure, the cameras were strategically placed maybe they had small microphones as well. “...kinda boring, you just stand around most of the time.So I’m not really a fan of either” “If you make me choose between sweaty and standing around” I simulate a balance with my hands, lowering the one that contained the ball option “I prefer standing around because a good company can make it less boring…” Since I was talking out of experience, my last sentence sounded more like a question, but everything was better than stranger people sweating around me.   “Yeah that’s true” “Okay, so, not electronic music, then” I said getting closer to him. He shooked his head. Then and we both adopted the correct posture to start waltzing. My left hand on his shoulder, his left hand meeting my right and I could feel the delicate touch of his right hand on my waist.  I didn’t even feel sorry for leaving my phone in my room because my inner playlist took charged to play a melody in my head. I felt like the Earth, having two movements at the same time: One to the waltz rhythm and a little shaky inside. A normal person would just stay quiet and enjoy the amazing moment, but I had never been as normal as I seemed, so, in the middle of twirls and dance steps  “You are not bad, I mean as you can see I’m not an expert buuut... I think you were being modest with the sarcasm and all” He smiled “Thanks, you aren’t that bad yourself” I chuckled at the “that” even when there wasn’t any emphasis on the word “Lady Collette would  be proud” Nate laughed “One less girl she will have to teach” “I’m  lucky to have the best teacher” 

We finished dancing and walk by the balcony to enjoy the view of the city which was some seconds away from losing its portion of sunlight.    “Do you like living here in Angeles?” I asked  “I have been here a few times, but haven’t had time to explore…” I turned to face him and my curiosity stroke, again “Have you ever sneak out to go out there?” I asked smirking 

He chuckled and I knew he actually had “All the time, probably more than I should” I joined him chuckling “Really?! You like the adrenaline, then. I bet you sneak out with Jace, don’t you? have you got caught?” Nate curled his lips and nodded “Yeah, often mostly by the public and not my parents.” “Of course!” I laughed. It was impossible that the citizens couldn’t recognize the heir to Illèa’s throne  “sounds like fun.” Suddenly I remember that sometimes it wasn’t that fun not being free to go or do whatever, wherever you go. I wasn’t as important as he was, but I recognized that feeling “ I have had to sneak out from my house too, but in my case is to go to the dance academy... my mom doesn’t like me there so, I have to avoid any cameras when I get in or out.” I forced a smile but I just managed half of it. 

“You seem to really enjoy dance, why doesn’t your mom support you?”

I explained to him that I tried to take classes since I was little but my mom didn’t let me do it because she wanted me to focus on the fashion industry. That now I just go to the academy to do some sketches and I took advantage of that time to learn some ballet by watching. It was a miracle she had left me to go to the art school, and that was because I convinced her it was only to follow her steps as a designer. Which wasn’t entirely true. I had never shared with her the opinion that I had to focus on modeling, there was nothing wrong in doing something else.

“I think if you enjoy doing something you should do it.” He said at the end

“Yeah, I have been thinking about that lately.” But deep inside that even it should have been that easy, it wasn’t. Not for me, I had so many fears and insecurities that I had  been trying to fight against., but “Thank you, for the advice and for all this” I twist my head towards the decorated table

He smiled “No problem. You go do what you want”

Then I mentioned coming back to that peaceful place to draw, during my stay in the palace. He walked over to the small sitting place that was at the end of the place and turned on the lights “It's really cool up here, at night, this is a great place to sit, I've been coming up here a lot more lately”

“Really? What for? Well... I mean, if you want to tell me. I don’t mean to interlude” again.

“No no it's fine, I like playing guitar up here now.”

“it’s a suitable place for artistic things. Do you write songs or you play some covers?

“I mostly mess around but I sometimes do covers, I may accidentally write a couple” He laughed and I could notice that his face almost glow when he talked about his favorite things. “I kinda do everything”

“Accidentally” I was impressed the way he said that word as if it was something that anyone could do naturally,... casually “ ... most of the best inventions were made by accident, so I bet that apply for songs too”

He wobbled his head “Probably. I never thought of myself as a writer”

“Hmmm... that means it’s coming out naturally, which is great!” After that little chat, we walked back to my room. On our way there I learned he was going to meet Jace before he goes back to his house. I couldn’t help myself to wonder if he would share with him some thoughts about our date. Maybe it was a pretentious and childish thought, but not impossible.

Before he went downstairs I hold his hand taking him one more time for the lovely night  “...See you tomorrow, then. Have fun with Jace.” I smiled.

He smiled and then started laughing “Oh, I will” Then I let go and got inside my room, when I closed the door behind me, the rhythm of my heart told me it would be impossible to fall asleep, so before calling my maids for help, I found myself sitting on my desk, ready for some new strokes.

[firelynxinbloom]

The Closest Thing I have written to a Biography: “My Mind is a Time Machine.”

Here is a short story that I wrote for a university class about a year ago. It is one that centers around time and memory, and it also surround my life as an Autistic woman, and my father’s struggle to accept his Autistic identity. All the characters in the story are based in real friends and family, but all the names have been changed for privacy reasons. This includes mine and my father’s name. I hope you enjoy it :)

...

As I watch the thundering rain falls heavily in a wet drape of blue and green, I am taken back to my childhood, where I sat in a cheap kiddie pool in my Dad’s backyard and looked up at the flashing and booming lightshow that flares above me. The wetness of the pouring rain, and deafening crashes and bangs, and the bright streaks of white and gold sent me into an overload of sensory ecstasy. This wonder is slightly marred by the faint screeching of my father’s worried voice, slowly taking shape into the words; “Talia! Get inside!”

“Talia, dinner’s ready!” The beckoning call of my mother pulls me back into the realm of the present. Reluctantly, I pull myself from my bedroom window and slowly make my way to the kitchen. I sat at the dining room table to eat when I noticed what was on the plate in front of me. It was a piece of grilled flathead fish with vegetables and tartar sauce on the side. I was overwhelmed with disbelief. “How did you afford this?” I asked my mum with eyes wide open. She looked at me with a warm smile. “I’ve been saving up for it. I wanted to spoil you the night before your graduation.” As I tuck into my ridiculously expensive meal, my mind wanders off to one of my winter holiday trips to my father’s rural home....

Every winter, since my parents broke up, my dad would take me to his home in the rural coast. The smell of ocean salt and cocoanut-scented sunscreen is a gateway into series of long road trips and petrol stops that led into a paradise of paternal reconciliation. One day, at the age of nineteen, Dad and I joined his girlfriend Julie and their family on a fishing trip to the Hamilton River. In my pale blue jumper and my rolled up jeans, I waded into the freezing water and let out my fishing line. I bask in the serenity of bright blue sky and the gentle of warm wind that carries the laughter of Dad and Julie and the impatient groaning of my supposedly de-facto step niece. The scent of cigarettes and cologne greets me, and I turn to see Dad standing beside me. I remember that look of pure love and joy on his face, a look of man that did not want to lose contact with his baby girl again. This serenity is broken by the strong tug of my fishing line as a frantic white object splashed about the river on the other end. “Pull it! Pull it! Come on, Talia! You can do it!” Dad cheers me on as I yank a massive flathead fish from the river depths. “I caught a fish! I can’t believe it! I caught a fish!” I shouted joyfully. I took a good look at my prize. It was a white, shiny, and graceful looking thing. It had a flat and wide head with an eye on both sides and what appeared to be thick slimy whiskers of its face. I gently gave it to Julie, and she put it in a large bucket of water. “That fish is a Flathead. They are expensive when you buy them at the shops, so it was a lucky catch for you today.” I remember her taking the fish to her place to prepare it, and Dad and I had it for lunch the next day.

As I finished my dinner, I remember the sense of accomplishment that I felt when I caught that fish. I remember the smile of pride on my Mum’s face when I told her about it. I think that is why she cooked flathead fish for dinner. It is her way of showing me how she is proud of my hard academic work in light of my graduation. My Mum gives me a hug as walk into the lounge room.

“Do you have a dress picked out?”

“Yes. I’m wearing the black one with the peplum.”

“I’m so proud of you. I love you.”

“I love you too. Good night.”

“Good night baby.”

I walk into my room and I climb into my loft bed. As my head touches the pillow, my mind begins to travel. My dreams take me to the events of my past.

The first event that beckons me to an argument my parents had when I was four. It starts with a flurry of chaos. This chaos consists of too much noise, too much light, too much of everyone else’s emotions, but most of all, too much of this burning sensation in mouth by this thing they call tomato sauce. It felt like I was swallowing napalm. As this overload softened, I was able to wake up from my meltdown. I noticed that my parents were yelling at each other. My Dad did not understand what had just happened to me. He keeps arguing the point.

“She was overreacting! It’s just tomato sauce! She knows it gets your attention!”

“She’s not faking it! How is that fake?! She was having a meltdown!”

“Too bad! It’s tomato sauce! She’ll get used to it!”

“She can’t get used to it! She’s autistic! She’s just like you! Do you remember the meltdown you had last week?”

“Don’t get me started on that bullshit!”

The beckoning of another event pulls me away, and I am taken to the day my parents broke up for good. I was twelve at the time. I woke up in the middle of the nigh to hear Mum and Dad arguing again. I heard Dad scream at the top of his lungs, “I’m not autistic, and neither is she!” I made my way to my bedroom door, but my sister Natalie walked in to stop me. She is seventeen at the time. I cried in her loving arms as I heard the front door slam and the screeching of a car driving off. “I know what I am. Why can’t he accept himself for who he is?” I asked between sobs. Through the dim light, I could see Natalie’s blue eyes shine with compassion and worry. “I heard that his family was in denial of him being different in any way. His mother is very stubborn about him being normal. I think Dad feels that if he accepts his Autism, he might somehow be insulting his mother’s memory.” This insight led me to feel a sense of empathy towards my Dad, coupled with a subtle hatred towards my paternal grandmother for emotionally abusing my Dad in this way. Suddenly, I am swept away to the day my Dad came back. I was sixteen, and I was playing fetch with the dog we had at the time, when there was a sudden knock on the front door. My Mum walked to the door and started talking to the person that was there. The conversation seemed slightly tense from what I could see in the backyard. I heard my calling to me, “your father is here.” The initial shock was followed by joy as ran into the house to greet him. He embraced me in his arms where I was reunited with the nostalgic smell of cigarettes and cologne. My mind flashes toward to an hour afterwards. Natalie came over from work and we all started talking about the time that went by. Dad said that he had moved to the rural coast to get away from all the noise of suburbia, and we talked about Natalie moving out, my high school achievements, and Mum’s struggle to raise us on her own. This scene of bittersweet joy began to fade as I woke up to my conscious reality.

As I am getting ready for graduation, my Mum is calling Natalie on the phone to make sure she has not slept in. By the time Mum starts calling Dad, I have slipped into my peplum dress. This sleeveless black pencil dress reaches the top of my knees. It has an elegant peplum flap on each side of my waist. I have paired this with a pair of plain black kitten heels. As I walked into the lounge room to see Mum dressed and ready to go. She was wearing a loose pair of black palazzo pants and a loose black crochet singlet. A rainbow chiffon shawl and a pair of black decorative sandals topped the outfit. She was on the phone to Danielle, my step-grandmother of sorts. Danielle was the de-facto partner of my maternal grandfather. Papa and Dannie, as they were known, were very close to Natalie and me. My Dad is not Natalie’s biological father. Her father abandoned her when she was five, so while my Dad was gone, Papa took the role as our fatherly figure. Natalie was closer to him than I was, so his death was extremely hard for her. I remember being in the hospital waiting room at the time. I was eighteen, and I was talking with Natalie’s partner, Ray. Natalie’s sobs pierced the peace in the room. She ran to Ray in a crying mess, and I stood there, frozen with grief. “Is he.....?” I asked, and she turned her crying red face to me and nodded. I heard the distant sound of Mum wailing in grief. As Natalie cried in Ray’s arms, I became overwhelmed by own emotions. I didn’t know which one to process first. On top of that, I was overloaded with the grief of Natalie and the grief of Mum and Dannie as they walked into the room. My head was crammed full of emotion, and most of it was not my own. I could not process anything. I could not cry. I could not make a sound. I just stood there, frozen.

The front door opened as I came to the present. Natalie came through the door with a big smile on her face. “I’m proud of you,” she beams while holding me in a tight hug. She is wearing a flowing purple blouse with silver trimming and her nicest pair of jeans. She had on a pair of silver sparkly converse shoes that match the polish on her naturally perfect nails. When she released me from her arms, I looked at her face and I saw that she had makeup on. I looked to Mum and she had makeup on too. I touched my bare face and laughed. “Well, I’d better put my face on.” Mum and Natalie laughed. “Take your time. It’s your graduation,” said Mum.

As I was fixing my makeup, I catch a whiff of a familiar perfume. I have not encountered this smell in a long time. I wandered what it was doing in my house. I called out down the hallway; “Where is that sweet smell coming from?” I heard a faint call travel back to me; “It’s this bubble gum flavoured ‘Hello Kitty’ spray that I found at the shops yesterday. I was showing Mum how ridiculous it smells. Why ask?” said Natalie. “It smells like someone I used to know,” I answered.

I associate that smell with my first year in university. This first year was my foundation pathway course because my university acceptance mark was too low. I remember crying at my computer, feeling like my hard work was for nothing when I received that mark. This sadness switched to joy when I got an acceptance letter to a foundation that would get me into university. On my first day of this course, I was sitting in class, waiting for the teacher to arrive. That was when I was greeted by the childish smell. I turned to see where it came from. Sitting next to me, I saw the most unusual looking woman I have ever seen. She had bright red hair done up in fifties rockabilly styles. Her makeup was extreme, with winged eyeliner and a red lip to contrast her porcelain skin. She wore a pink frilly fifties dress, with a pair of red stiletto pumps covering her pink frilly socks. This vintage look seemed quite. However, the brow piercing, the black clawed nails and her many ‘Disney Princess’ tattoos gave her a distinct edge. Her name was Regna, and although I was only an acquaintance to her for only a couple of months, her image made me realise that is was a way to be true to oneself without succumbing to group pressure.

As I was finishing my makeup, I thought that Regna would be a perfect example for Dad to admire. Like Regna, he should accept himself for who he is, without worrying his family. He should not have to be scared. These thought were interrupt by another knock on the door. I walked into the lounge room greet Dannie in her Sunday best glory. She also greeted me with an expression of pride and joy. “Papa would be so proud,” she said. I smiled and I look to the front door to see if anyone else was here. No one was here. Dad was not here. I felt a sinking feeling of sadness. I do not understand. He said he would be here. My mum walked over to comfort me. “It’s okay, Talia. He called to let us know that he was stuck in traffic. I told that if we leave before he arrives, he would meet us at the graduation hall.” I felt a wave of relief. Natalie gave me a knowing look of sympathy. She and I both know how unpredictable he can be. As we all get into Natalie car, I think back to rare conversion I had with Dad.

It was one of my most recent trips to Dad’s home. We had stopped at a petrol station to for a pee break and an early breakfast. Dad stocked up on his fourth cup of coffee, and I stocked up on a litre of orange, four hash browns and a box of ‘Krispy Kreme’ donuts. As we got into the car to continue our rural road drip, Dad and I began to talk about my neurological difference.

“I’m starting to realise that Kylie was right about you being autistic. I notice that you are a little quirky sometimes, but that’s not a bad thing. I should’ve known it wasn’t a bad thing. I guess that’s why I didn’t want to accept it. You’re doing alright for yourself, going to uni and all.” He said with an apologetic smile. This surprised me. This was the first time my Dad admitted to all the hard my Mum did for me. I saw this as a good step in the right direction. I let him speak some more.

“Some of the things you do, like the day dreaming, and the fidgeting, the overloads, and your introverted streak; they’re all the things that I do. It’s weird because the doctor said that those things are what make you autistic. It’s got me feeling a bit unsure.”

I could not believe what I was hearing. I looked at him with a knowing smile.

“You know there’s a good chance my Autism didn’t come out of nowhere? It’s never too late to get the paper work, if you catch my drift.”

A cloud of silence filled the car, and I saw my Dad show an expression of deep thought as he kept driving. He glanced at me with a sense of nervousness.

“I don’t know. Wouldn’t that be a slap to my mum’s face?”

“I don’t think so. I think the only thing she would want is for you to be happy.” His face suddenly brightened.

“You think you’re right. It wouldn’t hurt to check it out.”

As I was sitting in the audience, waiting for the Dean to call my name, I turn to check the crowd for my Dad’s face. This sense of hope turned to sadness when his face could not be found.

“Talia Steward,”

The Dean calls my name, and I start to make my way to the stage to accept my Bachelor degree. I walk towards the Dean and I take my hard earned reward. I take one last look at the sea of people and a distant waving hand catches my eye. I see my Dad! He made it! I am overwhelmed with joy. He is standing next to where Mum, Natalie, and Dannie are sitting. He is in his best shirt and pants. He waves his phone at me mouths the word “Phone.” I take my phone out of my robe pocket and I am overjoyed by the text that I see. It is from Dad, and it says;

“I got the paper work.”

...

I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if it needs anymore content warnings :)

[this-ginger-has-no-soul]

Fairy dust- pt. 2

(A/N):I LOVE THE FAIRY READER!

Request: hello! if requests are still open, I'd like another fairy!reader where she's also an Avenger with another power (you can choose) and one of her wings gets hurt during a mission and she's really sad and depressed bc she can't fly until it's healed and her fairy dust isn't bright and beautiful, it's nearly disappeared bc of how sad she is and Bucky freaks out when it happens and helps her through it? 😭😭😭❤️ i loved your last fairy!reader fic! sorry this is long, haha

Warnings: swearing

Tags: @mcuimxgine, @ifoundlove-x0vanessa0x, @saradi1018, @holland-toms, @superwholockian309, @fly-f0rever, @capbuckthor

Read the first part: X

   The team knew what a hostile mission this was before even stepping out of the Avenjet, they knew how many agents had surrounded their ship and still they were so I'll prepared for the battle. Hundreds of agents attempted to battle the mighty avengers and it looked as though they were doing a damn good job, kicking everyone's ass as they tried to fight back. There was one person who seemed to be knocking agents down easier than the others, (Y/N).

    Bucky learned that with being a fairy there were other perks such as the use of most magic, which just so happened to be (Y/N)'s choice if weapon at the moment. Wisps of bright, power fell from their fingertips as agent after agent swarmed around the creature, nearly engulfing them in a stampede but Bucky knew they could hold their own- they may have been small and dainty looking but they were far from it. Even with their gentle nature and soft language Bucky knew what that little fairy was capable of. 

   With a proud smirk Bucky watches as all the agents within the near vicinity of (Y/N) are thrown backwards, (Y/N)'s powers pushing the men back so harshly Bucky doubted they'd be able to recover. Even panting, their body quivering from the effort of fighting (Y/N) turns their head to give Bucky a smile, letting their guard down for a split second. Bucky smiles back until his eyes train in on the human being a few yards away from (Y/N), a gun aimed directly at their head.

    "(Y/N)!" Bucky yelled as he charged for them, not even giving them time to react before he was pulling them to his chest as the two hit the ground, just barely managing to miss the bullet...or so he thought. 

   Small whimpers of pain left (Y/N)'s lips as they shifted uncomfortably in Bucky's hold, their eyes screwed up in obvious discomfort. 

    "Bucky-" (Y/N) pants, groaning softly at the pain coursing their back. "My wing-" 

    "Shit," Bucky whispers as he quickly relinquishes his hold on (Y/N), allowing them to attempt to sit up. With a yell of pain they slump back down against Bucky's chest, their entire body shaking in pain now. 

   "Oh my god, what's wrong? What happened?" Bucky asks frantically, his mind already going a million different directions. 

    "My- My wing," (Y/N) whispers, biting their lip as tears cloud their eyes. "I- I broke one-" Bucky stares at (Y/N) for a moment before shifting himself just enough do that he could get a good look at (Y/N)'s wings. Bucky winced as he took in the sight, the leathery interior of the wing had been shot, leaving a hold in the top of the sparkly skin but the bones attaching the wings to (Y/N)'s back looked severely broken, the small bones poking out at odd angels.

    "Shit doll," Bucky mutters, making sure not to touch (Y/N)'s back. (Y/N) continued their whimpers of pain, slumped against Bucky as though they could barely hold their own weight up. “We gotta get you out of here,” Bucky mutters, glancing around at all the agents still swarming the Avengers. 

   “But- But the agents,” (Y/N) groans in pain as Bucky shifts only a little causing (Y/N)’s body to move just slightly. 

    “The agents aren’t important right now,” Bucky whispered, biting his lip as he thought of someway to get (Y/N) out of here with as little pain as possible. “Bruce is still in the Jet, he can patch you up,” 

   “Bucky, I can’t- I can’t do it,” 

   “(Y/N), you just can’t sit here, vulnerable and in pain, got it?” (Y/N) looked at Bucky meekly, their eyes swimming with tears. “I’m gonna carry you to the jet real nice and easy, okay?” (Y/N) stares at Bucky for only a moment longer before nodding their head, wrapping their arms around Bucky’s neck tightly. “This is gonna hurt a bit,” Bucky whispered in their ear as he pushed up from the ground using one arm, the other wrapped around (Y/N)’s lower back. 

   “ow, ow, ow, ow, oh god,” (Y/N) mutters, their nails digging into the skin of Bucky’s neck as he finally stands, wrapping his other hand around (Y/N)’s waist. 

   “It’s okay doll,” Bucky whispered, hoping his soft tone would soothe them a bit. “It’s okay, the jet’s not too far away from here,” (Y/N) merely whimpers, burying their face against Bucky’s neck to silence their cries. Bucky bit his lip once more as he took a tentative step towards the jet, or at least the direction the jet had landed in. Small whimpers and groans fell from (Y/N)’s lips with each step he took, nearly breaking his heart as they did. 

   The walk had been short but it’d been excruciating, for both (Y/N) and Bucky. Having to listen to (Y/N)’s cries with each step was one of the hardest things Bucky ever had to do and goddamn it he couldn’t stand to see them in pain. Thank god he reached the jet quicker than he expected, he didn’t know how much longer he could take of (Y/N)’s sobbing. 

   “Bruce!” Bucky called as he gingerly set (Y/N) on one of the prep tables, his heart aching as (Y/N) sobbed softly. “Bruce we need help!” Bruce rushed into the room, his eyes wide as he searched Bucky’s face. “It’s (Y/N)’s wing, it’s- it’s pretty broken,” Bruce relaxes slightly, rolling his shoulders back and releasing a small breath. 

   “I’ll take a look,” Bruce replied coolly, already walking across to the table to inspect (Y/N)’s back. Bruce makes no noise, just simply studies (Y/N)’s wings as they whimper and sniffle softly, rubbing at their eyes like a child. Finally Bruce stepped away from (Y/N), making his way towards a small cabinet they kept on board for injuries and such. “The skin will heal itself in time but the bones will not, I can make them a cast right now,” 

   “Yes- yes please,’ (Y/N) whispers, a small sheen of sweat breaking out across their forehead. Bruce nods, grabbing the needed materials before pulling a chair up beside the table. 

   “Now, this will hurt, your wings are very fragile and the damage to them is extensive but I’ll be done in no time,” Bruce smiled at (Y/N) sweetly, only soothing their nerves slightly. With a scared look in their puffy eyes (Y/N) looked up to Bucky, their lip quivering as they did. 

   “It’s okay (Y/N),” Bucky gives them a little smile as he reaches up to run his hand along their forehead, wiping away their sweat. (Y/N) whimpers softly, biting their lip as Bruce gently probed at the bones, his fingers gingerly running along the misshapen lumps. 

   “Are you ready?” Bruce asks, grabbing a roll of medical tape to begin with. (Y/N) eyed the tape warily but nonetheless sighed, nodding their head. Before Bruce could even lay a finger on (Y/N) Bucky knew that this was going to end in tears and screaming and there was going to be nothing he could do about it. 

   (Y/N) curled against Bucky’s side in exhaustion, thoroughly wiped out from the days activities. Bucky had been right about the tears and screaming, he was pretty sure everyone in a ten mile radius heard (Y/N)’s screams of pain as Bruce aligned the bones once again but now it was over and (Y/N) was safe, curled against Bucky as they slept soundly. With a small smile Bucky tilts his head just enough to press a kiss to (Y/N)’s forehead, ignoring the lingering saltiness from their previous sweat. 

   “Sleep well (Y/N),” Bucky whispered and it may have just been the lighting but Bucky could’ve sworn that (Y/N) smiled, even if it was just a quick quirk of their lip. 

    “I’m not hungry,” (Y/N) stated for the third morning in a row, their words flat and emotionless. Bucky bit his lip as he looked at (Y/N)’s form, racked with exhaustion, gaunt, almost sickly looking. Bucky hadn’t seen them eat in days and all they were doing was sleeping, laying in bed for hours on end, only getting up to take a freezing shower and go to the bathroom. 

   “(Y/N), when have you ever turned down waffles?” Bucky asks, his concern piquing when (Y/N) merely shrugged their shoulders. 

   “Today I guess,” Bucky rose from his seat, gingerly grasping (Y/N)’s upper arms in his hands. 

   “(Y/N), what’s wrong? You haven’t been eating, you’ve been sleeping for hours on end- I’m getting really scared doll,” (Y/N) sighs, biting their lip as they avert their gaze to the floor, hanging their head in shame; they never did like having people worrying about them. 

   “My fairy dust has stopped,” (Y/N) whispers so quietly that Bucky can only make out the last word. 

   “What?” Bucky asks, tilting his head in confusion. 

   “My fairy dust has stopped,” (Y/N) repeats slightly louder, but still not loud enough. 

   “I can’t understand you doll-” 

  “My fair dust has stopped!” (Y/N) snaps, a look of immediate guilt overtaking their features afterwards. “I’m so sorry Bucky, I-I don’t know what’s wrong with me-’ But Bucky wasn’t paying an attention to their apology, too focused on their previous words. 

   “What do you mean you fairy dust has stopped?” (Y/N) closes their mouth as they no doubt go to state another apology, their lips pursing a bit as well. 

   “Um- well- sometimes when a fairy gets depressed their fairy dust can stop working, lose it’s shine, or just stop all together,” (Y/N) demonstrates by showing the small trickle of fairy dust that falls from their fingertips, the far less shiny particles drifting to the ground limply. “See?” Bucky hums, biting down on his thumb as he watched the dust collect on the ground. 

   “Are you depressed because of your wing?” Bucky asks, a sudden idea coming to his mind. 

   “Yeah-” (Y/N) sighs, nodding their head. “I miss flying is all,” Bucky smirks a bit as his idea begins to take form, quickly coming together in his head. 

   “Step up on the counter,” Bucky states rather quickly, a smile overtaking his features. (Y/N) gives him a small confused look, their brow scrunching up just a bit. 

   “What-” 

   “C’mon,’ Buck offers his hand to help (Y/N) up onto the granite table top. “Just trust me,” (Y/N) eyes him warily before gingerly taking his hand, allowing him to lift them onto the counter with ease. “Okay, now I want you to put your legs on my shoulders,” 

   “Wait, what-” 

   “Just do it,” Bucky smiles at them, turning his back as he waited for them to do as he instructed. (Y/N) sighs softly, hesitantly resting their legs on Bucky’s shoulders, their hands grabbing at his forehead to stay on properly. 

   “What’s the point to this?” (Y/N) asks and although their tone was still sad it was a bit brighter than it had been a few minutes ago. 

   “I’m walking you around the tower, that’s the point,” Bucky smirks as he takes a few steps towards the living room, his heart fluttering in his chest when (Y/N) nearly squealed in shock and surprise. 

  “No, I’m gonna fall off,” (Y/N) smiles as they grip onto Bucky, praying they didn’t fall off. Bucky smiled as he reached up to rest his hands on (Y/N)’s legs, keeping them against his shoulders. 

   “I’ve got you, don’t worry,” Bucky smiles, increasing his steps just a bit. 

   “Bucky we’re gonna fall together, that’s how my wing was injured in the first place,” Bucky smiled, completely ignoring (Y/N)’s statement as he continued on down the hall, nearly revealing in the laughter that bubbled from (Y/N)’s lips. 

   “Bucky!” (Y/N) yelled, squealing as Bucky bounded down the stairs, knowing he could very easily support (Y/N)’s body on top of him. “You’re gonna kill us!” But Bucky merely smiles, taking off down the next hall, and the next, and the next, too absorbed in (Y/N)’s laughter to care about much else. 

   The two ran up and down the halls like that for god knows how long, laughing and joking with each other and neither one of them noticed when little sparkling particles fell to the floor, (Y/N)’s fairy dust having returned to it’s brightest shine. 

~Extended Ending~

   Tony looked up from his work to see Bucky run by his lab, nearly cackling as (Y/N) perched atop his shoulders, gripping onto him for support as he carried them up and down the halls. 

   “What the hell-” Tony asks, his sentence cutting off short when the two ran by again, little sparkles of fairy dust trailing behind the two. Tony stares at them for only a moment longer before scoffing, a smile rising to his lips as he turned back to his work. 

   Well, who knew what a little bit of fairy dust could do to the both of them. 

[salty-dracon]

TMX- Chapter One (rewrite)

The school bus wheeled forward on scratched rubber tires, rumbling over the dirt. 

Do you ever wonder why we live?

Brooke stared at her yellow reflection in the metal before boarding. Her blue backpack bounced behind her, stuffed to the brim with binders and papers.

Do we just make up meaning for our lives? What defines living? Enjoying ourselves? Procreation? Or is it truly pointless?

A cool breeze blowed a few tendrils of her red hair in front of her brown eyes. She brushed the hair out of her dark brown eyes as she went to pick a seat. 

What does my life mean to me?

The last thing she heard was the sound of a truck honking.

The last thing she did was turn around. 

The last thing she saw was a truck, twice the size of the school bus, barreling towards her, with no time to stop. 

...

...

...

Brooke’s eyes opened. 

The light blinded her back into closing her eyes. It was then that she realized she was curled up in the fetal position, her body full of feeling. Carefully she pried her arms away from her body, checking her joints to make sure they could still move. When her arms were sufficiently mobile, she wiped the goop off her eyes and opened them again. 

The thing in front of her was spotlessly white. As Brooke examined it closer, she realized it was a flat piece of plastic with a latch on top. She undid the latch with shaking fingers, and jumped back when the plastic fell in front of her, revealing a shiny black screen.

A... tray table? With a screen behind it?

Brooke uncurled her legs. She realized she was sitting on a similarly white leather seat. As she glanced around, she saw a window to her left. The view was of a golden sky, with little white clouds here and there. There were no trees, houses, fences, or even ground to be seen. As her ears adjusted, she heard the gentle clicking of train tracks under her feet. 

Am I on a train?

As Brooke looked to her right for answers, she was startled by the tall form of a... Julien wasn’t sure whether they were a boy or a girl. Perhaps neither. Their face was pressed against the seat in front of them, and they were snoring lightly. Across from both of them, there was a slightly shorter boy curled up in a brown trench coat. 

Julien tried to glance at the other passengers. There were people of many races and skin colors in the car. Brooke reflected on the fact that she must have been one of the lightest. 

“Woah!“ 

Brooke jumped back when she heard the voice. 

The person next to her opened their eyes. They pulled back their blue-dyed bangs and yawned. “Hey, what the fuck?”

“I don’t know!“ Brooke shouted. 

The boy in the trench coat gave a small mumble of restlessness. 

All around them, people were starting to wake up. Brooke was sure she heard someone call someone else’s name from the front. They began to talk to each other, Brooke realized with surprise, in perfect English. 

“Nikolas, you’re okay!“

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.“

“But we both died in that explosion!“

Brooke sat down. 

“Julien.“ The person introduced themselves. “I’m a they. Got it?“

“Okay... “ Brooke held her hand out. “Brooke. I’m a she.“

“Nice to meet you.“ Julien waited for a few seconds before asking “Fuck, you’re kinda cute.”

Brooke did not know how to answer.

The boy in the trench coat shot awake. “Woah! Woah woah woah! Where are we?!” He glanced around the train car. “Are we in a train?”

“Hell if I know.“ Julien held their hand out. “Julien. How ‘bout you?“

“Arthur.“ Arthur shook their hand.

Arthur’s outburst seemed to awaken more people. Within twenty minutes the entire train car was talking to each other and introducing themselves. 

“Brooke. I’m from Long Island.“

“Where?“ Julien asked. 

“Long Island. New York?“

Julien looked confused. 

“America?“

“But you’re speaking French.“

“I’m speaking English, and so are you!“

“I’m pretty sure I’m speaking French, Brooke.“

“Nope, she’s speaking English,“ Arthur said. “At least, that’s how I hear it.“

“Well, I’m from France, so if that changes anything-“

“I’m from England.“

A bell rang in the car, interrupting everyone’s conversation. A woman in a white robe appeared at the front, smiling brightly. “Hello, everyone! Welcome to the Heaven’s Express! I will be your conductor today, and I hope everyone is enjoying the trip to heaven.”

“Heaven?!“ Arthur exclaimed. “Are we dead?!“

“In short, yes, you’re dead.“ The woman kept smiling, as if it were perfectly normal. “Every single one of you is dead.“

Gasps arose from the car. 

“But please don’t worry, everyone! You’re going to heaven, which means you’ll be here in a land of total paradise, yay!“

“Go fuck yourself!“ Julien shouted. “Bitch!“

“Language, dude.“ Brooke punched their shoulder.

“Please, may all of you enjoy the conveniences of Heaven’s Express! If you just undo the tray tables in front of you, you’ll see a system that’ll help you wash away the last traces of guilt you feel. You’ll know that everyone is okay! The system also allows you to order any food you’d like, so... “

As the lady rambled on, Brooke touched her screen. A list lit up, displaying a number of different words: “English, Francais, Espanol...” Brooke selected English. Another prompt appeared. “Please enter your full name.“ Brooke typed in the letters carefully- “Brooke Alice Malone“. One click of the “enter” button later, and she was greeted with a picture of herself boarding a school bus, with the words “IS THIS YOU?” underneath. Brooke selected “Yes.”

The screen changed. Another list displayed itself, except instead of being different languages, it was names. Martin Malone, Alicia Malone, Kelley Malone, Ariana Smith, Katrina Maston... 

All the names of people she new. 

Brooke selected her mother’s name, Alice Malone. The screen turned black for a moment before playing a video with audio. 

An office cubicle. A hand with veins popping out reached for a picture in a frame. A picture of Brooke on her sixth birthday, with a little sparkly party hat, hugging her father. Next to it was another picture of Brooke- her senior picture, where she wore her mother’s favorite pink dress. Two drops of water fell onto the picture, shielded by glass. 

A view through Mom’s eyes? 

“Is this... “

“Every one of the names in this list thinks about you.“ Brooke turned around to find the woman in the white robe leaning over the back of her chair. “This is a view through their eyes, so you can see how they cope. Though they grieve, as you will find out later, it won’t matter to you.“

Brooke sent an angry frown in the direction of the woman before staring at Julien’s screen. They were crying at something. 

“Shit, man... “ they muttered. “I wasn’t that fucking nice... “

Arthur watched his feed with seemingly no reaction. But all around the car, people were watching their feeds and crying.

“Excuse me?“ someone called out from the front. “How long do we have to watch them?“

“Oh, dear, I’m sorry I mentioned them at all.” The conductor’s voice sounded sad and concerned. “You all look so unhappy! Heaven is paradise, you shouldn’t be sad like this! Come come, turn them off. Here, I’ll turn them off myself. Let me just-“

The statement was met by angry protesting from the people. 

“Okay, fine, fine! I’m just saying, you don’t have to worry about earth anymore! Release your sadness! Forget about your parents and friends! None of them will matter in a few hours!“

There were more angry shouts.

The conductor sighed and walked away. As she turned around Brooke caught the sight of wings on her back. 

“An angel in heaven.“ Arthur smiled. “I wonder what kind. She’s probably mid-tier, since the lower levels of angels look like spinning rings.“

“What?“ Brooke asked.

“I read lots of mythology. Greek, Norse, Christian, Chinese, Indian... ooh, Nigerian too! And Philippine!“

“So how did you die?“

“...I think I choked on some food.“ Arthur said.

“I was hit by a truck.“

“Beat over the head with a nail bat. Ouch.“ Julien pointed to the back of their head. “What’s the backpack for, Brooke?“

“Oh, this?“ Brooke pulled it out. “It’s my backpack. It’s got everything in here. Like pens, pencils, a compass somewhere... “

“Wait, does that mean-“ Arthur rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a Swiss army knife. He beamed with joy when he rubbed his finger along a series of monogrammed letters. “Yes! It’s still here!“

“Oh, that looks dangerous... “ The woman in the white robe suddenly appeared behind Arthur in a puff of white smoke. “You shouldn’t take that into heaven.“

“Why not?“ Arthur pointed to some blue plating on the side. “See? It’s got my name on it! It was my birthday present this year!“

“Still, it’s dangerous, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt... “ The angel’s eyes shifted to Brooke’s backpack. “Oh, and all that stuff! You shouldn’t-“

“Hey, shut the fuck up.“ Julien snapped at her. “Brookey can take whatever she wants, got that?!”

“I’m just saying, even if you don’t use them, someone else might-“

The crowd began to protest again, especially the battle-scarred ones. To their outburst, the angel sighed and walked away again. 

“We are really ruining that lady’s day,“ Arthur muttered.

“Fuck that lady.“ Julien leaned back against Brooke’s chest. “No one touches your shit, Brooke. Not on my watch.“

“Are you... hitting on me?“ Brooke blushed. “You’re awfully bad at it, just so you know.“

“Am I?“ Julien laughed. “Wow. So, like, can I get your number in heaven or something? Did I do it right that time?“

Brooke chuckled. 

The next twenty hours of the ride went on as such, with Brooke, Arthur, and Julien conversing amongst themselves and with others around them. All the time, the light outside the train car grew brighter and brighter, until, at last, they arrived. 

...

The first vision of heaven they received was a giant train station, with marble as white as snow and so clean that you could see your reflection. The pillars were made of marble as smooth as a seashell, and towered up to the sky, so high that no one could see the top. People dressed in different garments, with strangely colored hair and wings, talked to each other. Brooke’s heart pounded as she saw them. Their faces were all beautiful, serene, and perfect. It was almost scary.

“Are they looking to board?“ Arthur asked.

“Attention, everyone!“ The conductor appeared again, at the front of the car. “Before you exit the car, I want to stress a few important points! First of all, if someone grabs you, let them. They’re your guardian angel, and although you might not recognize them, they know you better than even you might. Second, once you meet them, you’ll want to make eye contact with them. It’ll help later on. And third, please stay on good terms with them! They’ll be your servants, best friends, and husbands and wives for the rest of eternity. And fourth, you may leave all of your belongings here on the train. You don’t need them, and we can put them to good use. Thank you all for riding Heaven’s Express, yay!“

The doors at the side of the cars opened. Immediately, people began to pile out. Most of them took their guns, backpacks and other objects with them, much to the conductor’s chagrin.  

“Got everything?“ Julien asked. “Let’s just wait for Arthur, and then let’s head out, okay?“

Brooke zipped her backpack and glanced at Arthur. 

Arthur appeared to be frozen with fear. His hand was slipped inside one of his pockets. 

“Hey,“ Brooke said. “Is something wrong?“

“My Swiss Army Knife. I can’t find it.“ Arthur’s voice was shaking.

The conductor sighed. “Your guardian angel can just-”

“No, you don’t understand.“ Arthur turned to the conductor. “My dad gave it to me for my birthday. It was the last thing he gave me before he-“

“Like I said, your guardian angel can just give you a new one.“

“But it won’t be the same!“ Arthur exclaimed. “Because-“

“Arthur, we’ll help you.“ Julien sighed and stretched their arms. “C’mon.“ They kneeled on the ground and looked around as more people shuffled off. “Brooke, help me, will ya?”

Brooke nodded and hopped over the next seat. She kneeled on the ground and peered between the moving legs and train car seats. “I can’t see it.”

“You’re wasting time,“ the conductor urged. “Your guardians are going to get worried.“

“I don’t give a shit.“ Julien watched as the last person left the train car. “Shit, it’s not here.“

Arthur’s hand reached inside his other pocket. He gasped and pulled out his Swiss Army Knife. “Oh.”

“It was in your pocket? Fair enough.“ The conductor sighed. “And since your backpack’s-“

Brooke picked her backpack up with an angry frown.

“Geez, fine, fine.“

Together, they exited the train. A few seconds after Brooke’s feet landed on the ground, the train puffed quietly away. 

“She said our guardians were waiting for us,“ Arthur whispered. 

“Over here!“ “Julien!” “Welcome!”

“Angels… ” Julien muttered, as they saw the source of the voices.”

One of them was a short woman with blonde hair and purple wings in a white Greek-style dress. The second was a taller woman with darker skin and chocolate brown hair in a lacey black gown. The third was a man with golden-orange hair in a white suit with golden and red accents, with orange wings unfolding behind him.

“Arthur! Come on!” The blonde bolted forward and embraced Arthur, who looked shocked at the prospect of being hugged so suddenly. She kissed his forehead and danced him around. “Ohhh, I missed you so much!“

“Julien.“ The brunette tenderly wrapped her arms around Julien, smothering them in many layers of dress. “Welcome back home, my dear. How long has it been?“

“Brooke.“ The golden-haired angel kneeled in front of Brooke and took her hand. “I’ve missed you for longer than you could comprehend. Welcome to heaven, my dear. My name is Grey. I hope we’ll be good friends.“

“Grey... “ Brooke whispered. “It’s... nice to meet you too.“

“We met once before, you know. But we were destined to separate. Thank the lord you’ve made it to heaven.“ He embraced her and kissed her cheek.

“Okay, okay... “ Brooke pushed him away. “That’s enough.“

“Your eyes are beautiful, you know.“ He pulled his chin towards her. “Can I take a look?“

“What?“

“Look at my eyes, darling… ” He leaned closer. “I’ve always dreamed of gazing into those eyes.”

Brooke’s heart pounded when she heard his words- not out of love or excitement, but out of pure fear. Somewhere the back of her mind, she recalled the conductor’s words. 

“No!“ She pushed him away. 

Gray seemed shocked. Even the other two angels stopped doting on Julien and Arthur and stared at Brooke.

“No?” Gray asked.

“Sorry. It’s been a long ride.” Brooke pinched the area between her eyes, as if she had a headache.

“That’s absolutely fine. I apologize for troubling you.“ Grey smiled. “Come now, we should leave. Night will be falling soon.“ He led her towards a large door at the end of the hall.

“Wait.“ Brooke pulled him back. “I want their phone numbers.“

“Whose?“ 

“Arthur and Jule’s.“

“You don’t need them.“

“Yes I do! I want to chat with them and stuff!“

“... I understand. There is no such thing as a cell phone in heaven, but as long as I know the names of their guardians, I should have no problem contacting them. And I believe their names are Amelia Victoria Fisher and Lucia Constantinou.“

The two winged women nodded in response.

“Goodbye for now, then?“ Julien smiled. “Can I get a hug?“

“Of course.“ Brooke ran up to Julien and embraced them. They were joined by Arthur, who almost knocked all three of them over. 

“Soon, right?“ Brooke whispered.

“Yeah. Soon.“ Julien squeezed them both tighter. “Hey, don’t let go of your shit, okay?“

“I certainly won’t.“ Arthur whispered. “And when we meet again, we’ll have fun, right?“

“Of course.“ Brooke said.

After a tight squeeze, they released each other. Brooke and Grey exited out of the train station into the world outside. 

As Brooke walked off, she couldn’t help but feel that despite their location in heaven, there was something dangerously wrong with the world they now lived in. She glanced up at Gray, who smiled back down. Something was wrong with him, too. Perhaps it was just her heart, trying to right itself from the shock that she was dead.

...

“That’s it?!“

Brooke stared out at the expanse before her. They were standing on a narrow paved road, surrounded on both sides by completely still water. In the distance stood a city. Beyond the city, the sun set, creating a palette of orange and red in the sky.

“Heaven is made of many planes. This is only one of those many.“ Grey pointed further down the narrow road. “This is known as the commonplane of Elysium, one of the six domains of heaven. Down the road, many humans are enjoying time in the marketplace with their guardians.“

“And that?“ Brooke pointed to the city in the distance. 

“That was simply built for show. Many humans complained of the lack of scenery. The city is inhabitable, but unused.“

“Okay... “ Brooke sighed. “So then what?“

Grey sighed and turned around. Once again, he kneeled in front of Brooke. 

“I can hear it in your voice. You’re nervous and impatient for rest. As your guardian angel, he who has possessed nothing but love for you since the day you were born, I promise you that everything will be okay as long as you stay with me. I realize you know very little about me. You only know my name and appearance. I know you barely trust me. But I’ll provide for all of your needs, and I’ll care for you. Please, my dear, no matter what transpires, do not fear me.“

Brooke sighed. “So now what?”

“Taxi?“

Brooke heard a screech of wheels. She glanced to her side to find a taxi where one hadn’t been moments before. Grey opened the door and motioned her in. Brooke climbed into the taxi, followed by Grey. Brooke was nervous to see that the windows of the taxi were entirely blacked out.

The driver’s seat was blocked out by a curtain. “Name?” a voice said.

“Grey de Aur.“ Grey said.

“You have arrived at your destination.“ 

Grey opened the taxi door. When Brooke stepped out, she could not believe what greeted her eyes.