#hopefully it won’t take me super long to catch up on the story

[scorpionatori]

the way bsd has already got me pondering the cycle of manipulative and abusive behaviors between the characters. ack. disclaimer I’ve only seen s1 all the way through so I’m still behind but the way akutagawa speaks to kyouka and the way dazai spoke to akutagawa, and what I know of how that one guy treated dazai. the cycle of harshly belittling others and manipulating them into being nothing but a weapon, I can’t wait to see where the plot and characters arc go

[skellymom]

"SMASH AND GRAB"

"THE BAD BATCH FEM READER X HUNTER/ECHO ACTION/ANGST FAN FIC"

Angsty angst between the reader (mildly Force sensitive/empath-nothing super powerful), a lover and a friend regarding the fate of the squad. Someone needs to listen and realize there is more than one future for Clone FAMILY 99.

BE PUNK.  DO CRIME.  FIGHT FACISM. 

Background: Love is hard and I wanted to capture a relationship that is trying to survive in a time of chaos and oppression. Where nothing is a sure bet, and the thought of losing loved ones is terrifying and a real possibility. How long can CF99 stay hidden on Ord Mantell? The reader experiences a sense of dread that their sanctuary may not last long.

...with a little Punk shenanigans thrown in to show the Fascists just WHO they are kriffin' around with!

Y'all, this started as a fun romp in Punk Crime...then got REAL deep. Couldn't help the word count. The story just kind wrote itself.

Note: This story hints at a possible LOVE TRIANGLE. Not extremely apparent. But those of you who code Hunter as "The Boyfriend" and code Echo as "The Close Friend" might see it. Also, Passion and Practicality as dramatic opposites.

Those of you who wish to NOT SEE A LOVE TRIANGLE. Please just read this dynamic as a caring lover vs a caring friend. Hopefully it's ambiguous enough for EVERYONE.

People who aren't particularly fond of Hunter's character arc while on Ord Mantell during S2 of the actual series will LOVE that I pick on him a bit in this fic.

Word Count: 3.5K

WARNING: Star Wars Canon Violence, someone is stabbed in shoulder w/no mention of blood, blood smear on a bottle, fear, angst, maybe mild swearing, briefly implied sex in one sentence.

(Credit: Cool moving star dividers by @4ngelic-wh1spers )

“Aww...” Omega kicked the dirt and hung her head...twisting the pendant around her neck. 

“Sorry kiddo.  We just...don’t have the credits.”  I shrugged feeling defeated. 

She gave one last glance at the chocolate bar, nodded and shuffled off to the next vendor’s stand. 

“Hey.”  Getting the attention of the vendor who owned the stand.  “Would you take 2 credits instead of 3?  For the kid??”  Pointing in Omega’s direction.   

It was worth a try. 

“Come back when ya got the credits...or DON’T come back AT ALL!”  The vendor waved me away from their stand.’ 

“Geez, you don’t have to be so RUDE about it!”  I shot back as I left to catch up with Omega. 

The vendor yelled after me “YOU PEOPLE...always wanting a handout!  Glad the Empire is cleaning up the planets in this system.  SICK OF YOUR KIND!” 

I waved back to him with a very specific hand signal... 

Being poor sucks. 

We’ve been scraping by since working for Cid on Ord Mantell.  Hunter and I have been talking about taking the squad and bailing soon... 

...after the NEXT job. 

We’ve been talking about this for a while.  But it’s always about the NEXT job...even if that was the last job we just did. 

He’s scared to leave and face the unknown.   

It’s the devil he knows.  And, somehow, it’s a kind of unfavorable comfort. 

But I HATE that Cid holds shit over our heads constantly. 

It’s making me seethe.  Making me resent my scared lover a bit.  And it breaks my heart that Omega can’t be a child... 

If Crosshair was here, he’d have set shit straight right away... 

But The Empire took him away from us. 

Echo agrees with me and tries to reason with Hunter. 

Tech gets sidetracked with everything going on. 

Wrecker, ever the supportive sibling goes along for the ride. 

Omega falls in with them too.  It’s all an adventure for her... 

Until it’s not.  And, I’m worried that’s going to be very soon. 

I can feel it.   

Every day SOMETHING is getting closer. 

And, I itch to escape this planet.   

But I WON’T go without them.  Life is nothing without them ALL. 

My opinion: We ALL can do better somewhere else.  Somewhere that WON’T have us living hand to mouth. 

But we MUST leave Ord Mantell. Or we’ll never know what the future might hold for us. 

ANOTHER mission for Cid.  And this one requiring that I and Omega stay behind for “safety reasons.” 

Hunter’s words, not mine. 

And this time Echo spoke up “The fact that we are leaving them behind means it’s time for us to terminate Cid’s employ.” 

“Where would we go?  Cid was YOUR contact, remember.”  Hunter shot back. 

Echo nodded across the room to me “She can FEEL it.  I believe her that we don’t have much time left.  Can’t you feel it too???” 

Hunter sat down wearily and sighed.  “EVERYTHING has been a blur since losing Crosshair...”  Putting his hand to his brow “Been missing a LOT lately.” 

Omega is sitting next to me.  I can see the panic in her eyes.  “Why are they arguing?” 

“Because they love us.  And, making decisions for the ones you love is difficult.”  I didn’t want to tell Omega that these men who normally have such a close camaraderie are only openly arguing because they are AFRAID.  The dynamic in our squad is starting to break down.  She’s seen and been through enough.  I try to shield her from what I can when I can. 

Tech and Wrecker weighed in on the situation...which now REALLY doesn’t help. 

Their voices rose higher.  I don’t hear the words anymore.  Just FEEL the emotions behind them: accusations, defensiveness, declarations to fight the Empire, plans to score big one last time and retire for good... 

I can’t sit here anymore.  Gently took Omega’s hand, leading her out of Cid’s Parlor with the lure of a “window shopping” to blow off steam.  Basically poor-person's shopping. 

She stops at the doorway, looking up at me.  So many emotions on her face.  “Shouldn't we tell them where we’re going?”  Omega remembers the last time she stepped out without checking in. 

I survey the loud debate between four grown men...four grown men who are scared, unsure boys who never had to live this way before.  My heart went out to every one of them.  I tried to tell them, to contribute to this discussion...so many times.  But they defer to two polar opposites with nothing in-between: 

Stay and keep working for Cid, hoping to eventually get ahead...then go retire on some fictional planet with a slim hope the Empire will never find us. 

Or, leave Ord Mantell forever and fly away with false fantasies of a battle leading to victory while heading right into the belly of the BEAST. 

“They won’t notice.”  It wasn’t the best answer...but I was mentally and emotionally exhausted.  “We’ll be back before then...” 

Omega, not totally buying my reply, still relented... 

But not without an unsure glance behind her at her brother’s grousing. 

Apparently...they DID notice. 

“Just where did you both go???”  Hunters concerned and frustrated face met us as we descended the stairs. 

I could see Echo across the room sitting at the bar “pretending” not to pay attention to our conversation. 

“Omega and I wanted to skip the big multi-person argument.” I cooly clapped back. 

He relaxed after seeing Omega with a big smile on her face. 

Then tensed up after she told him why she’s smiling:   

“Hunter, I met a Wino tonight.  He smells funny, but he does fantastic magic tricks!” 

Then she skipped away to see what Tech had on his datapad.  Wrecker handed her a fizzy kiddy beverage dressed up with a slice of Meileroon on the rim. 

Hunter gave me a... face.  The kind he gives me when I have some explaining to do. 

“What?” 

He sighed. 

“Please use your words.” 

“Ok.  DON’T leave without telling us where you are going.  Double if Omega is with you.” 

“Sure thing, Sergeant.” Then I turned and walked away.  Settling in the furthest corner of the bar to be alone. 

Hunter shook his head and scoffed.  Strolled defeatedly back to the bar, then gave Tech a slight bump on the shoulder.  Tech immediately slid off the stool and followed Hunter into Cid’s empty office...and shut the door. 

I leaned back into the sofa and closed my eyes.  I felt so exhausted... 

A few minutes later a warm hand patted my shoulder.  I opened my eyes. 

Echo set down a drink on the table beside me.  “Glad you and Omega are back.  We get worried sometimes.  Things are getting...complicated and dangerous.  He’s...WE are ALL looking out for you both.” 

He walked away and entered Cid’s office, closing the door behind him. 

Kriff...they DEFINITELY are planning ANOTHER mission... 

Put it all out of my mind and settled in to watch Wrecker and Omega play several rounds of “KABOOM!”  It’s a chaotic card game Wrecker made up to keep Omega busy.  She loves Dejarik, but Wrecker tires of it easily.  KABOOM! is really an old card deck CF99 has carried with them forever, and Wrecker has scrawled writing all over them with his own “game script.” 

“KABOOM!” Omega yells after she picks a particular marked card.  Then throws her hand up into the air to symbolize an explosion... 

Kaboom indeed...hopefully not us and not anytime soon...but the cards will fall wherever they may...I have no control over them. 

“Hey...” Smoky whisper in my ear. 

I open my eyes and see Hunter hovering over me.  His eyes are soft and loving while he runs his fingers though my hair.  I’m covered with a blanket and there’s a pillow under my head.  The game room is empty, silent, and dark. 

“How long have I been out?” 

“Couple hours.”  Then he plants a kiss on my forehead.  “Apologies for earlier today.” 

“Accepted.  I could have handled that interaction better myself...” 

“No...I’ve...got to get my shit together.”   

“I won’t argue with that.” I snicker. 

He smiles.  It’s been SO long since I’ve seen him do that.  My heart aches for a time before this one...a simpler time for all of us. 

His expression switches to a forlorn one... 

“You’re leaving soon...” 

“Yes.  But I promise it’s the LAST mission for Cid.  EVER.” 

“I recall you’ve said that before.” I grumped, attempting to get up from the couch. 

“But this time I MEAN it.”  He grabs my hand and I stop. 

He drops something cold into my palm and the chain it’s attached to trails out of his hand.  Then he cups his hand affectionately under mine. 

It’s a necklace.  The pendant a shard of deep green meteorite Hunter and I had witnessed impacting a planet when we first kissed.  How’s that for symbolism?  When it finally cooled, he snuck back to the site, fishing it out and surprised me with this as a gift.  Carried in my pockets for forever...until recently I thought it had been lost.   

“You got sneaky there, Bandana.” 

“Tech set it so you can wear it.  It’s made of the metal that doesn’t irritate your skin...that doesn’t sound very romantic...does it?”  Hunter grimaced. 

I snort and it elicits a chuckle from him.  “For most people, probably not.  But I deeply appreciate the gesture.  Also, the practicality.  Thanks.”  His words may falter, but I can FEEL the intensity of his emotions in this moment.  The depth of his affection and devotion. 

He lovingly takes the necklace from my hand and clasps it around my neck.  I lift the blanket and Hunter crawls in next to me on the sofa. 

“I love you so much Y/N. Have a hard time showing it sometimes...please understand I just want the best for us...” 

I shush him with my finger to his lips.  “I love you too, Hunter...and I struggle in the same way.  Let’s call a truce...for tonight.” 

He nods and I kiss him...kiss him with all the fire and passion that I cannot say with words.  He answers my love language in kind.  We heat up that sofa like nothing it’s ever seen before. 

That fateful day I’ve been worried about finally came... 

An Imperial Class Venator loomed over the city. 

So large, it blocked out part of the sun. 

White armored stormtroopers, dispatched to the planet swarmed Ord Mantell.  They kicked in doors and terrorized the locals. 

Were they searching for us?  Or just taking over the planet, like so many others in the galaxy? 

“Havoc 1, do you copy?” Echo tries to comm Hunter... 

Nothing. 

“Empire is jamming all ground communications.” He sneered. 

Omega and I sat crouched across from Echo under a vendor table.  The tablecloth kept us hidden. 

Today was our day to shop for supplies.  Of course, Echo tagged along.  If Hunter wasn’t with us, it would always be Echo.     

I was already a bundle of nerves that my “bad feeling” came true.  Echo’s presence helped me keep it hidden around Omega. 

“Oh NO!”  Omega started to fret.  “Maybe they’ve been captured?  How will they find us?  We’ll be separated!” The fear rising in her voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. 

I put my arm around her, giving a firm squeeze.  “Don’t worry, Hunter and Tech probably got it under control.  And Wrecker will smash heads.” 

“Yeah, kiddo what Y/N said.”  Echo put a calm face on it.  

He knew something I didn’t...I could FEEL it. 

“We need to get to them!” Omega whispered 

“No Havoc 5.  We’re sitting tight.  They’ll find us.”  Echo winked. 

He DID know something... 

“Out with it, Echo.” 

“What?” His expression innocent. 

“What do YOU know that Omega and I don’t?” 

“Nothing...” Smiling with that shit eating grin if his.  Sassy, yet charming. 

Omega and I glance at one another.  Then glare at Echo. 

“Hey, I was sworn to secrecy.”  His expression turned from mild to hardened soldier as the sound of marching feet rounded the corner of the vendor’s square. 

Echo silently pulled his weapon...having it on the ready. 

They stopped next to our table. 

“FREEZE Civilian!  Come out with your hands up!!!” 

All three of us froze, staring at one another. 

Echo had a look...like he was ready to kill whoever was out there... 

Omega put both hands over her mouth.  Her eyes wide in abject fear. 

I squeezed her closer to me... 

The trooper violently kicked over the table... 

...next to us. 

A man’s scream rang out and continued to do so as they beat and kicked him. 

We recognized the voice.  It was the local street wino.  Nice man...just liked his Spotchka a bit TOO much. 

“Evading Emperial soldiers is a crime Civilian...so is stealing.” 

The wino’s bottle of unopened Spotchka rolled under the table, stopping to rest against my knee... 

...blood smeared across it. 

A trooper’s hand groped under the tablecloth for the bottle. 

Omega mewled in terror quietly behind her hands.  

Echo readjusted the grip on his weapon. 

I silently pulled the small vibro dagger from my belt... 

...hovering it over the groping hand. 

“LEAVE IT!”  Another trooper barked at the one reaching for the bottle. 

“I’VE ALMOST GOT IT!”  He crankily barked back. 

The hand hovered over the bottle... 

Then suddenly gripped my leg and yanked me out from under the table! 

The trooper seemed shocked at what he pulled out.  He crouched there staring dumbly at me.  I lay in the dust stunned... 

...for a split second... 

Then I viciously stabbed him in the shoulder. 

The trooper screamed.  Echo knocked the table over and opened fired on the rest of the Imps.  He laid them all to rest efficiently. 

But our cover was blown. 

I pulled my dagger from the dead trooper, sheathing it. 

The wino, bloody and battered, staggered to his feet. 

“THERE THEY ARE!!!” 

All of us turned to see the vendor from the other day pointing in our direction.  He was standing at his stall with a HUGE satisfied grin on his face. 

More imps passed him running toward us.  The wino found his feet and fled quickly from the scene. 

To add insult to injury, the vendor felt the need to keep speaking... 

“WARNED YOU THE EMPIRE IS CLEANING UP THE GALAXY!  YOU PEOPLE DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE...” 

The roar of an engine overhead thankfully drowned out the rest. 

Tech fired the Marauder’s cannons into the crowd of Imps, decimating them.  Then swooped in lower to pick us up. 

Echo grabbed Omega’s hand, and before she could be whisked away, she pushed something cold and hard into my hand... 

The bottle of Spotchka...opened...with a strip of the torn tablecloth stuffed into it... 

A makeshift wick. 

Did I mention how much I LOVE THAT LITTLE HOOLIGAN! 

The vendor locked eyes with me.  His hateful stare...all the horrible things he said to us while on Ord Mantell...his lack of empathy for our plight...his open contempt for the poor...outcasts...those that don’t fit into HIS version of society...his alliance with The Empire...the unyielding hand of power beating down EVERYONE in the galaxy... 

RIGHTOUS ANGER welled up within me... 

We kept eye contact as I calmly pulled the small torch from my belt. 

And lit the wick. 

Then smiled at that kriffing piece of Bantha waste. 

The haughty expression left his face damned quick...and he turned tail and ran. 

I chucked that Flaming Bottle of Rebellion as hard as I possibly could and ran towards the ship.  The explosion rang out as I reached the Marauder, pushing me backwards onto the gangplank. 

All manner of debris rained down from the sky. 

And... for some STRANGE reason, I reached out to catch one particular piece... 

...just a FEELING...a hunch...some random, strange reflex...no thinking involved whatsoever... 

My arms enclosed around it...as it slammed squarely into my midsection, knocking the wind out of me... 

I gasped for air... 

Barely registering Hunter reaching out and yanking me into the Marauder... 

The flight away from Ord Mantell was ROCKY with extremely heavy space traffic! 

Tech navigated through all manner of passenger and cargo ships around the planet trying to escape being captured by the Empire.  Echo at his side assisting with hyperspace jump codes. 

Just the thing we needed to get away undetected...for now. 

Hunter rubbed my back as I struggled to breathe.  Finally, I got my wind back, then looked down at what hit me in the gut. 

A FULL unopened box of exported Coruscant designer chocolate bars. 

“Huh...sometimes that Force stuff really does work out.”  I muttered.  “OMEGA!” 

She ran over. 

"Here ya go, kiddo.”  Handing her the whole box.  “Btw...thanks for the Spotchka Cocktail.” 

She smiled like a fox in an Endorian henhouse and ran away with the box.  I could hear Wrecker’s excited voice as he helped her open it. 

I gently fell back and relaxed against Hunter’s chest, exhaling away all the stress. 

He put his arms around me, inhaling the scent of my hair. 

“Hey?” 

“Hmmm?”  He hummed into my hair. 

“How did you know EXACTLY where we were?” 

His hand slowly snaked up and tapped the keepsake necklace around my neck. 

“You...have a TRACKER on...ME???”  I glanced over to the necklace around Omega’s neck. 

“Uh huh.” Tracing a heart shape slowly against the skin of my chest. 

He didn’t even have to look up from nuzzling my hair.  Hunter KNEW I understood Omega was also carrying one as well. 

I glanced across the Marauder to Echo. 

“YOU LITTLE MECHANICAL SHIT!” I teased. 

“Of course.  You wouldn’t expect anything less?”  He smirked, then swung his chair around to converse with Tech. 

“So...you put a bell and collar on us BOTH?” I addressed Hunter. 

“For safety reasons only.  Can’t have anything bad happening to our girls.”  He caressed my face.  “Originally it was only for Omega...you know...her wandering off problem.  Just couldn’t cope if we lost you both...” 

I sat up to turn around and face him.  Putting his face in my hands. 

“Hunter, we’re finally free from Cid and Ord Mantell.  But I’m upset it took something like THIS for us to leave.  I’ve been asking for MONTHS!” 

Behind me I could FEEL Echo turning his attention back to us.  FEEL him nodding in agreement with my statement.  Almost FEEL him thinking “We got lucky this time.” 

Hunter’s eyes flicked up to Echo, then back to me. 

“You’re BOTH right.  I’m sorry.  Bad at this civilian business.  I’ll do better in the future...we have one now.” 

“Except for the Empire...” Echo clapped back. 

Hunter’s eyes flicked back up to Echo.  He nodded, slight defeat on his face. 

“HUNTER.”  I implored.  His eyes focused back on me.  “PROMISE me we’ll stay off the radar for a while...and make our OWN way as much as possible.” 

“I promise.” 

“PROMISE that you will LISTEN to me when I give you my input about what I sense and think.  I’m an important part of this squad...oh let’s stop saying that...FAMILY! 

Hunter waited...I felt him SENSING that I wasn’t done speaking.  Was he finally getting his senses back??? 

“AND STOP STONEWALLING ME!  It’s disrespectful.  I’m a grown woman and your partner...hopefully for the long run...but it WON’T be if you don’t respect me and start having the harder conversations.” 

Ouch...I could see that cut deep.  What I said wasn’t hurtful.  Hunter was recognizing his mistake.   He was really listening to my brutal honesty.  

“And...STOP beating yourself up...that’s MY job!” 

He raised an eyebrow. 

I finished...and could FEEL the weight of several pairs of eyes on us.  Everyone else in the ship was watching my and Hunter’s interaction. 

Hunter and I met every pair of eyes in the place.  

“No arguing with her AT ALL!  She’s RIGHT.”  Echo smirked and turned back towards the Marauder's dash.   

"Agreed.”  Tech following suit. 

“Let’s let them work it out, eh?”  Wrecker put his hand on Omega’s shoulder.  

Ever astute, Omega nodded, then took her box of chocolates and went to the gunner’s loft with Wrecker. 

Hunter stared into my eyes with a clarity that I had only witnessed BEFORE our arrival to Ord Mantell “I’ve been neglecting you...and our relationship too.”  He sighed.  “If you would rather go off with Echo and run missions for the resistance, I wouldn't blame you.”  

“It’s true that I may not want to totally settle down on some back-alley planet.  But then, I’m certainly not ready to run off and wage war with a huge oppressive regime just yet, ok?  Maybe something in-between.  I’m not an all or nothing kind of gal.” 

Hunter nodded and glanced briefly at Echo again.  Then back to me. 

“It’s true...I DO love him.”  I revealed. 

Hunter’s face showed a very brief, very hurt micro expression. 

“But It’s true that I love YOU too.  And I love Omega, Wrecker, and Tech... I still love Crosshair...wherever he is.  I love you all so much sometimes it hurts.  Love you all so much, that I can’t leave you even though I could feel the Empire closing in on us...” 

“We don’t leave our own behind...” Hunter whispered. 

“Never.”  I answered.  “Let’s work on being a family that can come together and plan our future...ok?  If you and I DON’T plan our future, we won’t ever have one.  Does that answer your question?” 

“Completely.” Hunter’s voice cracked. 

I put my arms around Hunter and held him close.  

Then we quietly contemplated what the future would hold...and where we would go next. 

Not before catching Echo’s expression and FEELING the words behind it: 

You’re brave...and I’m very PROUD of you! 

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[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 28 - Welcome Home

Itaru: (This is bad. I can’t get a taxi at all. And the line’s not letting up either… Got one shot at this left. Hopefully there’s a car rental place somewhere near he--.)

Sakuya: Itaru-san! Welcome home!

Itaru: --.

Masumi: You’re late.

Citron: We have come to pick you up~!

Chikage: Good work.

Tsuzuru: Your flight being delayed was some astronomically bad luck.

Itaru: Huh? What? What are you doing here? What about the play? No, you guys can’t all be here!

Sakuya: We were so worried that we couldn’t help it, so we might be trying for a bit of an impossible wish here.

Chikage: We decided to run through our lines in the car so as to not waste time.

Masumi: Director was supposed to be the first one I drove around…

Tsuzuru: You were a really safe driver, Masumi, just like we thought you’d be, so don’t worry about it.

Itaru: No way, you guys came to pick me up… Isn’t this like an insanely risky move?

Chikage: All’s well that ends well.

Tsuzuru: You weren’t able to catch a cab, right?

Itaru: Well, you guys doing this is definitely a huge help.

Itaru: Wait, why do your faces look darker than normal…? What did you guys eat?

Tsuzuru: Your face won’t get darker just from eating something! It’s just makeup!

Masumi: We were trying to save time.

Itaru: Gotcha.

Citron: Itaru, this is not the time to be the funny man!

Itaru: Says you…

Chikage: Well, if you’re up to doing that, then there’s no need for us to be worried.

Sakuya: Alright, let’s hurry! Everyone’s waiting for us!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Manager: Thank you very much for coming to see MANKAI Company’s Spring Troupe’s performance “Romeo and Julius ~Rosso e Blu~” today.

Manager: Please remain patient until the start of the show.

Towa: …

Audience Member A: I wonder what’s going to happen in the sequel.

Audience Member B: Do you think everyone’s got the same roles they had in the first one?

Audience Member A: MANKAI Company’s first sequel, I’m both really excited for it and dreading it…

Audience Member B: I know, right!? I saw RomiJuli back when it first ran, too, and I’m like the biggest Romeo oshi ever…

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

momo has entered the chat.

shiki: Oh? I thought you were going to go see the performance on opening day today.

Iv: smth with all the fuss you were making abt the ticket gods?

momo: Had to come take refuge here because I was literally about to explode from how badly I wanted to join the conversation of the person sitting next to me

Kar: That sure is a reason lmao

Iv: ur being real sus

momo: I was really surprised when they announced they were doing a sequel for RomiJuli, but I totally get what they’re saying about having mixed feelings of both anticipation and anxiety, and to be honest I’m really looking at it with that much excitement too

momo: I can’t stop thinking about what the sequel to my favorite play ever is gonna be like, like I think I’d literally die of shock if they change my oshi’s role

Iv: i ain’t reading all that, happy for u tho, or sorry that happened

momo: Also since I got to see what goes on behind the scenes at the workshop, actually coming to the theater now makes it seem even brighter when it’s got all performance stuff up and running

momo: I can like actually sense just how many people are working behind the scenes and now I’m already filled with a lot of feelings before the show’s even started, I wonder if my heart is gonna m

Kar: momo’s been stabilized

shiki: I’m guessing it just started? Have fun!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Towa: Phew…

Towa: (I feel a little calmer.)

Audience Member A: It’s almost time for the show to start, but it still hasn’t started yet?

Audience Member B: It feels like they must be rushing to get ready. I wonder if something happened.

Towa: (Huh, trouble? I wonder if everything’s okay??)

Audience Member A: That reminds me of the time when Autumn Troupe was rushing to get ready in time so Summer Troupe gave a super long pre-show introduction to stall for time.

Audience Member B: Oh yeah, I watched the stream of that performance!

Audience Member A: I wonder if they’re all working super hard behind the scenes right now.

Audience Member B: I’m wishing them the best of luck.

Towa: (Good luck to all of Spring Troupe and the staff members too…!)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Door slams open*

Sakuya: Sorry for making you wait! We’re here!

Izumi: Thank goodness! Welcome home!

Yuki: You’re late!

Azami: You’re late.

Itaru: There’s the third strike…

Azami: Just hurry up and sit down so I can do your makeup.

Tsumugi: I’m glad you made it just in the nick of time.

Itaru: No, this time it was really thanks to everyone else’s help. This never would’ve happened without them…

Izumi: But you still made it, right?

Itaru: True. But I’ve still got that high I got from meeting an overseas fan running through me.

Itaru: I feel like we could still set out on a journey across the world. Now all I’ve gotta do is just not worry and put that energy into Spring Troupe’s performance.

Izumi: I can’t wait.

Itaru: Ah, well, don’t expect too much from me, I’ve still got jet lag and fatigue nerfing my stamina. I’m relying on you guys for support.

Tsuzuru: But there wasn’t even that much of a time difference?

Citron: It is better than him trying to hide it and then freezing up on stage, at least~!

Masumi: I feel like something like that happened during our debut performance.

Itaru: Perhaps.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Manager: The show will be beginning shortly!

Itaru: Okay, okay.

Chikage: We managed to make it just in time.

Tsuzuru: Yet another time we were all rushing to be ready.

Sakuya: I feel like we’re all back on this stage with new feelings after we all took on different challenges in preparation for the new Fleur Award.

Sakuya: The first time I stood on stage was one of them, but I’m sure there will be a lot more “firsts” in the future.

Sakuya: I can remember the feelings from back then over and over again. The trembling courage to dive into a new world--.

Sakuya: Let’s always take on our “firsts” with positivity and all have fun together as Spring Troupe!

Citron: Yes!

Tsuzuru: Let’s do it.

Chikage: Right.

Itaru: I’m ready whenever you are.

Masumi: Let’s go, Romeo.

Sakuya: Yeah! Onwards, to our journey!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[scknight05]

WIP Wednesday 📝

I wasn't tagged by anyone since no one really knows me (yet.. hopefully.. maybe.. I dunno..lol) But I do wanna tag @tizniz, for being my biggest supporter with this journey, as well as @warpedpuppeteer because they both have been super awesome in letting me toss around my totally insane ideas with them and giving me input when I'm stumped.

This will probably be the first 9-1-1 fanfic I post, but it's not the first one I've started... And there are sooooo many more ideas to come soon hopefully. But this is what I'm currently working on and a few warnings before hand. 1-This is the first story I've written in a LONG time. So I'm rusty. EXTREMELY rusty! 2-I haven't done any major editing yet so I apologize for any errors. 3-I may be sharing too much with this compared to other people's "WIP Wednesday" posts so half of it will be behind a cut (if you make it that far and want to keep reading).

A little tidbit: what I'm posting is actually the scene that jumped into my head when this idea was born so I'm creating the story around it. And as of this moment, I do NOT have a title for this.. That's one thing I am also very horrible at... creating titles.

So I'm gonna shut up now and get on with it!

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay, Buck?” Buck wrapped his arm around Chris’s shoulder and pulled him close. “Of course I am! As long as I have you, your dad and everyone else I love in my life I’m gonna be just fine.” Chris beamed with joy as he threw both of his arms around Buck’s chest to give him a tight hug. “I love you, Buck.” Buck could feel tears of joy and happiness welling up in his eyes as he smiled down at Christopher who was still clinging tightly to his chest. He leaned down and pressed a kiss against the curls on top of his head. “I love you too, buddy. Always will.” Buck sniffed and tried to discretely wipe his eyes before Chris could see. “Now how about I go check on dinner? Make sure your dad doesn’t burn everything to a crisp.” “Good idea.” Chris laughed. “But we could always order a pizza just to be safe!” With a laugh, Buck ruffled Chris’s hair, earning him a slight groan before he moved from where he was sitting on the boy’s bed. “We’ll keep that as Plan B, just in case. But I have faith in your dad.” With a smile on his face, he closed Christopher’s door and slowly made his way towards the living room. His smile quickly faded with the pain in his head still persistent but also beginning to throb uncomfortably against his skull, causing him to have to prop himself against the wall for a moment. He clenched his eyes closed in an effort to quell the pain and stop the room from spinning. “You good, Buck?” He hadn’t even heard Eddie approach and forced his eyes open to see he was standing in the middle of the living, wiping his hands on a dish towel.

“Y-yeah, its just this stupid headache. It won’t go away and now my head feels like it’s about to explode.” Buck attempted to take a few steps but in hindsight it was a bad idea. The room suddenly began to spin violently and the only reason he wasn’t on the floor was the fact that Eddie had all but ran to him and was now holding Buck by his shoulders to steady him in place. “Hey, hey. Easy, Buck!” Eddie’s eyes widened with worry while he watched as Buck took a few deep breaths in through his nose. “You still with me?” “Yeah. Yeah, sorry about that.” He replied shakily as he rubbed his eyes before placing his hand on Eddie’s forearm. “Thanks for catching me.” “Always.” Eddie smiled at Buck reassuringly, assessing him and making sure he wasn’t about to faceplant into the floor again before letting him go and making his way back towards the kitchen. “Dinner is basically ready, so lets get some food into you and see if that will help.” “Good idea. I’ll just go grab Christopher.” Eddie stopped and turned to look at Buck, confusion set across his face. “Who’s Christopher?” Eddie asked as his face scrunched up. “Very funny, Eddie.” Buck rolled his eyes and chuckled and turned back in the direction of the door he had closed behind him not too long ago. “Seriously Buck, who are you talking about?” “Christopher. You know, your son.” “Buck? I don’t have a son.” Eddie slowly began to walk towards Buck as he laughed. “Are you sure you’re okay?” “Okay, good one Eddie.” Buck just smiled as he reached the door and turned the knob. “Hey Chris, are you in on this too? Your dad is acting lik….” Buck’s voice trailed off as he looked into the room, a shiver shot down his spine and he felt like he had ice in his veins. He gazed around the space he was in not even five minutes earlier but instead of finding the preteen on his bed, the room was completely different. Where there once was a bed, posters adorning the wall, and other memorabilia indicating the presence of a preteen, in its place was now a large desk and stacked bookshelves; a home office it seemed. “What the hell?!” Buck’s voice was barely a whisper, his eyes widening in fear and confusion as he looked around the room. “Eddie, what is going on?! WHERE is Christopher?” “Buck, I keep telling you I have no clue who this Christopher you’re talking about is! A-and him being my son? I’ve never had a son!”

[moonjxsung]

hi star!! bb!!!!

you posting reckless convictions caught me so off guard! i had spent most of my day trying to trap a stray cat who’s injured (we couldn’t do it but im going again today🫡) and when i checked my phone i saw your notif!!!

the excitement was/is/will be real whenever you post new works. and let me tell you, it was phenomenal!!!

your attention to detail is so incredible, your prose is so beautiful as well! (the way you write your prose is really very murakamiesque/kafkaesque to me and ik you’re a fan of murakami so idk if you don’t like me saying that but i’ve been thinking that since visions of you in solitude before i knew you loved murakami).

anyways, it was such a good read. i love music as well and i love love stories so it was bound to be beautiful and then devastatingly beautiful and so romantic. and like, i’ve said this before, i can’t believe our brains are blessed with your works out here for free! i can’t wait for a star physical book!!

so yeah, pookie, this was so good. i love hanji a little bit more (if possible) after this.

ily ilysm bb! have the best weekend and the best week!!🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻

-🐈‍⬛

HI BBYYYY 🫶💗 were you able to catch little stray cat? :( it’s always SUCH a difficult task trying to trap a super feral cat and yet at the same time it’s not something you can just walk away from so it ends up taking the entire day! I hope you were able to trap the kitty! Poor thing :(

Hearing Murakamiesque as it pertains to my work is actually THEEEE biggest compliment I’ve ever gotten on here oh my god 😭🫶 I LOVE YOU?!!??

I’m SO glad you enjoyed and I’m excited to drop more stuff very sooooon!! Hopefully this time it won’t be as long of a break in between fics bc I am aiming for a fic for every member on my masterlist by the end of the year! I love you again and thank you for reading angel 🫶💗💕🥹👼🩷💓 best of luck with trapping the kitty too, let me know how everything goes !!

[rayshippouuchiha]

HELL YEAH I LOVE THIS SUIKAWARI MY HEART THING SHOUTA'S SO T H I R S T Y ok real talk deku absolutely knows who eraserhead is right??? hes an eraserhead fan right???????

"These seem kind of ...short," Izuku can't help but point out, hands coming down to tug futilely at the swim shorts that had somehow replaced his standard blue and yellow Mighty Swim Shorts(TM) he's had for years now. "And tight."

"As god Herself intended," Hitoshi mutters from where he's laid out on the concrete of the changing room floor. "Praise be to Yaomomo."

"Praise be," Izuku automatically echoes out of longstanding habit.

A beat of silence passes between them

"You know that floor is beyond filthy, right?" Izuku can't help but ask.

Hitoshi just peels one bleary eye open and stares up at Izuku silently.

"Fair enough," Izuku agrees as he goes back to fussing with his shorts.

"You nervous?" Hitoshi asks a few seconds later.

"Yeah," Izuku admits sheepishly. "Seems kind of dumb huh? Being so nervous over a charity event like this? But ... what if I look stupid?"

"Not possible," Hitoshi immediately denies.

Izuku loves his friend so much. Getting arrested together with Hitoshi at a rally really was the best thing to happen to him in a long time.

"Very possible," Izuku counters. "Highly probably in fact. Everyone else participating is super cool with super cool moves, with or without their quirk being involved. I'm just ... me."

"Look," Hitoshi says as he eels his way across the floor until he's laying right beside where Izuku's standing. "Just go out there and do exactly what you did at practice. Trust me, it'll go perfectly. Especially since Todoroki's not here to catch the vapors or the drapes on fire."

"Still don't know why the entire group had to come to that practice," Izuku grumbles just a bit. "Or why Momo had to host it. Or why Uraraka recorded it."

"Kirby's making mint by now," Hitoshi mumbles under his breath.

"What?" Izuku asks.

"Nothing," Hitoshi waves his question off lazily as he finally rolls over and pushes himself up onto his feet.

He throws an arm over Izuku's shoulder and rests his sharp chin on the crown of Izuku's head.

"Like I said before," Hitoshi reaches his hand up to poke at Izuku's cheek, "just go out there and be your regular sunshine broccoli self and do what you did at practice night. You've got this."

And by this point all Izuku can do is believe him.

~~~

Crate of watermelons firmly in hand, Izuku bounces just a bit on his toes and focuses on taking deep breaths of fresh ocean air.

Dagobah Beach is still as beautiful now as it was all those years ago when he cleaned it for Toshi-sensei at the start of his apprenticeship.

On the other side of the small, curtained off backstage area the crowd that's gathered is going wild.

Honestly, Izuku would rather be out there watching the Miruko crush watermelons than here waiting for his own turn to go on stage.

But, eventually, is turn does actually come.

"...the showstopper himself, the one, the only, the #1 Can Do Hero Dekiru."

Present Mic's announcement ringing in his ears, Izuku takes one last deep breath, does his best to smile, and moves out into view.

The crowd is deafening and Izuku has to admit that it always makes him feel more than a bit awestruck to have so many people cheering for him. Especially over something that's more than a bit silly even if it's for a collection of good causes.

He shoots the crowd a small wave as he sets his crate down.

"Show us what you've got!" Present Mic demands from somewhere to Izuku's right. "And let's give him some encouragement listeners!"

The crowd begins to chant "De~ki~ru!" and Izuku picks up his first watermelon, determined to follow Hitoshi's advice.

The first and second melons break easily enough, just as they had at practice, but the crowd seems happy.

So Izuku moves onto his third pose, the one that the others had made him repeat a handful of times a few nights ago.

A flex of his thighs and a twist of his hips and his lap's covered in sweet pink flesh and sticky juice.

"Oh god," a voice, low and husky, cuts across the crowd, "I wish that was me right now."

Even as the crowd goes abruptly silent Izuku's attention immediately zeroes in on the source.

He immediately feels his entire soul leave his body.

Because standing there beside Present Mic, arms crossed over his chest and face blank, is Eraserhead.

The Eraserhead.

The same Underground Hero Izuku's been a huge fan of since the moment he found out he existed. The notorious hell teacher of UA whose very name sends shivers of fear down the majority of his friend group's spine.

The same Eraserhead who was Hitoshi's mentor.

And who Izuku may or may not have a strange, second-hand sort of not-crush on.

In his defense, Hitoshi's stories about his mentor are always highly entertaining to Izuku. And what he's learned about Eraserhead through his friend just makes Izuku think the man is someone he'd really like to get to know.

Which is what makes being here, topless, covered in watermelon juice, and with an actual audience to witness the semi-sexual remark Eraserhead had just made about him, a special kind of torture.

Because Izuku's never admitted it to anyone, and especially not Hitoshi, but Eraserhead lines up pretty closely with what Izuku would consider his type.

The man understands heroics, and according to his capture and expulsion rate and Hitoshi himself, has a lot of personal dedication and drive. The stories Hitoshi tells about him show he's got a soft streak he keeps well hidden and he's intimidatingly smart.

Plus he's tall, has hair that Izuku admits he wouldn't mind getting his hands tangled in, and looks like he'd be mean in all the right circumstances.

All of that is probably why Izuku finds himself speaking without really giving himself permission to open his mouth.

"Ah," Izuku hears himself say, "maybe we could go on a date first though? If you'd like?"

For a long moment it's so quiet Izuku's pretty sure he can hear himself dying cell by mortified cell.

Eraserhead's face somehow manages to go even blanker.

And then, he smiles.

'Oh wow,' Izuku can't help but marvel as he takes in the expression he's seen palely echoed on Hitoshi's face a million times, 'that's ... unexpectedly attractive.'

He can feel even more heat rush to his face in response as he chews nervously on his lower lip.

"Hope you like coffee," Eraserhead finally says, "and cats."

And Izuku can't help but grin because yes, yes he does.

But he's pretty sure he's going to end up liking Eraserhead even more than all of those put together.

~~~

"Hell is empty," Hitoshi intones when Izuku finally manages to get free of the semi-rioting crowd so he can rush back into the changing room to clean himself up. "All the devils are right fucking here."

Izuku stalls out for a moment, unsure of what, exactly, he's supposed to say to that.

"You've got a date with Eraserhead," Hitoshi plows on.

The expression on his face is caught somewhere between gleeful and absolutely unhinged.

"Yeah," Izuku can't help the grin that steals across his face as he wipes himself down. "Or at least I hope he was serious."

"Oh he was serious," Hitoshi reassures him. "As serious as the heart-attacks basically everyone we know have probably collectively had."

"Do you think he's gonna like me?" Izuku can't help but fret just a bit.

"He's gonna marry you," Hitoshi snips back. "And we're all gonna suffer. Thank the gods you won't be breeding at least. Whatever the both of you are ends with you."

"That's kind of a quick jump to make but quirk science has come a long way," Izuku says absently as he pulls his shirt over his head. "Most couplings are genetically possible these days you know?"

"That was not a challenge," Hitoshi hisses, horror overtaking his expression. "I swear to god Izuku do not spawn with Eraserhead."

Izuku just waves him off as he trots back towards the door to the changing room.

He has an Eraserhead to track down and, hopefully, date plans to iron out.

[miss-kittyy]

Rewriting Briarlight and Longtail’s Deaths

So I am disabled, like very disabled, I am %50 of the teenagers ever diagnosed with my special combination of pain disorders, and I also unfortunately hyper fixated on warrior cats, which is bad news for me because warrior cats is super ableist, and to add insult to injury, the fandom can also be pretty ableist.

My biggest problem with the majority of “anti-ableist” AUs is that they “fix” the ableism stemming from the narrative and able bodied characters by making the disabled character less disabled, this so bad for many reasons. I’ve talked more about in other posts. The justification that real life disabled cats are less doesn’t make it not ableist, since when was warrior cats meant to be realistic? If you’re making an au where the disabled cats function like actual disabled cats you also have to make all the cats genetically accurate, and retcon Lionblaze lifting a tree.

My problem with warrior cats is not that the disabled characters cannot become full conventional warriors, I’d like it if they got to choose what duties the perform instead of being crammed into the medicine den, but I don’t care about Cinderpelt not being able to complete a marathon. Most of the fandom seems to think the issue is that the disabled character are not useful enough, instead of the way that able bodied characters deny of them agency and make remarks like “you wouldn’t want to return to a life like her’s would you?”. Disabled people do not need to be “useful” to be worthy and empowering.

It’s very obvious that most of the fandom just wants the disabled cats to be more palatable to abled bodied people, so I’ve decided to make my own rewrite instead to hopefully make myself feel better. A lot of these things are inspired by my own experiences and not every disabled person is looking for the same things in representation, this is totally self indulgent.

The goal of this AU is to highlight the many unique and valuable aspects disability and how being disabled does not infringe upon anyone’s worth, ever.

- Longtail doesn’t die in the storm, Briarpaw is still injured, but he’s found besides her, trying his best to help her cling to life.

- after Briarpaw begins to recover he stands up to Millie and other cats insulting her quality of life, he says her journey will be hard, but it is one worth taking.

- She asks him why he’s an elder, and he decides to request to have his warrior ship restored as Briarpaw is dreading the life of an elder.

- On his first patrol the cats accompanying him insist on speaking to him in an incredibly infantilism tone, and whispering amongst themselves over what he can or can’t do, without consulting him,

- He initially gives up on patrolling after that insufferable experience.

- Briarlight begins to create marks and blobs on the wall of the medicine den using crushed up dead herbs she asks him to retrieve some berries for her, and he complies.

- Jayfeather shows him how he navigates the territory with the help of some of the sighted cats, and Mousefur is quick to volunteer as his guide. He finds her company surprisingly empowering. He realizes that it was not his blindness which was limiting his abilities, but the other cats attitudes.

- Mousefur and Longtail return with mouthful of berries and herbs, Briarlight describes to him what she’s drawing on the side of the den and he helps he mound the materials into paint.

- The cats begin to pop into the medicine den to see Briarlights painting and soon Jayfeather has to kick her out occasionally so they’d stop crowding him, she’s given the walls of camp to decorate instead.

- She begins to illustrate Longtails stories of the old territory and Bloodclan, and this new form of storytelling becomes a tradition amongst Thunderclan.

- because more young cats are aware of the clans history it becomes harder for the dark forest to recruit them, unfortunately, Blossomfall’s resentment towards her sister means she never cared to listen.

- Ivypool is still recruited and trained like in canon, given her relationship with the dark forest was much more emotionally charged and manipulative than just plain lies.

- at a gathering Longtail meets Grasspelt who inquires about Briarlight, Longtail is surprised about how little he knows as the she-cat had mentioned how well they got along as apprentices. Despite Millie nagging him not to tell him the truth about her daughter he does anyways, but puts much more emphasis on how well she’s doing than Millie expected. Grasspelt thinks this sounds really cool and decides that he is going to see her and her paintings, and that nobody can stop him. Longtail makes sure to put any opposing cat in their place, but Briarlight is a very respected Clanmate, so most warriors don’t say anything.

- Briarlight is nervous and doesn’t want to come out of the medicine den at first, but when Grassheart darts into the den holding berries and flowers for her to paint with she quickly warms up to her visitor.

- Grassheart is happy to tell Briarlight that he’s never been able to be a “functioning” warrior, and that he has always imagined that his spirit is shaped different, the medicine cat says his body is normal, but he’s never been able to keep focus in a fight or react as quickly as he should be able to while hunting. (He’s autistic because I say so)

- As dusk nears he’s visually hesitant to return to Riverclan and when Longtail inquires on why he says that he hasn’t felt so “here” for a long time. On the way back he wanders off and comes back with a chipmunk, when returning to Riverclan territory his father, Mintfur, is shocked to see his catch. After talking with his family a bit he realizes that it was the noise from the river that was making him so tense and dissociated, Brackenfur, who was escorting him, notices that he keeps rubbing himself on the ground and wincing.

- For the next couple moons Grasspelt returned to Thunderclan to bring Briarlight plants that only grow in Riverclan territory, he begins trying to fish from the quite lazy stream in their territory and soon both him and Briarlight have got it down.

- Longtail notices the sadness present whenever Grasspelt left and exclaims that it’s rather stupid that he’s living somewhere so unsuited for him just because of words long repeated.

- Grasspelt confesses that he feels the same, but knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything. Briarlight tells Longtail that her and the Riverclan warrior had been thinking of each other as mates for moons.

- Longtail accompanies Jayfeather to the next half moon meeting where he proposes his addition to the warrior code, “no cat should be confined to laws which harm them due to an inherent physical or spiritual difference.” (Cats don’t really know how brains work, so they see mental disabilities as a difference within a cats spirit)

- A moon later the leaders meet to discuss this proposition, it is accepted and Grasspelt makes the journey to Thunderclan for the final time.

- Grasspelt is renamed Grassspirit when becoming a Thunderclan warrior, unlike prior renaming of disabled cats this is a celebration.

- Grassspirit spends most of his time taking care of the elders and kits, he’s incredibly compassionate especially with kits and is able to solve many problems within the nursery.

- When twigkit and Violetkit arrive in Thunderclan Briarlight and Grassspirit help raise them, after Violetkit is taken Briarlight and Twigkit paint her on the side of Thunderclan camp.

- Briarlight still gets sick and her illness progresses without any treatment, Grassspirit notices her trying to hide it and when Longtail finds out he’s very upset. Jayfeather frantically treats her, expressing his frustration that she didn’t tell them sooner, the second Millie steps out she breaks down and explains that she just wanted to deal with it herself, and perhaps if she were successful Millie would finally treat her like an adult.

- Longtail gives Millie a stern talking to, he tells her that Briarlight is a warrior of Thunderclan and as her clanmate she should show her some respect.

- Millie is inherently very reactionary, as she had not realized the full extent of her suffocation, but eventually after a couple moons her and Briarlight begin to rekindle their relationship, like adults.

- Blossomfall sees how Brairlight wasn’t basking in their mother’s attention like she imagined, and feels the urge to seek out an actual sisterhood after ignoring Briarlight for moons and moons.

- Briarlight isn’t really mad at her sister, and understands why she felt the way she did. Jayfeather suggests that Blossomfall help Briarlight with her painting, Blossomfall seems put off with the suggestion of being her sister’s assistant.

- The interactions that follow are less than ideal, Blossomfall commends Briarlight’s able friends (Thornclaw, Poppyfrost, Alderheart, etc) for being so nice to her, as if that’s not what friends do. She seems very sad the entire time, sighing when her sister dragged her legs around with her mouth to sit more comfortably, even though she was completely fine. When watching her paint she comments that it’s good she has “something to keep her busy”, and finally she expresses her view, of Briarlight’s injury and her (Blossomfall’s) suffering being all worth it because of her talents, as if her life was not worth living to begin with.

- Briarlight tells her that if that’s truly what she wants she’s going to have to put more effort into understanding and respecting her way of life, and that she won’t apologize for their mother’s actions.

- When Blossomfall has her kits they take a liking to Auntie Briarlight, and Blossomfall seems to have reflected on their past interactions, trusting her sister to watch her kits. Briarlight teases a bit, a subtle way of telling her not to rush things, but they do begin to feel like something close to sisters.

- Right before Briarlight’s Nieces and Nephews are made warriors Longtail dies of Greencough. Throughout the entirety of his sickness he kept his sense of humour, his mean streak, and his immense love for what he had made of his clan.

- At his vigil Grassspirit began whaling like a bird in new-leaf, he insists that the vigil is too sad, and that Longtail wouldn’t want everyone moping around, for Starclan’s sake, his life was good. Standing amongst them, Longtail’s spirit can feel every cat in Thunderclan standing around him, singing the song of a life well lived.

[trash-gobby]

Soooo if you have time, I have another request again. Hahaha. Another platonic Brahms x reader in which Greta and Malcom decided to go back to the manor to check if Brahms is dead. Only to be surprised that reader is there and is like a sister to Brahms.

Just want to see how that would play out and how reader react when she meets the woman who stabbed and left Brahms. Thank you!

Pairings: Greta X Malcolm

Characters: Brahms Heelshire, Reader, Greta, Malcolm, Original Character(s)

A/N: I have some characters I invented for the sake of making the whole Greta and Malcolm going back to the Heelshire manor make sense. They be a bit generic and cookie cutter though because I didn't want to make this too long haha. I also probably won’t be making anything this detailed for a while because it took me way to long to create. I had a bit of writers block near the end of making this story so I feel like the quality dips a bit (I didn’t really have time for quality checking because I’m super busy with uni and I have a new job as an editor so that’s eating up 90% of the time I have for writing). It also ends pretty abruptly so I apologize in advance 😢, but hopefully y’all still enjoy it.

Link: The Boy Masterlist

Using she/her pronouns for reader insert.

RATING: PG 13+

⚠️Warnings!: angsty bs, Brahms being violent, eye trauma, recollections of past trauma, use of guns, graphic descriptions of violence and gore

Word Count: 5.2K

Greta didn't want to go back. Not ever again. The very idea of even setting her eyes on the vague outline of the Heelshire mansion made her palms sweat and brought on a deep pit in her stomach. She'd been through enough, hadn't she? All the abuse, the running, the fear and suffering; Greta had thought it had come to an end. She could finally breathe, and perhaps find some peace, and for a while it was peaceful. Three years of relative mundane, uneventfulness, something which she'd yearned for, ever since her troubles began.

Being with Malcolm had helped. He'd been her rock through all the moments where she'd broken down after leaving the Heelshire mansion, all the times she lost herself he'd helped her come back. He always helped her come back. He was the kind of partner she needed right now in her life, and even with them having different schedules due to Greta's graveyard shifts at the grocery store in town, they still found time for each other.

Money was tight , but why sacrifice that sliver of happiness for a measly paycheck. That's where Malcolm and Greta differed. He wanted to take her around the world, give her experiences that she'd remember fondly, instead of dreading. The only way to accomplish this was by making enough money to get out of the dead end town they were stuck in, for good. All Greta really wanted though, was to lay down roots in a new town, creating a fresh start somewhere far away from the looming presence of the Heelshire manor. A two hour drive was way too close, though in her opinion even a two day drive would be too close.

However, now it was too late. They were stuck sitting in an RV driving through the countryside, heading in the direction of that place where her nightmares had come to a head.

Greta was interrupted from her musings on the subject of her eventual return to the Heelshire mansion by the RV swerving dangerously on the road, knocking her against Malcolm.

Tucker, the driver had turned around in his seat in order to yell in his husky british accent, "Mate, you pass me a ciggy"

The man who he directed this question to was hunched over the camera bag checking the lenses. He paused for a moment and dug through his peacoat pockets, taking out a pack of camel lights, throwing it haphazardly to Tucker.

"Watch it," he barked as he almost missed catching the pack, while simultaneously nearly sending them off the road.

The man simply ignored him and went back to his work. This man was Andrew Bronse, legendary producer and media mogul entrepreneur. At least that's what he'd told them about himself. Greta had googled him and found an impressively detailed amount of results, and even links to interviews he'd done on different morning time new networks. He was a average looking man who made up for his averageness by having a winning smile, and charisma. He was the reason that Greta was stuck in a a stuffy vehicle, witch smelled strongly of air freshener and a vague undertone of beer, with a bunch of strangers.

Andrew had arrived on their doorstep two weeks back with a thousand watt smile on his face, a fancy rolex on his wrist, and the promise of an opportunity of a lifetime. He was doing a piece on crossing the country interviewing those who'd experienced supposed haunting encounters with those from beyond the grave. He'd heard of Greta's story she'd told to only a handful of people somehow, she wasn't sure. Or at least the altered version of the truth she had to tell people. Greta was automatically off-put by Andrew's cavalier attitude, knowledge of her story and how he flaunted his celebrity status as a power play. Malcolm was won over by the prospect of the large sum of money Andrew promised them, if they did the story. Enough money in order to get them out of the town they were stuck in, out of the country even.

Greta had several nasty rows about the multiple zeros on the paycheck Andrew had flashed at them. She didn't want to lie about what they'd been through again. There was no ghost of a little boy possessing a porcelain doll, only a corpse of a tall hairy man, rotting on a bedroom floor. Malcolm promised her they wouldn't go inside, only stand on the edge of the property with the house in the background. Andrew had echoed this sentiment over the phone in order to placate her.

This still didn't make Greta feel any better about warping the truth of what she'd been through. The nights she'd woken up in a cold sweat, with the ghost of a scream on her lips and the lingering phantom sensation of fingers closing down on her throat. The moments, minutes, hours, and days spent re-living the experience in therapy which never seemed to go anywhere. These memories of Brahms dogged her, restless spirits haunting her even in sleep.

"You want some," a bag of half-empty pistachios was shoved practically in her face by a thick hairy arm. She declined, looking up to meet the eyes of the man, introduced to her as Little Sal. However, there was nothing for him. He stood at a staggering seven feet tall, having to duck getting into doorways. He looked more like he belonged in a commercial for the lumber industry, rather than being the groups defacto sound recordist and boom mic operator. He moved on slowly to offer some to Andrew, and Malcolm before seating himself before sitting heavily behind Tucker for the duration of the drive.

There was a cool draft running through the mansion, but to Brahms it was just as normal as ever. He was sitting on the marble counter in the kitchen watching as Y/N slowly and methodically worked on the dishes. As she finished rinsing the soap from each plate, she'd hand them to him to dry them with a towel.

Two hours and Greta would be there. Two hours and she would be smelling the dank stench of rotting leaves. Two hours and she'd be re-living her nightmare

_______________________________________________________________________

As she turned her head away to grab a pot to scrub, Brahms took the moment to sneakily scratch at an itch under his bandages. The bruises and cuts he'd received from being pushed over the second story balcony only a couple days before. He was sore and his shoulder had to be kept in a makeshift sling for a while, but he'd stubbornly kept taking it off because it was restricting his movement. Y/N kept reprimanding him for doing this, but when she saw him fiddling with his bandages in order to scratch under them, she slapped at his hands.

"Brahms don't pick at those," she said playfully but he knew after what he'd witnessed only a few days prior, she had a tough streak he wasn't interested in seeing the side of. Instead he fixed her with what he hoped seemed like a puppy-dog-eyed look before slowly lowering himself from the counter.

His chest aches and arms still feel a little bruised from his fall, but when Y/N notices him struggling to lower down to the floor, she loops one of her hands under his arm and over his shoulder, helping him down easy. He gives her a quick hug before making his way from the kitchen into the dining room, where the candles still burn, dripping wax onto the dark wood of the table. He absently thought about how Y/N probably should have used a table cloth, but it didn’t really matter at the end of the day.

He reached the edge of the dining room and stared out the window into the waning sunlight. The trees moved lazily through the wind, and large thunderclouds loomed close, threatening to bucket down any minute with rain. Brahms loved rain. It was like a friend to him, tapping him lightly to sleep, whispering in his ear, washing away all the bad memories. Everything he’d been through. It took away the thoughts of all that had been lost or abandoned him, from Emily, to his parents, and eventually Greta.

Greta.

The name still got stuck in his throat whenever he tried to say it aloud. It bounced around the walls of his head whenever he still thought of her, haunting the caverns of his mind. He wanted to stop thinking about her, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind. It has become worse recently. He’d dream of her. The softness of her smile as she’d lie with him on his bed just enjoying each other's company. Her eyes that bright shade of blue, which reminded him of the lake he used to visit with Emily when they were children. This peace wouldn’t last. He’d eventually awaken alone, with the lingering smell of her shampoo.

Brahms hadn’t realized he’d been spacing out until the low but audible crunching of gravel as the sound of engine could be heard under the patterning of new rainfall, which would eventually turn into a violent downpour.

The very idea of anyone coming to this place was enough to make Brahms start from where he was standing. He caught onto the lack of noise from the kitchen, no running water or the sound of dishes being shifted around in the sink. He made his way quickly to the kitchen doorway and upon seeing her Y/N’s absence, rushed back to the window to look outside one last time. The car had pulled in not too far from the house's front steps leading up to the walkway which made its way to the entrance.

“Shit,” Andrew muttered under his breath as he leaned next to the driver's seat, watching as the large droplets of rain started to accumulate on the windshield.

Brahms felt a strange tinge of fear in his gut. Who were these people? What were they doing in front of his house?

_______________________________________________________________________

“It’s raining cats and dogs out there,” Tucker turned on the windshield wipers and took another drag of the third cigarette before tossing it out the window.

“We can’t shoot outside in this weather, it’ll mess with the equipment, and we didn’t bring anything to protect it from a storm."

"I know that damn it!" Andrew bit back before storming over to the camera packs again and rummaging around in them.

"I guess that means we came here for nothing," Greta mutters under her breath to Malcolm. Before he can respond Andrew wheels around towards them with one of those smiles on his face.

"Greta, Malcolm, it seems we have some obvious problems, but I think we can fix everything with a few minor adjustments."

"What kind of adjustments?" Malcolm asked.

"Oh, you know. It's just minor. Like maybe instead of shooting outside as planned we could move this party inside."

Greta shot up out of her seat, her rage and fear flaring equally.

"You've got to be kidding me! The only reason I agreed to do this at all was because we were doing it on the edge of the property." She turned to face Malcolm her eyes starting to well with tears. "Please , don't make me go back in there."

Malcolm rushed to his feet and embraced Greta, whispering “hey, hey, it’s alright. You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.”

“What about the money? You were so eager to do this so we could leave.”

“I know. You don’t have to go in. You can stay here, but maybe we can still find a way to do the interview.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Andrew's face had turned something akin to a plump colour during this conversation. His rage bubbling up slowly like a kettle on a stove. He placed himself to either side of Malcolm and Greta trying to keep his already ruffled composure.

“Think of the money. You said you needed it to settle your lease and get out of town. What about that?”

“Look, Mr. Bronse, I’ll do the interview in the mansion, just leave Greta out of it. She doesn’t have to go back in there.” Malcolm said levelly, trying to calm everyone down.

“What? That’s insane-“ Greta was cut off mid sentence by Andrew.

“We need Greta’s testimony, she’s the one who really witnessed something.”

“Just let me tell her story then. She’s told it to me a million times before. Just don’t force her to go in there.” Everyone paused for a beat after Malcolm protested this proposition. The cogs in Andrew's head seemed to be turning. Greta noticed, as she herself thought, Malcolm couldn’t possibly be doing this? Letting himself be used by this man, reliving this moment that was so painful for them both, lying about the details enough that it would fit with Andrew's narrative.

“I suppose that could work. Not enough people know the story about your experience in the Heelshire mansion to care whether it was a terrified woman who fled the place or some grocery delivery boy.” Andrew wheeled on his feet. That glint of determination and arrogance back in his eyes and barked for Sal and Tucker to go about lugging the equipment out of the car and prepare to do some less than legal things in order to get into the mansion.

All Greta could do was stand there in utter disbelief. She was not ready for this, and Malcolm shouldn’t be either. He shouldn’t want to go into the mansion, a place where so much pain was held for her and him both, but here he was, doing the unthinkable.

She took him by the hand and led him to the back of the RV in order to have as much privacy as you could possibly get in such an enclosed space.

“Malcolm, this is insane. You can’t just go in there.”

“It’s not like Brahms is still walking around. You said you killed him, he isn’t coming back. And we need the money if we’re ever gonna get out of here,” he said as he cupped her face.

“I love you Greta and I want to make you happy. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. But we need to get the hell out of that town.”

Andrew once again felt the need to butt in before Greta could even react, “We’ve set up a monitor for you to watch what we’ll be shooting so you’ll be in the loop the entire time.”

Malcolm gave her a kiss on the forehead, and gave her a long deep look in the eyes, something passing between them that spoken words couldn’t really describe. Then she let him go. She let him walk out the door of that RV and into the waning light of the Heelshire grounds.

____________________________________________________________________________

You heard something strange when you went out back to take care of the compost. At first you thought it was nothing, you hadn’t heard the gutteral sound of an engine in so long, it didn’t feel real. But once the sound died down, you started to really worry, and it nagged you like crazy. Before you knew it, you were creeping around the front, spotting a large RV out front in the driveway. The very idea that anyone would be out here was shocking to you. What were they doing here? Why were they here? But most importantly, what would you have to do to keep you and Brahms safe?

You rushed as quickly as possible to the back of the house and through the kitchen. Brahms wasn’t in the kitchen, the dining room, or anywhere else downstairs. By the time you’d made your way back into the front hall, someone was forcing something into the lock of the front door. You backed away from the shaking of the lock and knob into the wall. From behind you felt the false wall give way and strong arms pulling you into the darkness of the walls, just as the front door began to open. You watched from inside the darkness as Brahms hushed you silent and positioned you to look through a peephole at the intruders.

The first person you noticed was the man who had worked on breaking the lock to the door, a big hulking man who had a mean face and an even meaner build. He was carrying with him as he entered the house, several large bags, one of them long and thin, another large and blocky, and two slightly smaller bags. He was followed by a scruffy man with a baseball cap and a cigarette between his lips, the stench of stale smoke and B.O. with him. The last two inside were a clean-cut man in business casual and a rather plain looking man in a thick navy-blue sweater.

At the sight of the last man you felt Brahms make a barely audible hiss, something he only really did when his rage was starting to flare up. You couldn’t see his face in the darkness of the wall, but you felt him shift away from you, he was leaving you where you stood and the thought of what he might do slightly frightened you. However, the idea of what these people could do to him while he was injured frightened you more.

Frozen like a statue, was what you felt like as these strangers unloaded what appeared to be camera and sound equipment from their bags. The tall burly man put together the boom mic and sound recorder while the other men checked battery packs and set up a very professional looking camera. Something that reminded you of those which news reporters use. You didn’t know what to do, or what the hell was even happening, just that whatever it was made Brahms angry enough that he had disappeared into the depths of the walls.

____________________________________________________________________________

“Okay, Malcolm we just want you to stand at the edge of the staircase so we can get some of the back hallway and the upper floor in the shot. We really want to emphasize how large this place actually is.” the well-dressed man said in a commanding manner while directing the man in the sweater, now identified as Malcolm, to where he should be standing.

Once he was situated not too far from where you were standing behind the false wall, the other men got in position. The tall one hovering the boom mic just out of shot, the scruffy one behind the camera, and the well-dressed one standing out of shot with his phone out reading off what seemed to be notes for whatever they were doing.

“So, Malcolm, I want you to look at me and ignore the camera. Pretend like it's not even there. Looking directly into the camera looks corny and unprofessional and we’re all professionals here. So let's keep it that way. Any time you're ready, we’re ready to start.” Malcolm gave an affirming nod before agreeing to start.

“Sound ready,” the business casual guy called out to the tall man.

“Ready,” he replied in a deep baritone.

“Camera rolling,” the scruffy man gave him the thumbs up.

“Alright, action. Now Malcolm, please tell us what your relationship is to the Heelshire mansion?”

“I suppose it really all started when I came to work for the Heelshire’s. They were a pretty nice old couple. A little bit eccentric, but I guess you’d have to be living in a house like this,” Malcolm waved his hands around to emphasize the extravagance that was the statuettes and expensive gothic furniture which made up the mansion's interior.

“They had a child named Brahms. He was a strange boy. Passed away pretty young, and the parents never really got over it. It led them to imprint his personality onto this old doll, made to look just like him. They used to have nannies come and watch the doll when they’d leave town for a little while. Eventually they’d all leave though, in a hurry. One of them when asked said it was because the doll had chased them off. As if some presence in it didn’t want them there.” He took a moment to pause before coming to the part where he would really have to lie.

“I used to work as the Heelshire’s grocery delivery person, but when they were unable to find another nanny, they begged me to stay with Brahms. They offered a pretty good amount of money for taking care of the doll and a set of rules. The rules seemed strange. As I started to stay there longer, strange things started happening. Clothes of mine started going missing, things were moved around without me remembering moving them. Eventually things came to a head when I had a friend of mine over. We broke the crucial rule of ‘no guests,” and all hell broke loose.” After Malcolm stated this a loud crashing sound interrupted the rest of his tale. It sounded like something very heavy and shook the ceiling above them.

“What in the bloody fuck was that,” Tucker spat out lowering the camera. Malcolm’s eyes grew wide like saucers. All he could think was that there was no way it could be Brahms.

The loud bang was followed by more loud thumps echoing throughout the house. They felt like they were coming from everywhere, rattling the pictures on the walls, causing everyone to freak a little.

Once the noise settled Andrew turned to address Tucker and Sal.

“Did you catch all of that?”

“I didn’t press stop on the camera, but it was lowered for most of it, probably didn’t catch a bloody thing.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Well we were a little busy shitting bricks over here. What the hell was that,” Tucker fully lowered the camera.

“Well whatever it is, it’ll make for great television. We should go check it out.” Andrew said, that greedy grin spreading, catlike across his face.

“No, we need to leave is what we need to do,” Malcolm finally spoke, rushing over to the front door, only for Andrew to stop him.

“We haven’t even finished the interview, we need another take.”

“Screw the interview. I’m not messing with what’s in this house and you shouldn’t either.”

“I’m with the scrawny yank on this one boss.” Andrew gave out a sharp exasperated sigh and turned, walking into the a-joining lounge.

“Did everyone here forget who’s paying all of you? Because last time I checked money didn’t just magically appear when you need it.” As he continued to rant the other watched as he situated himself with his back facing a large portrait of the Heelshire’s with their son. The son Malcolm knew, was not quite as dead as he and Greta had thought. Sal had been the only one to move farther into the house after Andrew, keeping himself between Tucker and the smug man.

“Listen, you little fuck, I don’t care if you pay me fuck all. I’m doing this little gig as a favor and the paycheck comes second.” He spat out.

“I’m pretty sure the guy you're paying rent to could say otherwise. Last time I heard you were a couple thousand in debt.” At this statement Tucker lunged at Andrew, Sal holding back the tiny enraged man who was ready to pummel Andrew into the ground.

That’s when everything went from being chaotic to absolute insanity. The portrait behind Andrew shifted, and the blur of a tall lanky figure shot out, grabbing him violently from behind and digging a sharp piece of metal into his socket.

He didn’t really react at first, and for a beat everyone just froze and stared. Then Andrew let out a high pitched shriek as Brahms pulled the metal from his eye and slashed at his face, leaving a gaping hole in his cheek where you could see right through to the bone of his jaw and the teeth. Andrew bucked wildly with the weight of the man on his back.

Sal was the first to react, rushing to Andrew and grabbing at Brahms. Tucker stood there mouth agape, the rage from before drained from his face. Sal dug his fingers into Brahms ribs as he fought to get the man off, causing him to let out a small yelp followed by a low his of pain.

Andrew was able to shake him off, both men falling to the floor in a heap. Brahms quickly recovered with Sal rounding on him, and Andrew cradling his injured face shrieking about his eye.

Malcolm grabbed a statuette that had been one of the side tables in the lounge and went to meet Sal.

“What the hell is that guy wearing on his face?” Tucker yelled as he tentatively followed the others' lead.

Brahms scanned the faces of the intruders before landing his fearsome gaze squarely on Malcolm. Malcolm knew what lay behind those eyes, the animosity and the rage that clearly had not worn off in the three years since Greta and him had escaped Brahms' clutches.

Malcolm matches his glare, staring hard back at the masked man, challenging him to try something. He couldn’t take all of them at once, not on his own.

However, it turned out he wouldn’t have to. A huge bang echoed through the room, shell-shocking both Tucker and Malcolm. Sal however, was worse off then just shell-shocked. His shirt bloomed bright crimson as a hole in his back leaked the fluid, and he came crashing forward to the floor, dead.

Malcolm had only a split second to react as he looked over his shoulder to see the figure of a Y/N standing with a buckshot gun in hand. Malcolm dives behind one of the lounge couches as Tucker made for a door into another room in the house.

He didn’t make it far before another shot rang out, taking out a portion of his shoulder, sending him careening into the door, falling to the ground.

Brahms was on his feet again looking just as rabid and wild as he did the night Greta and Malcolm had left. The person with him walked over and joined him with the gun still pointed squarely at Tucker who was howling injured on the ground.

When it looked like the person with Brahms was about to shoot again, Malcolm threw the statuette, hitting her square across the face. This really set off Brahms who rushed Malcolm and attempted to tackle him over the sofa.

The woman’s face had been bloodied by the statuette, but not bad enough that they were terribly injured. In the ensuing struggle between Brahms and Malcolm they aimed their weapon, preparing to get a good shot. Ready to take Malcolm out for good.

____________________________________________________________________________

Greta had seen the last of the commotion on the monitor, the sound of thumps coming audible through the speakers, sending her heart racing. Not Brahms, anyone but him. Anyone but the man who had violated her safety and her privacy many times over in the weeks she spent in that house. Now, Malcolm was in there with him and so was everyone else.

She got up quickly and ran out of the RV into the downpour of rain. Lighting forked through the sky and thunder boomed overhead, as Greta was buffeted by wind and sheets of rain beating against her skin, whipping her hair around her face.

All that repeated in Greta’s head was, please let Malcolm be okay, please let him be alive. Greta reached the door finally and tried the knob, violently turning it back and forth.

“Fuck, fuck,” the door wouldn’t budge. Was it locked? That didn’t make sense considering the tools she’d seen the men with earlier, forcing the door open, while she watched out the front windshield of the RV. The sound of a loud bang echoed from somewhere inside the house, and this spurred Greta on enough to kick and throw her body against the door desperately. The cycle of neverending panic rushed through her with each impact she made on the front door, until it finally gave in and she was sent sprawling onto the front hall carpet.

She landed heavily on her front knee, getting severe carpet burn in the process. Greta tried her best to recover on time to hear another loud shot. As quickly as she could, she rushed to the edge of the lounge and saw the scene laid out before her. Brahms wrestling Malcolm, Andrew passed out on the floor from blood loss, a nasty bloody hole where he should be, Tucker with a meaty mess of a shoulder screaming to high heaven, and a woman levelling a buckshot gun at the two fighting men.

Greta had a split second to react, as the woman cocked the gun and prepared to shoot. She rushed her and slammed her body heavily into her, sending them both careening to the floor. The two women wrestled on the floor with the gun. Greta could see in this person's eyes a ferocity that even rivalled that of Brahms. Who the hell was she? On the other hand, who the hell cares, when you're fighting for your life, things like this fall to the wayside in importance.

The woman slammed her elbow into Greta’s head making her see stars, causing her to bite down on her tongue so hard that the metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth. This didn’t deter her from fighting back, striking the woman with the but of her gun in the jaw, knocking out teeth in the process. Greta was able to get the upper hand and used the stock of the gun to choke the woman, pressing it into her throat, looking her in the eyes as she did.

Something in those eyes almost made her hesitate in her assault. There was something vulnerable there. A thing that reminded Greta of her own suffering, her own pain and trauma reflected back like a mirror. As the woman grew weaker with the lack of oxygen, Greta made a decision which she didn’t think would ever cross her mind. She pulled the gun away from the half conscious woman, and pointed at the two fighting men.

“BRAHMS!”

____________________________________________________________________________

Brahms' focus was broken by the sound of Greta’s voice. The woman who had abandoned him, she’d come back. This second of broken focus allowed Malcolm to land a punch to Brahms face, sending the mask on his face flying off, shattering it against a wall.

“Hey! Hey! Stop please,” Greta called out, making both men stop and focus their entire attention on her. Brahms could see her eyes flooding with tears, something behind them hurt his heart somewhere deep and intimate.

“Please, this is enough. No more.” She choked out.

“I just want to go home, please let us go home Brahms. We didn’t want to come back.” The words both angered him and made him feel something else. A sense of sadness, loss, and at the same time relief. Was that strange? Seeing her again, hearing her say something like this one more time really made it real.

“Go.” Even if it pained him to say it. He walked over to Y/N, and scooped her into his arms as she clung to him with a weak grip.

“Leave us.”

Greta backed away, gun still trained on him as she helped Tucker to his feet with Malcolm supporting most of his weight. Brahms didn’t want to watch them go. They didn’t really matter anymore. The only person who mattered was Y/N, she would never leave him. Not ever again.

[fernweh-writes]

I love everything you write 😭😭💕 can you do Stu dating headcanons? I need more Stu content on slasher Tumblr 😩

Anything for you hun. I agree, there is simply not enough Stu content which hurts my heart. He is one of my favorites and he truly deserves more content. Guess I’m going to have to write the Stu content we all long for lol. I’m glad you enjoy my writing and hope you enjoy these headcanons!

-Fern🌿

Dating Stu Would Include:

This man would probably go overboard with bringing you flowers. He has the money to afford plenty of fancy floral arrangements and all it takes is you mentioning that you love when he brings you flowers. Pretty soon you’ll be getting flowers just about every time you see him. Definitely knows all of your favorite flowers and favorite colors of said flowers. Would also be the one to learn flower meanings just to be extra romantic and cheesy about the whole thing.

Speaking of cheesy, he has a secret soft spot for romcoms. He thinks they’re corny and dumb and that’s exactly why he likes them so much. Please don’t tell Billy that Stu enjoys movies that aren’t horror he will never be able to live it down. If Billy catches the two of you watching one Stu will 100% throw you under the bus. Billy can just call him a simp for watching a movie that you definitely picked out. “Sorry babe, I’ve got a reputation to keep up here.”

Would definitely keep you away from the whole killing thing, and does a pretty good job of it! That is until he comes home covered in blood one night and you just HAD to be grabbing a midnight snack from the kitchen. However, this man is. Not above eating on his knees and (dramatically) begging you to stay if you get super freaked out. Will tell you anything you want to know if it means you’ll stay.

Don’t think just because Stu promised not to kill the people you care about means he won’t kill anyone you know. Hopefully finding people you told Stu about being mean to you or annoying you showing up on the news completely gutted doesn’t freak you out either.

Dinner dates are a big thing for him. He loves to show you off and get a chance to spoil you. Besides, he gets to see you all dolled up just for him which gives him a major ego boost but also makes him feel more possessive over you.

If you ever complain about not having anything to wear you better prepare yourself for a major shopping spree. He’ll pick out things he thinks will look good on you and make you try them all on. He wants a whole fashion show in the fitting room. “Come on babe, give me a twirl.” He wants to see your outfits from every angle. Don’t worry though, Stu will carry the excessive amount of bags for you. He works out for a reason after all.

He’s a total dork but he’s YOUR dork. Stu is loud and extravagant in every sense of the word and isn’t afraid of being the center of attention. He doesn’t care about people giving him annoyed looks or glares, in fact he’s probably completely oblivious to it. This means you somehow become the center of attention…but by association?

Stu does love hosting huge parties as well but won’t push you to attend them if you’re shy or anxious. He’s more than okay with you just hanging out in your shared bedroom. You won’t even have to leave and face the crowd since he’ll be bringing you snacks and drinks as an excuse to come visit you and cuddle for short intervals. Expect a few make out sessions as well. After all, if he’s going to go all the way upstairs to see you he’s going to make it worth the while.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t put up with others making jokes about the two of you. Comments about him being gone for to long and coming back with messed up hair simply aren’t tolerated by him. Any kind of locker room talk regarding you can quickly result in said person being decked by yours truly. Only he is allowed to even think of you in that way. Any girls telling him that they could treat him better than you ever could are also quickly disposed of. You’re his and he’s yours end of story.

Is really good at comforting you, like surprisingly good at it. Stu usually seems like he couldn’t be serious if his life depended on it but he’s actually a very attentive and active listener. He doesn’t like to see you upset but understands that you can’t always be happy. If you just need to sit in silence for awhile he’s there to hold you. If you need some alone time he’s more than okay with that and he’ll go annoy Billy. Need to rant? You can call or text him anytime and he’ll be just as outraged/upset as you are. If you need cheering up he’ll show up with plenty of drinks, snacks, gifts, and of course cuddles.

[agent-whiskeys-sweetheart]

Meant To Be (iii)

Pairing: Hotch x F!Reader

Summary: After meeting Garcia you make quick work of helping with the case, desperate to prove yourself to Hotch. Once the two of you help the team wrap everything up it’s time for them to return home. Which also means it’s time for you and Hotch to talk. One on one.

Warnings: Nothing in this chapter.

Word Count: 5,288

A/N: I wanna say I’m super happy you guys are enjoying this series cause honestly I’m having a lot of fun writing it! I love you all dearly. (If you’re just now finding this series, that’s perfectly alright! I’m glad you’re here! Feel free to catch up and enjoy the rest of the story. Here’s a link to Part 1 and Part 2 of Meant To Be.)

The elevator ride to the bottom floor of the building was quick, allowing you to make your way to Garcia’s office in a matter of minutes. There was a plaque up next to the door, indicating that you were in the right place. Taking a moment to steady yourself you exhale before knocking on the door. A voice on the other side tells you to come in so you do. Around you are dozens of impressive looking monitors, all of which are doing something different. On top of the long L-shaped desk there were several small trinkets and toys, bringing a sort of life into the dark room. The woman sitting in front of you spins around in her chair to look at you, a quick flash of confusion on her face. She looks extremely kind and everything about her appearance makes you want to smile. 

“Hello. My name is Y/N L/N. Are you Penelope Garcia?” 

“Yes, I am. What can I do for you?” Once you’re sure you’re in the right place you step forward to shake her hand. She stands so that you are both on the same level now, shifting awkwardly. 

“Sorry to barge in like this. Everything has gone pretty fast this morning. I’m a new agent for the BAU. Today is my first day. The rest of the team just left on a case and SSA Hotchner asked me to stay behind and help from here.” Her face lights up with a bright smile.

“Oh, that’s awesome! It’s really nice to meet you! Please come in, sit down. Make yourself comfortable.” With this, she pulls another chair up to the desk and then sits back down in her own. “I didn’t actually know we had any new agents joining us. That being said, welcome! I’m almost always here by myself so the company will be nice. You and I can get to know each other.” You nod with a smile, watching her as she continues what she was doing. There are several different tabs open across the screens with loads of information that she seems to be compiling. When she sees your incredulous face she laughs.

“I know, it’s a lot. I’m just trying to get as much preliminary information as I can to send to the team. That’s what you’ll be helping me with. We collect research, data, important records. Anything they need to find out, we provide. Kind of cool, right?” Remaining silent, you nod. Upon seeing this, Garcia stops typing for a moment. “I know it may not seem as exciting as field work but it’s still very important. Don’t worry, I’ll make it fun. I promise you won’t be bored.” Patting your knee, she continues typing and you watch carefully now. This is where you will be until the case is over so you intend to make the absolute best of it. Everyone on the team has their own special skills and now is the time to learn from Garcia. 

“So what exactly are you looking for right now?” 

“I am compiling a list of the victim’s friends and family, plus witnesses from the robberies who might be able to give us any information. This will give the others a clear list of where to go first. I’m also seeing what I can find about the people who were at the banks on the days of the robberies in case there’s anything useful they need to know. Financial troubles, criminal records, anything to possibly link the witnesses to one another.” Scooting your chair forward so you can see better, you lean an elbow on the desk. 

“What can I help with?” You ask hopefully. 

“Oh, I think that was the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t even count on one hand how many times I’ve had someone down here and all they do is sit and look over my shoulder. Sorry, rambling. I can get you logged into a monitor here and it looks like the next thing on my list was looking into the victim’s workplace. Sound good?” 

“Yes, absolutely.” She moves over quickly and gets a separate monitor opened so you can begin researching. 

“We’ll probably do what research we can in the next twenty to thirty minutes and then we’ll call the team to tell them what we’ve found out.” With that, you make quick work of doing everything you can in the time you have. Even if it is the last thing you ever do, you will prove to Aaron Hotchner just how valuable a team member you are. 

++++++++++

The jet takes off fairly soon once the team is onboard. They all stow their go-bags and begin settling in for the flight. It is going to be a longer one today so they are all preparing themselves for the journey. Aaron finds a seat near a far window where he sets the case file down in front of himself and begins reading. His mind is swimming with thoughts and he will do anything to quiet them. The scene plays out over and over in his head, the memory still painfully fresh. Why had he said those things? He was unnecessarily harsh and he is fully aware of this. Now the first memory you’ll have of starting your dream job will be your new boss treating you appallingly. What had even compelled him to speak to you that way? Seeing you had overwhelmed him. The way you looked when you came into his office for the first time. The way your hair framed your face, the light hopefulness in your eyes, the way you captivated him with your movements. Standing there, just feet away from him, you had looked just as beautiful as the first day he met you. God, why did he lie like that? How could he have said he didn’t recognize you when you had stayed in his thoughts more times than he would like to admit over the past year? All the emotions he felt at the mere thought of you made him nauseous and he had no way of understanding them. As badly as he felt for it, he knew that for the time being it would be best to let you work from the BAU headquarters. 

“Hotch, are you okay?” JJ’s voice brings him quickly back to reality. The fact that she could see how deeply in thought he was makes him feel an odd sense of shame and he straightens in his seat. 

“Of course, I’m fine.” With this, she goes back to her own seat. With a huff of exhaustion, Hotch continues reading. The cabin is silent for a time as the other team members sit reading their case files. 

“So,” Morgan’s voice breaks the quiet. “What do we think of Y/N?” The mention of your name causes Hotch to perk up against his will. 

“Well, I like her.” Emily is the first to chime in. “I know you guys all got to meet her before me but there’s just something about her. An inherent sweetness. I’m really excited to work with her.” 

“Me, too,” JJ says next. “I thought she was kind and open. In this job, that kind of personality is hard to find. I just hope the things she sees doesn’t cause her to lose that. The world needs more kind people, not less. She seems tough though. I think she can handle it.” 

“I totally agree,” Morgan adds, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed. “She’s got a little bit of fierceness in her but I like that. You’ve gotta be tough to do this job but she’s also sweet. That’s important too. Plus, that kid’s got the cutest smile. Kind of reminds me of my sisters.” At the mention of your smile, Hotch closes his eyes briefly trying to picture that smile directed at him. He quickly catches himself and looks back down at the file. 

“Well, I can’t say I know her that well yet but she seems intelligent. She certainly has eagerness to learn. I think that will help her be successful. It’s very ... refreshing.” Spencer says with a small smile.

“I agree. Right off the bat she’s got a very likable energy,” Rossi begins letting himself trail off for a moment. “Although, I have to say there is something about her that is so familiar. I can’t quite place how I might know her though. Her name too, I recognize it. For a second I thought she recognized me too but I can’t be sure.” The rest of the team watches him for a moment as he tries to recollect how he knows you but he quickly comes up blank. “I’m sure I’ll think of it eventually. Nevertheless she seems like a good kid. I’m excited to see her at work. Just a shame we’ll all have to wait.” 

Hearing this Aaron shifts in his seat, knowing that the comment is directed at him since he was the one that made you stay behind. He is suddenly very aware of the other team members looking at him. 

“Yeah, Hotch. Why isn’t she here? I thought for sure you’d wanna see what she can do.” Derek locks eyes with Aaron, causing him to debate how to answer the question. All his life Hotch has worked to control his feelings and the way that they manifest so his face remains expressionless as he thinks for a short second.

“I think that for right now her time would be better spent helping Garcia and getting used to her new environment. I agree that she does seem very intelligent and more than capable. I would just like to speak with her one on one first before thrusting her into the high intensity atmosphere that comes with our line of work.” However, this answer doesn’t seem to satisfy Morgan’s curiosity. 

“She told me when she came out of your office that you said you didn’t remember her. Is that true?” This continued line of questioning makes his blood begin to boil. Aaron Hotchner of all people knows that lies are what cause the foundations of trust to crumble. If he can’t be honest with himself, how can he expect to be honest with his team? And yet, he finds himself unable to expose his own misdeed. 

“Yes, that is correct. We’ve had a lot of cases come and go in the last few years and no one should be expected to remember every interaction they have in that length of time. According to her it was only one day and it was a long time ago at that. I apologized to her and she understood. That is the end of it.” 

“Look, I’m not passing judgement Hotch. I’m just saying I can understand why she was so hurt,” Hearing this causes his heart to clench. “She looks up to you. She didn’t even have to tell me that, I could just see it. You mentored her in a time that was very uncertain, when she had a lot to prove. She still has a lot to prove and I’m sure she thought that you would have her back and the first thing you tell her is that you don’t even remember who she is? I get it man, you’re under a lot of stress right now but she’s a part of your team. I just thought you of all people would be a little more sensitive than that.” 

His words cut right through Aaron’s heart like a knife but before he has a chance to say anything the laptop screen in the center of the cabin lights up, revealing you and Garcia. Glad for a break from the tension the rest of the team members look toward the screen. With one last glance at Morgan, Hotch leans towards him. “We will discuss this later.” His voice is firm and dangerous but he pulls away to look at the laptop. “What did you find?” He directs at the two of you.

Seeing him causes you to straighten in your seat as you ready yourself to put on your most professional face. Garcia begins telling everyone what she was able to find out about the victim. She has significantly more information than you do but once she’s done she allows you to share what you found. The victim worked at a local grocery store but he had been previously employed at the bank where the robbery took place. The team begin building a rough profile based on the information. You listen closely to their analysis of the unsubs, making mental notes on what you might add to the profile. Before you have a chance to add anything, Hotch thanks the two of you for your work and hangs up. For a moment, you could swear you saw a hint of sadness when he looked at you but you were sure it was just a glitch on the screen. 

“Sorry sweetpea. I could totally tell you wanted to add something. They can be pretty abrupt like that sometimes.” You simply give a small shrug. “Well, why don’t you tell me what it was? It’ll give you a little practice for building profiles.” She scoots to the edge of her chair, looking at you intently to which you give a small laugh.

“Well, as we know all of the unsubs are large burly men. The five of them could easily subdue the few weaker people that were present at each of the robberies and yet they chose to bring guns. I believe this shows that they feel a certain sense of inadequacy in their everyday lives. Despite their masculine appearance I would suspect they all have mediocre jobs where they are looked down upon or treated poorly. It’s possible that they all work at the same place but I would imagine they probably met somewhere else. Maybe a support group of some sort. The use of weapons gives them a sense of power over the victims that helps them live out their mass fantasy. The victim of the last crime scene was shot in the head which indicates some personal relationship between him and the unsub who pulled the trigger. That could be a good place to start.” 

“Well, it definitely makes sense to me. Maybe we can start looking in to possible support groups for these type of men. Oh, and anyone that might possibly have had reason to kill our victim.” Garcia immediately begins typing and you scoot closer to her side. 

“Shouldn’t we wait for the order from Hotch?” She laughs at this. 

“Trust me, sweetheart. At the end of the day he’s gonna thank us for the head start. One thing to know about the boss man. He likes to see initiative but he also wants you to follow his exact orders. It’s a fine balance but once you figure out how to work the line, he’s gonna love you for it.” The thought of Hotch loving you for anything at all in the world makes your heart flutter. Almost instantly you stop that train of thought and berate yourself for even entertaining it. 

“Well, I guess we better get started then.” The rest of the day goes smoothly. You and Garcia coordinate everything beautifully, finding a good amount of information that you save to send to Hotch at the most convenient time. The day seems to be over almost as quickly as it began and you thank Garcia before heading out to your car. The drive home seems to be much more monotonous than before. It seems like you’re back inside your apartment and stretched out on the couch before you can hardly blink. Rolling over, you reach for your phone which you had thrown on the coffee table. With a groan, you begin dialing your sister’s number. As much as today sucked there was no one in the world you’d rather vent to than your sister. 

“Well hey there babe. I’ve been patiently awaiting your call. Give me just a minute to get sat down. I want to hear every last detail.” There are sounds of shuffling on the other side of the phone as she finds a seat. “Okay, I’m all good. Now, tell me about your first day at the BAU! Was it everything you dreamed it would be?” 

“Yeah, not exactly,” You laugh. “It was kind of rough to be honest.” There is a moment of silence as you think how to begin.

“Okay. Start at the beginning, walk me through it.” 

“Alright. Well, I got inside and I was honestly just in awe of being there, just getting to stand in that room. It felt like I was invincible. Derek Morgan was the first one to talk to me. He was just as charming as I remembered. Anyway, he introduced me to the rest of the team and we got to talk for a bit which was really nice, you know? From the get go I really felt like part of the team.” 

“Now you know I hate to interrupt but all of this sounds great!” 

“Yeah, well, that was the best part of the day and it didn’t last very long. After I met everyone I went up to Aaron Hotchner’s office to give him my paperwork. I’m sure you know by now that I was pretty excited to see him again, right? Well, when I told him how excited I was to be working with him again he told me that he didn’t actually know who I was. He completely forgot about me. I mean, I guess I get it. It’s been a year and a half and he meets a lot of people. Why would he remember me specifically?”

“Y/N, don’t invalidate your own feelings. What he said upset you and it’s okay to be hurt. That would have hurt my feelings too. You’re a really great person and he sucks for not thinking about you ever since he met you.” Hearing this, you can’t help but laugh a bit. Her ability to defend you no matter what always cheers you up. 

“Thank you. I appreciate that. I just wish he thought the same. Anyway, I gave him my paperwork so I could travel with the team. They got a case this morning and I was planning to go with them but for some reason Hotch made me stay behind even though I am cleared to be in the field. It just really bummed me out because I was super ready to get out there and start working but I got benched for my very first case. He had me stay with this girl named Garcia, she’s the team’s technical analyst. I mean, she’s really sweet and we worked super well together but I just wish I could have been out there doing the things that I spent seven years of my life training for.” 

“I am so sorry. That sucks. I know how excited you were. Look at the bright side, this is only your first case. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to get out there and prove yourself. It’s all gonna work out.” Unable to keep from smiling, you roll over on your side. 

“Thanks. I really hope you’re right.” Sensing the fact that you’re still upset she decides to help by changing the subject. 

“So, who all did you meet today? I know you already knew a few of the team members but was there anybody new?” 

“Yeah, Elle and Gideon are no longer there. I’m really sad I missed getting to work with them but the people I met seem really amazing. The first girl I met was named Emily Prentiss. She was really nice. The other was a guy named David Rossi.” When you finish your sentence there is nothing but silence on the other end of the phone. You wait a minute for your sister’s response but there is nothing. Before you can ask what’s wrong she chimes in again. 

“Did you say David Rossi?” There is a tone in her voice that you don’t recognize and it causes concern to stir in your stomach. 

“Yeah, why? What’s up?” There is another moment of silence. 

“It’s -- it’s nothing. I shouldn’t bring it up. You’ve already had a rough day.” As if she can sense your anxiety she continues. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I promise I’ll tell you later, okay? I just don’t think we should talk about it right now, that’s all.” As much as you want to pry you can tell that no matter how much you ask, you’re not getting the answer out of her. With a sense of unease you agree and try changing the conversation again. Once you’ve changed the topic to something other than work you can feel her ease again and the two of you talk for nearly 45 minutes. After a while you decide to call it a night and shortly afterwards you find yourself in bed. You hadn’t even realized how exhausted you were until your head hit the pillow. Your sleep is dreamless which you decide in the morning is probably a good thing. 

++++++++++

The remainder of the case is spent hunkered down in Garcia’s office either doing frantic research or simply getting to know one another. In just a short while the two of you become very fast friends. You realize quickly that you share a lot of common interests and all of your conversations are endlessly fascinating. It also doesn’t take you very long to realize that you actually enjoy the work that you do with her. There is quite a bit of skill required to dig as deeply and accurately as the two of you do. It is a race against the clock to find everything you need in order to help the team and there is a certain level of excitement that comes with that. Of course you still wish you were out in the field but in the end you learn a lot and make a good friend along the way. The case ends rather succinctly with all five unsubs found and arrested with no more casualties along the way. It’s a good feeling, knowing that you helped to catch the bad guys and no one had to die for you to do so. The day the team is set to return you and Garcia head out for coffee before they show up, figuring that you deserve a little treat after all of your hard work. You make light conversation as you make your way back into the building just in time for the team to arrive. You watch them each make their way to their desks, setting down their bags and taking a moment to rest. Of course the last one to walk in is Hotch who heads straight up to his office, shutting the door behind him. 

When you feel like it’s an appropriate time you make your way over to Morgan’s desk. Upon seeing you his lips crack into a wide smile. 

“Well hey sweetheart! I have to say, you did awesome work on this case.” As he says this, he extends his hand for a high five which you quickly grant him. “I know it wasn’t easy having to sit out but you did great. I’m proud of you.” It takes everything in you not to blush. 

“Thanks. I learned a lot and I made a good friend along the way.”

“Yeah, Garcia’s pretty great isn’t she?” He says with a knowing smile.

“She definitely is. She talks about you a lot, you know.” 

“Oh, I know. Baby girl just can’t stop thinking about me. Not that I blame her, of course.” At this you lightly punch his arm. 

“You are both such teases.” This makes Morgan laugh. 

“We gotta keep things interesting.” He leans forward as though he’s about to start his paperwork but he quickly leans back to look at you. “Hey, now that I’m back we gotta go out for drinks tonight. Everyone else is already game so long as you are.” 

“Yeah, I’d like that.” You confirm with a grin.

“Great. You know, I’d say I’m buying but I kind of feel like you owe me.” Your brow furrows in confusion.

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Well, I was trying to get some answers for you so I asked Hotch why he wouldn’t let you on the case and he royally chewed me out for it. In his defense I probably shouldn’t have asked in front of the rest of the team but that decision still just doesn’t sit right with me.” Morgan’s words mingle in your head. It doesn’t sit right with you either but it isn’t really your place to question your boss’ orders. 

“I’m sorry he got upset with you. I do appreciate you defending me though. You’re my knight in shining denim.”

“Anytime kid. I’m happy to help.” Getting to talk to Morgan has almost instantly lifted your spirits. However, it doesn’t take long for your heart to drop into your stomach. 

“Agent L/N. May I speak to you in my office please?” You hadn’t even noticed that Hotch had come out of his office until his voice drew your attention to him. With a quick look at Morgan, who gives you a reassuring glance, you push yourself off his desk and make your way over to where Hotch is standing. Once you’re at his side he extends a hand, allowing you to step inside first. He follows quickly, shutting the door behind him. “Please, have a seat.” He says, gesturing towards a leather couch on the far wall. As you begin to sit on one end he takes up residence on the other, his knee just inches away from yours. Once you’re both settled he focuses all of his attention on you. He doesn’t seem angry but you aren’t holding your breath. It’s best to just stay professional and speak with him earnestly. 

“I’m glad to see you all back safely sir.” You begin. After the stress of the case, you want to make sure he knows that as hurt as you were by his previous decision you harbor no ill will towards him. 

“Thank you. It’s not very often that cases end as well as this one did. You understand that, don’t you? This was a special circumstance.” 

“Yes, I realize that. I’m just grateful that it did end happily even if it was just this once.” There is an intensity in the way he watches you.

“Good. I just want to make sure you fully know what to expect.” 

“I do sir. I did the day that I applied for school. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.” Staying silent for a moment he nods as if in thought. 

“I know before I left I said we would be able to talk. I’d like to learn a little bit more about you and from there I’ll be able to evaluate your abilities before taking you into the field. I know it wasn’t the decision you were hoping for but I hope you understand it nonetheless.”

“Of course. It’s not my place to question you and in the end I learned a lot from Garcia. Plus she was nice to work with.” 

“Good. I’m very glad to hear that you were able to make the most of the situation.” He stops for a moment, his gaze relaxing. “I wanted to tell you how well you did on this case. A challenge was presented to you and you handled it with grace. The information you provided was incredibly helpful and your suggestions were very well thought out. I was very impressed.” The softness in his eyes as he praises you leaves a fluttering sensation in your stomach. Throughout the entirety of the case you had been so hell bent on proving yourself to him and hearing him say that you had done well made every hour of hard work worth it. As much as your heart is singing you have to remind yourself to be calm. Even though he is being kind to you now, he had made his feelings known to you during your first meeting. There is no reason to read into things. Clearly he doesn’t feel what you feel. 

“Thank you sir. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed when I was left behind but I realized that I’m grateful to be here no matter what. I worked really hard to get here, to be doing this kind of work, and not everyone gets the chance to do what they’re truly meant to be doing. As heartbreaking as the outcome of this job usually is, I can’t imagine myself doing anything else.” With every word the two of you are locked into one another’s eyes. For a moment you can almost swear he is holding his breath. 

“I appreciate that sense of purpose. I will always support my team but it makes it easier with members who are invested.” 

“I am. Completely. I’m here. I know you haven’t gotten a real chance to see me work but please know that my heart is in this.” 

“That was never in question,” Hotch pauses, letting his eyes fall to his lap as he considers his next sentence. “I believe now that I made a rash decision in asking you to stay behind. I can see that you are mentally prepared to be in the field. I apologize for my harsh words. I of course can’t say anything for your physical performance yet but I won’t be able to evaluate the full extent of your abilities until I am able to watch you in the field. On the next case I would like you to join the rest of the team.” A breath of relief leaves your lips.

“Of course. I’m ready to get to work.”

“I know. You’ll have the chance soon enough. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns feel free to come speak with me.” 

“Thank you sir.” Hotch simply nods in response, beginning to stand. You follow his actions, gathering that he is done with the conversation. As you make your way to the door, feeling much lighter than when you came in, he stops you.

“Agent L/N,” The sound of his voice causes you to turn back. “I just wanted to say again that I’m sorry for not remembering you. I never meant to hurt you. It isn’t that you were forgettable. It’s just that a lot has happened in the last year.” This apology seems much more heartfelt than before and you try to hide a smile. 

“I forgive you, sir.” With that you take your leave, making your way right back to Morgan’s desk. The shift in your mood must be palpable because he looks up at you with a smile.

“That’s not the face of someone that just got yelled at by Hotch.” 

“No, no he didn’t yell at me. He was just telling me I did a good job and he cleared me to work in the field on the next case.” 

“Good for you, kid. I’m glad we’re finally gonna get a chance to see what you can really do,” Nodding you rest against the edge of his desk again. “Now, see? That wasn’t too bad was it?” Looking back towards Hotch’s office you can see him bent over his desk, filling out paperwork. Being able to watch him for a moment without fear of falling apart allows you to crack a small smile.

“No. I guess it wasn’t.” 

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[waitimcomingtoo]

In Case You Don’t Live Forever

~chapter five rewritten~

Pairing: Peter Parker x Venom!reader

Synopsis: you are Peters greatest love and Spider-Man’s greatest enemy

Series Masterlist

“Why are you in such a mood?” Ned asked his best friend as they walked to their college campus. Peter had been grumpy all morning and Ned was quick to notice. He usually showed up at Ned’s door exhausted but eager to share the adventures from the night before, but he seemed defeated today.

“I got my ass beat last night.” Peter grumbled as he shouldered his backpack.

“By who?” Ned wondered.

“I don’t even know.” Peter sighed. “I think it was some kind of alien.”

“What’d it look like?” Ned asked. It wasn’t uncommon for Ned to ask a million questions after being told something Spider-Man related. After all, he was the guy in the chair.

“Like nothing I’ve ever seen before.” Peter said swallowed and tried to push the previous night from his mind. He’d rather focus on this morning, and the moment he had shared with you. Peter felt such a strong connection to you, and he would’ve stayed on that rooftop all day if he could.

“Describe it to me.” Ned pleaded, tearing Peter from his thoughts.

“I don’t know. It was like eight feet tall, black, and bald. And it was super veiny.” Peter grimaced while Ned’s eyes widened.

“Oh my God. You fought Shaquille O’Neal?” Ned gasped.

“Keep your voice down. I did not fight Shaquille O’Neal.” Peter whispered harshly. Ned always seemed one step away from blowing Peters cover. Peter gave bashful smiles to the passing students who gave him weird looks upon hearing Ned’s words.

“Terry Crews?” Ned continued. Peter rolled his eyes at his best friend and starting walking to class.

“No. This is serious.” Peter said, his voice heavy with annoyance.

“I know it’s serious. You got beat up by The Rock.” Ned remarked. Peter fidgeted with the strings on his backpack, still bothered knowing he was beaten so easily by Venom.

“The Rock is Samoan, not black.” Peter corrected.

“I know. But I heard “bald” and I just automatically envisioned The Rock.” Ned defended.

“There’s another thing. It had this huge, gaping mouth with rows and rows of teeth. I keep thinking about it.” Peter shivered. “It came so close to me. And its tongue was super long. It was like a cracked out frog.”

“So a ninja turtle? You got beat up by a ninja turtle?” Ned gawked.

“It wasn’t a ninja turtle.” Peter snapped. “ It was black, remember?”

“So an emo ninja turtle.” Ned deadpanned.

“It kept saying “we”. “ Peter remembered.

“What do you mean?”

“There was only one of them, but they only referred to themself as “we” as if there were multiple of them.” Peter explained.

“Do you think there could be more? Like an alien army or something?” Ned asked incredulously. Peter hadn’t even thought about that.

“Maybe. I remember something else, it’s name was Venom.” Peter recalled. He distinctly remembered those words coming out of the creatures mouth.

“Venom?” Ned repeated, clearly finding it cool.

“Yeah. And I told it my name. I used my regular voice too.” Peter realized. He usually disguised his voice when speaking, but he had been so scared that he forgot to. It haunted him knowing the creature now knew who he was and he wondered if it knew both of his identities.

“Wow. This is so cool. Not cool for you, because you might die. But this is super cool for me.” Ned smiled as he envisioned what Venom might look like.

“Thanks, ned. Actually, wait.” Peter stopped in his tracks. “One more thing happened.”

“What?” Ned whispered as they approached their class.

“Venom was about to eat me but then it started talking to itself. It sounded maybe like it was having a conversation with someone? I’m not sure, I could only hear one side of it.” Peter explained. “It put me down, well it threw me down, and let me go. But before it left, it said something about a girl. I don’t really remember. I was too focused on catching my breath.”

“Catching your breath? Were you running?”

“No. It choked me.” Peter told him as he lightly touched his neck.

“Kinky.” Ned smirked as he took a seat next to Peter in their class.

“That’s gross.” Peter stifled a laugh. “Did I tell you about this morning with Y/N?”

“No. Tell me.” Ned said. He wasn’t disappointed in the change of topic. He was glad Peter had moved on on from Liz, finally. Peter recounted the discussion he had with you that morning, barely getting through it without blushing and laughing at certain parts.

“I really like her, Ned. More than I’ve ever liked anyone. She’s so amazing. I barely know her, but I can tell already. I want to know everything about her. I want to hear her full story. And most of all, I want to be a part of that story.” Peter declared but frowned suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” Ned asked.

“After our talk, we just kinda sat there staring at each other for a while.” Peter began. “She kinda leaned in, and I did too, but then this seagull flew by and scared us half to death. We laughed about it but the moment was gone.”

“So you almost kissed her?” Ned smiled. “Why is that upsetting you?”

“Because what if that was our chance and I blew it?” Peter feared. “What if that seagull was a sign from above that I was in way over my head? Like God was asking me who I was to think I could just kiss the most perfect girl in the world? She’s so cool, Ned. Way too cool for me. She’s already had a boyfriend and I’ve never even kissed anyone.”

“If it’s meant to happen, it will happen.” Ned assured him.

“Or, the same thing that happened with Liz will happen.” Peter argued. “I won’t tell her how I feel and then she’ll be gone forever.”

“Then don’t let that happen.” Ned reasoned. “Tell Y/N how you feel. Do it tonight, before you go on patrol. And if she doesn’t feel the same, then at least you’ll know. Isn’t it better to know?”

“When did you become such a love expert?” Peter teased as the professor walked into the room.

“Since I started dating Betty. She’s opened my eyes to what love really is.” Ned shrugged. “Tell her tonight. Then tell me how it goes. I’m here for you either way.”

Peter nodded and gave Ned a thankful smile before turning his attention to the professor.

On his walk home from campus, Peter spotted you walking down the sideways. Ned’s words of encouragement rang in his ears and he made a brash decision.

“Hey, Y/N, wait up!” Peter called after you, making you turn around.

“Hey Parker. How was kindergarten?” You teased him.

“Alright alright. Majoring in chemical engineering is hardly kindergarten. And I’m only one year younger than you.” Peter reminded you. “I don’t want you to have a heart attack on me, grandma.”

“Watch it, sonny.” You kept with the joke. “I’ll hit you with my purse and then say something mildly racist.”

“Just like my grandma.” Peter laughed in amusement. “We’re gross. And not funny.”

“We really are.” You scrunched your nose. “Couple of gross ass orphans.”

Peter laughed again, feeling comfortable enough with you to joke about a tragic situation.

“Look, Y/N, I really enjoyed our talk this morning. I really enjoyed all our talks so far actually. I guess I just like talking to you. ” Peter began. He looked nervous all the sudden, like he lost his stamina. You raised your eyebrows hopefully, as there were only so many ways this conversation could go.

“I like talking to you too, Peter.” You said honestly, hoping he’d continue. Hoping he’d ask that question. Your answer seemed to give Peter the confidence he needed to go on.

“Really? Um, that’s great cause I really like talking to you too. I already said that. Oh god. I’m crashing. I-“ he began to flail and you calmed him down by taking a few steps closer. You were almost touching at that point. He stopped talking immediately and looked at you with wide eyes.

“Is there someone you wanted to ask me, Peter?” You asked slowly as you looked at him through your eyelashes.

Damn. He was tall too.

“Yes, actually. I, um, will you…would you maybe want to-“

“Hiya kids!” A gravely voice came from the front stairs of your apartment, completely cutting Peter off. Peter looked up and angrily rolled his eyes.

“Don’t look now. It’s Henry.” Peter grumbled. Henry was the creepy neighbor with the foot fetish.

“Oh Dear God.” Peter said in a low voice.

“What?” You panicked when you saw Peters expression change.

“You’re wearing flip flops.” He pointed at your black painted toes and you felt the color drain from your face.

“Run!” He whispered harshly. You bolted into your apartment and Peter ran into his. Once inside, Peter blew out an angry breath. He had been interrupted twice in one day when trying to talk to you, and he worried that it was a sign.

Back at the apartment, you sat on your bed with headphones in. You were prepping for your interview with Cletus Kasady by writing down some questions you wanted to ask him. It was hard figuring out what to ask a serial killer. You looked at your notepad and sighed. All you had written down was “but why tho?” in sloppy handwriting. You tore out the page, crumbled it up, and threw it at the trash can. When you went to write something else down, you noticed the paper ball still stuck to your hand. You shook your hand but it still wouldn’t come off.

“What the hell?” You grumbled as you shook your hand.

“Oh. This might be our fault.” Venom said suddenly.

“What might be your fault?” You asked as you continued to shake the paper off your hand, but to no avail.

“We sort of went inside Spider-Man when we were talking to him yesterday.” Venom said timidly and the paper ball dropped from your hand.

“What?” You demanded and Venom went silent.

“Come out here.” You said, like an owner to a dog.

“We’d rather stay inside.” Venom said softly.

“Get out here now. You need to explain yourself young lady.” You said sternly. Venom slowly manifested and looked at you with sad eyes.

“I’m 600 million years old, by the way.” Venom added. “You can’t call me young lady.”

“What do you mean you went inside Spider-Man?” You ignored her comment.

“When we were choking him we put one of our tendrils inside him and swirled around.” Venom explained. “He didn’t even feel it. We did though. He’s very squishy on the inside.”

“You…what?” You didn’t even know where to start. “How does that explain the paper sticking to me?”

“We think we absorbed his powers.” Venom said. “We used to watch videos of him on YouTube after you went to bed. He can stick to walls and stuff. We think that’s why the paper ball stuck to you.”

“Since when can we absorb powers?” You wondered as you looked at your hands.

“We never had a host before. We don’t really know how it works.” Venom reminded you. “But back on Klyntar, our home planet, the Grandmaster used to tell us we could absorb the powers of superhuman beings. Judging by your newfound stickiness, we think it worked.”

“What else can Spider-Man do?” You asked. “Since you’re such a big fan.”

“He can shoot webs out of his wrists. And he can return lost dogs.” Venom answered, sounding a little annoyed.

“Do you have something against Spider-Man?” You chuckled a little at her tone.

“We hate what he did last night. He thought we were the bad guy, and he let the real bad guy get away. He judged us before he had the full story. We’re not a bad guy.” Venom defended. You were surprised to hear how passionate she was about this and gave her a soft smile.

“Let’s not worry about Spider-Man right now. I want to test out our new abilities. Let’s rock and roll, baby.” You cheered, complete with rock and roll hands. The second you touched your middle finger and ring finger to your palm, a black, web-like tendril shot out from your wrist and stuck to the ceiling. You stared at the web with a gaping mouth, weakly shaking your wrist to see if it would stay attached.

It did.

“Maybe that’s one of our new abilities.” Venom said. You looked back and forth between her and the gooey web coming out of your wrist.

“Oh my God! What’s happening?” You screamed. You took your fingers off your palm and the web retracted back into your wrist. Looking at your wrist incredulously, you made the rock and roll hand again and the same web shot out from your wrist. This time, it grabbed the ceiling fan.

“V-Venom?” You asked. You didn’t know what to say.

“Try to aim it at something.” She suggested. You aimed your wrist and the lamp across the room and touched your fingers to your palm. The black web shot across the room and grabbed onto the lamp. You quickly yanked your arm back to pull the lamp towards yourself. The lamp flew across the room, smashed you in the face, and left you with a bloody nose.

“Ow.” You cried, gingerly touching your nose.

“We see this as a absolutely win.” Venom cheered. You shot her a look and went to get cleaned up.

After about a week of practice, and very little work on your questions for Cletus, you had a better handle on your webbing ability. Of course, the week also consisted of long talks with Peter on the roof, late patrols of New York, the occasional run in with a criminal, late night FaceTime calls with Peter, and beating the shit out of Spider-Man, twice. Venom eventually grew bored of using the new powers around the house, so it was time for the final test.

You stood at the rooftop ledge and looked down, talking a deep breath to calm your nerves.

“It’s a long way down.” You commented.

“Yep.” Venom replied in your head.

“We could die.” You added.

“Yep.”

“Ready?”

“We’re ready.” Venom grinned as you transformed. You stepped off the ledge and fell freely for a while, screaming the whole way down.

“Stop being a little bitch! Shoot a web!” Venom yelled. You aimed a web at a building and began to swing. You were too close to the ground and ended up knocking over a bunch of tables at an outdoor restaurant. People ran away in fear while others took out their cameras and recorded.

“We’re not here to hurt you! Peace and love!” Venom shouted as you continued to swing through the steers of New York. People began to cheer upon hearing your words.

“Do you hear that, Y/N? People are cheering. They love us.” Venom said happily.

“I love us too.” You replied. You were even happier than she was. You knew how much it hurt Venom to be seen as a monster, it was why she hated being called a parasite. You also knew it was why she hated Spider-Man. He was praised for stopping bad guys while Venom was seen as one of the bad guys he needed to stop.

“Hey, what is that thing?” A man called from the street. Venom stopped swinging and landed on the street. You proudly turned to the crowd of people, a massive grin on your face. There it was, our favorite question.

“We…are Venom.” Venom growled. People took pictures and videos of you from a distance.

“You can come closer. We won’t hurt you.” Venom assured the crowd.

“Are you like the anti Spider-Man?” Someone asked.

“Spider-Man is a joke. He can’t protect this city like we can. We are no Spider-Man. We are Venom.” Venom roared. A few people took a step back and you began to feel uneasy.

“Hey, King Kong. I want a word with you.” A sassy voice quipped from the crowd. A man in yellow sunglasses and a suit stepped forward, and you bet your ass you recognized him.

“My name is Tony Stark. Heard of me? Of course you have. Would you mind coming back to my tower with me?” He asked, but it felt more like a demand. The people in the crowd slowly dispersed and soon, you stood there alone with Tony.

“Be nice. Say yes.” You told Venom.

“Who is this guy?” She asked out loud.

“I just said my name.” Tony said, slightly annoyed.

“He’s a really famous inventor. I’ll explain later. Just follow him please.” You begged. Venom gave Tony a once over and followed him to a limo.

“Yea, you’re gonna ride up top big guy.” Tony said, patting the roof of the car.

“Girl.” Venom growled. Tony looked surprised.

“My apologies ma’am.” He raised surprised eyebrows. You rode on top of his car all the way to his tower, wondering what he could possibly want with you.

The inside of his tower was huge. Tony lead you to a lab that was bigger than yours and Peters apartments combined.

“I’ve seen videos of you on YouTube. Seems like you and Spider-Man aren’t the best of friends.” Tony remarked as he pulled out an iPad.

“We will crush his bones and snort them like cocaine.” Venom growled. Tony was just as surprised to hear that as you were.

“Now that’s a visual.” Tony smirked. “I’ll have you know, Spider-Man is a friend of mine. He’s not your biggest fan either but from what I’ve seen, you’ve done this city some good since you’ve been here. How long has that been?”

“Two weeks.” Venom answered.

“I thought so. I’d never seen you before then. And since your arrival, petty crime has dropped significantly in Queens. Criminals are too scared of getting eaten to do anything. Don’t get me wrong, I love Spider-Man and I’ll kill you if you tell him that, but no one fears him. He gets the job done, but there’s always another job to do. With you, on the other hand, your mere presence is preventing crime before it even happens.” Tony smiled to himself, like he was just given a new toy. “You’re scary, is what I’m trying to say. But you’re a good guy. It’s rare. I want it to stay that way. I want you on my team.”

“Team?”

“We’re called the Avengers. We had a bit of a falling out but the name still stands.” Tony waved his hand. “We fight bad guys together. Really, really bad guys. I think you could us some good. Plus, you’ll be taken care of for life and we’ll only call you in for serious threats. But I need a few things from you first.”

“Like what?”

“Your story.” He pointed a finger at you. “How does a giant, anthropomorphic alien wind up in New York City?”

“It’s a long story.” Venom answered.

“We can trust this man, Venom.” You told her telepathically. “I’m gonna come out okay?” Venom hesitated and Tony looked impatient to know more.

“Are you sure?” She asked you. Tony looked confused.

“Am I sure?” He pointed to himself.

“Not you.” She said. Tony looked around for who else Venom could be talking to and found no one.

“I’m sure.” You decided. “This guy is one of the good guys. We can trust him. I promise. I’m coming out.”

You slowly transformed back into yourself in front of Tonys wide eyes. Venom stayed in her snake-like form and rested on your neck.

“Hello, Mr. Stark. My name is Y/N L/N.” You shyly introduced yourself. “This is Venom. We want to help.”

Tony’s face shifted from shocked to impressed as he looked you over.

“I gotta say, I did not except someone like you to be inside that scary monster.” Tony chuckled.

“We’re not a monster, Mr. Stark. We want to help people.” You reminded him.

“I can see that.” Tony nodded. “That’s why I’ve been developing you a suit.”

“When did you do that?” You wondered. “We just met.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve been designing it while you talked. I want you to have it incase you and Venom get separated. That way, you’ll be protected until you’re back together.” Tony explained as he showed you his ipad. Sure enough, it had a drawing of a suit on it.

“I’ll get started right away. I just need a little piece of Venom. If I make the suit using her skin, you’ll have the total protection you need.” You looked at Venom for consent, who nodded and extended a tendril towards Tony. He quickly snipped a piece off and put it in a container.

“When will the suit be ready? A few months?” You asked as Tony tapped the container. Tony stopped looking at the container and laughed.

“Y/N, I’m a genius inventor. Go get lunch. It’ll be ready when you’re done.” He said.

And he wasn’t kidding. An hour and a half later, Tony presented you with a suit. You ran my fingers over it slowly, not wanted to disturb a single thing. You looked at it in awe, completely speechless at what he had created.

“Go on, try it on.” He shrugged casually. You grinned from ear to ear before rushing to the bathroom to put it on. You came out soon enough with tears in you eyes.

“You like it?” Tony asked. You looked at your covered hands in amazement. The suit was jet black, like Venom was, and hugged your body like a second skin. There was a big white spider symbol on the front, the complete opposite of Spider-Mans small black one. You figured it was a nod to being called the anti Spider-Man and it was perfect.

“Well?” Tony was still waiting for an answer. You looked up at him just as a few tears fell down you cheeks.

“We didn’t celebrate my birthday growing up because it was the anniversary of my moms death. I used to be so upset every year.” You blurted. Tony looked like he didn’t know what to say and you couldn’t blame him. That was something deeply personal and you had only just met him.

“What I’m trying to say is, I get it now.” You explained. “All those missed birthdays were for a reason. I didn’t get gifts those days because I’m getting the ultimate gift right now. This is the most amazing thing I could’ve asked for. I cannot thank you enough Mr. Stark. I’ll never take it off.”

“You can’t take it off anyway.” Tony told you. “When you don’t want to wear it, it absorbs back into your skin like Venom does. And it’s equipped with Venoms essential abilities. It’s bullet proof, knife proof, taser proof, spork proof and so on. And you can still shoot your webby things. You just won’t have super strength, super speed, or that Venus flytrap mouth of yours.”

You tested it out and shot a web towards his desk. You grabbed a pen and caught it with ease, then looked at Tony for approval.

“That’s the best I could do. It’s no Iron Man suit but it’ll suffice.” Tony said casually. You couldn’t take it anymore and rushed towards him to hug him tightly.

“Thank you.” You said into his chest. Tony patted your back awkwardly and you let go.

“It’s nothing. You can thank me by not eating Spider-Man. I know he’s annoying but he doesn’t mean any harm. Now go forth and do good.” Tony requested.

You swung back to the apartment and landed on the roof. You turned back into yourself and made your way down the steps to your floor. After this mornings conversation with Peter and the incredible suit from Mr. Stark, you were having a great day. For the first time in years, you couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

[thewangshuinn]

Spring

A/N: hehe zhongli meteor go brrrr hopefully you catch where I slipped it in

Pairing: Kazuha x gn!reader

Warnings: fight scenes, some injury but it's not super graphic

Prompt: for @stellumi’s webtoon event, the first few chapters of Soleil!

“Can you tell it again? The plant kingdom story?”

“Liyue?”

“Yeah!” A small child, maybe seven, sat learning botany at their father’s knee. Well, not sat so much as used their little trowel and dug little holes for the seeds to go in.

“Okay.” As Morax gently corrected your form, he began to speak. “Liyue is a secret plant kingdom. Ruled by nature itself, the world is always golden with sunlight. The trees there can reach the stars! It’s full of magic and wonder.” He watched your eyes brighten- there was enough magic and wonder there that he didn’t need any fairy tales. “Did you know, there are even little plant people who live in Liyue?”

You absolutely lit up. “You mean like little plant friends?” Your father grinned back down at you. “Exactly like that.”

You stared down at a small mint plant that sat before you. “Like that one?”

He ruffled your hair gently. “Kind of. That plant friend’s name is mint! They’re more like little plant people.”

“Do you think the story is true? Is Liyue a real place?”

“There are a lot of ways to think about it. Why not?” Your eyes sparkled. “But, you know, you have to have a pure heart to go there.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah! You won’t be able to see any of it otherwise. Fortunately for you, (y/n) you won’t have any problems. You’ve got the purest heart of us all.”

And with that, he pulled you into his arms, and you stayed there.

~

You’re much older now. At least, one might hope so.

Your eyes opened as your alarm beeped to no end, the memory of your father fading as you sat up and stretched.

You pressed snooze to no avail, going through a cartoonish series of events to turn the alarm off. And as soon as you were able to find peace among the blankets again, your phone started pinging, sending you flying out of bed. You had somewhere to go!

Of course, you went right back to the bed when you were all ready, sitting with your phone in your hand. “It really is today, isn’t it… and Thoma’s already up and ready to go…” You looked around, trying to distract yourself. “Okay, but today is also… a good nap day! Or something! We can go visit Dad tomorrow. He’ll understand. I do have work to finish up, anyway” You could feel the disapproval of the houseplants by your bed.

You worked as a florist, but, of course, had taken the day off today. You did custom orders out of your home, and so never had to leave.

“No, I’m definitely not making excuses to not go out, I-” You stopped lying to yourself. “Okay… today is unique. I should go.”

As you left, you turned back to your plants. “I’ll be back soon, everyone!”

~

He’s not here.

“Did I take too long to get here?” Maybe he left.

You could feel him lean over your shoulder to whisper to you in the most playfully annoying fashion ever. “No, you didn’t. But I did text you over an hour ago. I was worried!”

“Oh. Sorry about that, Docto-.”

“Oh, stop. I’m not actually a flower doctor, you know that.”

“You take care of flowers. Flower doctor.”

He sighed. “Speaking of, here.” He handed over a bouquet of silk flowers. “For your father. These were his favorites, right?” You nodded. “Thank you.”

~

“We really did bring a lot, didn’t we?”

You smiled. “Yeah. The space seems much more full now. Like a party. Dad would’ve loved it.” Your eyes were trained on the flowers. “They’re beautiful. Dad would’ve loved this… I can remember him so clearly…”

“Me too.”

There was a lull where Thoma seemed to be trying to find the right thing to say, and was failing. Finally, you watched him let out a strained breath, and when he spoke, his eyes were not on you. “Hey, (y/n)... I know it’s been hard for you, and I just… I want you to know I’m always here for you. If you ever need to talk or anything, I’m right by your side, okay?”

You nodded gratefully, but Thoma was beginning to ramble. You were unable to get a response in before he continued.

“I- I know it’s been a year since you last went out and you’re keeping yourself all alone… and I don’t want it to hurt you more. It’s so hard to believe that he’s gone and I just-”

“Stop it.” Your voice took on a hidden rawness. “He’s not gone. He is not.”

“No- no… of course not! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean-”

And then, suddenly, you were back to sunshine, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Thoma! It’s alright. And anyway, I’m not alone! I have my plants to keep me company, remember?”

“I- yeah… if you say so. I’m… meeting up with some people for lunch. Do you want to come? It’s on your way back. My treat.”

You offer him a dazzling smile. Forced, but dazzling nonetheless. “Thank you, but I have some stuff to do. I think I’ll pass.”

“Of course. Yeah. It’s fine. Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No, I’d hate to make you late.” You’d also wanted to stop at the bakery for comfort food, but that was for you to know and him to Not Know.

“Alright.” He pulls you in for a quick, very welcome hug. “I’ll see you another time, then?”

“Yeah. See you.”

“Make sure to let me know you got home safe, okay?”

You laughed. “Okay, I will. Bye!”

He waved at you as you left, watching you walk back towards the grave rather than to the way out. When he turned to stay with you, you waved him off with a smile. “Don’t be late!”

He laughed. “Fine. See you!”

~

You took a longer path home, lost in thought and because it was farther to get to the bakery. Now you walked through the front door, placing the bag of baked goods of your choice on the bed. You sat beside it, facing your plants, and texted Thoma before dropping your phone with a sigh.

“He’s just silly, right? We’re okay.” You whispered to the mint plant before you. “It’s just you and me. We don’t need the world outside, right?”

You barely noticed the single tear that traced down your cheek until it landed on a mint leaf. “Sorry. Let me get that.”

You wiped the tear away with your fingertip, and that was when you noticed it.

The plant was moving.

You looked towards the base of the stems, where the motion was coming from, and out stepped a little plant person!

This must be some weird dream. There’s no way…

Despite your better judgement, you reached out to them. If they felt immaterial, you’d know it wasn’t real.

But it can’t be real.

Which was why you were incredibly surprised when it stepped into your palm.

“(y/n)-” He began, hoping to catch you before you freaked out.

It talks! “How do you know my name?”

“I’ve known you for so long. I happen to understand your thought process well.” He gave you a small smile, and it was a different kind of smile. “We’ve formed a bond. I’ve been at your side this whole time. You’ve shown me so much care and kindness, (y/n).”

“Then you’re… you’re the plant I normally talk to! You’re Mint!”

The tiny creature’s smile turned wistful. “That’s the name you gave me.”

Your excitement was very evident in your grin as you twisted around, trying to observe the small thing from every angle as if hoping he showed any resemblance to what you thought you were talking to. Perhaps it would’ve helped if you had envisioned more than a potted mint plant with a smiley face.

However, Mint was not smiling anymore. He looked sad- very sad. One could almost describe it as hopeless. “That’s not my true name, though.

“I am Prince Kazuha of Liyue.”

“You’re a plant prince?” Liyue?

He nodded. “And my kingdom is in danger. My people sent me to your world to find a human who can help us. And, (y/n), there’s a reason you can see me in my true form.”

You wracked your brain for memories of the fairy tale your father had told you. “I… have a pure heart?”

He nodded. “I’d hate to force this on you, (y/n). But please know you’re the only one who can help us. Please come with us.”

“Listen. I know we formally have only just met, but you’re my Mint, Kazuha. I’ll help you in any way I can. I’m willing to go with you.”

He looked overjoyed, and the smile that flitted across your face in response helped to hide the wish you’d kept within.

Maybe I can reconnect with Baba, too.

He offered you a small berry, and you took it. “You have to absorb or consume an essence of Liyue for your body to form a tether there. Then you’ll be able to enter.”

It took you a second to decipher. “Okay.”

You ate the berry and darkness surrounded you.

~

Whoa…

Everything was infinitely taller than you, and you were little and tiny. The silk flower that you’d found attached to your head edged your vision in a rosy glow. Sunlight filtered through soft leaves far above you in every shade of green- no emerald could’ve ever compared.

There was a castle in the distance, shimmering water floating around it.

And the whole world seemed to be holding its breath.

This moment suspended in time, unbroken, even as you shattered the silence and called for Kazuha. He’d disappeared…

A gust of warm wind behind you was what you felt first, but his hands slipping into yours as you turned was what really took your attention. “Kazuha?”

“Thank the archons… you’re okay, right? You didn’t get hurt?”

You nod, unable to say anything else. Now grown to full-size and no longer a potted plant, he was… charming. Very charming.

Especially when he smiled at you, the way he currently was. “Good.”

His gaze jerked past your shoulder, and his smile faded. “We have to go. Being out in the open isn’t safe anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“The invaders have taken over.” He pointed to the castle- his castle. It was in ruins, locked in black thorns. Clearly, the enemy was an invasive species. “They’ll hurt you.”

And then-

“Get back!” You were thrown behind him as the ambush began, and he nudged you into the foliage so you could hide.

~

I won’t let you harm them.

Kazuha’s whole motivation for fighting wasn’t long enough yet to make a haiku. Tragic.

But the thought barely registered as a much larger one took its place: he was losing. He couldn’t stick around. He had to get you to safer ground.

He whipped his sword around, sending a swirling storm of wind and leaves around the monster. By all rights, that should’ve finished it.

He should’ve won.

But if he had, why was pain flaring up his arm? Why had his blood turned to flame? Why were there pinpricks pressing into his side?

Why was there a monster towering over him, claws readied to kill. And in that split second, he locked eyes with you.

And you looked so afraid as he fell.

~

A shield of weak spring breezes was the only thing that separated the claw from Kazuha’s body, just a short distance from you. You could see his energy fading. You felt the apology in his eyes and wished only that it was not for you.

And it was in that feeling that you found strength- the desire to never see him unhappy by your hand.

“Don’t hurt him!”

There was a flash of rose light as something crashed, and the monster’s claws… retracted. It whimpered, running away.

You didn’t stop to think- you grabbed Mint and ran.

~

Kazuha’s legs gave out beneath him a while later, and you caught him. He hadn’t said anything overall, and you had no way of knowing he was okay.

Which he very clearly was not.

He was pale and breathing hard, unable to look up at you as you gently sat him down.

“Kazuha, something happened back there. Let me see it.”

“...please don’t.”

“What? Why?”

He pulled back some of the fabric draped over his arm, and you saw a mess of leaves and vines just like the ones on the castle.

“I’ve been contaminated. My power had washed away most of the leaves before, but now…” He winced, in too much pain to finish.

You watched the vines spread. “Can’t you use more of your power?”

He shook his head. “It has a limit. I can only use it in emergencies.”

“This is an emergency! What happens if the vines overtake you?”

“Your life is more important. I have to keep you safe. For Liyue’s sake.”

“You’re their prince! Your life is just as important as mine!” You put your hands on his shoulders. “Stop being so self-sacrificial!” Your voice softened exponentially and you squeezed your eyes shut. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Perhaps that’s why you didn’t see the gentle rose glow that dissolved the contamination and healed Kazuha’s wound.

You heard his soft gasp, though.

“You did this to the invader, too…”

Your eyes opened. “It was much more violent then. But yeah. I don’t know how, but its claws disappeared.”

“You got them to retract? You can damage them?”

“I guess so?”

“That’s amazing!” He grabbed you and held you close, burying his face in your shoulder. This was the most contact the two of you have ever had- and the first contact you’d had in a year. Of course, you nestled into the embrace.

“Your power is incredible. It’ll be much easier to get to the meeting point from here.”

You stilled. “Meeting point?”

He pulled away, offering you a small nod. His face was still lit up. “My allies sent me to Teyvat to find a human who can help. We have to meet up with them at the designated spot.”

There wasn’t much you knew about Liyue, but you did know this- Kazuha was your companion. He’d always been.

And so, with all the conviction of a dream fulfilled, you began to plan the journey.

[anonymousfiction211]

Handcuffed together: 15

A/N: The story continues. I had a wedding on friday, so a day later than planned :) Hope you like it. Let me know what you think :)

Moving on? The seconds passed by slowly from the moment Loki left you, again. The seconds turned into minutes, hours, days, weeks and eventually months. The first few days you were angry, waiting for Thor to come back so you could yell at him about Loki. But Thor never came back, at first you were angry about that too. But Natasha reminded you that Thor probably had other duties to perform in Asgard and that you couldn’t hold him accountable for his brother’s actions. True.

When you heard nothing, you became sad and depressed. You had thought that Loki would have checked in, maybe leave a message in time. But nothing. It was like he and your entire relationship had never happened. It started with you only dressing in lounge clothes. You stopped hanging out with the team, and were mostly in your room watching tv. You didn’t spend any time on your other hobby’s. Eventually Steve was forced to put you on a break, meaning you didn’t actively take part in the team or go on missions. It took five long months, but that was the moment you decided you were done. You needed to be yourself again.

‘Morning (Y/N), you are up early today? And even dressed in normal clothing?’ Natasha greeted you surprised.

‘Yeah.. thanks Nat’ you replied a bit grumpily. ‘Look, I’m done being lonely and I want to help again. Do you know where I can find Steve?’

‘Good to see you finally coming to terms with everything. Once you are fully over him, we can go out together and snatch you up a better guy’ she winked at you. ‘I think Steve is in the briefing room’

‘Thanks… maybe in a month or two’ you said. Leaving her to find Steve.

Natasha was right, you found him in the briefing room. You knocked on the door and he told you to enter.

‘Hey, (Y/N)’ he said surprised, clearly not expecting you.

‘Hi’ you said a bit sheepishly. ‘Can we talk for a moment?’

‘Of course, take a seat. You are looking good. How are you doing?’ he asked.

‘Better.. I ehm.. actually, wanted to apologize for my absence and the mood I have been in and –

‘(Y/N), don’t worry. It was all completely understandable’ Steve cut you off.

‘Still..’ you said.

The room was silent for a moment. ‘I’m just glad you are doing better. Plus, we already agreed as a team that if we ever see Loki again, let’s say it’s best if he doesn’t show his face around here anymore’

‘Thanks’ you forced a small giggle. ‘I think it’s time to pick up my life and I wanted to talk about the leave you put me on’ you started.

‘You want to come back?’ Steve asked.

‘Yes, I think it is best to have a certain rhythm and get back in the groove, don’t you think?’

‘As much as I love to have you fully back, it isn’t that easy actually’ Steve hesitatingly started.

‘What do you mean?’ you stomach started to tie itself in knots.

‘You need to be re-evaluated, before you can fully join. I mean, you can help us in the meantime. But not actively participate on missions before you are cleared again’ he started to explain.

‘How much time will it take?’

‘The re-evaluation consists of two steps. The first step is a physical test to see what level you are on now. And after that there is a mentality test, to see if you are in the right mind set to function on missions. If you pass straight away you can join next week. But I have to be honest, you were pretty out of it and missed a lot of training So, I think it will be a month or three. But like I said, there is still plenty you can help us with, without actively join the missions’

‘Oh’ you said a bit disappointed. ‘But can’t we just skip it? I’m fine now, and I really want to be back on the team’

‘(Y/N), that’s not how it works’ Steve sighed.

‘Please? I need this’ you begged.

‘Answer one question for me: if we are in the middle of the battle with Thanos, and suddenly Loki appears. What will you do?’

‘I eh.. I..’ you stammered, to be honest you still didn’t know what you would do.

‘Exactly. As much as we love you, it is important to go through these test. We need to be able to trust each other blindly. And as long as you do not have the right answer immediately to that question, we can’t. I’m sorry’ he said.

‘I understand’ you said softly, trying not to break down. That surely wouldn’t help your case.

‘I’m sorry. If you feel up for it, I will start up the whole process. But if you need more time, then take all the time you need. I’m already super glad that you are doing better’ he said.

‘Thanks Steve, ehm.. start it up. And what can I do in the meantime?’ you asked.

‘I will catch you up’ he said.

Then Steve started to explain what the team had been doing the past months. They had tracked a guy down, named dr. Strange. Apparently he was a bit like Tony. He also possessed an infinity stone, and they told him everything that Loki had told them. Thor would hopefully be back soon, and than they would no more about how Loki was doing and if he knew where Thanos was hiding. In the meantime, dr. Strange had tracked down another stone on a planet by someone called ‘the collector’. Apparently Asgard had given them the reality stone for safe keeping. Dr. Strange had set up a meeting and would try to come back with the stone. The plan was to collect the stones before Thanos and then imprison him with them, so he couldn’t go through with his plan. Kill him if necessary.

‘So, if you could drop of these documents at the sanctuary, that would be really helpful’ Steve said lastly.

‘Am I supposed to be everyone’s assistant until I’m cleared?’ you snapped

‘You’re no-one’s assistant. But this is the only task I can give you at the moment. This and ask for an update on his work, it really would help’

After some back and forth you reluctantly agreed to go to the sanctuary. Before that Steve had called everyone to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and tell them that you are working on joining the team again. To your relief everyone was supportive and seemed glad that you were doing better.

That afternoon you walked to the sanctuary with the documents. Wondering if you would get to meet dr. Strange and what he was really like.

‘And you are?’ he said answering the door you just knocked on.

‘I’m (Y/N) from the Avengers, here to deliver some documents you needed and to ask how your progress is’ you answered politely.

‘Ah, so you are the one sleeping with the enemy’ he joked.

After seeing your not-amused-face he cleared his throat and invited you into the sanctum. He told you about what this place was and who he was. He had actually an appointment with the collector in an hour, just to meet up. He didn’t expect that he would be able to get the stone on the first try.

‘If you really want to help, you could actually tell me about Loki’ he said.

‘I don’t want to talk about it’ you said.

‘Look, I have reason to believe that Loki has already been to the collector. And I know very little about the guy. Maybe you can interpret some of his actions for me?’ he asked.

You sighed heavily. ‘I’m not able to explain every choice he made. But if he has been there you can ask me when you return’ you said bitterly.

‘Or… you could come with?’ dr. Strange proposed.

‘I can’t. I’m not supposed to join missions. I’m on leave with the Avengers and need to be re-evaluated first’ you explained.

‘But I’m not with the Avengers. So, technically I’m hiring you as a free-lancer. So, are you coming with me? Could be helpful?’ he tried to persuade you.

‘I can’t. If the team finds out..’

‘I promise I won’t tell them. If Loki has really been there, aren’t you curious to what he is up to?’ dr. Strange cocked one of his eyebrows.

That argument convinced you. Besides, it was one conversation with some guy you would attend. It really wasn’t a mission, right? What could go wrong?

At the collector Dr. Strange, who said to call him Steven, opened a portal and the two of you went through. The collector was a peculiar being, his assistant also. He and Steven were talking about the stone and Thanos, while you walked behind them besides the assistant. Walking through the collection of the collector you saw some amazing things. It did disturb you that there were living beings held captive here, even after the collector assured you that it was fine. You were drawn back into the conversation when you heard Loki’s name.

‘Yes, he has been here’ the collector answered. ‘What did he ask you? What did he want? When did he leave?’ Steven asked.

‘Ah, a lot. Quite the mischievous guy, but that is to be expected I suppose. Unfortunately for him, someone else already had required my services’ that made everyone stop walking.

‘What do you mean?’ Steve asked.‘Well, to answer you earlier question, he is still here. Now Carina’ the collector said. 

Before you knew what was happening someone grabbed you and you felt a sharp needle in your neck. Steven looked shocked. You wanted to scream but every muscle in your body went limb. Your eyes felt heavy and you vision started to blur. Was the building tilting sidewards? Or were you falling? The last thing you heard was laughter and you saw Steven’s sparkling magic, and then it went black.

Some time later Your head was pounding, and your mouth was dry. Still foggy you tried to open your eyes. There was a familiar voice saying something in the background. One of your hands was immobile. Recounting everything that happened you tried to sit up right and open your eyes. It took a moment for your vision to fully return and your hearing to improve. The first thing you noticed was that one of your hands was cuffed. The cuff was attached to another hand. Looking up, you saw him. ‘Good to see you again, kitten’ Loki smiled. 

Permanent taglist:  @delightfulheartdream​ @the-best-phineas​ @pescadoavocado​ @theestorm​ @theaudacitytowrite​ @justacripple​

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[jade-parcels]

Modern au careers

For Kaeya, Jean, Zhongli, Ningguang and Venti

Something quick between longer posts!

Kaeya:

Kaeya would totally rock being a police officer you can’t convince me otherwise

He and Diluc went though the academy together. Diluc dropped out and took another career path which left Kaeya feeling kinda betrayed cause they were going to be awesome cops together! That was the plan :/ oh well

He’d excel in the police academy, he’s physically fit and fast which makes it easy for him to go through training

He won’t be a captain/commander for a long time since that’s a high position that takes years of testing and promotions to get to so for now let’s just settle for officer

He loves being out on the road doing real police work! There are plenty of times where he has to sit at his desk to write reports which he doesn’t exactly enjoy but oh well, it comes with the job

He won’t be promoted for awhile since he’s only 23 but man oh man, he’s been on the job for 2 years and he already has the best stories of chases, public interactions and just general stories about messing around back at the station

Kaeya isn’t exactly supposed to but when the K9 is in the building, he’ll neglect his work to go play with the dog :’)

He doesn’t have a long term plan, he’s taking things one step at a time and loving every minute of it

Jean:

She’s also a police officer, she ranked very high in the academy and graduated the year before Kaeya! They work at the same station

Jean and Kaeya work together a lot! They are even partners most of the time! They have a lot of laughs but Jean is really the one keeping Kaeya in charge

Her goal is to be the chief of police one day! The first female chief in a looooong time

She takes her paperwork seriously, she almost never makes mistakes. Additionally, she patrols populated areas so citizens will see her face and she can chat with people! She wants them to trust her! And she wants to learn about the people she has sworn to protect

There are female bosses above her who she really looks up to and aims to impress! She hopes they’ll be the ones to promote her too :)

After her long shifts she’s always happy to come home to her sister Barbara to tell her alllll about what she did at work that day! She’s Barbara’s biggest role model so Jean strives to do her best at work in order to come home to tell Barbara all about it

Barbara has her mom drop her off at the police station on the weekends to bring lunch for Jean! They eat together in the break room away from everyone else to catch up! Jean also helps Barbara with her schoolwork when she can :) she’s a great older sister

Zhongli:

A history professor who looks....really good for his age

He’s 40 but he doesn’t look a day over 25, all of his students either want to date him or hate the way he drawls on for hours

He’s super qualified for his job, he’s studied in China, Japan, Russia and Italy, he knows pretty much everything anyone would need to know about history

He specializes in Chinese history though and even teaches a Chinese history course for honors students who are truly interested in the subject

Zhongli is super patient with his students though he can be strict when he needs to be. If he sees them falling behind he’ll meet with them after class in order to figure things out “if you need more time to finish these papers, I can give that time to you. However, I would hope you take these seriously. Education is important. Not only that but you paid to take this class, I’d hate to see you fail...’

Zhongli is a father of two, Xiao and Ganyu and failure in school is not an option for either of them lmao Zhongli helps them with every subject. Failing math? He’ll get a tutor. Failing english? Don’t worry, he’s multilingual and will help. Failing science? He’ll stay up all night watching videos about chem or bio in order to reteach it to his kids the next day.

He loves his kids very much...he has tons of pictures of them on his desk at work and he constantly gets notifications saying he’s almost out of storage on his phone lmao

Ningguang:

M’lady <3

Ms. Ningguang is a super successful businesswoman. She is super into the stock exchange, she is constantly buying and selling stocks

She is also the CEO of a luxury makeup brand. She took over the position and turned the basic, bland brand into something truly special

She’s been on the cover of many magazines all over the world with her success story! She went from wandering the streets as an orphan to a wealthy businesswoman.

Ningguang has a gorgeous house and two, luxurious sports cars. Dayum...You go girl!!!!

She sponsors multiple orphanages and plans on adopting kids when she settles down a little cause she is constantly on the move, she doesn’t have time for a kid right now...though she would love to be a mother :’)

Venti:

Venti has multiple jobs and his additional job history is hilarious to look at because this man gets bored too easily!! So he’ll just...quit spontaneously

He’s had 3 past jobs as a bartender and got fired from all 3 for excessive drinking, he worked at a dog shelter for a month and quit because a dog puked on his shoe, he was a receptionist for a dentist’s office and was fired for yelling at an old lady (she deserved it though!!), he worked at a Target for 4 months and quit because his coworkers gave him too much stuff to do (they did not but he felt like they did)

He’s really done everything!! He has plenty of good stories to tell at the bar with his buddies!

Now he’s a songwriter. Well, he’s been a songwriter for a long time but now it’s official

But being a songwriter isn’t exactly...profitable for him yet. So he’s holding down 3 jobs. A Starbucks barista, a KFC cook and a Khols cashier. He’ll get you that sweet, sweet khols cash baby!

Is he successful? No, not yet but he will be!! Hopefully!! He makes a lot of money when he sings at bars or restaurants so he has a lot of faith in himself!

Venti is the definition of a free spirit so who knows what he’ll be doing in a month from now!! He sure as hell doesn’t know lmao

[wheresmynaya]

Hate to Date Ch.7 | Brittana

A/N - And just like that, Lockdown 6.0 is upon us LOL. Good news, more time to write. Bad news, boredom looms. Anyway, thank you to those who have left lovely reviews and/or have gifted me with a coffee through ko-fi. I hope you all know that those emails are some of the first I read when I wake up in the morning - instant happiness! 🥰

Available on ff.net (x) ao3 (x) & under the cut!

Being ambushed by parents ends up turning into a trend for Santana when the following weekend Maribel decides to make a spontaneous trip to New York. Apparently there’s some banquet dinner Eddie is attending which Maribel’s accompanying him to.

The invite was extended to Santana as well, but those dinners are always super boring so she blew it off with an excuse about spending time with Brittany instead since their schedules have been so busy.

What she didn’t expect is for Maribel to make an unexpected pit stop at hers and Puck’s place beforehand, hoping to at least say hi to the happy couple.

Problem is – half of said couple isn’t here.

“Mami, we’re just really busy with this assignment,” Santana tries – hoping that it would be enough to deter her mom for awhile considering Brittany isn’t around. “It’s really getting down to the wire, can’t we see you tomorrow?”

“Ay Santana, I’m already on the way,” Maribel replies in a huff. “It’s only a quick visit and we’ll be on our way.”

“Can’t you just like…skip it and continue on your way?”

“I haven’t seen you since New Year’s and I came all this way to see you – “

“You’re not even here for me, you’re here for Eddie.”

Suddenly there’s a pause and Santana wonders if that little comment just got her into some hot water.

“Why don’t you want to see your mother?” Maribel asks instead. “Are you hiding something from me? You and Puck aren’t up to something again, are you? Roping in Brittany?”

Santana’s eyes go big and it feels like she’s just swallowed a handful of sand. Her heart rate’s picking up and she’s struggling to come up with an answer. She feels like she’s got a hot spotlight on her; thank God her mom can’t actually see her right now!

“We’re not,” Santana finally says. “Like I said, Brittany and I are just a little busy with this assignment…but I guess we can take a break for you.”

“That’s my girl,” Maribel praises. “We’ll be around in about twenty minutes.”

Santana gulps, “Great. See you then.”

Once she hangs up, she grabs the nearest pillow and yells into it. The muffled screams have Puck running out of his room so fast that he clips the doorframe with his shoulder. A loud thud echoes throughout Santana’s room as Puck stumbles and looks around frantically.

“What? What’s wrong?” He asks.

“We’ve got a Code Red,” Santana tells him.

His eyes drift down to her lap then back up as he starts to grimace, “Oh. Do you like…need things?”

Santana scrunches her brow but then she realizes what he’s talking about.

“No, not that Code Red,” She explains. “Mom’s on her way. I need to get Brittany over here ASAP!”

“Oh shit!” Puck curses and takes off to the living to start tidying.

The last time Maribel came around for a surprise visit, she basically tore Puck a new one. Long story short, his version of clean isn’t the same as Maribel’s and they spent an entire afternoon together going through the various cleaning products that should be used around the house and what they should be used for.

Meanwhile, Santana rushes to make the call. She just hopes that Brittany won’t give her a hard time for this, hopefully she answers the damn phone!

“Hi?” Brittany answers questioningly.

“Hey,” Santana replies.

“Did you butt dial me or something?”

“What? No.”

“You just – you never call me.”

“Yeah well…I don’t have much time to explain, but I need you to come over like right now.”

“Uhh, I’m kind of in the middle of something.“

“Brittany, please,” Santana begs. “My mom’s on her way over and she’s fully expecting you to be here too.”

“Oh! Okay, yeah. Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“Because I’m freaking out, that’s why!”

“Okay, well don’t freak out. It’ll be fine. How much time do I have?”

“Not much.”

“Great. Thanks for the warning.”

Santana rolls her eyes, “Look, it took me by surprise too.”

“Alright well, find your cool. We can’t have her suspecting anything’s up.”

Santana nods, already feeling a little calmer. “Just hurry, okay?”

“I’m on my way now. Don’t worry.”

\\

When Maribel comes knocking on Santana’s door, the brunette loses all cool once again because Brittany’s still nowhere in sight. Santana’s looking at Puck, but he has no idea what to do either. Maybe they can stall until she gets here, but how? Maribel would totally think something’s up if they refuse to let her inside!

“Just let her in?” Puck whispers, “We can say Britt went to pick up our take-out?”

“And further confirm that I don’t fucking cook here? No way.”

“Well, what else can we do?”

“I don’t kn –“

“Santana?” Maribel calls out from the hall after another knock. “Hello?”

Puck’s eyes go wide, “She can hear us.”

“No shit, she knows I’m home.”

“Okay, okay. I’m thinking, fuck! Why am I so stressed out?”

Santana and Puck go back and forth trying to come up with some way to stall, but it’s impossible under the pressure.

“I think we have to let her in,” Santana tells Puck in a grave tone.

Puck looks at her uneasily, “I think so too.”

After checking her phone once more for an update from Brittany – there isn’t one – Santana goes to let Maribel and Eddie in. They’re both dressed to the nines, must be a fancy banquet dinner.

“Hi!” Santana greets, attempting to mask her uneasiness.

She’s quickly embraced in a motherly hug while Puck compliments his coach on his sick suit.

“How are you, mija?” Maribel asks as she cups Santana’s cheek. “You’re looking a little pale.”

“Am I?” Santana feels the nerves rattling within her. Where the hell is Brittany?!

“Yes,” Maribel looks her over. “You’re not getting sick are you?”

Santana swallows dryly, “Just tired.”

“Because exams are coming up,” Puck clarifies.

“That’s right,” Santana nods. “Lots of studying to do if I want to ace them.”

Maribel nods, seemingly pleased by Santana’s work ethic.

“Yeah, plus her and Britt have also been super busy with this assignment they’re doing together,” Puck adds. “It’s a lot.”

“Ah yes,” Maribel looks around. “Where is Brittany?”

Santana clenches her jaw and looks to Puck. There’s a guilty smile on his face as he secretly mouths out a sorry. Still though, she has to think on her feet.

“She’s in the bathroom,” Santana replies. It’s not her best work, but it was the first thing she thought of. Maybe they can work with it?

“Yeah, I think she had a bad salad for lunch,” Puck tries again.

Santana glares at him and mouths a shut up that goes unnoticed by Maribel and Eddie.

“Oh, that’s unfortunate,” Maribel frowns.

“Those salads are always a hit or miss,” Eddie confirms. “I try to stay away from them.”

“Don’t listen to Puck. It’s nothing like that,” Santana assures them. “Anyway, exam prep; super intense, long nights, tedious studying. I’m so ready for it to be over.”

Maribel looks apologetically at her, “Don’t work too hard.”

“That’s not what you taught me,” Santana quips.

“I know,” Maribel smiles. “I hope you’re at least wearing your glasses when you’re meant to. You know what all that reading can do to your eyes.”

“I am…”

“And rest, you still need it,” Maribel insists. “A tired mind won’t retain a thing.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell her.”

The four swivel around to find Brittany coming out of Santana’s bedroom. Her cheeks are a little pink – probably from the run over – but she’s her usual cool and collected self as she saunters over.

Santana’s never felt so relieved to see the girl! Question is though, how the hell did she pull off such an entrance?

“Brittany! Hi,” Maribel greets happily. “Are you feeling okay?”

There’s a glimpse of confusion as Brittany looks to Santana for an explanation.

“Mami, I told you she’s not sick. She was only in the bedroom to finish up a call with her mom,” Santana lies.

“Yeah. That was my bad, Mama Lopez,” Puck speaks up.

“Right,” Brittany quickly catches on. “Just my daily phone call with mom. Sorry about that, we can get carried away.”

“Oh don’t be,” Maribel smiles then glances to Santana. “Where’s my daily phone call?”

Santana fights the eye roll, “I’m clearly not as great as Brittany.”

“Now that’s a first,” Brittany smirks as she curls her arm around Santana. “I think you’re plenty great though.”

Santana finds herself blushing, “Thanks.”

There’s another pleased smile on Maribel’s face as she admires the couple. It’s a look Santana has rarely seen when it comes to her past partners and it makes her chest fill with pride. Even months later, her and Brittany still got it!

“Well, as promised this is only a quick visit,” Maribel tells them. “We really need to get going now, but while I’ve got you here: when are you coming home for a visit?”

Santana and Brittany exchange a look. They weren’t looking to make a visit for another few weeks, at least until after Spring Break. Free time is hard to come by now that they’re getting closer to the end of the semester.

“You know Abuela would like to see you both again,” Maribel adds.

Santana’s brows rise, “Would she now?”

“I think she’s warming up to things,” Maribel says vaguely but Santana gets it. “Wouldn’t hurt to come see her though. You know seeing pictures of you two together on Facebook has become a highlight for her.”

“Told you we’re cute,” Brittany jokes as she hugs Santana to her side.

“I should’ve known, she likes every single one them,” Santana quips.

“She wants to spend time with you,” Maribel explains and looks to Brittany. “She wants to spend time with the both of you.”

Santana quirks a brow at that, “Really? Has something changed?”

Maribel only shrugs. “You’ll have to ask her for yourself.”

Santana and Brittany glance at each other, both suddenly curious about Abuela’s change of heart.

“How about you come down for Spring Break?” Maribel suggests.

“Uhhh,” Santana stammers as she looks to Brittany, “We’re going to have to talk about it first. Brittany might have to – “

“Spring Break is fine with me,” Brittany shrugs.

“I thought you were planning on going home?” Santana lies – trying to get Brittany to catch on. “Spend time with your family?”

The blonde only shakes her head, “Nope. I’d rather stay here with you.”

Santana feels herself deflate; usually Spring Break is her time to finally let loose but she guesses there’s not much else she could get up to since she’s fake dating Brittany. She might as well just use the time to reinforce that she’s capable of being in a long term relationship.

By then, her and Brittany would be together for four months – that’s the longest relationship yet! Surely, that’ll have to mean something to her family.

“Well sure,” Santana sighs in defeat. “I can’t imagine spending my Spring break any other way than by returning to Lima.”

Maribel gives her a gleaming grin, “Perfect.”

\\

Once Maribel and Eddie head off to their banquet, Santana and Brittany collapse together on the couch. Puck hands them both a beer before cracking one open for himself and taking a seat opposite them.

“Way to sell it,” Puck raises his bottle. “Great work! It was cool to see you two in action like that. I can see why everyone eats this shit up. You’re pretty believable.”

“Glad you enjoyed the show,” Santana quips.

“Looks like I came right on time too,” Brittany says.

“Yeah about that,” Santana looks to Brittany. “How the hell did you get into my room?”

“The window?” Brittany shrugs. “I’m surprised it wasn’t locked.

Santana’s eyes go wide, “You climbed through the window?”

“Well yeah, how else would I have gotten in? Through the vent?” Brittany jokes.

“Good thing we’re on the first floor,” Puck chuckles.

Brittany nods and clinks her bottle with his. Meanwhile Santana just stares at the blonde with her jaw slack. Not only did she run over here, she went through the effort of climbing through the window too!

The girl is crazy.

Santana doubts she would’ve gone to the same extent. No way she’d try getting her ass through a window, that’s just too much. But still, she supposes some thanking is in order.

“Well, I appreciate you going through all that,” Santana says bashfully. “I didn’t expect my mom to just pop up like that so…thanks for coming here so quickly.”

There’s a half-smirk on Brittany’s face and Santana anticipates her poking fun at how Santana’s actually thanking her for something, but it doesn’t come. Brittany just continues smiling as she clinks her bottle with Santana’s.

“That’s what fake girlfriends are for,” She tells her.

\\

Over the following days, Santana and Brittany often run into each other at the library. It’s not Santana’s preferred place to study but it’s hard for her to concentrate sometimes with Puck around.

Although Santana and Brittany are in the same place, they often sit separately.

Brittany keeps to her lone table in the study area while Santana sits somewhere in the upper level because she likes the view of the exit. It’s kind of like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, that tunnel being the designated hour she makes herself study.

However, on one particular day all of the tables in the upper level are occupied. Santana finds herself scowling at the randoms before making her way down to the level beneath – where the study area is kept.

Like always, Brittany’s sitting alone near the back and Santana finds herself walking over to her without a second thought. She wasn’t planning on sharing the table with her, just maybe say hi and leave her be, but as Santana approaches the table she finds something unexpected there:

Spanish for Dummies

Intrigued, Santana’s eyes roam the table and find all sorts of similar books on the Spanish language mixed in with Brittany’s actual coursework. Then Santana takes a peek at Brittany’s laptop, trying to figure out what has her so consumed that she’s yet to notice her standing there.

There’s a little green owl going over conjugations – Spanish conjugations – and Santana watches as Brittany jots down notes as she mouths whatever words she hears through her headphones. Santana’s completely dumbfounded and pulls up a chair, the motion finally causes Brittany to jolt and turn.

Blue eyes spark with surprise before the headphones quickly come off. The girl looks like she’s just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, but Santana can’t help the fascination.

“Santana!” Brittany gasps. “Wh-what are you doing here?”

“It’s the library,” She answers simply. “I’m here to study.”

“Oh, duh. Of cour – “

“Are you teaching yourself Spanish?” Santana interrupts.

Brittany looks from her screen to the books on the table to Santana. She seems a little timid as she minimizes the program on her laptop. Santana wonders if she’s going to attempt to lie, but there’s too much evidence against her. There’s no way she could convince Santana that she’s doing otherwise.  

“Yeah,” Brittany admits with a nervous laugh. “I am.”

Santana quirks her brow, “What are you doing that for? Surely not for fun?”

Brittany shrugs, “The shows on Univision are great but I’m tired of reading subtitles.”

“Really?” Santana doesn’t seem convinced. “That’s like…a lot of work. Besides, I thought nerds like to read?”

Brittany gives her an unimpressed look, “Well…I also figured that if I knew a little Spanish then it’ll give Abuela and I something to bond over. I remember your aunts mentioning this one show she likes so I’ve kind of been binging it.”

“You’ve been binging telenovelas?” Santana asks in disbelief.

“Well yeah, the drama is addicting.”

“Oh wow,” Santana sits back. “So you’re serious about this?”

“Aren’t you?” Brittany replies.

“Yeah, but this is a new level.”

“Don’t you want to be as convincing as you can be?”

“There’s convincing and then there’s this,” Santana jokes. “Your over-achiever tendencies are showing again.”

“You jealous?” Brittany fires back. “I know how much you love it when your mom compares us.”

“I’m not jealous,” Santana turns up her nose.

Brittany smirks, “Just checking. Afterall, this whole thing was your idea.”

“Technically it was Puck’s.”

“Whatever,” Brittany says. “I’m going to do all that I can to make this work because I’m committed. You continue doing…whatever it is that you do.”

Santana tenses her jaw at the jab. It reminds her of the game they played before– the constant one-upping of each other – and she wonders if they’re still playing it.

She thinks about how she accidentally introduced herself to Brittany’s parents as her girlfriend. She remembers how Brittany now has to keep up this façade with them too thanks to the slip-up. She thinks about who this Artie guy is and why Brittany’s parents were wondering where he went.

But most importantly, she thinks about how underwhelming she is as a girlfriend.

She’s nothing like Brittany; she isn’t kind and sweet and she isn’t someone people take home to meet their parents. Santana’s the girl that helps you get over your ex, she’s the one college girls experiment with, she’s down for one night stands, down for no-strings-attached kind of hook ups – she’s not actual girlfriend material.

And oddly enough, she kind of feels bad that Brittany’s stuck with her for the time being. This fake relationship thing wasn’t meant to go beyond convincing Maribel, but that’s exactly what’s happened now thanks to her big mouth.

“You really don’t have to do this, you know,” Santana says after the guilt starts setting in.

“I want to,” Brittany tells her.

Santana sighs; yet another reason why they’re so different.

“Learning a language just to get Abuela to like you?” Santana explains. “Don’t you think that’s kind of going overboard?”

“Not really. It’s kind of fun.”

“Fun?”

“Well yeah, I’ve always wanted to learn another language,” Brittany replies. “Why not start now? Plus I meant what I said about the subtitles thing. It would be so much easier not having to read.”

Santana chuckles as she shakes her head, “How do you find the time? I’m swamped with studying and assignments and cheer practice. Here you are learning another language for fun.”

“I kind of have a photographic memory.”

Santana rolls her eyes, “Of course you do.”

“I’m joking,” Brittany smirks. “I have a bunch of techniques that help cut down on the amount of time you’re actually studying so you don’t spend all your time doing it. I could…teach you some if you want?”

Santana lifts her chin, “I don’t need a tutor.”

“I didn’t say you did,” Brittany laughs. “Why are you always so quick to be on the defense?”

Santana crosses her arms and looks away, “I’m not.”

“Uh-huh,” Brittany grins. “I’ve got a study session with Puck on Thursday. I think it’s actually going to be at your place. We can not share study tips then if you want?”

Santana lets the offer roll around in her head but she doesn’t want to seem too eager.

“I might be around, depends if practice lets out on time.”

“Okay,” Brittany nods then looks at her laptop screen before glancing back at Santana who has yet to move. “So are you sitting with me now or…?”

“Oh!” Santana jolts to stand up. She gathers her bag from the ground and looks around for an empty table, but they’re all occupied.

“I’m not kicking you out, you know,” Brittany tells her without looking away from the screen. “You can stay if you’d like.”

Santana looks around indecisively. She’d rather study alone, but that doesn’t seem to be an option at the moment. She can’t go home either with Puck around, so she guesses staying with Brittany is the next best thing.

“Okay,” Santana replies. “I’ll stay.”

“I’ll clear some space for you,” Brittany says.

Santana moves to the opposite end of the table while Brittany gathers her things in order for Santana to have more room on the table for hers. They sit silently like that working on their respective things for awhile, getting lost in their work.

Brittany ends up leaving the table for a moment and Santana barely notices until she’s placing a coffee in front of her.

“Oh thanks,” Santana smiles at the unexpected gesture.

Brittany doesn’t say anything, just returns the smile as she sits back down.

Another moment later when Santana gets peckish, she pulls out a bag of trail mix. She barely gives it a second thought when she places it between them so that Brittany can have some too if she wants.

\\

When Thursday comes around, Santana ends up leaving cheer practice on time for once. She’s quick to get out of there so that she can wash up and change out of her uniform before Brittany arrives, but she finds that the blonde is already there by the time she gets home.

“What up, Lopez!” Puck calls out to her as he sits with Brittany at their tiny dining table.

Brittany looks up too, her eyes moving from their work to Santana who lingers by the front door. There’s a small smile that begins to curl her lips and Santana finds herself returning it with her own little grin.

“Hi,” She greets as she kicks of her tennis shoes. It was meant for Puck but it seems that it’s directed at Brittany.

“Hey,” Brittany replies.

“How was practice?” Puck asks, just now lifting his head from the work before him.

“Got bumped up to flyer,” Santana says casually although it’s pretty exciting news. She comes around to the kitchen for a drink, “Erica apparently has brittle bones from what Coach says.”

“No way!” Puck cheers, “That’s so awesome!”

“What’s a flyer?” Brittany asks, looking between the two.

“The girls that do stunts in the air,” Santana answers.

“Oh,” Brittany’s brows rise. “That’s…isn’t that kind of dangerous?”

“You worried about me?” Santana teases as she comes around to sit on the stool next to them. She crosses her legs, her cheer skirt hugging her thighs tightly. “Didn’t you say cheer was boring?”

Puck grins as he looks to Brittany for a rebuttal, but the blonde looks stumped.

Actually, the blonde looks distracted.

When Santana realizes that she’s staring at her legs, it’s like a personal victory for her. It was only a matter of time before the skirt wins!

Puck notices the distraction too and glances between his friends, a knowing smirk starting to form.

“Anyway,” Santana says as she finishes off her glass of water.

The sound of her voice breaks Brittany from her trance, but blue eyes are dark with something Santana’s familiar with but has yet to see on her. It makes her smirk; she’s missed having that kind of power over someone. It’s the sexual magnetism, it never fails her.

“Might hit the shower now,” Santana adds before looking to Brittany. “You going to be here much longer?”

Brittany nods, “Yeah. I only got here a little before you did.”

“Okay,” Santana can’t help the flirtatious tone now that she knows she’s got Brittany wrapped around her finger. The teasing is the most fun she’s had in awhile! “Maybe you can show me some things once you’re done with him?”

Brittany gulps, “Yeah sure.”

Puck notices what Santana’s doing and interrupts, “Uh…what’s happening right now?”

“Can it, Puckerman,” Santana waves off although her smile remains devilish. “What’s the point of having a fake girlfriend if I can’t fake flirt with them too?”

Brittany’s face goes a little red as she finally snaps back to reality.

“You call that flirting?” Brittany jokes.

“Fake flirting.”

Brittany shakes her head as she smirks, “I still don’t understand how you pick up any girls.”

“Judging by the look that’s been on your face since I walked in, I think you do.”

Puck looks back and forth between the two again like he’s watching an intense tennis match.

“How about I order a pizza for later?” He suggests in attempt to break up the bickering before it escalates.

“Sounds good,” Santana says without taking her eyes off Brittany.

“Yeah,” Brittany nods. “Sounds awesome.”

“Cool,” Puck replies and looks to Santana. “Go shower now. You’re distracting everyone.”

“She’s not distracting me,” Brittany said pointedly.  

Santana quirks her brow and smirks, “Keep telling yourself that, Britt-Britt.”

She lets her hips sway in that well-practiced way as she leaves the room. She doesn’t have to look to know that Brittany’s yet to stop staring and she struggles to hold back the laughter as she gets ready for a shower.

\\

Despite the teasing game she played earlier, Santana sits in Puck’s place at the tiny dining table across from Brittany with a scowl on her face. This studying thing? She’s had enough of it.

“This is pointless. Education is pointless. I’m gonna become a stripper instead,” Santana huffs.

“You'd probably make so much money!” Puck jokes from his place on the couch.

“Probably? Please,” Santana lifts her chin. “I'd make it rain every night!”

Puck laughs and throws his arm over the back of the couch to look at the pair.

“What do you think, Britt?” Puck presses with a smirk. “Think Santana would make it rain?”

Santana smirks too and looks to Brittany for answer.

“I think…I'm kind of hungry,” Brittany says. “How far away is the pizza?”

Santana’s smirk falls at the way Brittany deflects the question. Since Santana’s return, Brittany’s been a little quieter. Santana figured she’s just stuck in study mode and that she’d loosen up eventually, but she’s still waiting.

“I should probably head over now actually,” Puck realizes after checking his phone.

“Take me with you,” Santana jokes. “I think my brain is turning to mush.”

Brittany sighs, “Don’t be so dramatic.”

“You know that’s a struggle for me.”

“True,” Brittany jokes. “Hey, if we finish this chapter tonight I’ll let you use my pretty pens to take notes?”

"Tempting, but I don't need your pretty pens,” Santana says flatly. She rests back in her chair and stares at the ceiling. “What I need is alcohol and several orgasms. I clearly didn't think this fake dating thing through. I've never been so sexually deprived.”

Puck goes to grab his keys, “And on that note – I’ll be back in a few.”

Meanwhile, Brittany just snickers to herself but she isn’t laughing with Santana and it has the brunette frowning.

“What?” Santana questions as Puck leaves.

Brittany shakes her head, “It must be so hard for you to keep it in your pants for once.”

“You have no idea. Who knew that the last time would be the last time. I sure didn’t!”

Brittany shakes her head again and goes back to her work. It makes Santana feel a little on edge and straightens up in her chair.

“I'm obviously joking,” Santana adds and it makes Brittany look up. “What's it to you if I wasn't though?”

“What are you talking about?” Brittany asks.

“Your interest in my sex life.”

Brittany scoffs and looks back to her work, “I'd hardly call it an interest.”

Santana folds her arms across her chest, “So you're secretly some kind of prude?”

“It's not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Brittany sighs and looks up at her again, “Why are we even talking about this?”

Santana notices the change in her tone and perks up. She abandons her work all together in favor of leaning in.

“Because it's way more interesting?” Santana presses. “I know you're trying to deflect, you might as well just answer. If not, I'll assume the reason it gets your panties all in a twist is because you're secretly jealous.”

“I'm definitely not jealous.”

“So it’s the other option,” Santana says. “You’re a prude.”

“No!” Brittany huffs. She softens when she realizes she raised her voice. There’s a timidness to her when she explains, “I just, I guess I believe in developing the feelings part first before the physical happens.”

Santana softens too but for a different reason. It’s more so confusion than anything else.

"Why?” She asks.

“Because with feelings it's better,” Brittany says simply.

“Are you kidding?” Santana quips. “It’s better when it doesn’t involve feelings. I think it’s better when it doesn’t involve eye contact.”

“Wow. Seriously?” Brittany looks at her sympathetically. “That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard. God, who hurt you?”

Santana didn’t expect her comment to strike a nerve. The memory of short blonde hair and a cunning smile sneaks its way past Santana’s defenses as she mutters, “One guess.”

Brittany looks at her curiously before something clicks, “Oh. The girl.”

Santana doesn’t like where this is going and pushes away the overwhelming feelings that beg to bust through. She walls herself up, holds her chin high and swallows back the lump.

“Yeah well,” Santana brushes off. “I think it's pretty unrealistic to go out there thinking every potential lay has to be relationship material first. Where's the fun in that?”

Brittany continues to eye her like she’s wounded and Santana hates it.

“The fun part is getting to know someone first so when it does happen,” Brittany pauses as she bites her lip. “It's meaningful.”

Santana averts her eyes, because staring into Brittany’s makes her feel far too exposed. Instead she retreats in on herself to place she’s comfortable, she takes the attention off of her.

“Gross. Who knew you were such a hopeless romantic,” Santana jokes.

Brittany sighs through a soft smile, “Call me old fashioned I guess.”

“Super old fashioned,” Santana quips. “Like, are you telling me you've never had a steamy quickie with a random? Everybody's got one.”

Brittany looks away and as she smirks, “Of course I have. I’m not that innocent.”

Santana perks up, “Really? Miss Goodie Two Shoes getting down and dirty without before being properly courted? God, I want details…”

Brittany snickers, “Not happening.”

“What?” Santana shifts in her seat excitedly. “Come on, what's a little girl talk between friends or are you the type that doesn’t kiss and tell because lame.”

Brittany looks up at her and smirks, “You saying we're friends?”

“Will it get you talking?”

Brittany laughs, “We should get back to work now. You've derailed us for long enough.”

“Come on, Britt-Britt,” Santana coos jokingly. “We've been at it for hours. I'm burnt out, sober and in dire need of sex.”

“None of that is my problem.”

“Sure it is,” Santana jokes. “The least you can do is tell me a couple of your kinky stories to get me through the night.”

“No.”

“Please?”

Brittany gives her a look, but Santana just bats her eyelashes. It makes Brittany laugh and she softens once again.

“Actually, I might be able to help you out.”

Santana sits straighter, “It was only a matter of time…”

Brittany rolls her eyes, “Get over yourself. Not every girl on campus wants you, including me.”

Santana laughs, “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Britt-Britt.”

“Anyway,” Brittany continues, “I'm talking about a swanky party – a ball even.”

“A ball, you say?” Santana’s interest is piqued.

“Totally.”

“You've got my attention…”

“Well, there’s going to be an open bar, free food, an excuse to dress up and let loose. That ticks off two out of three on your list.”

Santana quirks a brow, “And the catch?”

“No catch.”

“There's gotta be a catch.”

“Okay fine,” Brittany slumps. “It's the Brainiacs’ Ball.”

“The what?” Santana deadpans.

“The Brainiacs’ Ball,” Brittany clarifies. “It's open to all the academic decathlon clubs across the city, this year we’re hosting. The team with the highest winning percentage is named and also the award for Most Brilliant Brainiac is given out. It's the biggest night for the club.”

“Oh, hell no,” Santana chuckles. “There’s not enough free alcohol in the world to get me to go to that. Count me out.”

Brittany starts to frown, “What? Why?”

Santana shakes her head, “One of your matches was enough. I'm not going to a party where I have to be surrounded by all of you at once.”

“It won't be that bad,” Brittany sighs. “It's a night for celebrating. No trivia unless you count the bad puns you might hear.”

“I've seen the guys on your team,” Santana explains. “I can't be liable for the feelings I'd definitely hurt if I were to be around them. I’d be triggered by pocket protector.”

“But you'll mostly be with me,” Brittany tries.

“That doesn’t really help your case.”

Brittany gives her a look, “Well, I kind of need you to go.”

“You need me to go?”

“Well yeah, I don't want to be the only one there without a date,” Brittany reasons. “Plus wouldn't it be suspicious if you didn't go considering we're a thing?”

Santana lets out a laugh, thinking that she’s finally caught on.

“So that it explains it,” She says.

“Explains what?”

“The coffee the other day, sharing study tips, being here,” Santana goes on, “You’ve been setting yourself up to ask me to your dumb ball.”

Brittany tenses, “'First of all, it's not dumb.”

“Sorry. I should've said nerdy,” Santana clarifies.

“I wasn’t doing those things for this,” Brittany tells her. “I was… I did them to be nice. We don’t always have to be at each other. It doesn’t always have to be a competition.”

Santana shakes her head as she gets to thinking. She knows Brittany’s cunning too, she knows that she can play games so who’s to say she wasn’t playing this time?

“I'm not going,” Santana replies. “You can tell people I'm sick or something.”

Brittany lets out a bitter laugh, “Right. So this relationship thing only works when it's in your favor?”

Santana frowns at the harshness of Brittany’s tone, something that doesn’t feel right coming from the blonde.

“What are you talking about?” Santana huffs. “That’s not – “

“We always do what you want,” Brittany interrupts. “Whatever makes you look good but this one time I ask you for something and it's just a flat out no?”

Brittany’s face has gone a little red and Santana’s further surprised – she didn’t think it was this big of a deal. She doesn’t grasp why Brittany’s so worked up all of sudden. Why would she want someone there with her if they didn’t want to be there in the first place?

“Look, it's better if I don't go because if one dork in clunky black glasses wearing suspenders and a hideous bowtie crosses paths with me I won't be able to contain myself,” Santana argues. “I'll end up hurting someone's feelings and you said it yourself, it's a night for celebration.”

Brittany looks at her like she’s hit a new low. Hell, maybe she just did.

“You're unbelievable,” Brittany huffs as she stands and starts gathering her things.

“What?” Santana watches her with a sudden ache in her chest. “You’re leaving?”

“Clearly,” Brittany mutters. “I can’t be around you right now.”

“All because I don’t want to go?”

Brittany shakes her head, another bitter laugh escaping her.

“No,” She says gravely. “It’s because you’re the most selfish person I’ve ever met.”

Santana tenses at the way her words drip with disdain, but at the same time it puts her on the defense.

“Well sorry that I’m not like you,” Santana argues. “Sorry I can’t just slip into character with ease and be your perfect fake girlfriend whenever you want. Sorry I’m not on all the time like you are.”

Brittany just stares at her for a moment, studying Santana’s face before she speaks again.

“Just when I think I’ve figured you out,” Brittany continues. “Just when I think you’re actually a half-decent person and that maybe beneath this prickly exterior of yours, there’s actually something – someone – deserving of…of a friend you go and prove to me that I’m wrong.”

Santana slumps back in her chair, dejected and defeated.  

Even if Brittany didn’t physical hit her, those words sure did. She can’t even speak as she watches Brittany gather the last of her things and storm out. What’s worse is that she swears she sees blue eyes tinging red just before she turns away.

Santana slaps her hand at the table when the door slams shut behind Brittany. She instantly feels the sting of wood on her open palm.

Why? Why does she always have to screw things up like this?

\\

Puck comes through the door just a minute later, looking confused as well.

“So I just passed Britt in the hall,” He says hesitantly.

“Yeah, she left.”

Puck slowly closes the door behind him, “Why?”

“Because,” Santana lets out a long puff of air. She feels the lump forming again in her throat, strange and unwelcome. “Because I’m an idiot.”

“Dude,” His face falls. “Please tell me you didn’t try to make a move on her. The games earlier were cute and all but – “

“No,” Santana quickly answers. “I didn’t do that.”

“Then what happened?” Puck asks. “She looked really upset.”

Santana presses her lips tightly together, she’s almost ashamed to admit the truth.

“She wanted me to go to some ball with her,” Santana says dismissively. “I told her no.”

“You told her no?” Puck quirks a brow.

“I can’t.”

“You can’t?” Puck frowns. “After all the stuff she’s done for you, you can’t?”

“Look, I can see where I fucked up okay?” Santana snaps. “I don’t need you adding to it.”

Puck shakes his head as he backs off. “You really are an idiot.”

Santana agrees but she doesn’t tell him that.

“You know it’s not a good idea,” Santana tries convincing him. “It’ll be nothing but those academic decathlon nerds and not just the ones from Brittany’s team. It’ll be like ten times that! They’ll be from all over the city and you know how I am around the general public especially when I’m provoked. I could screw up and expose us both. It’s too risky.”

Puck doesn’t say anything, just listens to her excuses.

“I can’t do it,” Santana tells him with finality. “I can’t. Brittany might be pissed at me right now, but she’ll see it’s for the best. I’d just ruin her night because I don’t know how to act anyway. She’ll come around, she has to.”

“Sure Santana,” Puck dismisses and goes to flip open the pizza box. “So…does this mean I can have her pizza too?”

Santana just shakes her head, “Shut up.”

[raiseyourcups]

In my heart I already know

Pairing: Din Djarin x Reader Warnings: None, just fluff and Din being angry for a bit (not at you, don’t worry) Word Count: 1.2k

Summary: Din comes home super stressed from a bounty so you tell him to take a nap while you make some comfort food so that he can have a taste of home and relax

You had just put the Child down for his afternoon nap, a feat that took no less than an hour most days, when Din stalked into the Crest. He was empty-handed despite leaving to catch a bounty he had been looking for, for over a week. You knew something had to have gone wrong if Din was back. 

You watch as Din all but stomps over to his weapons locker, ripping his pulse rifle off his shoulder and carefully but rigidly placing it in its place. His blaster is next followed by his belt with his flash chargers. You watch all of this silently, taking in how tense his shoulders are and how his stance just screams out how angry he is.

"Din, what happened?"

His shoulders tense even more if that were possible. "Quarry got away, went to ground."

"Oh." 

"Yeah. Oh." He said before slamming the weapons locker shut, the sound echoing throughout the hangar. You cringe and hope he hasn't woken up the Child. He finally turns around to face you and he must see something in your expression because he deflates a little.  "I'm sorry, we just...we need those credits."

"I know," you say. You know he's right, even though Karga reinstated him into the Guild he can only take the more low profile jobs. He can't afford to be seen by anyone looking for the Child but that means that every job gives half as much as he would be making. Barely enough to cover fuel and food most of the time. 

You stare as Din stares at the ground and make up your mind to help him relax. "Why don't you take a quick nap? The Child will sleep longer if one of us is with him."

"I can't."

"You said it yourself, the bounty went to ground. Take a nap for me, please?" You plead, a small smile on your face as you put on your most convincing face.

"...Okay."

You watch as he slowly climbs into the small cot, gently patting the Child on the head as he does so, and closes the hatch door behind him. You wait a couple of minutes knowing that if he's even half as exhausted as you think he is, he'll already be asleep.

As soon as you think it's safe, you're moving around the small area you had designated as a kitchen. You have been saving little things from each supply run to do this for Din. You could tell that as the days went by he was getting more and more stressed and you had planned something to help him relax. But now you finally had a reason and a chance.

As quiet as you could you started to make the food that you had painstakingly searched the HoloNet for. You hoped you were using enough spices for this one or not too many nuts for that one or that the broth for the soup wasn’t too fishy. Tiingilar, Uj’alayi, Gi dumpling soup. You went over the names again in your head, hoping that you weren’t completely pronouncing them wrong. 

It took longer than you expected but you got it done before Din woke up. You had just plated everything up, placing it all on a small table you had haggled for last time you landed on a planet with a market when the hatch of the cot opened up. Din climbed out, picking the Child up as soon as he did. It took him a good minute before he noticed the setup.

"What's this?"

"I just thought since you've been working non-stop," you trailed off, shrugging your shoulders as Din moved closer to the table. The Child immediately wanted to be put down in his chair, obviously hungry after his nap. You hadn't given him any of the tiingilar, it was too spicy for even you to handle more than a bite or two. So you had only given the Child a small bowl of soup and a slice of the Uj cake.

You gesture for Din to sit down as well, plate and bowl ready and waiting. You felt a little ridiculous, like a housewife but one that could shoot a blaster with the accuracy to rival a Mandalorian. You had your food and had already decided to go up to the cockpit to eat in order to give Din space to eat. You knew he could remove his helmet in front of the Child, the Armorer had called him his father after all but you were a different story.

"Is that...tiingilar?" Din asked and you felt your cheeks warm when you heard the astonishment in his voice. 

"Yes?"

"I haven't had this since I joined the Guild."

"Well hopefully I didn't mess it up," you said as you walked over to get your food. You had only gotten a few steps away when Din spoke again. 

"Where are you going?"

"Up to the cockpit so you can eat?" You tilted your head in confusion, unsure why he had stopped you when this had been one of his own rules. 

"I-"

"Yes?"

"I'd like it if you stayed."

"But then you can't eat…"

Din stayed silent for a long moment, the only sound the Child tapping on the table. He was apparently waiting for you two to start eating before he dug in. Din got up and looked at you, gesturing for you to wait before he went back to the cot. He came back with a blanket that he laid down on the ground beside the cot. He got up and picked up both the Child and his food, setting him down on one end of the blanket before grabbing his own food, placing it down and sitting down.

"Din, what are you doing?"

"Come here." You slowly walked over, food in hand and a puzzled look on your face. Din reached out and gently grabbed your wrist. "Sit down."

"Din you won't be able to eat," you said even as you let yourself be pulled down. 

"Just...trust me." 

You sat down with a sigh, crossing your legs to take up less space and to be more comfortable. Din let out a sigh and gently moved you so you weren't facing him at all before he settled back down. You two were now back to back and you could feel your heart beating faster at the warmth you feel even through the armor. 

"Don't turn around," Din said before, from the corner of your eyes, you saw his helmet being placed on the blanket beside you. You felt Din reach forward to grab his bowl and start eating but you were sure you were frozen. 

"Eat, cyar'ika."

"You know I don't know what that means," you whined but did as he said. Picking up your plate of tiingilar first, you wanted to leave the soup for after so it would sooth the mouth burns left by the spice filled stew. 

Din let out a low chuckle, the sound going straight to your chest and burning warm. "I know."

You leaned back a little, bumping your shoulder into his back for teasing you. After that a nice quiet fell over you three as you ate only broken by the sounds of you eating and the Child’s happy coos when his dad gave him bites of his uj cake. You and Din were back to back the entire time, leaning on each other like you had ever since you had joined him on the Razor Crest.