#however Kid Ignition can bring people into his room without his dad knowing and having to do anything to make it safe for them to enter

[daydreamerdrew]

The Power Fantasy (2024) #6 and #2

[monamourbladie-mb]

19 Years Later... (Darth Vader x reader miniseries chapter 1)

19 years have passed since Y/n’s husband Anakin’s death, and she has become the leading General of the newly founded Rebellion alongside her past Jedi friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, now known as Ben Kenobi. When her children Luke and Leia Skywalker gets kidnapped by Darth Vader, the man who killed her husband; her and Obi-Wan Kenobi must come rescue her. But when she finds out who’s behind Darth Vader’s mask, the truth is something she never thought she had to prepare herself for.

——————

Index:

1. prologue

2. chapter 1

3. chapter 2 [Coming soon]

wc: 2.3k

warnings: cursing

——————

Being the leader of the new Rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire had its perks. One of the things that was not a perk, however, was hiding one’s actual name from their people, and past.

None of Y/n’s rebels knew of her past as a former Jedi Knight that fought in the Clone Wars. Though she fought like a cunning warrior, the thought had never once crossed their minds, seeing as all the Jedi were dead.

She had raised her children Luke and Leia with Obi-Wan’s guidance to be trained as Jedi, seeing as both of them were very Force-Sensitive.

Watching Luke wield his father’s lightsaber brought such bittersweet feelings to both old Jedi Knights. Anakin was such a big part of both of their lives, that it was almost painful to see this without him there.

Anakin would be beyond proud of his son and daughter, for sure.

Y/n recalled the first time he and Leia held their lightsabers. They were both 9, the same age their Father was when he was brought him by Qui-Gon Jyn from Tattooine.

Luke had rushed up to Obi’s old trunk excitedly, admiring the strange silver object with big eyes as Leia crowded behind him, “What’s that, Uncle Obi?”

“This is your father’s lightsaber, my dear. He would’ve wanted you to have it,” Obi replied, a sad smile on his face as he held onto the hilt, activating its stellar blue glow.

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster—“ Obi handed it to Luke and his eyes widened, waving it around gently so he didn’t break it. “—an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”

“Is it mine?” Luke’s eyes beamed in excitement. Obi-Wan nodded, sitting down as he picked up Leia, putting her on his knee.

“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice. The old republic. Before the Empire...” he trailed off, turning his head towards the window.

Y/n rushed into the room, hearing the lightsaber and fearing there was an intruder, “Obi-Wan! What’s going on, I’m—“ she ignited her brilliant (l/c) saber, holding it in a protective stance before she realized it was just Luke. She sighed heavily and disengaged her saber, attaching it back to her belt loop, “Obi, you didn’t tell me you were doing this now...” she crossed her arms.

“Mom! Obi-Wan told me this was Dad’s! Look!” he started swinging it gently, making sure it didn’t hit anyone since he knew how deadly they could be. She began to smile sadly as she remembered a young Anakin as a padawan, rushing in to show her his lightsaber he constructed the day he finally got one.

She smiled sadly, tears welling up in her eyes. “You look so much like your father, Luke,” she said sadly. Obi looked back at Luke, and for a split moment, he was reminded of the small slave his old master brought back with him. He smiled to himself remembering how he helped Anakin with his padawan braid.

“Princess, come here. I’ll let you hold my lightsaber, okay?” she handed Leia her saber gently, and she took gingerly from her hand. Leia took it and igniting it, the blade’s glow reflecting in her excited little eyes.

“Mom? How did dad die? You never answered me,” Luke asked. Y/n felt herself freeze in place, a large lump in her throat forming. “Luke, I...”

“I’ll tell them, Y/n,” Obi-Wan replied solemnly. “Your father was killed by a young Jedi named Darth Vader. He was a close friend of mine before he fell. He helped the Emperor hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father.” The room fell silent, until Luke asked another question, “So you and Uncle Obi are the last remaining Jedi?”

Obi-Wan shook his head no, “There are others, but sparse. To name a few, Master Yoda and Ahsoka Tano, your father’s Padawan learner. The last remaining Jedi are being hunted down by Vader, which is why we hide.”

Leia spoke up softly, “Is that why we don’t use our actual last name, mommy?”

“Yes, sweetheart. As long as Vader’s reign continues, we must hide our names. Darth Vader does not know about the two of you, so you are safe. For us, on the other hand...” she trailed off, and the kids understood.

“Mom... Mom,” Leia spoke loudly. Y/n blinked in confusion and turned back around, looking at her daughter, “Yeah, my love?”

“Are you okay mom?” Leia asked, frowning. “We need to look at the Death Star plans.”

“Right,” she sighed heavily, turning to face from the window out looking Yavin 4. “I’m fine, princess. I just... was remembering Anakin, that’s all.” Leia sighed and laid her hand on her mother’s back, rubbing it gently, “Dad would be proud of everything you’ve done, mom.” She began to tear up as she pulled Leia into a tight hug, “I hope so. It’s been about 20 years and it still doesn’t feel right,” silent tears fell down her cheeks into her daughter’s bunned hair.

“I’m proud of you, Leia. If you were to be trained within the Order now, you’d be the same age your father was when he became a Jedi Knight, and when he married me...” she sniffled, wiping her tears. Leia smiled softly, holding her mom’s hand, “Do you think he’d be proud of me, too?”

“I know he would,” she rubbed her fingertips against hers, “He would pull you into the tightest hug, spin you a little and say softly, ‘That’s my baby girl,’” she replied, her voice cracking slightly. Leia began to tear up as she hugged her back, “I wish I knew him...” she said softly. “I wish so too, babe, so bad...” Y/n sighed. But I won’t let his memory be in vain. Let’s go look at these plans and destroy that Death Star, yeah?”

Leia and Y/n walked to the main board room, seeing how the map was already up on display. “General Jonas, we’ve been examining the Death Star plans. They’re on screen now,” one of her commanding officers recited. “Good, thank you, officer. Have we discovered a weak point yet? Or at least some form of entry point?”

“No, ma’am. We haven’t studied long enough. There are many ways in, but all most likely heavily guarded. We will have to find a way to go under the radar without getting detected, somehow,” he replied. She nodded, walking closer to examine it. She closed her eyes and felt out through the Force for some answer. No surprise to her, she could barely feel anything at all but an empty void. Ever since Anakin had died, she had felt more distanced from the Force than ever. Maybe she and Anakin possessed a rare Dyad, or maybe she had simply lost touch with the Force; but no matter what she did, she was nowhere near as powerful in the Force as she used to be.

“Alert me if you find anything, Officer, I would love to have this Death Star in shambles by the end of the month,” Y/n left to walk out and to ask Obi-Wan on the matter. “Yes, ma’am,” he responded, turning back to his computer to get back to work.

Elsewhere, Leia was pacing in Luke’s room, grumbling to herself, “I know Obi-Wan has taught us to not let our emotions guide us, but I can’t when it comes to him. He killed our father, he should be dead!” Leia huffed in anger, collapsing down onto her twin’s bed.

Luke grunted in response, his mouth full of food still, “It’s not like you can take him on yourself. You’d die!” he said, or at least, sounded like he said. “I will not let the lives of those lost who got us the plans in the first place’s memories die. We wouldn’t be this close to planning an attack without their sacrifices. Moreover, Mom has had these plans for two days now, and she hasn’t done a single thing about it!” Leia responded quickly. Luke shrugged, “Leia. Be real. It’s not like we can steal a ship and fly to the Death Star, find it’s a weak point, and get back in time for dinner.”

Leia sat up, looking at Luke as if he had just committed mass murder. “...What?” Luke asked warily. Leia grinned, “That’s it! We’ll do just that, Luke! We’ll take one of mom’s ships, fly around the death star undetected and find weak entry points, and get back like we were never even gone!”

“Leia, you can not be serious right now!” Luke gasped, setting his food down, “We can’t do this, we could get in so much trouble! Or spotted!”

“Do you want to sit idly while our mother and uncle do nothing, whereas our Father’s murderer is out on the lose on that moon!” Leia snapped at him. He narrowed his eyes, “That’s no moon, Leia. Also, no, I don’t! But do we have a choice? No. We’re staying here.”

“No, we’re leaving. Whether I go alone is up to you entirely, but at this point, I just want the man who killed my father dead,” Leia said, glaring at him. Luke huffed, “You think I don’t want him dead, too? But we are children, we literally can’t do anything!”

“We are 19 years old and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to sit at home here and wait for Vader to kill more innocent people,” Leia frowned, crossing her arms. “I really need you with me, Luke. But I get it if you don’t go.” she stood up, grabbing her stuff to leave when Luke grumbled “Wait!” under his breath. “I’ll... go. Just to protect you. But this is a bad idea, and I don’t want to get caught,” he raised a brow to her. Leia grinned and hugged Luke tightly, “Thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this! But bring your lightsaber maybe, just in case?”

——————

“What do you mean, YOU LET THEM GO?” Y/n snapped to C3-PO, enraged. Threepio raised his hands in defense, “I couldn’t stop them, mistress! I tried my best, I swear!”

“You let my children go confront Vader ALONE? You’re so lucky I don’t shut you down for that!” she growled, shoving past him with Obi-Wan following close behind her. “Oh, dear. I’m doomed,” Threepio whined.

“We have to go after them, we... I can’t... I can’t lose my kids,” Y/n said nervously, starting to pace once Obi got close. “Y/n, calm down sweetheart. I need you to breathe and think,” Obi said, holding onto her shoulders gently. “If we go, we have an equal chance of being caught since they’ll already be on high alert.”

She sighed heavily, shaking her head, “I hate you for being so levelheaded and smart, Obi,” she frowned. “That’s my specialty,” he winked. “Now, we need to stop and make sure that we can pull this rescue off without risking our lives, too.”

Meanwhile, at the Death Star, Vader was summoned by his leading captain because of an alert of an enemy ship flying nearby. “Bring them in, search them. They may know General Jonas.” “Yes, My Lord.”

Vader turned to leave the bridge towards the docking bay, to meet his guests personally. As he walked, his mind was filled with visions and memories from his dream the night before. Of her.

He sighed heavily, picking up speed as he neared the docking bay. Passing a group of stormtroopers, he pushed past them to be in front, crossing his arms. The door opened, and two stormtroopers walked out holding a young girl and boy, yelling at them to let go of them.

As soon as Vader looked at the two, he felt something... strange. A certain presence in the Force he had never felt before. What is this? Why do they feel familiar?

Vader dropped his arms, walking forward and raising his hand to stop the troopers, “Who are you? And why were you near my Death Star?”

His unmerciful, robotic voice rumbled through their chests, terrifying them. In all their years, they had never seen something so cold and unforgiving. “Don’t be petrified, answer me if you want to live,” Vader challenged, staring right at the boy.

“You killed our father,” Leia’s voice was cold, sad, and broken. She knew this was a bad idea, but it was too late now. “I wanted revenge.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, my princess, but I’ve killed many men. Your father was just another tick on my list, whoever he may be.”

“You son of a—!” Luke yelled, rushing to jump at him when the stormtroopers all turned their weapons on him, making him stop. Vader growled, “Insolent children. I don’t think you know who I am, truly. I’d crush you in a heartbeat, but seeing as you could have something of use to me... take them away, both of them,” Vader commanded. The two shouted in disagreement, and Vader simply stood and watched them struggle.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for what you did to our dad!” Luke yelled as he was taken away. Vader rolled his eyes from under the mask and walked back to his quarters. He knelt on the floor, taking his mask off as he called out to his Emperor through the force.

“What do you want, Lord Vader?” Palpatine growled, looking down at Vader’s hologram. “I felt something through the Force a few moments ago. My new hostages... they seem to be strong with it.”

“Really? Are you sure, my apprentice?”

“Yes, Master. More sure than anything.”

“Well, you know what you must do. Kill them. They could be Jedi if they tried opposing you,” Palpatine smirked. “They’re only children, which means they’re newer Jedi. Someone had to have trained them.”

“Children never stopped you before, don’t let it stop you now. Do it.”

“...Yes, my Master.” Vader ended the holomessage, sighing.

“Who are you two...?” he asked himself, reaching out through the Force and feeling they were still there.

Strange.

——————

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[paintingraves]

The Witcher Sing!AU

just watched Sing and I’m feeling pretty inspired so please imagine a Witcher band AU in which they all participate in a singing contest. In the end it all comes down to two very different finalists: 

one if a band called The Witchers. we’ve got Yennefer as lead singer, Geralt as lead singer + guitarist, Eskel as drummer, Lambert on the bass, Aiden as cellist and Cohen as keyboardist (or something along those lines.) Geralt knows Regis, who’s a music manager under the big name label Vampire Records (Detlaff owns the company and the label organized this whole thing hoping to find some new talent.) 

Now The Witchers are good, they’re better than good, and they know they’re good, but alas they suffered several major setbacks that prevented them from ever breaking through in the industry; including, like, Geralt getting a child surprise, Yennefer and him going through a bad breakup once, and Eskel getting in a very bad car accident (he’s got the scars to show for it.) But today they’re here and they look amazing. They’re going to set fire to that damn stage and get signed under Vampire Records if it kills them. 

And the other finalist? Why he’s a strapping, loud and very flamboyant young man who plays, between other things, the lute. He’s got an amazing voice and an amazing presence on stage, and at his disposition a whole variety of instruments that he has mastered - he switches between the lute, the guitar, the piano and even at some point a goddamn hang drum seemingly effortlessly. And it sounds gorgeous, damn it. 

Geralt has to admit it - the kid is good, he’s really good. Depending on what Vampire Records are looking for he might just be who they choose. But it doesn’t mean The Witchers won’t go down without a fight. Each of them wants this more than Julian - stage name Jaskier, buttercup - can possibly imagine. 

Jaskier does grate on Geralt’s nerves at first but then Eskel, kind Eskel invites him to get a drink after rehearsals and Jaskier beams at them and readily agrees. As time goes by and despite the fact they’re competing against one another they all become fast friends with Jaskier - it’s hard not to, charisma practically oozes off the guy in waves and it feels like he could charm the pants off of anyone if he just smiled at them like they’re the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen. 

He stares at Yen like that. 

And Geralt. 

And Eskel, who is utterly puzzled by it. 

And Lambert, a tad, but then Aiden growls at Jaskier who prompty moves on. 

(Seriously, it’s like the bard falls in love with everyone he meets.) 

Regis and Detlaff pay them a surprise visit the final day of rehearsal and, à propos of nothing, Regis tells him Emyr var Emreis himself might just be there to see the performance -- just because Detlaff knows him and apparently the emperor made time in his schedule to see this as a way to relax. 

Jaskier chokes on his bottle of water and repeats the words the emperor???? the fucking emperor?????! for the next fifteen minutes until Lambert cuffs him on the back of his head. 

The last day of competition arrives. The winner gets to sign under Vampire Records and the second place goes home with a 10,000 $ price, which is a fair consolation prize. Geralt is nervous, but they’re all in a good mood, in top shape, Yennefer is gorgeous as ever, they’ve all donned their ‘armor’ and they’re ready to make the audience lose their minds. 

Jaskier is silent for once. He’s wearing a shiny blue thing à la Freddie Mercury that sparkles in the light; his hair is carefully tousled and his eyes are lined with knol (artfully done by Yennefer herself, who’s grown quite fond of the little bard.) 

Lambert is talking to Aiden in a corner, their hands touching; Geralt is pretty sure that, whether they win or lose, Aiden’s gonna ask for Lambert’s hand in marriage tonight and they’ll party till dawn. 

His daughter Ciri is in the audience, of course, with a few friends. She can’t wait to see her dad kill the stage. His heart tightens in his chest. He’ll be the best he can for her. 

He doesn’t know if the emperor is actually here, and tells himself he doesn’t really care. they’ve done this hundreds of times. they’re ready as they’ll ever be. 

Jaskier goes first, for once. His manic energy fills up the entire stage and he’s got the public eating out the palm of his hand after the first song. Geralt watches him from backstage, mesmerized, just like Yennefer and anyone else looking at Jaskier right now. When his set ends he is sweating, his cheeks flushed, but the audience roars their approval and calling for encores and he bows deeply and flirts as he makes his way out of the stage under a thunder of applause. He’s smiling brightly and Geralt doesn’t say it but he knows Jaskier is thinking the same thing - that was incredible and he’s won. 

Doesn’t mean people shall leave this place without remembering performance of The Witchers, because they’re damned good. The audience is going to see two very different genres of music and two very different performances tonight and Jaskier will appeal to some and The Witchers to some others. The public also gets a vote. 

It’s the matter of a few minutes to set the stage and then it’s their turn. The atmosphere immediately grows darker, the lights fading out. Eskel and Lambert start the first song, Ignite, with the drums and bass and then Yennefer’s melodious voice gradually joins in like the veil of an angel cast from the shadows. The lyrics are Geralt’s and Eskel’s work (Eskel just has a way with words, must be all that poetry he reads) and talk about resilience and the ability to ‘come back to life’ when one has lost everything. 

It’s a heavy subject but the beat is good, Geralt and Yen’s voices powerful, and the whole room is electrified. They have fans here, old and new, who shout at the top of their lungs the lyrics as they sing and Geralt briefly spots Ciri in the crowd, dancing along and grinning up at her father with stars in her eyes. 

After that comes Aard, with an incredible solo by Lambert, and then Yrden -- Yennefer’s time to shine. The performance goes very well, and the multiple light and fire effects on stage add to the wow effect of it all. 

When they’re almost done the crowd goes absolutely wild, screaming and shouting and applauding. Some are even crying. Yennefer gets close to the edge of the stage and touches a few outstretched hands as she holds that final note, and Geralt grins at Lambert, who nods and they both take off their shirts (Eskel rolls his eyes) and throw them in the public to screams and whistles. Yennefer throws her empty water bottle to a lucky guy who holds it like it’s the holy grail, awed and struck dumb. 

They perform one last song, a bit calmer and quieter but no less remarkable, and then finally bow and leave as the curtain closes. 

Jaskier grins at them and hands out a new water bottle to Geralt. “That was amazing,” he says sincerely. “I got goosebumps all over, I’m still shaking.” 

They can hear the showman telling people to vote while the jury deliberates and, after fifteen good minutes, they are all called back onstage. Geralt puts on another t-shirt. Lambert doesn’t and walks out there with a feral grin. 

The tension is high and near unbearable as they wait for the final deliberations. 

Finally the presenter calls Regis and Detlaff onstage. Regis holds a single golden enveloppe in his hand. They wave to the crowd, thank them for coming here tonight, say it was difficult to make a choice, yada yada. Yennefer’s biting her lips, Lambert is standing ramrod straight, and Jaskier is flexing his hand. 

“And the winner is... Jaskier!” 

“Oh, fuck,” Jaskier says aloud, and then, “Wait, what? No!” 

And Geralt knew but it still hurts, it feels like he’s failed his band again -- 

The crowd is wild but Regis holds up a hand. “If you’d let me finish,” he says calmly, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “Yes, Jaskier, congratulations for winning this competition. You have a lot of potential, and I think everyone here saw that. However...”

“... However,” he continues, “I believe everyone will agree with me here when I say The Witchers more than deserve to win.” There are screams of agreement. “Your performance here tonight was astounding, Geralt, everyone -- you blew us all away. Even the emperor, who yes, dear audience, is with us tonight. Up there.” A stagehand shines a spotlight to where Regis is pointing. There indeed sits emperor Emyr var Emreis, who stands up and waves under a new thunder of applause. He meets Geralt’s eyes and gives a nod, smiling. Geralt feels like he’s dreaming. 

“Which is why...” Regis has to raise his voice even with a mic. “Which is why The Witchers will still get signed under ampire Records; and as for you, Jaskier, we offer Oxenfurt Records on a silver platter. I am good friends with the CEO and she has noticed you. Countess de Stael, if you please? 

As a gorgeous blond woman rises from the high seats and makes her way down, the world suddenly comes into focus around Geralt. 

The noise is deafening. Regis is smiling smugly as if he knew this was how it would go the whole time. Lambert is cheering and hugging Eskel and Cohen is repeating well fuck me on a loop, and then Aiden is grabbing Lambert by the scruff of his neck and bringing him center stage and getting down on one knee in front of him and oh my god. 

“Oh my god,” Jaskier echoes, and he’s crying. 

It’s all so much. 

Geralt might be crying too. 

And Ciri. 

And Yen, though she’d never admit it. 

And everything is fine. 

[a-damson-in-distress]

Havoc - Chapter 3

Pairing: SasuSaku

Plot: Sasuke knew people were still afraid of the club and especially of its Sergeant at Arms – and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He had been untouchable then and still was now. Indeed, there was nothing and no one in this world that Sasuke Uchiha feared. Except Sakura fucking Haruno. Biker AU.

Note: I absolutely did not plan on going into so much detail for the action of this chapter, but here we are. Also, if you want some background music to get you in the mood for this particular scene (especially the Zippo lighter moment), here’s my recommendation: Heavy Young Heathens - Being Evil Has A Price. Hope you like it, let me know what you think.

                                                        ----------

“So what are you gonna do about your kid’s grades?”

“I don’t know, man. Got any good tutors you could recommend?”

Kai could hear muffled voices right next to his head, though he couldn’t see anything. He just regained consciousness, and it took him a few seconds to remember where he was and what had happened. The last thing he recalled was being cornered in a bar by one of the Havoc’s enforcers and his men, who promptly proceeded to beat the everloving shit out of him.

He wanted to move his tongue to lick his dry lips when he suddenly realised they gagged him. Kai tried to move his head to see if he could shake off whatever they put over his head, but it was futile. It seemed to be some sort of dark cloth, maybe burlap, and they tied it tightly around his neck.

“Don’t ask me about tutors, you know my kid scared off the last three.” He was now conscious enough to make out every word the two men said. If he heard right, they were both standing to his left and right.

“Well, I don’t know what else to do. He doesn’t wanna study on his own, and when Nami or I try to help him he gets all defensive and accuses us of thinking he’s incapable.”

The man to Kai’s right scoffed. “He’s thirteen, of course he’s going to give his parents hell. Don’t worry about it too much, he’ll grow up soon enough.”

There was a deep sigh to his left before the other one raised his voice again. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about, that he’ll grow up too soon. Suddenly, our main worry won’t be school anymore, but doing drugs, jumping off cliffs, and bringing girls home without asking.”

The man to Kai’s right let out a teasing chuckle before asking, “Wasn’t that exactly what you were doing during puberty? Come on, man, you sound like some sort of suburban dad who wears polo shirts and drives a minivan instead of a Harley. Your entire family is part of an MC and your kid was always bound to grow up around certain stuff other kids couldn’t even imagine in their wildest dreams. Instead of shielding him from it, show him the ugly truth, scare him off a bit, toughen him up. Don’t worry man, he’ll turn out just fine.”

There was an undiscernible murmur to Kai’s left which was interrupted by the roaring sound of multiple motorcycles approaching.

“Looks like the show’s about to begin,” the man to his right chuckled in a menacing tone.

He could feel hands grabbing the cloth tied around his head and ripping it off with such force his head jerked back. While his eyes adjusted to the dim light in the hall, another hand grabbed the gag and released it form his mouth. Kai immediately took the chance to make his anger known. “What the fuck is wrong with you two fuckheads? You kidnap me and tie me up in this reeking warehouse and have a fucking heart-to-heart?!”

The only thing he was met with was silence and the two men grinning down at him with smug satisfaction before turning their heads to the right. Kai followed their gazes and when his eyes landed on a third figure casually leaning against an oil barrel and sharpening a knife in silence, he gulped.

“Oh shit.”

The grey-haired man slowly raised his head and fixed Kai with his signature bored stare. Only there was also a hint of a threat in them, enough to make the young man question every last one of his life choices so far.

“Oh shit, indeed,” the man drawled.

It was then Kai heard the distant chatter from outside mixed with heavy boots stomping around and drawing closer. Clattering noise echoed through the room a few seconds later, and Kai could hear a door hit a wall from the other end of the hall. The voices became louder and louder until Kai realised the entire Havoc MC was swarming into the warehouse and forming a circle around the chair he was tied to.

The sea of people parted around the Havoc’s president still leaning against the barrel to Kai’s left. Kakashi kept his calm and scrutinising look on him, but Kai knew the old man was seething inside. The Prez shoved his knife into his right boot and proceeded to slowly approach the middle of the circle in languid strides, his gaze never once leaving Kai.

Even though Kakashi was known for his unperturbed and relaxed disposition, never allowing himself to lose his cool and basically being the opposite of aggressive intimidation, he had the uncanny ability to bring the meanest motherfucker to his knees with just a stare. No furrowing of brows, no baring of teeth. Nothing.

Just a good old-fashioned menacing glare.

Kai could feel a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. His mouth felt dry, and his pulse quickened. He had always been scared shitless of the Havoc’s President, because he grew up during the club’s bloodthirsty past. Despite giving up a majority of what made them so feared back then, the President and his club hadn’t lost a single bit of their intimidating aura.

After Kakashi studied him for what felt like an eternity, he finally raised his voice.

“So, you thought you could use my baby girl’s book shop to sell drugs, huh?”

The grey-haired man cocked his head to the left and crossed his arms in front of his chest. There was still no visible sign of anger to be found anywhere on his face. And yet his calm and collected demeanour hid a raging storm ready to be unleashed upon any fool who dared to cross his precious little girl.

Everybody knew the Havoc’s President’s only weakness was his daughter, even Kai was aware of that. What he didn’t know, however, was that she owned a book shop – the book shop. He would have mentally slapped himself to death for not noticing that teeny-tiny impractical detail, if it weren’t for the fact that the Prez – or anybody else for that matter – barely talked about Sakura fucking Haruno or what the fuck kind of shop she owned.

Kai gulped as he felt the vindictive eyes of the entire club staring daggers into him. He wished Kakashi would just get on with it, beat the shit out of him, and be done with it. The intense stares, the palpable tension, and the heavy silence filled with threatening promises were killing him.

He was torn from his thoughts when he heard the President’s voice again. His frightful eyes shot up to meet Kakashi’s deadpan expression.

“You know the Havoc has sworn off drugs decades ago. You know the Havoc has sworn off unnecessary violence and bloodshed. But even though we no longer pillage, burn, and murder,” Kakashi walked around Kai’s chair and was now standing behind him, placing both his hands on his shoulders, painfully digging his fingers into his flesh, “we’re still damn good at breaking bones. If someone crosses the club, you can bet your ass we’re going to rip ‘em a new one. If someone crosses my daughter,” the President leaned forward and grabbed Kai’s chin in his left hand, squeezing so hard his jaw was seconds away from being dislocated, “the club will hunt you down. We will break each and everyone of your bones in alphabetical order. And we’ll shove our boots so far up your ass, you’ll taste nothing but leather and dirt for a year.”

At this point, Kai was trembling in his chair, frantically trying to keep his head still so that Kakashi wouldn’t dislocate his jaw.

“But,” with a booming voice the President suddenly let go off his face and straightened himself again, “I promised my daughter that I would no longer get my hands dirty with that kinda shit. So unfortunately, I won’t be the lucky one who gets to gut you like a pig. I reserved that honour for someone else.”

Kai felt the older man’s fingers digging into his shoulders again. His panic-struck eyes jumped back and forth between the countless Havoc bikers, his breath was coming out in quick, short gasps. A mixture of sweat, tears, and snot ran down his face while his brain was frantically trying to think of whoever else Kakashi could have assigned to kick his ass.

Jiraiya? Too old for this crap.

Asuma? Got a kid, he’d grown too soft.

Naruto? Too much of a goofball, not torturer material.

He was torn from his thoughts when he watched the crowd of Havoc bikers part, exposing a long corridor right in front of him leading to a darkened room behind the murderous mob. Kai realised then that many of the bikers had smug, satisfied smirks gracing their faces while turning their gazes to the pitch-black room in the back.

A slap on the shoulder reminded him of the president’s presence behind him.

“Enjoy the show, I know I will. Once he’s done with you, you’ll think a brain tumour is a birthday present.”

The crowd went silent.

Seconds ticked by where nothing happened.

Kai had his eyes focused on the same blacked-out room everybody else was expectantly staring at. There was nothing there. No outline of another person. No sound. Nothing.

Just darkness. Silence.

Click.

A Zippo lighter was ignited in the shadow, enveloping parts of the room in its warm, subtle light and revealing the outline of a broad chest, undoubtedly male, dressed entirely in black. Kai couldn’t make out a face, since the man held the lighter rather low. After another second, he started moving his hand, revealing parts of his biker vest with various Havoc patches sewn onto it, a jaw with a prominent three-o’clock-shadow, a mouth set in a grim line, and jet-black eyes staring at him with a silent promise of vengeful terror.

“Oh shit,” Kai whispered.

The fucking Sergeant.

He watched the Havoc’s Vice-President and Sergeant-at-Arms narrow his eyes before he lowered himself to a crouching position, right hand still clutching the Zippo lighter illuminating his face. The Sergeant’s eyes landed on something on the ground right in front of his feet, and he moved his lighter towards it. Though the tiny flame was no longer close to his face, Kai could clearly see his lips tugging into a devilish smirk.

It was then Kai realised that what captured the Sergeant’s gaze on the ground to his feet was wet and glistening. Kai’s eyes followed the liquid and trailed from the crouching Sergeant all the way to the ground in front of his own chair, and his eyes widened.

The fluid formed a straight line from him to the Zippo lighter held threateningly close to the tiny puddle at the Sarge’s feet.

Sasuke’s eyes shot up to meet his again. His grin widened ever so slightly as he let the lighter fall into the fluid, setting it ablaze.

“Oh shit shit shit shit, fucking holy shit, no, fuck this man, shit, fu – “

Sasuke watched with glee as the prospect struggled to free himself from the ropes tying him down. He wiggled around, desperately trying to get the chair further away from the line of gasoline. By the time the fire almost reached him, he was squealing like a pig in a slaughter house. Which, Sasuke had to remind himself, he was, in a way.

Kai could no longer watch the fire approach him, so he closed his eyes and let out a long, agonised scream, adding some high-pitched wailing for good measure.

It was even more pathetic than Sasuke imagined.

After a few seconds, where nothing but the prospect’s sobbing filled the otherwise silent warehouse, Kai seemed to get a hold of himself and opened his eyes again, only to find the fire ended a few centimetres in front of his chair and had no way of enveloping him in its flames.

The snivelling prospect shot Sasuke an incredulous look before another long, strangled wail was released from behind his clenched teeth.

Rolling his eyes, the raven-haired biker stepped around the fire and stomped towards the chair in the middle of the room. He didn’t waste a second with punching the sobbing prospect right in his face, effectively shutting him up. Sasuke gave the kid a second to catch his breath and spit out the blood gathering in his mouth before he reached back with his right hand, grabbed Kai’s hair, and yanked back his head.

Sasuke was now towering over the young man, his fingers painfully digging into his skull. He gave him one long hard look of barely restrained rage before growling, “You should’ve thought twice about messing with her.”

Placing his other hand on the back of Kai’s head, Sasuke pulled it down as far as the ropes allowed it and kicked his left knee into his face with such a force the chair was knocked back and Kai almost toppled over. In that instant, Sasuke placed his left foot on the front stretcher of the chair and yanked it back again.

The Sergeant let out a long, content sigh and ran his hands through his hair. “If you had done what you did a few years ago,” he drawled while sauntering over to a tool trolley close to the chair, “I could have pretty much done whatever I wanted with you.”

Sasuke held up a pair of pliers as if to examine their usefulness in his hypothetical torture scenario. With the pliers in hand, he walked back to Kai, forced his mouth open and clamped down the jaws on his front tooth. “Could’ve pulled out your teeth. One by one. Real nice and slow, make sure you feel every bit of it.” Sasuke could feel his lips tugging into a devilish smirk at the sight of the prospect’s eyes widening in terror.

He let go of his chin and walked back to the tool trolley. After picking up a hammer, he flipped it in his hand before pointing it at the quivering heap of misery in front of him. “I could also use this to hammer some nice big splinters into your nail bed.” Another sob broke free from the prospect.

With his grin widening, Sasuke dropped the hammer and picked up a big wrench with adjustable jaws instead, weighing it in his hand before raising it for the prospect to see. “Ah, the things I did with this beauty.” Sasuke widened the head of the wrench, then pointedly turned his gaze to Kai’s crotch before letting the jaws snap shut. The sound of the wrench’s head closing made the prospect flinch and press his knees together in a half-hearted attempt to protect his crown jewels.

The Sergeant’s gaze darkened suddenly, the grin slipping off his lips as he put away the wrench and approached the prospect with slow, deliberate steps. Dressed entirely in black and with a murderous look in his eyes, Sasuke looked every bit as a starved panther encircling his prey. Growling. Waiting. Calculating the perfect moment to go in for the kill.

The raven-haired biker came to a halt right in front of the chair and looked down at Kai.

“You should count yourself lucky you did what you did now and not years ago. Otherwise I would have gutted you like a fish and hung your insides out to dry and nobody would have stopped me. Though none of that changes the fact that you crossed one of our own. You fuck with us, we fuck you back. You fuck with her,” Sasuke growled while leaning down and grabbing Kai’s chin between his fingers, murderous rage emitting from his pitch-black eyes, “and I swear to God I will disfigure you so much not even your Maker will be able to recognise you.”

With that, Sasuke reached back with his right arm and punched the prospect in his face with such a force he knocked out a few teeth.

And he didn’t stop there. The next minutes were filled with the sounds of Sasuke violently landing blow after blow to Kai’s already battered face and the poor bastard’s pained and strangled groans. The Sergeant was sure if he kept this up for much longer, he probably would have beaten him unconscious – if it weren’t for that voice suddenly calling out to him from behind.

“Sasuke.”

His fist halted mid-strike, hovering centimetres above the bloodied and busted lip of his victim. Sasuke could suddenly hear his own breathing coming out in quick and shallow gasps, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the adrenaline coursing through his veins at the prospect of taking revenge on that piece of shit for putting her in danger.

Letting out a deep, controlled breath, Sasuke lowered his hand and fixed his cold eyes on Kai. He leaned down and whispered threateningly, “You’re lucky I’ve got a soft spot for her,” before straightening himself and turning to face the woman behind him.

His gaze immediately softened at the sight of Sakura staring at him with a mixture of concern and determination before allowing her eyes to rest on the battered bastard in the chair.

“It was my book shop he used. Pretty sure I get to do the honours, don’t you think?” she asked while strutting towards both men.

Sakura came to a halt right in front of the chair and fixed Kai with her signature I’m-about-to-fuck-you-up glare. “Anything you have to say in your defence?”

The poor fucker was so badly beaten up, he couldn’t even keep his head straight. So Sasuke grabbed a few strands of his hair and yanked his head up to meet her gaze while growling, “You look a lady in the eye when she speaks to you.”

“’msorry,” came the weak, gurgled response from behind bloodied teeth.

“You’re sorry. That all you’ve got to say?” Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest.

The only reply was a broken sob.

“You have no idea of the scale of the damage you could have caused with your half-baked attempt at dealing drugs. Not only did you jeopardise me and the future of my entire career, but you could have been the one responsible for the deaths of countless drug abusers. If anybody OD-ed on the shit you were trying to sell, do you think you could still live with – “

“I’m sorry, okay. Jesus fuck, woman, I’m sorry, is that what you wanna hear? Just- just get this over with, man,” Kai yelled out sobbing, which immediately resulted in another punch in the face from Sasuke.

“Don’t interrupt a lady when she talks to you.”

Sasuke’s eyes landed on Sakura when he heard her sigh next to him. “Alright, I think this is enough. Let’s finish this.”

She turned away from the chair and walked over to Kakashi, still leaning on his oil barrel, a blow torch in one and a branding iron in the other hand. She grabbed the cold end of the iron rod, turned around, and strutted back. Sasuke watched her come to a halt right in front of the chair, her gaze jumping back and forth between the branding iron in her right hand and the beaten-up bastard tied to the chair.

Sasuke took another step to close the distance between them. Raising his fingers to her chin, he lifted her head and forced her gaze to meet his. In that moment, he didn’t care that he was being gentle in front of his hard-ass biker friends, he didn’t care that her father was watching, who he was sure would bust his balls later on for getting all touchy-feely with his precious daughter. Sasuke didn’t care about anything but the fact that for the first time in years, Sakura’s jade-green eyes weren’t looking at him with contempt and regret.

For the first time in years, his Sakura was staring at him with the same look she had when they were young and stupid and in love, full of honesty and vulnerability.

Sasuke’s thumb stroked her chin as he softly whispered, “You don’t have to do this, sweetheart.”

Her doubtful gaze landed on the branding iron again. “You’re too pure for this kind of shit. Let me do the dirty work Just say the word and it’ll be done. I’ll do it. For you.”

When Sakura raised her eyes again to meet his, Sasuke was met with a look of pure determination.

She turned her head, releasing her chin from his hold, stepped forward and planted the hot branding iron right on to Kai’s naked chest.

After relishing his screams for a few seconds, she lifted the iron rod and marvelled at the sight of the mark she left behind: the words Havoc and Rogue were now clearly branded into his bloodied skin, marking him as an outcast in the world of outlaw MCs. The Havocs were still one of the most feared motorcycle clubs in the country, and there were not a lot of bikers who dared to cross them or question their judgement. Whomever they branded as a rogue would be treated as such by other bikers as well. This mark would make sure Kai would never again find a place in another club.

Sasuke watched Sakura’s shoulders slump as she let out a long breath. Though a part of him was concerned for her well-being and would like nothing more than to shield her from such dark and ugly things as the one she just experienced, there was another part of him, admittedly an even bigger one, who was immensely proud of her, the part which would love to put her on a pedestal, shine a spotlight on her, grab her hand and raise it in the air like she was a fucking boxing champion.

Sasuke’s eyes landed on the now unconscious Kai slumped in his chair, head hanging down, drool and blood dripping from his busted lips. The Sergeant’s gaze focused on the mark on his chest.

His girl did that. Sakura stepped in, did what was necessary, stood up for herself, and proved her strength in front of the entire club. If anybody had any doubts about the fact that Sakura fucking Haruno was a hair-raising, spine-chilling, blood-curdling badass, Sasuke was sure she just annihilated them.

With a proud grin tugging at his lips, the raven-haired biker turned around to face the crowd of Havocs. “If any member of our club decides to cross a line like that ever again, you can bet your asses that I will hunt them down and fuck them up. I don’t care if you’re a prospect who’s only been with us for a month or a dedicated patch holder who wipes the Dope’s ass whenever he gets shitfaced,” his best friend made his complaint about that remark loudly known from somewhere in the crowd, “there will be no mercy. The club looks after its own. And if you think for one second that doesn’t apply to her,” Sasuke grabbed Kai’s hair and yanked up his battered face for all to see before growling, “then take a good look at this fucker and think again.”

                                                           ----------

It was one in the morning when Sasuke entered the kitchen of the Havoc’s clubhouse to grab a bite to eat. He had spent the last two hours in the gym blowing off steam after returning home from dealing with Kai. In the end, it turned out he had more rage bottled up inside him than he initially thought, and since Sakura had stopped him from properly working through his anger, he still had some punching to do.

Slapping together what looked like a piss-poor and half-assed attempt at a sandwich, Sasuke left the kitchen and was heading towards his room when he saw Sakura staring holes into her laptop in the bar across the hall. He slid into her booth and placed the plate with his sandwich in front of him, which seemed to tear her from her thoughts and made her look up in surprise.

“It’s one in the morning, what the hell are you still doing up?”

She blinked a few times before answering, “Uh… couldn’t sleep. So I’m going through my inventory and browsing through lists of newly published books, trying to decide which ones to buy.”

“Any good ones?” Sasuke asked before taking a bite out of his sandwich.

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her take off her reading glasses and rub her eyes while sighing. “Honestly, they’re all crap,” she murmured with a laugh.

Her shoulders slumped and she sunk deeper into her seat, leaning her head on the backrest of the booth and closing her eyes. She looked exhausted, Sasuke noted, and yet she still couldn’t sleep. He wished he could take all of that away or take her away from all of this crap.

“I know what you did today wasn’t easy. Wanna talk about it?”

Her head rolled to the left and she opened her tired eyes again to look at him with an undiscernible expression for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, “I’m not weak Sasuke. What I did to that prospect doesn’t bother me.”

“Then what is it?”

Sakura sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Honestly? I’m kind of bothered by the fact that it doesn’t bother me. Does that make sense?”

She turned to him again and looked at him questioningly. Sasuke just nodded and allowed her to continue. “I mean I get it, in a way, you know. I grew up in an MC, I was surrounded by weird shit for the majority of my life. I get that my moral compass is fucked up. Things that would scare other people shitless never really bothered me that much. But I got out, you know? I left all of that behind. For a long time now, I’ve been living a normal life – whatever that is. I thought I grew into it. But then this shit happens and I need to come back to the club and I just dip one toe in these waters and I’m immediately sucked back in again. Like all of that emotional growth I thought I had gone through over the last years went up in smoke. If anything, tonight just proves that no matter how much I try to shut out this part of my life, I’ll always be a club member. I’ll always be the crazy biker bitch whose daddy taught her to wield a Butterfly knife at twelve and who tortures little kids with a branding iron and feels no remorse about it.”

“And that’s bad?”

Sasuke watched her eyes widen in shock and look at him as if he sprouted a second head.

“Yes, that’s bad, Sasuke. I’m supposed to feel horrible about what I did tonight.”

“No, I mean the rest. What’s so bad about you always being a member of the club? You said it yourself, you were raised in an MC and you can’t undo that. Much like people who were raised in an orphanage can’t undo the fact that they grew up without parents. Your upbringing sticks with you for the rest of your life, why would you wanna hide from it?”

Sakura kept her pensive gaze fixed on the ceiling above her and answered with silence.

“I watched you during the party, you know. Playing pool, goofing around with Ino, catching up with old friends. You didn’t seem out of place at all. You seemed comfortable, like you never left.” Sasuke carefully raised his right hand to tug a strand of hair behind her ear before murmuring, “Like this is where you actually belong.”

When Sakura didn’t make a move to stop him, he ran his fingers through her hair and started playing with the ends as he continued, “As much as you try to hide it, I know that deep down, your heart is still tied to the club. To its members.”

To me.

“You’ve been running from it for so long, pretending to be someone else. Why don’t you just embrace what really makes you happy? Fuck what other people think about you branding little wannabe drug dealers, we do that all the time here, it’s called a Tuesday morning.”

Sasuke could feel his heart skip a beat at the sight of her lips tugging into a tiny smirk. His fingers closed around a strand of her hair, tugging it gently down to force her head to face him.

“You know you belong here, Sakura.”

They both shared a long intense look. Sakura’s eyes shone with the same sort of openness and vulnerability as they did when she looked at him in the warehouse earlier, and Sasuke had serious trouble not letting his gaze drop down to her inviting lips.

“Don’t do this, Sasuke,” she murmured.

“Why not?” His eyes swept back and forth between her jade-green orbs and his fingers who were still lost in the sea of her pink hair.

“Because I’m still mad at you.” Sasuke fixed his gaze on her face where he found the exact opposite of an angry expression. And still, he knew there was resentment left inside of her, a deeply-festered regret not allowing her to move on.

“Don’t let me stand in the way of your happiness. I mean it, Sakura.”

“What if that happiness doesn’t involve the club? Or you? Will you be in my way then?”

Sakura stared at him expectantly. Seconds ticked by where they just looked at each other, because Sasuke seriously didn’t know how to answer that question.

He heard her sigh and watched her close her eyes, before she raised her hand to grab his own and pull it out of her hair. Grabbing her laptop and reading glasses, Sakura stood up and was just about to leave, when she turned around, leaned over the table and pinned Sasuke with a threatening glare.

“If you tell anyone I had a heart-to-heart with you, I will gouge out your eyeballs while you sleep, understood?”

She didn’t even give him a chance to answer, instead turning on her heel and strutting out of the bar.

Sasuke couldn’t help but smirk proudly as he yelled after her, “Told you you belong here!”

[mangled-dreams]

Hey Mangled! I’m actually coming back again with another Dr. Schneeplestein X Dermitillomania reader if that’s alright. Things have been tough for me in that area a bit more lately. Maybe some constant pressure from the reader’s parents about clearing up their skin leads them into a relapse. Schneep finds them in a picking trance, snaps them out and coaxes them into a warm shower where he helps them wash up and clean up. With cuddles and positive encouragement near the end please. Thank you.

Here you are my friend.

 Scarring Words

“Sweetheart,it’s good to see you.” Your mother always says this whenever it’sbeen longer than a few days since your last visit. You honestly trynot to visit often. Not because you don’t love your parents, it’sjust your mother likes to make… comments.

“HeyMom, is Dad home?” You ask stepping into the house.

“Ibelieve I saw him in his study.” You mother responds looking overyour exposed skin with eagle like accuracy. Her careful sweep of yourskin causes a shiver to run across your spine and gooseflesh to rise.Rubbing your arm to ease the gooseflesh you make your way to yourdad’s study, or rather his “man cave”. You need to ask hisopinion on a car you want to purchase from a dealership in town, butknowing very little about vehicles makes you apprehensive about doingit on your own.

“Heypops.” You greet entering the study. You dad is reclined back in aLazy-Boy with a bowl of popcorn on his lap.

He tips his head back, spots you, and smilelargely. As he rights himself he greets, “Kiddo! Hey, what bringsyou by? Your mother didn’t say you were coming over.” You smileat him walking down the quick little three steps.

“Icame by unannounced.” You tell him sitting down next to him to keephim from getting up. He had a bad accident about three months ago andtore his knee up something real bad, and since then you do everythingpossible to keep him comfortable. “I found a car I wanted to buy,and I kind of need your input.” You tell him pulling out yourlaptop and boot it up. “I thought I’d better come to my personalcar guru and get your opinion on how best to get the car.”

Your father’s eyes light up at your request.It’s not often you need to come to him for advice anymore, butunfortunately Henrik knows next to nothing about cars other than putthe petrol in a petrol powered car and diesel in the diesel poweredcar.  Happily your father dives head first into reading theinformation you provided him as well as asking you serious questionsabout what you want out of your car.

Nearly an hour and a half passes before youfeel confident in your new choice in car. It’s an older model thanwhat you wanted but with your dad’s boost of confidence you feel itwould better suite your needs considering you and Henrik are thinkingabout adopting a dog and would need a decent sized space in the backto accommodate whatever breed you pick out. Looking at the picturesof the car you’re now sure you’ll purchase you is blissfullyignorant to the shark circling outside the shallows.

Your father, however, has noticed your mother’sconsistent rounds carrying a small bag in her hand. He knows thatlook on her face each time she peeks into gauge when would be best topounce on you. Your dad sighs, shaking his head at his wife.

He already knows what your mother is doing andhe’s been very vocal about it to her. Sighing loudly your dad restshis hand over yours saying, “Your mother loves you very much,kiddo. You know that right?”

Your heart stills for a moment and you knowwhat’s about to happen. You don’t say anything and try to quicklybuild up your walls. If you could you’d run right out of the houseand dive into your car, but from this area of the house you have tocross through the living room and you know your mother would bewaiting for you. “I can’t.” You whisper looking up at your dadwith pleading eyes.

“Shemeans well.”

Biting your tongue you force your response downdeep. It hurts to have to hold your tongue and hide that you are souncomfortable with your mother’s “kind” gestures.  Hergestures usually mean some kind of “miracle” skin healing lotion,or some “magical” oil to help you “control” yourcompulsion.  “Dad please, I can’t keep doing this. Iknow she means well.” It’s the first time you’ve ever let himknow how much it hurts you to keep getting these well meaning gifts.

“I’lltalk to her again, I promise. For today just take the gift. You don’thave to use it kid, but it’ll break her heart if you don’t atleast accept it.” It’s totally your dad to be the negotiator, buttaking your mother’s gift may very well break you down.

Closing your eye you tight against your ownemotions, shoving them deep down into the bowels of hell where theycame from and pack up your stuff. Whatever enjoyment you just had andwhatever sense of normalcy with is now gone. Right now you’re doingeverything not to just cry.

Steeling yourself against the next few minutesyou give your dad a huge fake smile and stand up. “I’ll see youlater.” You manage to say without hint of your struggle. Your daddoesn’t get up, nodding his head to you. You lean down and brush akiss to his temple and leave the room.

Your mom doesn’t ambush you right away,waiting until you’ve nearly have the door within reach beforepopping out with a bight florescent bag showcasing lipsticks andpowder cover up. Letting your mask slip into place you put on thesame show you always do.

“What’sthat?” You already know. “Mom, I don’t need…” And she’snot listening to you again.

“Karenhad this amazing little party the other night for skin care and sheshowed me this and I just had to buy it for you, to… um help withall the—the scarring.” It’s difficult for her to reference yourscars directly which gives you some amount of satisfaction but itdoesn’t last.  “This is an exfoliating scrub to takeaway the dead skin, and this is to put on after you’ve bathed; ithelps rejuvenate the skin and help it heal. Oh, and this! This is themost amazing moisturizer! It will help lighten the—the, um, scarsso they’re not so… so noticeable.”

She really does mean well, but for all her wellmeaning she doesn’t take your feelings into account. She loves youbut each time she does this it feels like she doesn’t love all ofyou. Since being with Henrik, having him find out about youraffliction, you’ve learned to be comfortable with your scars, withthe fact you can’t always control yourself.

Feeling the familiar sensation of youaffliction you take the bag, needing to just leave the house beforethings get even more overwhelming. “Bye Mom, see you late.” Youtell her, quickly kissing her cheek and hastily make your exit.

Slipping behind the wheel of your car you turnthe ignition on and drive home as quickly and as safely as you can.You don’t notice until you’ve closed the front door of yourapartment but you’ve managed to pick open a mostly healed cut onyour forearm. Shrieking you rush into the bathroom to find theantiseptic and bandages.

 “Y/n,I have found a dog zat you vould love to zee.” Henrik callsentering the house. Instantly he knows something is wrong. “Schatz?”Carefully he makes his way to your bathroom and pushes the door open.His heart sinks at the sight of you rocking back and forth on theedge of the bathtub holding your arm to your chest, blood stainingyour skin.

“Y/n,oh scheiβe,” he whispers. It’s very rare and memorable if Henrikis brought to the point of swearing. He’s used to seeing blood butnot when it’s yours and in such a large volume. As he makes his wayto you he does note there are no large puddles and in fact it is verylittle in comparison to what he expected.

“Goodkids don’t pick. Good kids don’t pick. Good kids don’t pick.”You chant under your breath. You heard this so much growing up whenyour anxiety got too much in public settling. Your mother would handyou a cloth napkin or some kind of object to twist or snap to keepyou from picking at your skin.

Grabbing a towel from the floor Henrik cleansthe rim of the tub and sits down next to you. It concerns him morethat you don’t acknowledge him than the pink water sloshing aroundyour calves. No matter how bad it is, you always acknowledge him.

“Y/n?I am home.” Henrik says softly running his ringers along the sideof your head seeing the far away gaze you have. Your eyes neverwaiver from a spot in the water as Henrik calls your name again. .Henrik turns from you closing his eyes and takes a steady breath.This is new and more concerning. He wonders what could have happenedto throw everything you’d been working so hard to accomplish to thefloor.

Whatever happened he can’t let your pick atyourself anymore. He knew there was a scratch on your arm, but it didnot cross his mind you would pick at it to this extent. That is notwhere all the blood is solely coming from. You’ve picked at yournail beds your lips and small spots on your legs. Whatever happenedwas devastating.

Carefully Henrik lays his hands over yours andpushes it into your lap. “Y/n, vill you not look at me?” He askssoftly waiting for you to turn your head.

His voice is a welcomed sound, but it’s notenough to break the trance. You want to turn to him and cry into hisarms, but you just can’t. You’d tried to reach out to him beforethings got worse, but no one would find him for you, or were overlyrude.

Sighing quietly Henrik stands up to fetch atowel. The bath water is too dirty now to be used for any kind ofgood cleaning, but he can at lease get the dried blood off. Shruggingoff his jacket and button up shirt, Henrik tosses them into thehallway along with his shoes and socks.

He roll up his pant legs and sits down againfeet into the water and slowly cleans away the blood and bits ofskin. He knows this should disturb him since it’s you, but he is adoctor, and caring for people regardless of their relation to him iswhat he does. It’s easier on him to look at your wounds from aclinical stand point because then it makes it less of an ego blowwhen you have a relapse or when he needs to help you heal.

“Dove,vat happened?” Henrik tires to get you to talk glancing up at yourface. You’re staring right at him; still you do not see him. Ithits him then; you were supposed to see your father about a car you’dbeen looking into purchasing. “Did you see your dad?” He asks andthe response is not what he wanted.

Your whole upper torso bobs with each sob asyou’re pulled from your trance. Dropping the towel in the pinkwater Henrik takes your hands afraid for a moment that you’ll goback to picking when he’s just got you to stop.

No, instead you look directly at Henrik andsob, “Why can’t she see she’s hurting me?”

Clarity has been given. Confusion and worrygives way to anger within Henrik. Your mother, as well-meaning as shecan be is slowly killing you. Taking a few calming breaths Henrik hasto center himself before speaking. “Dove, I am here now. Come letus clean you.” It’s not what he wants to say, but for you, andyour love for your mother, he holds his tongue. To often do childrencome in to the hospital because of the ignorance of their parents.

If he needs to take you away to Germany or toIreland, he will—if it means you will be happier. Standing upHenrik helps you to your feet. Keeping on hand connected to one ofyours he leans over and drains the bath. Twisting the head of theshower away from him he opens the taps and spends a about a minutetesting the water before switching places with you.

This is not the shower he had hoped to behaving, but he will do what is needed to keep you healthy and—witha little prayer, sane. Using his antibacterial hand soap from thesink, Henrik washes your newest wounds with care, pausing for briefmoments when it’s too much pain for you

The shower takes the better half of a halfhour, but once done he helps you wash your hair before turning offthe water and disrobe you and him completely. Grabbing towels hewraps his around his waist then gently dries you off. Through out theprocess you’ve cried silently upset and ashamed you’re puttingHenrik through this again.

Walking with you into the bed room he helps youget into your favorite shirt and bottoms before taking you to thedinning room table and sits you down. Some of your wounds have openedand he has to clean them off before dressing them with cotton gauzewrap.

“Villyou tell me now?” Henrik asks setting his supplies aside. Sittingon his knees he holds your hands, waiting in silence for you to openup to him. He won’t lie this is a set back, but it does not meanall your accomplishments is meaningless.

One long silent minute stretches into twobefore you lift your gaze to his. “She means well.” You repeatyour father knowing Henrik will know exactly who you refer to.

“Doesnot mean she knows vell.”Henrik responds in a neutral tone. Hedoesn’t want you to feel attack or that you are attacking yourbother, but as your partner and if he’s honest your husband, hewill do what is best for your health. “Many of my patients zink zeyare doing best, but it only hurt zose around zem.”

“Shedoesn’t listen to me, I tell her no and she just… I can’t stopher.” You whisper with a defeated look in your eyes. You can seethe anger at your mother’s meddling brewing in Henrik’s eye.Giving him a small smile it touches you how upset he gets on yourbehalf.

“Mylove, I vill help you vith her if you vill let me.” Henrik offersagain in the neutral tone.

Your chest tightens. No one’s offered to helpyou talk with your mother. Dad says he talks to her, but nothing eversinks in to her mind that you don’t like her “gifts” and thatshe’s hurting you more than she’s helping no matter how much shewants to help. “Please.” It’s a whisper of a sound, but Henrikhears you as if you’d just screamed with everything in you.

Henrik nods squeezing your hands. Standing uphe helps you to your feet and leads you to the living room and putson a comedy movie. For the next few days he’ll keep you home andrelaxed before taking you over to your parent’s house for a sitdown.

 Dressing in semi casual clothing it feels likeyou’re getting ready for an interview you don’t want to be apartof. Unfortunately this has to be done and thankfully Henrik will bethere for you. Sitting down on the bed you settle your hands in yourlap and take a few deep breaths.

Henrik stands in the door way watching youcarefully. He’s so proud of the progress you’ve made in just thepast three days. He knows this will be a hard step in your life, buthe’s quite sure it’s something you need. “Are you ready?”

Noddingyour head you stand and follow Henrik to the car. The car ride islong and filled with an awkward silence. You don't know how yourmother—or father for that matter will react, but you, you have todo this.

Pullinginto the driveway Henrik turns the car off but doesn't get out rightaway. “Good or bad, I vill support you.” He tells you earning atimid smile in response.

Youboth exit the car and walk hand in hand to the door of your parent'shouse. They've met Henrik before and seemed to like him, but youwonder if they'll like him after this. It's not that you'll throwHenrik under the bus, but without him you'd never have the courage todo this. Knocking twice your mother answers the door, surprised tosee you but ushers you in quickly.

Yousmile shyly at her and follow her into the living room. Hesitatingfor a moment when you see your siblings and aunt in the room youstick closer to  Henrik. “Hey, d-didn't realize anyone was going tobe over tonight.” You say waving to your family.

“Spurof the moment kind of thing. Looks like you two had the same idea.”Aj says smiling at you. You can't return it with the same happiness.

“Well,ah, I needed to... to talk with mom and dad about something.” Youbeing wanting to hide behind Henrik. He squeezes your hand to comfortyou and solidify his support.

“Oh?What about dear? Did that stuff I bought you work?” You mother asksgiving you an easy opening.

“Ah,”Your voice stalls for a second and Henrik releases your hand andplaces both his hands on your shoulder to comfort you still. “No,its not helping, Mom.” You say softly.

“Haveyou even been using it?” Your mom asks taking a bit of a defensivetone.

“Mrs.Y/n,” Henrik begins but you hold your hand up. It's not Henrik'sresponsibility to do this for you. He's done so much already.

“Thankyou, Hen, but I can do it.” You tell him raising a hand to squeezehis. He nods and allows you to take lead again. How did you get solucky to have Henrik as your lover and supporter? “Mom, I love you,I love that you want to help me, but please, no more. I can't—Ican't do it. I know my skin is horrible, that I have scarseverywhere, but all those products you buy, it kills me.” You sayhonestly, it's the most honest you've been in years.

“Whatare you talking about? They're to help you with your... problem.”She says glancing at your aunt.

“Ihave dermatillomania, mom. It's not a dirty secret and it's notsomething I have control over. I would understand better if I askedfor things to help soften my scaring or help smooth out my skin, butI'm still coming to terms with managing my condition. In stead ofseeing the progress I've made you focus on the physical aspect of theafter math. I can't,” Tears drip down your cheek. You don't mean tocry you just are. “I can't keep repeating this cycle. I'm askingyou to stop forcing me to move faster than I am comfortable with.”

Youcould have shot your mother in the leg and she'd look less in painthat she does now. “Y/n! I—I have just been look out for you!Your physical feathers is how the world sees you. What do you thinkpeople think of you with all those scars?” Your mother asksnoticing the bandages under your long sleeves. “Have you beenpicking again?” She shrieks.

Forthe first time something snaps at her words. Shoving your sleeves upyou rip off your carefully placed wrappings. “Yes, because youcan't see your child that is in pain and needing really moral andmental support more than to worry about the physical appearance!”You shout hot angry tears replacing the sad ones. “I can't do thisanymore, mom.” You plead.

“Y/n!Watch your tone!” Your father shouts out of habit despite his harshtone. Your mother sits speechless, as does your siblings and aunt.

Henrikwraps his arms around you, pinning your hands to your sides to keepyou from picking at your skin again. He knows you, he knows youremotions, the warning signs. Twisting you away from your family heturns you in his arms and frames your face with his hands. “Look atme.” He orders sternly. Your eyes bounce to and from his face a fewtimes before settling on him. “Tell me.” He whispers.

“It'sbad, Hen. I... I'm fighting so hard.” You tell him pleading for himto help you. He nods and reaches into his pocket.

“Ihad hoped to vait until ve returned home, but zis vill help.” Hepromises stepping away from you and kneels. Your heart thunders.

“H-Henrik,what are...”

“Youare beauty in physical form, Y/n. Be my vife and complete me.” Hesays displaying a small box with the most beautiful ring you've everseen.

“Henny...”you whisper. He hates the nickname, but allows you to say it becauseit makes you giggle and he loves your giggle. Voices gasp behind you,your father stands up as if to interfere but remains still.

“Sayyes.” He coaxes watching your smile slowly come into existence.

“Yes,”You agree with all your heart. Henrik smiles taking your uncoveredleft arm and slips the ring on. “I had planned on asking you closerto our anniversary, but now seemed good. I have read zat havingsomezing to twist or fidget vith can help. Zis vill be a symbol of mylove for you, and provide a small coping technique ven I cannot bezere for you.” Henrik says ever being the doctor you love.

“Whoa,I did not expect that.” Aj remarks.

“Ilove you Henrik.”

“AndI you, Y/n”

“Well,I... I didn't realize that you two were so serious.” Your motherremarks not know what else to say. This is not where the conversationwas going. “But that still doesn't explain why I'm being attacked.”

Youlook at your mom. “I'm not attacking you, Mom. For once I'm beingcompletely honest with you. I love you, I know you mean well, but Ican't and I won't take anymore skin care products from you.” Youtell her as straight forward as you can.

Yourmother scoffs at your words. As you open your mouth your father says,“She's right Lidia. Leave the girl alone, I've told you before, Y/nis grown now. She is able to buy what she needs when she needs it.”You smile gratefully at your father.

“Ah!Well I'm sorry for caring about you!” Your mother cries throwingher hands in the air and walks out of the room.

Apainful silence takes over before AJ says, “Anyways, congrats ongetting engaged!”

Ploppingdown on your bed you're over come with giggles. Despite your mother'sreaction and feelings you're happy. Looking at your ring you rollonto your back and flail about with excitement. You're going to marrythe most wonderful man on the face of the earth!!

Henriksmirks from the door way before rushing the bed and jumps on. Youshriek when his body lands almost atop you. “Henrik! You scaredme!” You tell him laughing.

Hetakes your lips, kissing you until you're dizzy. “I love you, and Ivanted to discuss a matter vith you.”

“Whatis it?” You ask with a raised brow.

“Ihave received an offer to go to Ireland to practice. It has been manyyears since I have been home. I vonder if you vould come vith me?”Henrik asks. He knows it's not the best of time considering where youjust came from, but he had received the offer while his phone was offat your parent's.

Bugeyed you stare up at Henrik. “Really? Wow. I mean..” Pausing youreally think about that. The more you do the more it become obviousit's important to Henrik. He gets a slight crease in his foreheadwhen he's worried you'll reject something. You're not big on moving,especially that far, btu you will be starting your life as a marriedcouple, new adventures await you.

“Yes.”You tell him. “Let's do it!” You cheer pulling Henrik down foranother kiss. “Wherever you lead, I will follow.”

“Youamaze me, Y/n.” Henrik responds caressing your cheek bone with histhumb. “How did I get so lucky?” Smiling your gladly accept hiskiss.

“Luckain't got nothing to do with it. You brought me home and I refuse tolet you go.” You tease giggling at the feeling of Henrik's fingertips against your sides. He knows you all to well, and you love himthe more for it.

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

By Drazzilder

Chapter 11: Family

The next two months go by in a flash. You manage to keep your powers in check as you help save the day on more than a few occasions. Citizens are starting to recognize you and even one small boy asked for your autograph. Being a hero is rewarding but nothing like being with Enji. Trying to keep your relationship secret is difficult at times. During hero work is easy because you’re staying alert for trouble. It gets almost impossible to keep your hands off of him when you’re in the agency. Luckily you have a demon to control your body because the one day you were working out with Enji and he used his shirt to dry his face. You almost reached out to touch his exposed abs when Zaheer stopped you in your tracks. However, you got caught in Enji’s office when Sanji walked in as you’re sitting in his lap making out. She said she would keep it a secret and Enji told you she could be trusted; so, crisis avoided. She was actually the one to suggest keeping your off days miss-aligned to avoid suspicion.

Today is the first day in over a month that you two are together for the day. You awaken in a familiar position, right on top of Enji as he pets your head.

“How’s my little flame this morning.” He says with a gentle smile.

“Mmmm, you know sleeping on top of you is so much nicer than any mattress, I get to feel your body under me.�� As you wiggle a little.

He wraps you in a tight hug and kisses you a few times on your face. Even though you have been together for 2 months you still can’t help but blush from his affection and you quickly go face first into his bare chest.

“Now, now. Don’t go hiding that face from me, little flame.” As he lifts your head to make eye contact with you.

“Really, the pet name.” You roll your eyes but secretly you kind of enjoy it.

“Well, (Y/N),” in a sarcastic tone “what do you want me to call you?”

“I know I can’t stop you, you’re too stubborn anyway.”

“Ha! You’re right. So, what do want to do today before we meet with my children?”

“I’d like to walk through the forest and watch the leaves fall. Then I think we should pick up something to bring with to the kids. Maybe a cake or something.”

“That sounds like a plan to me, now let’s get up, I’m starting to get hungry.”

Enji always enjoys your cooking and over the past months you have really started to know his favorites. It’s nice to make something he really enjoys even if it just his favorite breakfast. After enjoying some salmon and rice, you head out. Seeing Enji in a turtle neck sweater just drives you wild. You must be having the same effect on him as he has a hard time looking away in your jacket with red scarf. Once in the car, Enji wanted to drive to a secluded temple to surprise you, but the road signs gave it away pretty quickly.

“I’ve never been to a Japanese temple before.”

“This temple is deep in the forest. I thought you might like a nice walk with a surprise at the end but I forgot about the signs. Wait, you have a demon inside of you, should I be worried about the spirits fighting?”

“I may come from hell but I never really got a chance to make a name for myself so we will be fine.”

“Won’t they sense your energy and be alerted to your presence?”

“We have been to other temples all over the world, so far we have been left alone.”

“Really?”

“They make good hiding spaces plus the people looking for me probably thought the same as you.”

“That’s a relief. And look, we are here.”

As you turn the corner, you see a large traditional temple arch with a winding path under it heading deep into the forest. As you leave the car, a fall breeze picks up some leaves and makes the trees rustle. You two begin walking down the path as the leaves fall and the morning light twinkles through the trees. The cool fall air sends a cold chill down your back and Enji wraps his arm around you and uses his quirk to warm you up.

“Thank you, Enji” you say as you tilt your head toward him, resting on his shoulder.

“You always get cold easily, why don’t you wear a warmer jacket?”

In a sarcastic tone “Maybe it’s an excuse for you to hold me.”

“Well, I think it’s working.” As he squeezes you tighter and kisses your head.

You to continue walking along the path, looking at nature around you. You stopped for a moment as you saw a deer. It stared at you both and slowly walked away after a moment. You continue down the path, hearing the sounds of leaves crunching under your feet. Once you reached the temple, you both dropped an offering and bowed. Staying there only a moment to appreciate the beauty of the building, you turn around and leave from once you came. It takes just about an hour to walk back to the car.

“Any ideas on what I should bring my children?” Enji says while turning the ignition.

“Well, everyone loves chocolate, so how about a chocolate mousse cake!”

“I like the idea of that, we better hurry so we are not late. I don’t want to disappoint them by being late.”

You can sense a bit of nervousness in his voice but it’s understandable; he hasn’t talked to his children in 8 months. You quickly find a small bakery, get a cute little cake with strawberries on top, and head to the apartment building. It’s the nicest apartment building you have ever seen, but Enji wants his kids to have the best so it makes sense. Once parked, he sighs and looks down at the cake box you are holding.

“I know you said you wouldn’t come inside the apartment but…. I don’t know if I can do this alone. I know Hina is going to do her best to help but I’m still worried about what I’m going to say.”

“I’ll go with you, but I’ll tell you this. If they ask about us, I don’t care if they know but do you care?”

“If it will get them to understand I am trying to change, I’ll tell them anything, even that I cried like a baby in front of you.”

You laugh “Let’s just hope you don’t cry in front of them, ok? Zaheer and I will monitor you to make sure your nerves aren’t getting the better of you.”

“Alright, I feel little more confident about this. Thank you.”

The heat coming off of Enji starts growing as the elevator starts heading up. You grab his hand to let him know you are there. As you stop in front of the apartment door, you give Enji a quick kiss on the cheek. “You can do this.” Is all that you whisper. He rings the doorbell and you notice he is holding his breath until you hear the door opening. Hina answers the door.

“Enji, something told me that you would bring (Y/N) with you.”

He goes pale “How would you know?”

“Oh, a little birdie may have told me a thing or two about you both.”

“Midnight….” He rumbles.

“A woman never gives up her sources. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Now get in here.”

You enter an upscale apartment. It’s even nicer than Enji’s home and almost as big, it must cost a fortune. Hina directs you to towards the living room and takes the cake from you. You sit down and wait while she gets the kids. It feels like forever waiting but eventually they all enter the room. You can practically cut the air with a knife the tension is so thick as they sit down. That’s when Enji finally speaks.

E: “I wanted to come here today to tell you all that I’m sorry for everything.”

N: “Really? Now after everything we have been through, you expect us to forgive you.”

F: “Give dad a chance, Natsuo.”

E: “He is right, I don’t expect you to forgive what I did to you. Your brother and mother are dead because of me. I have to live with what I did every day for the rest of my life. I know right now it might not look it but I want to become a hero; no, a father that you can look up to.”

N: “How do you plan on doing that?”

E: “If I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure right now.”

N: “So you come here to apologize and not even have a plan. That’s it, I’m going!”  Natsuo tries to leave but is stopped in his tracks. He is forced to turn around and look at you.

Z: “Sit down and listen, this man still more to say!”

H: “You might want to listen; you don’t want to make a demon angry.”

N: “Fine…why are you here anyway?”

(Y/N): “Your father asked me to come.

F: “This is a family affair, I agree with Natsuo, you shouldn’t be here.”

(Y/N): “Can you just let him speak first? I will answer your questions afterwards. Enji, go ahead.”

E: “I know you might not believe me when I say that I know what I did hurt everyone. I pushed your brother too far and he died. I gave your mom so much stress and guilt that she took her own life. I separated Shoto from you and neglected you two for years. I pushed Shoto too far because of my selfish desires. I don’t even know how you can look at me right now. Knowing I caused all of this all of this hurt me so much that I have nightmares of watching myself hurt everyone. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror for months without feeling sick to my stomach. It got to the point that when (Y/N) tried to wake me one night I ended up almost killing him. That night I cried like I never have before. I never knew how much I hurt you all until your mother died and I never really processed my emotions until recently.”

N: “I don’t believe that you cried, you would never cry.”

(Y/N): “He is telling the truth; he did cry that night.”

F: “Why now? What changed? And why was (Y/N) with you?”

E: “(Y/N)… He is the reason I am having a change of heart.” You hold his hand which gives him a boost. “He has been with me and seen me at my lowest. I don’t know if I can do this out him. I’m telling you this now so you don’t hear it from someone else, but…” he takes a deep breath “We have been dating for the past 2 months.”

N: “YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME! You’re telling me that my dad who doesn’t feel anything but hate has fallen love AND WITH A MAN? This had got to be some kind of joke! What makes you think we will believe any of this?”

(Y/N): “It’s true. I don’t know how else to make you believe it. Enji was so broken down that night. All of his emotions hit him at once, he even threw up because of his thoughts. I was there only to stay overnight till I got a better apartment but the world works in strange ways. If I wasn’t there, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. I don’t even know if your father would have made it much longer without me.”

N: “Why him? Have you seen what has done to us? Do you know what we went through?”

(Y/N): “I have, I can see memories with the help of Zaheer. I saw everything he did to you. I understand that you may never forgive him but give him a chance to prove that he really is trying to change. I know it might seem fake right now, but just know that he wants to be in your life. He wants to be better.”

F: “I want to believe you but I agree with Natsuo right now, it’s really hard to believe.”

H: “Not for me, I knew something was going to happen between you two. I saw it the first night you brought (Y/N) home”

F: “Wait, you knew? Why didn’t you tell us?”

H: “He needed to find himself first before he could even tell (Y/N). It’s not my place to say his feelings. Plus, you wouldn’t believe me even if I did tell you.”

(Y/N): “I know that Enji really wants to make things better. He is still coming to terms with his past but I hope you guys will give this apathetic man a chance.”

E: “(Y/N), I can show my feelings, but only with you right now.”

In the heat of the moment, he kisses you on the cheek but he then looks at his children, remembering where he was. Every Todoroki has shock on their face at this action and you are feeling like everything got awkward until Fuyumi spoke up.

F: “Well, that proves that you’re telling the true. The old dad would never kiss mom much let alone a man. Shoto, you haven’t said a word, what do you think?”

Shoto stands up and walks towards his father. Enji just stares as Shoto begins to speak.

S: “You hurt everyone and I don’t know if I can forgive you for that…. but I believe that you want to change. I believe that (Y/N) will help you. Give us some to time to think about it.”

E: “Thank you, son.”

Enji then gets up and hugs Shoto the best he can. He is about to cry with joy but you and Fuyumi join in as well. Hina pushes Natsuo into circle. After letting go, you enjoy some cake while small talk starts about school, work and how you two met. It was about an hour before you two left. During the drive home, you could feel Enji was starting to relax, finally getting his emotions off his chest.

“Thank you, (Y/N), for everything.”

“I would do anything for you, Enji. I just want you to be happy.”

“After everything you have done for me, I wanted to thank you in a special way.” He gives you a look that you haven’t seen before, a smirk with half closed eyes.

“Well, what is it…. ohhh…. are you sure? You have never done that with a man before.”

“I would do anything for you, (Y/N).”

“Using my words against me, but I’ll take it. Can we at least get a snack first? I’m hungry.”

“You’re always hungry!”

“Well, when you have a demon inside of you that you need to feed, tell me how you feel.”

“You talk about me like I’m a baby inside of you.”

All of you laugh as you drive off. You can’t wait for tonight.

Next Chapter: R18/NSFW

[enigmaticbughead]

Fleeting Moments (Bughead)

I have come to the conclusion that I am awful with titles :)

In which Jughead is called to pick up his very drunk ex girlfriend

Fandom: Riverdale

Pairing: Jughead x Betty 

Word Count: 2214

Warnings: underage drinking, swearing

“Fleeting Moments”

Jughead flopped down on his bed, patting Hot Dog’s head. He was very grateful that Mark and Ellen, his new foster parents, had allowed him to bring the little sheepdog when he came to live with them. Even though he’d only had the dog for a short while, it was nice to have some sort of familiarity in a new place. He fit right in, too, and got along real well with the couple’s two other dogs, Mac and Bandit.

It had been a long day, and Jughead was glad to finally be in bed. He knew though, that he probably wouldn’t sleep very well. He hadn’t slept well in nearly a month now. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Betty Cooper crying, because of him.

He must’ve drifted off, because when he opened his eyes again, the red digits on the alarm clock beside his bed read 2:30 AM, and he had laid down around midnight. He then realized what had woken him, as his ringtone continued to play.

He groaned, glancing down at his phone to check the ID before sliding to answer the call.

“Joaquin, it’s butt-fuck AM. There better be a good reason you’re calling me right now.”

“You need to come get your girlfriend, dude,” the young Serpent responded.

“Girlfriend?”

“Yeah, Betty,” Jughead felt a twinge of pain in his chest at the mention of her name, her being referred to as his girlfriend.

Of course, Joaquin didn’t know that they’d broken up. How could he? He just got back into town after everything with Jason’s murder and the trial had settled down. He didn’t know, and if he did, he wouldn’t be calling Jughead, because he was probably the last person Betty would want rescuing her.

But, nonetheless, he would always be there if she needed him.

“Betty? What’s wrong?” Jughead asked, already sitting up and reaching for his shoes.

“Well, she came down to the old drive-in land with Toni, but Toni left a while ago and she’s pretty damn drunk,” Betty Cooper, of all people, was drunk? “I’d offer to bring her home myself, but I haven’t got the wheels, and I can’t very well take her home in her car and then be stuck on the North Side.”

“Yeah, of course,” Jughead answered. “I’ll be there in ten.”

“I’d hurry if I were you,” Joaquin retorted, “I took her keys away from her, but she’s already nearly snuck them back from me twice.”

Jughead had finished tying his shoelaces by the time he’d hung up the phone. He stood, stretching as he slipped on his leather Serpents jacket and beanie. He grabbed his keys and phone and went outside, getting into the old pickup and revving the engine to life.

At first, Jughead was glad that his girlfriend had adjusted to his new lifestyle on the South Side, even going so far as to even befriend some of the younger Serpents, especially one of the members’ girlfriends, Toni. But, he wasn’t exactly thrilled that it had influenced her to do reckless things like this. It’s part of the reason why he’d broken things off with her just a few weeks ago. Being involved with this crowd, being involved with him, had turned her into someone she wasn’t. And Betty was so unequivocally good; he didn’t want to see the girl he loved become something so dark. It broke his heart, knowing he had hurt her. He kept trying to tell himself he’d done the right thing, but sometimes he wasn’t so sure that being apart was good for either of them.

It didn’t take him long at all to get to the land where the old drive-in used to be. Even though the drive-in wasn’t there anymore, it was still a favorite Serpent hang-out.

When he got out of his truck, there were whoops and hollers, “Hey, Jughead’s here,” “F.P.s kid,” “Jones’ boy.”

Jughead was new to the world of the Serpents, and while he didn’t partake in many of the darker parts of the gang’s workings, he still got on well with many of its younger members. And, he came with notoriety, merely because he was F.P.’s son. On top of not snitching on the Serpents, Jughead’s father was also high up on the gang’s totem pole of authority, making Jughead an almost automatic cred.

“You wanna beer, Jones?” Alex, a kid around his age, asks, throwing an arm around casually around Jughead’s shoulder.

“No, thanks though. I’m actually just here to pick up my girlfr- Betty. Have you seen her?”

“Ah, I see. She’s over by the fire with Joaquin.”

“Thanks,” Jughead patted Alex on the back before crossing over to where the fire burned in the middle of the property. It was kindled with various bits of trash and people had thrown in their empty beer bottles and cans.

He scanned the various people sitting around the fire before his eyes landed on the Betty. She was sitting on a log talking to Joaquin, eyes wide and expressions and hand movements exaggerated by the alcohol in her system. She looked as beautiful as ever in the dim light of the fire. Her hair was out of its usual ponytail, and flowed in its soft waves to the tops of her shoulders. While he understood why she kept it in a ponytail most of the time, he’d always loved when she wore her hair down.

As Jughead got closer, he saw the plastic red cup in her hand. He furrowed his eyebrows, and Joaquin must’ve noticed, because he threw his hands up in surrender.

“It’s just water, I swear,” the boy chuckled. “I cut her off almost an hour ago.”

“Juggiiiieee,” the blonde cooed, jumping up toward him, but tripping on the way so that he had to catch her.

“Hey, Betts,” Jughead grunted as her weight fell into him, “how much did she have?”

Joaquin shrugged, tossing Jughead a set of keys he could only assume were Betty’s. “I don’t know. But by the way she’s acting, I wouldn’t be surprised if she drank a whole six-pack. Plus, I know she and Toni took some shots of Fireball earlier.”

“Great,” Jughead sighed begrudgingly.

“I’m n-not even t-that drunk, Jug,” she whined.

“Yeah, okay,” he steadied her upright, placing a hand on her back for support. “Thanks for calling me, Joaquin.”

“No worries,” Joaquin chuckled, “night Betty.”

“Goodnight, Joaquin,” Betty smiled in the same friendly way she always does. Whether she’s drunk or sober, Betty was still the sweetest person Jughead knew.

“Come on,” Jughead started to gently guide the girl back toward his truck, but it was very slow moving, as Betty drunkenly stumbled along the way.

When they got to the parking lot, Betty turned on her heel, holding a hand out expectantly.

Jughead raised his eyebrows. “What do you think you’re getting?”

“My keys.” She simply stated.

The dark-haired boy laughed aloud. “Yeah, not about to happen,” he moved past her, opening the passenger door to his truck. “Get in.”

“Jughead Jones, give me my damn keys!” the blonde scolded.

“No, Betty Cooper,” he retorted, copying her condescending tone.

“Why the hell not?” she argued.

“Because I’m not about to let you drive drunk.”

“What do you care?”

Jughead let out an exasperated sigh. “Betty, get in this truck or so help me God.”

Betty crossed her arms, pursing her lips into a pout. Jughead moved and placed a hand on her waist, ready to hoist over his shoulder, but she wriggled, managing to free herself from his grip. “Don’t fucking touch me,” she yelled, her arms uncrossing in defeat. “I’m going.”

He stepped out of her way, but stayed close behind, ready to catch her as she climbed into the truck unsteadily, sitting back against the worn leather seat. Jughead closed the door and went around the front of the truck and got in the driver’s side, buckling his seatbelt. He turned to see Betty struggling with her buckle, her intoxication hindering her ability to coordinate.

“Betts?” he murmured and she looked up at him.

His blue eyes were soft, and even though she was nowhere near herself, she felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach that were always around when he was. She relented, sitting back and allowing him to buckle her in. Her breathing hitched when his cool fingers grazed along the bare skin of her side as he clicked her seat belt into place.

“I can’t go home like this,” she whispered, “my mom would kill me.”

Jughead turned the key in the ignition. “We can go to my dad’s trailer.”

She nodded, keeping her eyes trained out the window the whole ride there. It wasn’t very long of a drive to Sunnyside Trailer Park, where Jughead and his father used to live prior to F.P.’s incarceration. It was unclear what would happen to their mobile home now that no one was there to live in it or pay rent to keep it in the park. But for now, it was technically still the Jones’.

Jughead threw the car in park and got out, going to the other side to get Betty, who was already struggling to get out of the truck without falling.

“C’mere,” the raven-haired boy wrapped an arm around her waist, lifting her slightly so that she could maneuver her legs, before carefully placing her back on the ground. He picked her up again however, when she stumbled, nearly toppling both of them over.

He placed one arm about her waist and the other under her knees, carrying her bridal style to the trailer. Figuring out how to unlock the door while holding her was awkward, to say the least, but Jughead managed, and used his hip to push the door open. He carried her down the short hallway into his bedroom, laying her down gently on the bed. He carefully untied her shoelaces and slipped her converse from her feet.

“Do you want a shirt or something?” Thankfully, Jughead hadn’t yet completely moved everything to his new home.

Betty nodded weakly in response, her eyes already heavy with booze and sleep deprivation. He knew she probably wasn’t getting much sleep at night either.

Jughead rummaged around in his unkempt drawers before he found a grey sweatshirt. He tossed it to her. “I’m gonna let you change,” he mumbled before leaving the room, going into the trailer’s kitchen. He grabbed a glass out of the small cabinet, turning on the faucet and filling it with water.

He then made his way back to his bedroom, opening the door to find Betty curled up on his bed, her clothes folded as best she could manage and stacked in a little pile beside where he’d placed her shoes.

His sweatshirt was big on Betty, coming down to nearly her midthigh. He licked his lips at the sight of her long, bare legs as they shone almost iridescent in the moonlight, but he quickly pushed the thought away. She wasn’t in her right mind, and he was not about to initiate something she might not feel one hundred percent okay with when she woke up tomorrow.

“I got you some water,” he croaked out, his throat suddenly dryer than it was before. She let out a little whine, and he sat down next to her on the bed. “C’mon. You’ll thank me tomorrow, I promise.”

She propped herself up on one elbow, and he helped her hold the glass steady while she took a few sips from it, before laying back down. He drank the rest in an effort to push down the lump that had formed in his throat.

“If you need me, I’ll be on the couch,” he started to get up, but she caught his arm.

“Stay,” her plea was small, almost like a child who needed comforting.

“Okay.”

Jughead tossed his beanie to the side and took off his shoes and Serpents jacket before he pulled back the duvet, lying down beside her and pulling the covers up around them. She shifted so her head rested on his chest and he wrapped his arm around her, his fingers gently playing the ends of her hair.

Betty sighed, nuzzling into him, and she could feel his heartbeat, even through the material of his sweater. She absently traced the patterns on the grey material, sighing as she nuzzled into him. It all felt so right.

“I miss this, Juggie. I’ve missed you.” Betty murmured into the darkness that allowed her to be brave.

“I miss you, too,” he whispered into her hair. He drew in a deep, calming breath, taking in her vanilla scent.

He knew this moment wouldn’t last forever. In the morning, they would be forced to return to reality. She’d probably go home. He’d go back to his foster family’s house. They’d still be broken up.

Or maybe they’d finally realize that they were no good without each other.

But either way, this moment was fleeting. Which made Jughead want to cling to it even more.

Breaths slowed and evened, eyes fluttered closed as they laid there, tangled up in each other. It was probably the best either one of them slept in a long time.

[ships-sailing-in-the-night]

Fic prompt: Lucifer + Trixie & her classmates

I had so much fun writing this fic! Reminds me of my elementary school days…..It’s a long one so you can either read below or on AO3 here.

Trixie was sitting on a stool at the kitchen counter eating a bowl of cereal that Chloe had poured for her earlier. Maze had insisted on buying the child a very sugar heavy box of cereal, Chloe had told Maze many times that sugar is not a substantial breakfast but between Maze’s look of death and Trixie’s puppy eyes she gave in and placed the box in the cart. One time a week a classmate was allowed to bring either a parent, guardian or some family member to class with them and have them spend the day. The family member of choice would spend the entire day with the child, including sitting next to them in class, eating lunch with them, and playing with them on the playground. However, the child could not bring their person of choice on a test day because the teacher did not want the child to have help during exams. This week was Trixie’s turn to bring someone in, and Trixie had no clue who she wanted to bring. Last year she brought her mother in and all her friends asked all sorts of questions about what her mom’s job. How many people have you arrested? Do you turn on your lights and drive as fast as you can just for fun sometimes? How often do you use your gun? Have you ever shot someone and killed them? Trixie heard all those questions and Chloe answered them without freaking the kids out too much.

This year, however, Trixie made three new friends who she considered part of her family, they were an angel, a devil, and his demon. Not the typical new friends a mother of an eight-year-old would want her daughter to make, but over the past months, they have acted like family more than some of their real blood relatives. Trixie knew her father was going to busy at work, as well as her mother. Amenadiel, or her Guardian Angel as she referred to him as didn’t really know Trixie that well. Besides, he always seems to be running around and talking about his heavenly duties, whatever that meant. All Trixie knew was that Amenadiel wasn’t in LA that much, mostly whenever Lucifer seemed to get in trouble would he show up and scold his younger brother. That meant Trixie could either bring Maze or Lucifer. She loved them both dearly, but there was a small dilemma. Both Maze and Lucifer didn’t seem to like other children, Lucifer would always squirm whenever she would run up and hug him and he would always shy away from other kids that happened to pass him on the street. Maze, although she didn’t really like children either would at least take her to the mall to go watch movies as well as letting her buy ice cream even when she wasn’t supposed to have it.

“Trixie! It’s time for school babe, grab your backpack and lunch so we can go!” Immediately Trixie snapped out of her trance and did as her mother said. Running upstairs she grabbed her backpack and put on her sparkly tennis shoes. Running back down the stairs she grabbed her lunch that was currently resting on top of side table of the living room before heading out the door, having Chloe close it behind her.

Chloe opened the car door for her daughter and made sure she was buckled in, closing the passenger door she made her way around to the driver’s seat. She put the keys into the ignition, buckled up, and then pulled out of the drive way to drop her daughter off at school. About 5 minutes into the drive Chloe spoke up, breaking the silence.

“Have you thought about who you are going to bring into school to spend the day with you tomorrow honey?”
 Trixie continued to stare out of the window, watching the rows of houses and trees zoom by her gaze as if they only appeared for a second.

“I don’t know yet Mommy, I’m stuck between bringing either Maze or Lucifer. I know Amenadiel isn’t around very much and I know how busy Daddy and you are. Besides, seeing as Lucifer and Maze have just recently joined this family none of my classmates will know too much about them. I think it would be fun to bring them, don’t you Mommy?”


“I’m sure it would be fun, but honey, Lucifer and Maze don’t really like children that much.” Thought that isn’t entirely true, she added in her head. Maze had agreed to take Trixie Trick ‘or’ Treating that night Lucifer and she was stuck working a murder when she had gotten home both Trixie and Maze were asleep on the couch with candy wrappers spread out around them. When Trixie woke up the next morning she told Chloe how it was the best Halloween ever, she even got $50 is cash. Chloe had to keep the candy under her close watch though, she didn’t want her daughter to get stuck in a sugar comma.

“Well sweetie, Maze texted me this morning saying she had a new bounty she needed to start tracking, so I’m afraid your only option is Lucifer, or I could try and see if I can get Daddy to go?”

“No that’s ok, can you tell Lucifer he needs to come to school with me tomorrow?”

“Sweetie I cannot force him to go if he doesn’t want too, but I will ask him if he would like too. Just don’t get your hopes up, ok sweetie? I know he isn’t too found of children.”

“Ok, Mommy.” They arrived the drop-off-line of school, Chloe stopped the car and waited for Trixie to get out of the car, double checking she had her lunch.

“Have a great day sweetheart, I promise I will ask Lucifer about tomorrow, ok?”

“Alright, love you, Mommy, bye!” Trixie waved as her mother said goodbye and moved further away from the school. She only hoped that her mother would be able to convince Lucifer to come and spend a day at school with her. Trixie spent the whole day at school letting her friends know that she hoped she could have someone special come to school with her tomorrow but she just had to wait for her mother to ask them. Her classmates tried to guess who she was bringing, some guessed her Dad, other a cousin or uncle. She kept her lips shut and said they would hopefully see who she brought into school with her. With the ring of the bell, all the children settled down in their seats and began with the class actives for the day.

                               _______________________________

Chloe walked into Trixie’s room to wake up her daughter and have her ready for school. She pulled out a fresh pair of shorts, a ruffled top, and turned on her lamp.

“Trixie babe, time to wake up.” She placed a kiss on her daughter’s forehead, having her stir in her sleep. She walked out of the room but before she left she turned and said “Oh, and you better be quick there is someone waiting for you downstairs. I wouldn’t want to keep him waiting.” She turned and headed out of Trixie’s room to head down stairs to prepare breakfast for herself, her daughter, and their devilish guest. By the pure grace of God Lucifer had happily agreed to accompany Trixie in school tomorrow.

Lucifer had approached her yesterday afternoon at the precinct stating he wouldn’t be able to come into work because he already had something else in mind to attend to. When she questioned he could possibly be doing all day tomorrow he stated that he had to go to school. Of course, Chloe just stared blankly at him, waiting for more of an explanation.

“At your home last week, I saw the flyer Beatrice had in her bag stating it was her turn to bring in a family member to school with her. I knew Maze would be called for a bounty mission soon because she has one almost every other week, and seeing that detective douche take on that extra case last week meant he wasn’t going to have time to take a day off. Besides, since we wrapped up our case yesterday that meant you and I would just be doing boring paperwork all day tomorrow, so I might as well have some fun with your spawn.” He gave Chloe his signature Lucifer smirk after he finished what he needed to stay. Chloe was at a loss for words, she didn’t know how to respond except for “wow.” Finally snapping out of her haze she shook her head and stated: “But you hate children.”

“Mmm, true I despise children, but young Beatrice has grown on me a little. I believe I can handle a day at school with her, as long as she promises not to stick on my like honey.” He held up a finger to emphasize his request.

After hearing her mothers statement Trixie practically jumped out of bed and got ready for school as soon as possible. She brushed her hair, changed her clothes and got her backpack all sorted. She ran out of her room, through the hall, and down the steps all while screaming his name at the top of his lungs.

Their guest downstairs braced for the impending arrival and impact of the almost 50-pound girl that was now barreling towards him.

“LUUUUUCCCCIIIIIIFEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!!!”

“Yes, hello child.” Trixie immediately attached herself to Lucifer’s hip with a death grip. She smiled up at him with big puppy eyes and a face that was very similar to Chloe’s whenever they had one of their more, intimate, moments. Chloe, to Lucifer’s dismay, made no attempt to detach her daughter from him. She simply stood idly by and laughed at Lucifer’s interaction with her daughter. Yep, this should be a fun day at school indeed.

“Come on Monkey, grab your backpack and a bite to eat before you get into the car, I just need to tell Lucifer a couple things ok?”


“Ok Mommy,” she answered as she continued to keep her death grip around Lucifer’s waist. Lucifer gave a pleading look in Chloe’s direction for assistance.

“Baby, that means you need to let go of Lucifer. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.” Chloe glared at Lucifer and motioned him to come with her into the living room. Trixie, after what seemed like an eternity, had finally let go of her hold of him and went into the kitchen to eat breakfast. Lucifer quickly followed Chloe into the living room before the child decided to skip breakfast and reattach herself to him.

Once in the living room, Chloe turned to face him, her arms folded against her chest.

“Lucifer you need to understand that you are going to be responsible for watching over my daughter for the entire time she is at school.”

“I understand Detect-“

“That means no-” she brought her voice down a little, “-no innuendo’s, no bad language, no propositioning the teacher and school staff for a quickie in the janitors closet. You have to act like a…a mature adult who can take care of a kid.”

“Are you done hassling me now Detective.” She glared at Lucifer. Here it comes, his smart ass response, she thought to herself.

“Now, before you so rudely interrupted me I was going to say that I understand, Detective. I know how important this day is for you daughter and I wouldn’t want to ruin it. You can count on me to watch over your child, I promise.” This time instead of giving her his signature Lucifer smirk, he gave her a soft gaze and a warm smile. One she didn’t see him use as often. She placed a hand on his arm and gave it a slight squeeze.

“I know.” She returned the soft gaze, a lingering moment rested between them before Trixie came running into the room, once more attaching herself to Lucifer.

“I’m ready Mommy! Come on Lucifer we have to go now!” She jumped up and down knowing she was going to have the coolest person come to spend the day at her school.

Lucifer and Trixie headed to his Corvette while Chloe took her car to the precinct. She gave her daughter one last kiss on her temple before buckling her up in Lucifer’s car.

“What, no kiss for me Detective?” He wiggled his eyebrows seductively as Chloe just rolled her eyes, turned, and got into her own car. Lucifer pulled out of the driveway first, Chloe following shortly after, and then both went their separate ways.

                                  _______________________________

Trixie held onto Lucifer’s hand as they walked into the main office of the school. He stood waiting by the door as Trixie explained to the desk lady that he was her to visit. The older women asked for his name before handing her a name tag to give to him to wear.

“You need to put this name tag on that way Mr. Bower knows you are here to visit.” She peeled off the back of the tag and gave Lucifer the sticky part. He pouted slightly knowing some of the sticky stuff would get on his black Parada suit jacket but placed the tag on the left side of his chest. Trixie grabbed hold of his hand and led him down the hallway towards Mr. Bower’s classroom. All her other classmates were already sitting at their desks, including her teacher Mr. Bower. Trixie opened the classroom door and led Lucifer in. Lucifer took a quick glance at the 20 other kids in the room, a healthy mix of both boys and girls before turning his attention to the teacher. Mr. Bower looked to be about a 38-year-old man, and from the short summary, Trixie gave him on the way over he is from Africa. His family immigrated from Botswana to California when he was 17 years old. He spoke English well, he had taken classes when he moved to learn the English language. He studied hard and went to California State University where he got a master’s in teaching. He concentrated on African studies and hopes that in a couple years he will be able to return back to Africa to teach the many children the English language and simple reading and writing skills.

“Hello Trixie, I see you have brought someone with you to class today.”

“Mr. Bower, this is Lucifer Morningstar and he is going to spend the day with me.” Mr. Bower rose from his desk and walked over to Lucifer. He extended his hand as Lucifer did the same.

“Mr. Morningstar I am Mr. Bower, Trixie’s third-grade teacher, a pleasure to meet you. Trixie would like to introduce your family member to the rest of the class?”
“Sure!” She pulled Lucifer to stand in the front of the room with her, he stood and smiled as Trixie introduced him.

“This is Lucifer Morningstar, he works with my mom at the Police Station. He helps her solve crimes and protects her at all times. He also owns a club called LUX, but I’m not old enough to go there yet.” Trixie looked up at Lucifer and squinted her eyes, running through her mental list to see if she was forgetting anything.

“Oh and I almost forgot, Lucifer’s thinks he’s the Devil but he is an actual angel.” She gave the class and her teacher a big smile, receiving empty stares from both her teacher and her classmates. Her smile soon faded when none of the kids started clapping, she really thought that bringing Lucifer would impress her class. Then one of the boys, Tommy, raised his hand.

“Yes, Tommy?” Mr. Bower asked.

“Soooooo…if you are the devil, shouldn’t you have horns and a tail?” He asked, resting his chin on his hand.

“Ah, that’s what most people think the Devil looks like, but alas they are wrong. I do not have a horn or a tail, but I can do this.” A blink of an eye, literally, he flashed his eye’s at the classmates hoping that it would give the kids enough proof that he was the Devil, but not scare them. Chloe would have a fit if the teacher had to send both Trixie and Lucifer home because he terrified the children. There was about a minute of silence before the classroom erupted with “whoooaaaah’s” and “that is so cool!” as well as “best family member ever!” Trixie face beamed up again with the approval of her classmates, hopefully, this would keep anyone from thinking of picking on her again in the near future. Mr. Bower, however, had not seen Lucifer’s eyes change and stood up to regain order in the classroom. He instructed Trixie to sit down at her desk while he went to retrieve an extra chair for Lucifer. He played the small plastic chair beside Trixie and told Lucifer to take a seat since the class was about to start. Lucifer took a seat, his knees almost at his chest due to the chairs small size, and looked to the front of the room. Mr. Bower turned on his laptop and the projector, officially starting the school day.

Throughout the day Trixie, her classmates, and Lucifer learned about the different planets of the solar system, names of moons, and some well-known constellations. After that, they switched over to learned how to read maps as well as finding different countries in different continents on a globe. By noon time it, the classmates, as well as Trixie and Lucifer, were getting hungry and losing their concentration. Mr. Bower dismissed the class and led them to the cafeteria where they children would eat lunch. Once Lucifer walked into the cafeteria his eyes grew in size at the view of over a hundred children sitting in the small area. A small warm hand gripped his larger hand and led him into the child infested area. You can sit next to me Lucifer, that way you don’t get lost. Of course, Trixie wasn’t the only person who wanted to sit next to Lucifer, her entire class wanted to sit with him too. “Great,” he thought, “more children to try to touch my Parada.”

Lucifer took a seat next to Trixie at a large round table and the rest of her class joined her except for the few popular girls of the class who would have nothing to do with Trixie nor her guest. Trixie opened her lunch box and pulled out two egg and cilantro sandwiches that Chloe had made her and Lucifer earlier. Trixie handed Lucifer the sandwich and his face lit up with a wide smile. He hadn’t planned on eating anything, but after the Detective had made him that sandwich a couple of months ago he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to taste her refined cooking. Trixie also handed Lucifer an apple juice box her mother also had graciously packed for the two of them in the morning. Throughout lunch, the kids would ask different questions about Lucifer’s and Trixie’s relationship. For example, Adam, a boy with brown hair and glasses asked how the two had met, in which Lucifer replied that the Detective had to make a stop at the school one day to pick up Beatrice and he met her outside of a teachers office. Kelly, one of the most talkative girls in the class, asked if he was Trixie’s new Dad since her real father never had time for her anymore. Trixie looked down in shame, knowing that all the kids knew her parents were divorced and she didn’t spend much time with her father.

“No, I am not Beatrice’s new dad, I am her mother’s partner at work and that is all. Her father is a very busy man because he has to make sure all of you, you family and your friends are safe. His job is important but whenever he does have free time he makes sure he can see Beatrice. We are all friends and we all work together, and I don’t mind looking after Trixie when her parents are working a case.” He smiled at his statement and rested a hand on her head, slightly ruffling her hair a little. The kid’s questions and stories about their lives took up the whole 30 minutes allotted time for lunch. Mr. Bower returned to the cafeteria to retrieve the kids. The children took their turn throwing away any trash they might have before going outside to the playground for another 20 minutes to get some exercise.

Lucifer followed the children and Trixie outside to the playground where they children insisted on playing metal tag. Lucifer, have never played childish games in hell had no clue how to play this “metal tag.” Andrew, a rather tall blonde boy explained the rules of the game. The game was simple, two people would be ‘it’ meaning they would try to catch the other players who were running around the playground. You were safe, meaning you cannot be tagged if you were touching a piece of metal. This included the monkey bars, sliding poles, and metal slides, etc. Touching anything other than the metal parts of the playground meant you were fair game for the taggers. Trixie and Kyle were chosen to be ‘it’ while the rest of the class had to run around the playground.

Chloe had chosen playground time to drive by the school and check to see how both Lucifer and Trixie were getting along. She walked up the grass field to get a good view of the playground, her eyes widened at what she saw. She quickly pulled out her phone to capture a video as well as take a couple of pictures. She smiled as she filmed Lucifer being chased by the entire class as he tried to get to a metal pole on the opposite side of the playground. The kids chose metal tag just so they could have an excuse to chase him. She laughed as she watched them children and Lucifer finish their playground game before the swarm grabbed onto his Parada suit jacket, almost knocking him to the ground. The children were laughing, Trixie was smiling wider than Chloe has ever seen and Lucifer even managed to let out a good laugh. A whistle blew in the distance signaling that recess was over and the kids needed to come back inside to finish their day. Chloe turned around on her heels and made her way back to her car to head back to work.

_______________________________

On their way home Trixie told Lucifer how much she and her classmates enjoyed having him come to school. She couldn’t wait to get home to tell her mother all about her day. Finally pulling up the drive way Trixie nearly bounded out of the Corvette and ran to the front door. Her mother’s car was parked in the driveway, so the door was open. Bounding in the door she met Chloe walked towards her.

“Mommy!!” She ran and hugged her mother, backpack, and lunchbox in tow.

“Hey Monkey, how was school today?” She took Trixie’s lunch box from her hand and planted a kiss on her forehead.

“BEST DAY EVER!!! My classmates all loved Lucifer and I think he actually enjoyed spending the entire day with me. Can he come to school tomorrow with me too!?! Pleeeeaaassseee?!??!?!?” She gave her mother the biggest puppies eyes she could muster.

“I’m glad you had fun sweetie, but I’m going to need to take Lucifer back, he needs to help me on a new case I was assigned today.”

“Awwwww, alright.” She gave a little pout before bounding up the stairs to put her backpack away and start on her homework.

“What a day, who would have thought a bunch of children to tire the Devil out this much.” Chloe looked up to see a rather exhausted but still charming Lucifer stand in her doorway. He had removed his jacket, having only his white collared shirt exposed, and his hair wasn’t as tamed as he normally had it; curl escaping here and there.

“Well, you and Trixie can tell me all about it over dinner, if you want to stay that is.”

“I would like nothing more Detective.” The exchanged smiles and soft glances before Chloe led him into the kitchen for a pre-dinner glass of wine. After both, the day’s they had it was a well-deserved drink.

Thanks so much for the prompt and I hope you enjoyed reading this story!

[crescentmoonhills]

Psychological. Second try at writing

Friday morning. The last time I would have to hear my alarm, well, until Monday. I turn off the buzzing of the alarm but I know the buzz wouldn’t stop. It never did. Countless whispers, quiet and scratchy like a mouse in the wall grating at my soul. Going ceaselessly louder and louder by the day. Begging, pleading, crying, screaming, screeching and— "Shut up, shut up." I whispered to myself, climbing out of bed. I go downstairs to start making coffee. The office has a Keurig machine, but I have always thought you couldn't beat a pot of coffee in the morning. I step outside to smoke my first one of the day.

I put a cigarette to my lips, light it, and without even looking up, I know the neighbors are judging me. I know everyone is. I know all too well. A washed-up author with not a single book to his name—no, a 35 year old unemployed man left behind by his wife, friends, and even families. Give applause to the one and only, Mr. Ernst Klein. Heh. I could hear them speaking from here. Mumbling, whispering, hushing, and gossiping. Ignore it, Ernst. Ignore it. They have enough reasons to do so and you are used to it anyway. I took a deep drag down to the end and threw it on the ground. Figured if I’m going to end myself might as well make it enjoyable. I go in, grab a cup of coffee, took a book, and return to the patio.

****

At the altar she prayed. Sending her prayer to The Almighty Creator. The oldest and most heartless of gods. The creator of the Nine Great Gods and the world as she knows it. The one who had created her and her fate. The one who had sent her on to this holy mission of hers. The one who had given her, friends and companions. The one who had given her, families. The one who had given her, the love of her life. Also the one who had blessed her with a beautiful daughter and a charming son. Yet, He is also the one who took them all away. He took from her, her friends, companions, families, lover, and her precious children. However, she never faltered. She knows that everything her Creator did must have a reason and He had yet to abandon her and her world, she didn’t care if everyone around her thought she was insane. Through her incessant sobbing, she prayed, and prayed, and prayed again. She pushed her calls as hard as she could into the voids of her mind in hoping they would make it out to her one and only Creator.

“Please bring them back… they’re my everything”

****

Reading has, for as long as I could remember, always been my hobby. It lets me escape from this cruel reality that I live in and all the problems that follows it. Escapism. I know. It won’t solve anything but at least it helps me cope with it. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. I mean, not everyone could face their problems head-on, no, no. Not everyone… are that brave. At least I know I’m a coward. If running away from my problems and live my whole life in peace is being a coward then yes, I gladly accept being a coward.

I looked down at the book that I randomly took from the piles of lined papers and moldy writings which I had proudly called my bookcase. I looked at it and there it was, a novel with my name arrogantly printed on it. Sigh. Out of all books. It was a book that I had written myself. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. I had abandoned this story years ago because it wasn’t quite well received. Monotone, uninteresting, unnecessarily long, unoriginal, mediocre, lackluster, and the compliments goes on. None of my books are well received actually. No. None of them, and so I finished writing none of it.

****

It called to me that day as it does now.

Whispering.

Yearning.

Promising.

Promising of a world torn apart by fire, divine and nuclear, all encompassing and devastating our planet. Such is the will of the Creator. So I obey.

“I hope it gets bet—” A shaky voice barely comes out of my mouth only to be interrupted. “Cough!” I coughed so hard it felt like my lungs were to come out. I looked down at my hands and I see blood. Sigh. I guess I don’t have much to live anymore. A couple weeks probably? No? A couple months? Well like Engels used to say life keeps going like a menstrual keeps flowing hahah. Smiling as I thought to myself. I hope it gets better. I really do. The clicking of the Geiger counter is my only friend now. Ever since the factory exploded it seems to be going higher and higher by the day. Every step feels excruciatingly painful, but I keep walking.

I miss Engels, I miss Immanuel, I even miss that cocky playboy Jean. Dog tags clinking in my hand. Geiger counter clicking faster and faster. It’s ok. The temple is close now. We’ll be there any minute now. C’mon Pascal you can do it!” I thought as I continued to shamble about but fate has other plans I guess. I was a couple feet away from the temple when I realized it. I was surrounded by reavers. “Give me all your food, kid! I know you factoryborns have a lot o’ them luxury canned foods!” Yelled one of the reavers. “Forget it boss just kill ‘em and we could sell his meat to the carvers for extra foods”. That night, the snows were colored red.

God forgive me. I couldn’t bring my friends to rest. I prayed as I breathe my last.

“What did we do to deserve this?”

****

While I read, I hear a voice. What did we do to deserve this? No, not the usual voice, those gritty, harsh, and dry calls were still there. They were always there but I had learned to ignore them. Instead I focused on a more vivid voice. One that said, “Will you be able to come?”. I looked up, and saw Karen. I grumbled, annoyed that she had interrupted me. “Fuck away will you, Karen,” I said. What did we do to deserve this?

“I’m not going to your fucking baby shower.”

Karen sighed, “Look, I know you don’t like him, but he’s still your brother, Ernst—”

“I don’t care whether or not he’s my brother, Karen. I just don’t want to waste my time.”

“Family bonding is not wasting time, Ernst. It’s a tradition! And considering your situation you might need it now more than ever.” Karen yelled.

“Tradition is just peer pressure from the dead, Karen.” Please bring them back… they’re my everything.

“Why are you being so stubborn, Ernst?”

“I see no point in pleasing the dead” I said. What did we do to deserve this?

“Is that why you didn’t visit dad when he’s laying on his deathbed?” I grit my teeth. Please bring them back… they’re my everything.

“He asked to see his son at least once before he died and yet you never came. You didn’t even come to his funeral!”

“I have reasons, Karen! I’m sure dad will understand and he would forgive me! I did what he would’ve wanted me to do and that is doing my responsibilities!!”

“The way I see it It’s better for you to go and make up with your brother rather than locking yourself in that room you call your office. You don’t have anything better to do anyway.” Please bring them back… they’re my everything.

“I do have things to do, Karen! I’m an author. Writing is my responsibility!” I hollered “It’s unbearable, Karen. I can’t leave them alone.” so I said as I’m sharply sucking a breath. What did we do to deserve this? “I— I just can’t. Enough! You wouldn’t understand.”

She sighed and patiently asked “Just do me a favor and come will you?”

“Sorry, I have better things to do,” I said shortly, and went inside the house.

****

The colony's inhabitants were gathered in a large auditorium. They were laughing and smiling no less than an hour ago. The auditorium was safe and impenetrable yet also serves as a prison in which none can escape. The door was sealed from the outside. Through a thick window covered in scratch marks, Commander Alexei could see decaying bodies in red jump suits. Some were holding others in one last embrace. Others were apparently trying to escape through some sort of vent, with little luck.

“Commander?” Hadrian, the only member of the crew who knows about the program, asked “Is there really no other option?”

On the desk were a stack of journals, each marked with dates ranging from 3010 to 3075.

“It’s been years—no, decades since the last reply from Earth, Hadrian” he said while wiping a gun. It was an unusual gun. A very ancient one which dates back to the late 1800. It’s very unique to say the least. It was a type of gun called a revolver. It’s a single-action, cartridge-firing, top break revolver. Fires a type of projectile called bullets. Uses no energy cartridge, no focusing lens, and forget fusion core reactor, there’s not even a normal fission core reactor. It uses gunpowder and pressure instead. Ignition fills the barrel with gas thus increase the pressure and push the bullet out. An effective and cheap way to kill. How interesting, when killing is involved people really do anything to improve, thought Alexei as he fills the cylinder with bullets.

“Thus, I am forced to conclude the worst: we lost the nuclear war, and our nation and families are destroyed. Even this failsafe colony will not be enough to keep us alive. Instead, we will all die of dehydration. Faced with that consequence, I had no choice but to exercise Protocol 99 and terminate the colony in a quick and relatively painless way.” He had no other choice. His nation was dubbed as evil simply because they had a different political view. And so the others waged war. War don’t need a concrete reason anyway, as long as they see profits and merits in it men would jump on it the second they got the chance to. Who gets to decide morals anyway? Who are them to say that my country is evil? Are we evil for defending our beliefs? Am I a villain for defending my country and families? No one gets to decides evil and just. Only god can do that and the fact that this happens means that there is no god in this world, thought Alexei.

I’m sorry, comrades. Your screams…. your screams will haunt me even after I take my own life. Alexei points the gun at his own head and Hadrian follow suit. “I will see you later, Sir” nods Hadrian. “Commander Alexei, retiring from duty. Should humanity ever rise from the ashes and return to the red planet, know that we tried. Long Live The Union”. Alexei closed his eyes and prayed for the first time in his life. The page was spattered with small flecks of blood.

“God is not real after all. There are no free will”

****

I hated writing. What did we do to deserve this? No, I don’t hate it, what I hated was the responsibility that came with it. God is not real. There are no free will. Despite my mediocre talent in writing, I loved to write, I really did but all of my stories had a dark twist. What did we do to deserve this? I loved writing stories with a dark twist but I wish I had known any better. Oh, how I wished I had. What did we do to deserve this? I’m not sure when it started but it was there, always, unending, ceaseless and incessant. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. The whispers— no, should I call it prayers instead? Yes, prayers. God is not real. There are no free will. What started as one… became two, and that became more and more as it got louder.  God is not real. There are no free will. They got so loud that I decided to stab both of my eardrums with my pen. Yet they still wouldn’t stop coming. What did we do to deserve this?

God is not real. There are no free will. As they got louder I heard words. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. I hear men, women and children all pray to escape from the wicked world they live in. They prayed for a better fate than what was destined. God is not real. There are no free will. A better life. Alas, their world is but a page, empty and nonsensical. Their fate is determined by the splotches of inks, a fate that will never receive closure. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. And lastly, their life is in the hands of an irresponsible and incompetent god who revels in the suffering of the lives that he himself had created.

The stories with the most details are the worst. God is not real. There are no free will. Villains, broken and enraged at the uncaring god that made their lives the way they are. What did we do to deserve this? Victims, suffering from the polluted and corrupted world created only for the sake of a more exciting plot. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. Protagonists, wept in silence as their fate forces them to fight and struggle in their abandoned and callous world while losing both everyone they loved and their only purpose in life. What did we do to deserve this? I heard more and more voices, pleas, and cries for help came for every single day, hour, minute, and seconds. God is not real. There are no free will. Surely I’m going crazy. Maybe I isolated myself too much. What did we do to deserve this? That has to be it. I isolated myself to work so much that I’m losing it. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. Yet, I have to write still. No matter how many years it will take. I will end it all. I’m the one who started it and I will be the one who ended it. Please bring them back… they’re my everything. I’m responsible for them. Yes, it’s my responsibility. And so I write. I wept and I write. God is not real. There are no free will. What did we do to deserve this? Please bring them back… they’re my everything.

[sueboohscorner]

#ThisisUs – S2, E13 – “That’ll be the Day” – Review and Recap

We’ve been given hint after hint since the show began and last night’s episode laid the groundwork for what’s to come – what we’ve anticipated – Jack’s death!  Let’s recap “That’ll be the Day.”

The first scene starts with what we come to find out is Jack and Rebecca’s neighbors getting ready to sell their house.  They are going through their garage to get rid of junk before they sell.  Husband is very sentimental about all the stuff but his wife is not.  I was a little confused about how they would fit into the storyline but as it turns out they are a huge part of the story.  More about that later.

Kate spies Toby looking at his computer and laughing.  She assumes he’s looking at porn and is surprised when Toby is actually looking at the Petfinder website.  He would love a dog but he knows that it would bring back so many memories, painful memories for Kate. Toby gets that but Kate knows how much Toby really wants one.  We don’t know exactly what Kate’s memories are but I speculate that Jack went back into the house to save their dog.

Jack and Rebecca are huge football fans and the annual Pearson Super Bowl party is a big deal.  Rebecca is wearing the same Steelers shirt that she was wearing in the scene when she drives back by the remains of their home ALONE with Jack’s belongings on the passenger seat so we know the fire is coming.  But on this day, Jack and Rebecca are talking about Jack’s construction business.  Jack has decided that it’s not a good idea to just quit his job and jump right in.  He wants to start slowly by purchasing a couple of homes to flip to establish his reputation and take it from there.  Rebecca loves the idea and is surprised when Jack asks her to run the business with him.  She agrees and they start making plans and eventually take their “plan-making” upstairs.

Present day, Randall and Beth did indeed purchase William’s old apartment building and are having a meeting with the tenants that day.  Beth is a little concerned with Randall’s enthusiasm and cautions him that they need to take this slow so they don’t go broke.  At the meeting, Beth is making her presentation outlining the way improvements will go and keeps getting interrupted by the tenants asking about repairs to their own apartments.  Each time, Randall promises that he will fix those issue today.  They are not listening to Beth at all so she gives up, letting Randall learn the hard way what she already knows. 

Kevin, meanwhile, is alone in Rebecca and Miguel’s house looking at his list he’s made of the people that he needs to make amends with.  The list is complete with one exception, Sophie.  Because his therapist told him to keep his mind and hands busy at this point in his recovery, Kevin heads off to help Randall and Beth at the apartments.  As Kevin enters the room, several of them recognize him as “The Manny.”  Beth leaves the building in Randall and Kevin’s hands and they set out to fix them all.  The men are pretty proud of all they are accomplishing today.  In one of my favorite scenes, one of the women asks Kevin about a wall that she’d like removed.  Kevin takes off his shirt and gets to work tearing down the wall unaware that several of the women have brought chairs and are watching Kevin “work.”  I mean, I would totally do the same if he were working in my house!

Back to the Super Bowl party 20 years ago.  Kate received a letter from the art school but can’t seem to open the letter.  Jack grabs it and opens it.  They are impressed by Kate’s submission but are now asking for her to submit an original song!  Jack and Rebecca are thrilled for her.  Jack wants to make a video of her singing for her submission but Kate refuses.  Not taking no for an answer, Jack secretly records Kate as she records her song in her room.  Kate spies him though and angry, storms out of the house.  Jack follows her and she tells her father that she doesn’t see herself the way he does and pleads with him to stop saying “dad” things when it’s not the reality.  Jack agrees to stop. 

Grown-up Kate is at the animal shelter.  She says she’s just entertaining the idea of getting a dog but isn’t ready to commit.  Until that is, she and dog named Audio see each other.  She loves him immediately and decides to go for it.  She is filling out paperwork when the shelter staff member leaves Kate and Audio alone while she gets some paperwork.  Alone with Audio, Kate panics and leaves without him. 

Kevin and Randall are still feeling pretty proud of themselves at the apartment when Randall gets a call from one of the tenants.  Randall rushes to the man’s apartment and there are dozens of cockroaches pouring out of a hole in the wall which was one of Randall’s quick fixes.  He calls an exterminator to debug” the entire building.  While that is happening, the tenants can’t stay there so he puts them up in a hotel for the night.  Beth arrives with her “I told you so face” and tells him what she had been trying to tell the residents.  The first thing that should be done before any renovations is to make sure the building is to get the building up to code first.  Beth is right. Randall is humbled. I love Beth!

Back at the Pearson Super Bowl party, it is becoming apparent to Jack and Rebecca that the kids are not interested so much.  Kevin is still on crutches and is angry at life for changing his plans for a football career.  He has applied to a community college and snaps at Rebecca when she tries to tell him that it’s not a bad thing.  Jack yells at Kevin for speaking to his mother that way and Kevin storms off to call Sophie.  Kevin heads to Sophie’s house.

It looks like Randall and his new girlfriend (from the mall) are in to the game.  They are decorating cookies for the party and are oblivious to the drama going on around them.  Soon after Randall asks Jack if it’s ok if they skip the party and go see Titanic instead.  A disappointed Jack says ok.  That leaves Kate. At least one of them will be there. 

Kate is back in her room and watching Jack’s video. It has captured Jack in the mirror as he filmed her.  He is so proud of her.  Kate decides that she never wants her dad to stop looking at her that way.  Then she asks if she can skip the party and go to her friend’s house.  Looks like it’s just Rebecca and Jack.

Rebecca and Jack are dishing up dinner and Rebecca surprises Jack with the listing for a home close to them that is for sale.  She thought it would be a great first house to flip and tells Jack that she’s already left a message with the owners.  Jack is so excited! 

Fast forward 20 years to Kevin who has gone to see Sophie.  I had really hoped that the two of them would stay together but it doesn’t look that way for now at least.  Kevin tells Sophie how sorry he is for all that happened.  Sophie feels bad that as a nurse, she didn’t see it.  There is no “actor” Kevin at all in this moment with Sophie. He is sincere when he makes amends with her.  However, Sophie does not see a future with Kevin.  She tells him that he is the only man she has ever truly loved.  She asks Kevin to just let her memories be of 17-year old Kevin.  She tells Kevin that he can now cross her name off his list.  He tells Sophie that she WAS the list. 

Kevin returns home and finds a package waiting at the door.  This is the moment my tears started.  Kevin opens it up and out falls Jack’s necklace!  Kevin, visibly shaken, starts to cry (and so did I).

Back at Kate and Toby’s place, Kate returns home.  She tells Toby about her visit to the shelter and that she found this really adorable dog but it was too much for her and she had to leave. Toby is very understanding and tells her not to worry about it.  Kate interrupts Toby to say that she was half way home when she turned around and brought Audio home.  More tears for me.  Toby loves Audio on sight and Audio gives Toby a big kiss!  Yay, Kate!

So, all that’s left now is to talk about the end of the episode.  Rebecca is asleep but Jack is still up when Randall comes home.  Turns out the night was great and he just had his first kiss.  Randall heads to bed.  Jack is in the kitchen when Kevin calls to say that he’s spending the night at Sophie’s house.  Jack starts to clean up the kitchen and turns the crockpot on low to keep Rebecca’s chili warm. 

This is where we realize the significance of the older couple trying to sell their home.  The story returns to them with the wife telling her that someone is interested in the house and left a message.  She’ll call them in the morning.  But there’s more.  Flashback to the same man arriving at the Pearson’s door.  Rebecca and Jack answer the door and it’s just after they had moved in.  Rebecca is pregnant.  The man has a gift for them.  It’s a crockpot. Yes, that crockpot. 

Back to Jack in the kitchen.  He closes up the house. Checks all the locks. He tacks a note on Kevin’s door saying that he owes his parent’s an apology and heads to bed.  Back in the kitchen, the crockpot shorts and ignites.  The fire quickly spreads throughout the kitchen. There is no working smoke alarm.  As the fire spreads, all the memories created in that house appear. 17 years of memories. The fire has already spread to the living room.  There will be no stopping it.

This is Us does not return until February 4th and airs immediately after the Super Bowl which is kind of appropriate given what’s going to happen.  Keep that in mind when you’re setting up your DVR. 

We knew it was coming. We’ve been frustrated because all we got were teasers.  Well, here it is and I think it’s going to be brutal.  I think it’s going to be hard to watch.  I know we’re going to need boxes of tissues!