#hey girl did you know that uh you WERE the perfect child. past tense.

[yououghtaknow]

another bpd banger from our pal bill.

[cedricslover]

can you write a oneshot with wolfstars daughter dating george

Here you go bestie<33 thank u for requesting!!

As a wolfstar shipper and a George girl myself😌, I hope you like this bestie<33

Pairings: Sirius x Remus, George x Fem! Reader

Warnings: some homophobia at the beginning, teasing Sirius Black lmaooo

Word Count: 2.4k

“You want a future with me?”

“Hello dear” you turned around and saw one of your fathers, “Dad!” you jumped and hugged him, you just got off the Hogwarts express, this would be your last summer break since you’re going to be seventh year the next time you step at Hogwarts. 

“How’s my baby girl?” He looked at you as you broke the hug, you smiled at the sight of him “Doing great, where’s dad?” you looked around while he picked up your trunk, “Here!” you heard the voice of your other father and your heart jumped out of joy when you saw him, you ran to him and hugged him too. 

“Here’s a chocolate for our princess” he handed you a bar of chocolate, “Remus! You ruined my moment with her, you should show up at the exit, not here, you’re ruining my quality time with our daughter!” suddenly Sirius was having a tantrum, not likely a tantrum actually, he was just whining. 

“No” Remus answered and looked away while he bit into his own chocolate bar. You laughed at them, “Stop acting like kids” you said and linked your arms to theirs. 

“Excuse us?” They both said in unison and looked at you, their forehead creasing that made you laugh even more. 

“You may” you nodded while closing your eyes and your parents just looked at each other, and it seemed like they were blaming the other one as to why you are so sarcastic.

“Let’s just go home” you dragged them by the arms since theirs are still linked to yours. You giggled as you saw Sirius not even struggling while carrying your trunk and at the same time being dragged by his daughter, and giggled even more when you saw your other dad who was just eating his chocolate quietly while observing the surroundings. 

You three were just like a happy family, parents picking up their child that came from a boarding school, if it weren’t just the ugly looks the people gave you.

It seems like Sirius was also bothered by how people looked at the three of you, seriously? Can’t they just manage their own business. 

Remus on the other hand was like used to it, he didn’t show any bothered expression, he didn't want to feed their satisfaction. That is something you got from him, that’s why you just let the people be, but of course, Sirius being Sirius.

He removed his arms from your link and grabbed Remus' face and took a bite from the chocolate that was centimeters away from his lips-being that he was eating it, your eyes widened registering how did that happen so fast, your jaw dropped, and a smile slowly formed in your lips as you saw Remus turning scarlet. 

 “Gross” you removed your arm that was around Remus’ and walked past them, your smile didn’t left your lips as you see mixed reactions from the crowd at the station, some were smiling, some were confused, some were probably uncomfortable, and of course, the people who were obvious to be insulted or disgusted. 

Needless to say, Sirius is your father, so you flicked those people who looked openly disgusted by them, they were sneering, frowning, and rolling their eyes.

“Fuck off git” you mouthed as you walk, turning to them while your middle fingers were greeting them. 

“Good job princess” Sirius laughed and high fived you as you three arrived at the front of number 12 Grimmauld Place, you weren’t sure what was the good job for, is it for flicking those people off or for successfully apparating, you decided to shrug it off and just viewed the house, it was your father’s ancestral home, it was filled by terrible memories of his childhood but with you three living there, it was all buried deep down. 

You unconsciously stared at the beautiful house that was concealed in the muggles eyes. You felt nostalgic seeing your dads walking towards the door, memories from your childhood appeared in front of you.

A girl in a yellow flowy dress, around the age of four, was running towards two men with their arms open wide, expecting that the little girl would run to them instead of the other, but what they didn’t expect was the little girl would run straight to the space between them and both hug them from the necks. 

The little girl was giggling while her dads were teary eyed, that’s when they realized, she never had favorites, if she had the choice to not choose, she wouldn’t. 

“Y/N?” Remus called you from the doorstep, his head was cocking from the door. “Oh!” you ran to the door “call me before dinner yeah?” you told Remus as you removed your shoes. You raised your gaze to him with flashing eyes and maintained eye contact, waiting for his answer. 

“Alright” he replied to you, you felt sudden joy not even sure why but it did make you kiss him on the cheek. “Thanks!, Love you dad!” you shouted as you ran towards the stairs, 

“HOW ABOUT ME?!” you heard Sirius who was probably at the kitchen doing Merlin knows what, “I LOVE YOU TOO!” you yelled while you ran the stairway. 

“YOU BETTER BE NOT PREGNANT WITH THAT WEASLEY BOY’S CHILD Y/N!” Remus’ voice echoed and you laughed and stopped from entering your room and peeked down while holding at the stair rails.

“DON’T WORRY, I’M NOT PREGNANT!” you shouted back and you heard his sigh of relief, “YET!” you added and sprinted to your room and closed the door. 

You heard both of their voices shouting your name. You cackle while heading to your study table, your room was cozy, it was filled with different drawings you made when you were a child, there was your very first black leather jacket that Sirius gave you before he bought you a bicycle, it was hanging from a corner, properly displayed, he was expecting you to like motorbikes like he did, and you did, you like riding motorbikes. 

There was also your very first hair accessories that Remus bought for you, hair pins, hair clips, headbands, and many more. He was the one who likes to tidy you up, even before you make yourself dirty by running and riding the bike. Of course Remus struggled but thankfully, Lily did teach him a few hairstyles when they were teenagers, and the rest of his knowledge came from going to different hair salons just to ask how to style his daughter’s hair. 

An owl bumped on your window that made your brows raise and shift your head to that direction. 

“Errol?” you said the name of the owl and he dropped a letter to your hand before he headed to your table and lay down, acting very exhausted, of course to your utter panic you immediately got water and placed it in front of him. You sighed as he drank through the container, enough for him to drink. 

While he relaxed you opened the letter. 

Hello beautiful, 

                   I’ll arrive there at six, see you. 

Your husband, 

George

You bit your lower lip and smiled, then you forgot, you haven’t told your dads yet. Without wasting any time, you apparated to the kitchen. 

“Hey” you voice lingered behind their backs and they jumped, they turned their heads to you with wide eyes, “You don’t do that here” Sirius said while holding his chest, “I almost had a heart attack” he glared at you while you just tried to not laugh,

“You’re just getting old dad” you stated that made him glare at you more, Remus smiled very very sweetly at you, trying to bribe you to not say it “and you too” you smiled back, looking at their sour faces. 

“Enough” Remus raised both of his hands and shaked it, trying to shoo you. “I was about to say that George’s arriving at si-” you didn’t have the chance to finish your sentence when someone knocked at the door. 

“I’ll get it” you announced, you three were quite tensed as to who might be at the door, you weren’t expecting visitors this early, it wasn't 6 o'clock yet. 

You opened the door, ready to run back to the kitchen if something goes wrong, but what greeted who was something-or someone, who had a mischievous smile, his red hair shining because of the sun, and his brown eyes gleaming at you. 

“Hello dove” his smile became wider as he caught the perfect view of his girlfriend, her Y/H/C hair complimenting her skin, the eyes that were obviously shocked to see him, and the smile that slowly formed on her soft lips. 

“George!” you mentioned his name when you processed who was standing in front of you, he gave you a peck on the lips before he grabbed your waist and pushed you carefully to the side so he can walk, “hello Sirs” he cleared his throat and rubbed both of his hand on his pants before giving your fathers a hand shake. 

This would probably be their very first ‘formal’ meeting, they already met each other at Hogwarts, during the Triwizard tournament, but that wasn’t formal enough, unlike now. 

George was scratching the back of his neck and was being really nervous, you just surveyed them, and when you noticed something it was too late because your mouth opened before you can even think twice

“Dad, you’re the smallest” you told Sirius that made the three of them look at you, firstly George was shaking his head slightly, trying to tell you that it was not the right time, then Remus was also looking at you, he was trying his best to cross his brows but you can see the ghost of smile that was in his face, on the other hand, Sirius was there shooting daggers at you with his eyes like you’re not his child, then he slowly looked at Remus and George. 

George was obviously the tallest, but only an inch taller than Remus, while Sirius, he’s just not a six footer. 

“I-uh come George let’s prepare the table” even though it was still early, you reached for George’s hand, still feeling the stares of your father, you wanted to laugh, so hard, but he might not buy you your favorite cereal, so you chose to suck it up.

“Why’d you do that?” George started talking as you fetched his wand and used it to prepare the table using magic, “it was my mouth’s fault, anyway, you told me you're arriving at six, it's not six yet” you answered and watched the floating plates and utensils. 

“I was trying my best not to laugh dove, please don’t do that again in front of your parents, I might lose goodie points, and I meant six minutes not six o'clock” he chuckled as he hugged you from the back, wrapping his arms around your waist and laying his chin on the top of your head. 

“Even if you lose goodie points, I’ll still love you don’t worry” you faced him and cupped his face, his face that was always as perfect, those freckles that can make a constellation, his eyes that you would prefer to look at rather than the stars, and his hair that would always stand out. 

It was like a magnetic pull, your faces was slowly getting nearer and nearer, almost there, the finish line, his lips onto yours, inches turned to an inch, heartbeats getting fast, and you can feel his breath, then his soft lips was supposed to be next 

Not until someone cleared their throat that made you push George out of reflex. 

“No snogging in this house, you understand that angel?” Sirius crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows, “Yes dad” you replied, slightly embarrassed so you chose to continue to prepare the table while George can’t maintain eye contact with you or anyone in the room. 

“Sorry dad” you walked to Sirius who was still in the entrance of the kitchen, surprisingly he smiled at you, “Yeah that’s for bullying me” he wrapped his arms over your shoulder “But about that almost kiss? I’m not mad don’t worry, we all kiss someone at some time” he added like it was just common sense for him to not get mad.

“I love you” you said out of the blue while you two watched Remus and George laughing at the dinner table, you rested your head on his chest, “I love you more princess” you felt him kiss the top of your head. 

“Just walk with the boy outside while we clean here alright?” Remus looked at you and George, he tapped George’s shoulder before he turned his back to the both of you and be with Sirius who was still drinking wine at the table. 

“Come on” George called you and touched your back to guide you, your eyes were still looking at your parents, mesmerized by their strong bond. 

“Georgie?” you tried to get his attention while you two walked the dim lighted streets, only the flickering lamp posts and the moon were the sources of light. 

“Hmm?” he was busy playing your hand, touching every bit of it, and even comparing it to his. “You think we would be like them?” you stopped on your tracks, feeling the night summer breeze brushing your skin, "Like who love?" He stared at you, now holding your hand firmly, "Sirius and Remus" you answered and tucked the few strands of hair that was bothering your face because of the wind,  you looked at his eyes and saw amusement and adoration all over it.

“You’re asking me that?” a lopsided smile appeared on his face, you nodded slightly as an answer, “You’re thinking of marrying me?” he asked you again, now giving a full smile, you nodded again, “You," he pointed to you "want a future with me?” he pointed to himself, his eyes smiling the same as his lips, you nodded again, oblivious of how that made George’s inner monologues that was doubting what would happen with the both of you disappear, because who wouldn’t, you’re Y/N, raised by two amazing people, you’re beautiful, intelligent, bold, and many more that he would even consider you as perfect. 

And you’re here, saying that you wanted a future with him. 

Now, with the moon smiling at the both of you, the stars being your cheerleaders, your lips met, you hooked your arms around his neck while he cups your face with one hand and the other holding your waist. 

At this night, two teenagers shared a kiss under a lamp post, during the summer of 1995. 

[i-writes-things]

Babysitting

summary- I am babysitting 5 kids, someone pees there pants, others are crying, and then those who are just there for the chaotic ride..

Warnings- Swearing(not outloud),

MCR @scarthefangirl @lilian-maximoff

"And bed by 7:30 for Delilah and Theo, then 8:30 to 9:00 at the lastest for the older three.." Scar explained me, my focus going in and out, but thankfully remembering the most important information as she spoke confidently about her and her friends children

Wanda walked back into the Livingroom, we had been talking in and was holding a sniffing little girl

"Hey, Em, How are you?" She asked me casually, we've known each other for ages, she walks into the next room

"Good, where are you guys off to tonight? And where is the other kids parents?"

"Oh, we just haven't seen you in a while, that's all," She says a smile growing on her face "Date night." I nod and notice her smirk turn quickly to concentrated thinking "Gosh, they left- Hey babe?" She turned her head towards the room Wanda had just gone into

"Yeah?" Was yelled from afar

"When did Sersi, Lilian and Peggy leave?"

Wanda walks in backwards "Just one moment baby, I need to talk with your mother," She turned towards us "An hour ago." She smiled at me and walked over to give me a hug, I didn't see her much more these days, but watching her kids meant being at her house more, and because I adored them all, of course

-----

"Give mama a good bye kiss," Wanda tells the children

"No!" Delilah shouts abruptly

"Don't go mama!" Lillian gives her other mother a hug in silence to let her younger sister cling to Wanda crying

"We should be going," Scar smiles at Wanda, who has a child fully wrapped around her leg, I knew from the second I saw them together they were the perfect match, well everyone on our street is, and the guy that lives a few doors down from me is so cute, and his hair- Woah we are getting off topic

"Bye, Oh right dinner is just frozen pizza." Wanda says trying to get out of Delilah's grip

"Bye, Have fun!" I say as they walk out quickly

"MAMAA!" Delilah runs for the door but I teleport just in time to pick her up

God this is gonna be a long night I thought as I got kicked in the ribs from her

She cries for about 10 minutes and just sits next to the front door, with her Wanda action figure, that has purple scribbled on the face

"See, we are gonna have so much fun, Lil do you know where the snacks are? Or where the twins or-"

Theo comes running into the room with a little lego man and a X-wing fighter plane

"Theo, come give me a hug!" He runs right past me, I was crouching on the ground, had my arm's stretched out and everything, back into the room he came from

"Ok then, Lil watch your sister I am going to find everyone else." She nods and glances at her sister before I leave, remembering I have more than three kids to be looking after

"Lilith? Liza?"

Where the hell are they I think

I teleport to there rooms and find Theo hopping around the playroom making explosion noises so I leave him for the time being to find his older twin sisters

I teleport back into the Livingroom and blink

"Excuse me, where were you two?"

Lilith looks up at me first, almost in a scared way

Elizabeth doesn't look at me

"What happened? And where?"

Silence. Complete silence, I couldn't even hear Delilah sniffing by the door anymore

"I will go and teleport into every room in this house or you tell me right now?"

Elizabeth sighs "It wasn't that bad, what I did, I- Uh, I did it."

"Did what, Elizabeth?" She tensed up and the second I teleported away to the nearest bathroom I heard shouting and running through the halls

"IT WAS IZZY!" Shouted Lilith

Elizabeth made her voice a whisper "Hey. I was sticking up for you back there, I'm telling mom what you did."

"There not even here."

"So. I'll just tell Emma."

I teleport right behind them

"What's this talk of telling Emma??" I ask curiously and they both jump "I don't wanna be mad, I love you guys, but I still need to see the damage and assess if we can fix it before all the mother's get home, okay?" They both nodded in a defeated type of way, turning I follow them to there shared bedroom

I walk in and almost scream "Wa- Wanda's gonna kill me." I say hand over my mouth

"I also think I will die at the hand of Aunt Wanda." I simply nod at Lilith's comment in agreement, trying to think of ways out of this

"How did this even happen?" I walk over to the bed, almost afraid to get any closer than a foot or less

I turn to look at them in the doorway, "Really Elizabeth you melted half of your bed off, all by yourself?" I put my hands on my hips

"no." She whispers and Lilith looks down too

"How am I supposed to clean this up? God, Peggy is gonna kill me, ok so there all gonna kill me then invite Natasha, Allie and Harley over just to kill me again cause why not!" I say throwing my hands in the air

"I'm sorry." "sorry" "Ugh you guys are fine, I guess, I just-"

"EMMA!!" I hear Lillian yell from the livingroom

I teleport into the room, leaving the twins behind and walk over to her, she sat on her knees looking towards the hallway, with her head in her hands

"Whats wrong?" I ask, the second I see her, concern in my voice

"She left." "Who?"

As the realization hits me, nerves wash over my body

"No. She didn't, She wouldn't" Lillian nods a tears rolling down her cheek, I teleport to the front door

Fuck.

I don't think I am ever babysitting again, not after this one

I teleport away

"Lilith, Elizabeth, go find your brother I am leaving to find Delilah, don't let Theo do anything stupid while I'm gone, got it? Got it?" I ask them a second time they nod and leave to find there little brother

----

I teleport back into the Livingroom

"I'm going to find her, don't worry, Lil." I give her a sympathetic smile and leave, suddenly standing in the warm night air, on the front porch, a friendly orange light coming from behind me, as I look out into the dark night

Cause if I don't, I'll surely die..

Where could she have gone? There is no way of her knowing where they went for dinner or date night or whatever they are doing. I don't even know where they are. Think, think where could that silly girl have gone...

I teleport to down the street in front of my house, I stood in the street looking at it for a moment. The dull porch light and run down front door all remind me of the emptyness that lies inside of it, me, all alone, just like always, with Hydra, and then with Wanda and Pietro leaving and then no more Pietro, forever, and now, living all alone, but the sharp shades of green make it look like home, to me, somewhere in my heart, at least..

I turn my attention away from it, hearing crying, and remembering the ergency of finding Delilah, I would be killed by the whole block if they found out, God please don't let them find out, please

----

I hear someone crying, sorry let me rephrase, it was Delilah full on throwing a tantrum and crying a long ways down the road, near Aira and Agne's house, in there front yard, actually

After teleporting over near her I make my presence known, as it's not like when ever I teleport, a bell rings

"Delilah," She jumps at my voice and only cries louder

I walk over towards her, picking up her action figure left in the grass, behind her

I sit on my knees next to her, showing the doll to her, she gasps and pulls it out of my hands, holding it close

"Why did you leave?"

She looks at me, I could tell what she was gonna say

"I miss them.." She waves her arms in the air, out of frustration, hitting the ground

I rub her back "I know, how about we go back and you can- You can look at Lillian," I suggest, stupidly "she looks like your mama, I think. They have the same hair color."

"no. I want mama." I nod, looking her small figure over

"Yeah," I let out a breath "How about we go back, and I can find a picture of your mama, there is tons of family photos in there."

She thinks about it, sniffing and looks at her small Wanda then up at me and nods

"great, come on." I stand taking her hand, and we walk back down the road, slowly

As we stood up to leave, I had seen someone in the window, two people at the window, watching us, I took Delilah's hand and walked towards the street, knowing they knew

Now everyone is gonna know before I even leave tonight

------

15 minutes later

I am standing looking at the whole group, all squished on the couch, people sitting on others laps, and all trying to see me, as I walk back and forth like a drill sargent

"Delilah. Lilith. Elizabeth. Lillian. Theo. Now it's not like I can fix the half melted bed or get your mommy and mama back right now, so we will have to cope with what has happened so far."

"Emma?" Lilith asks

"yes?"

"Theo just peed his pants."

Of course he did

I stare at them all unamused, "Great. Come on big guy, we gotta get you cleaned up," I point between everyone except Theo who is jumping off the couch "Don't move. Please. I'll be back in 5."

-----

"Take your underwear off, too."

"But then I can't fly when Han has to save Evan" He pouts and I nod like I know what he is talking about

"I know, but I also don't make the rules dude, come on undies off, and get some new ones, you need to up grade your flying pants every once and a while, right?" I ask him, waiting in question, with my arms out

He huffs, but nods and tells me to leave, saying he's a big boy and can change on his own, thankfully

I wait out in the hall for him and he shows me his new undies with planes from Star Wars on them

"Wow, see I told you, up grades people, up grades! Nevermind you don't know that reference."

"Whats a reference?"

"Uh," I think about it "I don't know." I know what it is, just don't know how to explain it to a 3 year old

He gets Pajamas on and we go back into the Livingroom, Delilah, holding a framed family photo, being the first one to talk, as Theo runs back over to the couch, but trips over the, how could you not miss it, cat.

"when is my mama coming home?" I could tell she was starting to get sad again and she seemed wore out

Theo gets up and tries to pick the cat up

"Theo, are you okay?" "I am cat!"

I look at him confused "Okay, good. Just don't drop the cat."

"I think he's gonna drop it." Lilith says from the couch

"yeah." Elizabeth agrees with her sister

"No I am not. Mommy said I am strong."

"I don't believe you."

"To bad."

"Guys, come on. Theo your not gonna drop the cat,"

"Lilith be nice to your brother."

"Theo be nice. Everyone just be nice."

Lilith leans back on the couch, sitting against the back, annoyed

I look at the clock and panic internally, turning back to everyone

"Hey, guys, bedtime, co-"

"What about dinner?" Lillian asks me out of nowhere

I freeze in place, staring at the ground

Shit, how did I manage to not feed them

------

20 minutes later we all sat around the table, quietly eating Pizza, some of us(Theo) standing in his seat and others(Delilah) about to fall out of her chair from sleepiness

I teleport and pick up everyone's plate once their done, telling them all to get ready for bed and Elizabeth comes up to me in the Kitchen

"What about my bed?"

Damn it

I turn to look at her, and take a deep breath in thought and while I do she gives me suggestions "I could sleep in Lilith's bed, or in Theo's room or the-"

"Elizabeth."

She looks at me, waiting

"You can sleep on a pallet, in whosever room you want,"

"With Lilith." I smile at her "Okay, just make sure it's far away from your bed, okay?"

She nods

-----

"Come brush your teeth, please." Delilah is on the ground crying because apparently Lillian is using her toothbrush

"no, she is using my toothbrush!" She sobs

"no I'm not, yours is right here butthead!" Lillian says pointing to a princess toothbrush sitting on the counter, and continues to brush her teeth

"Lillian."

"I want mama." She demands writhing around on the bathroom floor

"I know, and mama will be back tomorrow, the faster you go to bed the faster you get your mother's back, Okay?" In say crouching down towards the tiled floor

She looks up at me for a moment pausing her movement and jumps up, running back to the sink pushing for Lillian to move over

"Hey, I'm right here you move."

"No! I have to go to sleep for mama and mommy to come back." Lillian rolls her eyes and moves over for her sister to join her at the sink, barely able to lift her head over the tall table, I pick her up while she attempts to brush her own teeth

"DONE!" I set her down as Lilith stops by for a bathroom visit

"Why didn't you just use the step stool?" She asks walking into the bathroom

Elizabeth walks in and uses the toliet

"Cause I didn't know it was there, and someone," Pointed toward Delilah "Didn't tell me."

"sorry.." "its fine." I said starting to get a little annoyed with everything that had happened earlier

"EEMMMMAAA!!" Theo comes in and jumps around the bathroom

"hi Theo." "hi hi hi" I smile at him

Elizabeth washes her hands saying "I'm still hungry.."

"When is Mommy coming home?"

"Emma, Emma where is Evan??"

"Why is everyone in here?" They all shurgs except Theo, who grabs my sleeve and drags me out of the bathroom, and into his bedroom, as everyone following us

"What's up man?"

"See I found more cats!" All three cats were lying his bed, purring and one was cleaning themselves

"Okay, thats great, but I have to put everyone here to bed, because one I don't know when everyone's parents are getting home and two it's almost an hour past you and Delilah's bedtime, so EVERYONE IN BED, please, and thank you."

Everyone moves except Delilah, I turn and she is sitting on the ground, on the verge of tears again

"Come on, let's get you to bed, bubs, you look exhausted.." I pick her up and she leans on me yawning

I walk down the hall, seeing Elizabeth and Lilith getting into bed, Lillian's door closed, and I go into the door at the beginning of the hall, nearest to the parents bedrooms, Delilah's room.

-----

"Goodnight Delilah"

"emma.."

"yeah?" I stand in the doorway of her small room, starting to feel tried myself

"stay.."

It takes me a second to answer

"okay.." I shrug and smile to myself in the dark room as I lay next to her, staring up into the darkness, as the little person moves around next me

Before I knew it, I fell asleep on the edge of her bed, arm draped over the side, with no covers

-----

2 hours later

Wanda and Scar walk inside almost an hour before Peggy, Sersi and Lilian would get back

"Emma..?" The pair couldn't find me anywhere in the house and start to get worried

"What if..?" "Maybe." Wanda could see her wife's thoughts

They open Lillian's bedroom door to see her fast asleep, and they see everyone else asleep, except Delilah.

They both hope to god, that I am in there..

"Honey, look.." Scar points to me sleeping on Delilah's bed and Delilah sleeping peacefully next to me...

[script-nef]

So why won’t you realise it '^' | Gojou Satoru

Category: fluff

1.9k words; Movie date [2/6]

Spoilers of Howl’s Moving Castle!! Beware!!

← Previous chapter | Masterlist

“Eh, Shouko! What do you mean you can’t make it?”

“I mean, another person is about to come in and they need me to heal them. By the time I’m done the movie will be finished.” Shouko’s voice over the phone is laced with annoyance and sadness coupled with lethargy. You don’t know how she pulls off such a unique combination of emotions but she somehow accomplishes it every time. “And I was looking forward to it…”

This would have been the first time you had a break with her since the trip to France. And while she enjoyed it a lot, the same couldn’t be said for the two males. Which was weird since Gojou is infatuated with sweets and Ken-chan agreed to come. So it was kind of weird when there was a tense atmosphere between them. You know your brother and Gojou are nearly polar opposites, but their animosity wasn’t usually that strong. 

They brushed it off as nothing when you asked if something was wrong, which was sort of dubious since you could kind of see the black cloud looming over the both of them, but you let it go. If it was something important, they would be able to handle it themselves or report it to you. You couldn’t sense any cursed spirits nearby so you guessed that they were just in a bad mood for some reason.

Still, you had a wonderful time and found some new snacks that everyone enjoyed. So a day well spent, all in all. 

And Ken-chan told you to tell him if Gojou ever offers overseas trips or anything similar, so he must have enjoyed it. Maybe you can ask Gojou to take all of you to Denmark one day.

“Ah… my dear Howl. Life and curses separate us again.” Her voice is full of sadness now, no doubt mourning over her chance of watching her favourite character on a huge screen with surround sound disappearing. 

“It’s okay! I’ll bring you the figurine and we can watch it again here in about… uh…”

“Ten years?” She sounds like she’s about to drop dead.

“Uh… yes… But maybe five years? Hopefully? You know, I shouldn’t watch it without you. I’ll come back to school.” 

“No, no. Watch the movie. At least you’ll get to see it. Ah, they’re coming now so I have to go.”

“Ah, okay. Bye, Shouko! Stay positive!”

A non-committal sigh accompanies a small “Bye” before the call clicks off. A frown takes over your face at the lost opportunity for her. She was looking forward to this for a long time and you leapt at the chance for another girls’ day out. Being able to watch a childhood favourite is an added bonus. But now you’re standing in the movie theatre, the ticket desk just across the room and an extra on your hand. 

It’s a shame because it cost quite a lot. Shouko is definitely going to mope about this when you get back and maybe start smoking again. She always has a pack on her even if she said she quit, and smokes one if she’s stressed or angry. You should call someone and make sure somebody takes it away from her.

You should probably hold onto the ticket and give it back. Or maybe that would make it worse for her, serving as a reminder of this day. Conflict rages inside your head. There’s a high possibility of either decision breaking her heart. Again. A buzz from your phone saves you the trouble of deciding.

Shouko: I sent someone as my replacement. 

A tap on the shoulder makes you turn as you type in a reply and you come face to face with a black jacket. Gojou’s head pops down.

“Hey there. I think you called for a replacement!” He seems to be in a ridiculously good mood, even more so than usual. Maybe his students successfully finished another mission. Which is great. It also means more paperwork for you. Which is not so great.

“How did you com—ah. Teleportation.”

“Ding ding ding! Correct!” He's been using the skill more frequently lately, popping in and out of places like one of those Whac-A-Mole games. . It gives you heart attacks all the time and you’re sure he gets a kick out of it. You saw how his smiles widen when you flinch or react. Thankfully it’s when you’re alone so other people never see you jump what feels like a metre into the air.

“Do you want popcorn?” He breaks you out of your thoughts. “I think they have the new caramel flavour. Apparently it’s way too sweet.” So perfect for Gojou. Even though he’s asking if you want it, there’s a spring in his step which definitely means he’s getting some. Probably the biggest option they have.

And you’re proven right because he comes back with two huge buckets which look impossible to finish. When you try to object, he cuts off with “I’ve eaten three buckets before. Alone.” With the smile he’s giving you, it really doesn’t sound like he’s joking. You try to take one to lighten the load but he says it’s alright. 

He signals the way to the theatre rooms with his head, walking beside you as you find your way.

“So what’s the movie?” Your head snaps to him in confusion.

“You don’t know?” A shake and a shrug. “It’s Howl’s Moving Castle. This was Shouko’s idea since she loves it and this year is Studio Ghibli’s 40 year anniversary. The cinema is having an exclusive showing of their movies this month. Only one session per movie, for some reason. Surely they would make more money if they played it over multiple days, but. I dunno. Executives make weird decisions.” A light scoff from him to tell he knows exactly what that’s like. His hatred for the higher-ups runs deep. You don’t push it.

“So she wanted to come but got held back at the last minute?”

“Yeah. Ah, here are our seats.”

You’re placed in the very middle of the room and you both make yourselves comfortable. Shouko went all out for this movie, upgrading the seats and making it a recliner. Your poor back, abused after sitting in chairs and hunched over computers for so long, practically melts into the plush cushion. It’s so comfortable that you might fall asleep in it if it isn’t Howl that’s about to start. 

Feet dangling in the air, you look over to Gojou to see him on his phone. It looks like he’s in a chatroom and you catch the words ‘Shouko’ and ‘favour’ before looking away. You didn’t mean to peek, but it’s not like you can consciously not read something. It was in your line of sight and you averted your eyes as soon as you realised what you were reading. Your brother brought you up better than to pry into other people’s businesses, even if it’s really, really tempting.

“Phones need to be placed on silent, you know.” The ads are coming on the screen. He smiles at you, slipping it into his pocket.

“Just talking to Shouko. She says she hasn’t even started properly.”

Disappointment fills you. Gojou is a good friend to watch this with but you hoped Shouko would somehow miraculously finish in time. She would be devastated.

“I’ll have to make this up to her when we get back. Give her the figurine and keep her hap—ah! I forgot! Gojou, I was supposed to ask someone to take her ciga—” He cuts you off with a light pat on your hand.  

“Don’t worry, I did it already. All of them are safe out of her reach and I gave her packets of hot chocolate instead. When we get back, she’ll have drunk at least half of them and be in a good mood.” What a Gojou-like replacement. He smiles like a child wanting pats on the head for a job well done. You just barely catch yourself from moving. 

Gojou gets a rep for being aloof and neglectful, but he does take care of the people he holds dear to him. His friends, members of the school, his students. You hope you’re included in the list. 

Actually, the more you think about it, the more you realise he’s different from initial perceptions. You learn more and more about him as time goes on, in the most delightful sense. He’s somewhat like an onion, new characteristics being revealed every time a layer is peeled. A snicker escapes at the thought of Gojou dressed up like an onion, just waddling around. He shoots you a questioning head tilt which you wave off.

In the years that you’ve known him, he made himself into a trustworthy friend. One full of laughs and ridiculousness. Maybe it’s his childishness that puts you at ease, but he’s incredibly comfortable and easy to relax around. Thoughts trail and the words fly out of your mouth before you even think.

“You know, I think you would make a wonderful boyfriend.”

He freezes completely, like somebody’s zapped him in place. You stare at him, wondering what’s wrong, but the lights dim and by the time he gathers coherence, your concentration is on the opening sequence.

“Ah, that was so good! Ugh, I love Howl. Isn’t he so cool?” You skip out of the room, remembering to take the figurines provided at the exit, with Gojou trailing behind you. “You know how she asks him to wait for her in the past? The first thing he says to her in the movie is ‘I’ve been looking everywhere for you.’ He searched for her the entire time! This is modern poetry. This.” 

“Do you think Howl would be a good boyfriend?” The question stops you. It’s different than usual for some reason, the voice asking the question and the intensity of it. He’s still his aloof self, all smiles and grins, but there’s something you can’t quite place that’s wrong. It’s unnerving, but you diligently answer his question.

“Um, I mean, yeah? Look at how cute he is with Sophie. See?” The figurine is a frozen shot of Howl and Sophie dancing in the rain with an umbrella that’s not being useful at all. They’re both incredibly detailed, so much so that you can see their clothes and skin drenching wet. Wow, this is actually a phenomenal job. Shouko will be so happy. It makes your heart lighter knowing that at least something might light up her day. 

“Why is he cool?” Gojou seems to be invested in Howl. It confuses you since he just watched the movie with you and he saw how awesome Howl is. 

“Hm, well for one he can do magic.” He opens his mouth but you shush him with a finger to his lips. “Yeah, I know, what we have is kind of like magic too. But theirs is just… different. He just makes it seem kind of elegant. And he overcame his fear just for Sophie. Remember the scene with Sulliman and in the cluttered bedroom? He still found the strength to protect her even though he was so scared before. It’s admirable. I guess I like strong guys.”

“Hmm~” His tone is contemplative. “You know I’m stronger than him, right?”

A question mark forms over your head. He’s being really weird today. “Yeah? You’re the strongest in the universe, silly. What’s up with you?” Gojou just chuckles and ruffles your head.

“Nothing, nothing. Just making sure you know.” He slings his arm around your shoulder, the intensity gone and the light spring in his step back. “Who else do you think is strong?”

Next chapter →

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

The Perfect Night | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anon: Can you please write a fanfic with Charlie Gillespie x reader where you're taking him with you as a plus one to your high school reunion because you don't have anyone to go with but then they realise they really like each other

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x Female!Reader

Warnings: a few curse words like bitch, fluff 

Words: 2,622

High school wasn’t your favorite. All the bullies and the stress to fit in. Everyone laughing at you because you were the nerd with all the stories piled up on your computer and the fantasy of a child in your head. You’d thought you left all of that behind. But then came the reunion. You’ve only graduated five years ago from high school and only last year from college. Though you had an amazing job as screenwriter and some really great friends, you didn’t have a date to bring to that reunion, and you knew all those people would pick on you for old time’s sake because you didn’t have a date. “Hey, you okay? You seem stressed,” Charlie’s voice shakes you awake from your anxious thoughts about the reunion. You look up at him and offer him a nervous smile. Charlie Gillespie is your co-worker, and along with the rest of the Julie and The Phantoms team, one of your newest friends. Yes, you were on the writing team for Julie and The Phantoms, and you had just finished a table read for season 2. “Yeah, I just—there’s this high school reunion tonight and I really don’t want to go.” “Not a fan of high school?” he asks as he falls into step with you, the two of you walking out of the building. “Not at all…” he gives you a curious look, “Eh, they used to bully me because I was a writer and spent my time writing books instead of going out to parties or spending time with friends,” you give him the synopsis. Charlie doesn’t need to know about the nights you spend crying in your room or going to your therapist. You were close, just not that close. Besides, you’d rather forget about your past. “And now you’re a part of the writers’ team on a popular Netflix show?” he tries with a smile, but you just give him an unimpressed look. “Come on, Y/N! This is an opportunity to show them what you made of yourself! Brag a bit about how amazing a job you have!” You shrug, still not convinced. “I just don’t want to face them alone…” you mumble, staring at your moving feet when suddenly a thought pops into your head and you stop in your tracks, looking up at him. “Do you want to be my plus one?” He halts too, raising his eyebrows at you. “Nope, you’re right, that’s stupid!” You start walking again, Charlie following your example. “No. No, it’s not stupid. I just didn’t think you’d ask me?” “You’re one of my best friends here, Charlie. It’s just logical.” He smiles at that. He really has become your best friend since meeting him a couple months ago. “Okay! So, am I playing your boyfriend? Husband? Just a best friend?” You furrow your eyebrows at him, glaring at him questionably. “We could make something fun out of this, Y/N!” He’s almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. That’s the Charlie you know and love. “Okay… Uhm, let’s pretend you’re my boyfriend. I bet they wouldn’t expect the antisocial nerd to have a boyfriend.” The giggle that comes out of his mouth is too adorable to handle. “How did we meet?” he asks, making sure you got the story straight. “Uhm, here?” you suggest. He rolls his eyes at the obvious answer but goes with it. “Okay! Uhm, let’s – let’s say I fell for you when you bossily told me how I should say a line in the dialogue you wrote?” You nod your head slowly. That sounds kind of cute. “What was our first date?” “Uhm, I don’t know? Movie and dinner?” He scrunches his nose, shaking his head. “No, girl… Charlie Gillespie doesn’t do basic dates!” You chuckle at this, stopping in the hallway of the building to check out. “You like hiking, right?” You nod your head, signing your name on the paper at the front desk. “I took you on a hike on the Eagle Bluffs trail in Vancouver and we had a romantic picnic on the mountain with a gorgeous view over the Cabin Lake.” You nearly melt away at the thought of him taking you on a date like that. “That’s a cute date,” you tell him, impressed, and trying not to show what it’s really doing to you. “And I kissed you on that mountain top.” He raises an eyebrow as an amused smirk pulls at his lips. “No one at my school would ever think I’d be the one to take that step.” “And our first ‘I love you’s were accidental slip ups at work!” He sounds way too excited and he’s getting way too into this. “Like, I’d accidentally completely mess up the punch-line of the joke you wrote, and you’d get annoyed and angry, and then I accidentally said “Okay, sorry, thank you, I love you”.” You giggle at his ideas as the both of you exit the building together. “Anything else we need to discuss?” you ask, grabbing your car key. “Don’t think so…” he trails off, really mulling it over. “Oh! Is there a dress code?” “Yes! It’s formal,” you reply, hoping that wouldn’t be too much of trouble so last minute. He thinks about it for a moment, going through his own wardrobe in his mind. “What are you wearing?” he questions. “Not sure, a red dress, I think…” “You think?” “Yeah, I might change my mind if I don’t like it.” He nods his head understandingly. “What time does it start?” “Seven. It’s about fifteen minutes from my place.” “I’ll pick you up at twenty minutes before then,” he suggests. You nod your head in agreement, then say your goodbyes and go your separate ways. That night, Charlie’s eyes widen when you open the door in your red, tight-fitting bodycon dress with spaghetti straps. He’s not used to seeing you out of your comfy mom-jeans and T-shirts or sweaters. “Uh… Okay… First of all,” he gestures to your body, “Wow!” You laugh at him, feeling a blush creeping up your cheeks. “Second of all… WOW!” “It’s not too much?” you ask, shyly. “No! No! Not at all! I’m very glad I get to play the boyfriend of a goddess like you.” “Oh, shut it, Charlie!” you slap his chest playfully before grabbing your clutch and leaving your apartment. “You look pretty wow yourself, by the way,” you say, approving of the suit he’s wearing. He bashfully smiles as you exit the building. He opens every door for you, like a true gentleman. You’re pretty sure no one has ever done that for you before. You always thought it would be so cliché, but it’s actually really nice. “Hey, how far are we going to go with PDA?” he asks when he gets in behind the wheel. “You know, holding hands and stuff…” You blush a little at the thought alone. Being single for so long almost made you forget that was a part of it too. “Uhm… Just improvise,” you shrug. “You’re the actor after all.” You go over the story again with Charlie, making sure neither of you will forget and give everything away. “You ready?” he asks as you’re standing in front of your high school. Terrible memories flood back inside your mind, sending shivers down your spine. As if on automatic, you grab Charlie’s bicep for support – both moral and physical. “Let’s do this.” The two of you walk inside the school and find the gym where they’re holding the five-year reunion. The music’s blasting, lights are flickering, and people are mingling, reminiscing over their high school memories. You already spot a few people you know, but much rather not talk to. “If you ever feel overwhelmed and want to leave, just tell me, and we’re out of here,” he whispers in your ear. You can’t help but smile at his words. A true gentleman.   “Thanks, Charlie,” you whisper back. He takes you straight to the bar where he gets you your favorite beverage. “How’d you know?” you ask when he hands it over. “You always order a G&T at the crew parties,” he tells you nonchalantly. “How attentive of you,” you compliment with an endeared smile plastered on your face. This man keeps surprising you with the smallest thing, and it’s the cutest thing you’d ever witnessed. It gives you the feeling of being seen and appreciated and respected. For the first time in your life. “Oh my God! Y/N!” you hear the shrill voice of Ella, one of your classmates from back in the day. One of the biggest bullies from your senior year. “You look amazing! How are you doing?!” she grabs the hand your not holding your drink with and presses a kiss to your cheek. “Hi, Ella…” you greet, putting the fakest smile you can muster on your face. “I’m good! How are you?” Charlie watches you to find any sign of uncomfortableness. “I’m good! You know, recently engaged.” She shows you her hand, which is decorated with the shiniest, biggest diamond ring you’d ever seen. “Oh, wow!” you glance at Charlie, “Look, babe, she’s engaged!” If he’s surprised by the sudden pet name, he doesn’t show it. “Congratulations, Bella!” You know he’s butchering that name on purpose, and you have to try your hardest to stifle a laugh. “You have a boyfriend?” Ella asks, clearly bitter over either him butchering her name or you, having such an attractive boyfriend. “There’s nothing on Facebook about that?” she chuckles awkwardly. Charlie wraps a protective arm around your waist, pulling you closer towards him. “Uhm… Yeah… We’re keeping it lowkey, you know?” you reply as convincingly as possible. “He’s an actor, so…” you trail off, hoping that would impress her. Ella’s demeanor changes all of a sudden. She goes from total bitch to flirty bitch. “Really?” She twirls a strand of hair around her finger. “Y/N?” Another voice chimes in, this one belongs to Addison, Ella’s bestie. “Hey, Addie…” you greet, clutching your glass really hard. Charlie can feel you tensing up beside him and starts rubbing circles on your hip. “Y/N has an actor boyfriend,” Ella informs her. Addison’s eyes widen as they dart from you to Charlie and back. “How’d you meet?” Addison questions, intrigued by this entire story. The two of you glance at each other, trying to determine who’s going to tell the story. “At work, actually,” you start. “I’m on the writers team of the show he plays in.” “Yeah! She bossily told me how to deliver the line she wrote, and I’ve been in love with her ever since.” He looks down at you with the most endeared smile on his face that makes you melt like ice cream in the sun. “Aw! That’s adorable!” Addison clutches her heart as if it’s about to burst out of her chest. “When did you fall in love with him, Y/N?” You glance at Charlie for some assistance or some inspiration. “When he suggested that instead of a boring movie and dinner date, we’d go hiking together. I just knew he was the one for me at that moment.” You’re not going to lie, Charlie taking you on a hiking date would totally make you fall in love with him. Ella’s and Addison’s noses scrunch up in disgust. “Also…” she adds, then leans in closer to the girls to whisper, “His arms! The boy has guns, I tell you!” The two girls gasp, scanning Charlie entirely from head-to-toe. He snickers, then pulls you closer again. “You did not fall in love with me for my arms,” he tells you, shaking his head with an amused look on his face. You look up at him, eyebrow raised. “I do see you every day with those muscle tees, babe. You really think I wouldn’t swoon for that?” You couldn’t lie. Charlie’s arms were killer. But obviously not the only thing that made him attractive. “If you don’t mind, ladies. I’m going to take my lady for some food,” he nods towards the other side of the gym where food is stalled out into a banquet. Addison and Ella bid their goodbyes, and the two of you make your way to the catering. “I hate them with a passion,” you grumble as you take a plate to fill with canapes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as fake as them, and I’m an actor.” You giggle at his comment and reach for the mini-pizzas at the same time he does, your hands touch, making both of you freeze. “Sorry,” you both mumble, pulling away, flustered. “Hey, Y/N!” A voice you really didn’t want to hear sounds from behind me. “Kill me now,” you mumble, earning a worried look from Charlie. “Ex-boyfriend.” Charlie takes your plate from you and places it onto the table, leaving you a little confused. “Do you trust me?” he asks, hushed. “Yeah, wh—?” before you can finish your question, Charlie presses his lips to yours, pushing you gently against the wall behind you. You’re startled, at first, but then melt into the kiss as your stomach starts to do flips and turns. You didn’t realize until now that this is what you’ve wanted all along. You always wondered why your eyes always automatically darted to his lips. Now you know why. “Ooh! Get it, Y/N!” you hear your ex’s best friend shout. Nothing about high school has changed. Except now Charlie’s here. He pulls away and stares at you for a moment, equally as overwhelmed as you. “You want to get out of here?” he whispers. You simply nod your head, running your tongue across your bottom lip as though the taste of his lips is still there. Charlie grabs your hand and pulls you to the door of the gym. As you pass your ex and his friends, you offer them a wave of your slender fingers. For the first time in years, you feel powerful in this gym, like you can conquer the world. Charlie takes you into the hallway, and pushes you against the wall of lockers, kissing you again. You can’t help the smile tugging at your lips as your hands tug at his suit jacket. “I wanted to do that for so long,” he whispers when he pulls away for a second, pressing his forehead against yours and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “What do you mean?” you ask, keeping your voice down too. “You really think I made all of that up in there?” he chuckles. “I really did fall for you when you told me off about delivering that line wrong.” Your mouth drops open before your lips turn up into a surprised smile. “It was incredibly hot.” “And I do swoon every time I see you, by the way,” you admit for the first time to yourself. “And I would really love that first date you imagined for us.” “Good,” he replies, “Because I was going to ask you to go this weekend.” Your eyes widen, and Charlie notices a sparkle in them that he’s never seen before. “Thank you for tonight, Charlie,” you whisper, pushing a strand of hair from his forehead. He has that Patrick Swayze hair he had a couple of times in Season 1 of Julie and The Phantoms, the hairstyle you find way too attractive. “No, thank you.” He smiles down at you before connecting his lips to yours again in a deep, passionate kiss. Tonight, you not only conquered your dreadful past, but you also found the love of your life in your best friend. And you couldn’t possibly ask for more. This was a perfect night.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​ @bookdealer5​ 

[shadow-assassin-blix]

How do you like me now

William ‘Ironhead’ Miller x reader

Another song fic. Warnings: dumb ex, shitty parents. 

So, I’ve had this one on my mind for a long while, and I may actually write more about this one, like a mini series maybe. I also just like the thought of Will having a kid and the shenanigans. 

Everything: @mikeisthricedeceased 

Triple Frontier Boys: @artsymaddie @mcrmarvelloki​ 

Yeah, I was always the crazy one broke into the stadium

And I wrote your number on the 50-yard line

Will wouldn’t have admitted openly but when he was younger, he was a lot like Santi in that he slept around a lot. Broke many hearts when he was a teenager. To put it simply? He was an ass.

Time in the army changed that, especially when he met the men who would become his brothers. Between Pope, Catfish, and Redfly he was nowhere near the same person he was when he left high school. Benny liked to tease him a lot, whenever they came home to visit their parents.

In fact, that was what he was currently doing. He, and Benny, were driving home with Santi and Frankie in the back. His parents needed furniture moved out; they were downsizing to a smaller home.  So, the four of them were going to be their muscles for it.

Benny was exaggerating many parts of several stories, that caused Will to roll his eyes constantly before correcting him.

He pulled into the driveway of his parent’s home, quietly wondering whose car was parked in front of their house. He shrugged it off not thinking too hard on it. The four of them walked up to the door and knocked.

Their mother, Winnie Miller, opened the door with a smile, “My boys! You’re early!”

She greeted Santi and Frankie as they all came inside with hugs and cheek kisses.

“Figured we may as well get here as soon as possible to start moving stuff out,” Will explained as his mother fretted over him and Benny, stating ‘we were too skinny.’

“Well, I do have some company but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Come into the kitchen, we just made some cookies,” Winnie said as she led them forward.

Benny bounded forward excitedly rushing past their mother to the kitchen. As they caught up to him, Will noticed he had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the person sitting at the island.

“Benny, what the hell are y-…” Will started to ask but stopped as he took her in as well.

He muttered her name as he watched her straightened up.

You were always the perfect one and a valedictorian

So under your number I wrote "Call for a good time"

“You mean She-Devil?” Benny grumbled glaring at her.

She waved awkwardly, and said, “Benny. Hey, Will.”

“What are you doing here, Venus?” Will asked her, using her old nickname from high school.

“Just uh… talking…” She answered biting her lip, looking uncomfortable at the attention she was receiving.

“Hm. Talking? Planning on running someone else over?” Benny asked mockingly.

“It was an accident,” She mumbled shaking her head.

“Is that another exaggeration?” Santi asked as he and Frankie moved to stand to the side.

“Nope. She jumped the curb and broke Will’s leg in 3 places!” Benny exclaimed, waving his arms.

Will winced slightly at that and scratched the back of his neck.

“Can you not?” Venus threw back crossing her arms.

“Benny. Chill. Just… go outside with the guys, please,” Will commanded him gently not wanting a fight to start.

Just then a small voice could be heard behind him, “Mommy?”

Venus tensed, taking a deep breath, before passing by him to walk into the living room. On the couch was a little girl, who had been taking a nap.

Will gazed at the girl noting she was about 3 years old, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Blue eyes that looked eerily similar to his own.

“Benny. Seriously, go outside. Calm down,” Will called over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving Venus and her daughter.

He heard Benny huff and storm outside.

“I’ll go… talk to him,” Came Santi’s voice as he followed Benny.

Frankie looked at the two people in the living room, and then at Will. He could very easily connect the dots that was going on within Will’s brain.

Will stepped forward and glanced between her and the child.

“Something you want to tell me?” Will questioned her softly.

She sighed, picking her daughter up, who immediately clung to her neck.

“Her name is Charlotte,” She said quietly.

“…. After my grandmother?” Will murmured lowly.

She nodded once, not making eye contact.

Will nodded, rubbing his hand over his face, exasperated.

He walked back into the kitchen, giving his mother a pointed look.

“Give her a chance to explain,” Winnie pleaded.

He sighed heavily, before turning back around. However, she wasn’t there. He could hear doors closing and the sound of an engine starting up.

“Seems you got some splainin’ to do, brother,” Frankie stated as he snagged a cookie.

Will turned to his mother, and inquired, “How long have you known?”

“A couple of months. She… she was going through some things and came home to deal with some shit with her parents. I saw her at the grocery store with Lottie and knew immediately. Course, she tried to deny it at first, but Lottie looks exactly like you. Can’t fool me,” Winnie explained as Benny and Santi came back in.

“What are we talking about?” Benny was confused as to what he just walked into.

“Nothing,” Will said shortly, turning and walking out of the house.

He knew where she was heading. Same place she always did when she was stressed.

I only wanted to get your attention

But you overlooked me somehow

It was a 15-minute drive to the nearby park, and another 10 minutes following an old hiking path that led to a beautiful pond.

That was where she was, with her… their… daughter who was happily chasing after butterflies.

“Figured you’d be here,” He announced his arrival as he stood near her.

“You always did know me best,” She replied, not looking at him.

Will sat next to her on the worn bench that had been there since they were in high school. He fondly watched their daughter as she began to make flower crowns.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He softly asked her.

“Because it was a one-night stand, after far too many shots. Figured you didn’t want to see me ever again. When I found out I was pregnant… I wanted to tell you but…” She started but her voice faltered at the end.

“But you thought I would reject you?” He supplied as he stared at her, noting her teary eyes.

She nodded in response, “Yeah. Plus, there was… a lot of drama with my parents and I didn’t want to involve you.”

“My mother mentioned that. What happened?” Will wanted answers.

“You remember how I told you about my last ex, when we… were last together?” She began, waiting for his nod. “Imagine their reaction when they found out I was pregnant.”

He rolled his eyes up to the high heavens, “Let me guess? They threw a conniption?”

“…Sorta…” She said softly. “They disowned me.”

Will raised an eyebrow at that, “They what? Seriously?’

“Yep. No inheritance for me. We don’t even really talk anymore. They keep trying to say they’ll forgive me and give it back if I marry someone that they approve. Too bad I am not 16 anymore, desperate for their attention,” She said bitterly.

He snorted at that, “So, my mom discovered your secret. What’s been happening there?”

“She keeps insisting that I come over to eat. Says I’m too skinny. I think she also just likes being a grandma,” She replied with a shake of her head. “I have my own place, I just… go over there to keep her company. Don’t… don’t exactly have any friends here. At least not anymore.”

“Mh. She says that about everyone,” Will smiled. “You still have me.”

She looked over at him surprised, but appreciative. She gently scooted closer to him, giving him a side hug. He returned it, kissing the top of her head.

“Mommy? Who this?” Came Lottie’s voice.

They parted, and looked toward her, and her handful of flowers.

“Lottie. This is Will…your daddy,” She introduced her pulling her in close.

She looked at Will with wide eyes, before making grabby hands toward him. Will chuckled as he picked her up, letting her stand on his legs.

“Hi sweetheart,” He said sweetly to her.

She smiled shyly, looking down at her feet for a moment.

“May I hug you?” Her voice softly asked.

Will nodded with a smile, holding his arms out accepting the hug that she gave him. Her grip tightened after a moment and she collapsed against him. He held her in his arms, glancing over at Venus who was watching them fondly.

Besides you had too many boyfriends to mention

And I played my guitar too loud

An hour later, he was returning home alone. Venus took Charlotte home to finish her nap; they had made plans to have dinner together tonight.

He stepped inside the house with a heavy sigh, tossing his keys onto the side table near the door. He made his way back into the kitchen, where the guys and his parents were gathered drinking lemonade and eating cookies.

He snatched a glass from the cabinet and poured out some lemonade. He took a drink from it as his parents excused themselves to the living room.

“What the hell is going on Will?” Benny asked crossing his arms.

“Better question, who was the babe that apparently ran you over?” Santi chimed in looking at the two of them.

Will walked over to the table, taking a seat, waiting for the guys to join him.

“Venus… was the head cheerleader who I dated for several months. I broke up with her…. a week after we finally slept together… Needless to say…. She didn’t take it well,” Will began to explain.

“‘Didn’t take it well.’ Sure. That’s putting it lightly,” Benny rolled his eyes.

“She really ran you over?” Santi asked incredulously.

Will nodded once, wincing at the memory.

“So, yeah. She did that. Then we never really spoke to one another…until about 4 years ago,” Will continued.

“You saw her 4 years ago? Why? What the hell prompted you to talk to the She-Devil?” Benny questioned angrily.

“Hey, enough with the ‘She devil’ stuff alright? It…. Was some time after Jessica called off our engagement. Was at a bar… so was she… we talked,” Will explained vaguely.

“You mean the two of you got shit faced and slept together?” Santi laughed.

Will shrugged somewhat, avoiding eye contact with Benny.

“She had been engaged herself… and… the guy was killed in a hit and run incident… 3 days before their wedding. Apparently, her parents didn’t approve of him because he was an artist, not something fancy like a lawyer. Her parents had no sympathy for her,” Will cleared his throat briefly. “So, yeah. We drank. We slept together….”

“…made a kid…” Frankie coughed quietly.

Benny’s face became one of pure disbelief before he stood up, shaking his head, and leaving the room.

“The little tyke we saw earlier?” Santi clarified.

Will and Frankie both nodded, with Frankie adding with a tease, “Looked just like Will too. Frown and all.”

Will rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face as he thought about how much Charlotte looked like him.

When I took off to Tennessee

I heard that you made fun of me

Approximately 2 hours later, Will had cleaned up and stood in front of Venus’ apartment. He knocked firmly and heard a small set of feet run to the door. He heard the doorknob jiggle a few times before it finally turned, and the door swung open.

He looked down, spotting his mini me, shyly looking around the door.

“Hi,” She quietly said, opening the door a little wider for him.

“Hey sweetie,” Will greeted her with a smile, stepping inside. “Where’s your mom at?”

“In here!” Came Venus’ voice from further in the apartment.

Charlotte grabbed his pants leg, tugging on it slightly. Will squatted down near her, closing and locking the door as he did.

“Mommy’s trying to impress you, but she’s not the best cook,” Charlotte whispered to him.

Will snorted softly, nodding his head, “She wasn’t a good cook when we were younger either. Let me go see if I can save dinner yeah?”

Charlotte giggled at that, and the two of them made their way toward the kitchen.

Will came up beside Venus and asked, “So, what are you making?”

“It… it was supposed to be chicken alfredo but… apparently the kitchen still hates me when I try to cook because nothing turned out right,” She answered biting her lip, looking dejected as she tried turned off the stove.

Will looked at it and noted that she had burned a great deal of it, and not much could be rescued.

“So… Pizza?” Will suggested looking back at her.

She shrugged, grabbing the takeout menus and setting them out. Will watched as she walked down the hallway, mumbling she was going to clean up a bit. Will ordered the food, and then cleaned the pans, tossing out the inedible food. When the pans were clean, he told Charlotte to go clean up as well, while he checked on Venus.

He walked toward her bedroom, noting the light coming from it. He took a step knocking lightly on the door looking around for her. She wasn’t in the bedroom, so he moved over to the ensuite bathroom.

“Venus? You okay?” He quietly asked her.

He didn’t hear a response, so he gently pushed open the door. She was standing at the sink, glaring down at it. He leaned against the counter, his hand gently resting on top of hers.

She glanced at it, her gaze slowly moving up to meet his.

“Sorry for ruining dinner. Guess I should stick to baking, never have a problem there,” She said to him with a small shrug.

“Sweetie… I knew the second we decided to have dinner, that it would probably be takeout. I don’t mind. Maybe, I need to teach you how to cook…or at least see where you keep going wrong,” Will lightly teased her.

She weakly chuckled, “I might take you up on that. Does… does that mean you may stick around?”

“Probably… We’ll talk more later,” Will promised. “Now, let’s go watch a movie while we wait for pizza.”

She nodded, and without letting go of her hand, he walked with her back to the living room. Charlotte was on the floor in front of the movie case, trying to pick out a movie.

She eventually chose Big Hero Six, the three of them settling onto the couch to watch it. Will got up about 30 mins in to grab and pay for the pizza. Once everyone had a slice, and drinks, they resumed. Charlotte fell asleep after a slice and a half, toward the end of the movie.

Will easily picked her up, following Venus to her room. He tucked her into bed, Venus placing a large polka dot elephant in with her.

When they stepped back out, Venus whispered, “That elephant is her favorite, she will not sleep through the night if it’s not with her.”

“Good to know,” Will whispered back, looking down at her fondly.

Venus could feel her face warm at the look Will was giving her, and felt her breath hitch slightly, as Will leaned down. He paused, waiting to see if she objected to him making a move. When he saw none, he continued, pressing his lips lightly to hers.

Venus froze for a moment, before responding, kissing back more firmly. Will’s hand came to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing against it softly. His other arm, wrapped around her waist, pulling her in close. Her hands clenched at the fabric of his shirt, wrinkling it.

They kissed for what felt like hours but was really only minutes. When they parted, they were breathless.

“Think we should have that talk,” Venus murmured her head resting against his chest.

She felt him nod and the two of them walked back into the living room, sitting on the couch.

For a moment it was quiet, as both of them worked up the courage to speak.

“I want the both of you in my life,” Will started eventually.

“You do?” Venus was surprised.

“Yeah… Not going to lie… seeing you 4 years ago… made me realize just how much I regretted what I did in high school…” Will admitted.

“….Why did you break up with me? Because… you said it was for a bet, but… Andrew didn’t recall such a bet when we dated,” Venus said with a raised eyebrow.

“Can’t believe you dated him. Andrew was such a dick…” Will shook his head. “I broke up with you… because… I was terrified. It was our senior year… I had no plans for college, but you did… Felt like I was going to… hold you back or disappoint you.”

Venus stare at him with wide eyes before smacking him on the arm.

When she heard the satisfying ‘ow’ in response, she spoke, “You were never a disappointment… nor did I think you would hold me back. When I heard you left for the army, I was extremely proud of you. Worried as hell, but proud.”

Never imagined I'd make it this far

Then you married into the money girl

“You were worried for me?” Will asked curiously.

“Yeah. I was. Just because we weren’t together didn’t mean I stopped caring about you. I always wanted to ask your mom about you, but I figured she hated me for the whole… broken leg thing,” she said with a wince.

He laughed at that, “No. She told me I had it coming. Was surprised you didn’t try to hit me twice.”

Venus giggled a little at that.

“Can I ask you something? Why the hell are you still here, in this town with your shit parents?” Will asked her seriously.

“Rent agreement is 6 months. I have another month to get through. Don’t know what I’ll do after that,” Venus said simply.

Will thought for a few minutes, before proposing, “There’s… there’s several houses for rent in Castle Rock… in my neighborhood. You… you and Charlotte could come live near me?”

“Think you could handle us being that close to you? You know Lottie will want to come see you a lot. She… She gets attached quickly. Please don’t break her heart,” Venus requested firmly.

“I understand. I have no plans of hurting either of you, but you and I both know you need to get out of this town. It’s not good for you nor her to be around your parents,” Will said concerned, his hand brushing against her cheek.

“I know… You’re right. I only came back because apparently my grandparents left me everything, and my parents… were not happy. Tough shit,” Venus scoffed. “They keep dragging in lawyers to try and dispute the will. It’s been such a pain in the ass.”

“What exactly is there to dispute? Didn’t your grandparents change their will when we graduated high school?” Will questioned.

She nodded, “Though… most people assumed it was them trying to spoil me. In reality, my parents didn’t approve of me going into architecture. So, they put limits on my accounts, thinking that if they made it difficult for me to pay for things that I would suddenly change my major and do something I had no interest in.”

Will rolled his eyes, thinking back to when they had dated, how her parents never approved him. He wasn’t on the football team, with straight A’s or a plan for college. He played lacrosse, made decent grades and the only thing he look forward to was riding his Harley.

“I guess… the next thing we should talk about is us,” Venus said after a moment.

“Yeah… when… when we last saw each other we were both going through some intense shit. However, I don’t regret it. Or the result of it. Maybe we could… try dating again, not... start over necessarily but…” Will said with a sigh.

“Fresh page sort of thing?” Venus supplied biting her lip for a moment.

“Yeah. That sounds good. Um. So, I going to be here for a few days helping my parent’s move…” Will began.

“Yeah. Your mother has roped me into helping pack up the glassware and such. So… we will be seeing each other a lot… How pissed is Benny?” She asked with a small wince.

“He’ll get over it. But I figured you could meet my best friends and we could go out on more relaxed dates for a time?” Will offered reaching over to take her hand in his.

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically at the suggestion.

Ain't it a cruel and funny world?

He took your dreams, and he tore them apart

The next day rolled around, and as he woke up at 5am exactly like the others, he figured he and Benny needed to talk. He motioned for Benny to step outside with him, and with a frown, he does so.

“Look… I know you don’t like her for the shit she did when we were in high school. However, we were both just as bad. I forgave her for that shit years ago and so did she. I’m going to need you to try and tolerate her. Especially when her daughter is also your niece. Please, do not start a fight,” Will begged him.

Benny stared at him for a few minutes, before finally looking away, mumbling something under his breath.

He sighed heavily, turning to look back at Will who stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure. I’ll…try…I make no promises,” Benny grumbled after a moment.

“I’ll take it. She should be here in a bit, to help mom pack up,” He warned Benny.

“Why does this matter so much to you? I get wanting to be civil for the kid’s sake, but you always said that you didn’t care about her after y’all broke up,” Benny was trying to understand what was going through his brother’s head.

“… I lied. I… I never her told her this but her parents made sure to let me know that I was just going to hold her back and be a disappointment to her. Well. She knows the latter half… she doesn’t know it came from her parents. I let them get into my head and I broke her heart to make it easier,” Will explained as he tucked his hands into pants pockets.

“Shit… You let those freaks into your head? Explains why you were so miserable for so long,” Benny replied, scoffing.

Will did a half shrug as they walked back inside to see Frankie serving breakfast, waffles and bacon. The four of them ate making plans on which rooms they should work on first. After creating a plan of attack, it was almost 7am and there was a quiet knock at the door.

Benny was the one who went and answered it. Will closed his eyes, tensing, expecting raised voices and fists landing.

Benny answered the door, finding Venus standing there with Charlotte in her arms. Venus straightened up as she realized who stood there.

“Morning,” Benny greeted first.

“Mornin’. Lottie. This is Benny, he’s your uncle. He’s a bit silly,” Venus introduced Charlotte to him, softly.

Charlotte looked at him, shyly waving at him.

“Hi,” She said with a small wave.

“Hey. C’mon in. Frankie made waffles if you’re hungry?” Benny offered waving them in.

“Oooh. Waffles? Waffles are your favorite, isn’t that right sweetie?” Venus cooed to her.

Lottie nodded with a small yawn.

Benny escorted them back into the kitchen where Frankie was cleaning up the mess he made after serving breakfast, and Santi & Will were sitting at the table still. Lottie upon seeing Will, wiggled down in her Venus’ arms, wanting to be set down. Venus placed her on the ground, straightening out her clothes for a moment before letting Lottie run over to Will.

When she stood near him, he immediately picked her up and placed her in his lap, and she curled up into his arms.

Frankie quietly called for Venus’ attention, asking her, “Would she like a full waffle or half?”

“Half. She never finishes a full. Thank you,” Venus said appreciating him as he took a waffle and cut it in half.

He cut a slice of bacon in half as well, before coming over to Will with the food and syrup. Venus quietly grabbed from the fridge a small container of fresh mixed fruit, grabbing a small plastic bowl to scoop some into it. She served the fruit alongside the waffles that Lottie was currently devouring.

“Slow down sweetie, the food isnt going anywhere. You are going to make yourself sick eating that fast,” Venus lightly warned her.

Charlotte slowed down after that, mumbling a quiet sorry.

She finished eating about 20 minutes later, and thanked Frankie for the food, stating, “It was really good.”

Frankie smiled brightly and told her, “You are very welcome, honey.”

By then Will’s parents had woken up and were dressed for the day. They made their own plates and were eating as Benny told them the plan.

Will noticed Venus hadn’t made herself anything and was simply leaning against one of the counters in the kitchen, waiting.

Will stood up, placing Charlotte in his seat with a quick kiss on the head.

Will stood next to her, and said lowly, “There’s plenty of food for you to eat as well.”

Venus sighed softly, “I know. Not really hungry. Never am when my parents call.”

“What did they say this time?” Will asked looking at her with slight concern.

“The usual. I’m a disappointment. We didn’t raise you to be like this. If you just did what we asked, things would be easier for the both of you. We want to know our granddaughter and you are depriving us. Blah Blah Blah,” Venus said in a monotoned voice.

“Tch. They had plenty of opportunities to get to know her. Don’t let them ruin your day, simply because they want to be manipulative and guilt trip you,” Will stated matter-of-factly.

Venus nodded, understanding him, but it was still difficult to do. She had heard the same lines long before she left high school. In fact, she started hearing them when she dated Will because he wasn’t on their approved list of suitors. Honestly, that fact alone made her like Will even more, because it meant she didn’t have to put on a façade.

They didn’t get to say much more as his parents finished up, and his mother wandered over to her to start wrapping and packing up the fragile items. It was quiet work as the guys moved out furniture onto a truck, some furniture was going to their new place in Denver, but many others were being donated to other families in town who needed them.

Charlotte helped by dispensing tape for a while before growing bored and running to go supervise the guys. Venus shook her head, chuckling.

“It seems things are going pretty well with you and Will…” Winnie’s teased her. “I notice he didn’t come home until late last night.”

Venus cleared her throat, as she felt her face warm up.  After their talk, they had spent a great deal of time… getting reacquainted with one another.

“I have no idea what you are talking about Winnie,” She replied her voice cracking halfway through.

“I haven’t seen him happy in a long time. Or that relaxed. He is usually always tense when he comes home, no matter who is with him or what is going on. I assume he knows what’s going on?” Winnie asked her as they taped up some boxes.

“Yeah. He knows. Told me that uhh… there are some houses up for rent around his neighborhood. I might… see into that,” She informed Winnie, her movements slowing down as she thought about it.

“What’s that big ol’ brain of yours thinking now? I can see you getting lost in your thoughts. Or should I say your insecurities,” Winnie was always able to see right through her.

“Just… worried he’s going to change his mind… about us… about Charlotte. I don’t want to live closer to him just to have my heart broken again,” Venus confessed quietly.

“I understand. You cannot tell him I ever told you this but… when you were teenagers your father said a lot of things to him. Made him feel like this relationship was only going to end in misery. He left because he thought it was best despite the fact that he was miserable without you,” Winnie’s voice dropped as well.

Venus stared at her surprised. Everything made so much more sense now. She never understood why the breakup and even though Will had told her last night that he felt like he would be disappointment, she still didn’t understand where that came from. Now she did. Her father planted seeds of doubt and the both of them suffered because of it.

He never comes home, and you're always alone

And your kids hear you cry down the hall

A few hours had passed, and they had moved furniture out of at least 3 rooms and moved them to their new homes. Will chuckled as he watched Charlotte, or Charlie as Benny has taken to calling her, played with Benny in the front yard.

Benny and Frankie had stripped off their over shirts, Benny in a tank and Frankie in a simple white tee. Will and Santi had taken their shirts off completely, all four of them trying to cool off as they rested.

Venus stepped outside at that point with an armful of water bottles. She passed one out to everyone, checking on Charlotte.

“Sweetie, why don’t you come sit in the shade for a bit,” She said bringing her over to the porch.

Charlotte got onto the porch swing, drinking from her small water bottle, with a sigh. Venus quietly looked her over, noting she looked like she had a bit of sunburn on her shoulders.

Venus looked over at the guys who were sprawled out all over the yard.

“Ya know… there’s this thing called air conditioning inside the house. If ya’ll want to crawl back inside. Drink your water… there’s also cold beer,” She tempted the four of them.

At the mention of cold beer, Benny and Santi popped up immediately, making their way inside. Frankie got up as well, but not as quickly. He chugged down his water, muttering a thanks to Venus as he joined the guys inside. Charlotte after a moment, followed them in as well, wanting to cool off.

Will, who was sitting on the steps, simply patted the spot next to him. Venus joined him with a smile, leaning against him lightly.

“So, your mom doesn’t want the four of you to strain yourselves. She wants you to take it easy tomorrow. I was thinking… maybe… we could go check out those rent houses if you were up for it,” Venus proposed, her chin resting against his bicep as she stared at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, we can do that. Charlotte can come with or she can stay here and be doted on by her grandparents,” Will said with a small chuckle.

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll want to stay here since Grandma Winnie plans to make more cookies tomorrow,” Venus said a smile on her face.

They spoke a little while longer, making plans for tomorrow, when a car pulled up to the house. A very nice and expensive car.

Venus stared at it with narrow eyes as she watched Andrew McIntosh step out.

“What are you doing here Andrew?” She asked him not bothering to stand up.

“Well. Your dear ole mother said you were refusing to answer her calls and wanted to know if you were okay. So, she asked me to come check on you,” Andrew answered looing at the house with disinterest.

“Well. I’m fine as you can see. Now leave. I don’t want to see or speak to you ever again,” Venus growled her body tensing with anger.

Will quietly placed his hand on her shoulder, before standing up.

He squared up in front of Andrew and said, “You’ve done your task, now get off my property.”

Andrew scoffed at him, “Can’t believe you. You were so desperate to get away from her. Kept claiming she was so damn clingy and needy.”

“No. That was you. I vaguely remember knocking you on your ass for it too. Seriously, get off my property before I remind you of all the times I kicked your ass when we were younger,” Will promised him.

Andrew shook his head, but even Venus could see that he was nervous, as he backed away. Andrew walked away and got back into his car, driving away.

Venus stood up as Will turned around, he took a deep breath to calm himself down.

“You really need to block your parents,” Will said after a moment.

“I know. She called once and then sent that shithead to come “check on me.” Most likely he’s going to go back to my mother and tell her I’m here and then I’ll get yet another phone call today. Such fun for me,” Venus said with a roll of her eyes.

Venus stared at him for a moment, before slowly wrapping her arms around his neck. His arms went to her waist, instinctively.

“Thank you for defending my honor. I appreciate it. I regret ever dating him,” She muttered to him.

She stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips. He kissed her back, deepening the kiss. They kissed for a good minute before parting. The two of them smiled at each other before heading inside, holding hands.

As the guys drank and cooled off, Venus took the opportunity to bring Charlotte to the spare bedroom and apply some soothing lotion to her shoulders before putting her down for a nap. Once she was asleep, which didn’t take long, Venus stepped back out into the living room, and took a seat next to Will as they all talked.

About 30 minutes had passed when her phone began to ring. She glanced at the screen noticing the name was Horrid Woman aka her mother. Will noticed it and motioned for her to answer it. She does so, staring at him curiously. When it connected, he hit the speaker button.

“Young lady. You have so much explaining to do. Why in the world are you with that… that… hoodlum? You are going to send me to an early grave I swear. Enough is enough. It is time for you to come home and stop this nonsense. We’ve allowed you to have your rebellious phase, but it is now time for you to grow up and act like an adult. I swear I don’t know where I went wrong with you,” Her mother’s shrill voice ranted.

“‘That hoodlum?’ Seriously mom? Can you sound more like an 80s sitcom? I am not coming home. I am not going through a phase. Stop calling. Stop sending people to check on me. I don’t want anything to do with you, or dad,” Venus spoke calmly but her rage was stirring.

“Why I never… He is no good for you. All he will do is disappoint you and break your heart again. He’s done it once before,” Her mother continued.

“Yeah. about that… tell me mother… how much shit were you and dad spewing to him when we were together? Hmm? The way I see it, I was happy, and you couldn’t control me anymore. So, you two did what you do best: destroyed everything. Got me back under your thumb for a time. Sadly, for you, I am not a teenager desperate for your love and attention. I’m blocking this number, do not call me ever again,” Venus ended the call, blocking it immediately.

Venus tossed her phone onto the coffee table, standing up and walking down the hallway needing to be alone for a minute.

Benny was the first to react, “How are her parents still that much of a nightmare?”

Will shrugged, standing up as well, searching for her. He eventually found her in the laundry room, small sniffles filling the room. He gently pulled her into his arms, holding her as she cried quietly. He often found her in a similar state when they were younger, hidden away somewhere to cry in private after an argument with her parents. He knew from past experiences, to just be there for her and let her cry.

Alarm clock starts ringin' who could that be singin'

It's me baby, with your wake up call

The rest of the evening went smoother, the guys crashed in the bedroom they had been in last night. Will and Venus crashed on the couch, curled around each other. They fell asleep together, enjoying one another’s company.

Venus woke up, with her back to Will’s chest. She opened her eyes, feeling something nudging her. She looked down to see Lottie trying to join them. She checked the time, noting it was still early morning. She repositioned herself to lie on her back and pulled Lottie onto her chest, tossing the blanket over her.

“Bad dream sweetie?” Venus quietly asked her.

Charlotte nodded once, burying her face into her chest. Will, who woke up slightly, wrapped his arms around the both of them. The 3 of them fell back to sleep for a few more hours.

Winnie woke up a bit early, getting dressed, and making her way downstairs. She stopped short when she spotted the scene that was before her on the couch. She pulled out her phone to take a photo of it. Some time in the night they had shifted to where Will was on his back, Venus tucked under one arm, and Charlotte sprawled out on his chest.

Winnie made her way into the kitchen, finding the boys in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Good morning my boys. Ready to be my packing helpers today?” Winnie asked them, making herself a cup of coffee.

“Yes ma’am,” Santi answered, handing her a plate of food.

“One second, let me go and get my grandbaby. She’s an inch away from rolling off them and onto to the floor,” Winnie said setting her cup down next to the plate.

Winnie made her way over to them, gently waking Charlotte up as she picked her up off of Will’s chest. Charlotte grumbled a moment before rubbing at her eyes, slowly waking up.

“Good morning my sweet. Let’s go get dressed and have breakfast, hmm” Winnie cooed to her taking her to the spare bedroom.

Will woke up when he heard his mother, opening his eyes eventually. He looked down at Venus, gently waking her up too. Venus stretched gently, slowly sitting up. The two of them quietly got up and got ready for the day, parting briefly to go to separate rooms.

Will stepped out, watching with some surprise as Venus and Benny talked at the island, and were actually being civil with one another. Charlotte was with his mom, eating quietly, and his dad was talking to Santi and Frankie over coffee. He took in the moment, sighing softly.

How do like me now? Yeah

How do you like me now?

Eventually, later on that morning, Venus and Will were in his neighborhood meeting with the realtor that had been working with his parents. The realtor was an older woman named Susan, who gave off mom vibes.

Susan had about 4 houses for Venus to look at. The first two were no’s due to the amount of work that they needed to be done for both of them. The third one was small and not in the best location. The fourth one was alright, not too terrible and was down two streets from his.

“This one has 3 beds, 2 baths. Open floor space for the kitchen and living room. And of course, a nice backyard for any little ones,” Susan said as she showed them the house.

Then one appeared to be the winner; an hour later she had signed all of the necessary documents and was given the key to her new home. By the time everything was said and done, it was late in the afternoon. Will had a small idea, and instead of driving out of the neighborhood, drove her to his place.

He parked the car, and led her inside telling her, “Figured you and I could have dinner together. Catch up. Have… have some alone time.”

She smiled brightly at that, nodding her head.

Now that I'm on my way

Do you still think I'm crazy

They spent the evening together, enjoying one another’s presence. That night they slept together, exploring each other’s bodies. Since they were alone, they could be as loud as they wanted to. They fell asleep in each other’s arm, content.

When they woke up, Venus felt oddly on edge. It took her a few minutes to fully realize why she felt strange.

“As much as I like this… can we head back to your parent’s? I’m not used to being away from Charlotte for so long,” Venus requested once she thought about it.

Will nodded, understanding, “I get it. Let’s get dressed and we can head back to the house.”

They do just that, and when they pull up to the house, and make their way up to the door, Will threw his arm around her shoulders, kissing her cheek.

They stepped inside, and immediately were ambushed by a small child who rapidly spoke about her day.

“Honey, you gotta slow down a bit there,” Venus laughed picking her up.

“Uncle Benny let me watch movies until midnight and we ate popcorn and candy. Uncle Santi and Frankie went to bed early, but they helped me build a blanket fort in the living room,” She repeated going slightly slower.

“Oh? Uncle Benny gave you sugar after 10pm? Oh no. That means my little gremlin will appear soon, doesn’t it?” Venus said somewhat joking but also with a hint of dread.

Charlotte had a tendency to have a sugar rush and crash, but she gets extremely grumpy when she is about to crash.

“Well. You are about to experience a potential temper tantrum,” She warned Will as Lottie wanted to go back to Benny, running.

“I’m sure I can handle it, doll. Dealt with these 3 children for the past 10 years. Trust me, nothing she does will compare to them,” Will said softly.

An hour into moving more furniture out, the dreaded crash began to take hold. Charlotte was refusing to do anything that she was asked. She would either ignore the person talking to her or she would stomp away. Venus sighed heavily as she walked after her, after Venus told her to go sit somewhere safe while the guys were lifting heavy furniture.

She finds her on the staircases, arms crossed, frowning, and staring at the floor.

“Lottie. C’mon. Let’s go sit somewhere,” Venus held out her hand for her to take.

Charlotte just shakes her head, pushing her hand away.

“Charlotte,” Venus said more firmly.

“NO!” Came her voice loudly.

Will, who was helping clear out a nearby room, heard the shout. Will walked toward the sound, spotting Venus standing there with her eyes closed as she tried to calm herself down. Venus knew it was because Charlotte was tired, but her refusing to listen to her was frustrating.

“Lottie. Can you come here sweetie?” Will asked squatting down.

Charlotte slowly walked over to him, frown still in place.

“What’s the matter? Hm? Are you tired?” Will questioned, his voice soft.

Lottie, after a moment, nodded.

“Then why don’t we go take a nap hm?” Will proposed, moving to pick her up.

“But I don’t wanna nap!” She said as she squirmed in his grip.

“Then how about we just lay down for a moment?” Will countered as they stepped into her room.

He laid her down, and even joined her on the tiny bed.

“Sweetie. You can’t be yelling at your mom, okay? She was just wanting to keep you safe. We are moving a lot of really heavy stuff. If we didn’t see you or if we lost our grip on something and you were nearby, it would really hurt you, okay?” His voice stayed soft as he spoke to her.

She nodded her head, “I’m sorry daddy.”

Will still wasn’t used to hearing her call him that. Hell, he doubted he ever will. Hearing her call him ‘dad/daddy’ made his heart swell with so much emotion.

“It’s not me you need to say that to,” He tells her.

Lottie yawned loudly, her eyes drifting she shut as she mumbled an ‘okay.’

He waited a few minutes, to make sure she was asleep, before standing up. He tucked her polka dot elephant in with her, before closing the door behind as he stepped out.

He made his way back to Venus who stared at him with wide eyes.

“Magic. You are magic. I’ve… I’ve never been able to get her to go down for a nap that easily when she’s upset,” Venus stated in disbelief.

“Told you. Dealt with grumpier children. And all 3 of them are my brothers,” Will said with a shrug.

A chorus of “hey’s” came from the other room, causing them to laugh.

Standing here today?

I couldn't make you love me

That had been about 5 months ago. In that time, Venus and Charlotte had moved into the new house and Will practically lived there. They had gone on several dates, some with Charlotte and some without.  On those dates, Grandma Winnie was more than happy to spoil her “favorite grandchild.”

When Will wasn’t with them, he was still doing his lectures and meets at the VA offices. Or working with Benny during his tournaments. It felt strange to say it, but Will found himself enjoying life more. It didn’t feel like a monotonous routine; it wasn’t boring anymore.

Will was currently on his way back from a tournament that Benny came in second place. Benny was bummed out and had planned to meet up with Santiago to go drinking. Will was tired, having been up since 3 am and wanting nothing more than to just collapse into a bed. He had planned on going to his home but found himself turning onto Venus’ street.

He pulled up to the house, parking with a heavy sigh. He got out of his car, walking up to the door and knocking twice. A minute passed and the door swung opened revealing Venus who was in just a silk nightgown.

“Hey, I heard about the tournament. How’s Benny doing?” She asked as she let him inside.

“Upset but that’s nothing new. He’ll be fine by morning. Is Lottie asleep?” Will questioned noting how quiet the house was despite it being 8pm.

“Grandma Winnie decided she wanted to steal her for the night. Something about a Disney movie marathon? So… It’s just us,” She explained softly, biting her lip.

“Oh… is that so?” Will smirked as he slid his hands around her waist.

He swiftly picked her up and carried her to her room, wanting to take advantage of this time. Her giggles sounded down the hallway before turning into moans as they landed on her bed.

Despite the fact that they’ve been dating almost 5 months, they haven’t been able to do anything too salacious without something interrupting them.

Tonight, apparently would be no different. Will had just tossed off his shirt and was working her nightgown off when a phone rang. Will collapsed with a groan, Venus growling loudly in annoyance.

Venus reached over to grab her phone and answered it with a sigh, “Hello?”

“Hey honey, I am so sorry to interrupt but I wanted you to know that Charlotte is running a fever. I gave her some children’s Tylenol, but she keeps asking for you and Will. He wouldn’t happen to be there with you, would he?” Came Winnie’s worried voice.

“Shit. Yeah. He’s with me. We’ll be over in a little bit,” Venus replied sitting up with Will.

“No need. I am on my way already. She was very adamant that only your chicken noodle soup would help,” Winnie said with a weak laugh.

“Okay. We’ll be here,” Venus said as she hung up. “Lottie has a fever. Your mom is bringing her back.”

“Was she feeling bad when she left?” Will asked as he threw his shirt back on.

“She had said she felt like her nose was stuffed but I figured it was just allergies. She didn’t say anything else was wrong,” Venus answered, concern lacing her features.

“Well, we will make her some soup and go from there. C’mon,” Will nodded, kissing her cheek trying to assure her.

The two of them got up, and made their way into the kitchen, fixing themselves up as they moved. It didn’t take long for a knock to sound on the door. Will, leaving Venus to heat up soup, answered it.

“Hey ma,” He greeted before turning his attention to Lottie in her arms. “Hey lil bug. What’s wrong my sweet girl?”

He gently took her from his mother’s arms and held her close as she sniffled.

“Don’t feel good,” Charlotte whispered, her voice sounding scratchy.

“Ohno. Well. Momma’s making soup and then you are going to bed,” Will told her as he walked into the kitchen.

His mother came in and told Venus when she gave Charlotte medicine and symptoms and such. Once she was done with that, she made her way back home.

Charlotte quietly ate her soup when it was done, coughing once or twice. She finished about 20 minutes later before turning to Venus, holding her arms out to her. Venus, with a soft smile, picked her up and carried her to Lottie’s room, tucking her in softly.  

Will was waiting for Venus in her room when she stepped inside.

“You know she’s going to be in here in like 20 minutes, right?” Will joked as the both of them crawled under the covers.

“I know. Habit to just tuck her into her own bed. Plus, she might not, she was practically asleep when I laid her down,” Venus said as she laid down on her side, curling up to Will who was on his back.

Will hummed quietly in response as the two of them laid there in comfortable silence.

15 minutes later, Venus was asleep, and Will was almost there too when he felt a small tug on his side of the blanket. He looked down to see Charlotte quietly staring up at him. He leaned down slightly, picking her up and letting her crawl under the covers. She collapsed onto his chest, one arm firmly holding her polka dot elephant.

She was out in seconds, and as Will wrapped his other arm around her, he looked at the both of them. His beautiful daughter and the woman he was falling back in love with.

He never imagined this. He never thought he would have this: a family to call his own. He loved it far more than he would ever admit.

But I always dreamed about living in your radio

How do you like me now?

It has been a year since Venus re-entered his life with Charlotte. Since then, Will had moved into her house and sold his old place.

The three of them were currently getting ready to go out to dinner with the guys. It didn’t take very long for them to get dressed and on the road.

They arrived at the restaurant, joining the guys with smiles. Frankie had Isabella with him, who was giggling happily when she saw Charlotte. The two of them became fast friends and had play dates often.

Charlotte sat in Will’s lap and gently played with Isabella who was in a highchair. Venus and Will ordered their drinks before looking over the menu.

The guys chatted happily with them, ordering their meals as they talked.

Lottie gently tugged at Venus’s hand, quietly telling her she needed to go potty. Venus took Lottie to the bathroom, swiftly.

“So… when you going to propose to her?” Frankie asked casually as he took a sip of his beer.

“Soon. I got the ring earlier today,” Will said with a small smile.

“Real question is which one of us is going to be the best man?” Benny asked with a smirk.

“She’s gotta say yes, first, dumbass. Then I’ll decide which of you asses will be my best man,” Will laughed.

Charlotte popped up next to him a second later.

“Daddy. Mommy looks mad,” Charlotte tells him, looking over at her.

Will’s head whipped over to look at Venus who had been stopped by Andrew McIntosh, his hand gripping her arm tightly. Will sat Charlotte on Benny’s lap, muttering for her to stay there.

Will strolled over to them, his fists clenching.

“Andrew. Get your hands off of her,” Will commanded him, his rage brewing.

Venus held a hand up to him, gently telling him to stop.

Venus looked at Andrew and said, “Stop bothering me. Stop reporting to my mother. Leave me alone.”

Venus ripped his hand off of her arm. When Andrew tried to reach for her again, Venus threw a punch out at him, a sickening crack sounding as she broke his nose. Andrew groaned as he held his nose, blood oozing from it. Andrew glared at her, moving to go after her, but Will stepped in between them.

“You put your hands on her again and a broken nose will be the least of your concerns,” Will warned him.

Andrew huffed, walking away with a glare.

Will turned to her and checked her over really quickly.

“You okay?” He asked her, his eyes examining her arm.

“Yeah. I’m good. Been wanting to do that since we were 7,” Venus said with a laugh as they walked back over to the table.

Will shook his head, smirking.

Dinner went without any further incident and they made their way back home. Charlotte wanted to watch a movie, so Will put on Beauty and the Beast for her.

As she watched it, Will and Venus stood in the kitchen quietly talking.

“What did he say to you?” Will asked her.

“Same old bullshit. I’ve learned to not care about it anymore. I have you and Lottie. That’s all I want and need,” Venus answered with an eyeroll.

Will looked at her for a moment before reaching into his pocket, pulling out the small velvet box he had hidden in there.

He gently opened it, presenting the ring inside.

“I was planning on doing this more romantically but… I don’t want to wait any longer. I want to call the both of you mine. That is… if you’re up for that,” He began, hesitating.

Venus stared at him in surprise, not expecting this.

She gently pulled the ring out of its box, looking at it for a moment, before slipping it onto her left hand.

“Yeah. I’m up for that. Shall we go tell our daughter?” Venus asked smiling brightly.

“In a moment,” Will muttered pulling her in close, kissing her softly.

If someone had told him a few years ago that he would be proposing to the girl he was in love with from high school, he would’ve thought they were insane. However, he wouldn’t have traded this for the world. He had his daughter and the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

Tell me, baby

I will preach on

[staticscreenwriting]

The loneliest time of the year || Part two

Part 2 of 4

Summary: With a broken heart and the fear of having failed as a father, Frankie returns to his parents house for Christmas. What is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year feels quite lonely. Though when an old friend shows up unexpectedly with her young son in tow, Frankie’s Christmas seems to gain a little more happiness. Can they help each other fight the ghosts of their pasts and overcome their fears ?

A/N: This is part of my 12 days of Christmas / Advent special. Likes, reblogs, comments are all much appreciated.

[additional note: I am German. Sometimes I get the tense wrong or make mistakes. I am useless when it comes to punctuation. Go easy on me, please.]

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Four messed up pies

By the morning of December 9th a heavy blanket of snow rests upon the world like a tick coat of marshmallow fluff. 

A restlessness surges through Frankie as he turns from his left to his right to his back then repeats the process all over again. He kicks away the blankets then pulls them back. Sleep doesn’t come easy these days. In fact sleep hasn’t come easy in a while. It’s a price you have to pay for leading the life he leads, has led. For doing the job he did. You see things, bad things, and they stay with you. Not always but in the quiet moments they creep back into your mind and all you can do is stare and hope they fade again soon. Fill your brain with other things. Occupy your mind.

It’s moments like these that his fingers are twitching and his body is aching for release. For something to numb his mind. Help him forget. 

There aren’t a lot of things that Frankie is proud of. In fact he can count them on one hand. One of them is his ability to fly. He's a damn good pilot … most of the time. (He is when someone doesn’t force him to navigate an overloaded plane across the Andes). He’s proud of Rosie. Despite his flaws and shortcomings he managed to create something so utterly perfect, that’s something to be proud of. And the. There’s the little coin in the pocket of his jacket. The one he fumbles with whenever he’s anxious or stressed. It’s gold and smooth and it proudly displays a big number 10 in the middle of a triangle on the front of the coin.

10 months. That’s a proud achievement. 

It could be more. It should be more! He really tried but after coming home from Colombia, one man less than they went in, after his girlfriend broke up with him and took Rosie with her. After everything. He needed the psi to stop. Just for one goddamn minute. He felt immediate regret wash over him when he woke up the next morning. Called Pope. Entered a 12 step program.

10 months and he feels better. He likes himself more now. But in those 10 months the voices have gotten louder, the images clearer, his heart feels heavier. 

With sleep being so far out of reach, he kicks off the blanket and drags his body out of bed. The smell of coffee hits his nose as soon as he steps out of his room, it drifts from the kitchen all the way up the stairs. 

His parents are sitting by the kitchen counter, mom holding onto a big steaming mug of coffee while his dad is deeply invested in the morning. Paper, glasses perched low on his nose. This is home, it sends him straight back to his childhood. If only, he thinks, if only he could provide this sense of warmth and domesticity for his own child. 

A knock on the front door shakes him from his thoughts. As he swings it open, a sharp sting of cold winter air whips at him, nips at his nose, his ears and his bare feet.

“Frankie hey, oh sorry did I wake you?”

(Y/N) is once again bundled up in layers of cozy clothes, keeping her warm and sheltered from the harsh weather. She looks cute. Absolutely fucking adorable. But in that moment, he doesn’t really notice that. Doesn’t notice Leo standing behind her either. His entire attention rests on the steaming pie she holds in her hands. 

“You made a pie?”

“She made 4.” Leo speaks up, his voice dripping with irritation and annoyance. 

“Thanks for throwing me under the bus, dude!”

Frankie regards the exchange with a fond smile pulling at the corners of his lips. There’s something so distinctly familiar in the way she interacts with her son, so unapologetically her. The way she’s always been. But now grown up entirely. A mother. 

“Why did you make 4 pies?” He asks, eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Well I didn’t plan on making 4. The first one I mistook salt for sugar so you can imagine how it tasted. The second one I put way too much sugar in, might’ve been trying to compensate for my mistake with the first one but yeah that one did end up in the trash as well. The third … well I got pretty invested in an episode of unsolved mysteries and forgot it was in the oven so it turned out um — “

“Black. It was burned to a crisp.” Leo chimes up again, this time more amused than annoyed by his mother’s baking escapades.

“Yeah. It burned. But number 4 is looking pretty good.”

She looks up at Frankie with a smile so radiant it rivals the sun reflecting on the snowy ground. Pride shines in her eyes as she holds the pie towards him.

“Did you make me a pie?”

“Not exactly. It’s mostly for your folks. They agreed to watch this one while I got shopping for his Christmas presents.” (Y/N) explains, her tumb motioning towards the little boy over her shoulder. “This is a thank you to them for being literal angels. “

“Oh man you wouldn’t be saying that if you had to live with them growing up. I can’t tell you how many times dad unplugged my console while I was in the middle of a game.”

It’s a joke, of course it is. He really lucked out in the parents department and he’s not too proud or too shy to admit it. Maybe, he thinks, the good parent gene might’ve skipped a generation with him. His ex will surely agree with that statement. 

“Hey uh — you mind having some company while shopping ?”

“You wanna go shopping for toys?”

“I need to get some presents for my daughter.”

“Oh that’s right, you have a kid too. “

He doesn’t blame her for not remembering. He doesn’t strike people as the father type. And really, he hasn’t seen his little one in quite some time.doesn’t see her during the entire Christmas time. Is he really much of a father anyway?

“Sure yeah! I’d love some company.”

Maybe, Frankie thinks, this will help him drown out the voice. Those that tell him bad thoughts, whisper mean things. Maybe it will help him filter out the images. The blood. The suffering.

Frankie was never overly fond of the extreme commercialization of what should be a peaceful family holiday. But maybe this year he is,a little bit at least. Because those bright colors, the loud noises, the crowds, the ads assaulting you from every corner, that all will help drown out the dark. At least for a moment. 

“Alright lemme just get changed real quick.”

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Five days a week

“What the fuck is this?”

“It’s uh … it’s a … a game?”

“A game where you have to catch a piece of … poop.”

A wave of laughter tumbles from (Y/N)’s lips as Frankie holds up the brightly colored box, proudly displaying a drawing of a smiling turd. 

“It’s so dumb. And that says a lot coming from me, I can appreciate a good fart joke. But this is …. this is just dumb. “

“ It's what the kids these days want. I guess …”

“Would you buy this for Leo?”

“Absolutely not,” (Y/N) replies before taking the box from his hand and placing it back on the shelf between several more games of a similar kind. “But he wouldn’t like it anyway. Leo likes books and animals and fantasy movies. He’s so smart sometimes I wonder where he got it from.”

“You kidding me?” Frankie exclaims, “you’re so smart and if I remember correctly, you always carried around books when you were younger.”

(Y/N) just shrugs at his words though Frankie can’t make out a faint blush of red dusting her cheeks. “Leo is such an easy kid, always has been. Sometimes I wonder if that’s really the way he is or if he just tries to be that way because of me. Because he knows that I have to do all the parenting by myself and he feels he’s responsible for helping me along.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re doing good with him. Least you know what to get him for Christmas, what he cares about, what he’s interested in.”

His heart feels so heavy. His words seem to weigh down on his tongue like a stack of bricks. To admit your own failures to yourself is one thing, to admit them to someone else is quite another story.

“What do you mean ?”

“I — I have no idea what to get for Rosie. I don’t even know when I’ll see her next. She stays with her mom 5 days a week. I only get her on the weekends and even then her mom often finds a reason not to let her stay. Special occasions? I don’t get to spend those with her. Bet she doesn’t even recognize me anymore next time. She’s just a baby …”

This can’t be happening. He’s not going to start crying in the middle of a Toys R Us like a hyperactive toddler on a temper tantrum. Not in front of a beautiful girl who has been nothing but kind to him. This can’t be happening.

(Y/N)’s hand settles on his arm with a gentle touch. Almost as if she’s afraid he’ll break any minute now. And honestly, he might.

“Tell me about Rosie. I know she means the world to you and that’s all that matters Frankie. You’re trying. You’re trying so hard and I’m sure there’s lots about her that you know that no one else does. She’s your baby too. So tell me about her and we’ll figure out what to get her.”

And so they sit down on a swing set, one that’s definitely not meant for adults to sit on and have deep discussions, and Frankie starts talking. Once he starts it’s like a cork has been popped. It pours out of him, all of his pride and admiration and love for Rosie. All that has been brewing for so long now bubbles over. 

“... and she, she loves cuddling onto my chest and just listens to me. She doesn’t understand a word but she looks at me with her big beautiful eyes and it feels like I’m telling her all the biggest secrets of the universe the way she looks at me. Sometimes I sing and she — she falls asleep immediately.”

“That’s adorable.”

“Nah I think it's because my rendition of Eric Clapton is just real bad and boring.”

Their laughter is quiet, almost as if they are afraid of breaking the spell of this moment. Sometimes you find yourself at your most vulnerable during the big moments of your life and sometimes you do in the middle of a Toys R Us, sitting on a swingest that just barely holds your weight while a plastic giraffe looks over your shoulder and Kacey Musgrave’s rendition of “I’ll be home for Christmas” plays over the same overhead speakers that have been installed there in 1983.

“I just don’t want to disappoint her.”

 He’s already disappointing himself and that hurts bad enough.

“Frankie, let me be honest with you. She’s a baby, she’s not gonna care what you get for her. This is more about you than her. Whatever you get she’s gonna like it. Babies are easy to please, gets harder the older they get. We’ll find something cute for her but um … I think you should call her.”

“She’s a baby, she doesn’t have a phone yet.”

“ Really? I had Leo on a newborn data plan the second he popped out.”

Frankie raises his eyebrow in confusion.

“I was joking you dingus. Of course you’re gonna call her mom. There’s this thing, I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, it’s called FaceTime. You can actually see ther person on the other side. “ 

“ Very funny. I know what facetime is … “ 

“ Then call them. You said it yourself, the little one doesn’t understand a word of what you’re saying but that doesn’t matter. You’re there. You’re showing interest and taking initiative. It shows you care. And I think seeing her might be good for you too, even if it’s not in person.” 

“ You know, that sounds like a pretty good plan. “ 

“ Yeah? “ she asks him, a hopeful glimmer in her eyes, in her voice, in her entire being.

“ Yeah. “ 

“ Alright! Now let’s go find some presents for the little princess. May I suggest a cellphone? “ 

This time her laughter isn’t quite. It’s loud and radiant and the way her own joke amuses herself, is so goddamn endearing to Frankie. 

“ Ah shut up. “ he replies though his voice too is dipped in amusement as he throws his arm around her shoulders and they walk down the shiny linoleum floor, past dolls and teddy bears and Star Wars action figures.

And it feels right. Like the fit together perfectly. Like puzzle pieces slotting into place. 

And that feeling is damn scary.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me: Six-hour flights.

The floor of (Y/N)’s living room is covered in wrapping paper. Reds and greens and silvers and golds hide what once was a nice dark cherry wood floor. There are bows and ribbons and gift tags in all shapes and sizes and colors. 

“ Looks like Santa’s workshop in here, “ Frankie exclaims as he drops down on the floor next to her. All the presents they’ve purchased, neatly lined up in front of them, ready to be wrapped. Though to be fair, Frankie is quite sure he’s not gonna do a lot of wrapping himself. Sometimes you gotta admit defeat. And he ain’t too proud to admit that he is a horrible, horrible wrapper. 

“ Yeah, I know I’m making a big fuss over things like this. Wrapping and the tree and stuff like that. I just — I don’t know it just makes me happy when I see that my actions put a smile on the faces of the people I love. “ 

“ Oh I wasn't judging. It’s sweet. “ 

For a while they stay in comfortable silence. Just them and the radio playing old Christmas songs. (Y/N)’s hands do quick work on the presents, Santa’s elves would be jealous. 

It’s the first time in a long time, that silence doesn’t make him feel uncomfortable. That it doesn’t open up the gates for the voices to grow louder and the bad images to consume his head. No, this silence feels comfortable. It’s soft and warm. It’s tinted in golds and reds. 

Maybe, he thinks, maybe seeking the company of someone who exudes joy and warmth does him good. Someone who knows him but not the bad. Never the bad. The faults, yes, the fears even, but not the blood that stains his hands or the vices he so desperately tries to fight.

“ What was the best Christmas present you ever got? “ (Y/N) speaks up as she glides a pair of scissors along the ribbon turning it into shiny curls. 

“ Millennium Falcon playset.” 

“ You and a million other little boys. “ 

“True. What can I say, I was easily pleased. What was yours ?”

(Y/N) thinks for a moment before a wistful smile settles on her face. 

“My bubblegum pink roller skates.”

“Oh, I remember those!”

And he did. Squeaky pink roller skates with 4 pastel blue wheels and glittery silver laces.

“I remember the following summer all you did was skate up and down the street.  “

“Yeeeah but that wasn’t entirely because of the skates.”

Frankie combs his hair from his face, he really needs to get it cut, and looks at her in confusion. “Huh?”

Another chuckle falls from (Y/N) ‘s lips. “I can’t believe you didn’t notice.”

“ Notice what?”

“That I had the biggest crush on you.”

Frankie is grateful for the fact that he’s not taking a sip of his drink right then, it surely would’ve ended in a spit-take. He was a nerdy kid, a nerdy teenager too. Kinda shy, a little lost. He wasn’t usually the boy that girls fancied.

“Me? You had a crush on me? “

It doesn’t make sense, not really. She was the one that was fascinating and exciting. Though he didn’t think of her that way when they were kids, he knew she was beautiful even back then. He hadn’t been interested in her romantically because she was a few years younger but that didn’t meanie didn’t realize the magic she held.

“Yes, you. You were cool, Frankie. You were older and you knew stuff about cars and planes and you could name every Star Wars spaceship and you had a skateboard. “

“I was a horrible skater.”

“Sure but it wasn’t so much about the skating as it was about the aesthetic. You were cool and you still are cool”

Frankie shrugs his shoulder nonchalantly. She thought he was cool, still does. No one ever thought he was cool. He isn’t a smooth talker like Pope and even he himself can admit that look wise he isn’t even playing in the same league as Will and Benny. But if (Y/N) thinks he’s cool that must mean something. Right ?

“You were the one traveling all over the world with your dad and you thought I was cool?”

She sets down the scissors, let’s her hands rest on her lap. There’s a sense of nervousness exuding from her now. Like the words she wants to speak are resting on the tip of her tongue and yet they are so difficult to speak.

“Maybe that was part of it too. I never had a real home. Nothing stable at least. Except for my grandparents’ house. This was home and you were, you are, forever entwined with my idea of home. Sometimes I missed this place so much that I’d sit in my room and my little brain would think of all the fun adventures we could go on if only I was old enough to hop on a 6 hour flight by myself. I’d ask grandma about you every time I called and she always told me what trouble you got into.”

“Oh no.”

“Oh yeah and that only made you more exciting in my eyes. Then she’d offer to let me speak to you but I was too chicken shit to do it. Thought you might look right through my facade and realize how into you I was.”

“I was so oblivious, I can assure you I wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Well … it’s too late now.”

“I guess so. Just — next time you fall in love with me let me know, alright.”

Her laugh rings through the room like bells, like songs, like whispers of a childhood magic long forgotten.

“That only sounds fair. It’s a deal.”

“Good, now …. would you mind wrapping my gifts for Rosie?”

“Nope, but in return would you come see Leo’s play with me next week? My dad can’t come and I think Leo would like to have some more people there that support him. And he seems to think you’re cool so …”

“Huh guess if you both think so it must be true.”

“Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Of course I’ll come. “

She smiles and it sends a weird flicker through him. Like fire, like electricity. 

“ Now let me teach you how to curl the ribbon properly.”

[mikrowrites]

broken family

Poe Dameron x Solo!Reader

SLIGHT TROS SPOILERS!!!

: Poe and Y/N Dameron enjoy their first hours with their newborn and decide to make amends with a past enemy :

(Ben’s alive because I’m sad)

(Also super fluffy holy fuck who am i)

Morning was slowly dawning over the glistening cityscape, a colorful sunrise spread across the sky of Chandrila.

Y/N Solo-Dameron’s eyes flickered open, blinking away the sunlight filtering through the blinds of the medbay window. Her eyes soon focused, starting to sit up in her bed.

“Hey Y/N/N.”

Y/N turned to see her husband of two years, Poe Dameron, sitting in a chair near her bed. He cradled a bundle of blankets within his arms. The man smiled, standing up. “Want to meet our girl?”

Y/N nodded enthusiastically, reaching her arms out as Poe gently laid the baby in her arms. She stared in awe of the small child, a smile breaking out on her face. “She’s perfect. She’s so fucking perfect.”

“Careful. Small ears are listening.” Poe teased, Y/N letting out a laugh. He sat up on the bed next to her, an arm around Y/N’s shoulder. She found herself amused with how attached Poe had become to the small human.

“She looks like mom.” Y/N murmured, her lip quivering slightly as she studied every inch of her daughter’s sleeping face.

“A little Leia.” Poe agreed, running a thumb of the child’s wispy brunette curls.

Y/N turned to Poe with tears in her eyes. “Yeah.” She looked down again. “Little Leia Dameron.”

Poe kissed Y/N’s head, a smile spread across his face. “Perfect name for a perfect little girl.”

Y/N had always held a deep pride for her birthplace. She and her brother had been born the same day as a treaty signing on Chandrila, and it made her heart soar that her daughter would share the same birthplace.

When the Resistance eventually merged with the recovering Republic, Poe and Y/N still held the rank of General, relocating them to the base planet after the war.

Y/N had discovered she was pregnant during the final weeks of the fighting, still accompanying him, Finn, and Rey on their mission to find the Sith Wayfinder though against Poe’s wishes.

He had panicked at the prospect of being a father. It was something he had always wanted with Y/N, but with the way the tides of the war were shifting, victory had seemed so far away.

But as the Resistance claimed their victory, Poe immediately stepped into the father role, and quite spectacularly too. Y/N had insisted on being a part of the reconstruction efforts along side Poe and Finn (she had wondered how her mother had done it), helping rebuild the galaxy.

When she went into labor, Poe of course freaked out, but everything went smoothly and several hours later Leia Dameron entered the world.

A doctor eventually came in, checking both Y/N and Leia’s vitals once more and helping Poe and Y/N finish the paperwork. The doctor exchanged a glance with Poe, taking him out into the hallway briefly.

Leia was still asleep, her small hand grasping Y/N’s finger like a lifeline. She could already sense the force coursing through the child, Y/N wondering how Leia would grow into the power.

Poe reentered the room, standing at the foot of the bed. An uneasy expression was across his face as he approached his wife. “Your, uh... your brother is here.”

Y/N’s head jerked up in surprise. “Ben’s here?”

Ben Solo and Y/N Solo-Dameron had a rocky past. But before their parents had sent him away, Y/N and Ben were the best of friends. They held a link in the force as twins, connecting them deeper than many.

When he was sent away, Y/N found herself missing him deeply, and her heart nearly tore in half when he defected to the dark side, becoming Kylo Ren, eventually killing their own father and many friends.

Once the war was over and Kylo Ren was gone, Ben had returned with Rey. Y/N and Ben found themselves all but strangers, yet the pull in the force was too potent for them to ignore. The Solos’ relationship was still shakey, but during the post-war reconstruction they became closer.

Poe was incredibly protective, even months after the official war’s end it was very clear he still didn’t trust Ben. Furthermore, Poe Dameron absolutely did not trust Ben to be around Poe’s pregnant wife.

Y/N studied Poe’s face, sensing his discomfort about the situation. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Poe dismissed, trying to seem nonchalant about the fact an ex-mass murderer was in the same building as his wife and child, “the doctor says he’s been here since you were admitted. Has been asking how you’ve been.”

Y/N smiled at Poe, holding her hand out. Poe took it, interlacing his fingers with hers. “I know you don’t trust him, and you have all the right reasons as well. I still am hurt from the things he’s done.” She rubbed her thumb soothingly across his index finger. “But he’s also my brother. And he’s back, and he’s tried so hard to prove himself.”

Poe inhaled deeply. “He wants to see you.”

Y/N raised her eyebrows. “Are you okay with that?”

“I don’t know.” Poe admitted honestly. “I... I think... we should try...”

“Okay.” Y/N smiled. She let out a chuckle. “You should go get him. I’m sure he’s been freaking out worse than you.”

Poe chuckled nervously, kissing Y/N’s knuckles before leaving the room again.

He walked down the hallway, his eyes trailing down to a figure sitting in a chair in the corner. Ben sat, his head down while he fidgeted with his fingers. Poe cleared his throat, Ben’s head whipping up as he stood. “Is Y/N okay?”

“Yeah. She and the baby are doing great.” Poe responded, still warily standing across the room from him. “She wants to see you.”

Ben seemed lost for words,his eyebrows raised. “She wants...?”

“Yeah. We both do.” Poe responded, putting his hands on either side of his hips. “Stop standing there, come on before I change my mind.”

Ben quickly nodded following Poe down the hall. As they approached the door Poe spun on his heel, stopping Ben. “You try anything, if I think you cause any danger to my wife or child, I will not hesitate to kill you.”

“I-I won’t tr—“ Ben was interrupted by Poe’s deadly glare. “Deal! Yup, sounds—uh... great!” Poe nodded in satisfaction, opening the door.

Y/N looked up, smiling brightly at the sight of her brother. “Hey Ben.”

“Hey Y/N.” Ben nervously smiled, still rooted in the doorway.

Y/N tilted her head to the side teasingly. “You can come and see her, yknow.”

Ben turned to look at Poe as if asking permission. Poe nodded, Ben approaching Y/N and sitting in the chair next to the bed. He peered over at the baby, a smile spreading across his face at the sight of her. “She’s so cute.”

“Do you want to hold her?” Y/N asked.

Ben whipped his head up, looking at Y/N with surprise and confusion. She just softly smiled, casting her gaze to Poe.

Poe, on the other hand, was the epitome of an internal panic. He looked at Y/N incredulously, the girl just smiling back. Ben turned to Poe, the man looking between the twins before eventually sighing in consent. Ben nodded eagerly to Y/N.

Y/N helped transfer Leia into Ben’s arms, instructing him how to hold her and support her head. She eventually relinquished her hold, Ben leaning back in his chair as he held his niece. Poe was tensed, Y/N turning to him raising her eyebrows pointedly. He began to relax, his eyes still trained like a hawk on Ben.

Meanwhile, Ben found himself enraptured by the small human being, another smile creeping upon his face. He looked up at Y/N. “What’s her name?”

“Leia Dameron.” Y/N softly responded.

Ben gasped, tears gathering in his eyes as he looked down at Leia. He let out a wet laugh, smiling wider than ever. “She looks just like her...”

“Mom knew about her before she...” Y/N trailed off, before continuing. “She would be so incredibly happy right now.”

“I miss her... I miss mom and dad...” Ben finally broke down. Y/N smiled, her own eyes glistening as her brother fought back tears.

“We have each other now, Ben. You’re home.” Y/N assured, the boy shakily smiling before looking down at Leia again.

He seemed to deflate, transfixed upon Leia. Y/N turned to look at Poe, who walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. She grinned at her husband, overjoyed at the sight of her brother and her daughter, a moment she never thought would happen.

“Congratulations.” Ben finally mustered out, looking at both of the Damerons. “She’s wonderful.”

Poe nodded, Y/N smiling warmly. Poe shifted his gaze to her before turning to Ben again. “You’re family.” He simply responded.

Ben nodded to Poe, both men understanding how deeply those words resided. Y/N felt a tear slip down her cheek, warmth flooding her body at the sight of the two most important men in her life making amends. Her broken family was finally healing.

Being a father really did look good on Poe.

[gintokisimp]

If you don’t have a Past, you can’t have a Future - Ch. 2 Morning Stories

It’s a normal weekend morning in the Sakata household. Or is it really that normal?

Genre: Fluff, Family, Light Sexual Content

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 2,199

Small fingers wrapped around Gintoki's fingertip. He bent down to examine the toddler under the blankets, but he didn’t recognize it. The child was none of his. Short white hair framed the chubby face and light grey eyes stared up to him. 

Grey eyes?

Who has grey eyes? He had never seen that before, what an unnatural color..

..come to think of it.. Red and Purple aren’t normal colors either. 

The toddler opened it’s teethless mouth and when it laughed, it sounded like birds singing a heavenly melody.  

Crickets chirping disrupted his dream. 

Gintoki opened his eyes fully. He still always tries to sleep as long as possible, but he just wasn't a long sleeper anymore.

Tsukuyo was already working in the kitchen, preparing the family's breakfast. The sound of rattling plates and faint music from downstairs crept into the bedroom.

Gintoki sat up, and looked out of the open window. It was a sunny morning and the fresh air brushed his face, carrying the smell and noises of late summer. It had been a hot summer, but gladly, they were able to afford air conditioning, when the house extension was built. It made the summers so much more endurable. 

The beautiful atmosphere refreshed his thoughts, but the dream didn’t leave his mind. Maybe he was just mixing things up, dreams tend to work like that. 

He scrambled out of the sheets and put on some black jogging pants and a simple grey shirt. Settling down with a family meant he could finally have a bigger variety of clothes. However that works. 

Gintoki slouched through the open door down the stairs to the office living room hybrid and entered the kitchen. It had previously been his bedroom, but now it was the perfect room for a spacious cooking paradise. They really enjoyed cooking together. It was almost like a family ritual, baking all kinds of sweet stuff (mostly strawberry flavored of course) with the kids and eating it downstairs in the cozy bar with the rest of the family.  

She was wearing a fluffy morning robe, her short hair pinned up in a messy ponytail, skin rosy from her morning shower, looking as divine as ever. 

Tsukuyo tiptoed busily through the room, quickly glanced at him and gave him a warm smile. 

That damn bewitching smile.

He fell for that a long time ago, still remembering it clearly. He worshipped it when she looked at him like that, she could kill him with her smile alone. Generally speaking, he worshipped her with his entire existence. 

Gintoki hurriedly closed the gap between them and caught her in her movements, wrapping his arms around her waist. She was emitting a warmth that he loved so much about her.

"Good morning, honey."

Humming to the sound of the music, Gintoki swayed with the rhythm. She sighed in response and leaned into him while she continued to prepare the breakfast. His lips found her neck and she gasped. 

"Could ya wake up the kids?"

Tsukuyo muttered through her lips. 

"mhmh.."

He held her a little bit tighter, pushed her lightly against the counter and faintly rocked against her backside. His mouth hovered over her neck, breathing against it, and he felt a shiver going down her spine.  Jackpot! that always worked to get her in the mood. He laughed quietly before he continued his teasing.

"Could ya.. ya do it.. now?" She stuttered.

"Yea,.. sure." 

Gintoki whispered in a breathy tone and his lips latched onto her neck again, eliciting a surprised sigh from her mouth.

"Gintoki.." She called out weakly. „That’s not what I meant.“ 

His hands left her hip and moved upwards, following her round curves and finally, they rested over her breasts. Tenderly, he started kneading them and dragged his thumb over her already stiffened buds which he could feel through the soft fabric. Tsukuyo moaned softly and closed her eyes.

His lips left her skin and instead, he ran his tongue along her delicate neck and -

"Papi what are you doing?"

Gintoki stopped like a deer hit by the headlights, his eyes wide open, hands on her boobs, tongue on her neck. He looked over to see the twins Ginga and Mizuki standing hand in hand in the doorframe. The hormones really got the best of him that he tried to seduce her so carelessly in broad daylight, but she was also completely obliterated. The new set of lingerie was still ghosting through his mind, that kind of made him go stupid.

Conclusion: It wasn’t his fault. 

"I .. I.. uhm.. I'm helping Mami make breakfast."

"But why are ya licking her f’ that?"

Gintoki let go of Tsukuyo and awkwardly walked over to them and kneeled down in front of them.

"You see, when Mami and Papi love each other, they do things like that while making breakfast. It’s normal, it’s completely normal!" He said in a serious tone. Gintoki thought for a millisecond and added something else. 

"..and Mami likes that." 

A spatula hit him on the back of his head like a deadly weapon and he fell face first to the floor. At least she stopped using Kunais on him a long time ago. She might be worried to lose the father if she continued to pierce his brain with sharp metal. 

"Idiot."

Tsukuyo mocked him and Gintoki lifted his upper body to glare at her. 

"Hey, no violence in front of the kids! Besides that, you could use that for something better than throwing it at me, you could sp-”

Another kitchen utensil hit him and knocked him over again. This time, he stayed on the floor, only inelegantly rolling on his back. 

“Mizuki, Ginga.. could you please visit Granny for a few minutes until the food is ready?”

“Yes!” They chirped in unison and immediately ran out of the room. 

He still was surprised how obedient they were. He didn’t know where they got it from, definitely not from him. Gintoki sat up and looked at Tsukuyo. She was back to her business, her back facing him. That was his chance. He jumped up. 

"They're gone, now let's make it quick. I'm ready." 

Gintoki already fumbled on his pants but Tsukuyo whacked him in the head when he reached her.

"Owww, I already told ya that's the wrong place." 

He held his head and pouted, lookin at her with fake puppy eyes. She didn’t fall for it. 

"Ya still an idiot."

"Can you blame me though? I'm just an ugly man with an absolutely beautiful wife." 

Gintoki grumbled angrily, crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the kitchen counter.

Tsukuyo blushed furiously. Even though they were married for so many years now, she still blushed like a tsundere high school girl and he liked that. It was also fairly easy to achieve that, but she could do that to him just as easily.

"Ya think I'm beautiful?" She asked quietly.

Gintoki's anger evaporated and he looked at her visibly confused.

"uh.. of course? Didn't I say that enough times already? I can say it a few more times if you wanna hear that again."

"I.. I just thought as I'm getting older, I'm.." She suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence, averting her face from him. 

"You.. ?"

"..forget it"

"You're joking, right? You must be joking. Have you ever looked at yourself?"

“I have and yer just blinded.” She whispered. 

“Blinded by what?! I love  you , not your looks!”

“So you hate how I look?” Her eyes found his, watery, shining.  Fuck. 

“What?? No! That’s not what I meant, you’re beautiful, stunning, gorgeus.. fuck, I’m out of words.”

“..okay.”

“If I do not literally love everything about you, do you think I would be standing here right now? Do you think we had some little brats running around  our home?”

“I - I’m not sure.”

“I’m gonna tattoo that on your arm if you keep questioning my endless love for you!”

"But..also.. we.. we are not really a fan favorite" She shyly crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned away again.

"Wh - What're you talking about?" Gintoki was genuinely confused now.  Fan favorite?

"The polls are always full of pairings with you.. and.. I .. only reached 11th place"

Gintoki understood. He never gave a single fuck about any of those rankings, expect the offical character popularity polls, where he always ends up first. That was important as a protagonist. But everything else? Trivial. 

"You reached 11th place? We reached 11th place and it doesn't matter as long as I can be by your side."

She tensed up a little.

"I don't give a single fuck about any fan polls. Our pairing can end up in the last place, but in the end, I won you. I couldn't ask for more"

Gintoki pulled her in his arms and she gasped in surprise. 

"You're my goddess, Tsukki. My literal moon goddess."

"Stop." Tsukuyo frowned.

"You're my moon in the darkest night. Always shining on my path."

“Stop.” She whispered, blushing slightly. 

“With you, I never have to walk alone.”

Tsukuyo hit him weakly. 

“I worship you, I pray to you every day and I still hope that one day the goddess will step down from the heavens and never leave my side.”

She giggled. 

“I’m already here you idiot.”

“Tsukuyo, I don’t know what’s wrong today, but I hope I can make your day better.”

"Save that sweet talk for the bedroom." She laughed in her sweetest voice and pushed him away. 

"Now go and get the kids back, why did you even send them downstairs?"

"You know exactly why." Gintoki said suggestively.  

“Now gimme a kiss.”

He pulled her back in his arms and covered her lips with his, his hands started to roam over her back, resting on her bottom. Tsukuyo smiled and slightly leaned back to escape his desires. 

"But you still have another child" She whispered and Gintoki’s eyes flung open. He let go of her, caught red handed for the second time today. Tsukuyo pointed behind him with a smile and Gintoki turned around. 

Tsukishiro stood in the middle of the neighboring room and looked over to them, uninterested, exploring the depths of his nose. He was already neatly dressed in the white haori with the blue swirls. It was way too long for him, but he refused to get it shortened. 

He was an early bird and always reasonable and tidy. That was one of the things he got from Tsukuyo. He was like the perfect mix, but at the same time, he was not. 

Reluctantly, Gintoki let go of his wife and sighed. 

“Fine, we will do it later,.. promise?”

“Promise.” 

She held out her pinky and Gintoki hooked it with his own pinky. It only added to the crackling tension between and he quickly retreated. Tsukuyo gave him another smile and he turned around to meet his son in the living room. 

“Morning Kishi.” 

Gintoki patted the boy's fluffy hair and he kneeled down to get to his level. 

"Did you hear what I said to her?" He whispered into the child's ear. 

"Of course, I'm not deaf." He bluntly replied. 

Gintoki paused, he felt his face heating up. 

Don’t get embarrassed in front of your kids, what are you, a lousy virgin?!

..wait -

What are you, a lousy single father who mourns over his late wife and tries to get approval from his kids to date another woman?

"Don't loose a word over it."

“I never planned to.”

“Good.”

Such a good boy.

"Now, would you help your mother with the table? I'll be back in a few minutes"

"Sure.”

Tsukishiro lazily made his way over to Tsukuyo ,  hugging her waist tightly. Tsukuyo hummed and caressed his silver locks lovingly without averting her attention from her current task. 

Aw so cute..

Gintoki could melt on the spot. 

The boy suddenly turned his head and glared angrily at Gintoki, his eyes glowing.

If you don’t treat her right, don’t you dare to come close to her. 

Gintoki was dumbfounded for a second. He blinked and everything was back to normal. It was probably just his mind playing some tricks on him. He stumbled to the front door and slipped in his shoes. 

The morning sun on his skin was warm. He knew he would be sweating a lot today. He hated to sweat on his free days. 

Gintoki entered the bar. The twins sat on two chairs, all their attention directed at Otose, who was holding up a DVD. They were listening with wide eyes until they noticed their father entering the establishment. 

“Papi, Granny told us a story about you! A new one!” Mizuki screamed happily and waved at the old woman. 

"Ah good morning Gintoki, I didn't know you were such a philanderer once." She laughed roughly and waved the DVD in her hands.

Philanderer? When..?

"Oi, what's that?" He asked while coming closer. Otose turned the object in her hands and held it in his direction. 

Gintoki looked at the cover and went pale.

"Where.. where did you get that..?"

[wherearemyglassesbro]

A h/etalia Umbrella academy au but it isn’t actually one, it’s just inspired by UA kinda...idk

//Uh keep in mind that this is going straight from the drafts onto your dash and uhhh there will for sure be spelling errors so don’t roast me lmao

Roman ‘Roma’ Vargas: An eccentric billionaire who founded the Academy of the World’s Finest (or the AWF for short). He gets bored very quickly and went from buying rockets to building hotels to managing casinos to buying children. A very crazy sequence of events! (Roma has many secrets but I don’t feel like fleshing it’s out rn this is just the bare bones of this just for fun!! And if you’ve seen both seasons of UA you probably already knows what you need to know). One faithful day, October 1st 1989, multiple beautiful babies were born from women who were not pregnant the day they were born. This phenomenon made itself known to Roma and he was off to find as many of these children that he could! He sent his staff all over the world to buy these children. He successfully purchased 9.

Number 1, purchased for $10,000 in Las Vegas: Number 1 was picked to be number 1 because Roma thought he was such a strong looking baby. Alfred was actually purchased fifth out of his siblings but no one knows that except Roma himself. Alfred, from a young age, was able to cause an obscene amount of damage. When he held Roma’s hand while learning to walk, he crushed the bones in his hand. When he kicked a soccer ball down the hallway, it went through the wall like a meteor. When he knocked on Arthurs door to bother him, the door snapped in half (and Art screamed bloody murder). He has an insane amount of strength without even trying! It was very hard for him to get a handle on it because he’s so spontaneous and isn’t really one to think before acting but once he and hs siblings started training for hero work?? That was his motivation to be better, to control his power to use it against bad guys!!! He’s the golden boy of the family, he never disobeys Roma and will never, even now, say anything bad about him. ‘Hey! He’s my dad, he saved me from whatever shithole life I was destined to have in Nevada. I couldn’t be more thankful for my life! And mom, if you’re watching this...Thanks. I don’t know who you are but...Thank you’

Number 2, purchased for $25,000 in Le Mans: Number 2’s power presented itself only after he learned to talk. Francis’s power of persuasion is both a blessing and a curse for him. He’s struggled greatly with being ‘number 2’, he wants the same validation and attention as ‘number 1’ gets. He doesn’t think it’s fair. He often used his power for bad things arond the house like ‘J'ai entendu une rumeur that you broke every finger on your right hand!’ that was a very gruesome morning for Alfred and the scolding that Francis got scarred him for life as he was insulted and cursed out in front of his family. Even after that, he still kept up his happy exterior. He was also usually the face of the AWF, appearing on magazine covers which he may or may not have influenced the writers just a bit. His power is strong but he does not use it on Roma because he’s terrified of what would happen if he did!! As he’s gotten older, he’s falls off the wagon a little but he’s trying to make a solid recovery. Also, when he was 7 he found out he was born in France! He then forced himself to become totally fluent in French and taught himself to have a French accent too. Whoopie....

Number 3, purchased for $1000 in Sicily: Number 3 is a dangerous child, he was from day one. When he was born, he was presenting a 116 degree fever yet he was acting totally normal. His mother was convinced he was the devil and was more than happy to sell him off to Roma. Roma felt a deep connection to Lovi from the start....Lovi looked like him. He looked like he could be his biological son. Lovi got special treatment from Roma often but he still felt overshadowed by his siblings. I mean, a majority of his siblings are pretty blondes. He felt left out often. But he would channel that anger into training and cooking! He has a trick that he likes to do, cracking an egg into his palm and cooking it. That one impresses Alfred every time! Not that he’s hard to impress. Lovi would often push himself too far in his quest to be the best and snap at his siblings, leaving him even more alienated from them. He spent a lot of time around Roma and Feli, mostly Roma. He got a lot of one-on-one training with him and a lot of praise too. All he ever wanted to do was be perfect for his father. He set bad guys on fire, did interviews on live tv, set fire to a warehouse full of gang members, all kinds of stuff that he never would have done on his own. Stuff that he didn’t want to do. All so he could impress Roma

Number 4, purchased for $700 outside of Berlin: Number 4 has always been hyper and loud! But his powers suddenly developed over night, which was terrifying for him. Gilbert awoke in the middle of the night to pee one night and was met with a ghost in the bathtub. Naturally, Roma encouraged him to speak with ghosts and would make him go to cemeteries to talk to the dead. Ghosts scared him so he’d secretly take Benadryl to knock himself out but as he got older, he realized that he couldn’t be scared anymore cause these ghosts needed a friend :( so he used these ghosts to fight in missions and in return, he’d play games with them and chat with them, just being friend with the ones who had a hard time crossing over :’) he likes using his powers for good but feels like he’s taking advantage of his ghost friends sometimes which took the fun out of crime fighting

Number 5, given to Roma for free outside of Kyoto: Number 5 got a late start compared to his siblings. His powers took awhile longer to manifest and he had trouble learning to read. But once he caught up, he proved himself to be the smartest out of all of them. Smarter than some of them combined, even. Kiku still often indulged in his siblings antics but at the same time, he felt he was somewhat superior to them. He learned to poof himself from one side of the room to the other, starting off small. He figured out he could time travel one night when Francis and Gil were hammered and knocked a vase over. Kiku felt every muscle in his body tense, then a sensation of falling, then he was suddenly 10 seconds in the past!! Wow!! He caught the vase before it could hit the ground and kicked Fran so he fell down, leaving him to sleep on the foyer floor while Gil just stood there like ‘wtf...?’. When Roma started berating him for ‘getting too cocky’, Kiku threw a bit of a hissy fit and decided to jump to the future!! He did and landed himself in the aftermath of the 2019 apocalypse, unable to get back home cause he wore himself out and had no idea what he had even done to get himself there in the first place lmao sucker.

Number 6, purchased for $10,000 in York: Number 6 was an extremely fussy baby. All he did was cry and cry and cry, it was very frustrating for Roma since the other babies were somewhat easier to handle. Arthur was indeed a handful. When he was hungry, baby food tins and spoons would float out of the pantry and over to his highchair. When he wanted to torment his siblings, he’d take their things and throw them across the room with his mind. When a sinking was annoying him, he’d simply lift them up and shove them out of his room. Easy. He is probably the smartest or second smartest of his siblings. He isn’t the most athletic but he spent lots of time studying, so much so that Roma had to constantly buy new books for Art to read to keep him mentally stimulated. He was often a voice of reason though no one listened to him. When fighting he was very useful!! He never needed to get close to the bad guys, he could throw them around without moving a muscle! The only downside is that it wore him out after awhile...Ugh. He avoided the media but did do interviews with his mask on, encouraging kids his age to stay in school! By the time Art was 13, he was taking college level tests and reading college level material so...he’s one smart cookie

Number 7, given to Roma for free in undisclosed location in Russia: Number 7 is too powerful for her own good. At a young age, Francis was told to convince her that she had no powers. This was done in secret, only Roma, the house staff, Francis and Kiku knew it happened. Everyone else was oblivious and left out of the loop. Vanya has the ability to shake the earth, to cause obscene amounts of damage in the blink of an eye. Her power was something that Roma could have never prepared himself for. So from that day on, Vanya was a ‘normal girl’. She watched from the sidelines as her siblings got to train and fight. She sat with Feli to paint or sew or just talk. She went through every day feeling worthless, like she wasn’t meant to be a part of this family. She channeled her feelings into art, painting canvasses worth of rainy cities or melting people. She made a series of paintings depicting her siblings’ abilities through chunky brushstrokes and vibrant colors. Each painting sold for over one million dollars. She thought her art career would impress her father. It didn’t.

Number 8, purchased for $15,000 and 10 cows outside of Oslo: Number 8 was always a quiet boy, he kept to himself and Roma thought he may be powerless as well for almost 5 years until lightning struck the house...on a bright sunny day...not a cloud in the sky. Turns out Lukas and Kiku were arguing. They were only 5 so they were just shrieking and yelling nonsense then BAM!!!! Lighting. Roma was so terrified but Lukas was giggling and shooting soarks out of his hands, his hair sticking up like crazy. He was always quiet and reserved, he spent a lot of time in the library or on the roof just looking out over the city. He didn’t like sneaking out of the house like his brothers and sisters did but he went ‘to keep an eye on them’...he always had fun though. He stayed away from the media and wore a mask that his most of his face so he wouldn’t be recognized. Sadly, in a tough fight in a hostage situation, Lukas was shot and killed when he was 15, right when he was starting to consider writing a book about hero work and how as he aged, he was becoming more confident in himself due to helping others. It was a tragic loss for his siblings

Number 9, purchased for $800 and a new car in La Coruna: Number 9 was successful from the start, surpassing her siblings in height very very fast. Her power just happens to be her speed. Carmen, as a baby, was a lot to handle since she crawled around the house at 40 miles an hour. Even her sleep schedule was quick, she’d take a 20 minute speed nap and have enough energy to run around for hours after. When she was introduced to the idea of being a hero, she agreed so fast that she nearly bit her tongue off. She always got her chores done quick, helped around the house, all of that since a task that would take 3 hours only took a few minutes for her. She was a great female role model and did many interviews for teen magazines to encourage girls to be their best, that has always been her message. She even wrote ‘GRLPWR’ on her cheeks in black paint before heading off to fight crime in case she had her picture taken. Roma wasn’t a huge fan of that but she didn’t care too much :) she has always stuck up for her sisters!! And she has always been close to Fran and Gil but as they got older, their interests began to differ so she found herself hanging with Vanya and Arthur more

Feliciano Vargas: Roma Vargas’s only biological son. He does not have powers and often felt left out when he was left behind while his siblings went on missions. He’s 2 years younger than the rest of them and is often referred to as ‘stupid little brother’ by Lovino which hurt his feelings. When he was a baby, they were like 2 and a half so they didn’t see him as ‘aww look my baby brother!’ They just found him annoying cause he cried a lot. Like his siblings, he never met his mom but he does feel good knowing that he will always have his dad. When he and the academy kids fight, he will often rub it in their faces that at least Roma is his biological dad. That really rubs salt in the wounds, huh? Feli has always gotten on well with Vanya, they got left behind all the time so they got to paint and play music together :) they made eachother very happy

Gilbert and Lukas: Gil didn’t really like Lukas much when they were younger cause Lukas was just...quiet and reserved. Gil is the exact opposite. But now that Lukas is dead, Gil pities him and hangs out with him. They trained a lot together but Gil got embarassed when they trained cause if someone were to walk in, they’d just see Gil shouting and punching at nothing so...They trained in the dark at 3am on the roof where they wouldnt be interrupted. Now that Gil is older, he can channel Lukas almostperfectly. Lukas has an almost totally physical form when Gil uses his powers, allowing Lukas to channel lightning the way he was able to when he was alive. Lukas doesn’t like doing that too often cause it’s a bit cruel, getting to feel alive when you’re not :/

Kuma: Kuma was a normal polar bear that was experimented on in a lab that Roma funded. The scientists combined his DNA with monkey and human DNA and after much trial and error, they were able to get his brain to process English. So he wears a collar that allows him to talk. He scolded the kids for running around in the house but then five minutes later he’d let them ride his back while HE ran around the halls :) he was like a fun uncle to them. He wore a bow tie :)

Wan yu: Roma fell in love with a woman from China when he was younger. She was studying culinary arts in Italy and he absolutely fell head over heels for her. But things didn’t work out. So once the tech came around, he had an advanced robot version of his first love created for the sole purpose of loving him and his children. She was programmed to be a great role model, compassionate, patient and...A good cook. The kids all called her mom or ma and even though she never technically had favorites, she was always fond of little Kiku. She was the one who taught him to read when he had trouble doing so and she’s stay up late with him in secret to help him catch up in other languages. The kids all had to learn Italian, English, Spanish, Greek and Russian bedore they were even 8 years old. Since Kiku took a bit longer to grasp that kind of stuff, she would sneak him down to the library to have one-on-one lessons with him. :) she was also very caring when it came to Alfred, she saw how hard he pushed himself sometimes and it hurt her to watch. She made cookies for him on especially rough days

Lukas’s death: Lukas’s death hit Arthur, Vanya and Gilbert especially hard. Arthur and Lukas bonded over similar interests, Lukas and Vanya played chess all the time and gossiped and Gilbert always thought that Lukas was the coolest sibling he had. His death was used as motivation for everyone else to continue training. Gilbert ‘summoned’ Lukas three days after his death and Lukas has followed him around ever sicne. Lukas wasn’t avtually summoned, he’d been secretly roaming the house for days and decided to just let Gil think he summoned him. Roma was depressed about his son’s death for a week or so but he never really allowed himself to feel negative emotions for too long so he was over it a bit...too quickly.

[bubblyani]

Better

(Adam Sackler x Reader)

An Adam Sackler One Shot

Genre: Fluff

Request: Been trying really hard to come up with something. So its not that great of a request. How about Adam Sackler x Reader. You wrote a jealous Adam. How would Adam react if his girlfriend was jealous? If you are inclined to make it super fluffy at the end. I wouldn’t be mad at ya. Please please please? 💖💖 @danceyreagan​

Author’s Note: Writing for Adam Sackler is fun cause I could dive into the style of dialogue they have in GIRLS. Hope y’all enjoy!

The way his large, generous hand enveloped yours, it was clear that even the harshest of winds would not be able to blow you away from Adam Sackler’s grasp. Yes, as dramatic as it sounded, you felt that secure.

Warmth, it exuded through his hand, powerful enough to bring you only comfort and nothing else. It was cooling yet warm at the same time. Perfect for the summer. Your mind, it was at peace with him. Even when he took you on a stroll on the streets of Brooklyn on a lazy afternoon.

“I don't get  it…” Adam began, in a matter-of-fact tone, “…why are people so weirded out by hand holding in public?”


“Uh…” Suddenly thrown off by the question, you formed a response, “I guess some people are not as open to PDA…Adam, are you okay?” You inquired, fascinated by his enthusiastic behavior. “Me? I’m great…” He said nonchalantly. Looking at you, he smiled, “You know what?…fuck those people! Hand holding rules…I get to hold on to my girl all the time” he said proudly, raising the held hands together as if he won a trophy.

“Ooooh!” You giggled, thoroughly amused. 


“And I get to do stuff like this…WHOOOO!”

Squealing, you felt like a paper blown in the wind, when Adam started to run, pulling you with him. To the average passerby, the two of you may have looked like lunatics. But running together hand-in hand, you felt like a child. Although you were sure you weren’t so active back then as you were just this moment.

Catching one’s breath after running for a while, Adam released your hand, walking ahead while rambling of the most random topics he could come up with. Listening to him was never a burden for you. You always did so with a smile on your face. For you were genuinely inclined to. It was Adam. His silliness , his wackiness was nothing compared to the love and joy you felt being with him. And you were finally happy to share the silliness with someone who equally did not care of the social norms that had no impact. You both existed in this life, to share the embarrassment together. And you did not mind.

With your eyes solely focused on him alone, you suddenly found yourself bumping into someone, who just emerged from the retail shop nearby.

“Oh! Sorry-” You said involuntarily. Judging by the soft locks of hair that brushed against your face, you guessed it was a woman. And looking up, you were right. “It’s okay…” The woman answered. Overhearing, Adam quickly turned. He could not help but freeze in his tracks. “Mel?” He said, looking at the woman. With widened eyes, the woman opened her mouth with surprise. 


“Adam…Hey!” She cried out, but with an unexpected surprise of a tone. It sounded shy. “Hey…” Adam replied, in an equal manner.

Awkward silence emerged for a few seconds as you could not figure out what was going on. The woman finally came to her senses when she realized you had accompanied him.

“I’m sorry…” she said to you, “I’m Melanie…Mel” she added extending her hand out to you. “And this is Y/N…” Adam replied, putting his arm around your shoulder, “ …my girlfriend”

Mel looked more surprised than before. At this point you have already realized they knew each other. “Oh wow…” she began, taking the time to process the information as you shook hands with her, “…nice to meet you” she said slowly.

“You too” you said, in a confident yet curtly manner. The moment Mel let go of your hand, it seemed like you had suddenly disappeared from her eyesight, for it was only on Adam.

“You look…good…” she said to him, nodding. Surprisingly silent and obedient, Adam nodded back. “So do you…” he said softly, while they both acknowledged one another.

Feeling like the 3rd wheel in this situation, you were deeply inclined to stealthily move yourself. And you did, a few feet away. But at the same time, you stood close enough to asses the entire situation, for you were no fool.

Mel, she was beautiful. If her beauty was to be described in one word, it would be as breathtaking. With your hands folded, you watched them with the same intensity as watching a complicated sports game. Your eyes were busy analyzing their every move. Their manner of talking was soft, which clearly did not fit the description of long time friends. Their choice of words were careful.  And from the angle you stood, you could clearly see how her eyes dilated by the sight of him every second.

For a second, you wished you knew Adam’s reaction too.

This sort of behavior, you’d certainly be a fool to not know what they were.

A minute or two later, Mel made her exit. But not before nodding at you. Nodding back with a constrained smile, your arms remained folded as Adam walked  over to you.

“So…” He began awkwardly, “…uh…that was-” “Your ex?” You asked, wearing the same tense smile. Adam nodded quickly. “Yep…”

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(An hour later)

“Hey…Hope you’re not feeling sick or anything. Just so you know, if you need me to come over…all you gotta do is ask…okaaay. Anyways, I’ll talk to you later, Bye!”

As soon as Adam’s voice message ended, you tossed the phone away, as you tossed to the other side on your bed. Truthfully, you wished you were sick. Rather be sick than have this feeling, you thought.

The stroll, it continued after Mel left. You remember how your eyes lingered on Adam  while he continued with his ramble. Except your conscious was nowhere near there. Suddenly you could not smile the way you used to. You felt unhappiness, poking you in the heart with a reminder. At first you did not know why. But with each step you took, you came to the realization.

Sure, we all had past relationships. So did you, so did Adam. It was a given. In fact, when you first met him, you were well aware of the fact he was getting over his previous relationship, which had ended horribly. But never did you expect to meet the woman behind it all. You did not think it was someone who was as perfect as Melanie.

The more you were aware of her existence, the more sour you felt. Jealousy, it was knowingly swallowing you whole to the point you could not pretend anymore. It was tiring to feign enthusiasm. And since Adam did not dare to expand on the topic even after the encounter, you felt pressure in holding it all in.

So much so you excused yourself to go back to your apartment, alone.

Jealousy, it turned you into someone different entirely. Sighing deeply, you closed your eyes as you drifted off to sleep.

If your normal self was Dr.Jekyl, the Jealous you was definitely your Mr.Hyde.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

(The next morning)

“…and boom! I got this sweet ride for half the cost. Isn’t that awesome?” Adam’s voice woke you from your thoughts. “Hmm….” With arms folded, you remained unmoved as you stared ahead sitting on the passenger seat of the car. It was Adam’s niece’s birthday, and his sister had decided to hold it at a place outside the city. Though you were far from willing to step out of the apartment with Mr.Hyde inside, you still joined your boyfriend when he rented a car to go there.

Surprised by your silence, Adam kept driving. Though it was obvious he was deciding to move over to another topic. “So…uh…you wanna listen to something?” He inquired, reaching out to the radio. No answer. It was as if he was the only occupant in the car. 
“Okay…still silence it is then…” He muttered awkwardly. The outskirts of the city welcomed the both of you when Adam decided to speak once again.

“You know…” he began, “I’m not the one to usually bring up stuff like this but…” he continued, “Did you bring any makeup with you?”

Turning your head to him with annoyance, you shot him a look. “Why? Am I not pretty enough?” You snapped. 


“NO no no…Jesus!” He replied quickly. Sighing, he added “It’s just that…this is kinda of a formal thing, and I really don’t want you to regret not putting anything on…cause you usually do”

You looked at your reflection on your phone. Mr.Hyde seemed to have convinced you to care lesson yourself you even forgot to put on makeup before the trip. Adam was right. But somehow you just felt worse.

“Well…”you began sternly, “if that’s the case then …why don’t you ask MEL to accompany you, huh?” To your horror, you almost felt yourself bark by the end of the sentence. But at that moment you really did not care.

Exhaling deeply, Adam quickly pulled the car over, bringing it to a steady halt. “Why are we stopping? You asked angrily. “Cause we need to talk…outside” Adam said, surprisingly very calm. Unable to smile, your face was stuck in a resting bitch-face mode as he gestured you to get out of the car.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The outskirts of New York deserved more of the attention. But today was not the day. Amidst the trees and bushes by the road, Adam watched you. With his hands is his jacket pockets, he watched you pace from side to side.

“Y/N…” Adam began calmly, “You okay?” “Uh huh….” Nonchalantly you answered, trying your hardest to avoid the question.

“See? I can tell that you’re definitely not okay” Adam finally spoke up in a tone that made you pause. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he took a step towards you. “You’re upset about something. And… you know what? no matter how long you’re gonna stand here sulking….I don’t give a shit” he said, with a serious tone, “You’re gonna tell me what the fuck is going on with you. Cause I’ve never seen this side to you, Y/N. And its making me worried-”

“OKAY!….” you cried out. His incessant ramble finally broke you down. But what really broke you was his concern in particular. It made the insensitive side of yours break it’s walls, to see how patient he was with your stubborn behavior, ever since yesterday. And how patient he was now.

“Okay…I’ll talk. I’m gonna talk.” You said with a sigh.


“Great” “But I’m gonna talk a lot.” “Well…good. Cause that’s what I want” Your heart melted upon hearing those words. “Really?” You asked. “Yeah!” He answered without hesitation. Taking a deep breath, you looked right into his eyes. 
“Okay…Look! You’re a hottie… and-” “What? THAT’S IT?” He asked confusingly, making you burst out laughing to his surprise. “Stop! I’m trying to be serious” “Yeah… well, that was a good start” He replied with sarcasm, making you chuckle harder. “Sackler come on!” You said, playfully smacking him on his chest, “ I mean it. You’re this …hella attractive guy, and I knew going out with you, I have to put up with the women throwing themselves at you. Being an actor and all. And I didn’t mind. I didn’t care. I really didn’t give a fuck” “You didn’t ?” “I didn’t ” you repeated, “But…When I saw your ex…she…I mean, Mel is gorgeous. Like mad gorgeous” “No she isn’t” Shocked by his quick response, your jaw dropped. “You gotta be blind if you really mean that” you said, appalled. Adam raised both his hands. “Is this… some kind of self validation on appearances or something?” He asked. “NO No…I normally don’t care but…” you said, frustrated, “…seeing her, and seeing the two of you together talking…I just felt so horrible. Like a legit stomach pain. Not because I’m worried of how she looks better than me…It’s just that..with you guys having such a long history, I wondered, are you guys suddenly gonna have hope for each other again?” You said, as you let your thoughts take you, “Maybe you’ll start…thinking about her again and…One afternoon you guys would probably wanna meet up for coffee, but will it end with just coffee? NO! It won’t” Engaged in your green thoughts, you did not even notice your voice breaking with emotion, “And the next thing you know, you’ll tell me you don’t love me anymore and… leave me and-”

“Hey hey hey! Shhhh!” Adam cut you off gently, pulling you into an embrace,  “Where the hell did you just go?” He asked. As vulnerable as you were, you welcomed this warmth gladly. “I’m sorry…” you sniffed, “When I get jealous I get…super paranoid. And it just goes down the spiral…it’s crazy. It’s bad I know. I’m sorry-” “Shh…” he repeated, “It’s okay…” patting your back gently. With eyes closed, you remained in the warmth of his embrace for a few minutes. Both of you dwelled in comfortable silence while the birds chirped and the soft wind caressed your bodies.

“Do you know why me and Mel broke up?” He asked, making you pull away all the sudden. “No…” wiping your nose, you answered, “… cause I didn’t want to pry into the your romantic past. I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable…” Adam chuckled, upon hearing your response, “You know, this was one of the reasons I liked you so much” he said, stroking your head lovingly, “You’re so cool. Like… in the best way” “Shhh stop!” You smiled shyly, hugging him again. “So… why did you guys break up?” You asked him. Adam’s chest rose as he took a deep breath. “She cheated on me…” he said, “When I confronted her about it, all she could say was…she wanted someone better” With widened eyes, you tried your best to process the news. Adam chuckled. “Imagine how that made me feel?”  He asked. “Yeah, that must have sucked…” you said, voice muffled against his jacket, “…I mean..how can she say that? About you especially?” “Yeah?” He asked, pulling away to look at you. “Yeah…that’s just crazy talk” “You know what else is crazy talk?” He said softly,  “You…thinking I might leave you”

Embarrassment swallowed you whole completely, you had nowhere else to look but down. How could you act this way to a man like him?

“Hey!…” Adam began, “…C’mere” taking your chin by the hand so that you eyes met. “Mel may have thought I wasn’t better…” he said, “… but she’ll never be better than you-” “Adam, I don’t care if I’m better…It’s not a competition” Your voice got emotional again, “I just want you to love me as much as I love you”

Those words, they sealed the deal when Adam swooped in, kissing you passionately on the lips. You felt the closet to being saved when those lips fed you the sweet nectar of the love you indulged from him all this time. Melting in his arms in completion, you held onto him with your dear life as he lifted you up, taking you on a spin before he put you down again. Your heart, it felt light, it felt refreshed.

“Y/N…” Adam began,  “Being with you, I spent possibly the happiest days of my life. Do I need to say more?”

Your lips quivered with emotion as you cupped his face.

“No need” you said, as your fingers traced over his goatee, “… that was more than enough”

And in a flash, his generous hand enveloped yours, providing you with the security and warmth you longed for. But more importantly, providing you with the absolute certainty of the real love you both shared for one another.

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[cozy-the-overlord]

Crimson Curls

Summary:  A barista at the Avengers Tower coffeeshop goes missing. Her boyfriend, prominent Avengers engineer Michael Hauer, headlines a desperate campaign to find her, aided by the support of Tony Stark and the rest of the super-powered team. But as Hauer’s narrative begins to unravel, it becomes clear that a certain Asgardian prince knows more than he’s telling.

Pairing: Loki x Original Female Character

Chapter 2: Perception

Previous Chapter  | Next Chapter

Word Count: 7,914

A/N:  This is a long one... I actually considered chopping it into two chapters, but that would have messed up my careful three-act-structure plans, so I kept it in one. Hope you don’t mind!

TW: domestic violence

Read it on Ao3

It all started because of the Christmas party.

The funny thing was Loki didn’t even want to go to the party. He would have much preferred to remain in his room, flipping through a book he had read hundreds of times before, shielded from the crowds of eyes widening in alarm and conversations that would trail off when they noticed his presence. The mood always shifted when people realized that the alien who invaded New York was in the same room as them, and Loki had become rather exhausted of it.

But Thor had insisted. “Please, brother,” he wheedled. “Just this once. You’ll enjoy it, I swear!”

He had ended up humoring his brother, simply because he knew he’d never hear the end of it if he didn’t. He didn’t expect to be there long. Surely, within an hour Thor would have broken out the Asgardian mead and subsequently have forgotten all else, and Loki could slip away to the sanctuary of his soundproofed quarters.

Stark had been going around introducing them to his various compatriots: everyone wanted to meet Thor, and Loki was an unfortunate obstacle that they had to put up with to do so. Loki hadn’t been paying much attention to them.

But after a while, there was one couple that caught his eye.

“Oh, Thor, you wanna meet this guy!” Stark said excitedly, steering them over to the corner of the room. “Hey, Hauer! Over here!”

Michael Hauer was unimpressive. Tall, pale, blonde—his face looked no different from the dozens of other men Stark had paraded in front of him throughout the night.

It was the woman that stood next to him that piqued his interest.

“This guy’s one of our most talented engineers,” Stark was saying. “That new Quinjet was mostly his design.”

“You give me too much credit, sir,” said the man, grinning widly. He grasped the arm of his companion and pulled her forward. “This is my girlfriend, Kristine.”

Kristine smiled too, but it didn’t quite reach her cerulean eyes. She was a small woman, but her posture made her look even smaller, with the way she huddled in on herself, her face barely peeking out through the strands of her curly red hair. Her long-sleeved dress clung to her body and only accentuated her thin form. She looked like a twig, ready to snap in half.

Her dress was green. Perhaps it was silly that such a thing still garnered Loki’s attention after all this time, but it did. On Asgard, green had been his color, just as red had been Thor’s. Women hoping to gain his favor used to wear green to the royal balls, hoping that he would notice how perfectly the color of their gowns matched his cape. He was well aware, of course, that such a practice was practically nonexistent on Earth. He understood that the Midgardian holiday they were celebrating was associated with the very same colors he and his brother had once claimed for their own. The color of the woman’s dress meant nothing.

But it still caught his eye.

Thor bowed gallantly. “It’s lovely to meet you, my lady.” Studying her face, he added, “I think I’ve seen you before. Don’t you work at the coffeeshop?”

Kristine tensed. “Yes sir, I do,” she mumbled, her voice just barely legible amidst the hum of conversation. She refused to raise her gaze from the floor.

Stark laughed boisterously. “Of course, how could I forget?” He motioned towards her wild mane. “You really do stand out in a crowd, don’t you? Gee, is that how you two met? What do you know, I’m a matchmaker!”

Hauer and Thor both joined in his laughter, but Kristine just looked uncomfortable. Loki cocked his head to the side. It seemed he had found someone even more miserable at this godforsaken party than he was.

He kept an eye on her for the remainder of the night. It wasn’t that he intended to watch her, but his gaze kept drifting back to her frizzy red hair and her sparkling emerald dress. She looked rather lonely, hovering in her boyfriend’s shadow for the entire night. Hauer barely acknowledged her. He was too busy laughing with Stark or enthusiastically explaining something to Rodgers or guzzling beer with Thor. Loki was rather disgusted by it. Had he been Kristine, he would have walked out hours ago.

It was later in the night when he finally decided to approach her. He had been debating about it for a while. On one hand, perhaps she preferred to be invisible—as unhappy as she looked, she didn’t appear to be complaining about her situation. She certainly wasn’t making the effort to capture Hauer’s attention or to find other means of entertainment. But still, something ached in his chest at the way she stood by so stiffly silent as her boyfriend frolicked about the room having the time of his life.

When Hauer joined the crowd gathered on the balcony attempting to lift Thor’s hammer, Loki made his way to her.

He bowed slightly. “Forgive my forwardness, my lady, but I was wondering if you’d honor me with a dance.”

Kristine was startled. “Oh!” she gasped, jumping a bit. She glanced towards the balcony uncertainly. “Uh… alright.”

He saw it there, that familiar flash of fear that he had been so desperate to avoid tonight. He cursed himself inwardly. What had he expected? “I don’t mean to pressure you—”

“No, no, it’s fine!” she interrupted hurriedly. Behind them, people hooted and chanted as Hauer tried his luck with the hammer. She turned back towards Loki. “I’d like to. Dance, that is.” Her cheeks flushed pink.

“Wonderful.” Loki offered his hand, smiling slightly when she took it.

Loki had long been of the opinion that Midgardians had no regard for proper dance. The complex steps and fluid motions of his youth had no place on the barbaric mortal floors. However, that night he experienced a rare stroke of luck. The song that was playing was softer, the couples dancing merely swaying slowly to the notes. He pulled Kristine on to the dance floor, and the two fell into a rhythm quite smoothly.

At first, they didn’t speak. Loki wasn’t sure what to say. She was clearly not at ease—he could feel the tension in her muscles as they danced—but he was beginning to doubt that he was the cause of her discomfort. She kept looking back towards the balcony, as if at any moment she expected something to come crashing through the windows. When somebody coming back into the main room slammed the door, she whipped her head around so quickly that Loki’s cheek was pelted by red curls.

Kristine gasped in embarrassment. “Sorry!” she said quickly, stumbling over her words. “My hair—I know it’s a complete mess, I try to get it to stay put—”

Loki laughed. “Nonsense. It’s lovely the way it is.” She made a face, shrugging indifferently, and he frowned. “Why would you ever think otherwise?”

“I mean— it’s so hard to care for,” she said. “And it gets on Michael’s nerves. Such a mess…”

There was something in her tone that Loki didn’t like, something that seemed to go deeper than hairstyles.

“It’s perfect,” he said fiercely. After a moment, he added, “My mother always thought red hair was the prettiest shade.” He inhaled at the memory. Frigga had loved the color because of her mother’s red hair. Her sisters had all inherited the same shade, but she had been left with her father’s golden brown. She used to tell him this story often when he was a child, whenever he questioned why he looked nothing like his older brother. Although now, all things considered, he found himself wondering if that had just been yet another lie to keep him from trying to look deeper.

Kristine looked thoughtful. “Really? Huh. My mother used to say the same thing,” she sighed. “But I guess all mothers tell their kids they’re pretty.”

“Perhaps, but in your case, she was speaking the truth.”

The girl blushed. “Thank you,” she murmured.

Kristine seemed quite shy, but she laughed when he made a sarcastic joke about Thor’s hammer overcompensation, and when the first dance ended, she agreed to the second without hesitation.

“I’m not used to doing much at these things,” she admitted. “I don’t really know anyone here except Michael. I never know what to do with myself.”

“He’s not one for dancing, I take it?” Loki asked.

Kristine laughed nervously. “No, not really.”

Their conversation continued, soft and simple. Slowly, she began sharing tiny details about herself. She grew up in Virginia. She liked to draw. Her favorite color was dark blue, but she liked green too—although she seemed embarrassed when he complimented her gown.

“It’s just a plain old green dress,” she told him. “I’ve had it for years. There’s nothing really special about it or anything.”

“I don’t find it plain. It’s quite striking on you,” he twirled her gently, watching her skirt fan out around her legs. “Very pretty.”

When he pulled her back, her cheeks were bright red. “Thanks,” Kristine sputtered. “I-I think you’re pretty too.” She winced. “Oh, that sounded weird—”

Loki chuckled. “Not at all,” he said. “I’ll take what I can get.”

He was enjoying himself far more than he preferred to admit. When was the last time he had had a friendly, casual conversation with anyone? His interactions with the Avengers were stilted at best— a reluctant necessity that both parties avoided as much as they could. And Thor… Thor was still trying to live a fantasy where the past had been entirely forgotten and everything had been fixed between the two of them. Call it irony, but Loki wasn’t that talented at lying to himself.

But this… this was nice. Just talking, joking, laughing. Spending time with someone who didn’t have any ulterior motives or unreasonable expectations. It was rather refreshing, even.

Which is why it of course had to end abruptly.

“Kris!” Kristine stiffened, ripping herself out of his arms immediately as Hauer came barreling across the dance floor. “Kris, where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking all over!” He grabbed her arm and began pulling her back across the room. “I want you to meet this guy I work with. Remember, I told you about him—”

Kristine glanced back at Loki, shooting him what he thought was meant to be an apologetic grin. It came off as more of a pained grimace. He frowned.

It wasn’t the place to make a scene. Loki of Asgard, the invader of New York, throwing a fit in Avengers Tower because he wanted to dance with another man’s lover—oh yes, that would go over spectacularly.

Still, he lingered far longer than he ever intended, his gaze following the couple from the corner of his eye. Something about the whole situation didn’t sit right with him. He watched as the man Hauer had been so eager to introduce to her moved on after a few minutes of conversation, and Kristine returned to her dutiful place trailing behind her boyfriend. They left shortly before one in the morning, Hauer’s arm around her waist as they slipped into the elevator.

Kristine met his gaze just as the doors were closing. She smiled softly.

And then they were gone.

He spent the next few days pretending to have forgotten her. He should’ve forgotten her. She was nothing to him—a random mortal who he had just happened to dance with at a party.

And who had a selfish, egotistical boyfriend.

Now that he had been introduced to Michael Hauer, Loki noticed him more often. He worked a lot with Stark, drawing up new designs and overseeing their test runs. From what Loki saw, Hauer was quite intelligent, and well aware of it. He clearly prided himself on his work, as it seemed to be the only topic he ever wanted to discuss.

Loki had found himself lurking around the lab more often, listening in on the discourse that went on between the engineers. His behavior was… odd. Despite many of his coworkers often bringing up their significant others in conversation, Hauer never once mentioned Kristine. Had he not known better, Loki wouldn’t have thought the man was seeing anyone at all. It may have been nothing, of course—perhaps he just didn’t want to discuss his personal life while he was focusing on his work—but Loki couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about Michael Hauer. His concern for Kristine grew.

It was about a week after the party that he spoke with her again. He went down to the lower floors a few times to scope out the coffeeshop where she worked. It seemed she was always on duty—her crimson curls stood out even when she had them tied back behind her head as she spoke with customers and punched numbers into the cash register.

It was something of a marvel, really; here was this woman who had stuttered and blushed her way through two dances (or a dance and a half, to be more precise), completely calm as she juggled the demands of what had to be hundreds of impatient strangers a day. Was she truly that comfortable with her task, he wondered, or was she simply a better actress than he would have given her credit for?

It was late in the day when he decided to find out.

For once, there wasn’t a line to the counter. Loki sidled up to the cash register and smiled. “Good afternoon, my lady.”

Kristine looked up from her cellular device with a jump. “Oh, hi!” she smiled, but her shoulders remained tense. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you down here.”

“No, you haven’t,” he said. “But ever since his first visit here, my brother has been completely infatuated with this drink of yours. I thought I might give it a try.”

“Oh, yeah. It’s-it’s kind of addicting.” She shifted, pushing a loose strand of hair back behind her ear. He frowned. She still had yet to look him in the eye. “Um, I wanted to tell you… I’m really sorry I dipped so quickly the other night. Michael had told me he wanted to introduce me to his friend, I had just forgotten. I didn’t mean to—”

Loki’s features softened. “I completely understand. No need to apologize,” he said. Kristine’s posture relaxed at his words.

“Really?” she asked.

“Of course. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. After all, I’m the one who stole you away from your party in the first place.”

“Oh no, you’re fine! It was—it was nice. I had fun,” Kristine blushed once again. He smiled wider. Never had he encountered an individual so easily embarrassed by everything she said. It was rather endearing.

She cleared her throat. “So, um, what can I get you?”

Loki glanced at the screen behind her, the various types of drinks laid out in an electric menu he didn’t have the patience to read. “It seems I am in need of your assistance on that front,” he said. “I know nothing of these beverages. What would you recommend?”

“Um,” she shifted, settling into her barista voice. “Well today’s special is the peppermint mocha—it’s kind of the last of the holiday drinks, so—”

“You misunderstand,” he interrupted. “What would you recommend?”

“Oh. You mean—,” Kristine stumbled. “Well… I’m probably the wrong person to ask. I—I don’t really like sugary drinks. I just stick to black coffee most of the time. But that’s just me!” she added hurriedly. “Most people actually prefer—”

“I think I will trust your judgment. After all, I am hardly most people,” he grinned. “I can’t say I enjoy you Midgardians’ obsession with sugar that much myself.”

Her brow furrowed anxiously. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s not that exciting—”

“I’m sure.”

She studied him for a moment, as if attempting to assess his sincerity. Her eyes really were quite piercing. Loki wasn’t sure if he had ever met a mortal with such vibrant blue irises.

“Okay,” she said finally, turning to the cash register. “Small, regular, or large?”

Loki followed her movement, leaning over the counter. “Large,” he said. “Why not? Let’s be dangerous.”

“Well, you are getting the most boring item on the menu, so I don’t know how dangerous you’re being.” Her eyes widened at her own words, clapping her hand over her mouth as her cheeks flushed pink yet again. “I’m sorry, I—”

But Loki was chortling. “My my, now where did that sharp tongue come from?”

Kristine giggled. “Cash or credit?”

She was still smiling when she handed over the warm paper cup. Loki took a whiff of the liquid and winced. “Norns, that is potent.”

“I think it smells nice,” she protested. “I—” Suddenly she stiffened, eyes trained on something over behind him.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder and seeing nothing particularly alarming.

“N-no, no, um—” she looked away quickly, raising her voice. “Is there anything else I can get for you today?”

Frowning, Loki shook his head. “No, I suppose that would be all.”

“Well, have a nice day!” Kristine’s smile was wide and strained. Her message was clear, although Loki couldn’t fathom what had so quickly flipped the switch from playful conversation to such an abrupt dismissal. It was only after he thanked her and made to leave that he found the object of her concern.

Michael Hauer was exiting the stairway, making his way across the room to the coffeeshop. She must have noticed him coming down the stairs.

Still, he was confused. What was so alarming about her boyfriend coming to see her? Was she concerned that he’d see her with another man and get the wrong idea? But surely the brilliant Hauer understood that his girlfriend’s occupation required her to interact with a plethora of different characters every day.

Loki watched as Hauer spoke with her at the counter. He couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but Kristine had become very still. In fact, she didn’t seem to be speaking at all: she just nodded and shook her head as her boyfriend continued. Loki found himself remembering all the things he disliked about Hauer.

After a few minutes, he left without buying anything. As soon as he was gone Kristine ducked into the back room, only to be replaced a short while later by another girl in a matching apron. Loki returned to his room silently, unable to shake the feeling that something was drastically wrong with Michael Hauer.

He began making a point of stopping by the coffeeshop once a day in the late afternoon. Furtive observation taught him that Hauer had a habit of showing up at the counter in the middle of the morning and again shortly after the lunch hour, although the purposes of these visits were still unclear to him. Kristine’s answers were evasive when Loki had attempted to casually broach the subject.

“Oh, you know,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “He just likes to check up on me.”

Despite his concerns about Michael Hauer (or perhaps because of them), Loki and Kristine struck up an odd little friendship. The coffeeshop was never that busy at the times he came by, so usually he’d stick around to talk for a bit. Their conversations were never anything earth-shattering: they’d complain about their lives, reminisce about their past, make fun of the eccentric individuals they’d see shuffling through the food court. Once, when she learned that Loki still had no idea how to use the cellular phone Stark had given him, Kristine insisted upon teaching him.

“So these are your text messages here,” she said, her fingers sliding across the slab of metal. “See the speech bubble? Geez, you have a lot of unread texts.”

Loki watched over her shoulder, doing his best to feign interest. “Now how could you tell that?”

“The number in the red circle in the corner. See that?” Kristine pointed. “That’s how many new notifications you have.”

“What am I being notified of?”

“People have been texting you. You can go in and—” she pressed the text icon “See? Here’s all your messages.” She frowned at the jumble of capitalized letters that greeted her. “It looks like they’re all from Thor.”

Loki yawned. “Is that so? Well then, we know they’re not important.”

She giggled. “Here, let me show you how to text back.”

Sometimes, she’d show him her sketchbook. Kristine really was a talented artist: her penciled sketches of the birds she’d see outside her apartment window looked as though they could almost fly off the page. She drew a lot of people as well. Most were portraits of Hauer, of course, as well as a light-haired, middle-aged woman Kristine identified as her mother, but Loki also recognized some of the Avengers: Tony Stark, Captain Rodgers, even his brother.

“You spent the time to draw Thor and not me?” he cried in mock outrage. “And here I thought we were friends! I must say, I’m quite offended.”

Kristine stifled a giggle. “I’ll draw you next,” she said. “I promise.”

In return, he’d show her bits of his magic. He’d conjure an illusion of a snake on the counter or make his hand glow or turn the sugar jar into a goblet of wine or something equally silly—hardly anything remarkable, but he loved how her eyes would light up at even the simplest of tricks.

“That’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” she laughed as she ran her hands through a fading illusion. “That is just so cool!”

He grinned. “You’re easily impressed, my lady.”

“I wish I had magic” Kristine continued. “It would make my life so much easier. Wouldn’t have to drive anywhere, I could just teleport. If I left my phone at home, I could just summon it through a portal or something.” She snapped her fingers. “You know what I’d do? I’d make it snow inside. It’s always so freaking hot in here—we could use some indoor snow.”

“There’s a far simpler solution to that problem, my lady.” He nodded at her shirt. “You should change your wardrobe. It’s far to warm in here for long sleeves.”

Kristine tugged at the collar of her turtleneck uncomfortably. “I guess. But—I’m just used to wearing this, you know? Like, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, right?” She laughed again, but this time it sounded far emptier. “Besides, it’s not that bad in here. I just always make a big deal out of little things, you know?”

Loki nodded in agreement, but inwardly, he was distressed. He had suddenly realized that in the weeks he had been spending time with Kristine, he had never once known her to bare her arms.

His concerns only grew when one day Kristine came in to work with a blackened eye and a bruise that stretched down her cheek.

“Norns, Kristine, are you alright?” he cried. “What happened?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, speaking so quickly he could barely understand what she was saying. “I just fell down the stairs at my apartment. It was my fault, they’re really steep, I wasn’t paying attention. It looks a lot worse than it is.” She smiled desperately. “One large black coffee?”

“What is your opinion on Michael Hauer?”

Stark looked up from the box of spare parts he was rummaging through in his lab and frowned.

“Hauer?” he asked. “Why do you care?”

Loki glared coldly across the room. “Simple curiosity. Indulge me.”

He smirked. “What’s the magic word?”

“Stark.”

“Fine, geez,” Stark turned back to his work. “Hauer’s a genius. You know that new Quinjet we tried out in Novi Grad? That was his model. I never would have thought to—”

“I understand that he’s intelligent,” Loki interrupted. “But what are your thoughts of his nature?”

“His nature?” Stark shrugged, dumping the contents of the box on his desk. “I don’t know, he’s nice. Fun at parties.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “That’s all? Hasn’t he been in your employ for years?”

“Hey,” Stark raised his arms in mock surrender. “I focus on the important stuff. You know,” he continued as he picked out pieces from the pile. “You can see for yourself, if you hang around a few minutes. We’re staying late tonight to test out one of his new designs—”

He started. “Hauer’s coming up here?”

“Yeah. If you want to meet him, I can—”

But Loki had already dashed out of the room.

Kristine usually got out of work early in the evening, but he knew that when Hauer stayed late she’d wait for him at the tables across from the coffeeshop. Perhaps this would be the best time to confront her, when she knew her boyfriend would be occupied for the foreseeable future.

He nearly ran into the man on the stairs going down to the food court.

“Watch it!” snapped Hauer as he came barreling up the steps, not even looking up to see who he was snapping at. For a moment, Loki was tempted to remind him, but he held himself back. Now was hardly the time or place.

The dark-haired girl behind the counter wasn’t Kristine, and she visibly stiffened when she saw Loki coming.

“H-how can I help you today, sir?” she stuttered.

“I’d like to speak with Ms. Ververs,” he said. “Is she here at the moment?”

The girl looked surprised. “Kristine?” she asked. “Oh, um, you just missed her. I think she went to the bathroom.”

He nodded. “Ah. Very well. Thank you.”

Loki made his way to one of the tables, resolving to wait for her return. Time passed. Men and women trickled down the stairs and out the door. Outside, the sun began its slow descent beneath the horizon. Kristine still did not return. He had waited nearly forty-five minutes when Loki decided to go looking for her.

The nearest restrooms were empty. He went down the hall to check the others, peeping into the cubicle offices along the way. He couldn’t imagine what she’d be doing in there, but perhaps she had run into a friend and struck up a conversation and lost track of time—he hoped that was what had happened. But she wasn’t anywhere he looked.  

Loki was on the brink of alerting Stark that one of his employees had gone missing so that he could check security footage when he overheard what sounded like muffled sobs coming from a broom closet.

Frowning, he tapped on the door. “Kristine?” He cracked it open and called again. “Kristine, is that you?”

There was a moment of hesitation before the answer came. “Yeah,” she mumbled, sounding completely exhausted. “Yeah, it’s me, Loki.”

He pushed the door all the way open. She was huddled in the corner, hidden behind a mountain of cleaning supplies. Her hair was beginning to slip out of her ponytail, framing her face in wispy strands of unkempt curls. Her eyes were swollen. Loki’s chest ached as he took in her appearance. In the low light, she looked more like a frightened child than a grown woman.

Loki made his way into the closet, stooping to avoid the low ceiling. “What are you doing in here?” he asked gently as he sat down next to her. “What happened?”

“Oh nothing, it’s just—I thought—” she hiccupped. “I just wanted to get away from everything.” She rubbed at her eyes with the corner of her apron.

“Here.” Loki summoned a clean handkerchief to his hand and held it out to her. This time, the magic trick sparked none of the usual wonder in her eyes. She took the cloth with a barely audible thank you.

“What do you mean by everything?” he asked.

Kristine sniffed. “It’s nothing. Really. Michael and I—we just had a little argument. That’s it. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing,” Loki echoed. “And yet you’re hiding in a broom closet.”

“I—it’s just—” she sniffed again, blinking back tears. “He gets mad sometimes.”

She blew her nose into the handkerchief, wincing when she pressed too hard on her bruised cheek. Loki thought of Michael Hauer, fuming on the stairs as he stormed off from the coffeeshop. He thought of how he had dragged Kristine away on the dance floor, how terrified she had been when she saw him coming while speaking with Loki at the counter.

Hesitantly, he gave voice to the suspicion that had been lurking in the back of his mind ever since he first laid eyes on the couple.

“He hurts you,” Loki whispered quietly. “Doesn’t he?”

Kristine looked up with panicked eyes. “You can’t tell anybody!” she cried, trembling. “You won’t, right? You won’t tell anybody?” she grabbed at his shoulders as the tears streamed down her cheeks, her breathing coming in fast spirts. “Please, he’ll get so mad at me if he thought—you won’t tell anybody, will you? Please—”

Loki gently pulled her shaking body into an embrace, trying to soothe her as she hyperventilated. “Kristine, it’s alright—”

She sobbed into his chest. “He’ll get mad, he’ll get mad!”

He hushed her softly, rubbing her back. “If you don’t want me to tell anyone, then I won’t,” he murmured. “Can you breathe in slowly for me now? And now out. Just like that…”

They sat in the dark for a while, Loki whispering quiet nonsense into her ear as her breathing stabilized. People passed by outside, but thankfully no one barged into the broom closet.

“Why do you stay with him?” he asked after several minutes of silence.

Kristine shook her head. “He-he’s done so much for me—”

“He hurts you.” He looked down at her in disbelief. “You don’t owe him anything.”

She inhaled hoarsely. “I didn’t have anything when I came up here. My mom had just died, everything was going wrong, I was so lonely—” she sighed. “I’ve never been good at—at making friends. But he—he was so nice to me… I don’t know what happened.”

She sounded utterly broken. Loki’s arms tightened around her without realizing. “He’s not worthy of you,” he whispered fiercely. “You deserve to be treated like a goddess.”

Kristine laughed humorlessly. “But I can’t just leave him,” she said. “I’d lose my job. He’s literally best friends with Tony Stark, he’d be sure of it. And I wouldn’t have anywhere to go—he owns the apartment.”

“Don’t you have someone you could stay with temporarily?” he asked. “Friends, family? Surely you aren’t entirely dependent on that rat.”

“My parents are both dead,” she whispered. “And I never really got to know anyone out here before I met Michael. After that… I never really hung out with anyone else.”

“You hang out with me,” he reminded her. “I’m sure I could arrange for you to stay somewhere. I’ll tell Stark what kind of person Hauer really is. I’m sure the Avengers would be eager to have him terminated if they knew.” It would take some convincing, but if he got his brother to believe him, Thor could surely convince the others. Perhaps Stark would be unwilling, but Rodgers held just as much authority as the mechanic, and Loki somehow doubted that keeping a known abuser on Avengers payroll would sit well with the Captain’s heavy moral compass.

Kristine was less convinced. “They’d never fire him,” she said bitterly. “Not for me. Michael builds all their world-saving technology. They rely on him. I’m just some random barista. They’ll never sacrifice all that stuff for me. And he knows it.”

Loki frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve called the police on him. Twice. I thought he was going to kill me,” she gulped. “The police got there, and he just talked his way out of it. Told them who he was, who he worked for, and they were like, shaking hands with him!” She sobbed. “They asked me if I wanted to press charges, and it was like, how could I? They were already on his side!”

“What do you do then?” he asked, horrified. “If you’re afraid to call law enforcement, what do you do when he’s attacking you?” Somehow, he already knew the answer.

Kristine shrugged. “Pray. Wait for him to get tired.”

“No.” Loki shifted, digging out the glossy Avengers-sanctioned cellular phone from his pocket. “Here. If you can’t call the police, call me.” The screen lit up the broom closet as he pulled up his number.

She frowned. “What?”

“Take down this number. If you ever feel you’re in danger, I want you to call it. Without hesitation.” Loki looked at her somberly. “I’ll teleport to your location immediately.”

“Are-are you sure?” she asked hesitantly. “Isn’t that number supposed to be, you know, like, top secret?”

“Don’t worry about it. Stark claims it’s untraceable.” He watched as she pulled out her own phone and began typing the number in. “I will get you out of this, Kristine.”

She ran her hands through her red hair. “You really think you can?”

“Yes,” he said. “I swear it.”

Things changed after that. His daily coffee-stops turned into check-ins: asking if she was alright, if Michael had done anything the night before, if he could do anything for her. It seemed that they had reached a period of peace: Michael was so distracted with his latest project with Stark that he didn’t have the time to be violent. Loki feared that it wouldn’t last long though.

Kristine had made him swear that he wouldn’t tell anyone else of her circumstances, so Loki figured that he’d have to get creative with getting Hauer out of Avengers Tower. Framing him as a security threat seemed to be the best option, as security was Stark’s highest priority. Loki set about planning to make it look as if Hauer was stealing SHIELD intel. It was a more difficult task than he anticipated. Leaving too obvious a trail would make Stark suspicious that Hauer was being set up, but too subtle a trail and nobody would even notice that something was wrong. He went back and forth on various plans, all harboring some flaw that could potentially give it all away, before storming out of his quarters one day in frustration.

It really shouldn’t have been so difficult. Loki sat in the food court, cloaked by an illusion, watching Hauer make his way down the stairs for his morning visit to his girlfriend. If he were to trip at the top of the staircase, put the wrong foot in the wrong place at the wrong time and go tumbling to his death, nobody would think anything of it. Oh, what a tragic accident. He was so young. And then they’d move on with their lives.

Yes, Loki thought as Hauer went on his way, it would be so much easier if you would just fall down the stairs.

He didn’t kill him though. It wasn’t out of any love for Michael Hauer—the very thought of the man drove Loki into fantasies of burying a dagger into his chest—but because of Kristine. Loki didn’t tell her about his murderous dreams, but she had her suspicions, and she didn’t like them.

“You wouldn’t do anything to hurt Michael, right?” she asked suddenly one day. “Like, physically?” She looked up at him, eyes wide and anxious. It cut him deeply to see her looking at him like that, as if he was the unpredictable monster she had to fear.

Loki shook his head. “No,” he said. “No, I wouldn’t do anything like that.” He left with his coffee, unable to shake the feeling of shame weighing down his shoulders.

It was late at night when the phone rang. Loki had been sitting on the couch in his quarters, the open book in his lap failing to hold his attention as his mind wandered to more pressing issues, when the ringtone crashed through the silence.

Loki jumped to his feet, clawing at his pocket to find the damn device. As quickly as it began, the room fell quiet. By the time that he had the phone in his hand, the ringing had stopped. Across the screen flashed a message: Missed Call from Kristine Ververs.

He didn’t remember making the decision to teleport to her apartment, only that suddenly he was there, ripping the door open so forcefully that the lock cracked.

Three things greeted him inside the apartment: Hauer, standing only a few feet from the door. Kristine, curled beneath him on the floor, gasping for air. And blood. Lots and lots of blood.

Hauer whipped up, eyes wild. “The fuck are you?”

Loki grabbed him by the collar and flung him into the television set.

Kristine was sobbing. Her bloodied hands clawed at the knife handle buried deep into her abdomen.

Oh Norns, what did he do to her?

“Here, hang on,” Loki knelt beside her in a frenzy, pulling her wrists away. Her shirt was soaked through with red. Helplessly, he pressed against her wound, hoping to staunch the bleeding.

How much blood has she lost already?

Panicked, he glanced around the room. The carpet was stained, a trail leading all the way back to the kitchen area.

“Loki,” she choked. “I didn’t—I tried—”

“Shh,” he hushed. “It’s alright. You are going to be fine.” He needed to get her out of here. He had no medical supplies in here, no healing stones. Gingerly, he scooped her up in his arms, kicking himself when she whimpered in pain. “I’m going to take care of you, alright?” he whispered as he stood. “You’re going to be fine. I swear, you’ll be fine.”

He teleported back to his quarters and laid her on his bed.

Healing stones. Need healing stones.

“Kristine,” he said urgently, bringing her hands to either side of the knife. “I need to you to press down here, okay?” He pushed her hands against her wound. “Just like that, alright?”

Kristine gave a short nod, but her eyes seemed to be staring past him.

“Kristine,” he tapped her cheeks, “Kristine, stay awake!”

She made a nondescript noise and nodded again. With a troubled look, Loki grabbed a healing stone and broke it over her stomach, casting a spell of light to activate it. The dust shimmered as it sank into her skin through her shirt. He pulled the knife out as the wound closed and tossed it aside.

Kristine moaned, her head falling backward on to the pillow as her eyes closed. That was okay. In the handful of times Loki had used healing stones on mortals (usually members of the Avengers), he had learned that their bodies tended to be overwhelmed by the magic and need to sleep it off. It was okay.

He watched her chest rise and fall with each small breath, her crimson curls seeming even more vibrant against the paleness of her skin.

It was okay, right?

Her pulse was steady. Loki took it twice more, just to be certain. Her temperature was normal. Her breathing regular. Everything was fine. He sighed.

Loki cleaned up the blood best he could without disturbing her, then washed off and pulled up a chair. Kristine was still sleeping peacefully. He wondered suddenly what Hauer was going to do. The man was used to getting away with violence, but this went beyond beatings: this was attempted murder. Would he come clean? Or (and the more Loki thought about it the more likely this seemed) would he attempt to pin the blame on him?

“He crashed through the door and kidnapped my girlfriend! I tried to stop him, but he attacked me!”

From an outside perspective, the story might seem believable. After all, most of this world still saw him as the monster who lurked in the shadows, waiting with sharpened claws for the opportune moment to strike. It would be easy for Hauer to paint him as the villain.

Loki considered waking the others and explaining what had happened, before Hauer had a chance to tell his warped version, but he decided to wait until Kristine awoke. It was her life, after all—she should have a say in how things played out. Besides, doing so would require him to leave her by herself for a bit.

He didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t want to leave her alone.

By morning, she still had not awoken. It was a bit concerning—the other times he had used stones on mortals, they had only slept for a few hours. By the end of the day, she still had not stirred and he was convinced that something was wrong. Frantically, he consulted his books, searching for some caveat he had overlooked.

The obvious answer would be that she was having a bad reaction to the healing stones, but such a situation would merit a reaction: racing heartbeat, wild seizures, delirious hallucinations. But Kristine was still. Her vitals were normal, her sleep tranquil. Loki didn’t know what to do.

It wasn’t until he found a footnote in his old healer’s textbook that he realized what was happening.

Note that the potency of healing stones can be affected by the mental wellbeing of the patient. An individual who has suffered under extreme stress for an extended period of time may have a longer recovery period than one who has not.

“Oh, dear,” Loki murmured. He closed the book slowly. “Extreme stress for an extended period of time”—that practically described Kristine’s entire existence. She was going to be out for a while.

He looked at her on the bed, eyes closed, breath soft. He had never known Kristine to look so at peace. Perhaps a long, deep sleep was just what she needed. He patted her knuckles gently.

“You’re safe here, my lady,” he whispered.

The next day, when no one had crashed into his quarters accusing him of kidnapping, he thought that perhaps he better find out what was going on. He slunk into the common room, hoping to overhear some tidbit of information. Of course, Thor was never one to appreciate his desires for stealth.

“Brother!” he cried when he noticed him, patting him on the back. “Where have you been? Have you heard the news?”

Loki stiffened. “News?”

“Michael Hauer’s lady has gone missing! You remember her, don’t you? You danced with her at Stark’s last party.”

“Yes,” Loki frowned. Thor didn’t seem to have any idea of his involvement. “What do you mean ‘missing’? Has she been abducted?”

“We don’t know,” Thor said, shaking his head ruefully. “She and Hauer had a fight the night before last, and she stormed out. Hauer only saw yesterday morning that she never returned.”

“Oh.” Loki stared for a moment, shellshocked. Hauer had made up a story that didn’t include him in it. Why would he cut out his easiest option for a scapegoat? “Well,” he said cautiously, “I assume every effort is being made to retrieve the young lady.”

“Oh, yes. Stark plans to help the police, to make certain she’s found safely,” Thor sighed. “Poor Hauer. I can’t imagine what he’s going through right now.”

Loki shook his head. “No, neither can I.”

It was an interesting tale that Hauer had concocted. Loki watched it play out over the next few weeks as he watched over Kristine. Listening to the piece of filth pretend to weep over the woman who he had beaten and abused and buried a blade into made his blood boil, but Loki put up with it in an attempt to understand what Hauer was trying to accomplish. Shockingly, he continued to stick to his story: he and Kristine had a fight at around ten, she got angry and stormed out, and when he woke up the next morning he realized she hadn’t come back.

At first, Loki thought he was simply trying to cover up his violent history. But it didn’t make any sense: he had the perfect opportunity to solidify his innocence by throwing the blame on to Loki, and yet he continued to dig himself into a hole by claiming Kristine left on her own—something security cameras proved never happened.

It was only when he stopped to consider that Hauer had to have taken the time to clean the apartment, wash away the traces of blood and fix the lock and right the television set, that Loki began to examine an alternative explanation. Did… did Hauer even know what happened that night? Loki hadn’t exactly checked his force when he threw him across the room. It was possible that he didn’t even remember Loki showing up, didn’t remember what happened to Kristine… and woke up in an apartment full of blood…

Oh my, Loki thought as he watched Hauer stumble through an interview on television. He thinks he killed her.

The revelation and thought of the stress it must have been causing him gave Loki great joy, but watching the world fall for Hauer’s story hook, line, and sinker was frustrating beyond words. As the Avengers showered him with pity, not even bothering to question the shakiness of his ridiculous story, Loki thought of Kristine’s words in the broom closet, her steadfast belief that nobody cared enough about her to turn on her boyfriend.

Then the narrative flipped.

Loki remembered Kristine telling him about those two phone calls, but nothing could have prepared him for actually listening to them.

“Can you please just send someone?” her voice was shaking, barely holding together as she breathed into the phone, “He’s really mad, I think he’s going to break down the door. Please, is someone coming?”

Loki wasn’t sure what hurt him more, hearing her whisper through such unadulterated fear, or knowing that when the someone did arrive, they did nothing to help her.

The public had turned on Michael Hauer. The police found traces of blood in his apartment. Stark fired him. Descriptions of the missing knife plastered the news. Demands for an arrest flooded the Internet. The search for a body kicked into full gear. And then Loki had an idea that could put the nail in his coffin.

He left the knife where it was sure to be noticed by someone, just sitting atop the dumpster behind their apartment building. Sure enough, it was found within hours.

Four days later, Michael Hauer was arrested and charged with the murder of Kristine Ververs.

That same day, Kristine woke up. He had become so used to her stillness that he nearly jumped out of his skin when she groaned.

He knelt next to the bed. “Kristine?”

She stretched, blinking her cerulean eyes. “L-Loki? What—where are we?”

“My quarters in Avengers Tower,” he smiled wryly. “You’ve had a bit of a nap.”

Kristine shot up as if she was struck by lightning. “Michael! Oh my God, he—” her hands flew to her stomach, where the knife had gone in. “What—how—did he—”

Loki hushed her. “It’s alright. You’re safe. He can’t hurt you,” he said, taking her hands in his and giving them a reassuring squeeze. “I have much to tell you…”

[catsafarithewriter]

“I want to say it was worth it. For a while, it was.” I think it’s cute of how Haru is now grown from a girl who couldn’t dance with Baron from a girl who could fight and make remarks better than baron. I just imagine how Haru is either in a situation where she dances with Baron for both of them to get out of a dangerous situation and both get carried away with the dancing cause it reminds them of their first dance. Sorry I just love fluffs and Haru is just so amazing in your stories.

A/N: I’ll be honest, the line itself is so beautifully tragic that using it for fluff stumped me for a good while, until I eventually remembered the music box scene out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that I loved as a child, so I’m stealing that concept for this. 

Also, this is set in a timeline when Haru and Baron have finished dancing around each other (metaphorically) and are adorable together. 

x

The plan had been simple. 

The plan had been simple and flawless and brilliant and definitely hadn’t involved Baron getting kidnapped by a mechanically-obsessed monarch. 

The execution of aforementioned plan... had left some things to be desired. 

“Hey, Chicky, I really don’t think this suits me...”

Haru tugged the rough tweed jacket around Muta’s broad shoulders and slapped the flat cap between his ears. “Yes, well you should have thought of that before you let Baron get kidnapped by a crazy king.” She paused, recalling her own first encounter with the Bureau, and snorted. “Not that the Bureau has a stellar record when it comes to that.”

“The birdbrain also lost him, and he’s on escape duty.”

“Toto’s on escape duty because he’s very, very good at it.” She finished fiddling with the cap. “So unless you want to be dancing instead, you’re filling the role of toy-maker extraordinaire. Honestly, Muta, it doesn’t look that bad.”

“I look like I should be yodelling from the nearest mountain.”

Haru snorted and gestured loosely to her own outfit - a white blouse layered over by a blue pinafore, with a yellow apron tied around the waist. “All I need is a shepherd’s crook, and I’d be ready to join you. Now, help me up into this box before I chicken out.”

Muta did so, and he didn’t miss the way Haru tensed as she stepped up. “Yer gonna be okay in there, Chicky?”

“Fine. Dandy. I’m just getting boxed up like some sort of twisted Christmas present so we can sneak into the palace for this royal celebration, then I’m going to have to dance like a wind up music box, and hope nobody spots the fact that I’m very much not a wind up music box until we get Baron back, and then escape without the kind of mishap that we are oh so well known for.” She grinned, far too brightly, at Muta. “I don’t know why you’d think I’d be worried.” 

He raised an eyebrow. 

“Just... be careful wheeling me up to the palace.”

“Gotcha. Run over every pothole and speed-bump I find, roger that.”

Haru laughed and bunched up her skirts. “Thanks, Muta.” Somewhere, a clock tower began to boom. “Alright, it’s time. Box me up.”

x

Baron had been mistaken for many things in his long lifetime. Some more flattering than others - there had been at least once incident where a Bible had been thrown at him - but being mistaken for a mechanical toy was fairly unusual, even for him. 

He sat in the seat he’d been assigned, head drooped, shoulders gently slumped, and hands tucked neatly on his lap, and tried, for all the world, to look like a clockwork creature wound down. At first, he had tried to convince the king that he was no mechanical toy, but a living, breathing individual, but that had only incited the monarch’s greed more and he had proclaimed the ‘unique, unrivalled design’ of the newest addition to his collection for all to hear. 

Somehow, Baron had suspected that if the king learnt of Creations, he would  just become an even more valued part of the collection.

So he had decided to play along. Eventually, the king’s interest would wane and he would be able to escape while attention was grabbed by the next new toy. Especially since he had feigned ‘winding down;’ sinking into a seat and refusing to move, and nobody had been able to work out how to wind him back up again. 

Even so, the king had still seated him along the royal table, like a prized pet for display, and it seemed escape would have to delay a little longer. 

He kept his eyes dulled, his breathing shallow, and wondered how long this farce was going to go on for. He listened as three of the entertainers’ acts were deemed unsatisfactory by the king and his short attention span - citing each one as nowhere near as impressive as the mechanical figure beside him - and sent packing. 

“Whoever’s next better make it good!” the king roared, and Baron nearly smirked, reminded of another monarch with a very similar outcry. Now, if he wasn’t the one captured, this would have been the perfect time for a dramatic entrance-

“Your Majesty, I can make the toy dance.” 

It took everything in Baron to not immediately look up at Muta. 

“Impossible,” the king grunted. “My finest toy-makers have examined the toy and have produced nothing-”

Surprisingly quick for one of his girth - at least to those who didn’t know him - Muta made his way around the royal table and set to examining the ‘toy’. Baron felt his head tilted back, and was treated to the unexpected image of Muta in a tweed suit and flat cap. He felt his eye twitch at the attempt not to laugh. 

He suspected Muta saw it regardless, for he was dropped back to his original position rather harshly. “Yeah, see this is part of a set, so once it’s wound down, it ain’t gonna work again until it’s reunited with its partner.”

‘What are you playing at?’ Baron wondered. His head dropped down, he could only listen as Muta paraded back across the room to what Baron had briefly glimpsed as a large red box. 

“And you have found this partner?” the king asked, his scepticism only outweighed by his hope.

“Course I have. I made ‘em both.” There was the sound of Muta opening something, followed by awed muttering from the royal guests. Baron caught a few strains of “well, they don’t look the same,” from a couple of onlookers, and dearly wished Muta had left his head at a more convenient tilt.

“So how does this work?” the king asked. “Do you have to wind them both up or...?”

“Nah, it’s... uh, wireless winding,” Muta bluffed.”Look, just wait and see.” 

Baron wondered whether that was Muta-speak for: no idea how this is going to pan out, so let’s not make any promises. All the same, he could have done with a better indication of what Muta had planned. As things went, he could only listen as there was a mechanical whirring, and then a strain of music box melody. A few delighted gasps. 

He raised his head and saw Haru. 

She was poised on a red stand, the interior of the box opened out into a trifold mirror that reflected back on her still form. As the music fell into a familiar tune, her head snapped up. It ticked from side to side in time with the music, searching, searching, until her eyes settled on him.

Then, with precise movements, she stepped down from the box and made her clockwork way to the royal table. Her path wasn’t direct - the steps were that of a waltz, a shifting box step - but there was little surprise in him when she halted before him. A single sure hand rested between them.

“Would you care to dance?” her eyes asked.

Mechanical toys did not smile, he reminded himself as he took the hand.

Still, he knew his eyes replied, “Always.”

Around the table he was led and he found himself surprised when Haru’s eyes were level with his. He shouldn’t have been, he noted; they had adventured much together in the ensuing years and she had not grown since her return to the Bureau, and yet... 

His mind went, unbidden, to a dance under similar circumstances a good decade ago, only he had been the rescuer and she the rescued then. How the tables had turned. How things had changed as, with a confidence that had only been a foundation all that time ago, she guided his hand to her waist and laid her own on his shoulder. She leant in.

“I suppose this makes you the damsel in distress then, huh?” she breathed, a teasing smile ghosting her lips. 

“I could get used to it with such a fetching knight in shining armour,” he returned. 

“Oh shush. If I blush, I’ll blow my cover.”

With a flick of his wrist, she spun, her skirts swaying and her steps sure, and when she was swept back into his arms, it was not awe, but calculations that lit her eyes. Her gaze slid past him and across the room. 

“I take it you have a plan?” he asked, drawing her close to hide the telltale flicker of lips. 

“Of course I do. Unlike some, I don’t rush in without an exit strategy.”

“You did, however, stop for a costume change.”

He heard the quick intake of breath, a laugh smothered. “I needed to look the part, and combat boots and trench coat don’t exactly match the music box aesthetic.”

“It looks lovely on you.”

“I want to say it was worth it. For a while, it was.” She wiggled her eyebrows, their faces so close that no onlookers would catch the discrepancy. “But this dress has like a hundred layers to shape it properly and I’m melting like a snowball in summer right now. Be glad I love you enough to suffer through this.”

“Be careful, Haru; keep proclaiming your love for me and I’ll have no choice but to kiss you and that’ll definitely blow your cover.”

“Oh, just shut up and dance with me.” She twirled away as if to remove the temptation, but when she settled back into his arms they were closer than ever. “Kiss me when this is all over and I’m not melting into a puddle.”

“Is that a request?”

“It’s a promise.”

Somewhere along the way they had both forgone their mechanical deceit and their movements had smoothed into an intimate duet that sent Haru spinning again, head tilting back in unshed laughter that nearly broke through as she was gathered back into his arms and dipped. 

“That wasn’t part of the dance I remember, Mr Gikkingen,” she admonished. Her hair, which had been so carefully pinned back into a doll’s bob, had now begun to lose its way, and wayward strands curled about her face. 

“Things change,” Baron whispered back, and he resisted the urge to tuck her hair away. 

Another sudden breath, another laugh hidden away, and Haru dropped her head back, knowing full well that if she stared into those emerald green eyes any longer she was definitely going to do something to give the game away. She let her gaze drift across the grand hall, across the king and his royal entourage, across the amassed guests, across Muta furiously gesturing--

“Shoot,” Haru muttered. She shifted her weight, signalling to Baron to pull her out of the recklessly romantic dip. “Okay, I think we’ve just been rumbled.”

“Why?”

“The music box ran down a good thirty seconds ago.”

 The king slammed to his feet with a sound like a gunshot. “You’re not a toy! Guards, seize her!”

“Ah,” Baron said. “Would now be a good time for your exit strategy?”

“Yeah. Run.”  

[swanqueeneverafter]

The Once & Future Queen Pt.3

Storybrooke. The Dragon's Lair. (Regina stands behind the bar with her arms folded, deep in conversation with her daughter, Maria.) Regina: "I know what you're thinking. You think I'm just feeling sorry for myself. Well you're wrong. (Maria sticks out her tongue:) And no, I'm not keeping busy, either. I offered to open the place up this morning to show Robin and Zelena my appreciation for looking after you so much recently. (Maria gurgles:) Yes, I know I should've talked to you about how I'm feeling sooner, but we can't all be perfect like you now, can we? (Maria blows a raspberry and giggles:) Well, exactly. (Hearing the door to the bar being pulled violently, calls out:) We're not open yet! (The jostling of the door continues:) Right..." (Regina reaches under the bar and retrieves a baseball bat. Striding to the door, she opens it ready to swing.) Henry: (Steps over the threshold and immediately puts his hands up:) “Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, it’s me! I woke up this morning and the house was empty. So I came looking for you.” Regina: “Sorry. (Walking back to the bar:) Never can be too careful.” Henry: “Geez. What’s got you all revved up?” Regina: (Sighs:) “Where do I start?”

Henry: (Takes a seat at the bar. To Maria:) “Hey, cutie.” Regina: “I’ve thought about all the possible ways of going back in time to find Emma. The Apprentice's door, making my own spell, a curse.” Henry: “A curse?” Regina: (Continues:) “But they’re all too risky. All I can do is have faith that Emma will find her way back.” Henry: “Well let me say on behalf of the town how relieved we are you chose not to cast another curse.” Regina: “Yeah, well, now I can’t even go to Granny’s because Ruby will be there to try an ambush me with some sort of group counseling session. And Snow’s hired some new reporter who you just know is going to be sniffing around for an interview.” Henry: “So naturally you’re hiding out here.” Regina: “I don’t like being powerless, Henry. It doesn’t sit well with me at all.” Ella: (Enters:) “Regina. I am so glad you're here.” Regina: “Hey, uh, what's up?” Ella: “It's, um it's been a big night. Tiana and I, uh, we sort of bought a food truck.” Regina: “Well, that's great!” Ella: “It needs a lot of work, and don’t have any tools. Do you have any?” Regina: “Hm, lucky for you, when I owned this place it was always falling apart, so... (Starts looking under the bar and pulls out a large red toolbox:) I should have all the tools you'll need.” Ella: (Taking it:) “You are a lifesaver.” (Goes to leave.) Henry: (Speaking up:) “Well, hey. Um, If you need some help, I'm pretty good around engines, you know, for a writer.” Ella: “No, I'm fine.” (She leaves.) Regina: “What was that? Are you two still having problems?” Henry: “Hey, not all issues are so easily swept under the rug you know.” Regina: “Ella accused me of murdering her mother.” Henry: “Exactly. Some things are more complicated than others.” Regina: (Sceptically:) “Uh huh.”

Camelot. Council Chamber. (The council is gathered around a weeping woman.) Guinevere: “What’s happened to her?” Agravaine: “Her village was attacked.” Guinevere: “By who?” Agravaine: “Not entirely clear, Your Majesty.” (Guinevere approaches the weeping woman.) Guinevere: “What’s your name?” Drea: “Drea.” (Guinevere steps closer and the girl tenses. Guinevere puts a comforting hand on her shoulder and speaks softly.) Guinevere: “Drea. (She uncertainly makes eye contact:) I’m Guinevere. Don’t be frightened. Tell me what happened.” Drea: “My mother, my father, my litter sister, they’re…” (She starts weeping again.) Guinevere: “It’s all right. It’s all right. (Drea nods:) Someone attacked them. (She nods again:) Who?” Drea: “There was no one. Just…shapes.” Guinevere: “You didn’t see their faces?” Drea: “They had no faces. (Guinevere looks uncertainly at a few councilmen. Lancelot turns at the sound of something behind him:) I– I keep telling you. They were there, but…they weren’t there. They moved so quickly. It was as if they weren’t real, but…they must’ve been. I could hear the people screaming. And then…silence. They were all…dead.” (Drea breaks down and Guinevere comforts her.) Guinevere: “Hey. Thank you. (To those gathered:) Where is this village?” Xena: (Arriving alongside Gabrielle:) “Not far. (Everyone turns to them:) It’s to the east of the White Mountains, no more than half a day’s hard ride.” Gabrielle: “We’ve just come from there.” Guinevere: (To Lancelot:) “Ready the men.”

Enchanted Forest. Past. (After reuniting with Tiger Lily, Emma and Mulan discuss plans to return home.) Tiger Lily: "Tink's still a novice fairy at this point. It'll take time to train her fully, but I'm fairly confident she can get us home." Emma: "That's great news. (Relieved:) I was worried I'd have to contact Rumplestiltskin again and I already did that the last time I went back in time." Mulan: "Haven't we gone back further in time than your last visit? If we did have to ask him for help, technically it would be for the first time." Emma: "Yeah, I suppose so, but anytime you ask the Dark One for help, it always comes with a price." Tiger Lily: "You know, the Darkness was around for hundreds of years. It really makes you appreciate living in a time where it no longer exists." Emma: "Well, you're welcome, but I know Marian won't appreciate me being late for work, so I better get going. (Catching Mulan's smirk:) What? It's all right for you, you get to be part of Robin Hood's gang." Mulan: "You think I like being back in the Merry Men? Once was bad enough, but now it's like half of them have never even held a sword, much less fought with one." Tiger Lily: "I thought Robin said he wasn't in that line of work anymore?" Mulan: "That was him being cautious. After watching me deal with the drunks at the tavern, Robin thought my skills would be put to better use training his men." Emma: "Well have fun kicking butt while I get mine groped all day in the tavern!" (Emma hurries back to the tavern to find Marian behind the bar waiting for her.) Marian: "You're late." Emma: (Removing her cloak:) "Yeah, sorry I was-" Marian: "How can you be late for work when you live upstairs? (Emma tries to explain but Marian talks over her:) You have a customer waiting." Emma: "I- really?" Marian: "Yes. They've been asking for you. (Places two flagons of mead on the bar:) Table six. Go on." (Emma takes the flagons and heads over towards the table. Negotiating carefully through the crowded room, she manages to place the flagons on the table without spilling a drop.) Emma: "There you are. Thank you for waiting." Regina: (Smiling up at her:) "Not a problem." Emma: (Surprised to see her:) "Regina?" Regina: "What are the odds, huh?" Emma: (Smiling:) "Of all the taverns in all the towns in all the world, you walk into mine." Regina: "Join me?" Emma: (Glances back at Marian, who is now busy:) "Sure, I could use a break."

Storybrooke. Present. Main Street. (Henry and Regina walk down the street, carrying Maria between them.) Henry: "You okay, Mom? You've been quiet since we left the bar." Regina: (Nods:) "Yeah, just thinking about Emma." Henry: "Of course." Regina: "You know, I told your mother just recently about how I've never been as happy as am with her? I mean, aside from the years you and I-" Henry: (Smiles:) "Mom, relax, I get it. The connection you and Emma have, you won't find between mother and son. Although all three of us have shared True Love's Kiss, so... I'm not quite sure what my point was going to be." Regina: (Chuckles:) "No, me neither." Henry: (Smiles:) "Well, what I meant to say is that we both know what Emma is capable of. She'll come back to us as soon as she's able." Regina: "Yeah." Henry: "And until then, you still have Maria and me." Regina: "Hm. About that... (Gently taking Maria's carrier from him:) We'll go solo. Your afternoon is already full.” Henry: “Is it?” Regina: “Mmhmm. (They turn a corner and see Ella working on the second food truck a short distance away:) I would do anything to have your mother back with us right now. But since I can’t do anything about that, I’m concentrating on what I can do, which is putting you and Ella back together. Go ask her out.” Henry: (Takes a deep breath:) “Sometimes I guess you just got to accept when Mom knows best.” Regina: “Now, be charming, and don't slouch.” Henry: (Nods:) “Wish me luck.”

Granny’s Diner. (Will Scarlett sits alone at a booth in the diner. Looking around, he pulls a flask out of his jacket and adds the contents to his coffee. When returning the flask to his pocket, a hand stretches out and pulls the coffee cup away.) Will: “Hands off. That's me lunch and dinner.” Robin: “Sorry, friend, but I need to pick your brain. And I need you sober as Friar Tuck on a Sunday when I do it.” Will: “I'm not sure Sunday's ever made any difference for that man. What's happening?” Robin: “I need to understand more about Robin Hood. The Robin Hood all these people seem to know and admire.” Will: “Funny. I often forget you’re not the man I betrayed way back when.” Robin: “No, but I’m sure the weight of your guilt will work in my favour.” Will: “Ah, well, that sounds more like the Robin I knew. So, what's so important about learning about the other version of yourself?” Robin: “I feel as though I’m living a lie. I’m in a relationship with the woman who tricked the other Robin into sleeping with her and bore his child. I regularly visit with Little John and Roland and continue to confuse the boy more and more.” Will: “Hm. A sticky situation indeed. I might just have an idea.” Robin: “Excellent.” Will: “But I'm gonna need me lunch and dinner back. (Robin sighs and passes the cup back:) See, you ain't been in this town as long as I have. There wasn't always magic, but when it came, it started at one place... The clock tower. See, for twenty eight years, them hands didn't move. Time stood still. Then one day, tick-tock, it bloody did.” Robin: “I'm afraid you've lost me, Will.” Will: “Do you know what's under that magical clock tower?” Robin: “No.” Will: “A library.” Under The Food Truck. (Ella is working when she hears music playing. Rolling out from under the truck, Ella sees Henry standing there with a boombox over his head.) Ella: “What's that?” Henry: (Lowers his arms:) “Uh, The English Beat. ‘Save it for Later.’” Ella: “I know what it is. (Sits up:) Why are you playing it?” Henry: “Oh, I always just liked the '80s. You know, John Hughes movies. New Wave music. A little New Order, a little Adam Ant. You know, I always used to make these amazing mix tapes, and I was-”

Ella: (Stands:) “You are making less sense than normal, Henry Swan-Mills.” Henry: “Yeah, right. Uh... (Clears throat and puts down the boombox:) Last time I was single, mix tapes always worked when I wanted to ask a girl out, so-” Ella: “You're asking me on a date now? You sure it's me you want to ask out?” Henry: “Yes! Yes! Because the thing with Drizella, that was a mistake. I mean, it wasn't, like, a mistake mistake, - because nothing happened, but -” Ella: “Sorry. I get it. It was a little odd hearing about it from Drizella rather than you but, I guess that’s what sisters are for. I get it. You don't have to explain.” Henry: “But I do! I do because I find myself wanting to explain all kinds of things to you, like like, I don't know, like why pancakes are appropriate for dessert, why the English Beat is so culturally relevant, why I can't stop thinking about you.” Ella: “Wow. You sure have seen a lot of John Hughes movies. (They both laugh:) What if I explained to you that I have a new small business and very little time?” Henry: “Well, then I'd say, I'm a cab driver and a failed writer with nothing but time. So, whenever you have some, I'd, uh I'd love to take you on a date. See if you could learn to like me again?” Ella: “Okay. What about now?” Henry: “Now? Like... Like, here?” Ella: “Well, you said you're good with cars, right? And yeah, mix tapes always work.” (Ella turns around to fetch something which allows Henry to celebrate like Judd Nelson at the end of The Breakfast Club. Catching a glimpse of Henry’s antics, Ella smiles and hands him a socket wrench.) Henry: “Yeah, thanks.” (Awkwardly, Henry kneels beneath the truck.) Ella: “Um, I'm just gonna...” (Ella turns up the volume of the boombox and then joins Henry under the truck.) Henry: “All right. Let's see what we got going on.” Ella: “Okay. I'm going to test you now.” Henry: “Oh, yeah. There's the problem. (Ella chuckles:) - I see it already.” Enchanted Forest. Past. Tavern. (With very few patrons remaining, the volume of conversation inside the tavern has decreased significantly. Which is perfect for the two women currently talking at a small table by the window, where they have been most of the evening.) Emma: "I still can't believe you snuck out to see me dressed like that." Regina: "What, this? This is one of my father's old hunting jackets." Emma: (Laughs:) "Did he ever catch anything while wearing it?" Regina: "Only a cold. (Smiles:) But it seems to be working much better for me." Emma: "Oh that was very smooth, Your Majesty." Regina: "Stop." Emma: "What?" Regina: "I'm sorry. Just... please don't call me that. I don't... I never wanted..." Emma: "I understand. Sometimes it's nice to forget all of your responsibilities." Regina: "Nice is an understatement." Emma: (Smiles, unable to stop herself:) "Do you ever think about what your life would have been like if-" Regina: "If the King hadn't chosen me? If my mother hadn't killed my fiance?" Emma: (Winces:) "Sorry, forget I asked." Regina: "No, it's perfectly fine for you to ask. (Sighs:) The truth is I don't know why I agreed to marry the King. With my mother banished to another land I could have easily walked away from it all. I guess in the end, I just felt like there was nothing left out there for me." Emma: "You will find love again, Regina. I promise you." Regina: "I'm starting to think that way too." (Regina slowly reaches out, taking Emma's hand and interlaces their fingers. Emma is about to reply when the tavern door swings open. Two stern looking palace guards enter and stand either side of the door.) Snow White: (Entering behind the men lowering her hood, looks around and spots the two women:) "Regina! There you are, I was so worried about you!" (Regina quickly withdraws her hand and stands to greet Snow White as Emma turns to stare at the young girl destined to become her mother.)

[emrysarthurpendragon]

Running out of time

Merlin woke with a start and looked around, collecting his memories. Oh. Right. He moved chambers a couple of weeks ago, when they came back from Morgana’s fortress and his friends now know he has magic. They were all supportive and, thank to them, his demons had been quiet since then. But today, he felt something was amiss. Rubbing his eyes, Merlin threw his legs outside his bed and perambulate in the room. Think. Think. Think. There must be something. He never woke in the middle of the night for no reasons.

 Emrys. Emrys, I’m scared…

The voice echoed in his mind; it belonged to a child. A little one he could feel through his magic. Like a string connecting their bodies and souls. If he moved closer to his window, the bond straightened. The closer he gets to the door, the weaker it became. He had to go. Go find that person, that child, whoever it was. Alas, when he opened the door, there stood Arthur and his bright smile. Lately, the new king kept surprising him and of course, today was one of these days. Yes, you read well. New king. Uther passed not long after they came back; murdered by Agravaine.

“Are you ready, Merlin?” he asked, almost as excited as a kid. The warlock just pictured a mini-Arthur jumping up and down.

“Do I have a choice?” the boy asked, faking hope.

“Nope. It’s your birth right and I won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“I hate you,” Merlin mumbled, making his friend laugh.

“No, you don’t,” Arthur answered, pressing his lips against Merlin’s. The warlock felt his resolutions melt away when Arthur pulled him closer, at least until a servant walked past them and snickered at the sight of the two men. Their cheeks flustered, they closed the door and hurried together to the main hall. Before they could step in, where people were already gathering for the big event and gossiping about Merlin, Arthur pulled him into another room. The area was empty exception for a chair and clothing hanging over them. Confused at first, Merlin felt his boyfriend’s hands push him and helping him out his usual attire. Especially his neckerchief. “What the…”

“You can’t attend knighting ceremony like this.”

“Why not?”

“I’m the King, you obey, or I’ll punish you,” Arthur purred, sliding his hands under the warlock’s shirt. Merlin shivered under the soft touch.

“Prove it,” Merlin laughed, hoping to avoid the knighting by doing so.

“Maybe later. If we are too long, Gwaine’s going to come here and all Camelot would have a graphic depiction of our bodies.” Arthur explained, quickly adding in an ushered tone: “You’re mine, I don’t want them knowing how beautiful you are.”

“Prat.”

Arthur laughed when he noticed the redness over Merlin’s face and he helped him with his new, clearly expensive, furniture. Hunith came all the way from Ealdor and the king wanted to see Merlin’s face when he would see her among the many faces. From now on, his soon-to-be mother-in-law would stay here, in Camelot and Arthur gave her a room across her son’s. Now fully dressed, Merlin faced Arthur; the blond gasped. Instead of his usual rags, Merlin stood there, wearing a blue shirt and black pants. Arthur ordered new boots too and… Merlin looked regal.

“One more thing,” Arthur said, taking a small package from the table. “Open it, please.”

Curious, Merlin ripped open the parcel and froze. It couldn’t be … was it … memories from a specific winter came back in his mind and he knew Arthur remembered too. The day he travelled to collect the knights and Gwen’s cloaks. With gentle hands, Merlin unfolded the piece of furniture and smile. The inside was made of fur, to protect its owner from the cold. The outside was bright red with Camelot’s lion embroidered on it. Arthur carefully wrapped it over Merlin small frame and smile, happy with the result.

“Perfect. Now, follow me. It’s time for you to join us.”

 Nodding his agreement, Merlin followed Arthur. They walked hand in hand and reached the huge door separating them from the others. They were taking baby steps in the change of Camelot. First, Merlin’s ceremony. Then, the ban of magic. One thing at a time. Arthur walked into the room first and all murmurs stopped. Merlin started counting in his head. One. Two. Three … eight…

 Emrys. Emrys, save me, please… Mum… Dad…

 Merlin jumped, darting around for something or someone in need. He stood alone in the corridor and shook that feeling. Still, he wanted nothing more than run and find the voice. What was he supposed to do? Walk in the room, following today’s plans and all … or leave without a second glance to find the kid?

“Arthur is going to kill me,” Merlin thought, still pondering with his two options. “It’s just a matter of minutes, I’ll go after.”

 Emrys please, it hurts!

 Merlin bit his lips, walking one step after another. Arthur stood there; a smile plastered on his face. Their friends all waited front raw with equally bright expressions.

 He saw a dark room, without windows. Water dripped from the walls and fell on several bodies. Prisoners were huddles together in one cell, except for one. In a cell, a person with dirty blond hair hanged limply. Her wrists had been chained to the roof, placing her in a painful posture. These were not ordinary cuffs though, as he noticed magic-repels runes on them.

 His heart fastened and he kneeled on the steps facing the king. Wait … was it his mother, standing next to Gaius? Oh, Lord! She came! With his body tensed, Merlin repeated the same promise to the people of Camelot. Like all the red knights did before and will do after him. He swore servitude and protection to all, rich or poor, strong, or weak. Inside, Merlin silently added ‘magic or not’ and knew Arthur followed his thoughts. They smiled at each other’s and the King took his sword, touching Merlin’s shoulders with it. When the former manservant stood again, he was no longer Clumsy Merlin but Sir Merlin, son of Lord Balinor, king of the lost kingdom of Avalon. Or was it lost? Merlin had a feeling that they may find it again.

 Emrys, find me, please…

 The world started spinning. The new lord had to focus on staying up but he spotted Arthur’s eyes. The King noticed his sudden change and worried. They had to thank all their friends, Merlin hugged his mum with a bright smile splattered on his face, but they still made their way out the throne’s room. Just when he was ready to explain, he felt the connection shut. Just like this. Had the child died? Merlin felt panic rose in him. He should have gone and find her, follow her track to wherever she was held captive.

“Merlin? Merlin, what’s wrong?” Arthur asked, blue eyes searching him for any injures or whatsoever. Did he mention how protective the king was lately? From behind them, Gwaine exited the room and eyed them curiously. He too noticed their strange behaviours.

“Merlin? Princess? What’s wrong?”

Arthur barely rolled his eyes at the nickname.

“I don’t know yet. Merlin?”

“I … not here. It’s about my uh … thing.”

“Your penis?” Gwaine asked, making Merlin blushed when servants walked past them, shaking with laughter either because of the comment, or the young lord sudden redness. “Kidding. Hey, relax Merlin, it’s just a joke…”

“Mother…” Merlin squealed, mortified. Yes. His mother walked behind the knight when he formulated his stupid comment. Still, Hunith just giggled and ruffled his black hair.

“I’m so proud of you, Merlin. Your father would be too, I know it. Before you were born, he often talked of the life he wants for his kids, if he ever had some. A good life and faithful friends. That’s all, and you have it all.”

“He told you, about his inheritance? His lineage?”

“All the time, but shall we talk in my rooms? It’s about your … thing.”

 Merlin nodded after sending a death glare toward Gwaine. He had to keep an eye on both him and his mother. He feared what Hunith may tell his friends if they had a chance. One word about his ‘pants’ allergy’ and he would never hear the end of it. All Camelot would know about two-year-old Merlin running with his wee shaft flapping around, in the paths of Ealdor. He started wearing proper clothing at age seven, after a cold so powerful he almost died. Knights, King, Hunith and Gwen all walked to the woman’s room and sat randomly on the floor, chair or the bed. Merlin talked first, since his visions were far more important than whatever his mother could share about his father’s past. Balinor was dead, this could wait. The child may still be alive. So he told them everything. The voice he had heard in the middle of the night and every now and then before and during the ceremony. He shared his vision, the cell where people were held captive and a child restrained with anti-magic chains. Not like the ones in Camelot’s vault, no. More powerful.

“These are dangerous. I only heard glimpse of what they do. No normal users could use their powers with these on but … she had to, when she contacted me. She’s strong. Probably born with the gift.”

Leon paled when he heard the warlock, that did not go unnoticed.

“What is it?” asked the king, his attention turned to his oldest friend.

“How old was she?”

“Can’t tell for sure. Maybe three or four.” Merlin said, frowning. “Why?”

“I knew someone from Camelot, their child was born with magic and they hid her the best they could. It helped me see the law had some flaws,” he said, his eyes fighting back tears. “Two years ago, their village had been raided and their girl died. Killed by those people.”

“Their or your child?” Merlin asked, remembering something. When Leon’s wife had been pregnant, the young woman went to her family’s house and stayed with them for the last six months. One day, Leon had left after he was handed a letter from his better half and no one seen him but when he came again, he was even jumpier whenever someone mentioned magic. They all thought nothing of it, until that day. With Yseult close to term, the knight took some days off and rode back alone to Camelot. Questions were asked since they all thought the family would travel together but he told them about his baby’s health. She’d been sick, fragile as glass, and their physician insisted on keeping her close to the ocean. For a couple of years at least. Merlin’s eyes widened. He remembered a wild, brand new, magic once upon a time. Like the one he felt this morning. Could it be? No. Leon child was like … 6? 7? Still, Leon sudden nervousness spoke for him. Silence fell upon their small group, all knights processing what they just learned. Leon had a magic child. And she died or was taken by mercenaries. If taught by the wrong people, she may become the biggest threat Camelot ever face. No. She probably died and now, another child waited for them.

“I’m sorry for your loss, really. But we don’t have time. Someone else is looking for their girl and we need to find her. Wherever she is,” Merlin said, feeling awful for brushing away his friend’s sadness like this. “If we don’t help, her magic can… I don’t know. But you don’t want to find out.”

“Ok; everyone got ready. We leave in two hours sharp.”

 * * *

 While servants readied their horses and supplies, Merlin stayed in his room and focused. He closes his eyes, searching for the girl magic. He thought the bond broken, but it was here. Weak but pulsing like a small heart. Through it, the warlock felt all her current emotions. Fear. Hurt. Sadness. Mix feelings and betrayal. Someone promised her protection and now, she was locked up and scared. He focused on the string between their souls and found her location. No. Not really, but the path they need to follow if they were to find her. Just like hours prior, depending on where he was heading, Merlin felt the bond grow stronger or weaker. With Arthur riding beside him, on his left, and Lancelot at his right, Merlin led the way and focused on his magic. He followed the invisible trail. For hours, they barely spoke. Night fell, they set up camp and shared stories about their previous adventures. About how they met but also, how Merlin with his new rank. They teased Merlin too, with his romance with Arthur. Gwaine, for instance, kept saying his new life happened because he had been ‘really nice’ with the King; resulting in a sudden scream when the blond kicked his friend.

“Merlin’s not like this. Show some respect.”

“Ouch. Unfair! I was just kidding!” Gwaine whined, rubbing his sore leg.

“Leave it, Arthur. No harm done,” Merlin murmured, sending an apologetic glare to his best friend. With Lancelot. “We’re just messing together.”

“Joking about your virtue is fun?” asked Arthur, clearly confused. “I don’t understand.”

“That’s why I do the thinking. You know nothing, Pendragon,” Merlin laughed, howling as Arthur tackled him to the floor. They struggled together, encouraged by the knights’ cheers. Merlin rolled on top of his king, gently kissing his nose.

 Emrys? Emrys, are you with daddy?

 Merlin stopped, eyes wide open and paler than usual. Through the child eyes, he saw a memory. A blurry face of a man with curly, blond hair. A man with a vaguely familiar voice. The thing was the girl’s memories were fading. She was forgetting her family.

 “Merlin.”

“Shh!”

 Focus, Emrys. I’m not far. Please. I wanna go home.

 Merlin’s eyes burned gold. It felt like someone took control of his body. Someone with secret knowledge. He was seeing more. More than what mortal eyes were supposed to witness. Here it appeared for the first time. The golden trail between the trees, over hills and across the water. This reminded him of a myth, a legend. Long ago, a woman named Ariana got lost in a labyrinth and created a magic cord. The bond united her soul to his lover’s and that way, she found her way out the trap set by a creature of magic. Ariana, queen of her folks, was brave and gave her life for the kingdom. The deal was: if she somehow got out the maze, she’ll live, and her people would be safe. Anyway, King Minos lied and created a terrible creature with only one purpose: kill the young, mundane queen. The Goddesses and Gods, shook by such courage, sent magic knowledge to the Queen. Hecate helps her and, for ages after, protect her pupil’s family. No one ever managed to conjure Ariana’s lead since then. Until now. Was the child a descendant? Naturally gift? Behind him, Merlin heard voices calling his name, but the bond was stronger. He saw then, in a distance, a glowing light. He knew the world was pitch black but far away, in maybe two days ride, a building called for him. For them. Elyan stopped beside him and, as they all gathered, Merlin whispered:

 “I know where she’s locked.”

I’m coming, kid. Don’t worry, he added mentally.

 They waited the night before moving forward. They escaped Morgana using teleportation and with a specific location, they now could do the same thing to find their prey. No. Not prey. Worst word choice ever.

“Just know I can’t take the horses with us. I have powers, but not that much,” warned Merlin after they packed the next day. “Grab your weapons, anything you think essential for our mission, and whatever’s left stay here.”

It took them another couple minutes, enough to let Merlin prepare his spell. Last time, he acted out of instinct, fearing for their lives but now … he had to do the same on purpose. Of course, with his luck, things went slightly off topic. He appeared near the ruins but alone. He was alone and, judging by the signals, with a handful of mercenaries and prisoners inside the old building.

 Following his courage, instinct or whatever, Merlin walked inside with his magic ready. He hoped the others weren’t so far. He needed their help, he noticed, when a man attacked him from behind, alerting all the others.

 They fought hard. Sword against sword. Magic finding its way and killing offenders. Called it miracle or mere luck, Merlin stumbled into the dungeons and felt nauseous. A dozen people were huddled in the first cell, most of them magic if he were right, and they opened wide eyes at his sight.

“Emrys…” whispered a man, placing thin hands on the cold bars. “I can’t believe it. You’re…”

“Don’t mind us. Save her, please…” another voice asked. A woman directing him to the second cell. “The thing they’d done… We can’t help her… We tried, but our magics are too weak.”

Merlin nodded, breaking the lock before hurrying to the girl. She was all alone. Her body smells a mix of death, tears, lack of proper hygiene. When her body fell – once Merlin used a spell to break her chains – the warlock caught her with ease. He laid her on the floor, studying her wrists and ankles. Irons were still there, controlling her magic. These runes belonged to another age. When Emrys legend first appeared. When a person, scared to the core, sold its soul to a greater devil to control the children of pure magic. Those who were born from the Source. These were made for him. His powers shy away when he touched the metal. It burned his skin, as much as it did to the girl. Her skin showed how strong she had been. He could almost see her bones where the burns were too important. These prove all the times her magic managed to escape the manacles. All the moments she called for help, even if it meant more pain.

“I’ll free you. I’m here. I’m so sorry…” Merlin whispered, his golden eyes burning again and the metallic noise of the shackles disturbing the almost quietness of the room. Once he freed them, most prisoners escaped. All exception for the man who reached for him when he entered. “You’re safe now. We’ll take you out.”

He didn’t know if he was heard, but he suddenly realised how stupid of him it had been to take off the bonds now. Like water behind a dam, the child’s magic had been suddenly freed. In his arms, he saw – behind dirty blond hair – two golden pearl stared at him. He heard a frightened scream and the walls started shaking.

“My King, we must go!” yelled the man that waited for him. Merlin wanted to protest, claim that he was no king, but decided against it. They needed to hurry out before all the place collapse on them. “Give me the girl!”

Feeling a sudden protective urge, Merlin shook his head and held the little thing against him. As they ran, he chanted various spells. He tried to calm her but couldn’t. Years of restrained magic flooded outside her body. Like a river, a storm locked away for too long. On their way out, Merlin sprained his ankles and swore. It hurts. Still she clung to him and screamed in his mind. She was begging for help and he carried on. She won’t die here. Not now. Not when he finally saved her.

 Emrys. I can’t breathe!

“I know, darling. I know. Listen to my heart.”

 A criminal ran past them, trying to escape. His neck snapped and he fell to the ground, dead. He had not done that. He had to make the girl focus on something else, or she may kill an innocent.

“Tell me your name, ok sweetie?”

Gaia. Papa’s a knight. Where’s papa?

“I don’t know yet. I’ll help you find him. I’ll protect you.”

I’m a monster…

 Merlin froze. Where did this come from? Before he asked, images flooded his mind. Gaia had killed before. Accidents whenever the mercenaries came to her. From the night she’d been captured. From that woman who came to her, acting all nice until she realised Gaia was just … too pure. Too good-hearted to become evil. Morgana. Morgana hurt a child. She was lost for humanity then. The one she used to be helped people.

 “You’re not. You are an amazing little girl; your parents love you.”

No. No. No. Bad. Bad. I’m sorry.

 They never reached the tower’s entrance. The construction collapsed. Merlin held the younger warlock against his chest, protecting her with his own body. Pain filled him. Silence fell. Darkness surrounded them.

 * * *

 Elyan barely stopped Arthur when the building collapsed in front of them. They helped the prisoners and killed mercenaries. Some people were healing each other’s with magic’s help or plants.

“Merlin!”

No. It couldn’t be. Arthur shook his head in disbelief, leaving his friend’s grasp. He had to find him. Find them. Merlin was not allowed to die. He gave an order!

[digimonadventuretimelines]

[16 - Team Up!!]

Lupinmon returned back to the headquarters, dizzy and injured. His servants came to give him assistance and treat his injuries, but he felt unable to understand why that human kid and the adult man made him froze in battle. He was supposed to stop them, to eliminate them!

So, why was he freezing every time those humans appear in front of him?

“Master,” Magnamon arrived and took a look at his commander “... What happened to you?”

“A fight. I lost a fight. If you say anything about it…”

“Who did this to you?”

“The Chosen Children, but no worries they weren’t taking the fight seriously. However, the human man said… He was here looking for someone important to him.”

“Someone… Important?”

“Didn’t the Roar of Freedom capture one of those humans a long time ago? What happened to them? Did they die or what? But the kid… The kid strikes me something I don’t understand.”

“What is it?”

“... A feeling. But let’s forget it. Send two tough scouts this time. We need to close the gates and retrieve all of the digimon in the human world. And, getting rid of the human colonies in our world.”

“As you wish, master.”

“WHAT!?” Taichi shouted on the phone “Daisuke is WHAT!?”

“Is being controlled by the enemy, yes. He thinks he’s Lupinmon and I assume there’s some amnesia or mind control.”

“Ken, hold up. Did you find something on him? Evil Ring or Spiral?”

“... No. And you saying it quite of implies that I could’ve controlled everyone with those, something I never had thought of before. Neither want imagine what could’ve happened if I had tried to.”

“Oops, sorry I meant no harm! Someone could’ve gotten your old gimmicks and used it on humans.”

“I know. But no rings, spirals or even Black Gears. Could’ve been something deeper, under the skin. But I assume their original plan was getting me and Daisuke messed with it by saving me and letting them capture him instead.”

“Always doing self-sacrifices” Taichi sighed, “We need to find a way to bring him back. Anyway, any more news?”

“... Daisuke’s son has a digivice and a digimon partner. Not only them, but also Daisuke’s daughter, my children and an unknown children codenamed ‘Brave Tamer’ who is constantly involved into battles.”

“I knew about Hoshi and Eiji thanks to Hikari. Huh, so a new generation is showing up… And they’re our children this time.”

“Do you know if Taisuke got a digivice and a digimon, Taichi”

“No, I don’t think he has gotten one or a partner. Unless he hadn’t told Sora and me.”

 Miyako was glancing at her children, arms crossed and foot tapping the floor.

“You two lied to me.”

“I’m sorry mom--”

“We had a reason” Daichi was all pouty, “But you lied to us too. When were you going to tell us the truth, mom? About… About that the legends were real? That you and dad were part of the legendary Twelve?”

Miyako felt a headache, she didn’t expect that talk to be so hard or even earlier. Daisuke would’ve helped her to make things less tense, but… No, she had to be strong for her family. And handle it alone.

“We were going to tell you when you were a bit older.”

“I’m 14! How much old do you mean!? You were 12 years old and dad 11 years old when you had fought evil digimon in the past!”

“Watch your language, Daichi. I’m not your enemy!”

“And my dad isn’t either!”

“H-hold on everyone…” Kiyoko interrupted them, “Natsu explained why you didn’t tell us before. It was to protect us, right? Then… Now it’s useless because we got digivices and digimon partners. You can’t not let us get involved with it.”

“I wish I could, but you will have to be prepared for what’s coming” Miyako sighed, that discussion had taken a good chunk of her energy, “One, your father is working for the enemy against his own will. Two, the digimon you fight will get stronger battle by battle.”

“We know” Daichi replied with a serious voice of tone “But if we fight together we can save dad, we can save everyone!”

“That I agree, but… I will be afraid of losing you two as well. I need time to accept--”

“Everyone,” Natsu invaded the room with the digimon “Miyako’s digivice received a message of a digimon attack! We need to… Do something!”

“This will be your first trial, let’s solve it as soon as possible. But first take these communicators, put them on and keep me informed.”

  “Hey kid, there’s a digimon sinal nearby.”

He took the D-TimeRune and looked at the screen. BlackAgumon was inside and his icon appeared on a map. It was close to a Digital Gate.

“Really, now? Whatever, we’re going…”

“Release me so I can evolve kid.”

“Right.”

He pressed a button on the digivice, changing his clothes in a blink of the eye. BlackAgumon popped out of the screen and the kid scanned the back of his hand, next pointing the digivice to his partner.

They left the area quickly.

 “What’s happening!?” Reika exclaimed, after seeing a blue Greymon pass in the horizon. Jin and Mike asked the same after.

“That blue Greymon again” Hoshi clenched her fist, then looked at the other kids “Please help me to evacuate the area. I need to call the others.”

“Call the others?” Jin repeated.

“Miss Hoshi there are two digimon nearby!!” the partner digimon inside Hoshi’s digivice said.

“... We’re going with you” Mike gave a serious gaze at Hoshi “If with these we can help… Then we will.”

“Thanks. Follow me guys!”

 “Huh, I heard you!” Mirai responded to the voice messages sent by Mitsuki on the voice chat “I’ve detected two digimon close to the west digital gate. Hold on, I will tell Daichi asap!”

“Mirai, I’m scared… What if those digimon come after me?”

“Don’t worry Koh, you don’t like to fight but my friends and my skills are enough to keep you safe! Uh-oh, one digimon moved away and is on rampage. Mitsuki are you still here? Go to north, some digimon and people are in danger…!”

 Panic and digimon screaming. Some babies from the hatchery building had been carried by humans and child level digimon. The rest started bouncing, running and flying away from the Dinobeemon, a digimon combination of XV-mon and Stingmon.

Hoshi’s Stingmon flew in the skies and stood in front of the enemy. while the children tried to save the babies.

“Hold it, creepy thing” the audacious girl stopped a few meters away from the fight “Sting, let’s show em why to not mess with those digi-babies and people!”

“Sting?” he looked back.

“K-Kiyoko’s partner has a name so I can’t lose to her! From now on you will be called by ‘Sting’ and will be my loyal guard.”

“Miss Hoshi…” he blushed, and Dinobeemon hit him with a kick, sending him against a building “OOF!”

“I think it was a bad hour to…talk about it” she facepalmed.

The non-partnered human trio had been taking the babies away from the danger, but a wild squad of Tsuchidarumon (a mud/earth subspecies of Yukidarumon) appeared to block the area.

“What should we do!?” Reika asked the boys.

“Fight” Mike responded with a serious glare, and he took the digivice “I dunno how it works but…”

“I will fight with you!” A Tanemon said to him, “Show me your brave heart, human!”

“We will fight too!” And a Pukamon and a Upamon shouted to Jin and Reika.

“Those little ones wants to… fight with us?” Jin blinked.

“I have no objections, as long they don’t get hurt.”

the instructions on the digivices appeared on the screen, and just like the other kids… Reika, Jin and Mike followed those instructions. On the screen of Reika’s digivice appeared a scale symbol. On Jin’s and Mike’s, the crests of Reliability and Sincerity -- respectively.

Upamon, Pukamon and Tanemon evolved to Armadimon, Kamemon and Floramon.

“SCRATCH BEAT!” “ALLERGY SHOWER!” “POINTER ARROW!”

Floramon’s pollen paralyzed the enemy, letting Armadimon’s claws and Kamemon’s pointer missile hit them. they opened the way for a few minutes, taking all the innocents away from the battle. Sting and Hoshi tried to keep the enemy distracted, preventing it from going after the other kids and the rescued people plus digimon.

Meanwhile… Daichi and Kiyoko were on battle with a humanoid version of Kuwagamon -- MetallifeKuwagamon! The mysterious Brave Tamer was also there.

“Ulforce!” “Captain!” “Right!” “Yes ma’am!”

With their digimon evolved, and Miyako behind the strategy they could prevent the gate devices from being destroyed. However, Brave Tamer was finding that mission too easy. Three Adult level digimon against a Perfect level. Then, an Ookuwamon came from the digital world’s gate.

“H-HUH!?” Kiyoko exclaimed

“Don’t worry, i’ve called for Ken’s assistance. Stay focused” Miyako told her children.

“Uh-oh, there it is…!” Someone was talking with Brave Tamer, and that voice seemed to be Mirai’s!? “I think this is the time you need a backup plan. Hold on, you’re with Daichi right? My radar caught two digivices and digimon linked to.”

“Yeah, that kid is here--”

“You know you don’t need to pretend on this channel. It’s secured, with a strong cryptography and lots of filters. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Sigh, fine… Gimme a plan. I will talk to Daichi later.”

 On both fights, backups of the police dept. had came to help the (Neo) Chosen Children in the fight. A KnightChessmon and a GrappuLeomon appeared in the Kuwagamon species battle, one releasing darts against the enemies and another punching the Ookuwamon with high speed.

“Here’s the help!” Miyako chirped, “Ken is focused on another battle though…”

“Ok, there’s only four digimon here-- Huh, the blue Greymon is here!?”

“You noticed it only now, bro?” Kiyoko had some annoyance in her rhetorical question.

“Those support digimon are from the police unit” Mirai informed Brave Tamer “OK so the plan is: Two can handle Ookuwamon, I suggest leaving it to the PawnChessmon and GrappuLeomon. The rest is up to Daichi, Kiyoko and you.”

“Nice. I will meet with them right now” Brave Tamer responded, then approached from the Motomiya siblings. Kiyoko stared at him, while Daichi kept expressionless.

“We met again…” Daichi calmly greeted him.

“It’s not like I wanted to, but the digimon need to be saved. You will follow my lead, I got a plan.”

“Who’s that kid?” Miyako asked her children, “Is it that the one Hikari mentioned before?”

“I dunno mom” Kiyoko replied, “But we need all help we get. So start talking, kiddo!”

“Well, Your digimon fly and all of all three have long range attacks. If we combine out attacks, coming from three different directions we might beat it and protect the gate device.”

“... I see” Daichi smiled, a small smile though “Ulforce, Captain, did you hear it??”

“Yeah” “Aye, sir!”

 “Sting don’t dare to lose!!” Hoshi shouted, she was thinking what to do but Dinobeemon was way stronger than her partner. Then she had the idea of taking her digivice and saw something blinking on it. Was it a hint? “Why… Uh, scan enemy? Okay then.”

She scanned the digimon opponent and got data of it, “P-perfect level…? Isn’t Sting on his adult level? So, this means he’s weaker-- ??”

A very shiny and gallant insect-humanoid digimon -- Jewelbeemon -- popped in, hitting Dinobeemon with his spear. She heard someone calling her name and then saw...

“D-Dad!?”

“Let me handle this for now” Ken told her, “Get your partner back and assist the people and digimon to evacuate this area.”

“B-But--”

“Please, that digimon is too strong for you yet!”

She nodded and then called Sting back, who took her and flew away.

 The attacks combined hit MetallifeKuwagamon, KnightChessmon and GrappuLeomon had finally knocked out the other enemy and joined forces with the heroic trio. their strength increased the power and then they knock out the remaining opponent.

“It worked!!” Kiyoko grinned and showed a thumbs up to the mysterious kid.

Brave Tamer smirked. To Daichi it meant he was a bit arrogant, but didn’t worded said thoughts. The rest of the police unit came, and with Natsu’s help they all captured the criminals. But by Kiyoko’s reaction Daichi was able to find something odd in the picture.

“So I guess you have to show yourself,” Mirai talked with Brave Tamer “You can’t fool Daichi anymore, he probably got you.”

“... We should go home now” but Daichi seemed exhausted “Thanks for the help… Stranger.”

Oof, that sounded like sarcasm, but actually was him unable to think straight. He had Natsu denying information of the past, had intervened on a battle between his dad and officer Ichijouji and had confronted his mother. All of that in the SAME day. Daichi’s mood had done a 180° flip and he had no desire to get more stress.

“Heh, you have to know your place” Brave Tamer sounded like a treat, he was a show off kid. Daichi had no energy to get mad either, “This alliance was only for now. I work alone, and while Lupinmon is out… I will protect the innocents! All Baddies will not win against me.”

“Oh cut it out!” Kiyoko hissed, “Let’s go home Daichi. There’s some people who never learn!”

“Heheh, nice” Brave Tamer smirk didn’t disappear though, “We will see again, losers~” the blue Greymon grabbed the tiny and chaotic kid with his hands and left the area.

“Ugh! I hate this!” Kiyoko pouted.

“... I know what you meant. Hey mom? Is everything okay already?”

“Yup. Ken already handled the other digimon attack. Innocents are moved to a safer place. Let’s eat Paella today~”

“... What’s with Spanish cuisine all of a sudden?” Kiyoko gave a deep sigh.

“L-look, it had been ages since the last time I eat it! And… I need something to shove those thoughts away!”