#his uncle also gave me a check with cash

[ultimateaclrecovery]

Weird holiday money giving things

I have now reached the age (or maybe my parents have reached the age) where my parents have started give me a large check for Christmas.

I also went to my bfs family’s house for Christmas this too and his family also gave me a large check for Christmas. (Which is bonkers but very very nice). (And I peeked and saw that it was the same as my bfs check)(they gave one to all of their children plus son in law)

But my parents only gave me a check and not my bf and instead of giving it out with presents they did it after he had gone home. (They did the same with my brother, saying they just didn’t want to put it under the tree.

Which again is fine, but now I feel weird that I have received two parent checks this Christmas and my bf only one. Like it doesn’t feel balanced or fair somehow and like I should fix it somehow. Like do I mention to my mom that his family also gave me a large check? (The checks are the same amount for whatever that’s worth). I like don’t want to pressure my parents into giving more than maybe they would want or think they should but also maybe she would want to know? Idk.

My parents also have not been giving a separate check to my brothers girlfriend and she has been coming to family Christmas for years. But they do give him more. But also he does not have an income and they have been giving him checks for holidays for longer. (Which to be clear is not a problem just additional reasons for his check to be larger that is not just it being for two people, and it wasn’t it double).

I could also just not say anything and just let it be, which seems fine but also weirdly guilty.

I also don’t know how bad my mom would feel finding out later. She often checks with me with how much my aunt and uncle gave us for Christmas to give my cousin the same

[lilac-5ky]

Roommates from Hell, pt.1 (Toji x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 1: Stolen Fries taste best

(pic from loving yamada at lvl999, adorable manga, recommend)

Chapter 2 | Story Masterlist | Masterlist

Plot: Out of all the women that come and go in Toji's life, you're the only one he calls his friend. But when he suddenly forces his way into your apartment, the feelings you've kept from him are put to the test.

Setting: Pre Hidden Inventory Arc. Toji and reader are both in their late twenties, no Megumi in picture... yet :p

Themes: Cohabitation, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers

Warning: Slight sexual content minus the actual smut.

A/N at the bottom

“You’re late. Again.”

The small silver bell at the top of the glass door notified you of a man’s arrival, his heavy steps refusing to wipe themselves upon entry, spreading mud all over the now-blotted checkered tiles of the dimly lit diner. You’d been expecting the owner of those shoes for the past six hours, his untimely arrival coming as a bitter aftertaste to an afternoon full of childish joy and mayhem— popped balloons, colorful confetti, and half-eaten pieces of cakes swept into one big pile at the room’s southernmost corner by yours truly.

“I never said I was coming,” the voice retorted, its defiant sound overshadowed by the gruesome screech of a metallic chair. “Not interested in celebrating some brat’s b-day, ‘specially if it ain’t mine.”

“How many helpless children must have spent their birthdays without their no-good father, I wonder,” you wiped your hands against your cherry-red apron, pushing the broom back into place. “If your goal is to repopulate Japan, I’m certain you’ll succeed.”

Hefty fingers mindlessly combed through a head of obsidian black, little spikes forming and then settling back down. “None, as far as I’m concerned,” sarcasm dripped from his tongue.

“Well, I find that hard to believe,” you mumbled under your breath, circling through the room to ensure everything was dealt with: leftovers in the fridge, gift wrappings in the bin, and the large aforementioned pile of garbage waiting to be scooped up. “You’ve known Kenzo since birth. Even if this ain’t your thing, the least you could’ve done was make an appearance. He kept asking about his favorite uncle all night long.”

“Except I’m not his uncle. Don’t mix me in with your sister’s family, I ride solo.”

Sigh.

“My sister’s family might as well be your family, Toji. You know how much Hinata and her kids adore you.”

“Good for them, I suppose.”

Another sigh.

“Can you at least tell me what was so important for you to not even pick the goddamn phone up?”

As if the device had grown sentient, a generic tune began tooting from the back pocket of his sweatpants, eradicating your final hope that it’d simply run out of battery.

Without budging from his seat, Toji twisted an arm around his back to pull his flip-phone out, the silver-tinted lid slamming shut as soon as he’d peered at the caller’s number, his next immediate move being to drown the sound in a glass of leftover Coke, fizzy bubbles playing the device’s final requiem.

You didn’t need to ask to know it was a woman, and he didn’t need to answer that she, whatever the name of his latest conquest was, happened to also be the reason for his being unfashionably late.

It was always like that. He was always like that. He went out with one girl after the other; from women of extreme beauty and poise to mindless bimbos who couldn’t tell tea leaves and coffee beans apart. He’d spend some cash to butter them up with expensive meals at overpriced restaurants, or VIP entrance at the hottest club, or even pay for the name tag on their designer clothes, but come next morning, he was either caught stealing straight out of their pockets or checking whether the tag was still attached to the dress for him to return it to the store—at which point, the vast majority gave up, except for those few poor souls who earnestly believed they could fix him, though they never would.

If there were two things in this world that remained unfaltering and resolute throughout the eons, then that was the earth’s orbiting the sun, and Zen’in Toji’s being the bastard of a man you knew and loved— special intonation of that last part.

It was quite the oxymoron. To know him as an irredeemable scumbag with no intention of changing, and to love him for all he was; a sentence as contradictory and controversial as the man before you. What was there to love? He never gave two shits about the people around him dying, and if he could encourage or partake in their deaths then he certainly would. He gambled every cent of cash in his hands away, and his every attachment ended with the disposal of his used-up condom. He was vulgar, cynical, and brass, and he possessed a great charisma of making people dislike him at first glance. His only saving grace was his good looks and even those he managed to scrape on a daily basis.

So, really, what was there to love about a man whose place fitted best among the pile of garbage in the corner? What was the point in all that?

He never answered your question, and when you realized he wasn’t planning to, you dragged a second chair to his side, propping your elbows first and then your chin over the vinyl backrest, feet landing at each side. You took in his expression— sour and undeniably agitated, with a frown tugging at the scarred corner of his lower lip, and a glare too icy to be meant for the wall of American-styled neon billboards he mercilessly studied. Something definitely bothered him, and as a huff stiffened his chin, the reason became evident enough for you to point at it.

“Woman or work?” you gestured at the blood that dribbled below his ear and down his neck.

He followed your forefinger with his eyes, thumb scrubbing where the gush began. He seemed oblivious to his injury, though it wasn’t as if his becoming aware changed a thing.

“So it is a woman,” you gladly seized the chance to rub salt into his wound, drawing a frustrated grumble from him.“What did you do this time? Stole her car and crashed it into a tree? Blew all her savings on cockfight betting?”

“Horse races,” he had the nerve to correct.

“Or… did you by any chance bring an uncalled ménage à trois to her bed?”

“What kind of man you take me for?” Toji protested.

“A very, very, veeeery bad man,” you smirked, and he returned it. You knew him like the back of your hand. There was no need to pretend otherwise after well over a decade’s worth of friendship.

“If a very bad man is what I am, then why’d ya let me in?” he asked. “A young unprotected woman all by herself in the middle of the night letting such scum in never ends well. Thought you were smarter than this.”

“If I was smarter, then I wouldn’t be calling you my friend, would I?”

His grimace turned into a full-blown devilish grin, the kind that secretly had your heart buzzing against the frail set of bones of your chest. He always looked so dazzling when he smiled, that sometimes you couldn’t find fault in those women wanting to believe in his pretty lies, because you, too, wanted to. You hoped that whatever the price for those smiles was, you would one day be able to afford it and gain ownership of his heart, no matter how wretched or blackened it was.

“You are a real idiot to mix it up with me,” he conceded. “Though, you are a greater idiot for letting that term define us. I bet your nights serving meals at some kiddie place get rather lonely. But I could help. I could make you feel really good, Y/N. So good that you’d risk some prick getting in, lest he is me.”

His tongue poked out his mouth, giving his bottom lip a brief lick while he peered at you through half-lidded eyes. He had this way of turning things sexual in the blink of an eye, selling himself so well that your refusal to buy seemed commendable— despite the unmistakable affection you held for his face. Little did he know how much you longed to push that chair to the side and rip his cocky expression along his black-sleeved shirt off his body, making it so that neither of you had a place to hide from the other.

Now, that’d feel good.

“My nights are fine as they are, thank you very much,” you countered your instincts much to his disappointment. “And if I ever needed myself a helping hand, know that you’d be the last I’d call!” Not as if you’d pick up, anyway, you mentally added.

His gust of interest fizzled out as soon as it surged, your rejection forcing him to rock back and forth between the chair’s legs. He wasn’t interested in continuing this. It was enough for him to take in the dusty pink shading of your ears and smile to himself, knowing you were still the kind of woman affected by his charms. Yes, that certainly was enough, for now.

“I’ll clean you up,” you declared, getting off your spot in haste and strolling through the bar in search of a clean towel.

Once you found it, you let it soak under the faucet and brought it back to him, rubbing against his skin regardless of his petty attempt at gritting his teeth. You placed one hand on his shoulder and another at his jaw, pushing them apart to no avail. Every muscle in his body was stronger than your entire bodily force combined, and he was awfully willing to flex that difference between you, just as he was at letting you straddle his hips and climb all over his body like some sort of feral monkey in heat.

A string of profanities that ranged from “bastard” to “shit-eating-asshole-shithead” poured out your mouth while Toji smirked, and smiled, and grinned, and didn’t even try to stop you from knocking the two of you onto the ground, palms barely managing to stable your head over his face. Your pleated skirt had risen, or rather flipped, over your panties, revealing the strawberry pattern panties you were wearing to his greedy hands as they hiked up your flesh without an ounce of shame.

“Wh-What are you doing?!”

“What do you think I’m doing?” he cooed, burying his calloused fingers under the elastic waistband of your underwear.

You felt him trace the inward of your thighs in languid strokes, the fabric stretching the further his hand dipped— closer, and closer to your now-pulsing core, but never so close as to make actual contact. His hot breath tingled your lips, smelling of nothing in particular, but a sweaty tang of a woman’s deodorant that still lingered in his clothes. Had he fucked her before making it here, you wondered, heart tightening at the thought.

Your legs wiggled shut, unable to fully repel his hand, and for a brief moment, you considered letting him go through with this— whatever this was. Even if you came to be another conquest won, you didn’t care. All you needed was for him to hush all logic from your brain, and fuck you senselessly against the checkered tile floor of the “kiddie food place” you served meals at.

“Toji…” you begged, uncertain what you were begging him for until you felt the warmth in your thighs subside.

“Makin’ sure to preserve your maiden’s dignity,” he said as he fixed your skirt in place. “Wouldn’t want some perv catching sight of your cute little ass, would we?”

His condescending tone made you want to throw a slap across his face and then yours; for thinking that maybe this wasn’t a mistake, that you could really move past the pretense of friendship and aim at what you really sought. But he’d been right once before. You were stupid, stupider than all those girls combined, considering you knew and still wouldn’t mind being dragged down with him one bit.

“Fucking asshole,” you blurted as you pushed yourself off him, dumping the cloth on his smug face.

Your lip quivered as you stepped onto your feet, unable to quite shake the feeling of incompletion from your core, walls pathetically clenching around nothingness. You refused to look at him, lest you caved in a second time, and thus you paced around the booths, stopping before the one window whose blinds didn’t block the magnificent parking lot view. Only a black SUV was left— most likely his newest rental.

Following a beep, you watched the lights flicker white, his reflection in the window lifting the chair back up. You crossed your arms over your chest and waited, your impatience and frustration churning into a dangerous mix within your guts, as the asshole whose name wasn’t worth saying moved past you and walked straight to the door, not a single word or goodbye said.

“What about your phone?” you asked, at last paying him a look of spite.

“I’ll text ya my new number.”

“We both know you won’t.”

He glanced over his shoulder and showed you his pearly white canines, his expression not polished enough to be called a smile. You rolled your eyes in the opposite direction, spotting his old device blinking a variety of different lights, refusing to die just like its bastard of an owner.

“What should I do with this?”

“How the hell should I know?” Toji shrugged. “Get rid of it, or toss it in some burger. I’m sure no one will be able to tell the difference. Later,” the bell chimed as the door collided with the frame, chiming a second time as his head popped in a moment later. “Loved the raspberries.”

“They were strawberries, you scatterbrained swine,” you cursed, but he’d heard none of it. The car was gone, and so was he, and it was for the best that he didn’t get to witness the strawberry-colored shadow that loomed over both your cheeks.

Fanning some of that heat away, you returned to the table, surprised to find a white envelope with the name Kenzo hastily written on the front. Cash. Lots of cash. Enough cash to keep a low-end apartment afloat for at least a couple of months. An excuse and simultaneously the answer to all your previous questions.

“You fucking bastard,” you hummed, the term switching to one of utter endearment.

When the first instance of a wintry breeze came charging at the semi-exposed features of your face—a scarf’s fluff tucked right below your nose— you knew that walking all the way to the location where the unknown ID claiming to be Zen’in Toji ordered you to meet up was probably a bad idea.

For starters, you’d turn into an icicle long before making it back to your workplace. Not to mention you had no foolproof way of guaranteeing the person you were about to meet wasn’t some random impersonating psychopath. But when you finally spotted the yellow curvy “M” upon the rectangular red sign that spelled the fast food chain’s name, you narrowed down the psychopaths to that one cheapskate you happened to know.

Walking into the nearly vacant dining area —only the first two booths near the door occupying a family of four each— you detected him almost immediately. He was the only one seated in his wing. Head slightly tilted to look past the window, golden highlights showering the curve of a nose as it arched into thin eyebrows, calm eyes glinting with subtle emerald, and fingers that absentmindedly tapped away onto one of the two paper-covered trays. He had the decency to wait for you before getting into his food, though that didn’t stop him from munching on the occasional fry.

You tugged the handbag off your shoulder and slowly approached him, hesitating to enter his field of view, if just for a moment. He seemed so peaceful and serene, that if you had the guts, you’d snap a picture of him right then and there and make it into your phone’s wallpaper. But you didn’t. You’d never be able to explain it to him in a non-humiliating way, should he catch you in the act, and so, you shook the notion off and marched in his direction, his eyes lighting up in recognition.

“What’s the point of calling me out here for lunch if we are gonna have burgers?” you dropped your bag at the far end of the table. “Why not eat at our place?”

“I like the fries here better,” he bit onto one as if to affirm his claim, licking the salty essence off his fingers. “You should be glad I got you some, too,” he nodded toward the closed dome-shaped box that lay in front of you. “Nuggets over burgers, right? Didn’t know what toy ya wanted though. Cashier girl told me bunnies are quite popular with girls your age, so I went with that.”

Ignoring, or rather postponing your answer to his outrageous suggestion, you peered through the contents of your meal’s box, spotting the wrapped-in-plastic purple-colored bunny key chain right at the bottom between the small portion of deluxe potatoes and even smaller portion of chicken nuggets that still steamed hot air. You were surprised he remembered everything about your order, down to your preference for milkshake over other beverages, and perhaps you would have shown your gratitude if it wasn’t for that last comment of his gnawing at your pride.

“How old did you tell the cashier I was, again?” you gritted, trying to suppress the toy’s cuteness within your fist.

“Didn’t. Just said it’s for some kid I know. Probably thought it was for my daughter or something.”

A pair of googly eyes popped out from their sockets, the bunny’s head in serious danger of coming right off.

“Stop acting like an old man,” you muttered in embarrassment. “A nine-month head start in life doesn’t make you old enough to be my father.”

“Still older than you, kid,” said Toji, his fingers latching onto his wrapped-up burger. “Now eat up. Didn’t pay ya lunch for it to go cold.”

Annoyed by his remarks, but oh-so terribly starved, you decided to let things slide, the two of you lunching in a period of temporal truce. He went through his burger in big bites, clearing it out before you even finished your portion of nuggets. You mildly wondered why he’d held off if he was this hungry, but didn’t press on the reason behind his invitation until after his tray was half-emptied.

“So… why’d you wanna meet up? Got something to tell me?”

“Mhm, I actually do. How would you like us to be room—Nah, that doesn’t sound too right,” Toji shook his head off, dusting the excess salt off his fingers. “I decided I’m moving in with you.”

“You, what?!?” You shrieked, eyes wide with shock, resembling those of your newly acquired key chain.

“What I just said. I’m moving in,” he repeated as if you hadn’t heard him the first time around. “Got everything right here. I’ll pop by later so you can show me my room.”

You glanced down at what he tapped as “here”, spotting a large black duffel bag that rested on his feet. He wasn’t joking, you panicked. He was being 100% serious about this. Directing your milkshake to your mouth, you took a nervous sip, nearly choking on the plastic straw between your teeth, while Toji kept staring at you, awaiting no answer in particular. After all, he wasn’t asking. He was proclaiming.

“Why would you want that?” you asked once you regained the ability to think rationally. “Weren’t you the one who said you ride solo?”

“Numerous reasons,” he stated, drawing his forefinger forth as if to recount. “For starters, rental prices going up, gas too. Inflation in the market and all that crap. Your place is also closer to work, and” he leaned closer, “wasn’t your neighborhood the one on the news recently? You know, those serial break-and-enter cases? As far as I’m aware, the culprit’s still running loose, could be a cursed spirit or something. You can’t see ‘em, but I can. I’ll keep ya safe. Wouldn’t you want that? Sounds like a fair deal to me, at least.”

The repetitive pattern of a catchy pop song blasting from the speakers served as a backdrop to your thoughts, eyes flickering between the table and his face. He wasn’t exactly wrong about what he said. The girl next door was the robber’s last victim, and from what you’d gathered, it seemed like the ones targeted were exclusively single women in their twenties. Curse or not, that was the intruder’s type, and you just so happened to tick both of those boxes.

From a standpoint of reason, his suggestion sounded fair alright, but this was Toji we were talking about. The man whose name was your first thought in the morning and the final afterthought in the night. The man you were coincidentally in love with.

Living with him would entail being around him a lot more than you could handle. Waking and sleeping and eating in the same house as him, spending your days off together, bickering about bills, take-out, and the TV remote’s ownership, doing things that only couples got to do, and of course, sharing a bathroom, which on its own meant seeing him parade through the cramped little space of your apartment in nothing but a soggy towel, hair slick and teeth beaming as he’d be asking if you’d like to join him in the shower—

You hit the break on these thoughts and pressed your forehead flat against both palms, feeling the heat exuding through your fingers. You were only able to keep this relationship platonic because of the distance he put between you. If he were to suddenly close it, what would come of you? How on earth would you be able to hold back?

“Don’t you want me?”

“Huh?” you bit at the straw again, snapping it in half.

“I said, you hate the idea of living with me that much?”

Toji certainly didn’t mince his words, but the way he was looking at you, brows furrowing and lips quivering into a frown despite the edge in his tone, almost made it seem as if hearing your rejection out loud would hurt him, and because of that, you had no choice, but to shake your head in denial. You wanted this. More than words could express, you wanted to be with him like that, even if you refrained from disclosing that truth.

You wanted him.

“What about your girlfriends? Wouldn’t they be against you living with some woman?”

“Nah, I’m done with that. Done with all of ‘em.”

“But my apartment is too small. I don’t think it’d suit you—”

“I’ll manage,” he cut you off.

“I don’t even have a second bed-”

“We can always share,” he smirked, letting out a light-hearted chuckle as he watched color paint your cheeks. “Couch is fine, too. So, whaddya say, roomie?”

“…Fine,” you conceded, very well knowing you’d come to regret this decision. “But we need to set some ground rules! No trashing the apartment, no throwing your ‘work tools’ all over the place, no smoking, no drinking, no loud music, and no bringing in random women. No starting fights either! You’ll help around and pay half of what’s needed, so no gambling your money away. Those are my terms.”

“You drive a hard bargain, roomie,” Toji said, balancing his chin atop his elbow. “Fine by me. Told you I’m done with half those things anyway, and I don’t mind helping you with anything. I mean that.”

But I could help. I could make you feel really good, Y/N.

His words from that night still lingered in your mind like an unfulfilled promise, and when he phrased it like that, you couldn’t help but be reminded of how good his hands felt that night, creeping all over your skin as if he owned it— as if he owned you.

“G-good!” you said, picking up a fry off his tray and tossing it in your mouth, lest you said something stupid.

“No one taught you stealing other people’s food is rude?” Toji shot you a glare unequal to your crime.

“It’s not stealing if you are done with it!” you protested. “You haven’t touched your fries in over ten minutes now.”

His tongue clicked against his mouth’s roof, producing a series of “tsk” sounds while he shook his head in disapproval. “Didn’t take ya for such a brat, Y/N. Disrespecting me in my face right after we came to an agreement? That’s some bad business ethics.”

You rolled your eyes at his comment, barely keeping yourself from groaning. “I’m so terribly sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have stolen your esteemed fries, sir. Won’t ever happen again, sir. Please allow me to express my profound remorse, sir.”

Although Toji knew you only addressed him as such to get on his nerves, he was still pleased enough to grace with you an unsuspecting smile, seconds before you shoved a ketchup-covered potato against his mouth, smudging the left corner of his lips in a way akin to that of his right corner scar. He blinked, clouds of fury gathering in the bleakness of his eyes and cheeks puffing up, painting the most adorable expression you’d ever seen him wear.

“So cute,” you gushed, unable to suppress a hearty laughter that agitated him even more, red blooming across his cheeks— most likely by the lack of oxygen, you interpreted.

“Fucking brat,” he hissed, dipping the last of his fries in ketchup and then stuffing your mouth with it before you could even react. “I’ll show ya how it’s done!” he declared, your lips puckering against his fingers, condiment spreading all over like lipstick. His other hand forced your head in place, stilling your chin for him to work on his masterpiece, making a much bigger mess out of you than you had made of him.

“Hmphmmph!” you hummed while Toji laughed, a deep sound that reverberated straight from his guts, his eyes glinting along with his teeth in sheer joy that convinced you to give up so as to not spoil his fun. It was rare to see him genuinely happy.

“That should teach ya to behave,” he spat, smugness in every aspect of his features as he pressed his thumb onto his mouth, cleaning the ketchup off with a lick. “But you did address me properly, so you’ve earned the right to choose. Napkin or my lips? Which one?”

Stupefied as you were, you didn’t understand the full context of his question until you felt the sudden warmth of his mouth flutter over your skin, the tip of his tongue sloppily gathering the leftover ketchup off your right cheek. Your jaw popped open, a small gasp escaping as a result of his action.

“Too slow,” Toji whispered, hooded green eyes peering right into yours. “I’ll ask again. Napkin or my lips? What’s it gonna be, doll?”

“N-n-n-napkin!” you must have stuttered at least a thousand times before forming a comprehensible answer. He was so close that if he tilted his head any closer your lips were sure to touch. “P-please get me a napkin.”

“Please?” he chuckled, acting as if was really going to kiss you and then pulling away. “Be right back.”

Even after Toji let go, you could still feel the weight of his thumb holding you down, your eyes zeroing in on his black sweater as he set off for the other side of the room where the napkin and condiments stand was located. You heard a few whispers coming from beside your table, catching three pairs of eyes shooting daggers right at your back.

“Don’t they have a home?” a woman’s voice echoed first.

“Kids these days…” a man added.

“Honey, don’t look at their sinfulness, it’s the devil’s work.” A second woman concluded.

You were on the verge of experiencing a cardiac arrest, and you were pretty darn sure you would have if Toji hadn’t returned with the napkins in time, his hand snatched by yours as you forcefully dragged him out of the place, spelling frantic apologies at whoever was listening.

Once you’d made it outside, you sighed in relief, winter’s viciousness coming as a much-needed slap across your face. You took in a few breaths, letting go of his hand and padding a few steps away from the store’s windows, afraid you were still the focus of their attention. Toji followed, one hand stuffed inside his jeans pocket, while the other held the duffel bag over his shoulder in a lazy manner.

“Can you give me a lift to work?” you managed to ask, dodging his stare even as he stepped to the front.

“I would, but I can’t. Gave the car away.”

“You did what?”

Nothing about your reaction was funny in any shape or form, but he seemed amused enough to break into a soft chuckle, his eyes, too, softening ever so slightly.

“Planning to walk around town like a bloodsucker?” he asked, bringing a napkin to wipe your lips with greater care than you’d think. “How dirty,” he cooed, gently tapping at the center. “Next time, I won’t ask for permission to kiss you, roomie. Let’s go.”

“W-Where?” your voice came out so frail that you doubted he’d heard your question, his bag bouncing over his taut body with every step he took outside the parking lot.

“You asked for a ride, didn’t ya? Come.”

A/N: Launching a new series because I have so many feelings bottled up that I'm in danger of farting hearts and rainbows and shit. Decided to take the time off and write this fic for myself cause I needed it, but then I thought why not share it with the world? First time writing for Jujutsu Kaisen and Toji in particular, so hopefully it's received well!

[some-pers0n]

Know When To Hold Em'

Fandom: WoF

Characters: OC Heavy, but Blister makes a small appearance :)

CW: Nothing

Summary: A couple of dragons are hanging out and playing a game of poker. Right when they're about to finish however, a young dragonet walks in with a stash of money.

Word Count: 2.0k

A/N: I was originally just gonna keep this for myself and the Wiki, but honestly I really like this headcanon and I'm showing it to you all.

Mulga sipped his brightsting cider, glancing back up to his fellow guards. "So, whatcha gonna do?" He tapped his talons on the table. "Gopher, you're looking a bit rough there."

"Hm? Me? What makes you say that?" he replied, wiping away that slightly nervous expression to a forced, overly-confident grin.

"I dunno, just saw you shaking in your claws a little." He looked at his pot, only a couple of coins left. "Not much there, huh."

A moment of stillness before the SandWing sighed. "Fine. I fold." He slid his cards back to the dealer.

"Atta' boy. Probably best for you right now." 

"Oh shut up..." Glare grumbled.

Mulga relaxed his shoulders a little. It was supposed to be a nice little night after all, or at least one where he could make some cash off of these dragons. The three of them had a rather boring day, so they decided to come around to Gopher's uncle's friend's cousin's tavern for a nice of gambling.

It was a run-down and rustic hole-in-the-wall type of shack. Dark and dreary with a couple cracks in the roof, showing the night sky above. It was lit dimly by candles and jars of fireflies. It smelt of dust and age more than anything. The dealer once mentioned how this place had been around since the foundation of Scorpion Den way back when, and Mulga believed it.

The cards in Mugla's hands were made from clay, hardened with time and age. The numbers and inscriptions of kings and queens, while worn and hard to see in the dim light, held a charm to them with their homemade nature.

That and also he got one fire hand. A pair of twos, with the remaining ones showing up in the drawn cards. Four of a kind. Hard to beat that. He was sitting there comfortably, knowing that he could do just about anything. Of course, Glare could always have another trick up his wing, but he had doubts. Right on his smug face held the same worried glint in his eyes that any experienced poker player could sniff out. 

"Alright," the dealer said. They flipped over the final card, the river, and it showed a simple, disposable seven. 

"Check." Glare tapped the table.

"Check." Mulga revealed his hand. "What'dja have there, then?" Mulga smiled.

Glare furrowed his eyebrows. He practically threw his cards down. A measly five and a three.

"As predicted, I win. Again." Mulga grabbed his earnings, pulling it over towards his section. A heap of gold coins, glittering in the candlelight. Oh, they were just beautiful. A wonderful sight for such sore eyes.

"So, what do you wanna do? Play another round? Maybe you'll get lucky this time."

"I dunno," Gopher muttered. "I'm getting kinda tired. I don't think Topaz'll like us being out here for too long-"

"Who cares what the captain thinks? It's the night out with the boys. Real dragons. When's the last time you've both been out like this? A couple of months at least, huh?"

"...fine. Sure. One more game." Glare grumbled. "But that's it. You aren't taking any more of my money, snake."

"I don't know. Like I said, maybe you'll get lucky this time around. Win big. All luck's in the cards, no?" Mulga gave a toothy grin.

"So," the dealer began, "are we all in agreement? One more round?"

"Yeah, why not," Gopher said.

"Definitely." Mulga nodded.

"Mhm..." Glare scoffed.

"Yes, one more round would be nice." A voice came from behind. Mulga leaned over, blinking in surprise when he saw who it was.

A little dragonet. She couldn't have been older than two years. Her pales looked white in the low lighting, with black diamond patterns trailing down her neck and all the way to her tail. Her scales were well-kept and free from the dust and grime you'd see on regular dragonets. 

Yet, her eyes... There was something about them that Mulga couldn't place his talon on. Something off. The same pitch-black that all SandWings had, but there was a serpentine quality to them that, strangely enough, made the atmosphere in the room thicker.

"Where'd you come from?" Glare asked. "You aren't supposed to be in here."

"Oh, apologizes for coming in so suddenly. I saw you three were wrapping up and, well, I wanted to simply play a round. See how to play."

"This is a tavern, missy. Younglings like yous aren't supposed to be in here." The dealer sighed. "It's late. You should be getting sleep."

"Oh, pleaseeee... I promise it will be quick."

"I don't think I can exactly-" The Dealer was cut off by the heavy sound of a bag being lifted up and onto the playing table. The dragonet had tossed a bloated sack up there, the little drawstring around the top loosening. Inside was a treasure trove of polished coins and even a couple of precious gems. Diamonds, rubies, even a few emeralds spilled out along with the golden doubloons.

"I want to play," she repeated, her voice much colder and firm in tone.

The fellow dragons looked at each other. This kid can't be serious, right? She probably just coloured a bunch of rocks to be like this. Maybe they're fake or something. But, the more Mulga looked at them, the more he could tell that, no, this was genuine. What kind of dragonet could get all of this stuff? Perhaps she nicked it all from dope. Even then, was she really going to bet with this? That seems far too stupid. 

Which played exactly in Mulga's favour. All he needed to do was win one game and he would get some of these earnings.

Mulga laughed. "C'mon, kid. I think you deserve a seat at the playing table." He traced a circle in the spot next to him with his barb.

"Thank you, sir," she chirped. She had to stretch her neck to even properly see the dealer's table. She tapped on the edge of it. "May I have my cards?"

"Ight, so, now we're playing." The dealer shuffled the deck, spreading out two cards to each dragon. Mulga glanced at his. A four and a nine. Looks terrible from the get-go, but perhaps there'll be something later on that makes work of it.

He had to play this round. The chance for any of those gems was too much for him to ignore.

"Excuse me," the dragonet asked. "What do we do first?"

"Oh, you show your cards to everyone," Glare said.

"I know I'm not supposed to do that!" she snapped. "But...what next?"

"Well, you call. Calling means that you want to play this round with the cards you have."

"Oh. Call?" she tapped her talons on the table. "I saw you doing that earlier. What does it mean?"

"Courtesy. Just a lil' thing you do." The dealer answered. They looked back to the others. "So, what now boys?"

The three SandWings looked at each other. One by one, they all called. They were all in this for the money. They threw in a couple of coins for the starting bet and finally began.

The dealer pulled three cards out for the flop. A jack, a nine, and a seven. Okay, he's got a pair now. That's something of note.

Mulga looked at the other dragons. They were sweating coconuts, looking at the giant pile of gold and crystals that the dragonet had. He chuckled lightly as he threw in a couple more coins. "Betting five."

"Call." Gopher threw in the same amount.

"Raise to ten." Glare threw in ten coins.

Finally, they all looked towards the dragonet. She looked so confused and innocent. "I put in money now?" she asked.

"Yes."

"All in." She pushed the bag forward.

Mulga nearly spat out his drink. She was betting it all? Everything in that bag? Moons above, he had just hit the jackpot! It took every fibre of his being not to start laughing.

"...alright then." The dealer pulled the turn card. A ten.

"Going all in as well," Mulga said. He pushed his pile of coins towards the bag, staring the dragonet right in the eyes. "What'll it be for the rest of you?"

"Folding." The both of them said in sync. They tossed down their cards. All that's left was Mulga and this small, tiny dragonet.

"Check," she said.

"You're staying in, huh?" he asked. "I mean, you could fold like the rest of them."

"I don't want to."

"Alright then. Whatever you say, little lizard."

Finally, the dealer pulled the river. A jack. 

"Check." Mulga grinned.

"Check." The dragonet tapped on the table.

He chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said, flipping over his cards. He had a pair of nines. "What do you have there then?"

She flipped over hers and Mulga's heart dropped.

It was a queen and nine.

"A straight," she said with a smug, cocky grin on her face. "I do believe that beats your measly little pair." She grabbed the bag, stuffing her earnings into it. "Thanks for the game, but I'll be leaving now. I think my mother would be upset to see me out this late." She giggled.

"No, wait, hold on!" Mulga hissed. "You don't get to leave with all my money. That was supposed to be mine! You tricked me!"

"Tricked?" She tilted her head. "I don't believe I tricked you. Luck's in the cards, is it not?" And with that, she turned away and walked out the tavern's door.

"Blazing scales," Glare laughed. "What kinda kid was that? Managed to sweep ya of everything."

"I-" Mulga blinked. Who even was that? What kind of dragonet just waltzes into a tavern, takes every last coin he has in one round, and then leaves? Where did she get the money? Where are her parents? Who even is she?

----

Princess Burn was just about to put the finishing touches on this new project when she heard the sounds of wings flapping from behind her. She put down her scalpel and turned around, wrapping her barb around her talons. "What is it now?" 

She looked out the window to see a dragon approaching her tower. A bag was clutched in her talons and a confident, wicked grin was painted upon her face.

"For moons sake, Blister!" she snapped. "You know you're not supposed to be out this late!" She backed away, letting her get through the window.

"Yes, but does that really matter?" Blister touched down. "Look." She dropped the bag, letting its contents spill onto the floor. "Just from using that one little diamond of yours, I've managed to score this in a single night." She smirked. "Thanks for that, by the way."

She sorted through the pile of coins, picking up the largest diamond out of all of them. "Remember, I get a fifth of it all because of it."

"Oh, of course! I wouldn't forget about that part." 

"Why do you even do this?" Burn asked as she picked up a talonful of coins. "It doesn't mean anything."

"I think it's funny." Blister picked up a ruby, looking it over. "You haven't seen what it's like. All these dragons convinced that I'm helpless and have no idea what I'm doing. Then, right when they think they've won it all, shark them. Take everything for what they've got."

"...fun."

Blister scoffed. "You wouldn't get it. You think cutting up insects and rats and hanging them on walls is fun."

"Taxidermy and pinning insects is not 'cutting them up'," Burn said defensively. "And, like you said, different strokes. I like fighting and researching. You like...doing this." She motioned to the bag.

"Mh-hm. Well, when I'm queen I know I'll be the richest of them all."

"I'm still the eldest. I'll be the queen."

"We'll see about that." She grabbed the bag and walked out of the room. "Thanks for your help," she said as she closed the door.

Burn grumbled. She was thankful to have some coins, but it still bothered her how Blister went about doing this. There was something to her that wasn't quite right, and she definitely knew she needed to keep an eye on her at all times. Sooner or later, she's going to plot something against their entire family, and by the moons will Burn do everything to keep it from happening.

[fleurelinathehybrid]

💛[Chapter 7: A being on the way]💛

Going to a pharmacy in the waking world was extremely easy both to say and to do. If it weren't for a small but insignificant inconvenience. It would sound absolutely ridiculous for a "man" to order a pregnancy test for himself.

—Are you sure about this, Death? —asked the King of Nightmares, very nervous.

—You just trust me, I'll buy the test by pretending that I'm the one who needs it. You will just accompany me and that's it.

They both entered the small pharmacy located somewhere in the U.K., so that no one would notice their presence other than the person in charge of the establishment. The place was simple, not only did they have medicines and health things, they also had groceries and sweets (something that Morpheus simply did not understand). Death couldn't resist and grabbed a pack of jelly beans that were on a shelf, earning a poker look from her goth little brother.

—What? These are my favorites. —she said with joy, receiving an annoyed roll of his eyes from Morpheus.

Immediately, they found themselves in the hallway where everything related to contraceptives, feminine pads, tampons, condoms, fertility pills and, what they had come for, pregnancy tests appeared.

There were many brands and many styles, which made Dream nervous. Which one should he take? Which would give the concrete results? Both questions were brutally resolved with one simple action from Death: take a test of each brand.

— What are you doing?! —he exclaimed, without realizing that the pharmacy clerk was looking at them strangely.

—Just humor me. —his sister whispered to him.

Already with some pregnancy tests in their arms, both brothers went to the cash register. The saleswoman, a stout, disheveled woman with curly, ashy hair, attended to them. If they were both a little more observant, they would realize that she looked a bit like her little sister Despair. The difference was in height, Despair was shorter than that woman.

—Will You buy all this? —the woman asked in surprise, receiving a nod from Death.

—I need to check if I'm pregnant to surprise my boyfriend. —she responds smiling.

The shop assistant looks at Dream, doubtful. —Then he is your…

—Brother. The baby's future uncle. —she responds happily, ignoring that Dream almost murdered her with his gaze.

Still in doubt, the clerk begins recording the cost of the pregnancy tests. Death had his bag of jelly beans and hid them in the pocket of Dream's black jacket. He only scolded Death with his eyes and agreed to hide her sweets. You may think that Death was the more responsible sister, but sometimes she got her way.

—It's 150 pence.

Death, without thinking, materialized a sterling and 50 pence note in her hand and paid the shop assistant, who placed the evidence in a plastic bag and accepted the money.

As soon as that little torture was over, both siblings sneaked down an alley to open a portal to the Dreaming. It didn't take them long to reach the palace or the bathroom. Immediately, Death emptied the test bag and started with a test whose cost was cheaper. Dream sat on the toilet as if he were a woman about to urinate, placed the test and peed on it.

As soon as he finished, he did the same procedure with another test.

And with another test. And with another. And with another. And with another.

When he finished them all, he waited with his sister for the results of each one to be released. Death got on her knees until she was level with her brother, who was still sitting on the toilet, but with his pants on.

5 minutes passed, the tests took effect. They all already had the results. Dream, because he was very nervous, asks Death to see what the evidence says. She takes them all with both hands, to better see each result.

Death's sad face worries Dream. It seems like she already know the answer, but he have to see it with his own eyes.

—Dream, sorry.

Death shows the results of all tests. They all gave signals like "+", "P", "II" and "green".

Morpheus's face had never turned so pale in his existence.

Now everything was at stake.

[theorist-influencer-untitled]

6.21.24 Friday

7:34 am

Still,have windblow...

This weird Uncle DD, we talked about the garbage that he shouldn't put there near the cage of Neko coz I told him me & Uncle Jun we didn't place a trash can near Neko coz of her behaviour that she will eat the garbage...

Then,my 1 egg used by my Uncle Jun this am, which I got my 2 eggs last night from Ely coz I don't have a cash....

Then,this heard by Uncle DD coz we are all in the kitchen. I asked Uncle DD if they have extra egg if I can have one? He said they don't have egg but he will give me coins to buy egg... He gave me just 16 pesoses that the egg is 10 pesoses each... But this Uncle DD will or can't help me on bigger loans that I got even the 4k loan that I have on Ely... Uncle DD only can share eggs and stuff like for kids or for cheap kids...

It is hard to trust on the behaviour of my 2 Uncle's even this Uncle Jun is weird...

8:31 am

Still,have windblow...

Be good to people who are good even if not.....

Thanks Harvey for Taho.

Give love if you can... First delivery on DD's gang...

8:39 am

I didn't know it can be toasted... I'm still on experiment..... Just leave it for awhile even after it cooked....

Easy to eat if it is toasted... Ideal for camping...

9:36 am

John loves it....His 2nd heart pancake today...

11:54 am

Still,have windblow...

Well,these are my loan,my shallow happiness aside from my retinols...

Moca2x called me awhile ago, I'm busy cleaning the refrigerator and still finishing it... They told me to pay my loan today for 400 coz I was late yesterday...

Uncle DD told me that Moca2x called him about my loan and I was shocked coz I didn't put his name but I put Oliver,Dina and Apple ( my childhood bestfriend ). Yhel told me that I need to pay it today coz I was already due yesterday and it has an interest already. Yhel told me if your friends can shoulder it, is it ohkay? I said why not but I know apology it is my negligence. I overlooked the details and my money is not yet coming and this island Philippines is removing me on the "work-force".

The thing is the day that Teleperformance Molino hired me,it was already the start of payment. That supposed to be started last Friday but they moved it...Still,waiting for the start day....

I told Yhel if ever she can put this case on a higher department meaning a lawyer thingy but if they will put me in prison, I don't think so that will happen coz of 1000 pesoses... I guess I still need to take 99,000 pesoses for me to be in prison or to be in a legal court.

12:50 noon

I guess Yhel is calling the call center of Moca2x,.I will just let them be... Later will check the app...

I still want retinols and some vanity in life...I also wanna travel and have my own thing...

1:24 pm

Still,have windblow...

I wanna do general cleaning but I'm lacking of cleaning materials and I need efan and a steamer supposed to be...

I'm out of budget on my loan..

1:46 pm

Still,have windblow...

I just don't like Uncle Jun coz all he can assist are just food and I don't like his view that I should stop execrsing and not beautifying myself anymore.

I still wanna get someone that is handsome and still fixing himself and cute like my cousin-white or Pilot Garret and Pilot Pete and most specially Garret!!! Gets angels??? How can those men will have an eye for me if I neglect my beauty.

I still want vanity and travel and get some personal progress... I feel bitterish supposed to be I can go to gym, my supposed to be plan on my aging days if I was able to get success in any work field.

I still need to go back to my dentist. I really wanna leave Cavite... All my future are gone... Supposed to be I have even 1 child and in a way I'm working either on TV or to be something in any field like the call center and owning a "Pet Store"....Supposed to be getting a nose perfection!

I wanted my cousin white aside from he is really cute they are still in middle-class that we used to be that way here... I know they are really uppish middle-class...

I don't know if I can still see Willa in my Biology classmate here in De La Salle with Mr Torres our Biology professor and Joyce my schoolmate during high school and college, my biology mates. I don't know if I can still have my party with some oldish good friends and some new friends.... I don't know if we can still see each other and go back to the road that we are supposed to drive on....???

I'm longing to see some of my oldish good friends and longing to have friends as well....

I still wanna see Mitch, I just wanna know something.. Did she give me these and those "simple battery"???

I have so many frustrations like to be skinny and to wear a swimsuit on a beach and be uppish, my personality is twisting these days coz I want a cute and handsome bf. For example Garret has a gf on his youtube and as you can see she is perfect head to foot and wearing swimsuit... Stuff like that,how can I get that kind of bf... Well, my cousin white is just really cute and I don't know his type... As we all see, he got a skinny,tall white woman... In a way I don't like her but she got my cousin white... I will feel ugly with her... Probably,there will be no family reunion anymore on Treyes... If there is,what's the point of seeing them....I lost my crown in the family. GETS ANGELS???

If I'm wealthy or an actress or able to be a Queenish of someone has a money then probably I can still join the family reunion on Treyes and its ohkay to see my cousin white be with that skinny,whitish girl. I just enjoy being with beautiful people. Probably, hating her the one got by my cousin white coz I'm no longer spoiled and I have nothing these days...

For now,hating my cousin white for being married and now I'm self-pitying here...

6:12 pm

Moca2x called me angels and Yhel said it is her task and I said I don't have available cash for now... I said let's just see if the terms of payment is done then I can't give anything to pay it... Then, let's wait for the step of the company lawyer. There is a God Bless in the last words of Yhel... Hmmm... Born Again?? Or INC hiding as Born Again???

6:48 pm

My 2 Uncle's are in Tandem outside the house...Hmm....

8:46 pm

Still,have windblow...

I want to go live later,I don't know if my sounds or voice can sync in...

I'm not happy being flatten this way angels... Something is wrong in my life and in this house but I do have etiquette and I don't have money as of now... But this is wrong angels...

Plus,the character of Aunt Teresa is weird... They don't want to be fetched from the past years whenever she or they go home here...They don't know how to be a parents, the love for me is not matured or not solid... They probably made or planned a movement on something but I'm out of place here in my biological mother's side.

The negative of Aunt Teresa is not matured enough,she is easily persuade by some other people's view or suggestion about me and about other things...

I remember that Alex Capati Cantimbuhan his mother is married to a foreigner, his step father and has a sister named Shiela Capati Cantimbuhan. They told me way back I just suddenly remember that he told me that their parent's whenever they plan to visit here from USA or Europe I forgot the exact foreign land. They told me that their mother didn't want to be fetched that I remember I told to my Aunt Teresa this behaviour and I guess she copy it...

There are things that are applicable on a particular family that on other people's family will not be applicable... That is maturity!

I just feel strange about that and I feel a bit offended that why Aunt Teresa suddenly doesn't want to be fetched even me here or on us here, the original people here or some left-over people here, which is a funny description.

I wasn't a perfect person nor daughter nor a friend but I'm always transparent but with etiquette...

I still wanna see Mitch and it is a strange thing to feel her weirdly that I can say did you do something Mitch? Or I can say Mitch is fierce, she will never give up to prove something that she can!

I really wanna leave Cavite but I know I can't... So,sad why I can't see Mitch, Apple, Willa, Joyce, Ronald, some good old friends but I want me in a way prepared... I wanna talk to JP, Noreen and out other Pritz gang, my Feu friends not because I'm gonna die but I need some explanation...

I'm becoming angry on my cousin white that supposed to be my saviour and he is really cute...

I feel shy on Garret coz they are happy and I feel that I will feel guilty or probably they will hate me coz of my situation...

I pity Pilot Pete on reason that I don't know....

9:28 pm

Still,have windblow...

Uncle DD and Aunt Karen went out again...

9:50 pm

Still,have windblow...

I really wanna have this and I badly need it here to disenfect everything...

I'm so broke...

[brandfearn-blogs-here]

I was walking around in a Big Bazar store making shopping, when I saw a Cashier talking to a boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old..

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll. Then the little boy turned to me and asked: ''Uncle, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

I counted his cash and replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy the doll, my dear.'' The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to. 'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much . I wanted to Gift her for her BIRTHDAY.

I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.' His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God.. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister...''

My heart nearly stopped. The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.' Then he showed me a very nice photo of him where he was l

aughing. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so my sister won't forget me.' 'I love my mommy and I wish she doesn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.' Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly..

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll?''

'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his with out him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!'

Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give It to my sister. He heard me!'' 'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose. My mommy loves white roses.'

I finished my shopping in a totally different state from when I started. I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local

news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma. Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the newspaper that the young woman had passed away.. I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was exposed for people to see and make last wishes before her burial. She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest. I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed forever...

The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine. And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

Please DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE.

Now you have 2 choices:

1) Forward this message, or

2) Ignore it as if it never touched your heart.

For those who prefer to think that God is not watching over us.... go ahead and delete this. For the rest of us..... pass this on.

[heximagines]

can you please so one where eddie is like actually a nerd and like bad with girls?? definitely a virgin. his bff is y/n and maybe he asks her for advice but they like each other or something pls

Anon, absolutely yes I can. I love this. Thank you. 🖤

PART 2

Eddie Munson was fucking hopeless.

His band mates watched on in second hand embarrassment as he gave his best effort to chat up a girl he'd met at their show. He fumbled his words awkwardly and his hands couldn't seem to stop drumming against his leg. She also just seemed plain uninterested in whatever it was he was saying. Her eyes frequently drifted up to the empty stage waiting for a polite excuse to leave the conversation. Finally Eddie folded, realizing this wasn't going to get him anywhere. He let an awkward silence fall over them before bidding her a "see ya," and retreating back to his friends. "Not a word man," he cut Gareth off before he could even start in. His friend only raised his hands in surrender. "Not a word," he agreed "because there are no words to describe how bad that was." The others laughed and Eddie grumbled to himself, storming off in the direction of the stage. He knew you'd be on any minute and he would much rather grab a front row spot than be roasted to a crisp. As if you sensed his presence you stepped out from back stage, your bass already slung around your shoulders. You came to meet him at the edge and kneeled down, "Your set was awesome. You guys sounded really tight tonight." He grinned up at you. "A wonder what weekly practices can achieve." He watched as you double checked your tuning before plugging in to sound check. "Keep it up and maybe you'll be as good as us one day." You give him a playful slap on the shoulder before standing back up to prep for your set. Eddie had to say that he admired your confidence. You always seemed so sure of yourself in everything you did. Maybe if he could get a little bit of that mojo he'd have better luck with girls. Gareth and Jeff came to join him at the edge of the stage, the latter offering him a beer which he gladly took. "Trying your chances with y/n now?" He teased. Eddie only scoffed and shook his head. "Yeah right. She'd never go for me. We're just friends." Before any of the guys could respond you leaned into your mic and started up the first song. A crowd immediately surged to the front, eager to see the headliners of the night.

You stumbled backstage drenched in sweat, beer, and stage floor grime. Your favorite state of being. To no one's surprise you were immdiately greeted by Eddie who pressed an ice cold beer can to the side of your neck. You could of sworn your flushed skin sizzled under the cold aluminum. Gratefully you wrapped your own hands around the can and leaned into it. "Thanks dude. You're the best." He shrugged it off. "I live to serve. You guys killed it, as always." "Cheers to that!" You clicked cans before greedily downing as much of the cold liquid as you could before you had to breathe again. Eddie's eyes couldn't help but watch as a small amount trickled from the corner of your mouth, down your neck, and between your- He tore his gaze away and instead looked at the floor. You pulled the can from your lips and breathed deeply. "Ugh I so needed that." Eddie snorted, his eyes still cast down. "Couldn't tell. You played it off so well." You bent at the waist and hung your head upside down to enter his line of vision. "Don't you ever get a sore neck from staring at your feet all the time?" "Meh, my uncle always said that if you walk around with your nose up in the air you step in shit. So I prefer to look where I'm going." "Eddie, man, your uncle is the smartest dude I ever met."

Jeff leaned against the doorway of the venue and eyed Eddie who was eyeing you. Your body was bent over the tiny bar and your intense gaze bore into the bartender, a coy smile playing at your lips. He watched as the man slid another 2 beers your way and waved off your cash. With a smile you leaned closer to him and caressed his cheek. He watched your lips form a quiet "thank you" before you pulled away. "Are you coming with us?" His friend finally cut in, jarring Eddie from his observation. He only shook his head. "Nah. I'm gonna bring y/n back to her place tonight. Her gear is already in my van." Jeff didn't dwell on it. Instead he retreated from the nealy empty bar, heavy door slamming shut behind him. You sat at a small table on the edge of the room and eyed your best friend, gesturing to the second free drink you'd scored. Eddie crossed the room in a few short strides and took the seat adjacent to you. "Hottie discount, drink up babe." You winked at him before sipping your own drink. Your friend shook his head but took a long pull from his beer. "How are you so good at that?" "Hmm, good at what?" You played innocent but he knew better. "It's just… You're really good at flirting. How do you do it? Every time I talk to a girl it's like she wants to run away from me." Your smile dropped suddenly and your eyebrows drew together. "That's not true. I love talking to you. You always have something cool going on up there." You tapped his forehead for emphasis but Eddie shook his head. "Well you're the only chick who thinks so." It took a moment for you to gather your thoughts. You guess you'd never really noticed before but yeah Eddie wasn't what you'd call suave by any means. "Well here's the thing Ed. Flirting is an act. Ya know? It's all about making somone buy an image of you that's just for show. Just like when you're on stage! You know how you play everything up. But you don't do that, you just go in and be yourself. And honestly I think that's better." Your eyes searched his to make sure your point was getting across but he didn't meet your gaze. Instead his eyes were firmly fixed on the table. You reached out and put a hand over his, squeezing. "I love that about you dude. You don't care to put on an act to get what you want. You just go up and shoot your shot as you are. And if a girl doesn't like that the it's her loss! Because you're really amazing. You're sweet, talented, funny, and creative." Suddenly this conversation was making you feel a bit exposed. You tried to retract your hand but Eddie had twined his fingers with your own. "You think?" He met your gaze with full force now and the vulnerability there made you swallow a lump in your throat. "I do… And I think you just need to be more confident. You have a lot to offer." A silence fell over the both of you and neither made a move to pull away. Instead you guys drank your beers in silence still holding hands.

More than a bit tipsy you fumbled with the mixtape you'd made earlier in the day, trying to shove it into the deck in Eddie's van. He laughed before pressing the eject button and grabbing the tape that was already occupying the slot. "Shit, my bad." You blushed and tried to laugh it off, not noticing the fondness in his eyes. "Happens to the best of us." You finally press your mix into the player and cranked the volume. The Dead Boys Sonic Reducer filtered though the half blown out speakers and while it dampened the effect of the song you didn't entirely mind. "These guys are from Cleaveland and they put this out in like '77. Fuck tha was such a good year for punk. Anyway I think you'll like them. I put some other cool stuff on here for you too." Eddie paused backing put of his spot to look at you. "For me?" You nodded, "Yeah for you. I made it for you." You said it like it was nothing but the gesture made Eddie's heart flutter and face flush, an admittedly common effect you had on him. He watched as you settled into your seat and leaned your head against the window. The street lights cast a gentle glow over your face and eventhough you were grimey and tired he thought you had to be the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. He tore his eyes away from you before you could catch on and continued backing out of the spot before heading in the direction of the trailer park.

As you stared out the window you thought about when you first met Eddie. It was your senior year and you had just transfered to Hawkins High after moving from your hometown. You weren't happy to leave your friends and old band, and you certainly weren't happy to be moving into a rusted old trailer with your now 3 times divorced mom. But life has funny ways of working out. You had caught your first glimpse of Eddie as you moved your few boxes into your new home. His shitty van rattled up to his own trailer after school and as he got out his Dio back patch caught your eye. He returned your gaze and you smiled, giving him a nod of acknowledgement. But he only rushed to get inside, fumbling his keys at the door. You frowned but tried to shrug it off, figuring he was in a rush. The next time you saw him was at school. He sat alone in the corner of the cafeteria and after scanning the crowd he looked like the only person you'd want to hang around. So you held your head up high and walked over to him as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Cool if I sit here?" His head shot up from his book and he eyed you warily. Deciding you werent going to wait for a response you sat down anyway. "I'm y/n. I just moved here, we're neighbors, and you seem cool. So I want to be friends." Eddie was completely taken aback, not used to girls talking to him let alone calling him cool and saying they wanted to be friends. So he did the only thing he could do. "Uh, Eddie. I'm Eddie. It's my name. Hi." Fuck. He looked like he wanted to shove himself into a locker but you only smiled at him, eyes drifting down to the book he had flipped open. "Is that a D&D manual? I've always wanted to play but could never get a group together." Finally his eyes lit up and he grinned at you. "Wanna hear about the campaign I'm planning?"

You were stirred from your thoughts as Eddie's hand came to rest on your shoulder, squeezing gently. You supposed you'd sort if dozed off there. "Hey, we're home." "Mmh, home?" He laughed at your sleepy tone, pulling you to sit up. "Yeah." You look at him in the dim light and smile. "I was thinking about when we first met." Eddie groaned to himself. "Please don't. I was such an idiot." You couldn't help but laugh at that. "No, no you weren't. I never thought you were an idiot." "Well… What did you think?" "Hmm?" Eddie took a breath to gather his courage. "What did you think of me?" You turn tour head away from him and stared out the windshield. "I already told you." He frowned at that but let it slide anyway. "Alright. Let's get you inside." You made him piggy back you to your trailer, not that he ever complained much when you did. Carefully he tiptoed around your mother who'd fallen asleep on the couch and snuck into your room. "We're getting way too old to be sneaking in… We should get a place together." You mumbled thoughtfully. "We could have shows in the basement… And a puppy named Lemmy." He playfully tossed you onto your bed making you giggle, a hand pressed over your mouth to muffle the sound. "That sounds like a dream come true." He pulled your desk chair over to the edge of the bed and got to work unlacing your boots for you and pulling them off. "Yeah, and we'll build skate ramps in the back yard. And we can set up a grow room in one of the closets." He set your boots on the floor before helping you out if your jacket. "You're full of great ideas tonight huh?" Eddie knew it was maybe a bit mean to egg you on right now, but he didn't mind imagining the two of you together to any capacity. He set your jacket over the back of your chair before pulling your blankets over you. You mumbled a few other things he couldn't quite make out before finally you fell asleep. Not wanting to stare Eddie moved to turn your bedside light off. As he did his attention was dawn in by a photo booth strip of the two of you pulling silly faces. He remembered taking them but he never realized that you kept it right by your bed like that. Finally he turned out the light and snuck back out of your trailer. As he walked the sort distance to his own home he thought about everything you'd said to him tonight. And suddenly the idea of you two being together didn't seem so impossible to him.

[leesielex]

Hiii Bunny! If you're still taking prompts I have a couple

Fluffy - “You know I have a soft spot for your stupid puppy dog eyes,”

Smutty - “Take off your shirt.”

Your pick 🤭. Thaaank you! 😘

I feel like this is a little morbid too. Not sure what is up with that for me lately. lol. But it also has a Happy Ending. Jon and Dany will always have happy endings in my opinion.

“You know I have a soft spot for your stupid puppy dog eyes?”

Jon pulled into the grocery store parking lot and drove until he found a spot. It was crowded during the holiday weekend, the independence day celebration was only a couple of days away. Nothing said, “Happy Banishment of the Others” like blowing shit up with a crap ton of fireworks and getting wasted on cheap beer and fruity festive blue cocktails.

The responsible and socially aware part of him loathed the added pollution to the environment and the degredation of such a historical event to drunken parties, but it was tradition and he felt obligated to celebrate. He knew Dany felt the same way as she rolled her eyes at the excessive displays of blue-colored everything, made into ice shapes. He met her eyes when they passed a man in full Night King costume and they had to duck into the next aisle before they burst into laughter.

They quickly filled their cart with steaks, hamburgers, and hot dogs, as well as all the fixin’s for acceptable sides. It was difficult to find everything they needed as the shelves had been nearly picked clean already but they made do. After waiting in a ridiculous line with half the cash registers not even opened, they were loading up the cart and headed to the Stark Estate.

Robb, Arya, and Bran had traveled to the fireworks store and stocked up on every type of colorful and loud explosive they could find. The Starks had a lot of land on their property making it the perfect place to have their own fireworks show. Jon and Dany had volunteered to buy the food.

Jon would help his Uncle Ned man the grill while Dany would help Aunt Cat and Sansa in the kitchen making the sides and desserts. As he turned on the main road in town, he cursed at the traffic. When they finally broke free of it, he sped away, his foot on the gas.

Dany grabbed his hand. “Slow down, cops are everywhere,” she warned, her head nodding to the sheriff's vehicle hidden up ahead. 

“Thanks,” Jon replied, turning his palm up to thred their fingers together and gave her hand a grateful squeeze. He took his foot off the pedal and let the car cruise to a more reasonable speed. 

He turned left and heard Dany scream before he heard the tires squeal of the car in front of him and then the unmistakable thump of hitting something. The car screeched to a stop, Jon stopping behind it. To their horror, the car then sped away, leaving the thing they hit in the middle of the road. 

Dany had tears in her eyes as she slowly opened the door to check what lay there. Jon sat stunned but hurried after her when the car door closing shook him out of his shock. When he reached her side, she was crouched down, examining the scene. 

His heart ached as he saw a ball of white fur, blood, and dirt showing the animal’s injuries. “Poor baby,” Dany cooed at the large dog, it’s chest still rising as it breathed, thankfully. He looked down, hearing the whines of pain, as red eyes met his. “Jon, what do we do?” Her voice cracked as she spoke, his chest clenching in reaction.

He reached into his back pocket and dialed the phone number of the local police station. When he ended the call he reached down and scooped up the dog as gently as he could, bringing him to the car and trying his best not to jostle it as he walked. Dany ran ahead and opened the door for him, hopping in the back to keep the dog calm and provide comfort. Then he booked it to the nearest animal hospital, careful of any bump or turn. 

Waiting on the cops to arrive at a scene the perpetrator already left seemed ill-advised as the dog may have died. During a holiday weekend, who knew how long they would have to wait, so he let them know what had happened and they could meet them at the animal hospital or he would go to the station afterward. Dany called Robb on the way so he could come pick up the groceries in the trunk before they spoiled.

They ran to the front desk begging for help, a receptionist standing and coming around the partition to lead them into a back room. Jon laid the animal down on the metal table, as soon as he did Dany was there, stroking the white fur ever so gently and whispering encouraging and soothing words. Bless her sweet heart, he thought as he watched her.

She noticed a collar around the dog’s neck with a nametag, “Ghost”, it read. “What a perfect name for such a beautiful puppers. You’re a good boy, Ghost. Yes, you are,” Dany told him.

The vet walked in then, a family friend named Davos. The Starks had a lot of animals, including horses and dogs of their own, so they were very familiar with him and trusted him implicitly. He greeted them kindly and examined Ghost. 

“We will need to get x-rays. It looks like Ghost has a broken leg, but we need to be sure he doesn’t have any more serious injuries. I will need to ask you to wait outside, but we will come and get you when we know more,” Davos told them, the assistant walking them back to the waiting room as they readied a syringe to give to Ghost so he wouldn't move and cause further injury and ease his suffering.

As they waited, Robb grabbed the groceries, and an officer showed up to take their statement. Dany was able to remember a couple letters and numbers from the license plate and Jon knew the make and model. The officer, Edd Tollett, gave them his card and promised to contact them if he found anything.

An hour later the assistant was calling them and they followed her into the room. Ghost was laying on the table with a cone around his head and a cast around his front leg. They had cleaned him up and he required a few stitches, but overall Davos said he was lucky. There didn’t seem to be any internal bleeding and he was expected to make a full recovery. 

They asked Davos to check for a microchip, but he was unable to locate one. The dog tag only had his name and the vet had no records of Ghost visiting before. They were given the option of taking him home, while they tried to find Ghost’s owners, or calling the local animal shelter or rescue. 

Davos left them alone a moment to discuss it. When the door clicked closed he turned around to find Dany looking up at him, her wide violet eyes pleading as her lower lip jutted out in a pout.

“Dany…”

“Please, Jon. We can’t let Ghost go to the shelter. He is injured and they may put him down. His injuries are expensive and they are more likely to euthanize him than pay for his recovery," she begged.

He ran his hands through his dark curls. They hadn’t discussed getting a pet before and he wasn’t sure they could handle the extra burden with their busy work schedules. But when Dany looked at him like that it was impossible to refuse her. He stepped up to Ghost and felt a wet scratchy tongue lick his hand. 

Jon sighed. “You know I have a soft spot for your stupid puppy dog eyes.” He wasn’t sure if he spoke to Dany or the damn dog, as it’s red eyes found his. 

She squealed and lept into his arms. “Thank you! Thank you,” she screamed in his ear. 

Jon flinched at her happy squeal, then wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, chuckling and smiling at her excited reaction. “You still have to try to find his owner. Some kid may be crying for their lost pet.”

“I know. I promise. And if no one comes to claim him, then we can keep him.” Her smirk was conspiratory as she scratched Ghost behind his ears. 

He rolled his eyes and went to pick up Ghost to carry him to the car. Dany stopped at the lobby to pay the bill and Davos handed them a packet of instructions and some pain medications. They took Ghost with them to the Starks, where they would already have any supplies they would need until they could get to the store and buy some.

After the celebration they took him home and posted on all their social media accounts, the pictures looking pitiful with the poor dog miserable in the annoying cone around his neck. Weeks went by without finding the owner, only tons of responses of how adorable and offering to adopt. The longer time went by, the more Jon fell in love with the mutt, though he would never admit it to Dany, her smug satisfy smile grating his nerves every time she caught the two together.

He grumbled as the dog curled up with him on the couch, Dany smirking knowingly at him. He pretended to be annoyed, but she knew he loved Ghost as much as Dany did despite his mummer's farce. He had to hand it to his beautiful wife, she did put all her efforts into finding Ghost's owners, even posting flyers in local shops and restaurants.

The police called a few weeks later, letting them know the suspect had been caught. Joffrey Baratheon was charged, but his parents hired some expensive lawyer and he got off with a slap on the wrist. Dany was livid ranting about the corrupt system. Jon couldn't say he didn't agree with her, but it was sadly a part of life.

After six months, and no owner stepping forward, they went down to the city building and registered Ghost, getting him a dog license and making him officially a part of their family. They took him to Davos to be microchipped and they bought him a new red collar to and added his dog license to his name tag. As they sat down, Dany handed him a small box with a ribbon on top.

"What's this for? It's not my birthday or Christmas?" He panicked for a moment thinking he may have forgotten an anniversary but that wasn't possible since their anniversary was still a few months away.

"Just open it," she insisted, bouncing with excitement.

When he opened it, a picture of them and Ghost lay in it. He picked it up about to thank her when he noticed a strange picture beneath it. It was a thin piece of paper, smooth and black and white. It seemed a jumble at first glance but then the picture became clearer.

"Dany... does this mean?" His eyes became glassy though a hopeful smile graced his lips.

"Yes, our family of three is about to grow by one more again."

He pounced on her, kissing her face and her lips, overjoyed at the news.

"Looks like you are going to have another set of puppy dog eyes you can't resist to look forward to soon enough," she joked, her hands going to her stomach instinctively.

He placed his own on top of hers where their child now grew. Ghost trotted over to join them, nudging his wet nose against their hands as if he knew his little brother or sister was there.

"I can't wait," he whispered, knowing their child would likely have him wrapped around their little finger from the moment they were born.

[midnightstar-90]

Hidden~ Eddie Diaz x Nash! Reader

A/N: I wanted to add some action, so I moved up when Shannon decided to divorce Eddie. Eddie is too good to make him into a cheater. I'm not really good at describing intimate-type stuff either.

Lose Some, Win Some

Y/N's POV

I am finally home. I'm home with my son, and the school gave me a couple of days to rest. I sat on my couch, watching the news. "Today, police suspect LAFD's 118 for robbing $300,000 worth of cash from a local bank. Police say that the LAFD was there to help the bank manager and a delivery man with a seizure or a possible nerve agent. Police also say that they found the cash inside one of their firetrucks. More information coming up, soon."

After hearing that, I remember the number on one of the firetrucks at the crash. The 118 saved me, and if they saved me, that means that Eddie and my dad are being questioned for a robbery. I haven't known Eddie long, but I know that Eddie, nor my father, would rob a bank.

Zachary walks into the room. "Mommy, I'm ready for bed," my little man says. I turn to him and say, "Ok, I'll be in there in a bit." He runs back to his room.

I hear a knock at the door. It is almost 9:30 pm. Who could be at my door? I go to the door and look through the peephole. Eddie and Christopher stand at the door with a to-go bag.

I open the door, and I say, "Eddie? Chris? what are you doing here?" "I bet you have heard about what is going on. The police have ransacked our house, and I was wondering if you could watch Chris until this blows over?" Eddie asked me desperately.

I smile at the two boys. "Sure. Chris, Zach is in his room getting ready for bed. You can go hang out with him until I get you a bed ready. His room is down the hall, the First door on the left," I tell the little boy, and then turn to Eddie.

He hands me Chris' night bag, and I joke and say, "There better not be any evidence in here." He chuckles, saying, "Nope, no evidence, just clothes, and a toothbrush."

I invite him into my apartment. He walks in and says, "Nice apartment. Is that a skylight?" He points up, at the skylight, in my living room.

(Y/N's Living room /w a skylight)

"Yeah, when Levi died, I would tell Zach that his father was watching him from the stars. So, I decided that anytime we missed Levi, we would watch the stars," I said, trying not to tear up.

Eddie reaches in his pocket and pulls out a picture. "I'm guessing this is Levi?" Eddie asks, handing me the picture. I look at the picture and lose my cool. Eddie sits me on the couch and just hugs me.

This is the closest I've ever been to a man since Levi. It felt good. I felt protected. I don't need protection because I was in the navy, but this man made me feel loved.

We sat on the couch, with me crying into his shirt. "Mommy, aren't you gonna put me to bed?" "Yeah." I get up, heading into my child's room.

Eddie follows me into the room, and what he sees shocks him.

(Zachary's bed)

Christopher is sitting on the bottom bunk of a firehouse bed. The whole room was dedicated to firefighters. When we got in that crash, and he met his grandfather, Zach decided that when he gets older, he would become a firefighter.

Christopher looks at his dad and says, "Dad, Zach said he wants to be like you and uncle Buck when he gets older."

Eddie continues to look around. He walks towards the cubby. Inside the cubby is some of Zach's favorite toys, some pictures of Levi and I, and some pictures of Zach and I. What really caught Eddie's eye, was the picture of Zach on my shoulders, at the El Paso Zoo.

I am tucking the boys in, when I hear, "You were in El Paso?" I look back and say, "Yeah, that was Zach's 2nd birthday. Levi was born in Austin, but he grew up in El Paso." Eddie just nods and goes back to looking around.

As I'm tucking Christopher in he says, "Dad and I are from El Paso. It would have been cool if we met before LA." I smile at the boy, before walking out and turning off the lights.

"We have a lot in common, you know?" Eddie tells me. I look at him and he looks back. "Oh, really?" I ask. Eddie and I move closer to each other. I continue to look at the man and I ask, "Like what?" "Well, for starters, we were both fought for our country." Imagining this man in a military uniform made the moment even hotter. I moved closer. "Ok, and?" "And, we both had a son at a young age."

At this point, he was towering over me. I quickly pulled the man into a kiss. He kisses back. I move my hands from my side to his chest, and he grabs my hips. He deepens the kiss as I move my hands from his chest to his neck. I feel strong hands go under my shirt.

We keep making out for a couple of minutes until I pull back. "I'm so sorry. I forgot you married," I say frantically. "She told me she wasn't ready. She filed for divorce. I also didn't feel like our relationship was working. She left us when Chris was little. I kinda like this hot teacher, who was in the Navy and has a son. Also, she knows about being a firefighter." Eddie tells me, holding my hands.

I kiss Eddie again. Eddie and I head to my room, without breaking the kiss. That night was the best night in forever. Everyone got a sleepover.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The robbery thing has been put behind us, but a new problem has arrived. My father didn't tell the LAFD everything about why he transferred, therefore leaving him suspended. He hasn't told me either, but I think it is best to let him come to me about it.

I started work again today, except I feel like I'm looking after 3 kids. My dad insisted that we hang out, you know since he wasn't there for most of my life.

I wake up at 5 am to a large banging noise. I look to see who it is, and surprise surprise, it is my father with tons of groceries. "Dad, what are you doing here. Zach is still asleep, and I don't have to be up till 7 am." I tell my dad, letting him in.

He heads to my kitchen and sits down the food. "I was thinking that I could make you and Zach breakfast, and then I could take you to work."

I gave my father a loving look. I feel bad that his past came back to haunt him, but maybe something good will come out of it. Besides, I missed the father/daughter bonding we had. Eddie told me his food is at grade A chef level, so why not let him cook for me.

"Well I love what you're doing, but I'm missing sleep. If it's fine with you, could I go back to sleep?" I ask, and receive a nod back. I walk to my room, but I turn back to check upon him. I know he's sad, but at this moment he looks happy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up at 7 am to a heavenly smell. I walk into the kitchen, after remembering my dad was making breakfast. As leave the hallway to see my son and father talking about firefighting. I smile, and my dad turns to face me.

"Ah, you're awake! I woke up Zach and got him dressed for you." my dad says taking a bite of the french toast. I go into the kitchen and make myself some food. I see french toast, fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. I look amazed as I take some of everything.

My dad works up the courage to ask me a question, "I was wondering if you wanted to stop by the firehouse, like old times. I have some people I would like you to meet." With my mouth full, I say, "Yeah, I missed those days" "Oh man, mommy is breaking a rule. She is talking with her mouth full," Zach says to the man next to him.

Dad laughs. "Well I ate, but I have to get dressed." I head to my room to get dressed.

(Y/N's outfit to work)

I walk back into the living room and we get ready to head out. We make it to the school, and I say goodbye to my father. I take Zach to class. I get to the office and I see Eddie and Chris. "Hey, I was just hanging with your fire captain." "Well, can you tell him we want him back because his replacement is terrible?" I laugh.

"So, are you coming to the firehouse?" Eddie asked me like he knew my dad would ask me. I give the firefighter a suspicious look and then say, "Yeah, my dad asked me this morning. Would you like me to bring Chris?" He gives me a "yeah, sure", and then we say goodbye.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Christopher and I had so much fun. We were in math, and I helped teach him fractions with mini Kit-Kats. Then, in English, we acted out storytime with his class. The day ended in science, where we build and erupted our own volcanos.

It is the end of the day, some and of the boys waited outside for my father. When he arrived, we got in and started heading towards the fire station, which was only a 5-minute drive.

We walk into the 118's fire station, and Zach went off. A scream could be heard throughout the whole building. All the firefighters and paramedics stopped to see what was going on. My dad walked up to me and said, "Just like his mother."

Eddie and another man walked down the stairs to see what was happening. I smile at the majestic man walking towards me. We go into a hug before I hear a cough.

"Eddie, aren't you gonna introduce me to the pretty lady," the man asked Eddie. I smile at the man, but Eddie and my dad roll their eyes. My dad jumps into the conversation, "Buck, this is my daughter, Y/N, and her son, Zach. Y/N, this is Buck."

Buck and I shake hands. "My name is actually Evan Buckley, but everyone calls me Buck. You are somewhat of what Eddie has told me. Your pretty, but I expected a younger Bobby, with boobs." Eddie smacks Buck's chest.

I'm laughing and I head upstairs with the others. "Mommy! Mommy! Can I go down the fire pole," Zach asks, tugging on my pant leg? I nod my head yes.

Another man and woman walk over and sit with us in the lounge. "Why is there a little boy running around? Did someone drop him off, because I think your only supposed to do that with babies, not children," the man said, sitting right next to me. "That's my son. I'm Y/N." I hold out my hand waiting for the man to shake it. "I'm Howie, but everyone calls me Chimney. This is Hen," The man says, and the woman waves.

We continue to talk until the emergency bell rings. Everyone heads downstairs, but I pull Eddie back. I give him a long kiss, with my arms around his neck and his around my waist.

I pull back and say, "I had fun the other night. Maybe, I could see if my dad could watch the boys, and you and I could maybe have dinner at my house." Eddie groans and says, "Oh, how I would love that. We could also watch a movie."

This man will be the death of me. "Yeah, but you need to go." Eddie runs off to an emergency, I head to the store with my dad, Christopher, and Zachary.

"You know, you don't have to hide Eddie from me," He tells me. I look at him shocked. "I see the way you guys look at each other, and I saw you guys kiss today," he says calmly.

"Well, since you know could you help me make a meal for him and I tonight, and can you watch the boys?" I practically beg. He nods, and then he moves towards the isles, picking out ingredients.

"I don't want to intrude, so I will give you a recipe card. But yes, I will take the boys, just use protection. I don't want to see another grandchild for a while," he says, earning a smack on the chest from me. "There are children around," I whisper.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My dad gave me a recipe for Ravioli, served with garlic bread and bacon-wrapped asparagus. I am almost finished cooking when I hear a knock.

(Y/N's Date Outfit)

I open the door to see a devastated Eddie. I go in to hug him, and Eddie says, "She's dead. Shannon died in the emergency room. That call we left for, that was for her. What am I gonna tell Christopher."

I welcome the man in, and I sit him on the couch. "Do you want to eat?" I ask, hoping that I could get him to relax and eat. "No" is all I hear, before he shoves his face into my shoulder, and lets it all out. I rub his back and say, "Everything will be fine."

We sit there, on the couch, just cuddling. I smell something burning. My eyes widen and I yell, "My bread!"

Eddie's mind comes back to earth and he heads towards the kitchen. Not only is the bread burnt, but there was also a slight fire. Eddie quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher and put out the fire.

I was so scared. Eddie saved me from a fire. At the moment, I forgot all about the food, Eddie's emotions, and everything else. I kissed Eddie out of thankfulness. We kissed for about a minute before he pulled away.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have done that, with everything going on. I was scared. I could've just stood there and let the fire grow, but no, you saved me. You are m-" Eddie cut me off with a kiss.

Eddie picked me up and took me to my room. He laid me on my bed, and next thing you know, our clothes are off.

Taglist: @notanordinaryprincess95 @jjpogueprincess @wiypt-writes

[needs-to-stop-looking-at-valves]

I need to see more of camilo flirting with either gender

(I love your writing btw💕)

You guys just want some Camilo flirting? Alright, alright, I hear you.

(Note, flirting is the best you will get with Camilo. Why? Because he's sixteen, leave him alone. No Camilo smut in this house. Also, thank you ❤️)

Camilo sighed as he left the Sanchez's house. He was STARVED after a full day of babysitting (apparently leaving snacks for the sitter wasn't a fucking thing), but he knew dinner wouldn't be ready for a while. He had to get his hands on some grub, without any cash. A challenge, sure, but nothing he couldn't handle. He made his way through the market, and looked for just the target.

And there she was. The cutest lady, making that 'takoyaki' stuff he honestly loved. She was new. And he would know, he came here pretty much everyday. Usually it was a bitter old man. This was MUCH better. He waited till the line thinned down, before he leaned against the counter, nodding at her.

"Hey. You're not Mr.Nakamura."

She looked up as she cleaned her utensils. She had pretty little eyes too.

"Oh no, that's my uncle. I'm Emi. He isn't feeling well today, so I took over. And you must be Camilo."

"Ah, he talks about me. Knew that old man cared."

She scoffed.

"He said you eat too much, and you never have money."

"Okay, ouch. That's ONE way to treat a valuable customer. Take it there's no way I can talk you into giving me a bit of a freebie."

"No. He warned me that you'd try to trick me into serving you. Not gonna happen."

She was about to replace the napkins on the counter, when he held onto both of her hands, and met her eyes.

"Look, Emi. Have a heart here. I get you, I do. Helping out the family, yet still figuring yourself out. But have a little pity on a poor boy. At least don't kick a guy out. That way I can get just one more second to look at those pretty little lips of yours~"

He had her, he could see it from the blush on her face. She mumbled something under her breath.

"If I serve you, will you leave?"

"You're a saint, Emi. From your head, down to the tips of your pretty little fingers~"

He kissed the tip of her index finger, only to have her pull it back quickly. Poor thing looked as red as a tomato. She bitched and moaned as she cooked, all while he gave her lovey dovey eyes. She finished, practically shoving the basket of goodies into his grip. Too easy. He gave a nod of thanks, before shooting her a wink.

"I'll keep this between us, bella dama~"

He turned to leave, before tucking in. Only thing better than food, was free food. He finished it pretty quickly, but felt thirsty. He could go with some lemonade. He immediately strolled to the lemonade stand, where Hapi and his parents worked. This guy's parents HATED him, thinking he was just a menace. But their son, Hapi, a cute blonde boy, had the FATTEST crush on him. He always checked him out when he could, and he was SO easy to fluster.

And the best part? He didn’t need his gift to get what he wanted from him. He snuck past the counter, and to the back, where Hapi was, adding sugar to a giant tub pf lemon juice. He slowly crept up behind him, made himself just a bit taller, and whispered in his ear.

"Hola azúcar~"

The poor guy jumped, nearly dropping all the sugar on the floor.

"SHIT-Camilo! Hey! How come you're in here?"

"I wanted a drink. You weren't up front. So I came to get my Hapi boy myself~"

He liked it when he said his name, he could tell from how he looked at his lips.

"C-camilo, I can't keep just GIVING you drinks. My parents got mad last time, I can't-"

"And that's why it's our little secret! Come on. Don't tell me you aren't a little excited. Me, back here, where I shouldn't be,"

Hapi was bigger than him, but he still took steps back as Camilo approached him, right till his back hit the wall. He hooked a finger into his apron, and yanked him till their foreheads were touching.

"You and me, all alone. Your back against the wall. We both know how this is gonna end."

"Camilo p-please-"

The distance was so little between them, Camilo wouldn't be surprised if the dude was popping the biggest boner.

"You're gonna give me what I want. Now come on. Who's a good boy? Quien es mi buen chico?~"

He whimpered, and nodded.

"I'm...y-you're good boy. Okay, fine, but we just. Gotta be quick."

Too easy. Camilo clicked his tongue, and gave his cheek a little pinch.

"I can do a quicky, blondie~"

He let go of him, and he got to work, serving him the biggest side of lemonade, trying bot to shake as Camilo watched him.

"Oh and throw in a few chocolate cookies for mi mami. Since you're SUCH a nice guy."

He nodded obediently, and Camilo snatched the goodies before he could come to his senses.

"See you later, Hapi boy~"

He blew him a kiss before making his way back home. He made his way to the living room, where his mami was, doing Antonio's hair.

"Camilo, Mi bebé! You're home early!"

"Si, I finished faster than I thought. I brought you chocolate chip cookies from that lemonade place."

She paused what she was doing, grabbing the bag, looking inside it, and squealing.

"Oh-I've been blessed with such a thoughtful son! Come here, besos!"

He leaned down for her, letting her assault him with kisses upon kisses. He could flirt from dusk till dawn, but he truly didn’t give a shit.

Not when he had his mami's kisses waiting for him at home.

[2jaeh]

Surf Shack | Johnny Suh

Genre : angst; some mature themes

A long awaited beach vacation that unexpectedly lead you to a local surf shop owner who helps you out of your toxic relationship.

Surf Shop owner! Johnny ; cheating ? ; toxic ex bf

——————————————————————————-

“I don’t have to come on this trip if you don’t want me to y/n” your boyfriend rolled his eyes as he shoved the last suitcase into the back of his car.

You sucked in your breath and jumped into the passenger seat. You closed your eyes and imagined your feet against the warm white sand, the smell of the salty ocean tickling your nose and the seagulls flapping their wings to signal the upcoming sunset.

He was not going to ruin this for you.

You had planned this seaside trip for a month. You were swamped with work during the first vacation period where your family met up at your old hometown and sadly missed out on a nostalgic weekend away.

But not this time.

This time you managed to book the perfect Airbnb and your family were all available this time of the year and nobody, not even he could spoil this weekend.

“I don’t even get why you’re mad ? All I said was I’d prefer to catch up on the company stocks than frolick in the ocean....it was a joke y/n”

“Then why did you bring your paperwork ?” You muttered and looked out of the window as the car moved quickly out of the bustling city and onto the highway.

You heard him chuckle but didn’t bother to look in his direction. Instead you kept your eyes focused on the cars that passed by.

“Look I didn’t want to bring my work with but I had to” he said in a dead tone “This whole trip...I’m only going because your dad hates me enough...I’ll never hear the end of this if I stayed behind.”

His words were cold and you felt a lump in your throat. You couldn’t understand how at one point he was the reason for your happiness. Wonhyuk was not the same person he was when you two had first dated. He was caring and gentle. He would hate to see you cry and did everything he could to see that smile stretch across your face.

But now, two years later he couldn’t care less about how his words affected you. He had gotten promoted and his career and status made him into the pretentious bastard you see today.

He would flirt with women in front of you, knowing you wouldn’t say anything about it. He would came home at weird parts of the night and you would smell a foreign cologne grace his dress shirts but you stayed silent.

Why ?

Love. You think.

There was obviously a reason you two fell in love and that’s all you were clinging to. Like he mentioned, your dad couldn’t stand him. Your family came from this seaside town while his family came from the upperclass part of the city. He hated small talk or watching sunsets in silence. He liked to talk business he liked to talk about his achievements.

“Atleast pretend like we’re not arguing again for my dads sake ?” You sighed as he pulled into the driveway of the Airbnb lodge and switched off the engine.

“Fine” he pressed his lips together as his eyes met yours and proceeded to offload the car.

You exhaled deeply and faked a smile as you climbed the stairs to the lodge.

“Sunshine!” You heard your nickname bellow from inside the house and your dad gleam at your presence.

“Dad !” You chuckled and jumped into his arms.

“We thought you weren’t going to make it” your aunt teased from the kitchen as she tended to her kids.

“The traffic was awful but we’re here!” Wonhyuk forced a smile as he came to greet your father.

“Ah Wonhyuk I see you’re working on our vacation ?” Your father chuckled. He smiled but you could tell he wasn’t very pleased with your boyfriends choices.

“I just brought a bit of stuff to seem like I’m busy” Wonhyuk shrugged with a grin “don’t worry sir I won’t be stuck in the office.”

Your father simply nodded and returned back to your uncle on the balcony facing the ocean.

“Shit my rash guard just tore!!” You heard someone yell from one of the rooms. It definitely sounded like your favourite cousin.

“Jeno ?” You peeped into the room to find your cousin holding up his swimming gear with a fresh tear around the thigh area.

“Y/n! You’re here! Good! Can you come with me to the surf shack down on the promenade??” He asked desperately.

“Is it urgent ? You aren’t planning to surf already are you ?”

“The waves are perfect right now so yes it IS an emergency” he groaned and pulled you back to the foyer.

“Hey I’m going with Jeno to the promenade for a new rash guard are you coming with ?” You quietly asked Wonhyuk who replied with a shrug and followed the both of you out.

Jeno spoke the entire way, catching you up on what was going on in university to finally moving out of his parents place. You felt Wonhyuk keep a slight distance from the two of you, his mind clearly somewhere else.

“This is the place!” Jeno squealed and ran into the surfshack that dawned a cute straw roof.

You stepped inside greeted by the cool air from the ceiling fan and began browsing the miscellaneous items as Jeno went upstairs to view the swimwear.

Wonhyuk joined you inside the store but lingered around the entrance, pulling out his smartphone and looked seemingly bored.

“Uh..those are half price” you heard a deep voice but couldn’t find the person who matched it.

You finally felt a presence behind you and their shadow casted over your entire body which unconsciously made you swallow hard.

“I-I’m just looking thank you” you mumbled and felt the person move past you and back to the counter in the front of the store.

You let your eyes slowly gaze over to the counter to find a tall, well built brown haired boy in a Hawaiian shirt take his seat at the cash register. His dark eyes moved from the screen in front of him to yours. He studied your face, your movements, unsure of what you were doing in his shop.

“H-how much is this ?” You said abruptly mentally cursing yourself for even speaking up.

The boy’s pouty lips curled into a smile and stood up to get a better look at the product you were holding.

You watched as his barely buttoned shirt revealed a bit of his toned chest as he moved. You had never looked at another man like this let alone have your heart race like a school girl crush.

All while your boyfriend was in the same room.

“That’s $7 but I’ll let you take it for 5”

His accent and the way he lazily spoke made you feel butterflies and you had no idea why. Was this your subconscious finding a way to replace Wonhyuk because you two were currently in a debacle ?

“Hey babe what do you think of this necklace ?” You asked, finally snapping out of your daydream and turning to Wonhyuk.

“Why do you also choose such tacky jewelry y/n ? Come on the stuff I can get you in the city are 10times more classy than that” his words felt like a dagger.

You felt embarrassed. You obviously did not know the man behind the counter but you still felt embarrassed that he had to witness that.

Before you could reply Wonhyuk’s phone rang and he quickly received it and marched outside.

You felt your breaths become heavy, much like those nights when Wonhyuk would come home late smelling like another woman. You prayed that the tears won’t fall until you felt a soft but firm hand on your shoulder.

“Your boyfriend doesn’t have any taste this is actually a very unique item, you have a good eye” the handsome counter boy smiled and lifted the necklace from your hand.

You blushed slightly still embarrassed from the scenario that unfolded.

“He’s just...got a lot going on with work he doesn’t mean that” you lied. You knew he meant what he said and you knew he was trying to get a reaction out of you.

“Damn it’s really true. All the pretty girls really do have the douchiest boyfriends”

His grin got wider as you chuckled at his words.

“I actually really like it” you cleared your throat and pointed at the necklace in his hand

“How much is it again ?”

“Free off charge” He smiled and ripped off the tag, stepping behind you to place the necklace on you.

“Are you sure ? I can pay for it” you bit down on your lip as his soft fingers moved your hair out of the way and fastened the necklace on, letting his touch linger for a bit.

“It’s really okay” he reassured you and walked back to his counter. His eyes narrowed as he caught your so called boyfriend talking to a woman just outside the store. Something in him wanted to intervene and punch that bastard in the face for betraying you like this but he held back.

He turned back to you and noticed you had seen the scene outside but quickly looked away pretending like it wasn’t happening.

“My names Johnny, what’s your name ?” He quickly spoke up noticing your eyes becoming hazy.

“Uh...my name is y/n..”

“You from around here y/n ?”

“No but my dad lives about 10 minutes away though, this is kinda my hometown” you replied keeping your eyes on the floor and fighting the urge to cry.

You looked up at the second floor and noticed Jeno was ready to check out which meant it was time to snap back to the fake happiness.

“Y/n....” Johnny whispered “come see me later.”

He held your hand but you felt him place a piece of paper in your palm before greeting Jeno and ringing his order up.

Wonhyuk finally entered the store and you quickly stuffed the note in your pocket and walked out with Jeno completely ignoring Wonhyuks low chuckle after glancing at your new necklace.

——————————————————————————-

The sun began to set and the red and orange tint filled the lounge area as everyone began cleaning up after supper and heading off to their respective bedrooms to chill out and unpack.

Wonhyuk went straight to the shower which gave you a chance to finally read the note from Johnny.

‘10pm, lifeguard hut - swimwear’

Was he really expecting you to sneak out behind your boyfriends back to meet him ?

This was stupid. This was supposed to be a stress free vacation.

Just as you were about to make your decision you noticed a message pop up on Wonhyuks phone from an unknown number.

‘What time are we meeting tomorrow haha don’t make your gf too anxious now I hate being a homewrecker xo’

That familiar feeling you always had back home came flooding back. Was it someone from work ? Was is the woman he was talking to today ?

You glanced over at Johnnys note and quickly changed into your swimwear, throwing your hoodie and trackpants over and left Wonhyuk a note.

‘Visiting Aerie, she’s going through a rough spot might stay over don’t wait up’

Aerie was a friend Wonhyuk knew of that was in the area and sleeping over at her place was not something out of the ordinary especially when you visited the small town.

You decided to take a quick stroll through the night market and get a sweet treat while you killed time. The loneliness was somewhat therapeutic and the sounds of the night market were nostalgic of your childhood.

You loved every minute of it and the best of part was Wonhyuk wasn’t around to ruin the atmosphere.

You checked your phone and it was already 9:50pm so you decided to head over to the lifeguard hut. The area was quite deserted except for two couples cuddling on the beach under the dark night sky.

Slipping off your shoes you jumped into the white sand, loving the cool feeling in between your toes and made your way over to the hut.

A tall figure was posted up against the wooden frame and you noticed the bright yellow Hawaiian shirt that welcomed you earlier in your day.

“You actually showed up” his voice was velvety making the butterflies from earlier occupy your stomach once again.

“I dont usually do this...” you spoke, finally approaching his figure watching as the dim light from the hut hit his features perfectly.

“Oh so why did you ?” He smirked playfully.

You shrugged and gazed upon the dark waves hitting against the shore.

“I need a distraction”

“Yikes” Johnny winced and clutched his chest “kinda hurts I’m just a distraction but I’m glad you’re here nonetheless.”

You giggled and shook your head at his goofiness as the two of you headed to the deck of the hut.

“Are you planning a night swim ? It looks quite dangerous out there” you shivered as the dark sea made you slightly uncomfortable.

“We are going to the tidal pools! Much safer and less chance of a jellyfish sting” he winked and grabbed your hand lacing his fingers with yours.

It felt so natural being with him yet you only knew him for a very short amount of time. He took away any anxiety that built up during the day and chucked it away with ease. Being with him even in these short hours gave you a sense of freedom you had been craving deeply.

“Watch out it’s a bit slippery here” Johnny warned as he took care of you every step of the way.

“Are we even allowed to be here ?” You asked nervously as you saw it was now only the two of you.

“I come out here very often trust me it’s safe and nobody really cares unless you’re causing some sort of Ruccus” he grinned his eyes stretching along with his smile and you felt your face heat up.

You finally reached the tiny tidal pool and Johnny immediately unbottoned his shirt and jumped into the pool without any thought.

He finally surfaced and his brown locks stuck to his forehead as he gestured for you to join him.

You were a bit nervous getting down to your swimwear in front of a complete stranger. You have never thought of being with someone else or being attracted to someone else since your relationship with Wonhyuk began.

Johnny placed his hand over his eyes, letting you change comfortably without feeling embarrassed which he couldn’t understand why.

You were beautiful.

He had never felt this type of immediate attraction to someone before. He wanted you to feel like yourself which he noticed was not the case around that bastard.

You finally shimmied out of your tracksuit and submerged yourself slowly into the water, sucking in a deep breath at the cold sensation.

“It’s nice isn’t it ?” Johnny murmured as your eyes were lost in the stars above the two of you.

You felt him move closer, his warmth approaching as your eyes fixated on the constellations that formed in the night skies.

“I’ve never felt this calm in such a long time” you sighed and brought your eyes back to meet his.

“I can tell” Johnny caressed the pendant of the necklace he had given you earlier on.

“Why is it so fuckin hard to leave and move on” you groaned, throwing your head back “why am I stuck with someone who hates me, who gets to do whatever he wants and I have to deal with it.”

Johnny brought his hands to your face and made you meet his gaze again. His eyes were filled with concern and his smiled faded as he saw the pain in your eyes.

“It’s hard seeing the person you once loved turn into someone you hate but hey that’s life y/n nobody is perfect and you sure as hell need to keep searching for the right person for you. A consistent one” Johnny reassured you as he brought your trembling frame into a hug.

“I know I’m just some random guy you just met but I immediately knew you were being cheated out of a good relationship with an asshole who doesn’t deserve your patience and love.”

You couldn’t help but sob at his words. You knew you couldn’t take much more of the toxic relationship you were accustomed to and you did deserve better.

“J-Johnny...can you kiss me ?” You whispered looking up into his brown eyes and then letting your gaze fall onto his lips.

Johnny responded by pulling you close enough for you to wrap your legs around his toned back and push yourself up to meet his face.

He made the first contact by bending down to meet your lips and sighed into the soft peck. He pulled away slightly until you gave him permission to continue and the second kiss was much stronger than the first.

Johnny wrapped his arms tightly around your waist as he followed your lead in the kiss, only breaking to catch his breath and met your lips once again.

His lips were incredibly soft and he playfully nibbled on your lower lip each time you pulled away, eager to feel you against him once again. His lips eventually moved to your jaw, followed by soft kisses down to your neck and back up to your now swollen lips.

The two of you stayed just like that. In each other’s arms which felt like the best place to be, the right place to be.

In this moment.

[torilovestowrite]

Dabi x Reader; Try Again pt. 8

Synopsis: Years ago, (Y/n) was left by her villain boyfriend, Dabi after discovering an unexpected news. Ever since then, she never had a lover— focusing on her only son, Yuta. Later on, she meets Todoroki Touya— a new co-worker who seem to be persistent towards winning her heart and attention.

Ship: Dabi x Fem! Reader

❗❗❗Content Warning: Mentions of Abortion, Unplanned Pregnancy, Manga spoilers, Dabi is a Todoroki theory

🖤 » Chapter Navigation « 🖤

"Yuta L/n, you're not going out!" Y/n strictly reprimanded as she tried to keep her son still from his position, lying on bed with a cold towel on his forehead.

It was during a Wednesday when Yuta, y/n's son, had a fever that reached over 41 degrees. Y/n felt threatened about this because her son has never reached this temperature. It's too high— and he also stated something about his body feeling heavy. What could be happening?

"B-but... we're about to watch a movie in school today! I don't want to miss it!" Yuta began bawling his eyes out while Y/n sighed at his dramatic tone. Does it really have to be like this? Yuta has to be emotional and sensitive every time he gets sick? This only reminds her of him— the way he would caress her soft hands every time she would tend his wounds every after a tiring day— the man he used to love, Dabi, would appear to be more gentle and affectionate every time he gets worn out... or ill.

"We're going to watch a movie while you take a rest here at home, okay?" Y/n gently tapped her son's side in an attempt to make him close his eyes and sleep. "For now, take a rest. Or else, it would take longer before you could go outside."

Immediately, Yuta turned his back from his mother in an attempt to be more comfortable; and to have a good sleep. Y/n smiled at his actions. Good thing, her son has always been considerate on her hardwork and the way she disciplines him.

It wasn't too long until she heard a notification from her phone— a message coming from Touya.

touya ❣ : good morning y/n. how's ur pretty face doing?

It's been four months since y/n realized her feelings for Touya. Both of them started dating two months ago and so far, he has been understanding towards her obligations as a mother. Most of their dates included Yuta and there are times when Touya would volunteer to watch over him while she's away during her day shifts. Y/n could never ask for anything— Touya was doing his job greatly; as a boyfriend and as a paternal figure to Yuta.

you : yeah, i'm all good babe. thanks for asking. but yuta's sick rn... i dont really have anyone to take care of him and i need to go for my day shift.

touya ❣ : you want me to go for it? i mean, i only work during nights anyways

Y/n's smile lit up as she read his message. Finally! She thought. She could go to work!

you: sure thing babe 💗✨

Few more minutes, when Yuta has finally travelled to dreamland, Y/n left the house, wearing her thick f/c coat with her hair styled to become more neat-looking. Another day for work, she thought.

It's been two hours since Touya arrived in Y/n's home. Using the spare key under her house's doormat, he decided to enter her house that was silent when he went inside. Until he heard a child's high-pitched scream coming from Yuta's bedroom. His instinct caused him to immediately run towards this direction; but what he saw caused a heavy sensation in his chest. Those familiar blue flames that was once his signature— as Dabi; the heartless villain who claimed 30 innocent lives.

"U-Uncle T-Touya!" Yuta cried in panic while his right hand was burning with blue and heated fire. "W-What should I do?! M-my—"

"Breathe." Touya immediately replied as he kneeled next to him, rubbing his back with his huge and rough hands. "You have to control your breathing and your emotions. You have to control it because the more you panic, the more it will get stronger."

Yuta closed his eyes and focused in calming himself down— taking deep breaths and thinking about things that he liked in life— ice cream, Y/n, Uncle Touya, pro-heroes... all the things that makes him happy. Slowly, the fire became smaller and smaller— until nothing appeared on his hands.

"I-It's gone! The blue flames!" Yuta exclaimed as a grin crept on his face. "Did you see that awesome thing on my hand, Uncle Touya?! That must be my quirk, right?"

"Yes, it's an awesome quirk that you have." Touya smiled sadly as he stared at the young and naive child— as if he was seeing his past self; the pure child who was corrupted by his father's evil desires and deeds. It was all fun and games knowing he has an awesome quirk like that... until his father, Enji Todoroki, decided to ruin everything for him.

But he swore to be someone better than him; to be a man suitable to be called a father.

That afternoon, Y/n arrived at her home with such beautiful sight; Touya and Yuta scooped in each others' arms while the movie was left streaming. She smiled at the sight. It was so cute. For a few seconds, she almost believed that Touya was Yuta's father. The young mother couldn't help it but to take a picture of the two while having their peaceful slumber.

"I saw you," Touya spoke, "Delete it."

Y/n giggled as Touya stood up from his position as he tried to grab the phone away from her hands. It was such a cute sight. She was sticking her tongue out while she was trying to chase him. Y/n couldn't help but to feel as if they were all.. what? 17? Whatever, it felt cute, though.

"Yeah, whatever. Have that pic all you want. You can even make it your wallpaper." Y/n got her cheeks pinched by him as he gave her a light kiss on the nose. "I'm going now, sweet cheeks, I'm attending night shift for tonight."

"Sure, sure." Y/n smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek, as she watched his lean and toned figure leave their house. All that's left is her and Yuta. Slowly, his eyes opened to see his mother watching him sleep.

"Mommy?" Yuta spoke in a drowsy tone.

Y/n responded, hugging her son beside her while his eyes still looked sleepy. Seems that the sleep wasn't enough for him, huh? The young lady laughed at this, ruffling his hair, and deciding to ask him. "How was your day with Uncle Touya? Is it better than it was when you're at school?"

The young lad aggressively nodded and decided to tell Y/n the greatest thing that he discovered today.

"My quirk just manifested, ma! I have blue flames!" Yuta exclaimed as he tried to show it off with the tip of his fingers. Y/n's eyes widened at this— it created a tingling feeling in her heart. It was like a slap on her face. Yuta is really Dabi's son, isn't he?

"T-That's awesome." Y/n replied, trying to stop tears from flowing.

While her son was still busy talking about his day, her hands were able to feel something on the couch. It was... hard. She pulled out to see a black leather wallet. Did Touya forget his stuff here? Y/n sighed at his forgetfulness. Well, he's a person, she thought, so he has flaws too.

"Did Uncle Touya forget that, ma?" Yuta asked in a polite tone. "Bring it back to him tomorrow, okay?"

Y/n smiled at what he said. She really raised her son well. "Sure!"

It was night time. Yuta went back to sleep and Y/n was busy contemplating inside her room— walking back and forth; thinking about whether she should check his stuff or what.

It's not what others would think. It's just that it's been two months since they got together but Touya only says few things about himself. All she knew is that his parents are living overseas and he's left alone here. He has siblings who lived with their parents in abroad. Nothing more, nothing less.

Aside from that, it wouldn't hurt to peek just a little bit, right?

Y/n sighed as she finally came to a conclusion to check his wallet to see if there's something that would tell more about himself. It's not like she was nosy. She just wants to get to know him at a better level. He's quite of a silent and mysterious guy himself, which got the young lady curious about him.

Of course, there was nothing new; just few IDs, bunch of credit cards (which Y/n thought was odd because if he had this much money, why would he work in an old bar as a bartender), and a thin wad of cash. Nothing else— until something that was so unordinary in her eyes— fell.

Her eyes widened as she saw that memoribilia. No words could come out from her mouth. Her vision felt so dark; as if it was slowly fading; and her heart hurt so much. Only tears could come out from her eyes. No scream, no words, no phrases— simply, nothing.

"Y-you..." Her fists clenched tightly as her form started shaking— she didn't know what to feel. Is it anger, sadness, remorse— what should she feel first? She began to wail as she stared and touched at this object from the past. Whatever that happened was too painful for her to bear.

"You fooled me... Dabi."

That night, Touya was looking for his wallet. It was nowhere to be found; not even in his car. Maybe he left it at your place? Well, whatever the circumstances are, he was hoping that none of you would be able to find it. Maybe, he'd drive towards your place again and—

His thoughts were interrupted as his phone rang. The caller ID showed Y/n— and a selfie that she sent him as the profile picture. Immediately, he answered it.

"Hello, bab—"

"Don't you babe me. We have to talk." Y/n's voice sounded cold and harsh. She was angry... and he knew it. Touya knew that tone several years ago; and if he hears that, he knows that hell will break because of her wrath.

"What is it?"

"Stop acting dumb." Y/n scoffed.

"How the hell are you alive, Dabi?"

Taglist [OPEN]: @babayaga67 @marydragneell @xxtrash-kingxx @paranoiac-666 @velvet-kissesss @orenjineki @mermaid-starlet @ikita454 @yo-girl-lunar @pansexual-booknerd @daimiyu

a/n: i kinda did stop updating this but like bnha chapter 290 got me like 😭😭😭😭 dabi can i give u a hug plspslslslsl 😗😗

[soulmate-game]

It had been a trip to Metropolis. Why would Francois-Dupoint go to Gotham, a crime-ridden city crawling with danger and supervillains, vigilantes that toed the line of being bad influences, and a really high chance of lawsuit, when they could go to the city of Superman himself?

Exactly. No good reason.

At least, that was what they all thought. Marinette’s parents even volunteered to chaperone, deciding that they could survive shutting the bakery down for one week. Marinette had helped raise enough money for the trip that the school could compensate them a bit for their time, and their food, hotel, and plane were all paid for. It was supposed to be a great trip. One to remember. And yeah, Marinette would never forget that vacation.

Because she stood with the rest of her class, watching smoke and dust rise off of the pile of rubble that just dropped on top of her parents. The fight was over. Marinette couldn’t even remember who it was. But even with his son by his side, Superman and Superboy couldn’t save everyone. Nobody could. It was asking too much, to expect any one or two heroes to save everyone when an entire city was being attacked and buildings reduced to rubble.

But that wouldn’t soothe the sight of blood creeping out of the rocks.

That wouldn’t soothe the scrapes on Marinette’s knees when she dropped to the ground.

It wouldn’t smother the sound of her agonized cries.

It wouldn’t heal the burns and scrapes and bruises, the chipped fingernails and bleeding fingertips that Marinette gave herself as she tried desperately, sight blurry through tears, to lift each and every piece of still-hot concrete off, shove it to the side, in an attempt to unearth them. They could still be alive, right? Right?

The fact that she was shoveling what amounted to pebbles off of a hill of rubble argued with her. No. No, they weren’t.

It wasn’t until gentle, but unyieldingly strong hands clasped hers, making them still.

“You’re hurting yourself,” that soft, deep voice came from whoever owned the foreign hands, but she didn’t have the mental strength to look up and identify them. Instead, she resorted to kicking rubble away. The voice sighed. “Back up. I can help. Okay? Will you let me help?”

It had been so long, Marinette furrowed her eyebrows. When was the last time someone had actually asked her that question? When was the last time someone ever offered her help? Legitimate help, not just something superficial.

She couldn’t remember. How should she respond?

Marinette’s tongue darted out, wetting her dusty lips. Her deep breath came in with a disconcerting rattle. Somehow, she managed to nod. The foreign hands loosened slightly.

“Okay. Good—“

“I can’t stop,” Marinette finally managed to choke out. “I can’t— I need to—“

“I know,” the voice said again, endlessly patient. Endlessly understanding. “But you’re hurting yourself, so put these on first. Then you can keep digging.”

With his help—yes, him. She vaguely managed to pin down that the voice was male— she was able to slip on thick gloves. They were several sizes too big, probably belonged to one of the firefighters nearby, her mind numbly supplied. She didn’t care. As soon as they were on, she dropped down and began to dig again. The man who had offered to help did just that, moving just a foot or two away and lifting up impossibly large chunks of concrete before placing them down gently in an open area.

With his help, they were uncovered. They were carried away, under blankets, as best as they could be. Marinette saw none of it. Hands covered her eyes, younger than the voice-man’s hands but almost as strong. The only thing she saw was whatever was left once most of them was taken away. Later, she would thank him. But in the moment she was furious.

“I’m not a baby!” She growled at him, her voice lower and scratchier than usual because of all the smoke and dust clogging her throat. “I need to look at them! I need to remember!”

“Not like this,” the new voice said. When he removed his hands, Marinette saw Superboy. He was probably just about her age, but that offered little comfort for her. At least his eyes were understanding, calm, and empathetic. “You don’t need to see them like this. Remember them like they were, not how they ended,” the young hero advised gently, keeping a respectable distance between them now that he was no longer covering her eyes. He wasn’t even floating, staying on solid ground to stay closer to her eye level. “Today will be hard enough on your mind as it is. You don’t need to make this more painful than it is.”

Marinette could only bite her lip at that, her shoulders trembling. Is this what it took to have someone worry about her? To have people realize that she wasn’t superhuman, that she wasn’t infallible or mentally indestructible? Is this what it took, to finally have people try to help and care for her?

Because if it was, she would gladly deal with Lila Rossi and be held to far too high a standard for the rest of her life. She would rather suffer quietly for decades with that much more gentle pain than deal with this agony right now.

She finally let the tears fall, but they were mostly silent. Only hiccups and gasps for air added sound to her sobs. Superboy gently removed her hands from her arms before she could draw blood on herself, and when she lunged into the touch he drew her into the hug she clearly needed. When she pretty much collapsed into his hold, getting snot and tears over the symbol on his chest, he said nothing. He just held her and shared a glance over her shoulder with his father.

—*—*—*—*—*

Lois Lane was an investigative reporter. And when her husband and son asked her to make sure the girl they had sat with for hours after the latest attack on their city would be taken care of, she did not cut corners in her research. What she came up with was less than reassuring.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. With her parents gone, she didn’t have much in the way of possible guardians. Her paternal grandfather was dead, just a few months earlier of old age. Her paternal grandmother Gina was consumed with wanderlust, not very responsible and not likely to be able to win custody. Even if she did, Lois doubted Marinette would do well in such an unstable, constantly moving lifestyle. Some people would, but Marinette was much like her son from what she gathered from her investigation. She would need stability before anything else. There was her Uncle from her mom’s side of the family, but he only spoke Mandarin so the language barrier was not promising either. The last thing Marinette needed was pressure to learn a new language. If she hyper focused on anything to deal with her grief, it should at least be something she chose on her own. Lastly there was her maternal grandmother, but she had gotten in an accident and passed away almost two years prior.

Luckily, Lois Lane was also a woman of extreme, if mostly secret, political power. She knew several billionaires with political sway, international superheroes, and politicians. Also, not that she would ever tell her husband, but she might have squared away some blackmail and favors that she might cash in with some folks in the legal system if it decided to fight her on her new personal mission.

Nobody got in the way of Lois Lane and lasted long.

But first, she ran her idea past her family. It wouldn’t do any good if they didn’t agree with her, after all. Luckily enough, her offer seemed to be exactly what they had hoped for. Apparently Marinette was the type that was easy to get attached to.

And that was how, after twelve hours of intense phone-call sessions and very, very many in depth discussions, arguments, debates, bargains, and subtle manipulation, Marinette Dupain-Cheng ended up in the temporary custody of the Kent family.

The process itself was extremely complicated and in normal circumstances would have taken anywhere from days to months to complete, but as mentioned before Lois Lane is a secret political superpower in and of herself.

Officially, Marinette’s grandmother Gina assumed custody. Unofficially, her grandmother had plans to enroll her in school abroad in, you guessed it, Metropolis, so that she wouldn’t have to deal with the melancholy memories that Paris would supply her. In doing so, she contacted the Kent’s who were apparently old family friends and asked them to take her granddaughter in for the time being. She was oh so busy traveling the world, after all. And that’s no life for a teenager recovering from grief.

After two weeks to allow Marinette to go back to Paris for the funeral, pack up her things and say goodbye to her friends, she ended up on the Kents’ doorstep with her grandmother by her side. Any attempts to get more information out of the old woman were futile, she refused to say a word on why nobody had mentioned these “family friends” before.

(Lois figured out fairly quickly that Gina Dupain was not somebody to take lightly. The fact that Gina answered the phone thinking that Red Hood was calling was a giant tip off. Lois was pretty sure that Gina knew damn well who her son and husband were, but wasn’t saying anything about it. It really was a shame that she wasn’t exactly prime parenting material at the moment.)

Lois and Clark opened the door together, having been double and triple checking that everything was set up and ready for their new addition. Sure, Marinette wasn’t being adopted or even officially fostered by them, but they would still treat her like a Kent.

“Marinette, hi,” Clark greeted, smiling warmly down at the short girl. “I’m Clark, and this is my wife Lois. If you need absolutely anything, don’t be afraid to ask. Okay?”

The small girl nodded, her hair flopping behind her a bit. Normally she would have it held back in pigtails, but she just didn’t have the energy for that anymore. Maybe she would regain it one day. With that, Gina and Marinette said their goodbyes and she started her life with the Kents.

—*—*—*—*—*

It took a while. Luckily the trip to metropolis had already been in the early summer, so Marinette could be excused for the last few weeks of the school term and relax over summer before being forced back into society. Her grades at Francois-Dupoint were finalized, Marinette doing all the extra work during her two weeks in France for the funeral. She had been told it wasn’t necessary and that she could take her time with it but, as the Kents soon learned, Marinette hated being idle.

But even though Marinette was nowhere near healed, it only took a week for her to warm up to the youngest Kent. Jon was a very much welcome presence in her new life. Just about her age, he was always patient with her and never pried for information or asked about why she occasionally couldn’t bring herself to talk. Words just failed her sometimes, she couldn’t get her throat to work. Something would remind her of her parents, or that day, and she would just feel the dust in her throat again and the blisters on her palms and she just couldn’t say a word.

All three of the Kents helped her through these episodes as best as they could, but Jon always stayed close by so she could tug him into a hug when she was ready. As a very tactile person, she really appreciated that.

And somehow he and Clark, despite being very awkward and physically unsure of themselves on the surface, gave the best hugs.

But, even though Jon and Clark had resigned themselves to being slightly more on-guard about their identities than they usually would be at home, they hadn’t quite anticipated just how hard it would be to keep a secret identity. Not necessarily from Marinette, since the girl spent most of her time out in their backyard or in her room, or occasionally going out for short visits to the city with Jon. No, it was the other way around.

Because of course Marinette couldn’t just give up being Ladybug and the Grand Guardian. Fu wasn’t there to take over for her anymore, so she took it upon herself to watch over Paris twice as vigorously. Mostly through keeping an eye on news channels and texts with her friends, general media stuff. She didn’t want to tire Kaalki out.

And this was how, two months after Marinette started living with the Kents, she walked through a portal into her room and was met with Clark and Jon staring right at her. The elder Kent had his arms crossed, posture oddly confident for the man she had come to know, and one eyebrow raised. Jon looked like his smile was about to rip his face in half, and he was bouncing a bit on his heels. Even then, though, Marinette could pick out the slight worry in his blue eyes. In both of theirs.

She immediately jumped backwards and closed the portal. Trapping herself back in Paris.

And instantly crumpling down to moan in despair on top of a random Parisian rooftop.

She was sitting on the very top of the Eiffel Tower when Superman and Superboy found her, and it didn’t take much for her to guess that they had flown straight over from metropolis. Stupid super-speed flight. She drew her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees as they floated to her side of her patiently. She had long since separated Kaalki, and sat in just her Ladybug costume.

“I knew Lois could contact you guys, but this is a bit too quick even for you don’t you think?” Ladybug drawled monotonously, looking over at both of the heroes dryly. Now that she was mostly of sound mind and not in the middle of a traumatic situation, she was able to make connections she couldn’t before. She was able to actually observe their faces, whereas before she hadn’t really been in the right mind frame to really commit anything about them to memory. But now?

Ohhh, she knew those faces.

Marinette’s eyebrow twitched as she did a double-take, followed closely by a deep breath. Maybe the glasses and, for Jon, baseball cap, would be a good enough disguise for most people. Especially when combined with the frankly impressive body acting they both pulled off on an apparently daily basis, they felt like totally different people in and out of the suits even if they looked the same.

But Marinette was not a normal person. She was a designer, she had a very critical eye, and she had just spent the better part of the last two months living in the same house as these two. And now she realized that they severely toned down the body acting and general “disguise” of their civilian selves when they were at home rather than outside. She had shrugged it off as them simply relaxing at home and, while she was right, it wasn’t until this moment that she put everything together.

“No masks, seriously? Some day, someone with eyes as good as mine is gonna figure you guys out,” she told them blandly, earning shocked blinks followed quickly by soft grins.

“I would normally sit down next to you at this point, but you haven’t exactly left us any space,” Superman— Clark, Marinette reminded herself— joked lightly. Marinette looked down to the small tip of the Eiffel Tower and back up to him, pointedly raising both eyebrows. Jon giggled.

Rolling her eyes and fighting a smile, Ladybug stood up without any apparently care about her footing. Somehow, balance seemed to just come naturally to her. It was so different from the usual Marinette that Clark and Jon had seen literally walk into a wall on multiple occasions that they had to grin. Seems like she fit right in on their acts-clumsy-and-awkward-but-isn’t trope.

(No, they later realized, that was completely Marinette. Ladybug just brought out a different side of her, but the awkwardness was still there. Just better hidden.)

“I was kinda trying to stay somewhere that nobody else could join me on purpose. You know, I was a little busy catastrophizing about you guys wanting to get rid of me now.”

“What?!” Jon asked, horrified. “No way! Even if we were normal, we wouldn’t just toss you away because we found out you’re a hero. That just— do you honestly think we would do that?”

“No,” she admitted softly, crossing her arms and sighing as she looked down over Paris. Over her city. It was a bittersweet view nowadays. “No, but I always freak out over things like that pretty easily. I’ve had people leave me over less. Sometimes it’s hard to convince myself that anyone else will be different.”

“Marinette—“

“Ladybug, actually,” she corrected with a small smile. “Don’t wanna slip up here. You never know who’s listening.”

Clark blinked, needing a moment to let that sink in before forcing himself to continue. “Ladybug, then,” he paused to gently lay a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to meet his gaze. As always it was soft. Patient. Just like his voice had been that fateful day. And, oh, there were the memories. They had both been there, helped her, and they stuck with her. Even though it hadn’t been their fault, even though they could have easily stepped back and let her deal with own problems and who had her custody on her own, they didn’t. She would have blamed them if they did, who was she to expect heroes to care about her like she was their child? That would be horrendously selfish of her. They saved hundreds of people every week.

And yet here they were, treating her like family.

And there was the phantom dust, clogging her throat. Strangling her words. She opened and closed her mouth, but nothing came out. Clark understood, he always understood, and his grip just tightened slightly. It tethered her.

“Ladybug,” he repeated even more softly. “We are not going to toss you out. Not for something like this, not for anything. You’re family now. You might not have the Kent name, you might not be kryptonian, but you’re one of us. Lois understands. Heaven knows she’s put up with both of us long enough, one more hero in the family is probably not that surprising. I just hope that… that you knowing doesn’t—“

“I don’t blame you,” there we go, her voice finally decided to work again. It came out a little hoarse, so she cleared her throat and started again. “I don’t blame you. I never did. It’s stupid, blaming a hero for things that never would have happened if the villain hadn’t attacked in the first place,” she told them, ripping her gaze away from his to trace over Paris again. “Maybe it’s because I understand that not everyone can be saved. I get it. But I never blamed you. I was actually grateful from the very beginning. You helped me dig them out even though you very well could have just carried me to the sidelines and stopped me from digging at all. And you, Jon, you didn’t complain once when I pretty much tackled you in a hug. You both sat with me as the paramedics looked me over. You didn’t leave until you were sure I was back in my hotel and in good hands. You never got impatient with me. That’s more than I could have asked for,” suddenly her mask was wet, and she roughly swiped away the tears that had leaked from her eyes. “You guys being Superman and Superboy isn’t going to make me treat you differently. It’s… actually nice. Not having to hide anymore, I mean.”

Jon grinned and flew over, enveloping her in a tight hug. Ladybug only chuckled and returned it, never once faltering in her balance. “I know exactly what you mean!” He said happily, making Ladybug laugh even more. It quickly devolved into Jon having to compensate for Ladybug’s balance, since she was suddenly leaning all her weight on him as she laughed her little heart out and no longer seemed to care about her balance at all. Not that it mattered much, Jon was more than capable of keeping her safe at close range like this, but it was cute to see. And for Clark? It was really relieving to see the girl he had come to think of as a daughter laughing so genuinely for the first time. Not a chuckle, or a soft huff of amusement, a full blown belly laugh.

It was amazing.

“Come on. I think you have some explaining to do, if you are comfortable with it anyway. Do you want to fly back, or portal back?” He asked, tilting his head slightly. He wouldn’t force Marinette to use her powers, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious about them. Marinette straightened up, easily regaining her balance on the pointed tip of the tower beneath her, and slipping on a pair of glasses that she pulled… out of her yo-yo?

Wait, why was a yo-yo on her hip her only weapon? Maybe Clark should look into the Paris situation a bit more in-depth. He was clearly missing a lot, and none of what he was seeing was necessarily filling him with joy and confidence. Maybe Marinette could help soothe his worries later, if she decided to explain her abilities to them.

One transformation and a portal later, and all three of them stepped back into Marinette’s room. And when the portal closed and Marinette let down all her transformations, she took a deep breath and looked around. At both men in the room with her. At her bed and all her belongings. At the way this space has become her own. It felt nice. Warm. Welcoming, familiar.

Home.

It felt like home.

And Marinette’s smile hadn’t been quite so wide since before that infamous Metropolis trip.

Part 2

Yes, Lois kept her last name when she married Clark. I just like alliteration, okay? Besides, my story my rules lol :P

[nikanndros]

I just want you to know that I think about From Eden at least once a week and I've lost count of how many times I've reread it. If you ever wanna share what comes next amd what other ideas you had for that universe i'm here to listen op 👀

Thank you, I love you! When I first wrote that fic, I had two other parts (at least) that I wanted to go with it, and since they’re partially written I’m happy to share those bits with you:

From Eden Part 2

“It’s just unfair, you know,” the girl said. Her words were slightly slurred. To be fair, they were in a nightclub after midnight. Everyone was slurring. “I was there for him, and I paid his bills while he went through college and now! He has a real job and he dumped me for his secretary.” She started sobbing.

Damen, who was six foot three, strongly built, and also carrying a loaded weapon, took her hands and made a sympathetic noise. “Lykaios,” he said, because he --unlike Laurent-- had actually listened when she’d introduced herself. “I think the best thing for you now is to forget about him. He didn’t deserve you.”

Lykaios sniffled. “You think so?”

“Of course I do,” Damen said. “I’ve only known you for a few minutes and I already can see that you’re incredible. Right, babe?”

“Right,” Laurent deadpanned. He glanced at his watch. “It’s quarter to.”

Damen nodded. Still holding Lykaios’ hands, he turned to Laurent. “Security?”

“Just the two.”

“Great.” He looked back to Lykaois. “Listen, doll, we’ve got to get down to business, but I want you to remember what I said, okay? You’re worth a lot more than that guy gave you.  And your mascara is running a little. Maybe you should go fix it up in the bathroom and wipe your tears?”

“Okay,” Lykaois sniffed. “Thank you.” She left.

Damen gave Laurent a grin, the crooked, teeth-baring one that appeared whenever they were about to do a job. “Ready?”

“You never call me doll.”

“Do you want me to?”

“Try it sometime and see.”

Damen yanked him in by the jacket and kissed him, slowly and bordering on indecent. “Alright,” he said, after he pulled back. “Show time.”

As Damen disappeared into the crowd, Laurent grasped his --still full-- drink, turned, and threw its contents at the roughest looking guy in the place.

“Hey, what the hell?” The guy squared his shoulders; he was intimidating even covered in lemonade.

“Fuck you,” Laurent replied. 

At this point, three months of travelling and stealing and, most importantly, Damen, Laurent had become pretty efficient at inciting fights. He didn’t need to see the punch coming to know that it was, he just sidestepped and let the man stumble into the back of another patron. It took less than thirty seconds before half the clientele were involved in an all out brawl.

The two security guards rushed in, and were immediately overwhelmed enough that the only bartender -- a youngish lad with a crooked nose -- had to join in to get everything under control. Laurent punched him.

Eventually, the fight got calmed down enough for fingers to point to Laurent and the lemonade clad man as the inciters, and guards hauled them both out into the parking lot.

“Let me go!” Lemonade guy yelled. “I’ll fucking kill him.”

“You can try,” Laurent said, a lot more willing to be subdued by the guard that had him by the arms.

“Don’t make us call the police, man,” his guard complained. “The both of you can go your separate ways, come on.”

The door behind them opened. 

“Sweetheart,” Damen said, chidingly. “I step away for two minutes and you get yourself into trouble.”

---

They go back to a motel after this and Damen reveals the money he stole from the tills while Laurent was being a distraction. Sexy times ensue. Damen eventually falls asleep and Laurent stays awake with the tv on. The news comes on and an interview is shown with Lykaios being interviewed about the robbery at the bar -- she gives a completely inaccurate description of what Damen looked like, and Laurent reflects on how easy it is for Damen to charm people to taking his side.

From Eden Part 3

Their most recent car was a much older model. The aircon was busted and they had to wind down the windows themselves, but at least the radio worked. It was hot, despite it being a couple of hours past sunset. 

Damen was singing with the radio. He wasn’t going to win any awards, but his voice was deep and he had a nice enough sense of the music. He grinned at Laurent. He was always happy. It was part of what made him so magnetic. 

Laurent smiled back. After two years with Damen, the expression felt natural.

Except for them, the road was empty. Damen reached over and took Laurent’s hand in his. 

“Watch the road,” Laurent said.

Damen laughed. “But you’re my favourite view.”

“I won’t be happy if you kill us in a car wreck.”

Obediently, Damen looked back to the road. And then, because it was Damen, the car sped up.

Laurent’s hair flew about chaotically, longer than it had ever been when his uncle had been keeping a hand of Laurent’s appearance. It needed a trim, but as much as Laurent trusted Damen, he didn’t trust him to do that. Damen had offered to take him to a salon, somewhere quiet where there was no chance he’d be recognised, but Laurent wasn’t fond of the idea of being trapped in a chair like that. He was too used to freedom by now.

-

“Left here,” Laurent instructed.

They’d had to slow down once the got near the town. It was best to avoid anyone’s attention for as long as possible. (An admittedly difficult feat when traveling with someone like Damen).

They drove a little way past the house, until they found an obscure little dirt road to park down. It wouldn’t do for someone to see the car. They grabbed their things, and looped back to the house on foot.

Quietly, Damen was still singing. 

“Stop it,” Laurent said.

“You love it,” he replied. “This is your birthday present, baby, at least look like you’re having fun.”

“This is literally the worst place we could get caught.”

“No it isn’t,” Damen replied. “I checked out the police station last time I was here. Breaking out of the cells would be too easy.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“There were no lights on when we drove by. No one is home.”

That was true. And they’d timed it perfectly, assuming schedules hadn’t changed in the last two years. The house was silent when they got to it, not a light in sight as promised.

Laurent took a deep breath.

“Chin up,” Damen said. “Let’s go rob your uncle.”

-

The spare key wasn’t where uncle used to keep it, so they went around the back and Damen fucked with the lock until it opened. It was almost hard to walk into the house, full of so many bad memories, except it had never truly been Laurent’s home and he could just tell himself this was another job. 

“The study,” Laurent said, leading the way.

They crept up the stairs together, torches on their lowest settings.

The study was a formidable room with the big, mahogany desk, and the shelves of books that existed solely to make visitors feel stupid. “Look at this,” Laurent said, pulling out one of the books. “War and Peace in Russian. He doesn’t even know Russian.”

Damen reached past him, and nonchalantly, tipped a stack of books off the shelf. They clattered noisily onto the floor. “Oops,” Damen said. He turned away. “Where’s the safe?”

“Under the desk,” Laurent replied. He was busy searching through the books, finding any early editions to pilfer. They’d probably be able to sell them to an antique store for a bit of quick cash. 

Damen worked away at the safe for a bit, guessing potential codes Laurent had told him about. “None of these are working, sweetheart.” The safe made a beeping noise. “Oh, wait. Got it. Wow, he really deserves to be robbed.”

“I’m sure he thought I’d never come back here.”

Damen made a vaguely angry noise. He didn’t like reminders of what had happened to Laurent in this house. He’d even tried to convince Laurent that they could just murder his uncle while they were here. Laurent wasn’t sure he wanted to add cold-blooded murder to their repertoire just yet though. However tempting.

Damen stood up, suddenly. Hands full of Laurent’s uncle’s emergency cash. He grinned.

“Happy birthday - to - you,” he crooned.

Laurent couldn’t help it. He laughed. “I love you, you beautiful fucking bastard.” 

Abandoning the books, Laurent moved in and kissed him. Carefully, Damen put the money down on the desk so that he could cup Laurent’s face in his hands. It was always intoxicating to kiss Damen. There was something about him that made Laurent forget himself until there was only the press of their lips.

“I love you too,” Damen whispered, pulling back a little. He’d stopped smiling; it was a moment of complete genuine emotion. He did that sometimes, always out of the blue, and it always made Laurent want to clutch him tighter and maybe cry. 

“Let’s finish up here,” Laurent said, “and then we can go find somewhere nice and fuck under the stars.”

“You always know just what to say to seduce me,” Damen said.

They bagged the money, and the books Laurent had picked, and then they made their way down the stairs again.

“Wait,” Damen said.

“What?”

“I’m hungry.” He turned into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Oh hey, chocolate.”

Actually, that was an idea. Laurent followed him into the kitchen and went straight for the pretentious temperature controlled wine fridge. “Pinot noir or Shiraz?”

“Whatever is more expensive,” Damen replied. He was adding strawberries and oranges to the bag as well. Cream?”

“It’ll go warm too fast.”

“I feel like we should unplug the fridge before we go, at least,” Damen added. “If you’re still against me putting bleach in the milk.”

“Wouldn’t that make it curdle?”

Damen shrugged. “I don’t know. I had a cement mixer in a bar once but that was lime juice.”

“You can unplug the fridge. If he dies from food poisoning, that’s on him.”

Damen started to look for the cord to the fridge.

“Wait,” Laurent whispered. “Did you hear that?”

They froze, listening.

There it was. The soft sound of the stairs creaking. Fuck. Silently, Laurent gestured towards the back door. Damen nodded. He was carefully reaching over to the knife stand.

“Renaud?” came a small voice.

A young boy, no more than thirteen, stepped into the kitchen. He was wiping at one eye sleepily in a childlike gesture. Less childlike were the bruises on his arms. Laurent knew he and Damen had matching expressions of horror.

The boy’s eyes widened as he took them in. “Who are you?” he said.

Damen’s expression was one of barely concealed fury. He looked at Laurent. “I’m not leaving until that man is in a shallow grave.”

“Don’t scare the boy,” Laurent admonished. He turned to the child and tried to look as non-intimidating as a late-night home invader could possibly look. “What’s your name?”

“Are you Renaud’s friends?” The boy asked.

“No,” Laurent said. “Definitely not. I’m Laurent.”

The boy was frowning. “You used to live here.” 

“Yes.”

“Well,” he straightened up, suddenly hostile. “You’re not allowed to come back. He doesn’t want you anymore; I’m better.”

“Where are your parents?” Damen asked.

“We’re not giving him back to parents who-”

“They’re dead,” the boy said. He didn’t sound upset.

--

The boy is obviously Nicaise. They hear a car in the driveway and Laurent locks Nicaise in the pantry. Laurent’s protective instinct rears up and he insists they kill the uncle now. Damen is fully down for it. Murder ensues. They let Nicaise out and keep him away from finding out that the uncle is dead in the next room. They tell Nicaise to pack a back and discuss what to do with him. Damen suggests dropping him off at a hospital or somewhere like that where someone can get help for him (since they can’t exactly go to the cops). 

Nicaise overhears and says that he doesn’t want to have a new foster parent; at least his current one has a big house. Laurent hearing that feels too wary to risk Nicaise getting another bad household. Damen is like, well I guess we can keep him if you want??? Laurent agrees. They go get in the car and drive away. 

-

Anyway this AU was directly inspired by the film clip for Hozier’s ‘From Eden’, you should watch it bc that’s the story I intended to write 

[mikasaessucasaa]

Title: Flatlanders

Summary: After being forced to retire from singing, Sansa returns to Winterfell Ranch, a place she hasn’t called home in over ten years, and finds the man that she left behind all those years ago.

Part 1 .... Part 2

1991

King’s Landing, TX

Sansa’s hair was a frizzy mess. It wasn’t usually so humid this far inland, but of course the moment she came back was the same week that the summer storms started. It only ever rained once a year when she lived in LA.

And now she was trekking around town when the sky looked like it was about to open up. She needed to fix a broken fence that’s been neglected for weeks. And she needed to talk to the bank and get their finances sorted. What the hell has Arya been doing all this time?

Fence first. Bank later. And maybe she’ll get so busy getting wood that she might not even have to see Petyr.

And of course it started pouring as soon as she pulled up to the Night's Watch General Store. Damn. It better not be a flash flood. She should have listened when Mama told her to bring a damn umbrella. Bless Sansa’s heart.

Accepting her fate, she steeled herself and made a dash from the truck to the front door. Even the thirty seconds it took her to get inside was enough to make her look like a drowned rat. Forget frizzy hair, her auburn hair was soaked and limp.

She was greeted by a familiar face, but she couldn’t place his name, not having seen him in over a decade. He was scrawny and of average height with short cropped hair.

“Sansa! Woah, never thought I’d see you again in these neck of the woods.”

Honestly, neither did she.

She looked at his name badge. Ah. Pyp. One of Jon’s lackeys who used to follow him around high school. She thought it was adorable back then. She wondered if he still talked to Jon.

“Jon’s gonna be so happy to see you.” She doubted it, but she nodded and smiled. “How can I help ya today?”

“Got a whole section of my fence broken. I think from lightning a couple of weeks ago.”

Pyp showed her a couple of different options. She wanted to buy the cedar since it would last longer through the unpredictable Texas weather, but she saw their finances, and Mama definitely understated just how much trouble the ranch was in. She didn’t know how long her own cash was going to last with her singing voice now gone.

So she went with the pine instead. She’ll deal with it later.

“I’ll give you the friends and family discount,” Pyp said when he rung her up. As she was signing the check, he pulled out another piece of paper and asked, “Do you mind also signing this? My niece loves your music. She’s always jamming to your album on her little boombox.”

Sansa hadn't thought she was that popular. She had one or two songs played on the radio nationally, and produced a couple of songs for commercials. She bet it was her local celebrity fame that made her popular down here.

She gave her signature and hauled ass out of her store with her fence posts while the rain momentarily stopped. She covered her new purchase with a tarp and settled back into her truck.

She checked the time, and damn the bank was still open.

So she made her way over to the Eyrie Bank. Her parents had only ever gone to one bank their entire life because it was owned by a family friend. Papa had been good friends with Jon Arryn for a long time before he passed, and then Aunt Lysa remarried a childhood friend, Petyr Baelish.

To Sansa, Petyr had always been the creepy uncle, but if anyone could help her sort out the mess with the ranch, he could.

There weren’t many customers when she entered the bank, so of course they let Petyr know right away that she was there to see him.

He smiled that creepy smile that he always had, as if he wanted to devour her. It was the same look music producers always gave her when she entered the room. They always undressed her with their eyes first before they bothered listening to her demos.

And she smiled back, as he leaned forward and held her in a too intimate hug. Gross. “Sansa, my dear. It’s so good to see you. I’ve missed you so much over these last twelve years.”

“Same here, Uncle Baelish.”

“I wish you had come to visit more often.”

“Well you know what it’s like for artists trying to break in.”

“I can’t imagine what it’s like to give up everything to chase your dreams. You’re so brave.” Liar. Everybody knew that Sansa was forced to leave.

Sansa smiled more. “Thank you Uncle.”

Baelish led them to his private office, and the way that he patted her shoulder after he closed the door made her uncomfortable, but she held it in as she watched him take a seat.

“So how can I help you, my sweetling?”

“I need you to walk me through the Winterfell finances.”

“Certainly, I’ll make it as easy as I can for you to follow.”

Sansa started tapping her finger against the arm rest.

She resented his insinuation. She didn’t finish high school, but she learned to manage her finances, learned how much the Lannisters stole from her, knew how much she willfully turned away from because she needed the Lannisters as much as she hated them.

Still he did make it easy for her to understand, all the while outlining all of the paperwork.

Mama had been behind on bank payments for a long time, even after being given extensions consistently. Eventually, even Petyr’s generosity, so he says, couldn’t save the ranch. So Robb took out a private loan to cover the bank payments.

“Another bank?” she asked.

“No more personal than that. I believe Robb was good friends with Rhaegar’s boy.” He probably wanted to say bastard, but knew better since he was Robb’s best friend.

But she couldn't believe that Robb would be stupid enough to take out a loan from the Valyrian Dragons. Maybe he had a death wish after all.

“And that’s what’s keeping the ranch afloat now? Do you know how much we owe?”

Petyr gave a number and it wasn’t absurd, but, “This interest rate is insane. We won’t ever be able to touch the principle.”

Petyr shrugged. “I did try to warn your dear brother. I told him that it would be better for the bank to repossess the ranch. We would have certainly allowed your family to manage it still.” But he would own it all. “But alas your brother couldn’t see sense.”

She couldn’t tell if Robb was a prideful fool, or smart not to fall into bed with Petyr.

She thanked Petyr for his time and headed to the Dragon’s clubhouse. She had dreaded this part of coming home. Sansa hadn’t seen Jon in twelve years, and she didn’t know what kind of man he grew up to be. He had always been kind and sweet as a child, but kind and sweet men don’t join the Valyrian Dragons.

But she had to know if Robb had a plan all along, or if he was dumb enough to leave his family and the ranch at the mercy of the Dragons.

The clubhouse didn’t know if it wanted to be an auto shop or a bar or a boarding house, just the kind of trashy place that you would find in the south, because what else could it be?

She never thought she’d actually step in this place.

When she was still in school, the girls used to whisper about how they dreamed they would lose their virginities to one of the Dragons’ members. Egg would be ideal, with his pretty boy charm and silver hair, but Jon would do — he may have been shy back then, but the girls all took it as mysterious and dangerous. She wondered if the girls’ assumptions became true in his adulthood.

She assumed Egg must have been successful in popping a lot of cherries, but in her loneliness she sometimes liked to think that she was the only one for Jon, that she was somehow special, despite the mess she left.

There were a couple of pretty girlies loitering in the bar area of the clubhouse when she entered. They teetered around on high heels and tight skirts and tops, and suddenly Sansa wished she had the foresight to dress for battle. Instead she was wearing her stupid ripped jeans, work boots, and a white tee with a flannel shirt.

The girlies turned to look at her and their excited chatter died down. She’s guessing the red hair gave her away, or she really was more popular than she thought.

Out of the crowd of girlies, a silver haired woman emerged in black stilettos, leather pants and a black corset top. Shit, who could wear leather pants in this weather except for Daenerys Stormborn?

“So it’s true, the prodigal Stark daughter returns,” Dany said sweetly, but Sansa knew there was nothing sweet about the woman. She was all fire and ash. Dany probably thrived on the club wars.

Sansa shrugged. “Everyone’s gotta come home sometime.”

“Only when they’re incapable of surviving the world out there.”

“But at least I went out into the world.” Instead of being trapped in this hellhole.

“Only goes to show that you don’t belong here.”

“Winterfell is my home.” Even Sansa would have rolled her eyes at herself if she heard her speak.

“But the clubhouse isn’t. What do you want?”

“I need to speak to Jon.”

“No. You left him a mess all those years ago, and you think you can come waltzing in here years later and just talk to him? Wake up honey. He won’t want to talk to you.” Dany crossed her arms. “Whatever you want to say to Jon, you can tell to his girl.”

Dany had always wanted to claw her way into the Targaryens, maybe she finally did.

“It’s got nothing to do with you Dany.”

Dany waved her hand, flashing an engagement ring. “See this here? Says it’s got everything to do with me, missy.”

Sansa’s heart started pounding uncomfortably in her chest and she felt nauseous and lightheaded. Shit. Of all the damn times to have an anxiety attack.

She stumbled backwards into something solid.

“Sansa.”

The low, broken sound snapped her towards the man.

“Jon,” Sansa said, equally as broken.

Part 3

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Banner

One Shot- To The Stars And Back

Intro: Steve and Katie receive a message which Tony left before his death.

Warnings: “Language!” 

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: This was originally a full chapter, however I as I ended up publishing Stark Spangled Man I stripped out the flashback, and it left me with this little mini. It always sat in my head that Tony would leave personalised messages for Katie and Steve, along with the rest of his family, not just the generic one we saw at his funeral so here we are.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Katie Stark and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Stark Spangled Banner Masterlist // Main Masterlist

“Happy?” Katie frowned momentarily as the man strode into her kitchen, followed by Steve. “Wasn’t expecting to see you today, not that you’re not welcome, of course you are.” She hastily added.

“It’s okay, Kiddo, I know what you meant.” He chuckled softly “The kids not here?” “Jamie’s gone to the park with Bucky and Sam, and Emmy’s taken Lucky for a walk.” She answered. “Why, do we need them?”

“No, I was just gonna say hi but I’ll see them tomorrow I suppose.” He smiled sadly at the thought of the funeral. “But, anyway, I came to deliver this. It turns out even, well, even when he’s gone your brother has me running errands.”

Katie smiled softly as he held up the box in front of her.

“He left three. One for you and Steve, one for Pepper and Morgan, and one for his Funeral….so…”

“His Funeral?” Steve frowned, as Katie opened a drawer and retrieved a knife before she walked over to the table. She had a feeling she knew what was in there, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she carefully slit the tape on the cardboard box and took a breath as she realised she was right.

Inside was an Iron Man helmet, one of his many spares from his suits over the years.

“He’s erm, ” she took a breath as she instantly recognised which suit this had come from. “He’ll have left a message or something, like he did all those years ago from Tennessee.”

Happy nodded. “He did. The boxes arrived at the house today. Along with instructions that if he had, you know, then they were to be distributed accordingly.”

“Thanks.” Katie set the helmet on the table and glancing into the box. There was another, smaller package inside, to which an envelope was attached. She smiled as she read her brother’s handwriting on the front. It simply said ‘Spangles’.

“We were just about to get lunch.” Steve tore his eyes away from Katie as he looked to Happy. “Do you want to join us?”

“Thanks but I should be getting back.” Happy declined the offer politely. “Stuff to do before tomorrow.”

Katie gave him a small smile, placing the smaller box on the table “Can’t say I’m looking forward to it.”

“Me neither.” Happy swallowed, dropping a hand to her shoulder “But we’ll get through it. We always do, huh?”

“I’ll see you out.” Steve said, as Happy gave Katie a hug before he nodded and the two men left the room.

Katie looked at the helmet which now sat on the table, and she took a deep breath before she picked it up and looked straight into the eye sockets. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, resting her forehead against the cool metal she held in her hands. She had no idea which suit this was from, but then again Tony had made so many of the damned things, it could be Mk500 for all she knew. The tears began to fall down her face as she screwed her eyes shut, head pressed against the helmet, before gently hands pried it from hers.

“Hey,” Steve spoke softly, dropping into the seat next to her, placing the helmet on the table. “Come here.”

She turned into him, pressing her face to his chest as she shook with silent sobs. His hand gently rubbed her back as he soothed her, waiting for her to calm down.

“Sorry,” She pulled back. “Stop apologising.” Steve shook his head, wiping her tears with his thumbs. “There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Katie took a deep breath and glanced at the helmet, before she remembered something. “Oh, here.” She reached out for the smaller box, and nudged it towards him.  “This was in there for you.” Steve frowned and took the box, looking at the envelope. He couldn’t help but roll his eyes “That fucking nickname.”

“Open it.” Katie urged. “I wanna see what it is.”

Smiling at her ever impatient nature, Steve tore the envelope open. His eyes scanned the writing and his brow furrowed slightly, before his lips turned up in a soft smile and he handed the note to her.

Hey Old Man. My dad once told me that no amount of money can buy a second of time, yet he had a hell of a lot of expensive watches, so go figure. This particular one, however, I couldn’t auction for charity. I always intended to pass it to you, one way or another. And if you’re reading this note you’re getting it after my demise…so I best explain.

I did a bit of digging and it turns out that most of the guys involved in ‘Operation Rebirth’ and the Howling Comandos got one of these post the War. It’s a Wartime Rolex Oyster, probably worth a fair dime or two but the sentiment makes it priceless as you’ll see when you look at it. (Here’s a clue- check the back!) It only feels right that you have it. I had intended to pass it to you for your 40th,or your 107th, whatever you wanna call it, but again, as you’re reading this I won’t be there for that.  

I know Jamie’s surname is Rogers but there is half Stark in him so he’s not a complete lost cause, and maybe when he’s older you can pass this down to him. Or if you have any more kids that are boys, I dunno, maybe you can give them a strap each or something. Whatever.

I’m also assuming you’ll be reading this before watching the message I left as we both know Kiddo is an impatient brat so I’ll leave it there, I don’ t wanna spoil my heartfelt speech too much.

T 

Whilst Katie was reading, Steve opened the box and he gently took the watch in his hand. It was silver, with a black leather strap and a simple, classic face. He studied at it before he turned it over and he instantly felt a lump in his throat. Engraved on the back was the Howling Commando emblem- they had adopted the wings from his helmet which had adorned their uniforms in whichever place they chose- with the words ‘To The Captain’ arched over the top in copper slate writing.

He gently handed it to Katie and she glanced down at it, turning it over to read the inscription, her fingers running over the writing.

“Wow.” She whispered, wiping her eyes “I’ve never seen this before.”

“It’s erm, ” Steve cleared his throat, his voice thick, “it’s pretty…”

“Awesome.” Katie smiled up at him.

“Yeah.” Steve nodded as she handed it back to him, and he placed it back in the leather box, setting it to one side.  Seeing that had brought a wave of emotions crashing back over him. Nostalgia, slight sadness at the loss of not just Tony but his other friends, and pride.

Pride that even after he was gone they’d remembered him in such a touching and genuine way.

Shaking himself out of it, he looked at Katie and then nodded to the helmet. “Do you wanna do it now or…” She nodded and picked it up in a shaking hand, before she put it on.

“Retinal Scan authenticated” FRIDAY’s voice spoke “Greetings Mrs Rogers…accessing Stark Secure Server, hologram projection activated.”

Katie removed the helmet and placed it on the table, pointing it away from them as the footage beamed out from the eye sockets. She took a deep breath as the hologramatic form of her brother appeared and he smiled at them.

“Hey Kiddo.” He spoke, “Cap…”

Katie wanted to speak back, so badly, but she knew it was pointless, he wasn’t actually there. Steve gently reached for her hand and she linked her fingers into his.

“So, I thought I better record a message, you know just in case it all goes sideways tomorrow.” Tony sniffed, sitting down on a chair. “I’ve left one for Pepper and Morgan too and the gang, but I wanted to leave you your own. I hope that you’re watching this back and our plan worked, that everyone came back and we did it,” he took a deep breath, “but there’s a couple of things I wanna get out of the way before we get into the soppy shit. So, first off, I’m leaving half my shares of Stark Industries to you, the other half goes to Pepper who will more than likely keep it for Moo once she’s old enough. If you both come to the decision to sell then, that’s cool. It’s probably run its course anyway. If not then good luck taking it in whatever direction you choose, not that you need luck, you’ve proven yourself more than capable of running it pretty much singlehandedly over the last five years.”

Katie took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes with her spare hand, the one that was entwined with Steve’s tightened around his fingers.

“Second, most of the cash assets I have pass to Pepper, but I’ve left instructions that there’s some for you as well. I know you don’t need it but I want you to use it for the kids, however many you end up with. Tell them Uncle Nee wanted to leave them something. And thirdly, the house in Malibu. I knew we never got round to rebuilding it but I still own the land and I want you to have it, Kiddo. That was our home for years and I watched you grow up there into the strong, beautiful woman you became so it only feels right. Plus it’s where we buried that fucking turkey too so it’s probably haunted by the evil bastard anyway. There’s a fund set up as well which should let you rebuild it however you want.

I know you probably won’t want to move from Brooklyn, I mean Cap’s lived there pretty much all his life, well, maybe, if you don’t count the sixty-five years doing time as a Capsicle or the time in DC and then wherever the hell you were when, well, you know,” Tony waved his hand, “whatever, the point is you can rebuild it how you want and use it how you want, nice little holiday home maybe.” Katie took a shuddering breath as now her tears were falling thick and fast. She’d forgotten all about that house, their home that had been destroyed. The fact that Tony had never sold the land so she could have it back in some form was astounding and overwhelming at the same time.

“So now that’s dealt with, onto the good stuff. First off, Spangles.” Tony spoke and Steve shifted slightly “I know we’ve had our differences, but I just wanted you to know when it comes to Katie I trust you implicitly, I think I always have done in a way. I never really had any doubts in my mind since that day I spoke to you in DC. To be honest you’re such a straight guy I trust you with pretty much anything, well, maybe not quite, I’m still not sure about our driving but that’s a different story.” Tony winked and Steve spluttered a chuckle. The fact that Captain America was a bit of a speed demon behind the wheel and been a long running joke amongst the Avengers since the beginning. “You’re a good man with a good heart, everyone knows this, I mean that’s the reason you were chosen for the serum anyway isn’t it? Because it makes the good better. I know I’m leaving my girl in good hands, but just so you know,” he raised his fingers to his eyes in the familiar ‘I’m watching you’ sign and Steve smiled, “and that won’t stop now, because if you ever do let her down I’ll make it my mission to haunt you for the rest of your life.” Tony smiled “But I know you won’t. And because I know you probably still don’t believe me I wanted to tell you once and for all that I don’t blame you for any of the shit that went down. I Love you buddy, Take it easy.”  Steve took a deep breath and wiped his tears with his spare hand as Katie gently squeezed his other again as hologram Tony shifted in his seat and his attention turned to Katie.

“Kiddo,” he sighed, “I don’t even know where to start. I know I’ve said it and said it again, but my biggest achievement in life will always be how well and good and honest and…amazing you turned out, even with me as a role model. If Moo turns out to be anything like you when she’s older then…” he trailed off and shrugged, “well, I only wish I was gonna be there to see it, oh, and that reminds me, Spangles I’m counting on you to be there to vet all potential boyfriends for suitability.” Both Katie and Steve let out a watery chuckle at that.

“But yeah, where was I…oh, right…I watched how you took Emmy under your wing, then when you had Jamie and how they’re both growing into spectacular people, it’s awesome and I really couldn’t be any prouder of the woman you became. Never lose that will to do the right thing, never lose that Stark stubbornness, never lose that streak of ferocity that leaves everyone quaking in their boots. After everything you’ve been through, I’m just sorry that I’m bringing more shitty times to your door by meeting an untimely death, but I know you’ll get through the other side, you always do. Just remember, this was my choice to fight, my choice. So I don’t want anyone thinking they’re to blame. You know, I think, deep down, I’ve always known it would end this way ever since New York. And rather this than some crazy old bastard rattling round in a home not knowing what day it is.”

Katie took another deep breath as Tony wiped his hand down his face.

“Anyway, please make sure they don’t play any soppy shit at my funeral. AC/DC, Queen or Led Zep will suffice, maybe some Train, I dunno.” He winked and Katie smiled through her tears “And if Ross is there, give him this from me.” He raised his middle finger of his right hand before he chuckled. “But I don’t know why I’m recording all of this anyway as I’m sure it’s gonna work out. I’ll probably be sat here watching it back and grimacing at how ridiculously stupid I sound and look, but just in case…I want you to remember that I love you to the stars and back my girl, I always will, and I’m beyond proud of you.”

And with that the message cut off, leaving the kitchen quiet bar Katie’s shaking, soft sobs. Steve gently turned towards her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. She pressed her face into his chest, her hands sliding around his back where she gripped at his shirt her brother’s final goodbye to her echoing in her head.

**** Chapter 60

 **Original Posting**