#i had to do this the she was born in a wet cardboard box all alone is one of my favorite phrases ever

[attleboy]

thank you for being so nice to my past couple tadc doodle posts... shitpost be upon thee

[fortuneravine]

Tell me about each of your PMD teams!

OH BOY ok okok

starting off with team obsidian (explorers of sky)

Mistral is. complicated. for starters i have played as her in rescue team, explorers, And super because at the time they were kinda just. me. less of an oc and more just my self insert (i actually changed their name because her old name is. just my name now)

but lately i've wanted her to be her own character and not me in totodile form so i'm kinda in the process of redoing everything about them.

Cinder i can say more about! they are a disaster. an absolute mess. sopping wet kitten born in a cardboard box all alone. she's wanted to be an explorer since she was little, but being a huge coward kinda got in the way of that. they got that scar on their chest when they went into a dungeon alone and it scared them away from exploring for a long time. it wasn't until she met mistral that she started to get her confidence back and they're much calmer and less afraid of everything nowadays!

now rescue team. i played as mistral again in my first pmddx playthough along with a cubone partner but. i have kinda replaced them as my Main pmd1 team with these guys. oops.

campfire are much more developed characters anyways so im gonna talk about them!

fig (she/any) is very quiet, as are basically all of my heroes because my selectively mute ass keeps latching onto silent protagonists. she's definitely the one i've given the not talking trait to the most though. chive is extremely extroverted and chatty so she handles all the talking. others tend to see them as closed off or mysterious because they can't get a good read on her. they're really sweet though

chive's main gimmick is she likes cooking! will probably settle down and open a little cafe once she's done with the rescue team business. likes to experiment with random berries and nuts she finds (fig keeps joking she's going to poison herself, but she owns like 3 different foraging guides, she knows what she's doing.)

next is team hydra! their ref is old and i need to redo it so here's one of my heropartnerweek pieces badly cropped. their names are Ceru (she/xe) and Olivine (he/they)

it turns out i lied when i said all my heroes are quiet ceru is actually pretty outgoing. still the more introverted of the duo but mainly because olivine is a people pleaser extraordinaire. she actually had a pretty boring life as a human and is a lot happier as a pokemon. she was Devastated about returning to the human world, mostly because xe didn't want to leave xyr friends, partially because oh come on it's so much cooler here i don't wanna go back to working retail

olivine, as i said, is a people pleaser, often to his detriment. he's always prioritizing other pokemon's happiness, even when it's at the cost of his own. they get better at this over time (ceru helps him a lot with learning to say No). he and ceru are inseparable besties. they're like a comedy duo. 2 things have olivine's undying commitment, his friends and The Bit

finally. super. again i already talked about mistral so here is Basil.

honestly? i feel like they don't have much of my own spin. pmsd partner is already a perfect character. they are so full of love. they love making others smile and they're maybe a little too enthusiastic about it. they tend to come off as overly friendly at best or annoying at worst. before meeting mistral they were pretty lonely despite trying so hard to make friends. they're very happy to finally have a real close friend who likes them how they are

this ended up a little rambly!! oops!! but there's my guys hope you like em :)

[hailthegodsong]

OUR LOVE IS BORN

Masterlist

Chapter 1 ~ Better Twin

Content Warnings: Fluff, angst, flirting, typical embarrassing teenage stuff, swearing, mentions of car accident, mentions of medical procedures, brief nudity (nothing crazy).

The trees blurred as our car whizzed past, piling down some highway. I wasn't sure. In fact, I had no idea where we were at all, other than the fact that it was somewhere in Michigan.

The trees were different, as well as the bird song and the grass which crept up upon the edges of the tarred road we drove upon.

Even in the heated car I could feel an isolated chill run up my arms, and effectively reaching my now very cold core. A thin layer of dirtied snow lay on the grass beside the long road, and I tried to think back to the last time I had seen snow.

It must have been when I was before 5, some ski trip maybe? I wasn't sure but it definitely was long enough ago that I couldn't remember much about it, and a small spark of excitement grew in me at the thought of seeing snowfall for the first time.

I shuffled further into the corner of my seat in attempt to relieve the uncomfortable dig of one of cardboard boxes shoved beside me in the back seat.

"How much longer, Dad?" I asked, interrupting the music softly blowing through the cars speakers.

"Nearly there Sweets, 'bout five more minutes," He looked at me through the rearview mirror, smiling sincerely but not without an angle of guilt. 

I knew they felt bad about making me leave home, and don't get me wrong, the news that we were leaving for Mums job was not on my Top Ten Best Moments of 2024, but I understood. 

Living prices were shooting and it only made sense for Mum to relocate closer to the project execution which she was formerly managing remotely.

A heavy weight of nerves set in at the thought of pulling up to my new home. My mind rushed with the copious amounts of unpacking I had to do, alongside the draining idea of starting Year 11- or Junior Year, at Frankenmuths' local High School.

Once my surroundings drifted from farms and empty fields into a standard suburban town, I knew we were here.

"Why does everything look German?" I asked, trying to shield the judgement from my voice as I analysed the traditional German architecture. 

Is this seriously where I was going to grow out my remaining teenage years? I could already miss the smell of sea salt in the air, and the heat of a humid wind, cooling the sweat on my skin.

"The town was founded by Germans, or something like that, I'm not really sure. But it definitely adds a bit of interest, hey?" My dad responded, his words laced with false excitement. 

I was sure he didn't want to be here any more than I did, but he had no choice.

After a few more minutes of mundane silence and repetitive buildings, our rental car finally pulled up a short stoned driveway, crunching the gravel beneath until we came to a complete stop. I quickly checked the time on my phone, which read 2:34pm, before unclipping my seatbelt and swinging the car door open.

I was immediately hit with a piercing cold that stung the wetness on my lips. 

Hugging my torso tightly, I rounded the car to wait for my parents to find the keys to our new house.

Stretching my legs after a twenty hour flight and an hour long drive was positively the best feeling I had ever felt in my life. The stiffness ached in my hamstrings but spread a comforting heat throughout my body when I reached down to touch my toes. 

Quickly shaking any remaining stale blood in my arms and legs, I turned and had a look over at my new house.

"Wow guys this place is massive," I gawked. It was double storied and had a long wooden patio out the front.

"Not really Sweets, you're just used to living in a tiny complex all your life," Dad chucked before wrapping his left arm around my shoulder, and his right around Mum before kissing my temple. "Welcome to our new home."

After we loaded all of our boxes out the car, I sorted through the pile to find my things and take them to my room. 

As the U-Haul wasn't arriving until the next morning with our furniture and belongings, we begrudgingly had to stay at a local inn overnight, and I couldn't be any more annoyed. 

I would never let it show because I knew my parents had been through a lot during the move, but the heavy tire in my muscles paired with my inability to sleep on the flight over made me incapable of thinking of anything other than sleep in my own bed.

Dropping my boxes of clutter on the soft white carpet of my new room, I collapsed on my back, arms sprawled out by my sides, as I stared at the plain white ceiling, adorned with a single hanging light.

As I lay there, I thought about my friends, my school, my new school, my hobbies, my running, my music, what if I'm too different? What if I can't adapt to the culture? What if I'm outcast? What if-

"Hi Honey, its getting late, we should starting thinking about leaving for the Inn in about 10, okay?" Mums voice interrupted.

"Mmm," I grunted back, before rolling over and reaching across the plush white carpet for my phone which had been chucked somewhere on the floor not long ago. 

The time on my screen read 5:52 as I swiftly sat up and grabbed my backpack, already full with everything I had needed on the flight including chargers, a water bottle and some headphones.

Hopping down the stairs, I jumped to the kitchen to refill my water bottle with fresh water. The house was silent, and all I could hear were the sounds of the water streaming from the tap, and the hushed voices of my parents. 

I turned off the tap, leaving my water bottle only halfway full and tiptoed towards the wall, effectively hiding me from view but giving me the perfect spot to eavesdrop my parents in the living room.

"I know that its what you want to do, but we have to be considerate of Layla. This is all new to her and I feel terrible for pulling her away from everything she knows. We need to be there for her," I heard my dad say in a feeble attempt to whisper.

"You're right. Maybe we should just put a few things on hold so that we can be there for her. Help her to adjust." Mum said. There was a moment of silence between them as I felt the familiar vice of guilt creep up the back of my spine.

"Okay so are we agreed then, no date nights until we are sure she is comfortable in the house alone, and no work trips at least for the first month, just to make things as familiar as we can." Dad said.

Mum let out a lengthy sigh, "Yeah. Yes. Yes, okay. But that also means no golfing for you. I know you love it and will want to meet the local golfers soon but I can't have you gone for days at a time either. Layla can't have that".

I quickly rounded the corner into the living room to see my parents sitting parallel to each other leant against the wall on the floor. I clapped my hands together and put on a bright smile.

"Alright guy are you both ready to go?" I beamed as they both turned to look at me. 

I knew I couldn't be selfish. I could adapt. I could cope. It really wasn't that big of a deal to move houses, hundreds of people did it everyday and it was pathetic of me to act like it was some big issue. 

From here on out, no matter how hard I was struggling, I pledged to myself that I would keep my issues to myself. Mum and Dad were amazing to me and the least I could do in return was to tolerate a slight inconvenience in my life.

"Yes Sweets let me just grab my bag," Dad smiled back as they both rose from the floor. Mum made her way towards me as we both waited by the front door for Dad to get his things. 

The last lights of the day were shining in through the fogged glass in our front door, and illuminating the living room through the expansive windows too. However, the lack of heating still made me feel uneasy in the new house. I'm sure Mum and Dad would get that sorted out once all of the furniture was in too.

As Dad made his way towards us, bag in tow, the front door sounded 3 polite knocks.

I whipped my head towards my mum who was already reaching for the door handle and swinging it open, revealing a woman around my parents age, wrapped in a thick cream sweater, with a deep red scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Hello! It's lovely to meet you, I'm your neighbour, Karen!" She beamed, opening her arms widely and stepping towards my mum before embracing her in a hug. 

Her voice was soft, yet full as she spoke to my parents, who exchanged 'hellos' and other introductions. I stood awkwardly to the side as the three of them moved in a blur before Karens focus was on me.

"Hi I'm Layla," I spoke politely. She seemed kind and motherly, and as if to confirm my thoughts she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight, squeezing before she let me go.

"Its lovely to meet you all. I have 4 kids who might be around your age actually Layla. Are you starting school at Frankenmuth High next week? Maybe you will be in some of my boys classes! Oh how wonderful that would be!" She exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly.

I laughed a little, "Yeah I am starting Year 11- I mean, um.. junior year next week".

"Oh how wonderful you must be the same age as Josh and Jake then! They can show you around and help you find your bearings," she said sincerely. 

As much as I wanted some help in this new town, I couldn't help but dread the thought of two teenage boys showing me around a town and inevitably making me feel more socially awkward than I already was. Nevertheless, I didn't want my parents to worry. I promised.

"Yeah that would be great!" I said, the same smile still plastered on my face, almost getting painful to maintain. I just wanted to go to sleep. Karens face lit up in surprise as she clearly came to a thought.

"Maybe I could take you guys over to our place now to introduce you all? It wouldn't be a bother truly."

"We really shouldn't..." My dad started.

"I can make you all some supper too! Dinner shouldn't be too much longer from now and I'm sure you’re all starving from your travels," she continued, and as if on cue, my stomach let out a low grumble. 

I felt my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as Karen opened up her mouth to speak again, most likely to coerce us into coming in for dinner.

"We really should get going, we have a booking at an inn tonight, but thank you for your kindness, Karen," Mum interrupted. Karen only furrowed her eyebrows and I got the feeling that her sons never won arguments against her.

"Oh now don't be ridiculous, stay at an inn? How outrageous. You can stay at our house tonight. We have space for you all and I cannot, in good conscious, let our new neighbours stay in an inn on their first night here now, can I?" She questioned with a look of disbelief.

"We don't want to intrude.."

"It would be our pleasure to have you all over, plus, you must tell us about Australia, your accents sound so exotic already I'm sure your stories are even more interesting," she said, spinning on her heel and walking down the front porch steps. 

I turned to Dad who merely shrugged to me and followed Karen down the steps, with Mum and I following closely behind.

With only a short distance of grass to cross to make it to their home, I quickly found myself rushing through their front door as Karen frantically ushered us inside otherwise we'd "catch a cold".

Warm orange lights adorned the living room as we entered the home, with warm wooden furniture and rugs, yet the feature that grabbed my attention was the smell. It smelt like home. My home. In fact, it absolutely reeked of it. 

I took a deep breath in and my eyes fluttered closed for a moment, basking in the smell of warmth with a hint of cinnamon, and despite the warmth surrounding us, the air was fresh and reminded me of the salty spray of the sea at the nearby cliffs.

Though, my comfort was short lived when a dirty sock came flying to the side of my face, followed by very loud, very angsty yelling.

"Fuck of Jake! It's your week not mine!"

"Can't you just do one thing for me Josh oh my GOD!"

Turning, I caught sight of two teenage boys, who looked my age, standing up in each others faces, once of which held a pile of dirty laundry in his arms and the other with his arms frantically waving them around the air.

One of the boys had long, silky, brown hair with subtle waves, while the other, who had his back to me, had a wild nest of curly brown hair.

"Are you serious?! I-" The curly haired boy screamed, charging forward before Karen grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Boys! Stop it right now! We have guests." She muttered the last part through clenched teeth at a volume I assumed we weren't meant to hear. Both boys dropped their arms and their faces went slack as they turned to face us. 

I stood awkwardly in my spot shuffling my feet slightly and offering them a small smile. The long haired boy cleared his voice and dropped his pile of dirty laundry next to the wall before making his way over to us while scratching the back of his neck. 

The curly haired one followed closely behind before filing next to him, wearing a very red and apologetic expression.

"Boys, these are our new neighbours from Australia!" Karen said excitedly, as if the whole previous interaction never happened.

"Hi I'm Jake," the long haired boy said politely, reaching his hand out for me to shake. It was slightly calloused and rough, but his hold was gentle on mine. He sent me a shy tight lipped smile and I offered a similar one back.

"And I'm the better twin, Josh," the curly haired boy beamed, throwing me a wink before wrapping his arms around me in a hug. 

I could hear Jake introducing himself to my parents while I breathed in his very earthy scent. His hold was softer than his mums, but still held that comforting feel. 

All this hugging and warmth and good smelling home made me even more tired than I thought I was.

After all were introduced Jake turned to me, "Sorry I didn't get your name?"

"Oh sorry! I'm Layla, it's lovely to meet you all."

Sitting stiffly in the Kiszkas' living room, I silently watched as the siblings bickered, having been introduced to their sister, Ronnie shortly after I met the twins.

Their conversations were funny, and I couldn't help but crack a small smile or giggle at some of their antics. Soon, the focus of the kids in the living room turned to me, much to my dismay.

"So what part of Australia are you from?" Jake turned to me. I quickly glanced up to my parents who were lost in their own conversation with Karen and the boys dad, Kelly.

Refocusing on the conversation, I nervously tangled my fingers together, "Umm I'm from Sydney.. right by the beach actually."

"Cool! So how hot is it over there?" Ronnie asked from beside me.

"Well it's summer right now so its like, 25 degrees to maybe 37 on a hot day?" I replied. "It can get to around 45 degrees sometimes but thats rare."

All 3 of them looked at me, baffled with their mouths hung open.

"25 degrees in the summer?! Thats freezing are you serious I thought Australia was meant to be really hot or something?" Ronnie exclaimed loudly, her arms waving in the air similarly to her brothers actions earlier.

I quickly realised my mistake and went a bit red in the cheeks at my inability to adapt to this new culture. I looked down at the peeling leather of the couch I was curled up on.

"Oh! Right I'm sorry thats in celsius not farenhieght... I don't really know how hot that is for you guys," I said bashfully, while my nails subconsciously dug into the soft flesh of my palms.

I looked back up from the couch and sawJake smiling at me softly, before Ronnies hand gently held the top of mine and squeezed lightly as she smiled. "Don't worry we'll help you figure it all out."

I looked down to Josh, to find him nervously picking at the carpet beneath his legs, a light pink tint on his cheeks. He looked up to Jake who seemed to already be watching him, and they both gave each other an indescribable look.

Confused and slightly embarrassed at the prospect of them silently judging me, I opened my mouth to break a bit of the silent awkwardness, but was quickly interrupted by Karens bellowing voice.

"Kids! Dinners ready!"

Josh bounced from the floor and took a step towards me before reaching his hand out for me to take, and helping me rise from the couch. His hand was very warm and soft, and I couldn't help but feel a bit colder when he let go quickly once I was standing, rubbing his fingers in his palm shortly after, strange. I followed his back as he made his way to the dining room, Ronnie and Jake close behind me.

"Ronnie go get you brother for dinner" Karen said, as Ronnie huffed in frustration and hopped up the steps, skipping every second one before shouting, "SAM! COME GET DINNER!"

We all found our seats at the table, my parents next to each other on my left, Jake on my right, and Josh directly in front of me. The smell of the feast before us was mouth watering, as I dragged my eyes across the roast chicken, vegetables and some kind of casserole, all piping hot with steam.

Shortly after I was seated, a tall, lanky boy, with similar hair to Jakes but a bit younger bounded down the stairs, smiling sheepishly while scanning his eyes across my parents and lingering slightly on me.

"Hi, I'm Sam it’s nice to meet you all," he said loudly. I wasn't sure if it was my lack of sleep, or maybe my extreme hunger, but the loud noises were starting to pierce my head, egging on a throbbing headache.

Consequently, throughout the whole meal, which was delicious as expected, all I could get my brain to focus on was the idea of sleep, occasionally offering a nod or smile, and the occasional "yep" here and there to ride me through the conversation.

Before I knew it, we were picking up our plates and bringing them to the kitchen to have them all cleaned up.

Reaching for the sponge, I was stopped by the familiar warmth of Josh's hand. He smiled kindly at me when I looked at him, to find his face mere inches from mine.

"Don't worry about dishes I'll do them. Plus, you're our guest. Go, Mom will help get you set up for tonight". Tucking my hair behind my ear and wiping my sweaty palms on the fronts of my jeans I muttered a quiet 'thanks' before wandering off to find Karen.

"Okay honey, you can sleep in Josh's room as his sheets were just cleaned and he'll stay with Jake tonight, and your parents will take the guest room, does that sound alright?" Karen looked at me expectantly.

"I can sleep on the couch, it's no bother really... I don't want to kick anyone out of their room.." I responded, truly feeling guilty. I was always such a burden nowadays.

She scoffed, "Oh nonsense he'll survive. Now, off you go, the room is yours." She shooed me down the hall to the direction of an open door.

Peeking in, I inhaled a stronger version of the familiar smell of home. I took a look around at the dark grey bedsheets, observing a small desk in the corner with papers scattered all over, writing scribbled all around them, like a flurry of thoughts literally spewed onto his table.

I placed my bag down against the wall and wandered over to his shelving unit which caught my eye, adorned with vinyl.

Flicking through many familiar albums, I reached one I knew I had myself, A Space in Time by Ten Years After. I smiled fondly at the memory of me dancing endlessly to the album at home.

"Space in Time, 's a great album...classic," Josh said, startling me enough to make me jump on the spot. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I realised I'd been caught snooping, warming even more when I saw him standing leant against his door frame with a smug smile on his face. He was... very attractive.

"I'm so, so sorry, I..I was just..umm..." I stuttered out while fumbling the record in my hand to slide back into its place. The sound of his laughter filled my ears as he stepped towards me and putting his hand on the side of my arm.

"Don't worry about it, you can listen to any of them if you like, my record player is just over there," he said gesturing to the corner of his room with his record player in it with a nod of his head.

"In fact..." he drawled out, before reaching into his collection and pulling out A Space in Time, slipping it from its casing and sheet before plopping it onto the turntable and delicately placing the needle on its outer rings.

He looked back up at me as the sound of music filled the room, followed by the light cracking of the vinyl. He smiled at me shyly again before wandering over to his chester drawers.

"I'm just grabbing some stuff for the night and then I'll be out of your hair," he said, reaching into his drawers, picking out a cream shirt and some long flannel pyjama bottoms.

He walked past me as I stood awkwardly near the foot of his bed in the room, heading straight for the door before turning to look back at me over his shoulder.

"Feel free to play anything else if you want, I don't mind," he winked, before wandering out the door and closing it gently behind him.

I let out a deep sigh, a breath I didn't really know I was holding. There wasn't a lock on the door, so I decided I would change into my pyjamas in the bathroom, after a much needed warm shower.

I grabbed my fluffy white pyjama pants and a matching singlet, with a deep red sweater and some warm, grey, fluffy socks along with my toiletry bag and padded towards the bathroom.

Once I made my way over, I could see the light peeking through under the door, and could hear the shower running and the sound of someone humming to an unfamiliar tune. I huffed out a frustrated breath. I just wanted to go to sleep.

Sliding my back down the wall beside the bathroom, I sat on the carpet, curling my legs into my body for warmth and waited patiently for whoever was occupying the bathroom to finish.

I briefly contemplated skipping the shower, but I felt absolutely disgusting after the day of travel I had sustained without one.

Sleep deprivation was starting to notably affect me as my mind began to explore unopened memories and the most abstract thoughts I could come up with, until the exhaustion took over completely.

As I sat, I fought the dark temptations of sleep, prying my eyes open to refocus on the carpet I was sitting on, forcing myself to think about the feeling of the cold wall behind me, but to no prevail.

I would catch my head from falling down to nothing a number of times, shaking it furiously and blinking the blurriness out of my eyes to keep myself awake.

Maybe if I closed my eyes for just 5 seconds I could rid some of the tiredness from my head? Yeah that should work. Just a short little reboot. Letting my eyes slip shut, I reluctantly let sleep overtake me, only for a moment. Just one minute. Just...

"No just let her...yes on the floor...shhh you'll wake....just leave her to...yes...yep okay".

Who in the hell? Groaning I rolled over in bed. A few footsteps and whispers further drawing me out of my slumber.

"Shut up oh my god Sam. Look she's- fucking hell she's awake now well done Sammy," the voice, which I now recognised as Josh's, scolded in a whisper. Forcing my eyes open, I breathed in the homey scent. Far out that was such a good sleep.

Sitting up in bed as I rubbed my eyes with the back of my curled hand I peeked up to see Josh and Sam standing awkwardly in the room, looking down at me sheepishly. What were they doing in here?

"What time is it?" I asked, praying for a jet lag-less start to my new life.

Sam and Josh exchanged looks before Josh spoke, "Ahh it doesn't matter, go back to sleep, I know you're tired".

"No..no I'm awake now its fine, what time is it?" I asked again, sitting up fully in bed and pulling the duvet off my body, only to be met with the same jeans I was wearing last night, and my cream quater-zip sweater. Why was I not changed? I thought back to the night before and retraced my steps. Getting my clothes and toiletries, going to the bathroom, sitting outside and waiting, and then.. oh crap.

Heat pooled up in my face as I realised I must have fallen asleep on the floor outside the bathroom.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep last night, I don't know what came over me I-" I rambled on not looking to either of them in particular, unsure of which one found me on the floor, or if it was either of them in the first place.

Josh cracked a little giggle while Sam smiled down at me, "It's fine, truly," Josh said smiling at me sweetly. I opened my mouth to ask how I had gotten to his bed but Josh beat me to it.

"When I came out of the bathroom, and I saw you..you know, asleep...on the floor," he started, and I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment.

"Ughhh I'm sorry, how do I not remember you waking me up and taking me in here?" I must have been so exhausted.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Oh, no I just carried you in here, slept like a baby the whole time," he said the last part with a smug smirk on his face. An ugly image of me passed out and being carried into this room flashed in my mind, making me cringe.

"Oh that’s… embarrasing. I’m sorry about that. And thanks for.." I gestured with my hand to the bed explaining myself without words.

"It's fine, now stop apologising," He chuckled. "Come on, Mom can make you some lunch," he reached his hand out to help me up. Taking it, I felt the familiar warmth as yesterday, something about his touch that comforted me deeply. With a tinge of pink still warming my face, I glanced at Sam as we walked past to leave Josh's room, who was staring at me with an unreadable expression on his face, but I was certain he was frowning slightly.

Making our way downstairs, I was met with the sight of my parents both cradling a cup of hot coffee, looking very tired and conversing with Karen and Kelly.

"There she is!" Dad exclaimed happily, setting his mug down and standing up. "C'mon Sweets, we have to get to setting the house up, I heard the U-Haul pull up about twenty minutes ago." Mum stood soon after, grabbing her and dads bags.

"Its already 3:30 how are you guys going to move all your things in on time? Josh and Jake won't you both go and help the Kings move their furniture into their new house?" Karen demanded more than asked. Wow, 3:30? I slept in really late.

I looked over to Jake, who I hadn't realised was loitering in the kitchen until now, sporting only a pair of sweatpants and a bare chest. I hurriedly looked away, embarrassed. Far out Layla, get it together.

"Yeah we could do that," Josh said before either of my parents could humbly decline.

Next thing I knew, all the furniture for the house had been lifted haphazardly into the main room, and only needed organising into each room.

A sheen layer of sweat lay on the back of my neck sticking to some stray hairs falling from my messy bun. I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand and began bringing up boxes of things up to my room, followed by Josh and Jake.

Once everything was inside, Jake and Josh had full rights to leave and relax at home, but instead they stayed and offered to help me unpack everything for my room. So, for the next two hours or so, we lugged my bed frame, mattress, wardrobe and vanity all throughout my room before starting on my small boxes of belongings.

I quickly learnt that Jake was a man of few words. Kind and gentle, but reserved and his presence didn’t demand too much attention. I could see girls being attracted to him for sure. Looking good was definitely a bonus, but he easily fell into the dark and mysterious category.

Josh however, was loud and boisterous. Not that I minded, but learning that they were twins was surprising to say the least. His personality was certainly flirty and somewhat overbearing, but it only made him more alluring.

We each assigned ourselves a box to store away to be more time efficient.

"Wow these are great!" Jake exclaimed sorting through my vinyl collection. "Do you have a record player?" He asked and I nodded, searching through several of my the unopened boxes on my floor before pulling it out and removing the bubble wrap around it. I plugged it into the nearest powerpoint and set it onto my vanity.

"Choose one to listen to, I don't mind" I said, sneaking a glance at Josh to see if he caught the reference, seeing him smirking back and me cheekily. Jake put on the Fleet Foxes self titled, and I hummed along to Sun it Rises as I put my shirts and jumpers on coat hangers.

We all organised in silence for a while until Josh spoke up, "Alrighty I think thats all your books put away now, next box please!" He beamed at me as I observed my book collection, neatly stacked away next to my vinyl collection that Jake had sorted through earlier.

"Looks great, thanks Josh," I replied while grabbing a random box and sliding it across the carpet his way. Turning back to what I was doing, I listened as Josh hummed along to Ragged Wood while ripping the cardboard box open.

Suddenly his voice was cut short mid-hum and I saw his movements freeze in the corner of my eye. I glanced up at him, my hair falling over my face and I saw his whole face beam red and he swallowed thickly. He hesitantly pushed the box away with one finger, as if afraid to touch it and looked up at me.

"Could you umm.. grab me another box actually Layla?" He asked quietly. Jakes head perked up out at the nervousness in Josh's voice as I crawled over to the box to see what had him so embarrassed.

Looking down, I was met with my white lacy nickers, surrounded by pinks and reds and blues. The contents of my underwear collection. My face went hot and I'm sure resembled a very similar colour to Josh's.

Jake crawled over curiously and peeked inside before I could slam the folds of the box shut, and broke the embarrassing silence with a loud snort of suppressed laughter before rolling onto his side and letting out a howl of laughter.

I couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him, and soon after, Josh was also laughing. It didn't take long before all three of us were out of breath from laughing so hard, Josh choking on his spit at one point, fuelling out giggles even more.

Josh's hand was on my knee, stabilising himself as he came down from his high, as we all sat, letting the music break any silence apart from our occasional giggles.

"I need to pee," Jake said while climbing up off the floor.

I braced myself to stand too, "Oh do you need me to show you where the bathroom is?" I asked.

"No it's alright I'll find it," he smiled back before walking out the room.

Josh stood from his spot and wandered over to the record player, reaching out to twist the volume nozzle and holding his hand out for me to take, already letting his body wiggle behind him as He Doesn't Know Why played loudly from the speakers.

Once I was stood, Josh twirled me around before grabbing both my hands and holding me out at arms length, singing the music dramatically to me. He acted out each lyric as he pranced around the room with me, twisting and contorting my body with him.

Then, he got down on one knee and grabbed onto the sides of my waist looking up at me and bellowing the lyrics.

"There's nothinggggg I can dooooo," he sung, while shaking my body lightly. I threw my head back in laughter at the sight of him.

"There's nothingggg, I can doooo." His voice was beautiful, as it held a firm husk, but still warmed me deeply.

Then his hands left my hips and he clasped them tightly together as if he was begging, "There's nothinggg I can sayyy". His dramatics were hilarious and I couldn't stop myself from pulling him up and dancing the rest of the song out with him, bellowing the lyrics out alongside him.

Once the song ended, we both collapsed onto the floor, puffed and panting heavily, before Jake walked in with a puzzled look on his face as he wandered over to the record player to turn it down back to a respectable volume.

Looking at us quizzically, he pulled his phone out and frowned, "Josh we have to go back home Mom says we still have yesterdays washing to do." Josh let out a long, dramatic groan as Jake turned to look at me, "It was lovely to meet you Layla, I'm sorry we didn't get through all of your unpacking," he said, with a charming smile on his face.

"No worries thanks for all your help!" I replied. He offered a last smile before turning and walking out my bedroom door.

Josh sighed and turned to look at me, his eyes lingering on mine for a second too long. "Are you free tomorrow?" He asked.

"Umm yeah I just need to buy some school supplies but that’s about it," I answered, already feeling exited with the possibility of spending more time with them. He stared at me again with a small smile creeping up onto his face, the little gap in his two front teeth peeking out between his lips.

"I love your accent," he said suddenly. I laughed nervously.

���Oh, um. Thanks,” I said awkwardly, scratching the back of my neck in embarrassment.

His smile grew impossibly lager as he observed my reaction and he jumped up from his spot, grabbing his phone and house keys, "Don't be embarrassed, I think it sounds.. beautiful, it definitely suits you," he winced at himself as he said the last words, realising what he implied before licking his lips nervously and scratching his head.

I giggled, "Thanks Josh."

He furrowed his eyebrows, as if in deep thought before he smiled and turned around, quickly looking over his shoulder, similarly to last night in his bedroom, "Goodbye Layla, I'll come by tomorrow to pick you up at 12?" He asked. I nodded and he disappeared down the hallway from my room.

He was a strange boy, that was for sure. A bit quirky and a bit weird. But why wasn’t that putting me off? His charismatic persona was drawing me in like a heavy anchor and I was already sinking.

I lay back onto my now made bed, listening to the crackle of the finished vinyl on my vanity, letting my mind recap everything that had happened in the past few days, before finally lulling me to sleep, my last thoughts on Josh.

I awoke to a golden glow bleeding through my thin curtains into my bedroom, effectively lighting up the whole room. Groaning, I rolled onto my side and reached onto my bedside table, blindly fumbling for my phone with my eyes still glued shut. 

After many failed attempts, I huffed in frustration and peeled my eyes open, face still buried in my pillows, only to find my bedside table empty, apart from a lamp that I remembered Jake setting up for me.

Propping myself on my elbows and twisting my head uncomfortably, I spotted my phone across the room on the floor, next to a pile of empty boxes.

"Ugghh," I groaned again, dropping my face back into the pile of pillows below me, and after a few seconds of self pity, I forced myself out of bed and wandered over to my phone.

The time on my lock screen read 9:08, and I suddenly became very aware of the fact that I had skipped dinner last night in my exhausted state.

Wandering down the stairs towards the kitchen, I kept my eyes glued to my phone, scrolling through different social media platforms and checking for any unopened messages. 

There were only a few, a message from my closest friend back home telling me that she missed me, and one from a group chat asking if anyone wanted to hang out.

I didn't usually have a fear of missing out with my friends, and liked to think that I was much more relaxed than that, but I couldn't help the pit of sadness in my belly from dwelling after reading everyones messages, making plans that I wouldn’t ever be a part of. 

It didn't take me much more contemplation to go into the group chat settings before taping the 'Leave Conversation' option.

Soon I found myself at the kitchen island, scooping spoons full of cheerios into my mouth, while scrolling through photos that my friends had posted on instagram only a day after I left. Was I that easy to forget?

"Hi Honey, any plans for today?" Mum asked, strolling into the kitchen and filling the kettle with water before switching it on to boil.

I placed my phone face down on the counter. "I was gonna go to the store to get some stuff for school. Oh, and Josh asked if I wanted to do something around 12," I frowned, wondering what he had planned and now suddenly very conscious of the time I had to get ready.

Mum smirked at me while pouring her instant coffee into her mug of hot water, "Josh, huh?"

I groaned and dropped my head backwards, "Please don't go there Mum its far too early in the morning," I begged. She brought he mug up to her lips and raised her eyebrows at me before walking out, a smug look adoring her features.

I tipped the rest of the milk in my bowl back before walking over to the sink and washing it. I looked out the window in front of the sink while I dried the bowl off, noticing that our kitchen window looked right into the Kiszkas' living room and kitchen.

Walking out of my spot hastily in fear of being seen, I climbed the stairs and checked my phone again, which now read 9:36, before grabbing a change of clothes and a towel to shower.

I had been so busy with travelling and moving in the past day, that I found no spare time to shower, apart from my hallway incident at the Kiszkas' house. 

I felt positively disgusting, the plane air still lingering on my skin, and the sweat from lifting heavy furniture still ghosted the back of my neck. 

After I made my way to the bathroom, I turned on the water and peeled off my clothes, chucking them haphazardly onto the floor while waiting for the stream to warm up. Once a thin layer of steam clouded the air, I stepped under the water and sighed deeply, letting the stream run over my head and down my face, coating my skin and warming me to my bones.

I basked in the refreshing feel of lathering the soapy products through my hair, and over my body, and as if to reverse my lack of shower the past days, I used my most expensive products, exfoliating, cleansing and all the works. 

Lastly, I gave myself an all inclusive shave before twisting the heat off fully and forcing myself to stand under the freezing cold water for at least a minute.

The water shocked my body and caught my breath, while goosebumps erupted across my skin, as I rolled my shoulders to try and loosen up my now very tense muscles.

"Jesus, that's cold," I whispered before turning the water off completely and stepping out of the shower and wrapping my shivering body in my white, fluffy towel. 

After lathering my body in lotion and putting on my underwear, I stepped into my wide legged jeans and a tight, long sleeved crimson top, finishing the outfit with an off-white sweater. I let my damp hair fall back over my shoulders to dry naturally, giving it room to curl on its own.

I walked back down the hallway and into my room before searching through my vinyl collection and choosing George Harrisons, All Things Must Pass. I placed it on my record player and shut my eyes for a moment, letting I'd Have You Anytime fill the silence in the room. 

Wandering over to my vanity, I put on a bit of concealer under my eyes, followed by mascara on my eyelashes before inspecting myself in my body length mirror.

Other than having to adjust the collar of my sweater, I looked good. My jeans gave my legs the illusion that they were longer than they were, and my sweater had enough bag that covered my figure, but complimented my frame just the same.

It was still a while before Josh was coming to pick me up to take me to whatever plans he had for us today, so I grabbed a handbag and filled it with essentials, before slipping on some white adidas sneakers with red accents and wrapping a red scarf around my neck.

I found my parents doing some final decorations in the living room when I approached them, "Hey guys I'm just off to the store to buy some books and stuff for school, I won't be long," I said with a smile.

"Okay be safe, we love you!" Dad replied.

"I love you too," I bellowed as I slipped out the front door and onto the patio. The weather was considerably colder outside and I rubbed my hands together furiously to create some much needed heat.

It wasn't until I had hopped down the steps off the porch, and was standing on the pavement that I realised I had no idea where I was going. I looked up and down each length of the street, contemplating which way to go. I definitely should have thought this out before leaving.

I twisted my handbag round to my front, pulling on its zipper to take out my phone and the route to town on Google Maps. Just to my luck, the zipper was caught on something inside, and would not budge. I took the handbag off my shoulder before pulling the zipper with more force and leverage.

"Come on," I breathed out, pulling the zipper with as much strength as I could muster, my knuckles turning white at the stronghold I had on my bag. Then, as if my luck couldn't get any worse, the pull on the zipper snapped off completely.

Huffing in defeat, I threw the bag back over my shoulder angrily and began to walk down the street, mumbling profanities under my breath in annoyance.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

I whipped my head around at the voice before spotting Josh, who stood on his driveway in khaki pants and a large white jumper, mala beads hanging down across his chest.

"Oh hey, I'm just going to town to buy some things for school," I smiled sheepishly at him as if I had any idea which direction 'town' was in.

He looked at me strangely, "If you keep going that way you'll end up in Mr. Fables wheat field," he chuckled and my face burned red at my incompetence.

"Oh, um, whoops," I laughed dryly, sending him a dismissive smile and making my way past him. "Am I still seeing you at 12 today?" I asked.

He broke out in a one-sided smile, "How about I come with you? To the school shopping stuff I mean. We could just take off from there?" He asked, scratching the side of his forearm, with a nervous look on his face.

"I don't want to be a bother...but..." I droned out while Josh stared at me expectantly.

"But?" He asked.

"...But.. it would help to, you know, have someone there to show me around," my hands found my necklace as I fiddled wth it nervously, twirling it between my thumb and forefinger. A small smile crept onto my face as he beamed at me.

It wasn't long before Josh and I were walking through the town centre, conversation flowing freely and comfortably. 

His giggles were loud and boisterous, much like the ones in my room after finding my box of underwear, and the looks we received from passerbys weren't the kindest. He was very easy to be around, and I felt comfort in his small touches, whether it be a playful shove, or a small touch on my arm.

Once we reached Krogers, Josh lead me towards the stationary isles. We picked out books, pens and other necessities that he said were 'vital for a true Frankenmuth experience', whatever the hell that meant.

"You know, you'll have a lot of work to catch up on when you start... it's the middle of the school year," Josh pointed out, throwing packets of Lays into out shopping cart mindlessly. I groaned, of course I knew this, and it was plaguing my thoughts, weighing me down with stress and pressure.

"I know, I know. I finished Year 11 in December back home, so I should have a bit of background information. But I'm sure the syllabus is totally different over here," I ran my hands through my hair, tucking it behind my ears stressfully.

He studied me for a minute, watching my hands as they ran through my hair again, before I settled hands to my mouth, nibbling on my nails. 

"You can borrow my notes," he offered. "I don't know what electives you chose but you can use mine for whatever we have together, and Jake can give you anything else too." I looked up at him, pride written all over his face.

"I don't know.. I can't just use your work, that's hardly fair," I said, as the familiar vice of guilt warmed the back of my neck.

"Of course you can," he chirped back, before speeding off down the isle, subsequently ending the conversation there. I sucked in a breath and hurried down after him to the self checkout, where he was already scanning through my schoolbooks.

I reached to my bag to grab my card, feeling for the the zipper clasp to take my card out.

"Shit," I breathed under my breath, tugging at the metal contraption with my nails, trying to shove my finger in to open the zip.

"Please Insert Card," the machine demanded, as I frantically pulled at the broken zipper.

The machine beeped.

Whipping my head up I saw Josh quickly putting his card back into his wallet as the machine printed out a receipt.

"What- what are you doing?" I rushed out. He only shrugged at me with a sheepish smile on his face. "That was like $30 worth of stuff Josh! I don't even know how much thats worth in Australian currency. Don't worry, I'll pay you back once I can get my bag open. I just need to get some cash first. My God Josh you didn't need to do that-" I ranted.

Josh placed his hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry about it," he searched my face for a second longer, "Seriously, just...it's okay." He let out a breathy chuckle and turned back to the register.

"Okay, well thank you," I said quietly as he began carelessly scanning through the copious amounts of snacks he bought, while I stood to the side like an idiot, nibbling the side of my cheek.

Once he finished up with his own shopping, we wandered out of the shops, as he pulled out his phone, glancing at the time before sliding it back into his pocket.

"It's nearly twelve, want to come back to mine now?" He asked.

"Yeah sure, I'll just go home to drop this stuff off first," I replied, holding the plastic bag up in front of us. He nodded before delving into an obscure topic of interest, holding the conversation the remainder of the walk home. 

His extroverted and dramatic actions didn't fail to make me laugh, and even pulled an ugly snort out of me occasionally.

Once had made our way back to our houses, we walked past Josh's house to mine, as he insisted on walking me the whole way. I caught sight of Sam and Jake on their porch with a boy I didn't recognise, as all three of them sported acoustic guitars, and were strumming a soft tune. Sam gave me a short wave and Jake offered me a smile.

I ran through my house, quickly throwing the bags from the store on my bedroom floor, next to the boxes which had yet to be organised, before hopping back down the steps to Josh who was sat waiting for me on the porch steps.

Hearing the front door shut, he looked at me over his shoulder before standing and motioning for me to follow him with a nod of his head.

Jake, Sam and the other boy stopped their playing when Josh and I made our way to their porch and walked up the steps.

"Hey Layla. Oh, this is our friend, Danny. He lives on the block over," Sam told me. He smiled at me warmly as I observed his long black curly hair and sharp bone structure. He looked like a Greek God.

"Hi it's nice to meet you, I'm Layla," I said to him.

"Nice to meet you too."

"Alrighty boys, are we ready?" Josh clapped his hands together, walking back down the steps of the porch towards the garage door, Sam, Jake and Danny all following closely behind. I trailed after them curiously, as they pulled up the garage door latch and pushed the heavy metal up halfway, ducking slightly as they entered. 

I stood by the door, suddenly feeling a bit forgotten and wondering if I was allowed to come in.

Sam poked his head out from under the door and smiled at me, "You coming?" He asked.

"Uh yeah sorry," I said, not having to duck nearly as much as the other boys due to my short stature.

Inside stood a shiny, silver drum kit with a bass guitar and electric guitar on either side. In the middle was a microphone on a long metal stand, wires tangled left and right over the floor. 

Jake wandered over to the guitar, crossing Sam who picked up the sea foam green bass guitar on the left side of Danny, who was already climbing onto the seat of his kit.

With everyone concentrated on their instruments, Josh wandered over to me with a smirk on his face, "So, whatcha think?" Biting his lip now, I couldn't take my eyes off him, his skin had a warm glow to it, and I could see the faint outline of a scar on the soft skin of his cheek. 

Up close, I could also see the scatter of hairs above his upper lip, and the wrinkles beside his lips from smiling too much. "Um..Layla?"

"Yeah?" I responded, furrowing my eyebrows.

"I said, what do you think?" He asked again, this time waving his arm around to the instruments behind him.

"Oh! Yeah, this is really cool," I replied quickly, looking around the room again to catch Jake leant over Dannys kit, whispering in his ear before Danny let out a low chuckle.

I could feel the undeniable bond that all these boys had together, and couldn't help but feel displaced from only knowing them all for a day or less and interrupting their peace.

Josh rushed over to a pile of clothes, blankets, wires and other unnamable items and threw them onto the floor, revealing an old tattered couch underneath.

He twirled his hand in the direction, bowing slightly, "Only the best quality for M'Lady."

I giggled before plopping myself on the couch, which I found to be surprisingly bouncy. I curled my knees up to my chest, rested my elbow on the arm of the couch and plopped my face on the heel of my palm.

After a bit of tuning, the boys had set everything up and began choosing which song to play, and it wasn't long before Josh spoke into the microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen," he looked me in the eye as their only member of audience causing me to giggle, "I present to you, Thunderstomp."

Jakes guitar rung out through the room for a moment, isolated in the silence of the room, before the room exploded with sound. Jakes body contorted around the guitar, lost in the music, Dannys mouth hung open in concentration as he swung at his kit, and Sam blinked furiously in time with the music, his feet flicking up behind him as he paced on the spot.

It wasn't long before Josh's voice rang out through the microphone. I was mesmerised by his voice, hitting notes so high that his voice would husk, before lowering, deeper than I had heard him speak.

Awestruck, I sat in awe as the boys finished the song, the last few notes lingering in the air as I gawked like an idiot.

"I- wow," is all I managed to stutter out and all four of them smiled at me.

"We only finished writing it about a week ago, but we've been trying to perfect it for months," Sam said to me.

"Writing?" I asked confused. "You mean you guys wrote that?" My voice raising slightly as I returned from whatever trance I was in.

Jake chuckled, "Yeah, you liked that?"

Blushing at the question, I nodded eagerly. "So do you guys have a name?"

"Yep. Greta Van Fleet" Josh replied, setting down a bottle of water after taking a large swing.

I raised my eyebrows, "Oh thats cool, you guys sound great," I said, trying to mask the nervousness in my voice incase it is taken as ingenuity. With all four pairs of eyes on me, I shuffled uncomfortable in my seat, before scanning the room once more.

"Is that a keyboard?" I asked, perking up slightly.

"Yeah Sammy plays bass and keys. You play?" Danny replied, sounding genuinely interested.

"Yeah, a little. I used to take lessons when I was a kid and I had a piano in my room for a while," I answered, my fingers suddenly aching to press the keys.

"Thats cool, how come you didn't bring it when you moved? I didn't see it in the U-Haul?" Jake questioned.

I stiffened slightly. Now definitely wasn't the time to tell them that I had to sell most of my things because we were struggling so much financially. 

Dad had just been let go from his job, leaving us with one source of income, and to top it off, the medical expenses from my car accident were heavy. 

Luckily I was the only one hurt; Mum and Dad weren't even in the car, but the metal rod placed in my thigh came at a high price. 

The whole healing process was pretty much a joke to me, costing us everything we had, but leaving me with a lingering pain in my thigh, and if inspected closely enough, a slightly lopsided walk from the irked way that it healed. 

"Ahh I don't know, just grew bored of it I guess," I lied.

"Well come up, play us something then," Sam said excitedly.

The boys all enjoyed hearing me play, and even took turns requesting songs like Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, which Sam claimed was from his favourite album.

"I have it on vinyl if you ever wanna borrow it," I offered. His smile grew tenfold, "Fuck yeah that'd be great, thanks," he replied with a light tinge of pink on his cheeks.

We spent the rest of the day messing around on the instruments, Danny trying to teach Jake polyrhythms on the drums, Jake trying to teach me to play simple chords, only for my hand to cramp up in pain, time and time again, and Josh and Sam screeching around the room like lunatics, jumping on the couch and throwing pillows at each other.

Reaching for my phone to check the time, I remembered my bag zipper predicament, "Hey um.. do any of you think you could help me fix this? My zipper broke off and all my stuff is in here." I asked and they all made their way over, snatching my bag from my grasp, discussing silently between themselves before running around the room to get several tools.

Jake ended up using his string cutters to cut a small part of the fabric which was stuck in the zip, and Sam tied a string to the zipper loop to help me open it. Smiling proudly, they handed me back the fixed up bag and resumed their spots at their instruments, messing around with different chord progressions and bickering between themselves.

I pulled my phone out of my bag, comforted to know I didn't have to ruin the whole bag to cut it out, before switching the power button on and seeing 3 missed calls from Mum and 5 missed calls from Dad.

"Shit," I whispered before looking at the time; 6:12pm.

"Whats wrong, is everything okay?" Josh asked. How did I lose track of time so badly?

"Uh yeah sorry my parents are worried about me, I have to head home," I rushed out, gathering my things and checking over my spot to ensure I hadn't forgotten anything.

Josh pulled up the garage door for me, a look of concern painted on his face as I hurried out into the piercing cold. The sun had set, leaving the dusk atmosphere with a dark hue of blue, lingering in the depth of the sky.

"Thanks for everything guys I had a really fun time!" I said looking back and smiling at all four boys, who returned smiles, waves and goodbyes.

"I'll walk you home," Josh said, following me closely as I sped down the pavement.

"You don't have to do that, I'm only like ten steps away," I replied nervously. He only shrugged in response, burying his hands into his coat pockets.

Once I made my way up the front porch step, I searched my bag for my house keys, ripping them out and fumbling with them to find the front door key. My keys from Australia still hung from the keychains as I filtered through them for the right one and made a mental note to take them off when I had the time.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal both of my parents standing at the threshold with worried looks on their faces.

"Where have you been?" Dad asked with an unreadable expression painted on his face.

"Is your phone not working? We've been trying to get a hold of you for hours," Mum asked with a tinge of anger in her tone.

"I'm so sorry, the zip on my bag was broken so I couldn't open it and my phone was in there, and I just totally lost track of time, it wont happen again I promise it was a total mistake.." I trailed off as I realised my parents attention wasn't on me, but the short, curly haired boy behind me.

I turned to see him shifting his weight between his legs and shuffling his feet nervously on the floor, "Umm it was nice to see you Mr and Mrs King, I uh, was just walking Layla home."

He smiled awkwardly, "I'm.. gonna go," he muttered before turning to me, "Bye Layla."

After a long lecture about safety and communication with my parents, I stalked off to my bedroom, shutting the door closed gently behind me. I wandered over to my window to pull my curtains shut, bus as I grabbed onto the fabric, I could see the light of a window inside the Kiszkas' house. In fact, the room was directly across from mine, about 5 metres away.

I knew it was Josh’s room by the furniture.

I could see the details of his desk and bed, just as I remembered it, and I scanned my eyes across his vinyl collection, admiring its length, before the back-end of a very naked boy blocked my view.

He was hopping around in his room trying to shimmy on a pair of boxers, one leg bent awkwardly in the air as he stumbled around mindlessly.

Blushing like a maniac, I quickly looked away and ripped the curtains closed. I huffed out a breath before grabbing my own pyjamas to put on, cursing my nosiness and swearing to never change with the curtains open like that idiot.

[steampunkforever]

There's a sentiment in low-quality media crit circles that basically boils down to saying "you would be all over this unlikable character if she was a man instead" or "your love of this pathetic male character betrays a misogynistic double standard because you don't act like this about women." Often I see this used to either defend their consumption of badly written media as praxis-- see: defenses of Rey's character as somehow empowering rather than admitting that the Star Wars sequels were badly written --or (even worse) as attempts to drag mature media subjects (people who got really mad about Barbie vs Oppenheimer) into mire of gender essentialism.

Of course this sort of thinking doesn't produce any art worth paying attention to. The answer is simple: leave behind playground gender politics and arguments over the female Ghostbusters and just watch better movies. Tár is one of those movies.

Lydia Tár is an absolute disaster. Born in a wet cardboard box. She's my little meow meow. She's a composer spiraling into a tormentous nightmare. She's driving a porsche. She's seeing things. She's bothering the neighbors. She's getting violent. She's a genius, she's perfect, she's losing control. I'm obsessed with her on a level this website reserves for Columbo and certain marionette-like actors. Todd Field wrote this for Cate Blanchett and no one else, and the gusto with which she carries the film on her shoulders is downright beautiful.

Though I will not discount the importance of representation (I've enjoyed too many movies about Italians to refute the beauty in finding shared experience through cinema), I'll note that when it comes to making meaningful art, representation should not matter. I'm not a mean lesbian conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, nor do I necessarily want to be considering the events that unfold in the film, but even for as supremely unlikable as Lydia is in this movie, she's a star you wish to follow despite her downfalls of her own making.

There's a moment early on in the film where Lydia teaches a class at Julliard, and is confronted by a student who dislikes Bach on the grounds that he is a white man and presumably misogynistic due to the bevvy of children he had with his wife. This student is a self-described "BIPOC pangendered" individual, and a bit of a strawman for the sort of intellectually dishonest reasoning that's permeated pop culture criticism. Lydia, and the film itself, use this character as a punching bag, reaming him out in front of the class for the admittedly ridiculous positions on artistic analysis that are increasingly being touted by the people who unfortunately matter to this sort of thing.

I will admit, this is a bit of a soapbox, but the movie keeps one foot on the ground, as the scene ends in Lydia stating the premise of her entire character: she wishes not to be judged for her womanhood or sexual orientation, but rather for her actions. For her art. What she has done, Lydia posits, is how she wants history to classify as who she is.

Unfortunately for Lydia, she's an awful person who takes advantage of those around her, cheats on her wife with her own students in relationships that may be consensual but are certainly wrong, and ultimately deserves the blacklisting from the industry that she receives. Not relatable at all, and for sure to turn off the guys who walked out of Promising Young Woman complaining that Carey Mulligan's character hated men.

Yet Tár takes this human trainwreck and crafts a psychological drama the simply doesn't let you look away. Watching Lydia Tár experience the ultimate #WomanMoment as she spirals into insanity makes you understand all the awards this movie won. This is a great film, and like the main character, deserves to be judged for what it does rather than who it stars, though Blanchett's performance as Tár will keep me obsessing over this movie for a long time.

[giantchasm]

Random Kirby Headcanon #16

When it comes to surnames and whether or not they exist, all species seem to go about it a little differently.

In the case of Astrals, they don’t have traditional surnames. Instead, they collect titles! For example, Kirby’s full name would be “Kirby of the Stars,” whereas Galacta Knight’s would be “[Whatever his real name is], Galacta Knight, the Aeon Hero.”

Waddle Dees don’t have last names. Frankly, they barely even have first names. In part, I imagine it’s not necessary since they sort of, by default, all consider themselves one big family anyways.

Tevatians (Animal people) don’t have last names, but may be referred to by their species occasionally, especially for clarification. For example, if someone were in a conversation with two Ricks, they might refer to our Rick as “Rick the Hamster” specifically.

Dark Matter do not traditionally have names, but Gooey has taken on an astral-style full name. Currently, he’s Gooey of the Heart.

Fairies’ surnames are based on the planet/kingdom they hail from. So for example, every fairy from Ripple Star has the last name “Ripple.”

Humans, obviously, traditionally have surnames, but seeing as how Adeleine was born in a wet cardboard box all alone and grew up with no family in my interpretation, she didn’t have one for a long time. Eventually, she took on the “Ripple” surname, though, as the fairies effectively took her in.

Halcandrans probably had last names based on their affiliations/what larger groups or sects they were a part of. Magolor, however, only being part Halcandran, and also being born in a wet cardboard box all alone, has no last name.

Insectoids probably have surnames, considering they had a royal family. I can see something French-adjacent. I have no actual idea on what I’d make Taranza and Sectonia’s actual surnames, though.

Neumanns (Susie and the Mage Sisters’ species in my headcanons) have last names. Susie’s, obviously, is Haltmann. I like to think the Mages wanted to take on Hyness’s last name after being adopted by him, but I also don’t think his species does last names, so maybe their surnames are just “Jamba” or something. Flamberge specifically actually has that hyphenated with her birth surname, being the only Mage Sister that was close to their original family.

Avians (Dedede’s species), Noddies (Marx’s species), and Elfilin’s species also do not have last names. However, I can also see Elfilin eventually taking on an Astral-styled surname like Gooey did.

[atitarucore]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....Thanks...

ironically, this is my first ever ask, haha! but, narrowing down all the characters i love is gonna be pretty difficult, so i’ll try to make it the first characters that come to mind, i suppose.

in no particular order, here are the characters i love dearly! for the sake of not being bias toward one series, i tried to only pick one character from each franchise. i also tried to keep it as spoiler-free as i possibly can!

[continue below cut]

1. HARUHI FUJIOKA (ouran high school host club)

when i first watched ohshc and haruhi said, "it's more important for a person to be recognized for who they are rather than what sex they are," i took that and RAN with it.

i think the reason i love haruhi so much is because of our similarities—from personality, to zodiac sign, and even down to favorite food(s) and subject(s). maybe i'm just projecting though, LOL.

2. UKYO SAIONJI (dr. stone)

why is this man so cute.

in all seriousness, i think i love ukyo so much because of his personality. i've always had a soft spot for pacifistic and gentle characters, and truly, he is the ultimate gentleman! such a sweetheart :( i wish to hold him in my arms

3. HIYORI SUZUMI (honeyworks)

my GIRL!! THE GIRLBOSS!!

i'll essentially repeat what i've said before in a previous post—similar to haruhi, i hold hiyori dear to my heart because of her resemblance to me. i admire her hardworking, optimistic, yet still clumsy demeanor. she just like me, fr fr! i think she's just an awesome character and deserves the world.

4. ISHIGAMI YU (kaguya-sama: love is war)

you know, for someone who loves kaguya-sama, i feel like i don't talk about him that much. ishigami yuu is my favorite character in the series primarily for his outstanding character development! i just... love how akasaka writes him, and i simply adore his relationships with everyone in the student council.

did i cry during EVERY season of kaguya sama? yes, yes i did. did i cry during his backstory moment? absolutely.

5. ANGELA (lobotomy corporation/library of ruina)

woah! didn't expect this one on here, did you?

it's sort of hard picking my favorite character from project moon games. even after thinking about it long and hard, i don't even know if angela is my favorite. even so, there's no denying that she's definitely scored a position as a character i love—just like ishigami, her character development really struck a chord in me!

i could go on and on about lobotomy corporation/library of ruina, so perhaps i'll cut it short there...

6. REIGEN ARATAKA (mob psycho 100)

he was born in a wet cardboard box all alone (affectionate)

doesn't really qualify for any of the twitter polls he participated in, but still managed to win somehow. honestly? despite him being a con artist, i think reigen truly does have a heart of gold. i was debating whether or not i wanted to put shigeo or reigen on here, but ultimately decided reigen because he's like... cute in a pathetic sort of way

7. SAYORI (doki doki literature club)

i'm surprised i've gotten so far without mentioning my preference of the childhood friend trope! i think it's a super cute trope, despite it's... tendency to not be the winning relationship in most shows.

i'm not sure what about sayori intrigued me so much—perhaps it was the way her struggles were written in a very real manner, despite her very cliche genki personality? regardless of whatever it is, i think she's my favorite ddlc character.

8. ALPHONSE ELRIC (fullmetal alchemist: brotherhood)

i just have to say that finishing fma:b ruined my life for like four days. i was in TEARS.

as i mentioned with ukyo, i really like gentle, caring characters, and alphonse definitely fits that category! he's calm, he's compassionate, and he has the strongest affection for stray cats. i really enjoyed his dynamic with the other characters, especially with edward. something about close-knit sibling bonds... man.

9. LLOYD GARMADON (ninjago)

is lloyd my favorite ninjago character? probably not. is he a character i really love from that series? yes!

i have my own opinions regarding the characterization ninjago gives its cast (sometimes it's... iffy), but regardless, i've always liked lloyd's character—from season one, where he was just a lil kid trying to make his name known, to now! season... fifteen?!

even after all these seasons, i still don't know what the element of energy means..!

10. KOROSENSEI (assassination classroom)

my favorite anime is assassination classroom!

i think this can be attributed to korosensei, who fundamentally changed my life when i was younger. he's empathic and observant, willing to do almost anything to help his students—and that stuck with me for the rest of my life.

being able to learn and grow alongside class e-3 is an experience i'll never forget.

[butchpeabody]

gamesoft and rockoon also

FOOOR this. okay. gonna put this under a readmore since its gonna get long.

GAMESOFT:

favorite thing about them: i do love so much about her but being the first canonically transgender character i was ever exposed to will always make her hold a special place in my heart...so important to me

least favorite thing about them: not necessarily about Them but they didnt get nearly as much screentime as they deserved. let them be mysterious and knowing goddamit

favorite line: nylocke, dragon of eternal altruism....please log off now, and stay safe 🥺

brotp: ZETTO....ZETTO KIRB WHOEVER YOU WANNA SAY. they have so fucking much to talk about being the only two bitches in the friendgroup who Know and feel the pain...they need to interact more soo bad

otp:

notp: as much as i love kizuna and support womens wrongs i feel like they would NOT work together romantically. maybe as friends at some point but thats after a LOT of growth on kizunas end

random headcanon: i think gs Can sleep but doesnt really need to? but when she does she always likes to chill at base with a friend while shes doing it to feel safe especially posteries. i cant imagine she sleeps in realworld time tho its like 30 minutes at most

unpopular opinion: i dont really...know if i have one? honestly i feel like shes not a very divisive character. i think the most i can say is that even though as of avz shes definitely OKAY the fact that her getting to live at the end of the main series was at ALL up for debate in universe is insane to me. weve established time and time again she is very much a living and sentient being yknow...

song i associate with them: i listen to this specific cover of kokoro and think abt her a lot tbh

favorite image of them:

NNNOW for rockoon.

favorite thing about them: EASILY one of the most welcome 180 character turns in the show. i adore the fact that he was given so much depth and a whole arc n shit....AND hard reset. amazing little dude

least favorite thing about them: ...honestly same thing as gamesoft. not enough screentime. i get it more with him because hes a secondary character but he is my emotional support pookie....

favorite line: im gonna be real i feel like this is fucking impossible every word that comes out of his mouth in any context is gold

brotp: YOU KNOOOOOWWW its gotta be him and archy. his little dude who was born in a wet cardboard box all alone. the little mipy....the little woowoomeowmeow.....

otp: i wasnt very shipping minded when i was younger into tome when tai said that he shipped him with splat i was like thats awesome ill adopt it into my belief system.

notp: doubling....do i thibk they should have a beautiful sad internet dude reconciliation arc? yes of course. but i cant see em romantically...

random headcanon: i know he did animal jam scams when he was younger....i know he would teach archy how to do animal jam scams.....but archy would feel bad about doing it and hes like okay no more scams for me i have seen the error of my ways

unpopular opinion: again idk if hes really that divisive but hes honestly one of the best characters in the show...up there with the main guys to me. like i said insane development and a surprisingly strong emotional core for what anyone starting the show for the first time would have assumed to be a one-off joke character

song i associate with them: when i was younger i had a whole fight scene to dummy! from the ut ost planned out for him but i have never completed it. </3

favorite picture of them:

[tropesandmopes]

Prev tags from @connerdrakewayne were so evocative I absolutely had to doodle her (yes this is literally crayon and marker)

The tags in question:

#will this finally make people fall in love with her #shes so poor little meow meow ifiable

#look at her, she was born in a wet cardboard box all alone

#she has every trauma imaginable and is hypercompetent at some extremely important skills

#dont you love her? wouldnt you do anything for her? i certainly would

#look at her big wet sad eyes. you know you want to put her through situations

ladies, if your man in the batfamily has:

an emotionally and physically abusive father

a cold, unaffectionate, and largely absent mother

both of whom tried to mold their child into the "perfect heir" to follow in their footsteps

incredibly low self esteem

an intense fear of becoming a murderous supervillain in the future

a fraught relationship with Bruce where they believe they're only valuable when they're acting as critical support for Batman

That's not your man. That's Cassandra Cain.

[helmarok]

i get what pelipper is trying to say but i dont think it can fully grasp the difficulties of being a human enough for its philosophical speech. this bird is telling this to a dirt poor orphan who starved and considered snow a luxury, an abuse victim who was imprisoned and stripped of their inheritance, and a cat who was born in a wet cardboard box all alone that got kicked on the streets as a baby cuz he was hungry. and meowth isnt even human either im just calling pelipper out as a privileged pokemon cuz its clearly one of the organizations' specialest boys. "everyone has equal opportunities" he says to these 3 people that have been kicked down their whole lives from said opportunities. jessie joined team rocket cuz she ran out of options. james joined team rocket cuz they had nothing and nobody after running away. meowth joined team rocket cuz nobody else wanted him around. they are literally in this organization cuz they didnt have equal opportunities 😭 i mean they couldve left in sumo cuz they had food, shelter and income so thats their fault but also you have to think? team rocket is the only thing in their lives that has given them security as in this is the only thing that they know for a fact will be there to pick them up if they fall so to ditch it all and hope the food truck is enough to sustain them is extremely scary...... regardless of having a home and such theyre so used to every bit of comfort they have being short lived that of course they would drain themselves in that organization longer "just in case". do you get it do you understand

[gumballavocadoharry]

You found me:

The cold brisk of London only made me move quicker to my house. I was looking forward to the warm aroma where I could sit in my favorite chair, a cup of tea and a good book to relax my mind after a hard day at work. I was a stock clerk at a grocery store and today was just perfect to have 2 spilled milks, shattered bottle of wine and an egg crack catastrophe in the dairy aisle.

October weather did that to you. The orange and reddish leaves falling from the branches while walking down the brick covered road was picture book worthy. My hair that was neatly tucked into a bun, had a few free strands swaying to the best of the wind. My somber mood was non existent this morning, until a few nasty customers, an overly demanding boss because of his recent divorce and all the messes I mentioned contributed to the pushed down aggression that rose inside me the more I pondered on it.

The gray clouds mixed with the fall wind made me sleepy. My eyes started to close a little, but I jerked myself awake once I realized the walk home was still 5 minutes away. I walked past this brick building that I assumed to be a school, but there was this brown cardboard box that was soggy and splotchy. I heard some narrow cries from it.

I took a step back thinking it was maybe a mother cat and her kittens up for sale that nobody noticed. I hesitantly made my way over to the box and peeped inside. That's when I noticed a tiny baby that couldn't have weighed more than 4 pounds crying weakly. He had a blue blanket wrapped around him and he was dirty liked he hadn't had a bath in days. His cry wasn't that loud but I could tell it was a hungry cry from the suckiling sounds he was making with his mouth.

"Poor thing" I mumbled trying to situate the little baby in my arms. He looked like a newborn baby which made his situation worse to me because he was probably just born and no one wanted him. Or maybe his mother just couldn't take care of him. It dawned on me that no one heard his cry because it was so light, who knows how long he's been out here.

Poor baby didn't have a hat or really anything to protect him from the cold other than the blanket. I held him halfway inside my coat and tried to find an adoption agency. It was too cold and we were both tired and hungry so I called it quits and decided to continue this in the morning before work. Me and baby stumbled home to my apartment, where the lobby was empty despite how this morning it was raging with people from a party in one of the apartments from the 9th floor.

That's the fancy apartments at the top where they get more terrace space. I walked through to the elevators where my heart was beating out of my chest. I didn't like the neighbors knowing my business and vice versa. I mostly kept to myself and tried to keep it the same way with everyone else unless I absolutely had to talk to them or if they said "hi" or such.

I fiddled with my keys before going inside and locking the door immediately behind me. it's a useful habit but today it was very obligatory. I didn't want anyone following me or staring because they suspected I stole something or something like that. I was indeed hiding something....more precious than any other secret I've stored within me. It was for baby's protection.

I set him on my couch and carefully took a soft paper towel that I wet with warm water and gently cleaned him up. I knew he was starving so that meant running to the store and buying baby formula along with some toys, clothes and possibly a portable crib or bassinet. I didn't wanna leave baby here alone, yet it would be irresponsible of me to leave him here so I had to take him with me.

I already decided once I got back I would call the police and see if they could locate his mother or any other relatives of his. My gut told me his mother wouldn't want him back and or she's dead or out of the country doing whatever. I thought about what to do about the small little turquoise eyed baby boy laying on my couch with pillows around him to keep him from falling.

It just dawned on me that you're not supposed to keep a newborn on their backs, so I shifted him to his tummy. Tufts of auburn hair were protruding from his little round head. I couldn't help but bring myself to run my fingers over it. He was still making suckling noises, that snapped me out of my daze and made rush to grab a hat for baby. It was a soft blue hat with little duckies on it, one I had kept when I was a baby. I took baby's blanket and made it into a shaw like coat for him, then I took an old scarf and covered him up so he wouldn't get cold.

I scanned the room for anything I could use besides a dirty old box that was baby's home for the first few days of his life. Just thinking about it was gut-wrenching. I looked over to baby who was still laying on the couch, toying with the pillows set on either side for his safety. His eyes looked so tired and full of innocence. Of course he's innocent he's a baby. He was so vulnerable and helpless that the grisly thought of him not surviving one more day if I hadn't found him nearly killed me.

My eyes finally landed on a dresser drawer in my bedroom. I emptied out the books that were inside on to my bed and tucked inside three soft blankets before putting baby in there. I didn't really want the neighbors seeing me take a dresser drawer out in the hallway as it would draw unnecessary attention, Not that it was any of their business anyway. I meant it when I said I kept to myself. Me and baby flew down the hallway, after I finished locking up my apartment.

My car was parked in the apartment parking lot, next to a grey lexus. I clicked the button on my well used car remote that was swinged in with my car keys, and my apartment key as well along with a little green packers logo. I opened the car door and carefully placed the drawer in the backseat rear facing.

I just prayed it was safe seeing how I didn't have a carseat or anything for baby yet. I made sure his scarf and hat weren't too warm so he wouldn't overheat. Once I was satisfied that he was okay, I climbed into the driver's seat and we drive to the store. Target was the closet place. I parked the car and I gently grabbed baby and we went inside. A sense of happiness and relief washed over me. I would be leaving the store with a baby car seat, a bassinet, high chair and food for baby. And possibly more knowledge too.

Baby was too tiny to fit in the seating area of the shopping cart so that meant I had to carry him, but my arms started getting tired. I grabbed a shopping cart anyway and tried my hardest to balance it with one hand. I found the nearest employee working in the baby section and asked her if I could buy a baby carrier right now. "Of course. I can ring you up and you can continue shopping."

"Thank you so much." I grabbed a sturdy carrier and she scanned the price tag and then my card. "There you go you're all set" I smiled. "Thank you very much." I set baby in the carrier and pulled the veil built into the carrier down to keep any germs off him.

"You're son's adorable." The employee said. I didn't bother to correct her so I just accepted the compliment for what it was and thanked her with a smile. But that stuck with me. Son. The thought ricocheted in my head as a sudden pleasure grew on that title. I looked down at baby who was playing with his fingers. Maybe?

I continued on shopping, grabbing bottles, diapers, clothes, toys and a portable bassinet. I found some baby formula asking different clerks if it was safe for newborns. They all showed me different brands, but like with everyone, the most recommended was the one I chose.

I paid for the items and left the store quickly as possible. The medium colored clouds set in and small sprinkles of rain slowly drizzled down. The smush of the wet fall leaves that stood in between my boots and the rain. Me and baby rushed to the car, now feeling satisfied of the new things he has to help him. Somehow I could sense a feeling of relief and solace wash over the both of us. I looked down to be met with greenish-blue eyes and sweet deep dimples that I just discovered he had.

Ongoers noticed the tender sweet baby talk that was spilling from my lips by the minute. Bunches of "Yes you are's" were being spoken to baby which made him react with joy. I'm sure this was the most love that he's had in the little time of his life so far. Surely I was not his mother, just a 27 year old man who happened, completely by chance noticed a small infant in the dirty box that he laid in. Maybe this was fate? I shook it off not wanting to think to deeply about it.

I was just his temporary caregiver until he would be adopted by someone who could give him a stable home. Maybe even a pet? I imagined little baby playing on the swing set with his doggie running up to him desperately wanting his owner's attention that only the love of a child could provide for them. He would have playdates with the best friend he met at school, sleepovers with the boys on his soccer team, meet his first love and dream of marrying her as if she was the one....

I snapped out that daydream. I couldn't get attached. We both weren't ready for that. Adoption for baby would surely be a dream right? We arrived to the car where I unloaded everything in the trunk before picking baby up and returning the shopping cart to the store.

Man it felt nice to hold him again. Whoops...I mean my arms aren't tired anymore. I set baby aside as I was taking the drawer and moved it to the floor of the car and set up baby's carrier. I gently placed him inside and even gave him one of his little toys to keep him occupied. I couldn't feed him until we got home so there was no time to waste.

As I got in the driver's seat and put the key in, turning it...My mind wandered to what exactly would happen to baby. What if he didn't get a nice family? What if instead he would be raised only for the sole purpose of being a slave in a mean family's home? Or he was restricted from living his life normally due to the strictness and harshness of a mother and father who weren't to tightly wrapped themselves?

What if he was left to fend for himself with no one to love him and care for him? The harsh reality of the world set in the more I thought about baby's fate. But everyone always says two is better than one and baby needs two parents. But if those parents aren't gonna parent him in the right way....then would he really be better off?

Surely I could-

"We're here!" I said to myself trying to override the thought I was going to think that would distract me from my sensible thinking. I carried baby inside, and grabbed the things from the trunk and made my way upstairs to my apartment as fast as I could. A few elderly neighbors saw me and cooed about cute the little baby in my was. I smiled and thanked them before getting in the elevator hoping the doors would close as fast as possible.

Baby and me scurried inside once again just in time for baby to start crying. He was hungry of course. After closing and locking the door, I set him down on the couch, propping the pillows around him again and grabbed the formula from the bag and ran into the kitchen to fix it.

I followed the directions carefully trying the drown out the hungry cries from baby. "I know baby I know." I fixed it as fast as I could and while his bottle was heating up, I was successfully able to distract him.

Beep!

I turned around and flew into the kitchen and grabbed baby's bottle from the microwave. I pressed the bottle to my wrist and sat down next to baby. I gently picked baby up and inserted the bottle into his mouth. "It's not too hot is it?" Aw come on as if baby can talk. His button eyes looked into mine sucking away at his milk. Probably the first food he's had in days. "You're a hungry little guy aren't you? I know, I know. You're a little special baby. You're special because you're the sweetest little thing I've seen." I cooed.

I couldn't help but cloy baby. He was so small and new, bright eyes studying the room because he was so new to the world. I just felt this exquisite connection with him whilst looking into his fresh eyes. His mom didn't know what she was missing....or what she gave up. I smiled a warm smile and somehow I think he sensed the connection too.

I removed the bottle once he was finished. He drank all his milk. "Good boy!" I cooed cheerfully. Burp! I expected that.

I ate a quick dinner that night after baby went to sleep. I couldn't sleep a wink partly because of baby crying and needing his diaper changed or wanting to be rocked or something like that and the other because I was worried about him too. I put him in a fresh onesie and threw that old blue blanket in the wash.

I tossed and turned because I knew I was gonna have to call child services soon....but it just....this gut feeling. I mean he was already used to me so why would I give him up? I guess I used that to reason with myself. Who am I kidding? I'm only in my twenties I can't be raising a child! I have so much I wanna do, like travel and get married and start a family of my own one day. But despite all of those...Baby still played in my mind.

I couldn't be attached already right? And besides who would watch baby too? I have to go to work and run errands and he has to be babysat. I couldn't trust just anyone. All these thoughts raced through my head trying to get everything sorted out. Child services, doctor appointment, babysitter. My brain could've exploded.

But my alarm clock went off. Baby was still sleeping surprisingly so I tiptoed out of my bedroom into the bathroom where I took a quick shower. I would constantly check to see if baby was still sleeping and if I needed to change or feed him. That's pretty much what all babies do at the beginning of their first few months of life, eat, sleep and poop,

I brushed my teeth coming out of the shower and changed into my uniform. I carefully took baby from his bassinet and was going to give him his first bath. By the looks of it I don't even think baby was born in a hospital. His umbilical stub hadn't fallen off yet so I was cautious to how I bathed him. I quickly googled how to do it and got started immediately. Baby was so small that I was able to bathe him in the bathroom sink.

I filled the sink with a little water and used some mild baby soap and cleaned up baby. He seemed so happy to finally be clean and to be...loved. To have someone care enough about him to take him under their wing and care for him....I really hoped he would see it that way when he's older.

Me and baby hadn't eaten breakfast yet and I already had to be at work in 30 minutes so I had no choice but to call Gemma and ask if she could watch him. She'd said that she would be over right away, so that gave me and baby time to eat a small breakfast. I had a bowl of cereal and baby had some milk of course.

Gemma knocked on the door a couple minutes after I had put my bowl in the sink. "Hey gem!" I greeted happily. I was relieved to have some help. "Hey Haz. So where is this little bugger that you've been talking about on the phone?" I pointed over to baby who was in his bassinet. "Oi he's adorable!" Gemma cooed. "What's his name?"

"I just call him baby for now. Yeah he's my friend's nephew but right now his nickname is baby." I thought quickly cause I didn't want to explain the whole situation to Gemma just yet. It's not that I couldn't trust her it's just that....it's not like baby was my son. He was still sorta a strange baby without a home or name. Besides...I had to go to work.

"Thank you again for watching him, if you need to reach me you have my number and I left a list of things you're supposed to do with baby on the fridge. Thanks." I grabbed my coat and car keys. "Bye Gemma and bye baby!" I blew a kiss to both of them before dashing out the front door.

Work wasn't any easier. I kept thinking about baby and Gemma and how they were getting along at my apartment. Plus Mr Feltmen was once again being punctilious with the way I stocked the cereals or the way I put price tags on the sealed chicken dinners with my price gun. All because his wife said a few nasty comments on her way along with a big fat stack of divorce papers sent to him a couple days later.

My lunch break seemed to be relieving as I was able to call Gemma and ask her if her and baby were fine. "Oh yeah we're fine. Baby had a little hard time after you left but everything's okay now. He's taking a nap."

"What little hard time?" I asked kinda panicky. "Oh, he started crying because he wanted you. So when I showed him a picture of you, he calmed down." Sentiment washed over me. Baby wanted me? He missed me. My heart swelled with adoration and pride more than it should've for a baby who I'd only known for a day and half. "Thank you so much Gemma. I'll call you when I'm on my way home."

After I hung up, I searched up a really good pediatric doctor at the children's hospital and scheduled an appointment for baby later on today. I wanted to make sure he had his shots and everything he needed by the time social services came and got him. The thought broke me. I grievance pain struck me so I refused to ponder the thought more than necessary.

Baby really tugged at my heartstrings. I didn't wanna dive in heart first taking into consideration the logicalness of the situation. Was I really baby's best person to care for his every need? You're caring for him now. I swallowed hard at that and continued eating my lunch, not wasting time to get back to work.

The mid day night sky fell between 3 and 4 which is when my shift ended. The breeze sang it's fall time song the coziness of being warm in the cold started to take its toll. I grabbed my coat from the breakroom and hustled out the grocery store. "Have a good night Harry." I turned to my right to see my boss with a small tight smile and giving me a small stiff wave. "Thanks you too." I replied befuddled and tired at the same time.

As soon as I got into my car, I didn't waste time calling Gemma to inform her of my upcoming arrival. "Hey Gemma, I just got off work and I'm coming home right now okay? How is everything?"

I heard the sound of baby rattles and muffled cries that partially answered my question. "Oh everything's fine, baby just woke up from his nap and he's just been a little fussy that's all." I could sense Gemma regretted saying that last part. She realized how attached and concerned I was for baby. Way more than if it was just 'my friend's nephew' the way I said before.

"Okay, well I'll be home very soon." We hung up and then I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot very carefully. The drive home consisted of me trying to beat the clock so I could be on time for baby's doctor appointment. I concluded that one more night wouldn't be so bad for baby seeing how it was possibly too late to call social services anyway.

Was I just reasoning with myself?

Streetlights filled the downtown sidewalk. Oh how I missed late night walks and night drives through my city. Summer's were fun for it too, but it was just something about September, October and November that just had that fall time glow. That coziness of aroma around you. It was fun. Just me walking to and back from the library.

I snapped out of my nostalgia once I pulled up to the parking lot of my apartment.

I put the key through my front door lock and opened the door. "Hey Gem I'm home" Gemma ran up to me and hugged me which I returned. "Hey! How was work?" "Oh it was fine." My eyes glanced to baby sleeping in his bassinet. "How was baby?" Gemma looked to the sleeping newborn and back to me. "He was just fine. He was a little cranky today but above all a good boy."

I thanked Gemma who's coat I handed to her on the way out. "See you later be safe bye." "Bye." Gemma's voice trailed going out the door. I took off my coat before focusing my attention to baby. "Hey baby boy! Did you miss me? Yes you did! I know you did cause you're da-" I stopped myself. "You're a special baby! You're a little sweetheart aren't ya?" Oh how I desperately wanted cover those little rosy dimpled cheeks in hello kissys.

I quickly changed baby and put him into a new outfit before leaving for the doctor's. On the way, I put on the radio to some 90's music. He seemed to enjoy it. His little head bobbed to the infamous Alanis Morissette 'Ironic'. I kept checking the rearview mirror, making sure baby was okay. I was still new to this so I didn't spring for the expensive attachment mirror for baby car seats.

London children's hospital.

I turned to the left and pulled into the parking deck. I always loved the murk lighting of the in between ramps and parking spaces. The blueish sometimes yellow aesthetic lights were the only ray of light inside the closed in building that was usually filled to the brim with cars. I got baby's carrier out of the car with him in it and we traveled down to the entrance along with two other couples who either had babies or toddlers.

On the way, Baby was entranced by the colorful cars while we walked to the doors. A green honda, a blue civic, a sliver chevy, all had the baby's attention. We went inside the elevator and took it up to the offices on level 8. Inside, I just kept taking deep breaths and looked down at baby who was sleeping soundly. I hated knowing I would have to wake him up for his appointment.

I just don't know what would move me to do all this? Buying him clothes, baby formula, toys, bottles, taking him to the doctors? I didn't just take him the adoption agency before and let them do all this for him. I guess because I care too much...I care so much about other people and I don't regret it of course, but this time it really took me out of the way. Financially, Physically and Emotionally.

I looked down at baby who was still sleeping. I guess what I'm trying to comprehend is that baby is special, he's more than just some lost, injured puppy dog on the street...he was more than helping out a homeless person with a couple dollars, he was more than giving a tired sad stranger a smile. It was a deeper pleasure having baby.. it was.....it....

Three little words threatened to spill from my gut but I shut them out. After all he won't be with me long.

The sad realization grappled me. Ding! The elevator doors opened and I was instantly met with distance cries of babies and toddlers. The hall was empty and as I stepped out, I could breathe in the sterile air. The carpeted floor held rigid against my shoes as I walked down the corridor trying to find the Doctor Evan's office.

My hand weighed heavy as I held the carrier that was carrying a baby who was now wide awake and hungry. His little fussy whines made me rush inside so I could feed him before those little whimpers turned into blood curdling screams. "Hello." I said waiting for the receptionist to notice me. "Hi." she smiled. It was a young girl that looked to be in 20's. The first thing I noticed was her red bob and bright pink lipstick. Her earrings were the exact same ones my own mother had.

"You have an appointment?" I nodded before responding with a yes. "For?" Her voice trailed once she saw the name I confirmed for baby. "Baby styles." It sounded like I was posting an announcement on my instagram to welcome my new child. But nonetheless was his actual name as of now. "It's a nickname we always go by." As if that would make it all normal. The state didn't even know he existed until now so what was I to do. The receptionist smiled and gave me a clipboard with the patient fill out attached to it.

I thanked her before taking it and moving over to one of the seats in the back. Before I filled it out, I took a bottle of the baby bag and fed baby quickly. He's a fast eater so it wasn't too laborious. But after burping him and putting him back in his carrier, I filled out the form and gave it back to the receptionist. I sat back down and monitored baby. I took little peeks at him in between to make sure he was okay.

Time passed slowly it seemed. 4:25 went to 5:21 then to 5:36. Time went on like that even though we were only there for 25 minutes. "Baby styles?" Everyone in the waiting room looked up at that name which made me more self aware. I quickly picked up the carrier and the baby bag before walking over to the nurse who was holding the door open for the patient to enter.

"Hello..Mr styles?" I nodded. "Come follow me please." We went to a room that was yellow and decorated in Curious George stickers. I set the carrier on the chair next to me before taking baby out and putting him on the exam table that was specifically for babies. The nurse took his height and weight before writing them down. I noticed her eyebrows furrowed. She wanted to comment and ask if he was a was a preemie but she left that part up for the doctor.

She took his blood pressure and typed some things down on the computer. "You said he's newborn correct?" "Yes." I held my breathe. "He was born when?" "I think 5 or 4 days ago?" She continued typing.

"Okay. He is due for his hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio shots today." "Okay." "The doctor will be in shortly." The nurse smiled and left the chart on the outside of the door. I went over to baby and tickled his tummy a little. He giggled and started smiling. "Oh you're just a special little guy aren't you?" I cooed.

The doctor came in and I took my seat again. "Hi I'm Dr. Evan" she said holding out a hand for me to shake which I did. "And hello to you too handsome!" She said cooing to baby and shaking his hand as well. "You're here with daddy today?" My eyes traveled down. I knew I was gonna have to tell her. "Uh, Baby here is...well...I found him yesterday abandoned by the back of a school and so I took him in and I just brought him here today to make sure he was fine. That's why his name's baby and why he's a little underweight for a newborn."

The doctor took it all in before giving me a smile. "That's very commendable of you Mr. Styles. You did more for him than anyone else could've." I was proud of that statement. "Thank you. I wish he was my son though." I just said that?

She giggled. "I know it's very easy to get attached." I agreed. "it is." She took out her stethoscope and listened to baby's heart. "Very good." Then she listened to his stomach. "Very good."

"Mr styles, considering your case with baby right now, would you like to take him home today or did you wanna leave him here? I have to ask because you know..." I nodded. "Take him home." Dr Evan nodded and wrote something down. "We'll have to report this to the police and call children services. It's mandatory. But if you were to be interested in fostering or adopting baby then you can provide a word to a agency worker or lawyer. I'll put in a good word if you need it." She winked. That made me hopeful.

She continued the exam and asked me all the questions I could answer like when he eats, and sleeps and if he was fussy or calm most of them time. "I'll be right back with the vaccinations. I have to say Mr styles, when I listened to baby's heart, lungs and stomach....I don't think he would've made it another day if it weren't for you." She smiled. "Thank you!" I graciously said. Tears welled up in my eyes thinking about the actions of mine that save baby's life.

I looked over to baby who was examining the room carefully. Almost with detail as he became fascinated with the curious George stickers. "Yeah, he's funny isn't he?" I cooed. The nurse came back in with 5 shots on a small light pink tray. "Okay Mr styles, could you hold baby's arms please?" I gently intertwined baby's hands with mine. "Okay here comes the first one." Said the nurse after wiping down his thighs with alcohol wipes.

In went one needle followed by a loud cry from baby. My heart broke but i knew that this was the best thing for the vulnerable newborn. "I know baby boy but we gotta do this so you can be healthy." I said sweetly. I couldn't resist pressing sweet big kisses to his chubby cheeks.

That soothed him for a while until the last injection was given. A shriek was released from baby's small toothless mouth and fought back tears. It was painful enough to hear a baby cry, but when that baby.... felt like your own, it hit differently.

After all was done, I scooped him in my arms and hugged him tight. "Shhhh it's all over now." I rubbed his back desperately trying to soothe the little guy's cries. "I'm here for you, it's okay daddy's got you."

What?

I bit my tongue. I didn't mean that, I'm not daddy. It's just Harry or Mr styles.

Maybe not daddy yet. Oh shut up you always think sporadic!

I cleared my throat before setting baby back down in the table. I grabbed the baby bag and my jacket before settling baby in his carrier and then leaving.

"Would you like to make an appointment?" The receptionist asked. "Uh, not right now but I'll call later on." She nodded but I could tell she thought it was strange, I was strange I should say.

We left the office, heading back to the same elevator we came before. We went down to the parking deck and sudden ding! Snapped me out of my thoughts. The elevator doors opened to a mother pushing her disabled son in a wheelchair. I gave a polite smile which she returned.

She didn't think of me as a stranger to the baby I was holding in the carrier. I don't know why but I didn't feel like a stranger either to baby. He didn't feel strange to me despite me only knowing him for two days. I went back to my car with a heavy heart.

"We'll have to notify the police and children services because it's mandatory."

Those words ate at me. I didn't want them coming into my apartment and taking baby away from me.

I loved him.

Yes. I did! From the moment I met him I just couldn't let him go like that. He needed me, I was brought to him and I truly saw him as a priceless gift. Not something you have to pay for to raise. It was here I made a very crucial decision with baby. I was to adopt him.

The next day, children services came by along with the police. I let them in and asked them to take a seat. I brought baby out and set him down in his playpen.

"Thank you very much for welcoming us to your home first off. It has been brought to our attention that you found baby abandoned behind a school and so you took him in and cared for him right?" I nodded. The social worker wrote something down. "You took him to the doctor yesterday for a checkup and you reported your case to Dr Evan?"

"Yes." She wrote something down again. "I'm gonna ask you a few questions is that okay?" I agreed and we started. "Are you interested in adopting baby?" "Of course." "Are you in any relation or do you know any relatives of baby?" I shook my head. "No."

"Anyone in you're house that has criminal activity?" "Nope, it's just me and I've never been to jail or prison."

The social worker wrote something down and smiled. "Well you seem like a good candidate Mr styles. We'll have to take baby now but you still have a chance to adopt him. If you want baby specifically, then you can contact Sunnyside adoption center where baby will be taken and you can call and they'll give you an application and once you complete it and send it back, they'll schedule a meeting with you. The rest of the information is online at Sunnyside adoption center.com."

"Thank you very much." My eyes went to baby who was in his playpen. "Can I say goodbye first?" The social worker nodded and I picked baby up and held him.

"Okay baby this is the end now. I never got to name you or have you for that long but....I still treasure this time I spent with you. I'll try my best to have you again but if I can't..... I'll always love you. You'll always be my baby." His turquoise eyes looked into mine, his soft head with mini bald spots rested against my hand. I kissed his face one last time before giving him away to the social worker.

She smiled along with the two police officers. "Baby is very fortunate. I don't think he would've made it without your love." "Thank you." I said sheepishly. The trio left my apartment and I closed the door after them. I sat on my couch, scanning the room as if you say what just happened?.

Baby's bottle, his crib and clothes lied around the bedroom. Almost like a tornado had came and scattered everything around. I picked up one of his bottles and just... just broke down.

I've never loved anyone as hard or as much as I did baby. All I could see was those sweet little eyes and soft little fine hair. He was a quiet baby who rarely cried unless he wanted something or something was bothering him. Tears dropped on the floor and then on my jeans leaving wet splotches.

Baby. That was all that played on my mind. But it wasn't too late. I was determined to get baby back and adopt him.....no matter how long it took.

[thornedrose44]

Just happened upon your Superdog AU and it's absolutely beautiful, it made my heart burst. Thanks for writing such heartwarming stories!

Hey!

Thank you so much! I loved writing that fic and doing something a bit different in a Supercorp fic. Argos is now very dear to my heart.

I will try to keep up writing heartwarming stories as much as possible!

Superdog AU for anyone interested:

Read on AO3

Argos’ early life was not a pleasant experience.

Firstly, he had yet to be gifted his true name by Saviour, and as such was referred to as ‘Get Lost’ or ‘Eww Don’t Touch It’ or most commonly ‘Shoo’. Argos or Shoo,  at the time, was born into a litter of five others. He was the smallest of his siblings and, subsequently, rarely managed to push his way through his stronger kin to receive his mother’s milk.

It is unsurprising, therefore, that Shoo’s first memory was that of hunger.

The next was that of cold.

His first home was under a pile of wet cardboard, next to a large dumpster. His mother would disappear for long stretches of the day leaving him cuddled with his siblings who would mercilessly shove him with kicking hindlegs to the fringes of their warm pile. Eventually, Shoo sought refuge under a wad of discarded magazines that had been kept somewhat dry by a large box that had once housed a television. It was this need to seek warmth and shelter elsewhere that meant when the group of people in overalls marked with ‘National City Dog Shelter’ across their backs came and took his mother and siblings away in a large van, Shoo was left behind.

That’s when his feelings of hunger and cold were joined by the last emotion that would mark Shoo’s life before he became Argos… loneliness.

Argos preferred not to think about his time as Shoo, his time before Saviour came into his life and ensured he would never be hungry, cold or lonely ever again. It happened though, on occasions when it rained particularly hard or when he was in a particularly dark street. He was inevitably dragged back to his time as Shoo when his skin itched - unable to grow his comforting white fur - when people turned away from him in disgust and when he barely had the strength to stand. Thankfully, whenever he was reminded of his melancholic past, Saviour and her mate were there to rub his belly and kiss his head and call him a Good Boy until he fell asleep spread across both of their laps.

Saviour found him by accident.

See Shoo, at this time, knew better than to be seen by people, knew that they shouted mean things at him and would clap their hands and stomp their feet to scare him away from the somewhat dry nest he had made. But on that particular day - the day that would forever change the course of his life and give birth to Argos - his curiosity had gotten the best of him.

He had heard crying just outside the pile of trash that he was hiding amongst.

When Shoo had ventured to poke his head out of his little nest that was the moment he saw Saviour for the first time - though at this point he had no way of knowing she would become Saviour and as such she was just Woman to him.

Woman was leaning against the wall of the alley that Shoo’s trash pile was situated in, she was wearing dark blue trousers and a cuddly looking jumper that Shoo wished he had to wrap around himself. There was a familiar smell to the Woman that Shoo had learned to associate with aggressive people late at night, yet it wasn’t as strong on Woman as it was on those that taunted Shoo for fun. It was a light accompaniment to the Woman’s natural scent that was mostly floral mixed with something more grounded and earthy like grease or burning electrics - it was a scent that Shoo found welcoming in a way he had never experienced before.

The Woman was crying into her hands and looked exactly how Shoo felt all the time… lonely. No one should feel how Shoo felt. It was a wretched state of being and Shoo didn’t want her to be called ‘Get Lost’ or ‘Eww’ either. Maybe Shoo could make her feel a little less lonely to prevent her from becoming like him.

It was this thought that had Shoo gathering what small amount of strength he had left to lift himself up onto shaky, spindly legs and shuffle slowly out of his hidey hole. The Woman didn’t even notice his approach, her sadness so potent it blinded and deafened her to the rest of the world. Shoo approached tentatively easing down onto his haunches once he was close enough. He barely came up to the Woman’s mid calf, and as carefully as he could, using his last bit of energy, he nudged the woman’s leg with his nose.

The yelp of surprise and shock accompanied by how the woman’s leg jerked back had Shoo immediately turning to scamper back to his nest only to find his legs buckling under the stress and effort. Fear rocketed through him, making his small heart thunder in his chest at the same pace as a hummingbird’s wings.

He shouldn’t have approached the Woman.

He should have stayed in his small damp safe haven and not added scared to his permanent list of hungry, cold and lonely.

He yelped and whined, desperately trying to crawl his way to safety when he felt the gentlest of touches on his aching back followed by the softest of sounds.

“It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re okay. I’m sorry I scared you.”

The tremble that had been vibrating through Shoo’s entire body decreased in intensity. No one had ever spoken to him like that. He had seen other humans talking to each other like that - specifically Big Humans, like Woman, speaking to Smaller Humans - and it had always made him wistful for the warmth of that tone, believing that it would ease his coldness and loneliness if it was directed at him for even the most fleeting of moments.

It was then that Shoo felt his raw, itching body become ensconced in something warm and soft that reminded him of those few occasions where he had been nestled against his mother’s body - a quick glance revealed that Woman had wrapped him up in the jumper he had longed for only a few moments ago. Next thing Shoo knew he was being lifted into the air - his fear skyrocketing to a whole new level before he was pressed against Woman’s body, safely cradled in her arms and surrounded by her welcoming scent.

“I’m going to take you somewhere to get help, okay?” Woman murmured, tucking the jumper more securely around Shoo’s bare - ugly as it was regularly called by passersby - form so that his vision was limited and his panic could be more controlled.

He didn’t really know where Woman was taking him but he trusted her.

She had made him not-cold and not-lonely for the first time in his short life. He would go wherever she took him and it was with that final thought that Shoo slipped into unconsciousness.

XXX

Shoo didn’t really understand what happened next and even years later Argos still couldn’t quite make full sense of his blurred and disjointed memories of that night, though he was sure of one thing… he was dying and most definitely would not have made if not for Saviour’s timely intervention.

He remembered the hum of an engine, and being nudged this way and that by lateral forces as Woman sped through National City in her car. He remembered Woman’s voice changing from gentle and sweet to sharp and direct, though the latter wasn’t directed at Shoo but at a small box she held tight to her ear.

He remembered being lifted gently and placed on a cool table - a new person that smelled too clean and too much like animals all at once was there moving Shoo’s limbs this way and that in a controlled manner that wasn’t cruel but wasn’t warm like Woman either. He remembered the too clean/too scented man shaking his head, his face obscured by a piece of fabric over his mouth whilst his hands, which had been covered by bright purple skin, were shed back to their original dark colour as he stepped away from the table… away from Shoo.

He remembered Woman’s face turning red - looking angry like those that were mean to Shoo in the street whilst simultaneously looking even lonelier than she did previously. Shoo had wanted to soothe her like she had done him, wrap her in his own jumper if he had one to offer but he didn’t so all he could do was nudge his dry nose against her tightly clenched fists and lick gently at the whitened knuckles.

He remembered the anger draining away from Woman, remembered her jaw clenching, remembered her lifting him up and cradling him to her chest as she swept out of the room leaving the cool table and the too clean man behind.

He remembered another car journey that ended with him on a padded table and Woman whispering more words of comfort as he struggled to keep his eyes open despite her begging and pleading for him to hold on. He tried to, he tried so hard - not wanting to let down the first person to show him kindness.

He remembered a sharp flash of pain that was there one moment and gone the next and then and then…

He remembered nothing… just blissful sleep.

XXX

When Shoo awoke (after the night he should have died), it was to find himself in a bright room curled up on the most cuddly of blankets, Woman asleep on a couch nearby, her body angled towards Shoo and pale hand brushing the white floor as if she had reached out to Shoo without conscious thought. The first few days in Shoo’s new life - the transitional period before he truly became Argos - was filled with days spent slumbering away recouping all the energy he had expended over the course of his short life. He was fed well for the first time too, nursed with carefully controlled amounts of water, milk and food by Woman who spent hours researching what to give him on a glowing box.

Woman was with him the entire time.

She was there encouraging him when he finally managed to get back on his feet and wobble around the white space that was this Woman’s nest. She was there bathing him in warm water, rubbing a heavily scented lotion into his skin that eased away the itching and enabled a soft white fuzz to grow and cover his body. She was there smiling broadly, eyes sparkling with happiness when Shoo’s tail moved without his consent when she reappeared into his view after disappearing from sight.

She was there lifting him onto her lap when she was sleepy, hands providing comfort and affection that Shoo didn’t know he had been so starved for until it was granted so freely and often.

“You’re doing so much better.” Woman remarked as Shoo padded confidently after her as she moved around the space. “I should probably get you a proper home.” Woman murmured, her voice turning sad again in a way that Shoo hated.

He didn’t know what a ‘proper home’ was but he figured it couldn’t be a good thing.

Shoo assumed the woman’s sadness was related to the repeated buzzes and flashes that came from the small glowing box she always had with her. Woman would regularly glance at it, a harsh frown appearing whilst her green eyes turned pained and hurt - reminding Shoo all too much of how he would feel when his siblings would carelessly kick him aside or when people would yell and call him ‘Shoo’ like it was a terrible thing to be.

Woman never called him Shoo. She called him ‘Good Boy’ and ‘Sweetie’.

Shoo liked those names far more and would regularly nudge Woman’s hand or leg seeking out a scritch or a term of endearment.

Shoo knew, though, that things were coming to a head one way or another - that life couldn’t be this good to Shoo for this long without something happening. Shoo knew it was the day when Woman took Shoo out of her nest and was unable to meet Shoo’s beseeching gaze. They travelled in the car and Shoo whined the entire time seeing how Woman’s cheeks were marked with tears.

The building they arrived at was familiar purely because of the recognisable words stamped across the door - ‘National City Dog Shelter’. Woman was taking him to the same place as Shoo’s family which merely made Shoo dig his paws into the concrete causing Woman to come to a sharp and sudden halt, her arm jerked backwards by the string connecting the two of them together.

Woman blinked in surprise, tugging on the string that was anchored to Shoo’s body only to find there to be absolutely no give.

“Hey boy, what’s wrong?” Woman coaxed, kneeling down next to Shoo’s stiff body. “This is a good place I promise. They’re going to find you a proper home.”

Shoo didn’t want a proper home - he wanted Woman’s nest.

Shoo didn’t want the family that kicked him and made him go cold and hungry - he wanted Woman’s warm touch and comforting affection.

“Come on, I can’t-” Woman shook her head, swallowing thickly to keep back sobs. “I’m not good at this. I’m not good for you. I’m a…” Woman chuckled, harsh and cruel to herself, “I’m a Luthor.”

Shoo didn’t know what a Luthor was but if Woman was one it had to be a good thing, of that he was certain.

“I don’t… even my best friend doesn’t trust me with… anything . How can I be trusted to look after you? You would be better off with someone like… like Kara or Nia or Alex or… hell, even Brainy.”

Shoo didn’t want a Kara or a Nia or an Alex and he especially didn’t like the sound of a Brainy.

“I can’t- I want to keep you so badly.” Woman whispered, hand reaching out to scratch behind Shoo’s right ear in the way he loved.

Then keep me , Shoo begged through a pleading whimper, turning his head to lick at Woman’s fingers.

“I work too much, I have no friends, I… I…”

You’re warm and kind , Shoo insisted, you saved me .

“I… I…” Woman fell silent as she stared into Shoo’s eyes.

Shoo tried his hardest to make them big and desperate knowing it was the surest way to get himself additional treats even after Woman had said ‘no more’.

Keep me, please.

“Okay, we’re going home.” Woman announced suddenly, green eyes turning clear and determined as she made a decision, bending down to lift Shoo up and head back towards the car. Shoo’s tail thumped joyfully as he nestled his head on Woman’s - no… Saviour’s shoulder. He stuck his tongue out at the flat grey building that would have given him a proper home and the spot where he had made his stand - a spot that now, strangely enough, had four clear cracks in the pavement where his paws had just been…

XXX

Things were different now that Saviour’s nest was now permanently his nest too and he was far more mobile - able to sprint and jump when a mere step had sapped him of all his energy.

Saviour was more firm now, wanting him to learn the rules of their nest which he was eager to do.

He quickly learned that Saviour didn’t like him peeing in the nest, and taught him to head towards the nest’s door whenever he needed to relieve himself so she could take him outside. He also learned that he wasn’t allowed to eat the pointy things Saviour put on her feet even though they fit really well in his jaw - she bought him bright coloured bouncy things instead that he was allowed to destroy to his heart’s content.

He was no longer kept only in the nest, his returning strength meaning Saviour took him for long walks around the city and the park that was filled with other animals and people that treated him with kind curiosity. He was now also brought along to a separate building marked with ‘L-Corp’ on the front of it for most of the day where Saviour met with lots of people who called her ‘Miss Luthor’ and shot odd looks at Saviour whenever she patted his head. There was a woman who was nearly always sat outside Saviour’s daytime nest (as he had taken to calling it) that Saviour called Jess, who snuck him treats and kept him company whenever Saviour had to disappear into the large building.

The biggest change, however, was his name.

He went through many different ones to start with, Saviour trying to identify the most suitable one and unhappy with all of her suggestions.

“Rover? Too cliche.” Saviour would throw out there only to shoot down less than a second later. “Maybe Oliver as in Oliver Twist…” Saviour would then tap her fingers on the arm of the sofa as Shoo merely nuzzled into her side more. “I don’t really like human names for dogs… Maybe Rex or Lassie.”

Shoo didn’t like either of those and huffed out a disgruntled breath in reply.

“Okay so not Rex or Lassie. Let me think.” Saviour hummed, the finger tapping coming to a sudden stop preceding a half muttered, “What about… Argos ?”

Shoo lifted his head at that - that was an interesting name.

“Odysseus’ dog - loyal to a fault and patient beyond measure.” Saviour ruminated.

Now that sounded good, Shoo - no, Argos - thought, I’m loyal to Saviour and I can work on my patience.

“Hmmm…” Saviour turned her head to meet Argos’ keen eyes, “How does Argos sound?”

Argos barked happily in reply.

XXX

Argos did not like this ‘Kara’ being.

She smelled nice, Argos would give her that much, but she made Saviour seriously sad and didn’t even seem to realise. She stopped by daytime nest nearly everyday - Argos’ keen hearing - that seemed to be improving with every passing day - able to pick up Kara’s quick, eager pace as she approached Saviour’s inner sanctum only to be turned away by a firm Jess (who Argos now understood to be Saviour’s Gatekeeper). Kara would even stop by Saviour’s actual nest, knocking twice clear and plaintive only for Saviour to usher Argos and herself to bed for an early night.

Saviour did let Kara into the nests occasionally and Argos did not like it when she did. Saviour was awkward and clearly uncomfortable - the despair that Argos had seen the night they first met bubbling below the surface of fraudulent smiles. Kara knew something was wrong, she was astute enough for that, her bright face creased with confusion and concern, her movements stiff and uncertain in contrast to her light, almost floating footsteps.

Argos would always remember the first time he properly met Kara.

She smelled sweet - like the treats that Saviour rarely allowed herself to indulge in - with something hidden beneath it all, like heavy smoke and fire and something Argos had never smelt before… something new and alien . Her expression was bright and her smile the widest that Argos had ever seen on a person; but her eyes were pained in much the same way that Saviour’s were - clearly they were connected in the same way that Argos was to Saviour… loneliness.

(Considering the shared connection, Argos wondered why that had ceased to be enough between the two of them, why Kara couldn’t see that she merely increased Saviour's loneliness. Argos promised he would never do that. That he would never hurt Saviour and would always protect her in the same way she protected him.)

When Kara entered Saviour’s daytime nest, her gaze was so fixed on Saviour that she didn’t notice Argos sat there in his basket by the sofa for at least five minutes. Those five minutes watching Saviour’s loneliness and despair increase, sensing her growing distress was enough to make Argos hate Kara in a way that he had never hated a person.

Eventually Kara saw him, her expression going through a gamut of reactions before settling on excitement.

“You got a dog?” Kara asked in delight, already forgetting how Saviour had shifted quickly out of their hug only a minute ago.

“More like he got me…” Saviour joked, the loneliness in her green eyes receding to something soft and fond as she looked over at the now rather fluffy white dog that was growing faster than either of them could keep up with. Argos quirked his head to one side at Saviour, jaw falling open in a happy pant that he sent her way.

“What’s his name?”

“Argos.” Saviour declared and Argos couldn’t help how his chest puffed up so that the gold tag etched with his name and attached to his red leather collar glinted in the sunlight.

“Oh, he’s adorable.” Kara cooed, approaching Argos with an outstretched hand.

Argos immediately growled at Kara, warning her to stay back, uninterested in coming into contact with someone that had hurt Saviour in any way, shape or form.

Kara and Saviour both did a double take at that.

“Did he-” Kara murmured, brows drawing tight together as her hand retreated to her side.

“He’s never done that before.” Saviour said. “Has a dog ever growled at you?” Saviour questioned directing this to Kara.

“No…” Kara replied slowly.

Well, clearly all other dogs are stupid , Argos thought haughtily to himself.

Kara didn’t stay much longer after that, Saviour was starting to make repeated gestures towards her large glowing box that she spent most of the day staring into which made it clear Kara’s time was up. Once the blonde alien had left, Saviour came and sat on the sofa opposite Argos where she eyed him seriously.

“She’s not a bad person, you know?” Saviour revealed, having known exactly what had led to Argos growling. “She… is a hero, she saves people.”

No, Saviour saves people.

“She just…” Saviour sighed, picking at a thread on her restrictive black skirt. “She’s saved me many times before.”

But she also hurt you , Argos insisted, padding over to Saviour to rest his head on her knee knowing it brought her comfort after a long day.

“I just don’t know why I’m never good enough…” Saviour confessed, curling her body forward to rest her head against Argos’.

You’re good enough for me.

XXX

The eventual fallout between Saviour and Kara was heartbreaking in a way Saviour had never seen before.

Shoo had seen people argue, had seen them scream and punch and kick. He had seen terrible things but watching Saviour and Kara cry and sob at each other hurt Argos’ heart in a profound way. Saviour wanted to cause pain to Kara with vicious words, that was without doubt, but underneath that rather superficial layer they wanted the same thing.

Each other.

It was obvious in how their fingers twitched at their sides - eager to reach out.

It was clear in how they couldn’t bear to make eye contact, couldn’t bear to see that which was no longer theirs.

It was apparent in how they both glanced back at each other when Kara, finally clad in bright colours, flew off the balcony.

They wanted each other but had no idea how to get just that.

All Argos could do after it was all over was curl up next to Saviour on her bed and let his white fur be used to catch her tears.

Saviour was sad all the time once Kara stopped coming around which led to Argos sticking to her side like glue. He nudged her with his nose and tugged at her clothes forcing her to take him for their usual walks and see the world. He made her laugh with silly antics like chasing his tail and tapping his feet excitedly whenever she got up. He brought pictures of Sam and Ruby over to her, encouraging her to phone them and invite them to visit - Argos liked it when they visited, Ruby snuck him extra treats and Sam made Saviour laugh loudly into the night.

Kara, or Supergirl as Saviour occasionally called her, would still fly by their two nests frequently (sometimes every hour of the day and into the night) - keeping out of sight of Saviour.

Argos, though, knew she was there. Her clothing and hair were different but her scent didn’t change and Argos could smell her from miles away.

Saviour improved over time, re-found her equilibrium and that unfaltering kindness that had saved Argos. She was still sad every now and again in much the same way Argos got sad when he remembered Shoo but it was a nostalgic sadness that Argos could do little to aid.

XXX

It became steadily apparent to Saviour that Argos was not a… normal dog.

He could hear Saviour’s heartbeat, could hear her whenever she disappeared into the twisting corridors of their daylight nest, could hear her stir with nightmares in the dead of night that had Argos nudging her gently awake with a wet nose on her cheek.

Argos could run faster than all the other dogs at the park, it was then that Saviour started to truly take notice - when Argos outran a recently retired greyhound for a fuzzy tennis ball - and Argos began to understand that maybe he wasn’t like other dogs anymore.

He destroyed his toys far quicker than expected, so quickly that the young woman at the pet store had stared in horror at the mangled, barely recognisable, red toy that was meant to be one of the sturdiest available when Saviour had presented it back to the store only a day after purchasing it. It was this look of abject horror that prompted Saviour to make a quick escape with Argos and declare on the car journey back to the nest that she would make her own range of pet toys.

Saviour began to assess him then by giving him new toys and recording how long, on her glowing box, it took for Argos to snap it in half or deform it beyond recognition.

The definitive nail in the coffin of normality came when Saviour finally saw how Argos had been sneaking extra treats whenever her back was turned. Saviour stored Argos’ favourite treats on the top shelf in her kitchen, far out of reach even if Argos stood on his hind legs.

Saviour came out of her bedroom early one morning to find her rather large white dog floating in the air nose buried within the open pack of treats on the top shelf.

XXX

“I need your-” Saviour began only to cut off as Kara stepped through Saviour’s front door. “Are you… um… wearing odd shoes?” Saviour inquired, all her panic evaporating in an instant as her gaze honed in on Kara’s unmatched footwear: one a flat, open-toe pink shoe, the other a red converse.

“Uh… yeah…” Kara replied, ruefully rubbing the back of her neck, “I seem to have been robbed.”

“What?”

“But only my shoes. Only one of each pair to be exact… so, I only have odd shoes.” Kara explained, expression equal parts pinched and perplexed. “I keep buying new ones but one shoe always goes missing....”

“Huh…” Saviour exhaled and Argos could feel her looking at him accusingly out of the corner of her eye.

Argos moved his head this way and that; looking everywhere around the room but at Saviour and Kara which for some reason only made Saviour narrow her gaze further at him.

“I think I know who the culprit is…” Saviour revealed with a sigh, crossing her arms and jerking her chin towards Argos who felt not even a tiny bit of shame for his actions.

“Uhh… what?” Kara laughed in disbelief. “You think… Argos stole all my shoes?”

Argos smirked at the blonde.

“I mean he does looks rather smug but… how on Earth do you think-”

“He can fly.” Saviour announced, shocking Kara to stunned silence. “He’s also superstrong, superfast and I think he has super hearing - he always warns me well in advance when people I don’t like are on their way.”

“He barks whenever I flyby…”

“Exactly.” Saviour agreed, causing Kara to wince and deflate with the obvious inference.

“I didn’t mean-”

“It’s fine.” Kara said brusquely, though her jaw clenched and her eyes gleamed with held back tears. “It’s… I like that he protects you. That you have someone.”

“Yeah.” Saviour muttered and the room fell into an awkward silence.

Argos barked, thumping his tail loudly to bring them back on track.

“I used the Harun-El on him.” Saviour whispered, bending down to invite Argos into her arms; the white dog didn’t hesitate to zip over to her in the flash of an eye.

“You did what?!” Kara bellowed, prompting Argos to growl at her, reminding the blonde that any threat to Saviour would not be tolerated, especially not in their nests.

“He was dying.” Saviour whispered brokenly. “He was dying and the vet couldn’t do anything and I had just lost Lex... and…” Saviour sobbed, burying her face into Argos’ thick white fur, “and I had… just lost you . He was a puppy… alone and cold and I… I couldn’t lose anything else.”

“Oh, Lena…” Kara soothed, slowly kneeling beside a crying Saviour. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Kara met Argos’ protective gaze with a soft, pleading one of her own. It was then, listening to the way Kara’s heart raced with the desperate need to be close to Saviour, the way her words were filled with affection and how her blue eyes shone with love that Argos reassessed the alien.

Argos dipped his head, showing that it was okay for Kara to approach.

Kara didn’t hesitate once given permission, arms reaching out to sweep Saviour up into a hug that reminded Argos of how Saviour had cradled Shoo to her chest all those months ago.

“I’m sorry, Lena. I am so sorry.” Kara murmured into Saviour’s dark hair and Argos could hear the sincerity of her words. “I am so sorry. You never lost me, not for a second. I let you down, I know but I was scared. I was so scared of losing you. I couldn’t- I couldn’t lose you.”

Kara started to cry then, her tears just as fervent and fierce as Saviour’s who, in turn, reached out for Kara - their arms holding each other close as they sought comfort. Argos watched on, nudging Saviour and Kara every now and again to provide his own support.

XXX

“I’ll train him.” Kara announced once their tears had run dry and they had moved from the floor to the sofa.

Saviour and Argos shared a look at that.

“Hey!” Kara squawked, affronted. “I trained Nia and she turned out fine.”

“Are you comparing training Nia to-”

“No!!” Kara refuted, face turning red, “I just meant… that I have experience.”

“Kara…” Saviour began as gently as possible, “Alex told me about Jules-”

“Jules was a goldfish with suicidal tendencies!”

“I’m just saying…” Saviour trailed off.

Kara glared at the two of them, “I can totally train him!”

“Okay, if you say so…” Saviour challenged, arching an intimidating eyebrow at the alien that Argos could hear made Kara’s heart skip a beat.

“I do say so.” Kara declared, picking up the gauntlet without hesitation. “Just you wait and see! We’ll show her, won’t we Argos?”

Argos grinned in response, brown eyes already twinkling with mischief.

XXX

Argos would never admit it but he enjoyed flying with Kara, swooping round buildings and performing barrel rolls. He liked how she laughed so loud, free and full of joy whenever Argos managed to spin around her. He was starting to understand why Saviour had kept Kara around so much when it so obviously caused her pain.

Saviour and Kara’s relationship steadily rebuilt over a number of coffees spent talking about Argos of all things. Saviour shared stories from when he had first settled in their nest and was still learning the rules, sharing photos of his growth that she hadn’t shown to Kara previously. Kara, meanwhile, regaled Saviour with in-depth descriptions of Argos’ power training lessons - bigging up Argos’ exploits and achievements knowing compliments of Argos were a surefire way to win Saviour over. Argos rolled his eyes at the exaggerations but enjoyed the fuss he received from Saviour in response.

The coffees developed into lunches into dinners into sleepovers.

After a mere handful of months it was like Kara had practically moved into their nest whilst Argos could now fly almost as well as Kara’s alter ego and re-warm Saviour’s coffee with his newly developed heat vision for her whenever she got distracted by her glowing box for too long.

Argos’ trust in Kara also grew so much that whenever Saviour was having a bad day - due to a meeting where someone had spat Luthor at her or when Saviour’s mother had called - Argos jumped from the balcony and followed Kara’s unique scent to wherever she was. It didn’t matter if she was at her own (less used) nest or that industrious concrete building marked DEO, he merely grabbed her cape by his teeth and dragged her across the city before depositing her in a heap in front of Saviour, his tail wagging proudly at retrieving just the right thing to cheer her up.

XXX

Argos knew there were people out there that didn’t like Saviour, but they were wrong and their opinion was invalid . Whenever someone was mean or tried to be aggressive with Saviour, Argos made his presence known by stepping slow and deliberate over to Saviour’s side, shoulders hunched forward and head low, ready to bare teeth if his intimidating posture wasn’t sufficient deterrence.

Kara, likewise, puffed up her chest and lifted her chin if she was present, resulting in Argos and Kara performing a wall of protection around Saviour.

Argos knew that people didn’t like Saviour but he’d never seen someone actively try to hurt her.

The day that he did though changed everything and gave Argos a new name.

He was out flying with Kara, zipping between skyscrapers - Saviour was meeting a number of people and had been unable to take Argos for their standard afternoon walk prompting Kara to take him flying instead - when he heard Saviour’s heartbeat shoot up in tempo.

Argos and Kara came to an immediate halt in the air, losing all speed as their ears tuned in beyond Saviour’s heartbeat to her surroundings.

Argos didn’t understand the shouts pervading his daytime nest but he understood the feeling behind them - Shoo had heard that tone often from people who wished to cause harm. Kara and him rocketed through the air, both breaking the rule Kara had instilled in him of not going too fast.

What happened next was a blur of instinct and trained lessons - the instinct to help and protect that Saviour had nurtured in him and the lessons of control and carefulness that Kara had. There were four men: two holding Saviour and two guarding the door - utterly failing to take into consideration the balcony that Argos and Kara burst through in a shower of glass.

Immediately, Kara threw one of the door guards against a wall with a blast of freeze breath whilst Argos kicked the other with his hind legs to land on top of the one Kara had dealt with. Kara and Argos then zoomed over to the last two attackers, their movements seamlessly synchronised after countless hours twirling around each other in the sky and growing to understand each other in Saviour’s nest. Kara restrained one easily whilst Argos zipped between her legs to snap in half the gun the other attacker was raising to use against Saviour. Once disarmed, Kara and Argos hoisted all four between them and flew them to the nearest police station.

It was all over in the space of twenty seconds but it was the longest twenty seconds of Argos’ life - nearly losing the most important person in your life would do that to you.

The moment that Argos and Kara were back in Saviour’s daytime nest, Saviour was wrapping her arms around the two of them. Pressing grateful kisses to Argos’ head and Kara’s cheek on endless repeat.

Argos realised then as he was pressed between the two women that Kara was trembling in much the same way that he was - the fear of harm befalling Saviour had wrecked them in equal parts and it was then that he finally grasped what was going on between Saviour and Kara.

The way that Saviour and Kara’s heart rates would tick up whenever they were together.

The way that Kara’s cheeks would flush pink with every kiss that Saviour gratefully pressed against them.

The way that being apart for too long would make both of them melancholic and lonely.

It was love at its deepest and most profound.

Argos as gently as he could - in much the same way Shoo had one rainy night in an alley - nudged Saviour with his nose. He lifted his head, dodged a kiss, and pressed his nose to Saviour’s cheek encouraging her head to turn further than before so that her lips pressed against Kara’s instead of her flushed cheek.

The second their lips connected, everything went still.

Argos slowly drifted away and settled on his bed to watch what happened next.

Saviour was the first to pull away, green eyes wide with shock, mouth moving up and down nervously.

“I… I’m sorry, Argos-” Saviour began to stammer only for Kara to place a hand on the back of Saviour’s neck, lightly pulling her closer and reconnecting their lips.

Argos watched for a while but they kept their mouths pressed against each other for a long time, only pausing for breathy sighs and whispers of appreciation. Argos stretched out on his bed and settled down for a nap, though not before Kara shot him a wink and mouthed ‘Good Boy’ to him.

XXX

People were calling him ‘Superdog’ on the news following the attempted attack on Saviour.

Argos didn’t like it as much as he did Argos but it seemed to make Kara happy and Argos had quickly learned that anything that made Kara happy also made Saviour happy.

“Do you want to do what Kara does?” Saviour asked him not long after the attack that had seen a significant change in the status quo - Kara was now almost always in the nest and had taken to sleeping in Saviour’s bed.

Argos cocked his head to the side at the question - the large glowing box on the screen showing Kara fighting people that seemed hellbent on hurting her and others.

“Kara stops bad people like the ones that tried to hurt me.” Saviour murmured, running her hands through Argos’ fur trying to calm him down as he stood at attention - eyes fixed on the glowing screen and ears listening to the fight across the city. “You can go help.” Saviour offered.

Argos felt something then on his back, something shifting down from his collar up to his tail. He turned his head to see a long piece of fabric and Saviour securing a new tag to his collar emblazoned with the same symbol that Kara wore.

“I know you’re worried about her. You love her just as much as I do.” Saviour accused, green eyes fond and affectionate as she scratched behind Argos’ ear.

Maybe a little, Argos admitted thinking about how Kara had lifted him up and carried him to her and Saviour’s bed following a loud crack of thunder just last night. How she had coaxed him to sleep with whispered murmurs and scritches behind his ear.

“Go help her, like you’ve helped me.” Saviour requested causing Argos’ heart to swell in his chest. “Go, Superdog, there will be extra doggy treats for you later.” Saviour promised pressing a kiss to his nose before getting up and opening the balcony doors for Argos to soar through.

[stoportotouch]

by the way:

the cake was symbolic of Excess.

interesting choice to have leporello and ottavio being Buddies during dalla sua pace. never thought of that before but am thinking of it now.

elvira had a megaphone. she was singing the first verse of ah! che mi dici mai? into it.

the don's method of attacking masetto was to lull him into a false sense of security by going to snog him and then headbutting him in the forehead. in case you care. (which masetto seemed to be completely on board with.)

the statue wasn't actually a statue it was just a chalk outline at the bottom of the stairs. it then appeared as projections on the Various Doors on stage.

don giovanni has daddy issues in this production and he may have had mummy issues in addition. (generally he was the saddest boy on earth born all alone in a wet cardboard box nobody care him etc.) not gonna say that this interpretation didn't carry water.

there was just a random woman wandering around holding a baby during deh vieni alla finestra who i think might have been meant to be the don's mother? implications unclear.

zerlina and donna anna were besties. (or at least they became besties over the course of act ii.) this is my new characterisation agenda.

obligatory Sex Stuff, because opera directors recently learned about it:

anna and ottavio were surprisingly into each other. but also why were they fucking directly after her dad died. considering what her dad discovered the don doing to her that lead to him being dieded.

elvira did not need to give leporello a blowjob. nobody asked you for that. i particularly did not ask for that.

zerlina got fingered by masetto during vedrai carino. good for her, honestly. she won the opera.

glyndebourne paid for all these choristers and by god they're going to use them as much as they can! unfortunately, however, this was a bad idea. they just kind of stood around and Looked At Things sometimes but otherwise they generally made the place look untidy.

keep the men standing there looking menacing during or sai chi l'onore IF YOU MUST, because that at least made narrative sense.

but lose the chorus literally everywhere else you thought you might have had a clever idea. also give them costumes that fit better for the sextet if you're going to INSIST on them hanging around.

finally. world's first -- and perhaps even only! -- good don ottavio characterisation. he was doing his best.

the verdi girlies (me) have stowed away at a Mozart Function (seeing don giovanni at glyndebourne)

[nonstoplover]

happily ending catastrophies ~ Fred Weasley

summary: Fred is accidentally (and fortunately) at the right place in the right time, and is able to save a muggle girl's life.

pairing: Fred Weasley x muggle (female) reader

words: 5K

meaning of: (y/h/c) means 'your hair colour'

(kinda) warnings: (1) this plays after the war and Fred lives, because i refuse to accept anything else; (2) i'm not from the UK so excuse the possible mistakes i made about the underground; (3) also there are a couple time jumps, i didn't want to drag it for too long and had quite a few ideas i wanted to write

a/n: this was an idea born whilst i was studying for this year's most difficult exam at uni lol but i thought it was worth giving a shot so here it goes xx

my masterlist

(y/n) wakes up to the sweet scent of some kind of flower filling up her nose and lungs. Despite the panging in her head she cracks her eyes open to find the source, though as soon as she takes in the totally unfamiliar room around her, the flower immediately gets forgotten.

What the hell?

She frowns, pushing her upper body up on her elbows to get a better look around. She has never seen this room ever before. Or has she? Suddenly she's not so sure as a foggy memory appears in her mind. Her glance travels across the cardboard boxes beside the wall on the floor, piled high on top of each other, then a desk, a wardrobe, arriving to the bedside table that has a lamp and several strange things - looking like some foreign country's small candies in colourful wrapping - on the wooden surface.

Sitting up fully she tries to move her legs to place them on the floor, but finds that it's much harder than it usually is - than it should be. All her attention turn to her legs now and the weird feeling that surrounds her left leg she hasn't noticed before. Carefully she lifts the covers that wrapped her body in a warm embrace to see what's wrong with her leg. A gasp leaves her lungs right away as her eyes fall on the cast wrapped around it from her knees straight to her toes.

In that exact moment the door slowly opens and her eyes snap towards the entering figure - a flaming red haired young man - whilst her fingers scramble to get the blanket back on her lower body, hiding the lack of clothing she's wearing as she's in nothing else but her underwear.

"Ah, you're awake! How are you?" He asks when his eyes connect with hers and slightly widen.

And his voice brings back everything. Literally everything to her mind about how she got here, all the memories flashing by in front of her inner eyes.

- - - - - - - flashback - - - - - - -

Friday the 13th. The day of misfortune and disasters. (y/n) huffs as she makes her way down the street towards the underground station to go back to her apartment. Now she knows this fact from experience.

She woke up a bit late that morning and didn't have time to drink her usual morning coffee in the comfort of her home, so she had to wait until her first break at work to drink one. When she just finished brewing a cup for herself in the small kitchen at her work, the handle of her favourite mug she kept in there broke and the now handle-less mug full of the brown beverage fell to the ground and shattered to a thousand tiny pieces, and if it wasn't already bad enough, the coffee splashed on her white shirt, colouring it light brown and leaving a wet stain behind all across her chest.

After that she managed to get through the day quite normally, right until 3pm, when her boss called her in to his office.

"The company is facing a hard time," his voice still echoes inside her head, making her shiver in sadness and anger. "I'm sorry, (y/n), the performance you showed us in the past two years was truly great, but you gotta understand that I have to decrease the number of employees. And that unfortunately includes you. I'm sorry."

If the way she worked was actually 'truly great', then why do they fire her and not someone else?

Well, probably her boss told the exact same thing to everyone he kicked out today, she thinks, but it doesn't help at all - it doesn't get her her job back.

So half an hour ago she packed everything in a box and set off to go back home, mentally raging about the cursed day. She has never believed in any superstition like this, but today she's changed her mind. Maybe all these things are true.

And that's when the next string of catastrophies starts.

As she's moving along the pavement next to the tracks at the station, the heel of her shoe breaks and she stumbles, her box flying away from her grip, all the contents of it scattering all over the ground. (y/n) tries gaining her balance back, taking a couple steps back, but the pavement disappears from under her feet as she reaches the edge, completely unaware of it.

She falls back, down to the tracks, and an impossible pain shoots up from her left leg as she lands, the air totally knocked out from her lungs. As she tries catching her breath, her hands move to lay flat on the ground so she can push herself up, but the world around her seems like it's spinning and she feels too weak to move a single muscle in her body.

Everything decelerates into slow motion and she glances around to see what she could do when something bright catch her eyes. A shiny warm yellow circle in the distance, getting slightly bigger and bigger with every second. She observes it carefully, thinking about how pretty it looks as she wonders what it might be. It only takes a second or two for her mind to catch up and suddenly she's more than aware that a train comes towards her and she's not capable to do anything to stop the collision from happening.

Friday the 13th.

Out of nowhere she feels a presence next to her, and just as she turns her head that way to see what's going on and her eyes fall on locks of bright red hair and a freckled face, the man has already grabbed her arm and with a fierce pull hoisted her up to a standing position. It feels like her arm is ripped out from her body, for a moment even the unstoppable hurting from her leg fades out to give space for the one in her upper body and she gasps before everything goes black.

- - - - - - - end of flashback - - - - - - -

The following events go by as a dozen of blurry pictures (y/n) can't make out in her mind and she blinks a couple times to get back to the present, to reality. She focuses on the redhead again, the last person she clearly remembers seeing.

"Where am I?" Her voice comes out hoarse and quiet and she clears her throat, waiting for his answer, knowing how she behaves quite rude completely ignoring his question, but she just can't help it.

She hasn't a clue where they could be, she's never seen a place like this in her entire life. It's obvious it's not a hospital. And after what happened it's just as obvious that she needs hospital treatment.

"The Burrow," he replies with a small smile playing on his lips.

And though she thought his answer would help clear some of the fog inside her head, it only confuses her more. Fred bites back the chuckle that threatens to burst from him seeing her cute frowning expression and waits for her to ask again, knowing it'll soon happen.

"The what?" The girl speaks up again, her voice now much clearer.

"My family home."

The confusion still stays on her face, and Fred truly can't blame her for it - who wouldn't be distraught after waking up in a stranger's home? Still, seeing the same expression he first ever saw on her face brings him back to the Tube station in London.

- - - - - - - Fred's flashback - - - - - - -

He's rushing down the stairs to catch the apparently soon arriving underground train, cursing his twin brother under his breath for winning the bet that resulted in the usage of any and every magical thing being forbidden for Fred for this whole week. Now he has to run errands adjusting to the timetables of muggle public transport and he's running out of time. Everything takes so much more time in the muggle world, and in the past few days he's grown to appreciate being born into the world of magic more than ever.

Arriving next to the tracks he catches sight of a dozen or so people there and relief fills his body. So the train hasn't left yet. He slows down to a walking pace and tries to catch his breath, and that's when he notices something weird about the people, something he has never seen in the past days when he used the Tube. They're all moving closer to each other, slowly making a tight circle, all of them looking in the same direction, as if something was on the tracks.

Curiosity rises in Fred and he makes his way to the edge of the crowd, standing on his toes to tower over it and glance down. His eyes immediately fall on a young woman lying there, one of her legs twisted in an abnormal way. She's looking to the side, towards the tunnel from where the train should arrive any minute now. Her expression displays confusion and slight fear, but her breathtaking beauty is still obvious, and it makes his heart skip a beat. His eyes slowly turn to where she's looking and he can see the light that swiftly grows brighter and brighter inside the usually dark tunnel, but his mind can't comprehend what he sees as all his thoughts are still only about the gorgeous woman lying there.

"The train's coming!" Somebody in the crowd shouts and that's what wakes Fred from his daze. His head snaps back and forth from the tunnel to the girl a couple times, so fast it's a miracle his neck doesn't break.

His body moves before he can fully think about his actions and suddenly he's pushing people away to make a path for himself in the crowd and he jumps down to the tracks. He hears a couple gasps from behind him, even a couple voices trying to inform him again and again that the train is actually soon there, but he doesn't care. All he focuses on is the task in front of him.

Squatting down he grabs one of the woman's arms and drapes it around his shoulder, standing up again as fast as he can, pulling her with him a bit harsher than he intended. She lets out a gasp in obvious pain, but he knows there's no time to be more gentle. Both of his arms move around her, one around her shoulder blades and one around the backs of her thighs to lift her up bridal style as he knows one of her legs is broken and she can't stand on it. And he's thankful for his own speed and thoughtful actions as he feels her body go limp as she faints.

The head-splittingly loud sound of a horn fills the air just as he turns around, signalling that they were noticed by the people on the train. As he takes the first few steps back towards the pavement he glances up, seeing two or three men already there bending down with their arms stretching in his direction. Fred quickens his pace as much as he's able to and practically throws the woman in the waiting hands, helping them pull her up by pushing her body from under, the screeching of brakes, iron on iron being the only sound that can be heard.

He stays on the tracks until he's completely sure that she's safe, than he grabs the edge of the pavement and swiftly pushes himself up, crawling on the cold surface until his legs are lying there as well. He feels a breeze moving against his back as the train arrives to the station, but he doesn't care about it, neither the cheering that erupts from the people around him, celebrating his heroic act, not even the burning feeling in his muscles from being strained. He just pushes himself up and stumbles to the woman, falling back down on his knees to be able to get a better look of her.

From up close he can see how she's even younger than he has thought, probably close to his age. She's obviously falling in and out of unconsciousness every other second. The word 'ambulance' enters his ears from the people around them, and he finds himself with a new task ahead of him. Somehow he has to get the girl away from this place and back to the shop so he can take her to the Burrow. Muggle hospital treatment isn't enough now, the wizarding world offered much better methods of healing. His mother will know what to do.

- - - - - - - end of Fred's flashback - - - - - - -

"And why am I here?" (y/n) continues asking.

"You broke your leg."

"Yeah, I figured, but shouldn't I be in a hospital then?" She tilts her head, raising an eyebrow.

"This is better than a muggle hospital," the young man shrugs.

"Mu... a what?"

"Ah, sorry. Slipped out," he let out a small chuckle, scratching the back of his neck in slight embarrassment.

Here comes the moment he dreaded. When he has to explain the existence of magic and the wizarding world to a completely clueless person and trying to do that without making a complete fool out of himself in front of the angel-like girl when she won't believe him - which he's sure she'll do.

"Wait, who are you? I don't even know your name," she speaks up again. "And how could I truly thank you for saving my life if I don't know even that?"

"There's no need to thank me," Fred protests.

"Of course there is!" (y/n) squeals as loudly as her weakened state allows. "Not everyone would jump down to the tracks when there's a train coming to save a complete stranger."

"Yeah, well, true," he mumbles, thinking back to how nobody did anything for her, anger filling his veins. Then he clears his throat, shaking his head to get rid of the negative thoughts and to focus on the girl again. "I'm Fred. Fred Weasley."

"Thank you for all you did, Fred. I'm (y/n) (y/l/n)," she sticks her hand out and a smile makes it's way to Fred face, matching the one on hers as he steps closer to shake her hand.

- - - - - - - 2 months later - - - - - - -

"I'm absolutely fine, Freddie, stop acting like I'm made of porcelain. I'm totally able to walk down the stairs on my own two feet," (y/n)'s giggling voice fills the air on the second floor of the Burrow when the redhead gently pulled her arm around his neck as he's done so many times in the past weeks.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Fred puts his hands up in surrender, backing away as laughter erupts from his throat and he turns his head away to hide the blush forming on his cheeks from the nickname she used.

Unfortunately he only gets completely face to face with his smirking twin brother who winks his way before pushing past him, a knowing chuckle sounding from him as he rushes downstairs, past (y/n), who follows him right away, only a bit slower, with Fred's careful, watching eyes trained on her back.

"See? I told you," the girl glances back at him over her shoulder after arriving downstairs, not stopping on her way to the dining table, only to stumble in a shoe someone left in the way. Fred immediately reaches out to grab her elbow and stop her from falling. From the strength of his attentive pull on her arm, instead of flying to the ground she crashes into his chest.

"I don't know, I'm not so sure," he teases, looking down with a smirk playing on his lips.

(y/n) moves her head up to connect her eyes with his, and Fred glances around her face, taking in the pink colour of her skin on her cheeks caused by the embarrassment of almost falling, then as his eyes reach the sight of her lips, he suddenly becomes almost too aware of how close the two of them actually are, and the breath hitches in his throat.

"Come on, kids, dinner's gonna get cold!" Molly's voice breaks the moment they shared and (y/n) regains balance, then gently pushing the boy away she turns around and limps the rest of the way to the dining table.

All of the Weasleys are already sitting there, watching the two of them appear in sight, and (y/n) has to bite back a giggle, still not used to the seemingly infinite number of redheads, all smiling wide and sweet at her. George pulls the chair she has always sat on ever since she was able to get downstairs out for her, offering a helping hand knowing that it's harder to sit down with only one properly working leg. Fred reaches out for her other arm just as she makes contact with George's hand, and the two of them don't let go until she's stopped moving.

She glances back and forth between the two boys sitting on either side of her, rolling her eyes at how overly protective both of them behave, when she's already told them hundreds of times that she's able to get by on her own.

The meal is delicious and the company is entertaining, just like it has always been since (y/n) stepped foot into the Burrow. Conversation flows without a hitch, only the occasional laughter breaking it for a second or two, and the (y/h/c) girl finds it hard to think about the inevitable - the moment that's coming fast, the moment when she has to leave these people and go back to her normal life. The Weasleys has become like a second family for her, and she fears that if she walks out that door, she'll never see them again. They're living a different life, in a completely different world. Their paths most likely will never cross again. She tries to brush off the sad thoughts, knowing that she'll have all the time to mope and grieve when she's back in her (ordinary and plain) flat on her own.

As she's helping Molly clean the dishes after the family finishes dinner, (y/n) pauses for a moment to glance at the redhaired woman. "Thank you for letting me stay here and for taking such good care of me."

"Oh, sweetie, you're more than welcome. It's our pleasure to have you here."

"That's true," Ginny chimes in with a joyful grin on her face as she places another dirty plate in front of her mother. "Your presence brightened up our boring lives."

"Boring?" (y/n) lets a loud laugh escape her throat. "Your lives are nothing even close to boring. Everything around here is breathtaking and spectacular."

"Is it though?"

"Try living my life for a week or so, and you'll know what boring really means," she shakes her head, the different memories and thoughts swiftly filling her mind as she turns around to lean the small of her back against the counter top, her eyes instantly connecting with Fred's, who's still sitting at the table, shamelessly watching her with searching eyes.

"I still can't believe there's a whole world of wizards and witches that we have absolutely no clue about. It makes me wonder how many things are there that's hidden from us. And it makes me scared how clueless we all are in the muggle world."

(y/n)'s only able to stand the intensity of his gaze for a couple seconds before she has to turn her head away, feeling the blood rush to her cheeks and heat them up. She swallows, only hoping that it stays unnoticed by the boy, but when she finally dares to glance back for the shortest of moments, she catches sight of a small smirk playing on his lips and she knows that nothing has gone unnoticed by him. Clearing her throat she tries to find something else to say, speaking the first words that come to her mind.

The newly learned word still rolls uncertainly from her tongue, not sure if she says it correctly, but when her restlessly moving eyes accidentally catch Fred's again, she sees a new kind of glint sparkling in his eyes, and it's enough to let her know that she used it correctly.

"It's not your fault," Ginny places a hand probably destined to be reassuring on the older girl's shoulder. "We're just too good at hiding it."

The two of them share a laugh, and unbeknownst to (y/n), it turns the shape of Fred's eyes into something that very much resembles a heart. His own heart flutters at the sound, the temperature of the room suddenly feeling too hot for him to bear, and he abruptly kicks his chair back, standing up and swiftly moving out of the house to get some fresh air and somehow try to cool the fire that's burning inside of his chest.

(y/n)'s eyes follow him, an eyebrow raised in question, deep in her thoughts right until the door closes shut again behind the boy. The sudden noise brings her back to the present and she shakes her head to get rid of the things running around in her head.

"Anyway, I gotta go upstairs and pack. I really have to go back home now," she sighs, pushing her body away from the counter.

"I'll come help you," Ginny immediately offers, hurrying after her.

Two and a half hours and a heart wrenching goodbye later (y/n) and Fred come to a stop outside her apartment's door, both of them feeling a previously never felt sadness fill their hearts.

All (y/n) can think of is flashing images of the flaming red haired boy. The way he sat at the edge of the bed she was lying in, telling her everything about the wizarding world. The way he lifted her up so effortlessly as if she weighed nothing to bring her downstairs when she was unable to walk in the first weeks. The way he walked her around the house and the garden, showing her everything and explaining things to her, adjusting to her extremely slow pace without a word. The way he showed her multiple of the products he and his twin brother sell in their shop, sometimes only speaking of their effects, other times even showing her, not caring with the fact it caused something inconvenient for himself as long as he made her laugh - which she did so many times and so hard that it made her sides hurt. The clothes he let her have when winter set in and her own became too thin to keep her warm, and the way the material smelled like him. The lingering touches of his calloused fingertips against the skin of her cheeks when he thought she was fast asleep - when in fact she was completely awake, fighting back the urge to press her face further into his touch.

In the meantime all Fred can think of is flashing images of the gorgeous muggle girl. The genuine curiosity that sparkled in her eyes whenever he told her about the world he's living in, the endless amount of questions she's asked him about anything and everything, the pure interest she showed from the first time he told her about the existence of magic. The way she bonded with each and every member of the Weasley family, finding a common thing with all of them and eventually making them all grow fond of her. The way she told him all about the muggle world and her own life, sharing all the details with him without hesitation - trusting him right away. The way his name rolled from her tongue - even more when she called him Freddie. The bubbling, loud laughter that erupted from her throat when he told her about the shop and all the pranks George and him did back in Hogwarts or when he showed her the products they now sell in the shop, the laugh that always made his heart skip a beat, the laugh he couldn't help but adore along with the fact that she seemingly didn't care the slightest bit how loud she is or how funny her laughter might sound. The way she looked in his clothes, always taking his breath away, making him wish nothing more in the rest of his life than to see that very sight every day as long as he lived - and possibly even after that.

"Well, thanks for getting me home," (y/n) points at the door behind her back as she looks up into his mesmerizing eyes. "And for jumping down in front of a train for me. And for letting me into your family home. And for taking care of me."

"It was the least I could do," Fred smiles sheepishly, his mind spinning, trying to come up with something to say that would keep the girl in his life.

"Bye, Freddie," she hesitates for a moment, then decides it doesn't matter anymore and leans in, pressing a soft kiss on his left cheek.

Fred's eyes flutter closed, heart bursting with the sudden feeling of love from both her lips touching his skin and the oh so loved nickname. He freezes, unable to think anything else than eight very important letters.

The girl moves back, fiddling with her keys to find the correct one, pushing it in the slot and turning it, gently shoving the door until it's wide open. She steps in, her eyes taking in the furniture and decoration she once loved but now finds unbelievably plain and mundane. A sigh escapes her lungs and she turns around to close the door - and wave once more the boy.

Fred still stands in the exact same spot, obviously not moving even the slightest bit since she backed away from him. (y/n) raises her hand to wiggle goodbye with her fingers at him whilst moving to close the door with the other hand, already feeling the tears blur her vision as she tries to take in the sight of him as best as she can to be able to remember him forever.

"Wait!" Fred exclaims, placing a palm flat against the wooden material to stop it before it fully closes.

This time (y/n)'s the one to freeze, hand pausing high in the air and she even holds back the breath in her lungs as she waits for him to continue.

"Can we meet again?"

Her eyes widen in surprise. She always thought that he'd never want to see her again. That he'd be happy to finally get rid of her and be able to continue his life as before. He wants to meet with her again?

"I... y-yes, of course," she stutters, heart stammering inside her ribcage so wild and loud, she's almost sure he can hear it.

The extremely wide smile that splits his face in two hearing her answer makes it impossible for her not to mirror it, her own lips curving on their own accord. Fred, feeling the previous nervous shyness evaporate from his body and the always present confidence fill his vein up again, takes a step closer to her, then another until he's right beside the door, gently pushing it wider open again. (y/n)'s hand on the door handle inside goes limp, and she lets it fall down to hang loose beside her body as Fred steps inside.

When he's so close that she can feel the breath coming from his nose reach the skin of her face, his lips open again to let out a whisper. "Can I kiss you?"

The already abnormal rhythm her heart beats in gets even more uneven, and her head moves in a nod as she breathes out the word 'yes'. Fred's eyes sparkle up even more, and his hands slowly start moving up, one reaching out to gently caress her cheek whilst the other wraps around the small of her back. Slowly, extremely slowly he leans down, pausing for a second just before their lips could touch, and as a wave of impatience rushes through the girl, she raises her head and presses her lips against his.

Fred lets out a muffled chuckle at her eagerness before tilting his head and snaking his arm further around her torso to pull her flush against his own body, his hand that's resting on her cheeks moving slightly further back until his fingers completely disappear in her (y/h/c) locks, his lips moving passionately against hers.

She completely melts into his touch, feeling like she's floating in the air, as if she's only dreaming. But when they both run out of oxygen and pull away to fill their lungs again, their foreheads pressing against each other in search of support and their eyes connecting without problem, looking deep into his beautiful brown orbs (y/n) grows sure right away that it's truly reality, not just a dream.

"I love you," he breathes in-between his quiet pants, but it's enough to make (y/n) totally dizzy as a love-struck grin spreads across her face.

And in that very moment they both know that their story is just starting.

.::the end::.

my masterlist

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[letskidnapsenpai]

saw you wanted some sfw alphabet requests so i am here to deliver❤️

may i get C, R and Z with shinso and kaminari please?

have a lovely day/night and remember to stay hydrated!!!!!

Hiii! 💖💫of course 💖

- Denki -

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

• He's very affectionate boi

• He'll be all over you, 24/7, he loves you and he needs to let you know that

• Pda isn't problem for him, he doesn't care who sees, he'll hug, kiss and cuddle you whenever he wants

• But if you don't like pda, he understands and will try to keep his distance from you, but holding hands are a must, there's no way you two won't be holding hands

• He loves cuddling you while watching movies

• He'll like being both big and small spoon, sometimes he wants to be held and sometimes he wants to hold you

• He'll love playing games laying in the bed with you hugging him from behind or you in his lap

• Sometimes he let's out small sparks while being content with something, so get used to being shocked

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

• His favourite moment is when you were at together at Luna Park

• The way your eyes sparkled as you dragged him with you

• He loved it as much as you did, of course, it was one of the best days of his life

• Even if he was little bit scared of some attractions, you held his hand and he felt so much better

• You shared cotton candy and both took soo many pictures together to post at social media

• He tried to shoot out some plushie for you, but he's not exactly the best at keeping calm and focusing

• In the end you shoot out a Pikachu plushie for him

• He sleeps with it until today and he loves it so much

• He'll definitely take you to more Luna Parks now that he knows how much you both enjoyed it

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs? Does it change around a partner?)

• He probably doesn't sleep a lot, he spends the nights playing games and streaming

• He's trying to go to sleep earlier because of you, if you're used to going to sleep early

• He'll stop drinking energy drinks so much and he'll try to go to sleep when you do, but sometimes he just has to play

• But if you play games and stay awake late too, you two will call and play games together until morning

• Or when you're at his place, you'll play on console together or stream on Twich all my Denki HC's are twich streamer!Denki and I'm not sorry for it

- Shinsou -

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

I did A (Affection) for Shinsou and I included cuddles in it, so because I don't want to repeat myself, it's here! 💖

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

• Saving stray kittens with you

• You we getting back from your visit at Aizawa's and Yamada's place when you heard meowing

• You thought it's just some stray cat who wants to be pet so you turned around

• But the only thing you saw was cardboard box

• You took a look inside and saw black and grey kittens

• They were still bloody, they had to be born just few minutes ago, but their mother was nowhere to see while she should have been cleaning them now

• You looked at each other and without having to exchange a word, you knew you had to save them

• Hizashi carefully took the box and you made your way to your flat as fast as you could

• When you arrived, you took some towels, spread them and carefully took them out of the box, to place them on the towels so you can check them

• Except being cold and dirty, they seemed okay, that was good

• You cleaned them with wet cloths and placed them into another box, this time laundry box with soft blankets and a heating blanket inside it to keep them warm

• You sent Hitoshi to get some milk for kittens while you watched over them

• You kept them, you couldn't give them away after saving their lives

• Except 2 kittens, these went to Aizawa's, because Hizashi had to leave the city for few days, so nothing stood in his way for getting cats wow this is really long

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habit of theirs? Does it change around a partner?)

• Sleep? What's that? Our boi doesn't sleep at night

• At least then he's alone, when he's with you, he fells asleep sometimes

• Eventually, he starts sleeping for at least few hours most of the nights if you're with him

• But if you're not? He's not sleeping the whole time, he got so used to you that he can't sleep without you now

• He'll sleep mostly during day and always cuddled to you

• He doesn't care if he has to lay his head on your stomach, chest or lap, he needs his pillow

• He loves holding you when you sleep, even if he can't sleep, he'll at least protect you when you do

[oneoftheextras]

jealousy | villain aizawa x reader |two

masterlist | tip jar

Former student of his turned pro hero, he’s always had eyes for her at UA but never acted upon it. Once she graduates, she takes a role at Endeavor’s agency, and Aizawa can’t stand the thought.

words: 2.4k

warnings: +18, yandere and sexual themes, just creepy at this point

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

A pounding in your head was no what you were expecting to wake up to, neither was the sight of a black padded room with glass doors. 

To your shock you shot upright, making the pain in your head worse, you took in your surroundings trying to figure out what was going on, the floors, walls and ceiling were padded, like the type you see in mental hospitals. But one wall was made out of glass.

Shakily, you got to your feet, stumbling over to the glass like a new born deer and trying to find an opening. When that didn’t work, you took a few paces back and projected purple flames towards it. Still nothing.

Sucking in a breath, you ran towards it, throwing all of your weight into your shoulder in an attempt to shatter it.

“You’re just going to tire yourself out” you heard from the other side, as soon as you heard the deep rumble you remembered what had happened. The chase, the rooftop, the capture weapon.

Gazing down at your wrists, you could see the bruises it had left around them and your hands. It hurt to make a fist.

You watched as a figure came towards the glass, it was him again, “Let me out, Eraserhead” you barked, gritting your teeth at him. He was no longer in his black overalls but instead a pair of black jeans and a black v-neck top, that gave you an idea that you had been out cold for a while.

“Call me Aizawa-Sensei, like you used to” he smirked at you through the glass, putting one forearm against it to lean. Disgusted at his words, you threw another bolt of purple flames towards him, you watched it consume the glass and then slide down it. When the flames cleared you saw that he hadn’t moved an inch, not even flinched at the attack.

Desperately you conjured flames on the floor, walls and ceiling, trying to get something to burn, but all you did was make the room very warm, you were starting to sweat through your hero suit.

“You’re going to tire yourself out” he laughed watching your attempts as though he was watching a puppy chase it’s tail, you turned on the spot to face him again “This entire room-” he interrupted himself “This entire building is flame proof, I had it specially built for you” he smiled as though it was something you should thank him for.

You glanced around the room, taking everything in, this wasn’t something that was built over the weekend. “How?” you asked, coming closer to the glass so you could see the room beyond it “It took me a little over 4 years and a lot of help” he said casually.

“Wait, 4 years?” you repeated to which he just nodded, he was staring down at you, watching your features as they reacted to their surroundings.

4 years ago you were a second year student, he was your teacher, but he said ‘a a little over’ meaning you must had been a first year then. “4 years ago I was-” you started thinking out loud.

“Just joining my class at UA” he answered for you, your eyes stopped travelling around the room and stopped dead onto his, you wished you had seen some kind of humour in his face but he was serious.

“W-why?” you asked question you didn’t know if you wanted the answer to “I knew there would be a time when I had you with me, as soon as I saw your quirk I knew how much trouble it could cause if you couldn’t control it. May as well make your future home something you couldn’t burn down” he explained flatly, as though what he was saying wasn’t completely insane.

“I was your first year student, do you know how fucked up that is?!” you shouted, punching your fist against the glass. Immediately you regret your decision and winced at the pain it brought.

“It’s a little strange, I guess, but my intentions were pure, I wanted to build you a safe space you could practice your abilities. It was only when you were close to graduating did I see you in a different light” he raised his eye suggestively and you looked at him with disgust while you nursed your hand which you were sure was broken.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t have those types of thoughts about you until you were in your third year” he added, wetting his bottom lip with his tongue. You couldn’t face him anymore, you turned your back on him and walked away from the glass, you hated what you were hearing but you needed answers.

“Why this? Why all of this?” you gestured to the glass prison you were trapped in, “If you were interested in me once I’d graduated, why not talk to me like a normal fucking person” you spat at him, he features turned defensive against the hatred in your eyes.

“This-” he mimicked your gesture of the padded cell, “-was because of you” he spat back, “Me?” you laughed angrily, as though you were clearly the problem here.

“Yes, you! You chose Endeavour over me” he accused you, pressing the tip of his index finger against the glass as he pointed at you. Baffled at his words all you could do was shake your head and shout out another “What?!” of disbelief.

He had made up an entire narrative in his head that never happened, “When you joined Endeavour’s agency I knew he would turn you against me, I had to have a back up plan, something in place where he couldn’t reach you” he slammed his palm against the glass startling you.

At your scared expression he seemed to calm down, getting closer to the glass again, “I needed to protect you until I knew for sure that you loved me too” he said as though that was something you said to a person.

You walked back towards the glass, looking up at his grey eyes, it was strange to think that if the glass didn’t exist you would be at a very intimate proximity to him, but you were contained. He flattened his hand against the glass, expecting you to do the same.

Crinkling your nose into a snarl and distorting your features to show your anger you shouted “I will never love you”, making sure to drag out ‘never’. His smile dropped and the look in his eyes frightened you, it was a mixture of obsession, pure evil and determination.

“We’ll see” he announced, pushing himself off of the glass and walking out of sight. It scared you more not being able to see where he was than when he was staring at you, something you used to worry about only with spiders. When you could see them you knew what they were doing, but they were up to God knows what when they were out of sight.

How the Hell had you gotten yourself into this situation?

By the clock hanging tauntingly on the wall opposite your cell, it had been about 6 hours since you last saw Eraserhead. Every moment you had used to try an escape, you were thirsty, hungry and exhausted.

Standing with your back flat against the padded wall, you aimed both of your palms at the glass and conjured your purple flames. You pushed yourself as hard as you could, watching the flames grow and lick the glass.

He said it was flameproof, but if you heated it up enough surely it would crack eventually.

Straining yourself, you slid down the wall. It was impossible, the more flames you produced the hotter you made the room, it was making you sweat through your tarnished hero suit and you desperately needed water.

Condensation was starting to roll down the steamed up glass, at least that way you could have some privacy. You unzipped your hero suit and shimmied it round to your waist, allowing your torso to breathe.

You must have passed out from exhaustion because the next thing you new you were opening your eyes to the sound of tapping. Brushing the sleep out of the corner’s of your eyes, you blinked the sleep away, that’s when you saw Eraserhead staring at you and holding a big cardboard box.

Hurriedly, you pulled your damp suit back up to try and cover you and regain some modesty. “Move into the corner” he told you, when you didn’t move he raised his voice slightly “Just do it”. Shuffling back until you felt the padded corner hit your shoulders, you waited to see what he was going to do.

You watched as he pushed a button on his side of the wall and a section of the glass slid into another making an opening, your legs twitched as your instincts told you to run, but you were too weak to fight him and you definitely wouldn’t be faster than him.

Eyeing him cautiously, you surveyed him as he walked into your space, placed the box down on the floor and gestured for you to take it. As he backed away and turned towards the exit, you subtly lifted your hand and flicked your finger in his direction, sending a small flame towards him.

His back was turned but he somehow managed to sense it, whipping his head around to scowl at you but it was too late, the flame had already landed on his top and was starting to burn a hole in it.

“Shit!” he cursed, leaping past the glass and slamming his hand onto the button to seal you in. Only when the door was closed did he pull his top up over his head and toss it to the ground, stamping on it to extinguish the flames.

You made no attempt to escape, you just needed something to cheer you up and watching him dance about had done just that.

He was furious. His eyes were glowing red and if his hair wasn’t tied up in a bun you were sure it would be floating too, although he was now topless too. “What the fuck was that for?” he scowled at you, picking up the ruined top and throwing it into a nearby bin, “Payback” you smiled trying to avoid eye contact with him.

He started to mumble to himself so you took the opportunity to inspect the parcel he brought in, you shuffled along the wall and towards it, trying to hide as much of your exposed body as you could.

Ripping the tape off the box caught his attention, he swivelled himself around and watched you intently, under other circumstances you would have liked to stop and stare at his toned abdomen and strong arms.

“I went to all that trouble to give that to you and this is how you repay me?” he scolded you, you ignored his words and opened the flaps to reveal what was inside. Spotting a plastic bottle your hands sprung for it, you twisted the cap off and sniffed it cautiously, it smelt like nothing so you assumed it was water. 

You had to stop yourself from chugging the entire bottle at once, you took a couple of big gulps and then set it to the side, you felt instantly so much better.

Inside the box was some clothes, a few snack bars and other bits. You laid the clothes out on the floor in front of you, noticing that they were all your size including some pieces of underwear, you glared at him not wanting to know how he knew your measurements.

“I thought you would want a change out of your hero costume” he commented, inspecting your every move. At the bottom of the box was a blanket, you stroked it first feeling the soft fabric grace your finger tips and then picked it up to reveal the bottom of the cardboard.

You squealed and threw the blanket into the air when you saw what was left, “What the fuck are those?” you gasped completely shocked, you heard him laugh as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“We have many different types of needs, I wanted to make sure I fulfilled all of them for you” he explained with humour in his voice. In your shock you had managed to kick the box away from you which sent its contents flying across the floor. It was a vibrator and other toys, but not just random toys. They were yours, from your home - the ones that no one other than you had known about.

“You’re sick” you shouted at him, “I think you’ll find I’ve been quite pleasant to you considering” he snapped back, “Do you know how much money the League of Villains have put out for your capture?” he barked.

You were speechless, you had no idea that the League was interested in you, or even knew who you were. Realising he’d caught your attention, he grinned “I could have just handed you over to them and let them interrogate you in whatever way they wanted” he was really trying to rub it in.

Crouching down to be at your eye level, he peered at you through the glass, “If you give me information on the Heroes plans and operations, I can prove to them that you’re not a threat and they’ll leave us alone and we can be happy” his voice had swiftly changed from anger to kindness, he was pleading with you.

“I will never help a villain, let them kill me” you shifted your body so it was leaning towards the glass to make sure that he could see how serious you were.

Running his hand down his face, he stood back up again leaving you to look up at him “I’m only going to ask this once, what are Endeavour’s plans?” his jaw tightened and he waited for you to answer.

You pushed yourself up off the ground unsteadily and strutted over to the glass, leaning your body against it and staring at him dead in the eye “I’ll never tell you” you spat, refusing to back down.

He shook his head lightly and moved his eye line to the ground, “I really didn’t want to resort to this” he muttered, when he raised his head to peer at your angry features his eyes were soft and for a second you believed him. 

“Actually, I really did” he smirked and leaned out of sight, you heard a mechanical thump from over your head.

Taglist:

@mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law @hereticpriest @enagmaticether @anxiousgoddest

[its-sixxers]

Harmonics

Charon once played guitar - a scrap of information more precious than gold. The Lone Wanderer recalls it in the depths of her grief. Both realize that even in the wasteland, neither of them are alone. Charon x Female LW, pre-relationship.

Sorta sequel to Hobbies.

AO3 Link

Charon had mentioned he once played guitar.

Scraps of information about him were rare as intact books and Lizzy was intent on building herself a library with what was offered. Information about what he liked was most precious of all - it took her a couple of weeks to even persuade him to talk about anything beyond his contract, and a couple of months to get him talking about his own personal desires. While the faded slip of paper she kept in the inner pocket of her vault suit said otherwise, she and Charon were equals. She wanted to get him a gift to prove it.

The best part about gifts was the surprise, to Lizzy, and so tracking down a guitar presented a thorny problem indeed. Time spent apart from Charon was scant, and he seemed tense the few times she told him to go do as he pleased. When questioned on it, he said it was always more comfortable for him to stick around and her heart hurt to imagine just what was done to make him feel that way.

Still, she took advantage of what time she had - chatting to Rivet City merchants about possible sightings while Charon was distracted, slipping Crazy Wolfgang fifty caps to keep an eye out as Charon inspected a shotgun grip. Lizzy lingered in the magazine and instrument sections of libraries, sneaking reading material into her bag to figure out just what went into making a guitar work. She even made up an excuse to get them into the area of Agatha’s cabin so that she could check in with the violinist and see if her plan was feasible - and found to her delight that yes, it was.

Crazy Wolfgang eventually came through for her with the guitar, and she enlisted Butch’s help in delivering it unseen. To Lizzy’s despair, the strings were broken or rusted away, but Butch reassured her that at least the body was good, giving it a rap with his knuckles to prove his point. So her search narrowed from a guitar to strings, and even as her work for her father and the Brotherhood picked up she kept an eye out for her quarry. The nights she spent in Megaton (growing increasingly rare, with how much DC needed her) saw her sanding out splinters from the guitar body and varnishing it as best she could. Lizzy winced to see that polish only seemed to bring out a bloodstain on the thing more, but supposed Charon wouldn’t mind.

Blood was just another part of living in the wasteland, natural as snow or rain.

Lizzy soon learned the full breadth of what that meant, and the guitar was forgotten.

Her father’s death made her forget a lot of things - forget why she was trying to put one foot in front of the other, forget that her suffering was echoed by so many other poor souls out in the world. Weeks were spent in a hazy state, eating only at Charon’s urging and starting to dip into the few bottles of alcohol she’d collected. The growing cold outside mirrored the numbness that was spreading through her after she found she had no tears left to cry.

Charon spent more time apart from her out of necessity - it was he who went to see what the caravans had now, who went to Gob’s Saloon to find out the news, who even braved getting them raw meals from the Brass Lantern. When she slept in (slept was a generous term, for she often spent upwards of an hour lying limply in bed in the morning) he’d place a large hand on her shoulder to wake her. His contract meant he had to keep her alive - at least, that was what she told herself. Nothing more.

It was when Charon was out doing yet another thing that used to be her responsibility that she heard a knock on the door. Lizzy dragged herself from the couch where she’d been re-reading the same sentence of her book for the past thirty minutes and tugged open the front door of her Megaton home.

Butch stood with his leather jacket zipped up and knit mittens on his hands, holding a small box. Snowflakes stuck to his pompadour as he fell, and with every exhale his breath puffed out in a fog, reminding her of how they pretended it was smoke back in the vault’s freezer as children. Lizzy could remember the look of horror on her father’s face when he discovered them, her own bewilderment as to how the place could be dangerous. She flinched from the memory, and her dry eyes stung.

“Hey.” Butch said, his smile faltering at the sight of her. While not vain by any means, Lizzy had always placed importance on looking professional and put together - now she couldn’t remember the last time she brushed her hair.

“Hey.” she replied flatly, hand leaning limply against the doorway, subconsciously trying to bar him from entering. Lizzy couldn’t bear the sight of his smile, how it reminded her of the vault, of times when it felt like she’d follow in her father’s footsteps and everything was warm and bright. The fact that she felt such a way toward her best friend in the world filled her with guilt, her cup already overflowing. Guilt was the one emotion that broke through the numbness, and she was drowning in it.

“I found something in Rivet City Supply.” he began. “Had to cash in a favor with Seagrave, but I thought you’d like to see.”

In spite of herself, Lizzy’s eyes dropped to the box in his hands, curiosity sparking for the briefest of moments. Butch moved his thumb from the label, and in faded ink she could read “BKM Guitar Strings”. The cellophane window of the box was still intact, and within she could see shining metal strings.

“You came all this way…” Lizzy’s throat was dry from lack of use, most of the communication she’d done with Charon nonverbal. “... to give me these?”

“I know you were looking for them.” Butch looked over her shoulder and into the house, likely searching for Charon judging by what he said next. “For the big guy.” He held the box out to her, and she took it from him. “I’m gonna be staying up at Gob’s for the next couple’a days. I’d stay and chat now, but Moira wants to interview me about hairstyling.” He made a display of rolling his eyes, and Lizzy knew he was just making up an excuse.

It was a feeling the two of them shared, pain from family. A wish to keep their grief hidden, to keep it manageable and clean. For all the teasing he’d done to her in their childhood, he knew precisely when and how to dodge a painful subject entirely.

Sensation hummed in her fingertips, brushing the old cardboard and tingling in the cold. Lizzy nodded. “I’ll stop by.” she said, not entirely certain it was a lie. The guitar. She’d forgotten about the guitar, an idea born of the time before, when the sun wasn’t so cold and remote. Now the project was rekindled in her mind, something separate from the cloud that loomed over her.

Butch tilted his chin up in acknowledgement. “Say hi to the big guy for me.”

“You’ll probably see him on your way out.”

“He’s a hard guy to miss, I’ll give you that.” He laughed, turning back to Megaton’s many platforms. He cast her one last concerned look over his shoulder before she shut the door.

Lizzy moved faster than she had in weeks, the metal stairwell echoing from her hurried footsteps. She took the box into her room and shut the door before falling to her knees and crawling forward to her bed. Setting the box upon the mattress she set her palms flat against the cold metal floor, finding the panel she was looking for and pulling it open, revealing a floor compartment. Within were her most treasured possessions - her mother’s holotapes, the photographs from her tenth and sixteenth birthdays with Dad and Jonas, Butch’s first leather jacket. With them were items of value - an engraved magnum, an intact camera and film, a half empty bottle of scotch, and the guitar body. Lizzy pulled it out of the hidden floor compartment and retrieved a rolled up instructional booklet from inside of it.

The next two hours were spent sat on her bed with necessary tools in hand, stringing the guitar. Idle hands are the devil’s playthings, the saying went - and with her hands put to work Lizzy was incapable of thinking of the guilt that threatened to drown her. At some point Charon returned, and his knock at her door startled her terribly.

Lizzy froze, vaguely recollecting that surprise was a large part of why she’d gone to such lengths. If she was discovered now, all the work had been for nothing - and she couldn’t bear something else hoped for being snuffed out. To her relief, Charon did not try to enter. She must have made a noise when he startled her, for he seemed satisfied enough that she was still alright judging by his retreating footsteps.

Soon after her work was complete, and she almost wept on the instrument from relief. So much work, so much time, and now she had something in her arms to show for it, unlike…

Unlike…

It reminded her why venturing out of her carefully constructed bubble was a mistake, for she had no cushioning, no numb protection to the raw assault of memory. A hand pressed to glass, fingerprints on the glass, the geiger counter, the geiger counter -

The bath faucet in the other room turned on, the movement of the water through pipes gently rattling the wall the bathroom shared with her room. It brought her back to the present, staring down at the guitar. Lizzy mopped at her wet cheeks, clinging to the last stage of her project. The gifting itself. Thinking up solutions to the problem crowded out her memory - Charon only took what was directly offered to him if it was ammunition or a grenade. With food or medical supplies, she’d have to make a point of having it appear as if she was doing it for her own sake and creating plausible deniability - a gift of convenience.

When she cracked open her bedroom door, she could hear water splashing from the bathroom next door, the familiar sound of Charon’s large form sinking into it. Even in her state she felt a little swell of happiness to know that he was willing to let himself have such a luxury. Assured he’d be kept busy more than long enough for her to do what she had planned, she picked up the guitar by the neck and crept downstairs into the living room. A fire crackled away happily in the wood burning stove in the corner devoted to the kitchen, and the ground floor was much warmer than her room. It was too warm - too close to reminding her what times before felt like, and so she hurried. Approaching the couch, she set the guitar down in Charon’s favorite spot, in front of the blanket Moira had crocheted her as a housewarming present.

As soon as she was certain the guitar wasn’t going to fall over, she retreated back into the familiar territory of her bedroom. The chill washed over her, icing out not just the wave of memory threatening to drown her again but the fluttering embers of joy her work had given her.

Lizzy stumbled over to her bed and fell upon the mattress. The haze began anew.

When she returned downstairs in the night to grab a bottle of water, the guitar was gone.

--

Charon didn’t mention the gift, but the next day he woke her with breakfast and an announcement.

“I believe it is best that we go somewhere today.”

Lizzy hauled herself upright and looked at him blankly, her fork scooping up small portions of instamash. “Where?”

While his stony posture and expression didn’t change, she heard him exhale in relief. “Gob’s. They think I’ve kidnapped you.”

“Mm.” she hummed, finding she didn’t feel strongly one way or another. Lizzy didn’t protest when Charon handed her a brush in exchange for her empty plate, and soon she was bundled up and shuffling through the snow to Gob’s Saloon.

Butch was eating breakfast, and Nova’s face lit up to catch sight of her. She poked her head into the back room, and soon Gob was walking out of the kitchen wiping his hands with a rag. Charon placed a hand to the small of Lizzy’s back and gave her a gentle nudge forward.

The next period of time - Lizzy had lost the ability to gauge its passage - was a mirror world of normal circumstance - now it was Lizzy giving short and clipped responses to any conversation, and Charon exchanging longer sentences. What was discussed left her memory the moment it was spoken, and soon enough Charon was tugging her hat back over her ears and guiding her back outside.

“Charon.” Lizzy murmured, when they were back outside. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Is that an order?”

“No.”

He nodded briefly, strands of patchy red hair falling across his brow. “It is my duty to protect you.”

It was all he offered in reply, and she accepted it as she always did.

Going out was a mistake, she realized that night - new color was given to her nightmares, the armored men who’d broken into the Memorial breaking into the Saloon as she visited, the scene melting into Butch, Gob, and Nova staring up at her with glassy eyes, melting into her father’s kind face, gone slack, the tick tick tick ramping into a metallic screech with exploding rads, Charon’s arms tugging her away-

Charon.

Lizzy blearily opened her eyes, greeted by the sight of her room illuminated in the deep blue of early dawn. It was a welcome sight, an escape from the nightmare, and she lay with her cheek crushed against the mattress staring at the wall until the blue light started to tinge pink and sleep threatened to claim her once again.

Movement had to be made, and with great effort Lizzy untangled herself from the blankets, coiled around her from the thrashing she’d no doubt done in her sleep. When she opened her door she was surprised to find the door across the hall that led to Charon’s room was wide open, granting her a rare glimpse of his spartan quarters. He never needed to sleep much, but the pre-dawn was early even for him. The change made a bubble of dread rise in her throat - and she walked to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face.

The pipes groaned when she turned the tap, the water cold enough to make her gasp when she splashed it on her face with cupped hands. It shocked her out of her dream state and brought reality into sharp focus.

In her new clarity, she could hear something faint coming from downstairs once the pipes had settled, and it took her a few moments to register that it was music. It sounded nothing like the radio, lacking distortion and also entirely different from anything played on it. Guitar strings, plucked one by one in a simple melody. Lizzy took a few steps out onto the landing, and peered as far over the railing as she dared to the living room.

Charon sat on the couch with the guitar in his lap, dwarfed by his large form. He was twisting the metal tabs on the guitar’s head, plucking a few notes, then twisting another - she recalled from the books she’d read that he was tuning it, something she lacked the knowledge and equipment to do. The metal floor panel beneath her right foot creaked, and he lifted his gaze to meet hers.

Caught out, she froze, horrified that she’d made a misstep and seen something she shouldn’t have - but Charon just dropped his attention back to the guitar, unperturbed. He plucked a few more notes before giving the guitar a single strum. The sound reverberated through her small shack, and caused goosebumps to rise on the back of her neck.

When the echo of the strum faded he started playing properly, and Lizzy found herself slowly descending the stairs, the torn hem of her nightgown trailing behind her. Slowly she approached the living room, feet thankful to move from cold metal to throw rug. The music was a siren song, simple and warm notes intertwining in a rhythmic and almost hypnotic pattern. Truly hypnotizing was seeing Charon’s hands at work, large fingers suddenly dextrous and precise, hands that seemed built to destroy dancing up and down the guitar neck.

Another low sound joined the melody, and it took her a moment to realize Charon was humming, a bassy rumble of thunder. It had her sinking into the armchair across from the couch, and still Charon did not seem to mind - his attention was caught in his music, the few glances he cast her way seeming more incidental than anything.

Then he began to sing.

Not in a language she could understand - at first she thought he’d made up the sounds, so musically did it flow, but soon she recognized it had the same intonations and cadence as the few unfamiliar terms he’d used around her before. He sang as lowly as he spoke, warm and rasping as a campfire. The melody was terribly melancholy, but to her surprise Lizzy found it did not make her sad.

It made her feel understood.

The two of them sat only a few feet apart, the ambient blue light fading into the pink of sunrise. Shafts of golden light spilled through the holes in the roof. In the warmth of dawn, even Charon’s features were softened. For those few minutes the small space seemed another world, their exteriors cut open and bared to the other, each observing but saying nothing. When he made eye contact with her after trailing off of a particularly low and mournful note, she realized that she did not suffer alone.

Something about it comforted her. When at last Charon placed his palm over the strings to silence them and set the guitar aside, she inhaled sharply as she had when she splashed the cool water onto her face.

“What was it about?” she asked quietly, and to her surprise he smiled tiredly at her - a rarer sight than diamonds.

“A warning.”

Lizzy stared at him for several moments, watching the muscles in his jaw work - as if trying to work up the words to say something more. Whatever battle he fought, he lost.

“Thank you.” she said, more a whisper than anything - but he heard it in the still silence of dawn.

Charon nodded, breaking eye contact and staring at his lap for a few moments before standing. “I will get us some food.”

“No, it’s okay.” Lizzy interjected, at last finding it in her to smile. “I’ll make it.”