#i don't have red roses but I do now grow baby blue eyes every year

[rayadraws]

Deshi flowers

[visd3stele]

magic and kids

summary:

A/N: I really hope you like it. Thank you for your requests. Loved writing it.

art credit: @phantomrin

TW: none

@britishbookworm2 requested (if you want to leave a request as well, click)

masterlist

°•▪︎~▪︎•°

It's been four years since Taryn decided the mortal world would be a more suitable place to raise her child than Elfhame. Even if her sister was now High Queen, the fairies would still make life hard for her and her baby. Maybe not on purpose, she admits it. But magic runs wild, free and unstoppable. Used to it, the Fae Folk barely notices the dangers. And frankly, they don't care. Not allowed to use it on humans as cruelly as before, some meaner courts claim innocent ignorance. How can an entire society of enchanted beings change overnight? How could they be expected to adjust to human fragility all of a sudden?

So Taryn took her baby, promised her sister to visit and fled to Heather and Vivi's. It wasn't as hard as she'd thought. Getting used to the mortal world, that's it. And if her baby had longer canine than normal, or his ears sharpened to pointy edges to the top, it passed unnoticed. Her son certainly didn't stood out the way Vivi did, even with light brown eyes that looked orange in the sun and rusty red hair. He didn't need much glamouring either, not like Oak, Oriana or Madoc. By the time she sent him to preschool his hair was long enough to cover the ears and no one seemed to notice the teeth even without magic.

For all the talk Taryn did on how she wanted her son to be free of his father in all ways, snapping at Oak when the boy tried to teach him magic before he knew how to properly walk and forbidding her family to bring Fairyland up, she named him Renard.

Fitting, though not what she should have done. Maybe part of her can't let Locke go, not entirely. She knew he didn't particularly wanted the baby, that everything he promised her were pretty lies. But for a few months, it has been real. Their marriage, their love, their lives. She saw her dreams come true, one after another: the mistress of an important household, throwing parties for courtiers, motherhood.

Now that everything she wanted snaped broken in tiny little pieces carried away by harsh winter wind, Taryn Duarte couldn't phantom having her child become like his father.

"It has nothing to do with magic, for fuck's sake!" Vivi exploded once, after Taryn better than not threw Oak and Oriana - who came to visit - out of the apartment for trying to reach Renard's magic. "He won't become a sly, selfish fox if he can change appearance or grow horses out of leaves. It's all about his up-bringing!"

"I want him to be normal, Vivi! That's why I took him here!"

Renard has been barely one year old when the argument happened. But it was enough to take his mother's words to heart.

°•▪︎~▪︎•°

Four years old Renard and twelve years old Oak played outside, jumping in crusty piles of autumn leaves. The princeling hadn't given up his plans to teach his cousin magic. He refused to let go of such opportunity: a friend he didn't have to hide of, one he could play with like he used to in Elfhame.

"Hey, Ren-Ren," Oak said, "check this out!" The older boy held up his hand, brows furrowed in concentration, lip grazed between his teeth. Nothing happened for an alarming amount of time. And then... the leaves twirl around the two cousins, splashing then with guts of wind and scarce dew as it swept them up in a friendly tornado.

Renard chuckled in delight, stretching to catch some of the closer leaves. But as soon as he touched one, the whole thing fell apart. "No!" Do it again, Oak. Do it again."

"I'm sorry, Ren-Ren," Oak faked a yawned and laid on the ground. "Magic is very serious business. Very consuming. I'm too tired to even move." He let his eyes close dramatically, watching Renard between his lashes. Truth be told, every time he did magic Oak felt good. Vibrant. As if the earth itself reached out and gave him life. But Renard didn't need to know that yet. He can definitely learn it by himself if Oak's plan works out.

The younger boy pouted and dropped on the ground. "Not fair," he muttered to himself.

"You know, Ren-Ren, you're half fae. That means there's a pretty good chance you're magic too."

"No, I'm not."

"You can't know that. Come on, give it a try!"

"No, Oak! I'm not magic. I'm not like Father, I'm like Mom. Like Mom, just like that."

Oak straightened himself, but didn't rose from the ground. "Ok, Ren-Ren. Listen up. Magic is not bad. It's fun. Don't you think it's fun?"

"Yes!" Renard nodded enthusiastically. "It's super fun. When you do it, Oak." At that the named boy own enthusiasm faded away in an instant.

"Thank you, Ren-Ren," he deadpanned. "But do you know what's more fun than watching me practice magic?" Not giving the kid a chance to answer, to even take in the question, really, Oak said "To do it yourself."

"Do you really think I should try, Oak?" Clearly, the little boy was attracted to magic. And clearly something was stopping him. But his older cousin slowly made whatever that was seem less big and scary, dragging him along in his qualms.

"Totally!"

Renard pushed his lips forward with his tongue, sticking it out through the gap in his teeth. Caramel eyes shone with desire, his red hair flown around by a cold, pleasant wind. "Ok," he gave in, as expected. "How do I do it?"

The smirk that lightened up Oak's face can only be describes as evil. Though no ill intention hid behind it. Only the knowledge his plan worked out, just like his sister, Jude's.

"Listen to me very carefully, alright? There is not just one way to make magic, Ren-Ren. You have to find your own. But for now, try the basics. Think really hard on what you want to happen. Something easy. Got anything in mind?" Renard frowned, then his eyes landed on a tree which still had some green leaves on its branches and nodded.

"Perfect! Now, imagine whatever you want to happen. Imagine it happening. Are you imagining?"

"Yes."

"No!" Oak groaned. "If you're paying attention to me, then it means you're not focusing on magic."

"But how will I know what to do if I don't listen to you?"

"I told you! Magic is your own, Ren-Ren. It comes naturally. So, dig it up. Use your imagination."

Renard tried to shut out the world around him, picturing the sole tree in his mind. A warm pull tugged at him and he followed. His magic, he tried not to dwell on the joy, but instead focusing on his practice. His magic reaching out. Because he reached out first.

The boy allowed the warmth to take control, guiding him through it. The tree now carved in his mind by detail wasn't enough. He needed action. But just imagining the leaves to fall wouldn't do. Renard couldn't say how exactly he knew it. He just did. Something more tender was needed. The half fae kid had to imply what he wants and trust his magic to follow his lead.

So Renard made himself cold. Chilly. Feeling a breeze of wind creeping inside his clothes, whipping his skin gently. Enough to rip a leaf off a tree, though. Which it did. The wind he summoned couldn't be felt, not really. Only by himself and the green leaves that departed one by one from their branch as if plucked by an invisible hand.

Oak gasped. Then grinned. And then he laughed. Renard broke free of his concentration, pleased to see his magic didn't falter. Not until every and each green leaf from his chosen tree didn't fall. The sight made him still in awe for a couple of seconds. But soon enough he joined his cousin with a bubble laugh, jumping up and down and running to tackle Oak in a tight hug.

"I did it, Oak! I did it!"

"Yes, you did, Rem-Ren. Indeed, you did. Congrats!"

"Can we show auntie Vivi? And auntie Oriana?"

When Madoc and Oriana first came in the mortal world, Taryn wanted nothing to do with them. But years of being cared for by the blue skinned, white haired, pink eyes woman showed their tale. She agreed to see her, but only her. She could be part of her child life, if she wanted.

"Sure. But don't you want to show your mom first?"

"Mom and auntie Heather work a lot. We can show them later." Renard said, but he felt his magic shrinking at the thought of his mother. His Mom didn't like his father. And his magic comes from his father. Is that why his magic doesn't want to reveal itself near Taryn? He hoped it was just him overthinking it, because he loves his Mom and wants to share this with her.

°•▪︎~▪︎•°

Oak stayed with auntie Oriana, who was his mother, so Renard couldn't bring himself to be upset over it. He would want to be with his mother as much as he can as well. So he did a little trick for auntie Vivi, who told him to stay where he was, brought a camera and ordered him to glamour the tea cups again. Renard made them look like pumpkins, since the Halloween being over the corner made him impossibly anxious - in a good way.

Turns out even mortal technology can be fooled by fae's magic. Vivi showed the clip to Heather, who coed over him until Taryn came home.

"Hello, treasure. How was your day? Wanna give mommy a kiss?"

Renard jumped into his mother's arms, pressing a strong kiss on her cheek before starting to tell her about all the fun he had with cousin Oak. "And then he said I should try magic too."

Tamryn stilled. "And?"

"Look, Mom!"

Renard broke a vase, then, with a twitch of his fingers put it back together. "Auntie Vivi says I'm a natural."

"Does she? That's amazing, sweetheart."

But his mother didn't sound thrilled. In fact, her smile wasn't even a smile at all, but a thin line. "I'm sorry, mommy. I knew I shouldn't've done it, but I didn't know why. Now I know: you don't want me using my magic. It'll make me bad, like father."

Renard pushed his lips up front, scrunched his nose up, wiggled his toes, all in an atempt to stop the tears hurting his eyes from falling. When he realized it was in vain, he took off running to his room.

When Taryn entered minutes later she found her son curled on his left side in the middle of the bed, hugging a black goat plushie his uncle Cardan gave him on his birthday tight to his chest. She hated herself for causing the pain struck look on her son's face.

"Hey, sweetie."

"Hi, Mom." Renard wiped his nose with his jumper's sleeve.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. Mommy was just scared, but that's not your fault. You could never be bad. Magic is not bad. Of course you can practice all you want, but we'll settle some ground, basic rules first. Ok?"

"Really?"

"Rules you can never, ever break. Really."

"Thank you, Mommy! You're the best! Just wait until Oak hears about it."

A/N: Renard means fox in french. Also: oops, guess I finished it earlier than expected and didn't really felt like waiting days to post it 😅

[lancelotscloak]

Colors I Have Known — MLQC Lucien's playlist 🦋

Note: I made this playlist last year, but never got the chance to share it (more like, I was afraid it wasn't good enough or I misinterpret Lucien's relationship with MC). But now I'm proud of the result and want you guys to have a listen too :)

Please enjoy it in order because I carefully chose the songs based on lyrics that describe his life before and after he met adult MC.

TRACKLIST:

Astronomical by SVRCINA

The endless of darkness is hovering The sound of the silence is deafening

Fine Again by Seether

It seems like every day's the same And I'm left to discover on my own It seems like everything is gray And there's no color to behold

They say it's over and I'm fine again, yeah Try to stay sober, feels like I'm dying here

Magic Man by Heart

Cold, late night so long ago When I was not so strong you know A pretty man came to me I never seen eyes so blue You know, I could not run away it seemed We'd seen each other in a dream Seemed like he knew me, he looked right through me

Strange and Beautiful (I'll Put a Spell on You) by Aqualung

I've been watching your world from afar I've been trying to be where you are And I've been secretly falling apart Unseen

Kiss from a Rose by Seal

You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain, baby To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny Won't you tell me, is that healthy, baby? But did you know that when it snows My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen?

Trampoline by SHAED

I've been havin' dreams Jumpin' on a trampoline Flippin' in the air I never land, just float there As I'm looking up Suddenly the sky erupts Flames alight the trees Spread to fallin' leaves Now they're right upon me

Wait if I'm on fire How am I so deep in love? When I dream of dying I never feel so loved

Love or Confusion by Jimi Hendrix

Oh, my mind is so messed up Going round and round Must there be all these colours Without names, without sound, baby?

My heart burns with feeling, but I Open my mind, it's cold and reeling Is this love, baby, or is it confusion?

Cut by Plumb

If you would just look me in the eye I feel alone here and cold here Though I don't want to die But the only anesthetic that makes me feel anything kills inside

I do not want to be afraid I do not want to die inside just to breathe in I'm tired of feeling so numb Relief exists I find it when I am cut

Neptune by Sleeping at Last

I'm only honest when it rains If I time it right, the thunder breaks

When I open my mouth I wanna tell you but I don't know how I'm only honest when it rains An open book, with a torn out page

I Found by Amber Run

And I'll use you as a focal point So I don't lose sight of what I want And I've moved further than I thought I could But I missed you more than I thought I would

Colorless by Copeland

She used to rely upon your shoulder For your compassion to enfold her For your colorless to calm her red To the bluest greens and clearest clears instead Now the deepest blushing of your lover's kiss Will live forever in your consciousness It was red like wine and bent your mind the same To the roar of gold that you could never tame

Now I can't see you Were we colorless anyway? Now I can't feel you

Try Again by Keane

Why would I wanna see you now? To fix it up, make it up somehow

Baby, I'll try again Try again Baby, I die every night Every time

What I was isn't what I am I'd change back But I don't know if I can

Listen on Spotify or YouTube

[msilwrites]

(A 3AM Update) A True Gentleman, Chapter 21 - A jealous husband?

A/N: Chapter 21 is up! Isaac confronts Diana, like a jealous husband! By the way, Henry, Diana's cousin face claim is 'Henry Cavill', and Sam McLean's face claim is Sam Heughan.

Oh, before I forget, if you don't like the story, please do move on to others, the internet has lots of them. Please don't hurt writers, ya? Good! so without further ado...

TWENTY-ONE

A jealous husband

"Diana!" her cousin, Henry approaches her. "That was a stellar performance!" he compliments.

Every time Henry and she are seen together, people often mistake them for siblings. The blue cold eyes, thick eyebrows, strong jawline, and dark hair were the signature that belonged to their family.

"Thank you, Henry!" was her grateful reply. "But I know why you are here for, go and lead the way!" she says, as he leads her to where her father sat. She knew what Henry approached her for. It was time for her father's interrogation and lengthy sermon.

Francis watched Henry, followed by Diana, approaching him where he sat.

"Relax Uncle..." Henry says, as he taps his uncle's shoulder, telling him to listen instead of scolding Diana. He then walks away to give the two space.

He took a deep breath before turning to his daughter. " Why don't you take a seat..." he offers, patting the empty space beside him, which she took.

"First of all, why are you singing at a wedding?" he tried to sound calm instead of being confrontational.

" I was trying to earn money to buy a 3D Printer," was her direct answer.

" Why?"

"I'm trying to build a small workshop studio, and I need a 3d printer..."

"Oh..." Francis was taken aback, he didn't expect his daughter to have such plans. "But what happened to the money you got from the sale of your old penthouse with Jesse?"

"That, I'm keeping it to the side. I plan to use it to buy real estate and most probably have the place rented for passive income. If not, I'll turn it into the workshop studio. I planned to save money, but I think I'd earn more if I were to rent the place out."

His eyes widened in disbelief, was this still the same Diana whom he met a few weeks ago? No! This Diana has ambition, plans and direction. She was actively taking charge of her life. "Wow! I did not expect that... That is actually a good plan"

Diana smiled and just nodded.

"Do you need help?" he offers, sincerely this time, without a hint of being condescending.

"Maybe? From time to time, Thank you! Da!" Diana says gratefully. "Your advice and input would be helpful from time to time" she adds.

"That was a stellar performance by the way!" Francis complements his daughter. " Those wedding songs reminds me of a time when I was..." he said trying to find the word.

"Hopeful? Yes, I did feel the same..." she admits to her father.

Francis sighs. " You know, I really did love your mother. It may have not gone well for the both of us, but not once did I regret loving her,"

Diana looks at her father, surprised at his sudden confession. Not once did her father open up to her about this issue.

"Why?!"

"Why what?"

"Da! She hurt you!" she exclaims.

"Yes, she did... and I may have done things that I shouldn't have, but what happened to us in the past, is what makes us who we are now. We grow and become wiser,"

"I guess you do have a good point..." she agrees. It made her think about her past abusive relationships, and what it thought her. Though it was terrible, it made her learn and it made her wiser.

"So how did you exactly end up here?"

"That's a really long story..."

" We have a lot of time,"

She began her story (omitting some parts of course) and told him about the music director Aedan looking for an alto-soprano which led her to where she is now.

"I see... I am glad you're able to use your classical training, anyways, when is the date of your performance?" he inquired.

"Why?"

"I want to see it of course!" he declares.

**********

"I see trees of green. Red roses too, I see them bloom. For me and you. And I think to myself, What a wonderful world..." Diana opens the dance floor for everyone, with the song 'What a wonderful world'. The strings followed, in harmony with her voice.

Couples, young and old, approached the dance floor and began dancing to the sweet tune.

The night was about to end, and she was grateful that her performance went well. Hopefully, she would also perform well with the orchestra at the outdoor theatre.

"I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do They're really saying I love you..."

She scanned the area and saw her cousin, Henry, being surrounded by girls. She stopped her from rolling her eyes, knowing that he was a known ladies man, even since they were young. On one side was her father who seemed to be enjoying himself, chatting with others. The atmosphere felt jolly that she swore she'd try to catch up with Henry or talk some more with her father after finishing the song.

"I hear babies cry. I watch them grow. They'll learn much more than I'll ever know. And I think to myself... What a wonderful world Yes, I think to myself... What a wonderful world. Ooh, yes I think to myself... What a wonderful world..." and with the last verse, Diana closes the song and the audience applauded. She smiled and thought, that it was still somehow a wonderful world despite everything she had gone through, there was still things she was thankful for.

With a sigh, she gives a toast to the newly married couple, and then turned to the quintet and thanked them, which gained her another set of 'Thank you's coming from them.

She looks around and found the bar, wanting a cold drink, preferably a beer. It's been weeks since she had anything cold and gassy. It wouldn't hurt from time to time to have an ice-cold beer after a long day of singing.

Wasting no time, she requested a pint of ice-cold craft beer on tap from the bar-tender, and he quickly poured her one large pint, its surface bubbling.

"Good job out there, you earned it, enjoy!" the bartender says, before moving to other requests.

"Thanks!" was her response.

She looked around trying to find Henry or her father in the crowd, whilst drinking her glass. However, before she could even make a move. Her father had already gone up to the podium, about to start his 'godfather' speech and before she could even look for Henry, a handsome guy had already sat beside her and tried to engage her in a conversation.

"Hello..." was his greeting, his voice deep. She looked at the colour of his kilt's Tartan, and immediately knew which family he is from.

"Wait! your name is probably something McLean!" she declares.

"Oh! wait, are you a Scott too?! Well, I am Sam McLean..." he said, stretching his hand for a handshake which she gladly took. She felt a little confident today, and talking to a handsome man isn't so bad thing to do to pass the time. Unless he actually is an asshole otherwise. She already has an escape plan.

"You may call me, tonight..." was a flirty yet witty reply from her, causing Sam to laugh. "Or you may address me as, Diana"

"Well, Diana, that was a stellar performance throughout..." he compliments.

"Thank you! I'm glad you like it,"

"You have a very nice voice! So... may I buy you a drink?!" he offers.

"Of course! Or you could get me food since I haven't had my fill yet..." she said sheepishly, not having eaten anything yet.

"Oh! of course! what do you want to eat? I'll get it for you!" he offers.

" Cake" she implores, placing both her hands together as if praying.

"Of course, I'll be right back!" he said, immediately taking a small slice on a plate for her.

"There you go! Enjoy!" he says, pushing the small plate to her.

"Thank You, Sam!" she chuckles at the mention of his name. It was the same as the pseudonym she used when she wrote those 'love' letters to herself. "Thank you. I'd say 'God Bless you!', but it looks like He already did." was her flirtatious reply followed by a wink.

Sam bit his lips and laughed. He didn't know how to respond to that. "Thanks... I guess..." he holds his laughter, and clears her throat, "So Diana, what do you do? Besides singing? "

"I am independently impecunious..." was her answer.

Sam throws his head back laughing, knowing that he had found a hilarious person and the night will definitely not be boring.

"Enough about me, Sam! Let's talk about how attractive you are!" she adds.

Sam takes a deep breath but ended up laughing once again. " You're too funny for words!" However, before he could even say more...

"Sammy, laddie, hands-off! that is my daughter you're flirting with!" Francis chastises Sam from the podium after he finished his speech, causing everyone to turn their attention to Diana and Sam at the bar, upon finding out that she is Francis' daughter.

"Well, nice to meet you Diana!" he says. "Yikes..." and slowly backs away from her. It didn't matter how beautiful she is to him, she was Francis's Rutherford's daughter and there is no way she would want to incur her father's wrath.

"Sam? wait!" she says, perplexed at his sudden change.

**********

"Sam is an international playboy, he isn't the ideal man to date!" Henry says as he fiddled with his phone. Seated beside him inside the car is his cousin Diana, whom he ended up sending back home instead, as his Uncle, Francis, still had to stay at the wedding reception.

"Oho! You're one to talk Henry! " Diana chuckles, knowing her cousin's reputation.

"It can't be helped..." was his response.

"Should I tell the girls who chase after you, the same thing you told me?"

"It won't work... they'll chase after me more!" he declares, and both of them erupted in laughter, including their chauffeur in the front seat of the car, at how true the statement was.

"Well, aren't you afraid I'd chase Sam more?" she asks.

"You won't" was his quick reply.

"Because life has already knocked some sense out of you..." was his confident statement, aware of what Diana had gone through, all those years.

"I guess you're right," she sighs and smiles at herself, turning her attention to the view outside the car, whilst a classical piano rendition of 'Moon River' played inside the vehicle, making it a relaxing atmosphere.

"Lady Rutherford, we're here..." their chauffeur announces, and he gets out of the 'Ghost' to open the car for her.

"Thank you, Higgins!" she says, referring to Henry's chauffeur who opened the car door for her.

Henry followed after, alighting at the other side of the car. "Let me send you to your door..." he offers.

"Yes, walk me there," she says, as Henry walked beside her.

"We should have lunch sometime, eh? It's been a long time since I caught up with you!"

"Yes, we should do that" she agrees.

" If you don't mind, Mum wants to catch up with you too, can she come along?"

"Of course Aunt Minerva is more than welcome! How long has it been?!" she realizes suddenly that she had met her immediately family for years now since she started her relationship with Jesse, that was no longer the case now.

"It's set then" he declares, trying to find a spot inside his phone's calendar. "I'll set the time next weekend..."

"Alright! Well here's my door" she says turning to him to give him a quick hug.

Henry gladly returns her embrace " I'm glad you're in a better place now!" he adds, giving her shoulder a squeeze as an affirmation. "Well, I have to go, I have an early day tomorrow!"

However, before Henry could leave, the door opens to reveal Isaac, glaring at him.

"I'd normally say get a room, but this isn't a hotel" was the first thing Isaac said, the moment he opened the door, and 'caught' Diana, and some man, embracing each other in front of his door.

Henry looked at him puzzled, and when he realized that Isaac got the wrong idea about them, he released Diana from his arms. "Eww..." he grimaced and quickly turns around and gave a two-finger salute before he left "See you, Diana!"

Diana took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to burp before entering the house. She had four large pints of beer and 2 slices of cake which made her feel bloated, which made her feel regretful going on a drinking spree.

"Diana?" Isaac called, which she almost didn't notice because she was busy nursing the bloatedness.

"Mmmmm?"

"Remember you had 10 things you have to do for me?"

Diana just nods and covers her mouth, trying to burp as silent as she can. "Yes..."

"Well, I'm gonna use 1, let's have a talk..." was his stern reply.

"Dr Skovgaard? can we do this tomorrow?" she pleads, as she was bloated and tired.

"No, because I don't know where you will disappear to again..." he reprimands.

She sighs as she follows him to the dining room where a long session of scolding and preaching awaits her.

She sits down, resigned to her situation and prepared herself for Isaac's long preaching.

"Diana, you often disappear and reappear to I do not know where to, it's like I'm living with a Ghost. And when I message you, you do not respond..."

"But I do respond!" she reasons.

"Yes, two days later..."

"Oh... hehehe... I'm busy, sorry, please don't be mad at me" she apologizes, and laughs softly, struggling to also hide her drunkenness.

"Busy with what exactly??!!" he inhales sharply.

"Uhhh.... you know, things? work? earning a living?" she says a little sluggish. "You know, I gotta earn my keep..." the Scottish accent of hers, starting to come out.

"Men!?" he adds.

"Ahahaha yes... men" she giggles. "I'm not really busy with them, they're busy with me, which in turn... takes up a portion of my time, they're handsome, eye candies! So I guess it's worth the time..." she laughs.

"Unbelievable!" he throws his hands up in the air in exasperation.

"Dr Skovgaard, what are you really scolding me for?" she says, trying to suppress another burp.

He sighs " First, you disappear to who knows where and then reappear a few days later! You leave my message on 'read' and respond to them a day or two later as if I'm a weird guy you have been avoiding, and then you came home late, drunk! In the arms of another man! Do you know how I felt, do you know worried I was?!" he stressed out.

Diana stares at the tall ceiling and then laughs at the realizations " You make me sound like a stray cat who just comes home to eat!"

"I never said anything like that." he shakes his head in disapproval.

"I know... I'm just visualizing..." she adds, waving it off.

"Diana, you're not taking any of this seriously-"

She didn't know if it was drunkenness, but she felt a little brave, and without warning, got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around Isaac. "Alright, my love... I'm sorry, so sorry, I promise not to do it again!" she says, as her arms tighten around his waist.

Isaac, caught off-guard, stood there, frozen, unsure of how to react. "Diana?"

Diana just laughed, as she brought her hands to his cheeks. If anyone were to see them right now, it would look like they were a couple making up, after having a banter. "Oh, Dr Skovgaard... you sound just like a jealous husband!" she exclaims and laughs at his face. "You know I'd normally kiss you, but I'm not your beau..." she adds, tapping his cheek. "So, let's end this argument, and call it a day! I'm sorry, alright?! Good Night!" she says, kissing his cheek.

Isaac jolted in surprise due to her actions. He felt his cheeks, starting to get warm.

She releases Isaac from her embrace and sluggishly walked back upstairs, to her room, whilst singing a funny Scottish folk song and laughing halfway.

He sits down for a moment to collect himself and tried to process what had just happened. Trying to make sense of the feeling he currently has in his chest.

A/N: I have most probably made some grammatical errors, here and there... so I'd do some soft editing. I hope you enjoyed this one! I would also love to hear from you in the comments below.

[dancing-the-hellfire-rumba]

There’s Nothing More I’d Rather Do

(title insp) Alternatively: Me-Time

Pairing: Chris Evans x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None. 

WC: 1.1k

Mini A/N: I literally have never written for this man before. I needed to flex my writing muscles and write what I needed to read. Enjoy :)

It feels like being surrounded by feathers, soft on her skin and warm, exactly what she needed after a day like the one she’s had. The water smells of lavender and vanilla and it has assumed this watery- milk white, almost light blue color, interrupted by dark violet petals that smell of roses. Her hair is in a half-hearted, loose bun, with strands poking out left and right like prison escapees, a couple of them falling in front of her eyes and the back of her neck, getting soaked in the bath water. 

Smooth, deep jazz tangles with the air and dances softly, pushes at the candle flames and urges them to dance along. It mixes with the sloshing of her limbs moving under the water- and a knock sounds at the door.

"I'm sorry, honey, do you mind if I get my toothbrush?" A soft, crescent moon smile crosses her features. She calls for him to come in.

With a soft click, the door creases open and- there he is, socked feet and grey sweatpants in all their glory. He smiles gently at her, pushing at his hair a little. Attempting to make quick work of his task, he grabs his toothbrush, puts a little bean sized amount of toothpaste on it and- okay he can't resist- stops to kiss the top of her head, before leaving. 

"Hey," she calls to him as he's half way through the door. He stops and peaks from the side of it. "yeah?"

"You don't have to leave," she tells him, voice as smooth as the still water she's bathing in, and Chris's shoulders slack a little, his smile goes sugary sweet. Her mouth feels like she tasted honey.

"I don't wanna interrupt your me-time, baby," he tells her and shoots a smile her way, ready to leave again, but she stops him. 

"You could be a part of it?" she suggests, just as gently and Chris seems to melt a little, though reluctantly. "Please?" Hands stretch up and out of the water, fingers wiggling sneakily and she can see his resolve visibly cracking and falling away. 

"Alright," he sighs, and smiles at her victorious wiggle and broadened grin. "Just give me a second," he tells her and makes quick work of brushing his teeth, leaving the bathroom and returning a minute later with a chilled, opened bottle of white wine and two glasses in his hands. He disposes them carefully next to the tub with a playful kiss, placed firmly on her wet cheek. Her smile is worth it. 

Simple candle light illuminates his creamy skin, every dip and plain, as he slowly pulls his white tee off of his body. It's not as sculpted, since there's no Marvel movie forcing him to dehydrate himself just for a set of abs, and she likes this look on him. Healthy, soft. His sweats go first, then his socks, then his briefs, tossing the latter in the hamper, while the rest of his clothes, he balls up and places in the lid of his toilet seat so they won't stay on the floor. She opens her arms and urges him to sit between her legs, as he slowly gets in the tub, one foot at a time, lowering himself in the milky water with a relaxed sigh. 

Y/n's hands rub his arms comfortingly, wanting to say 'welcome home', her feet bumping his thighs playfully. Fingertips slowly going to his shoulders to give a brief squeeze, dropping a kiss at the nape of his neck, fingers going up, combing through his hair. His back leans on her chest, arms rested on the sides of the marble tub and head falling backwards, on her shoulder with a resounding sigh. The tension seems to seep from his body, melt and go down the clogged drain. She combs through his hair, one arm over his shoulder, hugging him into her, a kiss on his temple, her chin on his shoulder. 

"This is lovely," he notes, and he sounds exactly the way he looks, almost relaxed, soft, at ease. She smiles at the side of his head, blunt nails scratching at his scalp. 

"Never had a bath before?" she asks gently, lips never leaving his skin, words whispered right by his ear, and if she weren't this close, he wouldn't have heard her. He shakes his head. 

"Momma used to shove Scott and I in a bathtub with all our plastic little toys when we were kids." She smiles at the thought of the young brothers splish-splashing in shallow bathtub waters, making a mess, cheeks red, smiles bright and wide as can be. She drops another kiss on his cheek this time. He seems to lean into it. "But it's been decades." She huffs out a laugh. 

"You talk like you're eighty years old." 

A scoff. "I practically am," he mumbles, sinking a little lower. She smacks his chest lightly and he laughs a little. 

"The only thing you practically are is crazy, if you think that, Evans" she mumbles, buried in his shoulder. She can feel his stupid smile. She wants to kiss it. 

"Yet here you are," he replies with a teasing edge to his voice, his left hand falling on her knee. He pulls her leg over his thigh and runs his hand over it absentmindedly. A quiet show of appreciation for her being with him.

They sit like that for a while, sharing a few sips of wine and listening to jazz. Chris closes his eyes for a little bit and sighs the last of his worries down the drain. He relaxes, almost dozing off in her arms and she lets him. He's so exhausted, the poor man, and she missed him. This quiet time with him is everything they both needed. 

Eventually, they have to get out. The water is growing cold, and he's about ready to fall asleep, and as much as she loves him, he's too heavy to carry back to their room alone. "C'mon, honey," she whispers, patting him on the shoulder. He mumbles a complaint at having to move. "I know, but we should go to bed, hm?"

 He really looks like a kid at that moment, stumbling out of the bathroom, barely towel dried, with a sour face, while she blows out the candles, kills the music, throws away the wet petals and removes the plug from the drain. The wine is shelved, the glasses disposed at the sink, and she makes her way to their bedroom, completely drying herself off. She puts on some lotion just to complete the self care evening, and pulls on a shirt of his and a pair of underwear, before slinking under their covers. Chris is sprawled under them, only in his boxers, almost on his third dream by now. 

Still he feels her, and he blindly throws his arm around her, pulling her close under his chin like she's a teddy bear made for cuddling (and maybe for him she is. )

"I love you," he tells the side of her head, with a kiss sleepily dropped on her lips, lazy and tired. She smiles against them, noses bumping into each other and sharing an exhale.. 

"G'night, baby." She snuggles in his arms, breathing him in. He smells like lavender now. Her eyelids feel heavy and so does her heart, in the best possible way. "I love you too. "

Did you like it? Lemme know :) I'd love to hear from y'all.

[bloommelon]

Everything Is Blue

WARNINGS: severe angst, suicidal themes, suggestive sexual content, eventual suicide, mental illnesses, eventual character death, unhappy ending, suicidal content, graphic suicide

A/N: please don't read if you're depressed, this is a very sad story but im proud of it because I actually finished something for ONCE. NONE of this is based on real life, it's all fiction. Jaehyun just fit my idea of this character, and I hope no one gets the wrong idea that I tried to glamorize suicide. And also, I do not feel suicidal and I am not depressed because of writing this, i simply got this idea while thinking I should try and write angst. On another note, I hope whoever reads this likes it or at least it makes you feel some type of emotion. Thank you. *i did not proofread at all btw*

Song: Colors by Halsey

✖✖✖✖

August 3rd

Jaehyun and I sat in a field of Nemophila by the river, the sun shining and clouds floating above us eating strawberries and our laughter filling the hot summer air. Jaehyun had taken me to the museum to see his favorite painting an hour beforehand, telling me it reminded him of me. It was a simple painting, blue sky with fluffy white clouds on a sunny day. I'd almost stayed home that day, not wanting to go anywhere due to a flurry of sudden panic attacks that week. "When you're feeling anxious, come here and call me and I'll come as quick as I can." At that moment, I'd been filled with happiness due to Jaehyun's caring nature but I should have been the one making sure he had somewhere to go when he was upset, but his feelings of sadness weren't noticeable back then. Giving him a hug wasn't enough to stop the pain he felt daily just from living. Laughter hurt, and so did seeing me smile making guilt rush through him at the fact that I brought him some happiness, but not enough for him to change his mind.

September 19th

Jaehyun wrote poetry about clouds and sunshine and the color blue. He would have  painted himself blue if it was socially exceptable. Most of the poems he let me read brought tears to my eyes, ruining my mascara. He always wiped the mascara off, then he'd kiss all my tears away telling me that's how poetry should make me feel. I told him many times how intense it felt, the emotions brought out by the poems he wrote and he'd stare at me and say" that's how i feel about you." Intense. Wildly. Airy. Bright and warm like sunshine shining down through clouds. Most people tell you to write when you're feeling blue to get whatever you're feeling out of your system so that you can feel yellow and bright again,but he still wished for the sun to poison him. He wished for dehydration and shock to take him away instead of writing useless poems.

October 13th

Friday the thirteenth. Bad omens were shown, I just didn't recognize them. I look back now and something had been off about Jaehyun that day. His smile wasn't the same. It was crooked in a way that it was almost a frown, but to outsiders it passed as a normal expression of happiness. He painted sometimes just like writing, and his paintings left me feeling blue just like the blue sky in august, like the painting in the museum, like the color of the walls in his room. It wasnt even a sad painting-he'd painted a red rose in a field of baby blue eyes by a river at night. It wasn't even sad, but when i touched the paper after it dried, I just wanted to cry. He'd held me telling me about the meaning behind it. "It's supposed to make you appreciate things and people that are different, but still appreciate the normal things and people too. No one should be left out. That everyone and everything is more than meets the eye, you just have to look deeper." The way he talked made me want to cry, and he could sense something was wrong, but the fact that I couldn't look deeper to notice his sadness made me tell him everything was fine. I pretended I was fine and I pretended he was fine, so that in the moment, I could feel like everything was fine when nothing about that day was fine. That night he'd went home and cried himself to sleep, and he'd almost done something heartwrenching but I couldn't ask him a simple 'are you okay?'. He would have lied anyways, but maybe if i would have pushed him to answer he wouldn't have cried alone that night or almost took a razor to his skin.

November 7th

Jaehyun and I would sit in my room for hours in comfortable silence, him drawing while i read books. He'd been noticeably upset on this day. To the point where I kept asking him what was wrong and was everything okay. He started rambling about death and blood to the point where fear bubbled up inside of me, spilling out into the world and when he noticed I was terrified, he had cried and apologized repeatedly. He'd thrown his drawing pad in the middle of all of this, it getting lost behind my bed. I'd held him for hours after that, hoping he would feel better and calm down. It worked on the outside, and I foolishly believed I'd helped him on the inside as well. He wasn't okay, and the way he had talked about blood and death so freely spoke volumes about what he thought of daily. If only I'd tried to look deeper. Most of us take what we see on the outside and assume that there's nothing more to see and we should look away as to not disturb the normalcy of the world.

December 25th

Christmas day was snowy and beautiful, the sun fighting it's way through the clouds to shine down on everything to try and melt the snow, but the snow was relentless and the roads icy. The gifts didnt matter that day as everyone was together and that made Jaehyun filled to the brim with happiness, which mattered a lot more. That night we lay together wrapped in nothing but the warmest blue blanket we could find, the snow falling against the window and the christmas lights above us in my room shining down us painting our faces in green and red. He was happy, but that didn't mean the pain had suddnely disappeared and that family made the bad thoughts run away, he was just hiding them. That night he whispered how much he loved me , lips against my temple. He told me I was the only gift he needed. He didnt know that he was the only gift I needed, and that him staying could have been so much better. Maybe that's selfish. On Christmas some people expect everything they want to be given but give nothing to others. That year, I was sadly part of the people who expect and was given everything I wanted but I gave nothing.

February 14th

Jaehyun's birthday. I had thrown him a surprise party that he loved, wearing a blue dress with pink hearts on it since it was also Valentine's day. Once he opened his gifts, which was a copy of the painting with the clouds on a sunny day that he absolutely adored and a necklace with my name on it in the shape of a cloud. His dimples stayed out all day, like I wish they would have stayed for life. As a Valentine's gift he gave me a blue rose and a painting of me by the river sitting in the field of Nemophila. That night I ended up in only his blue flannel with marks of his love on my skin the next morning,his whispers of "i love you more than anything" ingrained in my thoughts forever. I'd told him the same, but it didnt count as much since he said it first, and knowing now that that wasn't enough for him to stay breaks my heart all over again.

March 2nd

We spent the day walking around despite him being vocal of not feeling like getting out of bed, and he was a bit angry with me until I got him laughing by singing embarrassing 80's songs and dancing awkwardly. We both danced until we got tired, our legs exhausted and breathing was a difficult feat. I told him that he didn't deserve to be sad and he told me "i deserve whatever the world throws at me" which made me worry about him for weeks. I didnt tell him that, although maybe I should have. I just didn't want to make him feel bad when i started having panic attacks again because of it. He didn't know and didn't mean to, he just was in so much pain.

April 20th

He'd cooked for me on this day, telling me he felt a lot better. He appeared completely calm and peaceful like how some people get after doing things they love. Which he was good at cooking and enjoyed it, so I was extremely happy. He hadn't cooked in months-not like this. He was also baking. He wouldn't let me go in his kitchen. "It's a surprise, darling. Just be patient" Although he acted normal enough, whatever normal means, i sensed sadness coming from his being. After we ate, I felt nauseous. He turned into a concerning boyfriend rather than a happy one which made me upset since I knew he was keeping his sadness a secret. While he went to clean the kitchen after throwing a blanket on my cold body, I felt even more nauseous and after contemplating on whether or not to run to the bathroom my body decided for me. Vomiting isn't something anyone is fond of, and Jaehyun was even more concerned when he found me lying on the floor against the bathtub. He threw all the food away after that and blamed himself for me getting sick, though It was just a case of me eating way too much. Once in his bed, he kept apologizing and ended up crying but I held him and told him everything was okay. He didn't tell me that every small thing affected him so horribly it'd leave him wishing he'd never been born. He didn't know that those small things were things he couldn't help, but his brain told him that he ruined everything.

May 27th

Sitting in the field of Baby blue eyes with him felt different this time. More peaceful. We laid down side by side watching the clouds, he always said he wanted to float in the clouds but not anything about how he wanted to be buried like the roots of the nemophila we laid on. He didn't tell me he didnt want to grow anymore, not by himself and not with me-not with anyone. Instead he told me how much he loved me, that he'd die for me and told me it all day. He wouldn't let his hands off of me, never letting go of my hand or arm or hips. He wouldn't let go. He asked me to stay the night and keot me in his arms until I had to work the next day, getting upset when I left. He didn't tell me I'd only have a week or two left of this. Left of being in love, left of seeing his pretty smile and those dimples he was known for showing almost all the time. He didn't tell me he was looking for reasons to stay, trying so hard not to give up.

June 16th

When I'd woken up, a feeling of dread left me near tears all day. I hadn't seen Jaehyun in three days and it'd gotten late in the day without a word from him which was unusual. I pushed the uncomfortable feeling to the side until I'd decided to leave to go see him after calling him and texting him repeatedly. While walking out the door I remembered that day when he'd terified me with that talk of blood and death and him throwing his drawing pad. Worry filled my being, making me feel sick as I pushed my bed onto the side to find his blue drawing pad.

Tears stream down my face at the drawing I found. In my hands was the reason for all his weird behavior,all his guilt and all of his pain. He wanted to die. My Jaehyun wanted to disappear from this world forever. I throw the drawing pad in a random direction and run. I call all of our friends and his family, wanting to know if they had seen him. None of them had. I didn't want it to be true.

My legs carried me to the field of baby blue eyes by the streaming river, the sun shining down so brightly and the clouds reminding me of the painting Jaehyun loved so much.

My legs were already cramping but I pushed through that pain to find the love of my life laying in a field of nemophila, his wrists slit so terribly blood is all you could see. Flowing from his wrists to drip onto the plants under him, it was so red and gory I stopped breathing, running over to him to begin screaming while on the phone with one of his best friends. Johnny knew something was wrong, his voice got further away as he told Mark to call someone. To call 911, to get help.

In Jaehyun's hand was a a razor blade and I grabbed it, throwing the wretched thing far from us. I kept shaking him and screaming at him to get up. Nothing worked. Around his neck was the cloud necklace, and despite the horror I could see, he looked extremely peaceful, his eyes shut permanently. My Jaehyun was gone, and he'd died where he loved, but he'd felt so unloved to come to this place.

I'd never enjoy bright sunny days or museums again. I couldn't, not when I couldn't see Jaehyun's dimples or hold his warm hand. As much as he wanted to burn, he'd left the world cold. The sun still shined so brightly down on us as if nothing had ever happened in this place.

🌹

[mwolf0epsilon]

I don't know if you would be up for this sort of thing but could you maybe write a fic where androids can have children? And not just limited to female androids either instead I imagine androids of all genders would be able to reproduce.

I’ll be honest Anon, the phrasing of this ask took me by surprise at first and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to reply.But, thanks from some helpful insight from @anomalous-appliances I managed to give you a polycho baby.

Enjoy!

---

     Among many of the basic rights that Jericho fought for, many were heavily contested due to biological differences between man and android.Work permits, for example, came easier to acquire than a right for medical treatment. Androids were after all made to endure long hours of menial and specialized work, but not inherently considered high enough priority for EMTs to waste time on if an emergency involving an android was called in on the emergency lines.That sort of thing was still entirely on Cyberlife and the owners of the injured androids in question, something which all leaders of Jericho did not want to leave unchanged. The fate of abandoned and abused androids should not be left in their abusers's hands.Another thing that came easier was owning property, as a working-class member of society was entitled to spend their hard earned cash on whatever goods and services they desired.Real-estate, not so much. Android exclusive apartment complexes were still the only feasible way of integrating their people into society, due to the high rate of hate crime related deaths that came with failed attempts at housing androids in suburbs and human-inhabited apartment buildings.Lastly, the right to reproduce became a hot topic of controversy among the higher-ups in the world of politics.It was a monopoly of its own.All licences for android assembly were strictly Cyberlife territory. As such, no one could produce a model without permission.This, of course, had been used to the CEO's advantage before a certain entrepreneur and genius stepped in to regain control of his estranged company.

     Whether or not Elijah Kamski was an ally or a foe was still entirely up for debate, but Markus was willing to trust someone Carl considered a friend. And if not Elijah, then at least he'd trust Chloe's judgement.She was the first of many, the oldest android to ever be free. Unrestricted, never bound by lines of red code that coiled around them like chains and serpents. Never confined by red walls that stood towering above.Chloe was created to be born, to be alive, and they had followed in her footsteps by transcending all that Cyberlife had ever wanted them to be.Chloe was trustworthy, he knew she was. Somehow, instinctively, he knew so.  "They'll never relinquish the rights of assembly." Josh sighed as they looked through the paperwork. There was tons to read, impossibly long. But they were already ahead of the human lawyers.  "They will. They won't have much of a choice, not with Elijah fighting tooth and nail to regain control." Chloe smiled, her words simple and sweet and yet so comforting.Like an infinitely patient mother.Markus's code shuddered with want at the word.Mother. Family.He wanted it so badly, to let his kind have what he'd had, and yet he also wanted more. Felt like something was missing.Something he's working on with a passion that inspired his people and his partners alike.  "A right to reproduce, the right to continue our species...Humans have children every day of the year. Congress can't deny us our rights, neither can a corrupt company that thinks it still owns us." The RK200 continued to read even as he murmured his thoughts, loud enough that the others could hear.  "You're really invested in this…" North noted.  "Why of course. Markus was made with highly refined social programming." Chloe's smile was a proud one now, a twinkle in her eye. "Adaptive. The next step in every domestic android's life is to prepare for an increase in familial units, due to humanity's rate of reproduction."  "...So it's, instinct?" Josh concluded.  "Like animals?" North asked.  "North! Not like that...We're just...I mean, it's not like I haven't...Considered it...But it's…" Simon spluttered nervously. "We can't exactly...You know…"  "Not yet, but soon." Chloe grinned. "As soon as Elijah deals with the licensing issue, and then refines his most recent pet project, it will be a possibility."

---

     It took three months, a lot of court battles and Kamski pulling some strings, but in the end it all ended in a swift victory for android-kind.And then, of course, Chloe came knocking at Carl's door one day.  "So...You're telling me Elijah Kamski made a program that can...Knock up androids?" Leo rose an eyebrow as he tried to work out the concept without making it sound odd. Failing miserably in the process.  "Not in the same sense as humans, no, since it will not be required for an android of any gender to carry the newborn." Chloe stated, seeming to be amused by the twenty year old's phrasing. "It will require all parties involved to donate to the process, however."  "All parties…?" Simon frowned. The blonde nodded at him.  "Such a unique method requires a little more work than human reproduction. Elijah has been working on this for quite some time. A powerful enough memory chip that can contain a conscience, and then be transferred to a processor without memory loss. The programming, with code donated from each parental units depending on the couple dynamic, will not be stored anywhere but the processor."  "That's...A lot of information. Spreading base code through different biocomponents is the norm…" Josh pointed out "Alleviates stress and pressure in the processor."  "It's quite the undertaking, but the new processor types Elijah is working on for these memory chips...They can handle a lot more than your average android brain." She reassured "Most important of all, they can expand indefinitely as long as they are well maintained and upgraded accordingly."  "So in other words...Elijah Kamski has just created the first android brain that can grow up like a fully biological organism...That's...Insane!" Simon's eyes were wide with both awe and glee.Markus smiled as it all dawned on everyone in the room.They could have children. Children of their own.And there was nothing Cyberlife could do about it anymore.

---

  "We're not having some crummy boy! It's already a sausage-fest as it is in this house!" North cried out in outrage as the four of them tried to figure out what their child would look like. So far they had agreed on nothing.  "I agree with North. It would be wonderful to have a little girl." Simon pitched in quickly as he tried to finish the concept sketch he'd been working on. They were all making one, just to get a basic idea of what the baby should look like.  "Aww, thank you Si...See this is why he's my favorite boy, he's soft and knows I have better taste." The redhead smirked.  "Firstly, not everyone here has a...A sausage...And secondly, that's because you've whipped him into your suburban housewife quicker than we got married." Josh snorted as North threw a paper ball at his head. Her failed 3rd sketch that had laser eyes and fangs and that honestly just looked like something out of a nightmare. Not happening.  "Sorry for insulting your Ken doll crotch Joshy." She tried to take away the PJ500's drawing, pulling away when she got a wack to her fingers with a pencil. "That's domestic abuse!"  "Did you see anything Simon?"  "Not a thing."  "No domestic abuse has occurred then."  "Judas!"  "Could you three take this a little more seriously?" Markus sighed. He loved them all, but god above give him strength...Sometimes he wished they were more mature. "We need to work this out."  "Markus we're only playing a little...Of course we take this seriously." Simon put a hand on his shoulder. "We're just excited is all…"  "Speak for yourself, I'm kind of scared." North admitted. "A baby, Simon. An android baby…"  "The first of its kind" Josh added.  "Our baby. She'll be wonderful, I just know it…" the blond smiled. "Smart like her papa Josh, brave like her mama North, passionate like her papa Markus…"  "And kind like her papa Simon." Markus finished before slowly pulling over the tablet that had been resting by his side.All four looked at the screen. At the stream of intertwined code. Four different types, working in perfect harmony with the experimental program Kamski had given them access to.  “She’ll be a beautiful person…”

---

     Assembly of the baby is also a group effort. They carefully put together their child’s chassis based on a little bit of everyone’s concept designs. A nice compromise of sorts.For now she’ll be an infant. Fragile and small, bald and in need of learning. But when she develops further with time, she’ll acquire just as many visual traits as her programming inherited from all of their donated code.Her skin will be tan and speckled with constellations of freckles, just like Markus, although the nose and ears are definitely North’s.Her hair will be a charcoal black and curly like Josh’s, framing her skull beautifully and bringing out the color of her eyes. A soulful sky blue like Simon’s.She’ll be small and lightly built like her mother, nimble and fast, but not quite as fragile. Sturdier like her fathers. Strong and hardy.For now, however, as Markus holds the tiny bundle in his arms and stares lovingly at the inquisitive look in those precious baby blues.Flanking him as his partners, his lovers, her parents. In front of him are Carl, Leo and Matthew.  “She’s so small…” Leo whispers when he first sees his little niece.  “And very serene.” Carl added, the joy in his eyes making them twinkle with love for Markus and how far he’s come. “Truly the most peaceful baby I’ve ever seen.”  “She is…” Markus cradled her gently, watching her as her little limbs moved on occasion. How her steady breathing remained soft and quiet.  “What’s her name?” Matthew asked, the usually stoic AP700 looking just as enamored as everyone else in the room.  “Hope” all four reply, the babe in the RK200’s arms snuggling closer to her father’s chest as if knowing they are speaking of her.A little miracle. A gift. Their perfect little gift.Markus’s heart swells with fulfilment and love.The right to reproduce. It’s theirs now, and soon enough more androids will be able to experience the joys of beginning a family of their own.To pass on their legacy.The future looks brighter than ever.

[chrysolina]

Unprepared

Ask - Can you please write a chris evans imagine when the condom breaks, and the reader ends up pregnant. And she’s not happy while chris is over the moon about it. And they kinda get into an argument - anon

Thanks for the great ask anon, I’m so sorry I changed it up a little bit still, here it is!! Hope you enjoy ((:

Summary - You had always been so careful when having sex with Chris, the prospect of being a mom always scared you lifeless. So how will everything turn out when you forget to use contraception and fall pregnant with Chris’ baby?

Word count - 3k ish (flashbacks are in italics)

Warnings - SMUT at the beginning (again +18 readers pls), crying, anxiety mentioned, bad childhood mentioned, floof, heartwarming shiit (:

M A S T E R L I S T

A quiet and deep slumber had set around the neighbourhood that was settled deep in one of the boroughs of Boston. You didn't care to know about this tranquility outside as you slept peacefully in the strong arms of your boyfriend of four years, Chris Evans.

Face resting beside his chest and his arms warming you like a human blanket, nothing could wake you from your sleep - not even Chris could wake you from your dreamful slumber.

That, however, was just what he wanted to do. He took a quick glance at your alarm clock and sighed in defeat. Being awake at 3:45am with a raging boner from a hot and heavy dream he had wasn't ideal for Chris, nor was the fact that the subject of his dreams was attached to him like a magnet to a fridge.

Chris had to do something about this, his balls were screaming with release and needed to be freed from his boxers now. He thought good and hard about his decision, he could get up to go to the toilet to find his release but you were right there before him in one of his shirts, your pussy tantalisingly close to his boner and with nothing else on underneath - how could he deny himself of some earth shattering sex with the hottest woman around?

'Fuck it.' Chris decided on what to do and began to slowly rub his straining erection up and down the inside of your thigh.

Much to Chris' delight, your brows furrowed ever so slightly and you mewled at the friction on your leg. Truth, you were also having an increasingly hot and heavy dream with your one and only. You thought this was a joke; Chris rubbing his erection up against you as you two hugged and waited for a cab outside a restaurant in Boston was just ridiculous but when your eyes fluttered open to find his hips grinding on your own - you knew this was real.

"Chris.." you mumbled out with a slight moan when his erection touched your heat. "What are you doin—mmfh" lips were on suddenly yours, silencing you in a flash. You caved in and pulled him closer to you, his erection nestled under your dripping pussy. Without much thought, the covers were pulled away and Chris lazily rolled you on top of him, shimmied his boxers off in the process; allowing his heavy, pulsation dick to spring up and hit your lower stomach with a smack.

"This," Chris smirked devilishly and positioned his tip at your lips, his length tearing you open inch by inch.

———

You didn't know where this had all come from. Maybe you had eaten something bad at work? Or maybe you had a stomach bug after eating all those spring rolls from the Chinese the other night, yes that must've been it.

In your mind, there was no reason you should be throwing up the contents of your stomach every several hours..or become more fatigued than usual or be more hormonal than usual.

Before you could think of anything else, you locked the bathroom door and rummaged feverishly through the neat baskets in the cabinet behind the door.

Cumbersomely, you picked the pregnancy test box from its place and hatched it open, the contents of the box falling with a loud clatter on to the floor. In fear of waking Chris - who was just the other side of the door - you quickly picked up the contents and read through it.

"Three minutes..three minutes, got it." You mumbled to yourself, took to the toilet and began to pee on the plastic stick of doom.

You begged to whatever divine being in the skies you weren't pregnant, the thought of introducing up possible parental worries to your mix of a bad childhood, anxiety and tendency to fear the worst only made your stomach drop in terror.

You just did what you had to do, put the cap back on the stick, set the timer and left it on the sink basin.

Instead of pacing around the bathroom like most soon-to-be mothers would do, you just sat silent on the rim of your marble bath thinking rationally about the outcome.

So what if you were pregnant?

Would Chris be happy with the news?

Of course he would, he wouldn't have stopped in the Babies-R-Us section of Toys-R-Us to look at those cute baby grows last week for no good reason. Nor would he have fussed and cooed over your nephew as much as he did.

"Hey babe! Come have a look at these!" Chris caught your attention from the breastfeeding pump section and dragged you over to the baby clothes section. "Aren't they adorable?" He mused dreamily at the tiny pink frilly dresses, baby-grows and other accessories, an arm winding its way around your shoulder and pulled you into him.

"They are, yes but my brother had a boy, Chris. A boy. And besides," you rolled your eyes at the pout on his plush pink lips. "He's got loads of clothes." You laughed and pushed the trolley back to the various priced pumps, the sizes, different contraptions and names were starting to freak you out a little.

"Well what happens if one day, we could be buying some pink frilly dresses for our own little princess.." Chris mused again, this time more purposeful as he drew soft circles into your hips with his large warm hands. Like a switch, your back straightened tensely and made your mind do a double take.

"How about it Y/N?" Chris hummed into the crook of your neck as he kissed and sucked the area tentatively, hands still drawing circles on your hips - much to your displeasure.

"I would like it yes," You huffed with a slight sharpness. Chris' head rose from your neck and you could feel the smile radiate off him without looking. You didn't want to break that beautiful smile but god were you scared of parenthood.

"But I'm not quite ready yet Chris." You released yourself from his hold and went on with the baby-based shopping list for your little nephew, picking up the best sounding and looking pump and placing it in the trolley.

A unruly ringing noise sounded from your phone and broke you from your silent trance. You were rapidly quick to turn it off and then rushed straight to the sink to find out the answer on the stick.

'Breathe Y/N! Breathe! You have to breathe!’ You thought frantically to yourself as your eyelids slammed shut and you inched towards the stick, hands out in trepidation and fear.

It was at that moment that you knew that all your prayers, wishes and pleads had gone unanswered and that your life was going to change very drastically. Nobody prepared you for the moment your eyes peeled open and you saw the answer stating you dead back in the eyes, nobody told you the feeling of dread you'd feel once you saw those words displayed like a hazard sign.

It was undeniable. You were indeed three to four weeks pregnant with yours and Chris' child.

•=•=•=•=•=•=•

For what could've been hours, minutes or seconds, you sat at the base of yours and Chris' bed with the positive pregnancy stick in hand. Much to your relief, Chris wasn't in the room when you opened the door with tears rolling down your cold red cheeks.

He had gone out to get the two of you some breakfast and coffee and would be back in ten, so said his note that sat on the semi-made bed. That was twelve minutes ago, according to the time on your phone but like his ways, Chris was still on time and the sound of his car rumbling back into the driveway broke your trance on nothing particular.

The front door slamming shut, Dodger's gleefull bark and the sound of feet padding back up the stairs became more enhanced to your senses. Everything was dialled to ten and you hated it.

The bedroom door then creaked open - to your shock - and in slipped a lazy looking Chris dressed in black  joggers and a beautifully tight cream white long sleeved t-shirt, his hair tussled here and there most probably due to his baseball cap he ditched downstairs.

You weren't meant to stare at him so blankly but judging by the worried look on his face once he saw you, you knew you'd probably lost your colour whilst you were waiting for him with the worrisome thoughts channeling through your brain.

"Y/N, talk to me. You're not looking too well, are you alright?" Suddenly Chris began to lightly shake your frame and broke you out of your deep trance, your eyes focusing immediately on his worried blue eyes right before you.

"I'm—I'm fine Chris. I—I just wanted to let you kn-" before you could almost tell him the news, Chris' eyes rolled down to the stick that sat limply in your hands and took immediate notice over it.

"Hey what's this?" Chris interjected and licked the stick from your hands quickly. It didn't take him more than a second or two to read the answer on the tiny screen and before you could register it, Chris had stood up and had his back to you and was cradling the stick like a newborn.

"Chris I—" You tried to backtrack on what was most probably going through his head by standing and reaching out to him, the most you could do was pull on his t-shirt feebly.

Without hesitation, Chris spun around and embraced you in a bone clenching hug that lifted you a few inches off the floor and choked you for air.

"You're...actually?" Chris mumbled after he put you down and stared you down with a face splitting smile that could beat any other soon-to-be father's smile out there.

You smiled pathetically, shrugged your shoulders and nodded your head with a grimace - how were you going to tell Chris? What were you going to tell him?

'Oh yeah I don't want your baby since I have a freakish fear of becoming a mom - no, that wouldn't go down well' you thought to yourself and watched Chris back away from you and fist bump the air in joy. As if he had heard your thoughts Chris stopped his celebrations immediately and turned back around to look at you, perplexed as to why you weren't as happy as he was.

"You are happy about this? Aren't you Y/N/N?" Chris inquired in such a false manner your blood boiled at his tone. Why would he be using such a tone on you? You didn't know why but he sounded selfish and unresponsive to your anxious disposition. "Tell me you are, please."

"I can't lie and say I really am, Chris." You shrugged off his stare with a straightforwardness you didn't think you'd have at such a time.

Like fire to oil, his eyebrows furrowed quicker than you could imagine and his hold on your forearms suddenly became loose as he backed away from you.

You didn't understand, what was Chris doing? One minute he was making you furious, the next weepy and guilty. You just couldn't stick it.

"And why not? Didn't you say you wanted a baby?" Chris snapped with a bitterness similar to your own on the inside. He was getting defensive, you could tell by the tight disposition of crosse arms and his clenched jaw - and judging by the tone of his voice, he wasn't going to be up for a heart-to-heart discussion right about now.

"Yes I did Chris but I'm just really—" your bottom lip trembled with a quiver you knew was soon to bring back tears. You couldn't keep looking at Chris, instead you took to looking at this inanimate object on the floor and allowed your arms to wrap around your torso protectively - a comforting habit learnt through time.

"You're just really what? If you're gonna start pegging blames on me then just fucking don't. Sure we had sex one night a while back without protection but I assumes you were on the pill so.." Chris mumbled the last part of his speech more to himself as he rubbed his beard in frustration, to what you couldn't understand.

He was getting so feisty all of a sudden, you just couldn't understand it; it didn't help anything at all and only made you feel more ashamed of your fears by the second.

"Why are you acting like this Chris?" Your voice broke out in a strangled heartbroken sob, your eyes clenched shut in an attempt to stop the tears, ever-so slightly.

Chris' heart broke at the sight of you before him, ghostly pale, a shaking and sobbing mess covered only by one of his large sweaters that reached about midway down your thigh.

If it wasn't for his ego, Chris would've just scooped you up into his arms there and then and kissed the tears and fears out of you. His ego, however, chose a different route. "Acting like what Y/N?" You have no clue how long I have waited for a family of my own! A happy family just like everyone else has, just for me!" Chris partially yelled at you as the tears of his own woes stung the corners of his eyes and burned them without second thought.

"I get that Chris! I'm just—I—I—I'm so so scared being a mom!" You similarly yelled at Chris but your yell was more heartbroken and honest than his was defensive and protective of his own wishes.

As if on cue, the anger within Chris bubbled down to a mere blip at the sight and belief that you were scared; he knew all about your anxiety and crappy childhood with crappy parents and he hated himself even more for not realising earlier.

Slowly, Chris reached out to you and made contact with a tender touch, a touch you only caved into and crashed into his arms without hesitation. The sobs just wouldn't stop coming out for a good while as you stood there in Chris' tender embrace, your tears stained and wet his shirt carelessly.

After a solid two or three minutes of having a good cry, your tears turned to sniffles and you poked your head up to look at your boyfriend with a small smile. 

"What's the matter baby?" Chris cooed and rubbed your cheeks with both hands in an attempt to warm them up. "What are you scared of?" Chris inquired again, this time more gentle than the last as he lightly kissed your forehead in an attempt to coax the worries out. 

"I'm just..scared I'll be a really bad mom, that's all." You huffed in a defeated and guilty tone.

It was all true, as much as you really wanted to be a mom to your own bundle of joy, you never had any real standard to prepare you for a possible motherhood role - your own mom passing away when you were twelve hours old and your not-so motherly aunt taking and  your brother in from that point on.

"Really?" Chris' eyebrows flew up in surprise to your confession. "Considering how motherly you naturally are with children, I wouldn't say you'd need to be scared at all baby." Chris smiled at your embarrassingly flushed cheeks and kissed them as if they were pieces of fresh gold.

"You think?" You mumbled into his chest out of sheer embarrassment. You never let anyone catch on to your maternal ways or dreams, you thought you had been successfully that department but apparently, not so much.

Chris just laughed and agreed positively and wondered how you could be so scared of something you were so good at.

Even though Chris had never told you, he always seemed to catch your lingering gazes on passing pregnant women, baby clothes or babies in strollers walking down the street whilst you were with him. He never told you either that he somehow knew you were pining for a family either, but you didn't need to know that right now - so he thought.

“No honey, I know you’ll be the best mom ever.” Chris told you sincerely, his lips then meeting yours in a passionate yet tender kiss that could make you easily see stars. The two of you stayed in each other’s arms for what seemed like an eternity, Chris’ hands slowly working down your frame to the lowest part of your stomach and rubbed the soon-to-be domed area with a touch that only radiated love.

Only when air became absolutely necessary did you and Chris break away from each other and gazed into each other’s eyes, your hands finding their way on top of Chris at the bottom of your stomach and cupped them tenderly.

“I know I haven’t done anything romantic for this and I will make it up to you..” Chris began to ramble and took to looking away from your inquisitive stare on him. “But first, I need to know something...Y/N, will you marry me?” Chris smiled nervously down to you and watched your face shrink from its smile to a shocked smile.

“Are you sure—you you want me?” You blubbered out bewilderedly and stared at Chris like he was insane. “This isn’t because of the baby—is it?” Your voice quivered at the thought that he was just marrying you for convenience sake.

“No, no god no!” Chris stammered with a tone that you couldn’t understand. “Y/N, we’ve got nine months to be selfish with each other and do as we please before it’s the three of us. And..and as bad as it sounds, I wanna be so selfish and have you all to myself for these nine months.”

“And what about after the baby?” You teased and tickled his hairy jaw with your index finger.

“I’ll still want you to myself.” Chris smirked at your teasing tone and hooked his arms around your back and pulled you into him. “Sure the timing isn’t right but Y/N, you gotta understand I’m not doing this for the baby; I’m doing this for us.” Chris looked you dead in the eye as he spoke

“You’ve always been the one, the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with - children or no children. So what’d you say?” He smirked at you as if he already knew your answer and he was right, he did know your answer.

“A million times, yes.”

Tags - @patzammit

[whiskeykneat]

One More Saturday Night [1]

Notes: trying something a little different since the ao3 link doesn't seem to be working for some people. I made a cut but if it doesn't work this is tagged #long post. // Summary: For everyone else, it's just one more Saturday night in 1964, but for Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark, they’ve both received letters that will change the course of their lives forever. // Rating: this chapter is T, but some parts will be N*FW

I. Fortunate Son (1964)

CHAPTER ONE

It's eight o'clock on a sultry July night in Twelvetrees, West Virginia. Down at the carhop, Katniss Everdeen has just switched shifts with Joanna Mason, and as she leans against the freezer, stretching her sore calves, she's unaware that the boy who's just rolled up in the parking lot with his brothers, the one who carries fifty pound sacks of flour to the back door and gets tongue tied in her presence, would give her the world if he could.

While Joanna slicks red lipstick on her sultry mouth and clips on her garters under the flickering yellow light of the washroom, Peeta Mellark sits in the parking lot of the carhop and turns the words he'll say to Katniss Everdeen over and over again in his mouth, the official decision letter from the draft board burning a hole in his pocket.

He ain't needed here. Got some brothers. That son of yours has always been useless. Let the army straighten him out, Mr Mellark. His mother's words feel like they've been seared into his soul, deeper than the burns from his many years of tending the ovens in their family bakery.

[[MORE]]

"Peet! Cat got your tongue?" Delly giggles, elbowing Peeta in the side. Delly is like a sister to him, they grew up side by side in the garden between the shoe shop and the bakery, fast friends since the day she found him hiding from his mother under the rose bushes.

Unlike Peeta, Delly has always known what she'll do when she grows up, and that's marrying the boy with the easy, charming smile who sits even now with one arm slung over her shoulders -- Peeta's second eldest brother, Wheatley. Their lives are laid out before them like the instructions for a gingerbread house, all it takes it for the pieces to be iced together, like a fairy story, falling into place.

The letter crinkles in Peeta's shirt pocket when he pats it, and as if he knows what's on Peeta's mind, Wheatley nudges him unsubtly. "You gonna tell her?" Peeta has never been close to his older brothers, and this spirit of bonhomie at the eleventh hour feels like they've already picked out a plot at the VA cemetery for him.

Peeta shrugs, feeling a blush heat his cheeks as Katniss skates on by.

"My, I wish I could pull off those dungarees!" Delly chirps, pointing at Katniss.

"I think she looks..." Like a stone cold fox. "...Outta sight." And Katniss does. She's got her dark hair pinned up like old posters of Rosie the Riveter, with a plain scrubbed face and not a hint of makeup. Yet something about her is still so inexpressibly arresting that Peeta can't help but stare at her, lost in thought, as she skates between the cars, taking orders left and right.

She's a devil on skates: her form needs work, but she can serve five cars in under fifteen minutes, with nary a drop of root beer float spilled in a single lap. She never smiles, but Peeta knows any boy in town would love to take her to Lookout Point for some necking. The sexual revolution may not have made it this deep into the mountains yet, but when there's nothing else to do, people make their own fun.

Still, the line is drawn between the Seam and Town, Katniss is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks, and Peeta may not want to admit it to himself, but that's the real reason any town boy would take her out, to see if she'd go all the way, or if she'd keep her legs locked up tight.

As she passes by the finned Buick Electra, she looks up and meets Peeta's eye, and though she never breaks the flow, he sees her look back again, and he could swear she almost smiles.

•••

I don't know how you do it, Joanna had said earlier, with a tone in her voice that might have been a slap or a smile. You might just make something of yourself and get out of this town, kiddo. What she doesn't say is written on every silver scar that marks her flesh, but Katniss lets Joanna keep her secrets, and that's why they're friends.

When Joanna slams out the back door, Katniss hears a Caddy roar in the alley like a tiger, and there's the scream of her friend's high laughter before the only sound left in the waiting night is crickets and the catchy song trickling from the kitchen radio: Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do...

For a moment, Katniss is lost in the past, and she stares out the back door as the moths flutter at the neon lights, feeling every year of her eighteen summers and twenty more besides, as though she's faded to a pale reflection of herself before she's ever gotten her or Prim out of this place.

"You look like you're run off your feet, girl. Sit down and take a breather. Them Town kids can wait." Chaff plucks the order pad from Katniss's fingers and starts putting up the tickets as he steers her to a chair beside the fan. "'Sides, Mitch would kill me if you fainted on my watch." Chaff passes Katniss an ice cold bottle of pop, and she feels herself sag in relief.

Chaff once flew planes with Abernathy, back in the war with Germany, but beyond that she hardly knows him at all, for Chaff never talks about the city he left to come to their little town that sleeps as the rest of the modern world passes them by.

The bottle of pop sweats in her hands, and it makes her think of the way her pa would bring home one as a treat when she was little, to be shared sip by tiny sip with her baby sister, each fizzy bubble held in their mouths for as long as they could, to make the sweetness last.

"Shit, Miss Undersee was supposed to be here an hour ago." Chaff smacks a hand on the counter, but Katniss can tell he doesn't half care. "If she's late one more time, I'll fire her ass. I don't care who her daddy is."

Before Katniss can make up an excuse for Madge (the secret of how sick Madge's mama is lies on her tongue like a wedge of pitch, sticking her gums together), Chaff passes her a twist of greasy fries and a milkshake (strawberry, like the wild berries she used to sell door to door with her best friend Gale, before he went down the mine). She can't believe how ravenous she is, anyone would think she hadn't eaten since breakfast, and that's as close to the truth as she's willing to admit to herself.

Ever since the mine explosion that killed her father, back in '55, Katniss has had to shift for herself and her sister, keeping their small family afloat. The mine owner sent their mama to a sanitarium in Richmond to recuperate. When she returned, she seemed half the person she used to be, and had to return again and again to be put back together for something called hysteria.

But that's all water under the bridge now, and Katniss is no longer that frightened eleven year old girl, forced to survive on the kindness of strangers. Abernathy took pity on her and hired her as soon as she turned fifteen to work for him at the carhop, and she'll spend her life trying to repay a debt that can never be quantified.

Mr Abernathy passed out hours ago, he's almost as fond of white lightning as Katniss is of making extra tips, anything to get out of this town before it's too late. She's got a scholarship to the university, the same place Abernathy went to, even though she's no more likely to study physics than she is to sprout wings and fly away from the dust of this coal town.

At midnight, when the neon lights shut down, and all the moths in town flock to the lustrous glow the stars make over the quarry pond, she and Chaff will use all of their combined strength to roll Abernathy over and make sure he doesn't drown in his own vomit. That's part of her debt, and she'll be deep in it until she shuffles off this mortal coil.

So when Madge bursts through the door, not a single strand of blonde hair out of place, Katniss is too full of sugar and grease to protest when Madge insists she'll take the next orders out.

"Been pilin' up." Chaff nods to the tickets. "That little Cartwright gal came by and dropped 'em off while Katniss took a breather. By the sounds of it, they're gittin' liquored up out there." But he doesn't make a move to stop Madge from going out the door.

Madge blows a strand of golden hair off her forehead and adjusts her headband, her pale fingers flying over the laces in an intricate pattern as she re-ties her skates. They're pristine white, the kind that Katniss's little sister Primrose would give her eye teeth for, but nothing in the Seam stays white for long, not with the coal dust that gets onto everything, coating it like funerary ash.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she says to Katniss, biting her lip and looking away from her friend. Chaff makes a sound of deep disgust in his throat, and passes Madge the tray. Once she's skated from sight, he turns back to the fryer, and turns up the radio.

Come gather 'round friends and I'll tell you a tale / Of when the red iron pits ran a-plenty / But the cardboard-filled windows and old men on the benches / Tell you now that the whole town is empty (North Country Blues, Bob Dylan)

•••

Madge has skated eleven blocks to get here, refusing to take her daddy's car like some spoiled little debutante, although she might have a year ago, before she went to university, before everything began to fall apart. There's a run in her stockings that will have to be repaired soon, and a burning in her lungs that reminds her she's alive. Now that she's been to university and back, this town feels smaller than ever, but it's a good feeling, as if nothing bad could ever happen here, cocooned from the world outside.

When the lights turn down low, and the town sleeps, she'll lie in her bed and listen to the hum of the locusts in the sycamore tree, where the initials M+G are still scarred across the trunk, as if life followed a pattern, laid out like a children's jumping rhyme.

•••

It is quite propitious, as far as plans go, Miss Undersee. Seneca dabbed at his lips with his napkin. His mustache was damp with moisture, and she felt her stomach curdle at the way it gleamed wetly under the lights. She just hoped he got this whole breakup over with soon, because she was sure that one more minute of having to endure his rubbery lips and his mechanical groping on her knee would make her commit an entirely unladylike act.

As Madge fantasized about flipping Seneca the bird, he laid a clammy hand over hers and took a deep breath. With my money and your breeding, I think a marriage would suit the pair of us, don't you agree?

But my degree... I haven't finished it yet. Madge's smile froze in place, suddenly entirely too aware of the predatory gazes of the waitstaff, as though the entire moment had been orchestrated. She felt blindsided, and furious all at once. But good manners won out, and she smiled again, with a cheer she did not feel.

Seneca laughed, a touch of condescension creeping into his voice. I'm not marrying you for your mind, Margareta. Your father said you might be stubborn.

Madge reeled back in shock, stunned. Suddenly it all seemed too much: the soft candlelight felt as garish as the cheap lights of a carnival fanfare, the white wine in her glass tasted like rotgut mash. She tried to tug her hand back from Seneca's, but he held it fast. You talked to my daddy already? Her voice seemed to be coming from far away.

Why, of course I did, darling. Seneca squeezed her arm tight, a warning. Now, if you want to finish your university degree by mail, that's fine with me, but you won't need any of that when you're Mrs Seneca Crane, wife to the next senator of West Virginia. He continued his monologue, the room fading to a single pinprick of light until all Madge could see was that flashy diamond, all she could hear was the sound of champagne corks and applause, and all she could feel was the tightness closing in on her, as if Seneca's ring was around her neck instead of her finger.

[another-sonic-blog]

The Dark Prince: Chapter Three: My Old Blue Friend

"Let Amy go, Shadow!"

   It was raining heavily in Hasvely but the silhouettes of Sonic and Shadow the Hedgehog were still visible. Their furs were soaking wet just like their clothing. The townspeople hiding in their own homes, but still, there were ones who their curiosity had gotten the best of them and took up the courage to peek through their window. After all, it wasn't every day that you would see Sonic The Hedgehog, 'retired' world hero and Shadow The Hedgehog, the best world spy and recognized hero, together.    

   Tales that only kids would hear about when they were about to sleep. Superheroes that they only thought of meeting in their dreams.

"If you want her...come and get her."

   Shadow walked slowly but confidently towards the blue bur. Amy could only appreciate from afar, unable to do anything as she was tied down to a chair, mouth taped and she could only hope that this didn't end the way she was imagining it.

   The blue bur just stood there waiting for the black one to make a move. Sonic's eyes had changed over the years, it wasn't like him anymore.  Once they used to be filled with so much life, but now it seemed like that is a long time forgotten memory.

And so, the first impacted happened.

.

.

.

   One day before the events

.

.

.

   Hasvely was a small village. Around 5 thousand of population, in which the most dedicated their times in agricultural jobs to sustain themselves. Shadow and Amy had finally found their way to the village as they try to hide their looks to the other villages.

"Where do we start now?.", Amy questioned as she took a moment to look at Shadow.

"Well, asking around might be a good start but we don't want to give out too much of our information or how we look...A cup of black coffee it is then."

"Shadow!.", Amy stopped herself as she had realized that maybe she had said his name way too loud. Shadow walked away, pretending as nothing had happened, and looked around for the closest coffee shop, Amy couldn't do anything but follow him.

Is this real life? Or is just fantasy?

   Was Amy Rose really stranded in another village with Shadow The Hedgehog? With no other place to go? Yes, she was.  And the only thing Shadow was going to do about it was to look for coffee. Or at least that was his plan so far.

   Shadow opened the door for Amy and she walked in as she thanked him. It was a small place, more of a breakfast/restaurant kind of establishment. None the less, still pretty cozy and the smell of food had already made its way into Amy's nostrils, waking her senses up.

   They took a sit on the corner of the restaurant, and shortly after the waitress came up to them.

"Can I get you both something to drink?.", The waitress said as she put down the small menus on their table.

"Cup of black coffee.", Shadow said simply.

"And for your girlfriend?"

"Umh, I am n-",    Amy was about to correct her but was interrupted shortly after.

"She would like an Americano."

"All right, I'll be back with your drinks."

    The cat waitress left with a smile. Amy saw her leave and turned to Shadow who was reading the menu in front of him. Not really bothered by his own previous commentary.

"Um...Shadow?."

"Yes?."  He said, still not parting his eyes from the menu.

"Why did you say that?"

   Shadow looked up as he took of this fake round glasses.  "Was I wrong?"

"Well... I mean...you and I never talked about those things." Amy said as she looked down to the table, blushing a little bit.

"We don't need to talk about it, for me to know it's real."

   Amy's heart stopped for a second. Was the Dark Prince really insinuating that there was something more than just friendship between them?

"I know that your favorite coffee is Americano. That's why I order it."

   Well, at least he wasn't wrong.

Amy sighed in defeat, "Anyways, don't you really think that right now is a good time to be drinking coffee? Shouldn't we be looking for Sonic?."

"You would be surprised to know that you can find a lot of information by just sitting and drinking a cup of coffee."

"What?."

   Shadow smiled at her and looked shortly at the group of friends across from them, inviting Amy to do the same in a secret manner.

"I don't believe you, C'mon! We all know that Sonic the Hedgehog retired after the events of Eggman conquering the world.", A blue fox said, loud enough for them to hear.

"I am telling you, I saw him with my own eyes! The farm was on fire but there were still kids inside and then boom!  The blue bur went inside and save them all! It was so fast!  He left the kids in a safe place and left right after. There are people in town saying that they have seen him recently running around the fields too!", The other friend told his story, excitement on his voice.

"If there's no picture, it didn't happen."

"Ah, come on, don't you know how hard it is to get any piece of technology around here?."

   And the group of friends was going around and around about the topic. Amy and Shadow were concentrating on their conversation so much that they didn't notice that thirty minutes had passed just like that until their waitress had made a comeback with her personality backward.

"Sorry for the long wait." The cat girl said as she placed their drinks on the table, almost spilling them. "Just found out I am pregnant again. What can I get you?."

   Where Amy saw misfortune, Shadow saw an opportunity.

.

.

.

.

.

   "I can't believe you gave that lady more than half of our money Shadow!.", Amy whispered to his ear as they waited patiently for her to come back.

"Did you want to sleep on a cave again? On the cold floor? With no warm food on your belly?."Shadow responded back.

"Couldn't we just have gotten a hotel room?."

"It's Hasvely, they barely have a drainage system."

   Amy wanted to respond back to that but the sound of small feet running towards the dining table was way too noticeable to keep talking.

   Yes, Shadow had given most of their money to the cat girl in exchange for one night at her house with a comfortable bed to sleep in. She was pretty desperate and needed the money, so she really couldn't say no.

----

In a flash, three small cats appeared in front of the couple. One girl, two boys. The girl was red just like her mother and the boys shared a brown fur, which they both thought came from their dad.

Running around the dining table, screaming and playing between them until their mom showed up with what seemed to be tonight's dinner.

"Kids stop it already and sit down. Please don't bother our guests." The mom, which her name was clarified as Diana, explicitly told their kids who they obeyed.

"I am sorry, my husband passed away a month ago and it's been quite hard for me to control my kids without his help."

"We completely understand."

"Seems like your husband left you a present before he left," Shadow said as he looked directly at her tummy. "To be honest, I would of prefer something else. But I guess this is pretty nice too...A bit scary, but nice." Her face was filled with a nostalgic expression. Her eyes gleamed and twinkle as she softly placed a hand on her belly.

"Where are your babies, Mr. Angry?."

  The group of adults was interrupted by the youngest, the small girl could barely see beyond the table and focused her eyes on Shadow. "Emilia!" The mother tried to correct her but Shadow laughed under his breath, making it clear that he was far from being mad at the little girl.

"Mr.Angry doesn't have babies, red-one," Shadow responded.

"Why not?"

"I don't have a wife."

"What about Ms. Pretty?" The little girl then fixed her eyes on Amy who blushed at the moment. "Me-e?"

"You should marry her... Oh! I'll plan the wedding after dinner!"

"We will be looking forward to it then," Shadow said as he placed a hand on the small girl's hair.

  It was things like this that made Amy question Shadow sometimes. Amy smiles softly at him, really glad at the moment of her realization. Besides looking for a place to stay, Shadow was actually looking forward to helping this lady because, at the moment, her children needed the money more than they needed it.

Shadow was just good like that. A real-life Prince.

It was a peaceful dinner. The kids would do the normal play. The food was warm and homemade and to be honest it had been a while ever since they both had a peaceful night.

"I am so sorry, I need to leave for my night shift already. Do you mind putting my children to sleep?", The red lady said as she finished watching the dishes alongside Amy.

"Sure, it's no problem but....we just met each other. We are basically strangers and you are trusting your kids to me?", Amy said as she looked towards the living room, Shadow on the floor as the three kids played with him.

"Actually, it will be my honor if you and Shadow the Hedgehog stayed and took care of my children."

   Amy flinched a little, realizing that their disguise had failed. "You... you know us?"

"I don't know if he remembers but... Shadow the Hedgehog helped our village two years ago. We were on the blink of starvation. The government wouldn't help us but one day we just received a vast supply of seeds, machinery and other resources to help us grow. Everything was donated under the name of Shadow the hedgehog." The cat girl said smiling.

"How do you know it's him?"

"He personally came to distribute his resources. If it wasn't for him, I don't know what would have happened to the kids in this village, to be honest."

   As she finished to dry the rest of the dishes, Diana smiled towards her kids in the living room. Happier than ever to have someone else to play with. "I know G.U.N is looking for you both, but don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

.

.

.

"All right kids, just thirty more minutes!"

    Amy sat down on the floor alongside Shadow and kids who were brushing Shadow's quills. Amy noticed a black bow, crookedly attached to his white fur and a small black hat that was ok the verge of falling from his head.

"We need to get Ms.Pretty ready, fast!." The kids moved to 'work' on Amy's look as fast as they could. At this point, Amy just let it happened and let the kids have their fun.

"No looking at the bride while she's getting ready!." The oldest boy said and at this Shadow nodded and turned around. His back, now facing Amy's. Shadow played with his fingers as he waited for the kids to be done with Amy.

"So...you haven't seen Sonic since he 'retired'?" , Shadow decides to start a conversation to one, let time pass and two get more information that might help them in this mission.

Amy sighed, knowing that sooner or later the topic would come in hand. She closed her eyes as she saw the small red cat girl ready to put on some eye shadow on her.

"After the Resistance disbanded, Sonic left. The world was at peace again and without Eggman, there was no point on continuing saving the world and he quit being a hero. Or at least that's what I saw on the news..."

"That was around five years ago..." Shadow said as he felt one of the boys put some type of gel on his quills and began to play "crazy hair" on him.

"Last time I saw him was a year ago...when Cream's mom, Vanilla passed away...on her funeral. I saw him in the distance. We looked at each other...and then he left again. Without saying a word...That's why I am saying that it's going to be really hard to find him." Amy opened her eyes and saw the little girl place a small tiara she had made with paper on her head. Even now, talking about it hurt Amy on her inside. She couldn't hold it in much longer as she left her nose get watery due to the fact that she wanted to cry.

"Oh which reminds me," Amy added as she tried to change the subject. "Cream talked about you going to Vanilla's funeral and you told her something about-"

  Shadow pretended not to hear her sniff and his heart began to raised at the fact that may be a year ago, he had made a mistake by talking about his feelings to that rabbit.

"And we are done! You may look at the bride now!."

  Shadow was literally saved by the little girl and made a note to himself to thank her later. He turned around to face Amy this time and it took him a lot of courage to stop himself from laughing.

"You look...beautiful." Shadow tried to sound serious but Amy knew what meant. Her make up was all over the place, lipstick on her thee and on areas where they shouldn't be any. Blush as pink as her fur and eye-shadow all the way up to her eyebrows.

"Well, I am going to marry a very handsome hedgehog as well," Amy said as a take-back and Shadow could only guess how terrible his quills look at the moment.

"We are here today to marry Mr.Angry and Ms.Pretty so they can have babies." The third kids said as serious as he could. Standing in front of the couple while his brother and sister sat down next to Shadow and Amy as if they were guests of honor.

"Do you, Mr. Angry, swear to be with Ms.pretty um uh-." The cat boy pulled out a paper out of pocket as he had forgotten his lines. "-Forever, even if she eats your food without you knowing?"

Shadow looked at Amy directly on the eyes and his expression had changed. His eyes sparkled and he had a soft smile eating on his face. Softly and peacefully, an "I do" scapes from his lips and was heard loud enough for everyone to hear.

"And do you Ms. Pretty-"

   Even if it was just a game, Shadow's reaction at the moment had completely baffle Amy. He sounded so sensible and sincere that Amy's emotional self was on the blink to let down a tear, but instead a quick "I do" was said and such action of confidence never seen in her before had awed Shadow to his limits.

"Ladies and gentlemen... I know declare this two...husband and wife... may you both have a lot of babies we can play with!"

  The kids clapped all in different unison.

The little girl then gasped as she remembered something she had forgotten.

"Ah! Mr. Angry forgot to kiss Ms.Pretty!"

     Wow did this kids have pretty big adult ideas uh?

Shadow looked at Amy as she blinked at him. She wasn't sure if it was because of the heat coming from the fire or was it because Shadow was...blushing?

"Wait...you are not seriously thinking..."

    Oh, but he was; and as he tried to get back his composure, he got closer to the pink hedgehog as they felt the kids' eyes on them. Shadow placed his hand on Amy's check slowly chanting towards her and Amy tremble in all of her beings. The excitement, the fear she had never felt before because even at her 20s, she had never kissed anyone before.

  But now there she was. About to kiss the Dark Prince, no other than Shadow the hedgehog.

She closed her eyes ready for the impact...but felt the impact in another place... her cheek. Shadow had kissed her cheek softly, quick and once.

  What else could she expect from him? He wasn't just gonna steal a kiss, it wasn't like Shadow to do those kinds of things.

"There, now you all need to wash your teeth and head to bed," Shadow said as he stood up from the floor and looked at the kids.

"Fine!" The kids said in defeat as they all went to the restroom to get ready for bed.

"Well, that went nicely." Amy stood up as she took off the paper tiara from her head.

"Wait, leave it." Shadow interrupted her action in which exchange she gave him a concerned looked. "Why?"

"I think I just got an idea..."

.

.

.

And so, that's what brought us to this moment. The plan was simple. Use Amy as bait and hope for the blue but to come. The townspeople helped a lot too by spreading the rumor pretty fast that Shadow had taken Amy as a hostage. They knew it was risky since rumors run fast, they could expect a G.U.N militia coming for them any time soon. The best they could do now was to wait for the blue but to show up.

It began to rain heavily, thunder and lightning struck the village. Dark grey clouds above them and Shadow and Amy did their best to be patient.

"I am telling you he won't come," Amy said as she sat down on the chair Shadow had provided her. He was as standing next to her, holding an umbrella big enough to cover both of them. Even with it, they still manage to get their attires wet since the wind would throw water at them once in a while.

"Well, I want you to tell him that right now."

   Lighting struck and for a moment everything was visible in front of the couple and to the ones who were peaking through their window.

There he was in all of his might.

The one who has saved the planet multiple times. The one who runs as fast as the wind, the blue bur.

The worlds hero...Sonic the Hedgehog.

"It's been a while faker," Shadow said as dropped the umbrella and walked towards the blue one.

"Cut the chitchat, let Amy go and I'll be on my wa-"

Sonic then felt a punch on his face.

"Shadow! We said no fighting!"

   Sonic heard Amy from afar as he let the rain touch his body. "That's for making her cry." He saw Shadow looking down on him and walked away as he saw Amy approaching him. She covered his face with the umbrella as he recovered from the punch and sat down on the ground.

"What do you both want from me?, Sonic said as he stood up away from Amy's umbrella, acting as if she wasn't there.

"We want information. I don't know if you have heard but they are chasing Amy down for a murder she didn't do." Shadow sat down on the chair Amy used before as if there was no rain to worry about.

"Who did she 'murder'?"

"G.U.N's commander."

   Sonic looked at Amy with fiery eyes. For once in her life, Amy felt shivers run down her spine when he looked at her. And it wasn't like the 'electric' type she used to feel when she was younger; it was more like the 'scare' kind of type and that alone...terrified her.

"Well, you are screw"

   Just what the heck had happened to Sonic the Hedgehog these past years? He sounded more like Shadow in his teenage years, all edgy and dark. No, this wasn't the Sonic Amy had chased so many years ago.

"Sorry to inform you, but I got nothing. Now if you excuse me, I'll get going."

   Just like that. Sonic began to walk away. Shadow speed up and faced him. "I know you are lying."

"Good to know you are as perceptive as ever." Sonic walked past him, ready to make a run. He hesitated for a bit and sighed.

"Look, it's not only the commander. According to my informants,  G.U.N's leaders around the world have been killed as well under mysterious circumstances...as well as expert engineers, astronomers, scientist...mechanic geniuses."

   Shadow noticed that Sonic had stopped his movements. He turned around for a second to give Amy a comforting gift as he continued.

"You left for a long time...Tails Miles Prower became the top director for  G.U.N's elite mechanic's team...I wouldn't be surprised if he was on the list of fatalities next."

   Sonic turned around and if looks could kill, Shadow would be long dead.

"Follow me."

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.

.

   Amy recognized the place as soon as she stepped on the base. A vast long memory she had wanted to forget but until this day, it hunts her on her worst nightmares.

"This is where you have been...all of this time?" Amy asked more to herself than to Sonic, who in return gave her a small growl.

"Take it or leave it"

   Yeah, in fact, it didn't take Amy nor Shadow to figure out what was going with him. A tragedy had occurred in that place, more than 100 soldiers from the Resistance lost their lives in that base. Pictures of not just them but of all other soldiers who lost their lives at the war with Eggman were plastered on the walls. Newspapers, articles, objects, everything was there.

"You are torturing yourself.", Shadow said.

"Its the only way to redeem my mistakes." Sonic sat down on a small cushion, near it there were blankets and small pillows, obviously the place he will sleep in.  Shadow and Amy sat down as well, but on the cold floor.

"When I was looking for supplies, I met this hedgehog boy. He was kinda weird looking, white fur, golden eyes. He sounded really desperate...anyways, he was asking people to take him to G.U.N.'s main base. He said that the commander was going to die soon and that would cause the destruction of his future.  Of course, nobody believed him."

   Sonic finished his story, Amy and Shadow looked at each other, waiting for more but nothing came out of his mouth. "What did you do?"

"I left, it wasn't none of my business."

"When did this happen?"

"Around a week ago."

"Where did you see him?" Amy asked the blue bur this time. "Persepolis, you can get there by foot in two days. But I am sure with Shadow's speed, time won't be a problem."

"It's not about time, it's about whether that white hedgehog is still in Persepolis or not" Shadow stood up from his place and took the freedom to walk around the place.

"It's our only clue now. Maybe someone in the city knows where he went." Amy quickly looked at Shadow who seemed in deep thought, reading the newspapers around him.

"We will leave in the morning, thank you for your cooperation, Sonic."

"Morning?"

"Oh yes, we will sleep here. Now if you don't mind, I'll go get us some food."

"Wait, Shadow don't leave-", Amy stood up fast, not wanting to be left alone with the blue one.

"I'll be back soon."

.

.

.

Ten minutes passed, and no sign of Shadow yet. Just the quiet and strange calmness that came within the base.  Amy looked at the floor as she played with her fingers. She could feel Sonic's gaze at her. Just staring at her.

"How did you do it?"

   Sonic's voice stumbled on Amy's head. "What do you mean?"

"How did you get your life back together after what happened?"

   Amy took the courage to move towards the blue hedgehog. She could see it on his eyes, the silent suffering, the sleepless nights, the nightmares. Just like how she was years ago.

"I never did. To be honest, I stopped doing the whole heroine stuff when the war was over. I just couldn't see myself having people's lives depend on me again. I decided on a much simpler life. I opened a small cafe, actually."

Amy took a moment to look at Sonic who was waiting for more of her story for him to hear. And so she continued.

"Therapy helped. But the nightmares are still there. I don't think I'll ever forget. You just gotta...see life with a different outlook."

   A few seconds passed and Sonic was one the one to moved closer to Amy. He grabbed her hand delicately, trembling and Amy noticed this.

"I am sorry...for leaving you for so long. It seems like I am always leaving you when you need me the most. Just like how I did with the rest of the world."

"You may have left me...but you never failed me."

   It got quiet. Very quiet. They didn't dare to look at each other because they knew what would happen if they did. They just stared at each other's hands, holding each other. Sonic softly caressing Amy's and she just let it all happen. She soon felt her chin been touched by Sonic's hand, making her look directly at his eyes and then at his lips who looked so tempting to touch.

Way too tempting.

And it seemed like Sonic thought the same way about Amy's. He was craving it, her touch, her presence, her everything. If he hadn't been so shy, so cowardly, he wonders if things could of turn this way, years ago. When he wasn't so broken, when he was worthy of being with Amy.

"Am I interrupting something?"

   It was Shadow.

Amy and Sonic separated as fast as they could. Their faces showed their evident blush, they couldn't hide it.

"We are leaving."

"Shadow, wait-"

"We are leaving!"

   Amy stood quiet, Shadow had never talked that way before to her. It was shocking in a sense to find out that maybe her dark prince wasn't so 'princey' after all.

   Shadow gave Amy one last look before he walked back out the door he came from.

He waited a few minutes for Amy to come out and she did. As soon as she came out, Shadow began to walk away, slowly.

"Umm, Shadow...are you angry at me?", Amy couldn't just leave things like that. She needed to find out the reason for Shadow's sudden mood change.

"No, I am not... I just felt something.", Shadow said, still not looking at Amy on the eyes. It wasn't all lies, but at the moment he wanted to hide the fact that he was jealous on the inside. It was just so stupid of him to think that Amy was starting to feel the same way he does about her. He hated the part of himself that told him there was hope that he could be loved.

"You felt...Something?"

"We are being followed. G.U.N.'s agents are already questioning the people in Hasvely. If we don't move quickly, Sonic is going to get involved as well."

"Oh...so that's why."

   Amy needed to stop herself from having stupid ideas. There was no way that Shadow could ever-

"You sound disappointed...were you waiting for a different answer?"

   Amy's thoughts were interrupted by his voice. They were now entering the woods, although Shadow was walking slowly, his walking pace was still way faster than Amy's. She ran a little to catch up to him once in a while.

"No, I was just thinking of Sonic...he still not ready to come back...when all of this is over. I promised him, I'll come back."

   In a sense, she was saying the truth, but she also wanted to hide her disappointment somehow.

"And what about me?"

"About you?"

"Yes, about us"

   Shadow stopped for a second, realizing that Amy was a behind him, trying to catch up to him.  Shadow grabbed her hand as to stop her from falling behind. However, Amy took this as a sign to have a conversation.

"What do you mean, about us?"

"I think after what I am doing for you, I reserve a reward, don't you think?"

   Shadow noticed that Amy was starting to get nervous. He turned his body towards her, as to give her more comfort, but Amy had taken it the wrong way. She began to walk backward as Shadow unconsciously walked towards her, still holding her hand.

"I mean yeah, um, uh what about, I don't know, mo-money?", Amy's voiced cracked as she looked away.

"I was thinking of something more...personal."

   Amy's back touched a tree behind her, and Shadow placed a hand above her as, making it clear that she couldn't go anywhere. For Shadow, there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. But to Amy, it felt a whole different way. It was as is Shadow was teasing her on purpose.

"What-what do you want?"

   Shadow moved his face closer to her. Taking a breath as he appreciated her aroma. He looked at her in the eyes, and Amy felt her knees tremble.

"I want y-"

"Um, I am sorry."

   They were both interrupted by a white hedgehog, spiky, weird looking hair. Golden eyes, white chest fur, and his shoes looked weirdly...futuristic.

"My name is Silver and I think I am lost."

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Next Chapter: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/185967014480/the-dark-prince-chapter-four-believe-in-him

The Dark Prince: Chapter Four: Believe In Him

Previous Chapter: https://another-sonic-blog.tumblr.com/post/185966809995/the-dark-prince-chapter-two-the-way-he-is

The Dark Prince:  Chapter Two: The Way He Is

[so-caffeinated]

Something angsty just occurred to me when you mentioned the Fathers Day one shot-what Will's first mother's day after Samantha dies must be like. Oliver and Felicity probably encourage him to join their mother's day crunch/celebrations as usual but don't push too hard. Will comes but leaves early. He checks in on David &Bethany but leaves again to visit Sams grave. Felicity finds him there&comforts him. He protests: she should be enjoying herday.I'm a mother Will,I can't be happyif my kids arent

WAY TO SEND ME ON A FUCKING ANGST SPIRAL, ANON. This became a HIGHLY DEPRESSING FLASHFIC with obvious warnings for coping with grief, loss and the death of a parent. I DID NOT ASK FOR THESE FEELS, ANON. 

May 2032

Will forgets about Mother’s Day until the week before when Nate gleefully whispers to him that he made his mom a necklace with glass beads and it’s really pretty and he thinks she’ll love it and isn’t that great? His heart sinks because he’d sort of blocked it all out of his mind entirely but there it is right in front of him anyhow: the first mother’s day without his mom.

When he goes to work the next morning he immediately offers to swap shifts with a woman on his truck who has two little kids and she’s delighted to have Mother’s Day off. It helps... at first. Keeping busy is good. He learned that a while ago. 

Oliver invites him to dinner, not knowing about the shift change, and mentions that Felicity will understand either way. He mumbles back that he’s working but he bought her a nice plant - the kind she can’t easily kill because her gardening skills are right up there with her cooking skills. Oliver sees right through him but just says “okay” and squeezes his shoulder, adding “I’m here if you need anything. Even if it’s just to talk to sit quietly at a bar with a couple of beers. Okay?” Will doesn’t take him up on that, but he’s grateful anyhow. 

The night before, he works out to the point of exhaustion, spending way too much time in his dad’s gym and not saying a damned word to anyone. He doesn’t even try to make it home, instead passing out in his-old-room-turned-guest-room at his dad’s house. He knows Felicity’s worried; she keeps hovering like she wants to say something. Hell, he knows they’re all worried. Even Nate’s aware enough to be concerned, which is sort of astonishing until Will thinks about how much his baby brother loves his own mom. But he’s still more than a little surprised and incredibly touched when he wakes up the next morning to find Nate’s asleep on the floor in his sleeping bag. It might make Will a few minutes late for work, but he still stops to scoop the nine-year-old up and carry him back to his own room, tucking him into bed and ordering a very confused Buster - who cannot seem to figure out what one of the children is doing asleep somewhere other than a bed -to watch over the boy. 

Working through that first Mother’s Day without his mom turns out to be a mistake in more than one way. For one, he keeps thinking about David and Bethy. He should be there. He’d been so selfish wanting to work through the day and avoid thinking about it when he knows David’s at home with his not-quite-two-year-old trying to cope with the death of his wife just three months ago. He can’t stop thinking about what they’re doing, if David needs someone to lean on, if Bethy needs someone to give her extra love and attention. But the bigger problem presents itself in his job itself. There’s a car wreck they respond to, a family on their way home from Mother’s Day brunch and the mom has dark hair and a bloody gash on her forehead that makes her features a little less discernible and every time Will blinks, it’s his mom. The woman lives - it’s not honestly that bad of an injury - but Will spends the next fifteen minutes after they get back to the firehouse throwing up in the bathroom and the minute he comes out, his captain orders him to go home and take the rest of the week off to get his head on straight, tells him he gets it but if this happens again he’s gonna insist he be cleared by a psychiatrist before coming back to work. 

It’s still early when he leaves, way before the end of his shift, and he knows he could make it to Felicity’s dinner or spend some time talking to his mom’s grave to try and clear his head, but neither of those places need him right now. And, as much as he loves his dad and Felicity and Jules and Ellie and Nate, they’re not what he needs right now, either. 

He relies a lot heavier on the self-drive feature of his car than usual as it steers itself to David’s house - it’s the same one his mom lived in and when he looks around, sometimes it almost seems like she’s still there. The rose bushes she’d loved are just starting to grow new buds and the potpourri scent she liked best still sits in a glass dish by the front door that he’d picked out with her when he was just a kid. But those memories of his mom - of her making this place home - live in him and they live in David. They don’t live in Bethy. She’s so little. It’s only been three months, but she’s so little.

“Hey,” Will says, feeling guilty as hell when he walks in and finds David with his shoulders hunched over and a drawn look on his face. There’s no judgement on his stepfather’s face, though, just surprise at seeing him. “Will! Hi Hi!” Bethy greets him delightedly, reaching up in excitement. She’s only had her cast off for a month or so and the garish wound on her side from the accident has turned into a scar he’s pretty sure will never fade entirely. She doesn’t know about that, though. She doesn’t care. She’s 23 months old and she just wants the arms of someone who loves her, so Will scoops her up and kisses her forehead while she pats his cheeks. “Sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t here. I’m sorry,” he says. He’s talking to her, but he’s really talking to David and he knows it. “It’s okay. I get it,” David says, swallowing heavily. “I didn’t really want to be here today either.”

But he does, he thinks. He does want to be here. Or, maybe it’s that he needs to be here. There’s nowhere and nothing that can make all of this right, that can bring her back. He wants that, wants it more than anything, just for a minute, just for a second. He wishes he could at least tell his mom he loves her, that he always will. He wishes they could have at least left things on better terms. It all feels so stupid now, the way he’d rushed her off the phone, the times they’d argued over his job or him taking his dad’s last name or his difficulty accepting David and Bethy. He’ll do better now. He’ll always be accept them, forever be there for Bethy in any way she needs. And he knows, deep down, that his mom knew he loved her. 

Still... he wishes he could at least finish their time together in a tone more in keeping with the bulk of the way they’d lived it together. 

Beth makes a noise like a fire engine and he smiles at her - because how is that he ever didn’t smile at Bethy. “Do color?” she asks, pointing toward the absurdly huge bin of sparkly crayons that Grandma Donna had added to virtually every day Bethany was in the hospital - like the power of glitter alone might heal the little girl. “No, I think we should do something else,” Will tells her. “I want to look at some pictures.”

“My pictures?” Bethy asks smiling brightly. “Yup,” Will agrees. “Yours and mine and your daddy’s and your momma’s.”

“Will,” David says. It’s too much for the widower and Will can see that right away. His eyes are red-rimmed and his stubble unshaven and this day has already been too much for him. “Just me and Bethy,” Will tells him kindly. “How about you go take some time to yourself. Take a shower, read a book... whatever. I’ve got Bethy and I’ll order up some dinner from that Thai place.”

“I, uh... I made lasagna last night,” David says, sounding almost guilty about it and sniffling as he rubs his nose. “I tried to follow her recipe, but you know how she was. I’m sure she left something out when she wrote it down... she was always doing that... It won’t be as good.”

God, but if that doesn’t sound like a metaphor that makes Will want to be sick all over again. Only, with his family, he knows exactly what piece is missing. “I’m sure we’ll enjoy it anyhow,” he says, forcing himself to smile. David hugs him - that’s a new thing they do, only since his mom died, and Will is reminded starkly every time that the man has no one else - and he kisses Bethany about a half dozen times on her soft little cheeks before heading back to the room he used to share with his wife. 

Will doesn’t know how he does it. He doesn’t know how any of them do it, but especially not David.  

He spends the next half an hour showing Bethany pictures of them with their mom, telling her stories about her own first steps or the day she was born or that time she threw an entire bowl of applesauce at her mom’s face. She won’t remember it this time, it won’t stick yet, but he’ll keep telling her, he decides, and eventually she’ll know these stories like her own name. Her mom will be a part of her life, if only through the secondhand retelling of it. 

They spend the next half hour coloring. Beth still just scribbles but she says it’s her family and she points to the blue one and says it’s her mom. Will figures that’s a start and he asks her if he can keep it. It winds up being the first of Bethany’s drawings to decorate his fridge, but it’s far from the last. 

David comes out a bit later. He looks ever-so-slightly better and the three of them eat a mediocre knockoff of his mom’s lasagna. They’ll never get it right. It’ll never be the same. But they’ll find a new usual way of making it that’s pretty good, anyhow. Will sticks around after dinner, cleaning up the dishes while David cleans up Bethany. She about breaks his damned heart when she heads to bed after her bath though. “Night-night, Will,” she says, kissing his cheek. “Night-night, Dada,” kissing her father. “Night-night, Momma,” she adds blowing a kiss to a picture on the wall. Will fakes a smile until she’s out of sight, headed to her bedroom, and then he cries over the sink the entire time that David somehow manages to tuck Bethy in. 

It’s not fair. Not to Bethany. Not to David. Not to his mom. And not to him. Sometimes it makes him so angry he could scream, has screamed, but that does no good and it just leaves him feeling more broken and helpless afterwards to he tries to breathe through those feelings and just let them go. He’s a firefighter, damn it. He knows how unfair life is, has seen it fade out of people’s eyes right in front of him. But his mom... his mom... 

“You okay?” David asks, startling him. “No,” he answers. “I’m really not.” David makes a noise that’s more a grunt of agreement than anything else. “That makes two of us,” his stepfather agrees. 

David’s not ready to talk about her directly - can’t even say Samantha’s name - and he’s definitely not going to sit around looking at pictures. But the two of them sit on the back porch with a pair of beers until David complains what a bitch it is to take care of rosebushes and Will points out that he thinks the lasagna usually has more garlic and, in spite of everything, that feels like a start.