#i had troubl again w tumbl what a surprise. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

skylarmoon71 · 2 years ago

Text

Miguel O' Hara (Across the Spider-Verse) AU- Oneshot

Word Count: 7k+. Opps, I did it again XD

Enjoy!

Life really had a way of throwing you into the blender.

First you had to deal with your jerk of a boss who apparently didn’t do much but scowl and give demands without a single thank you.

Not one!

But that's besides the point.

Your current predicament was much more dire than a self centered superior.

“PLEASE DON’T KILL ME I’M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!!”

Case in point.

You are presently in the air being carried by some man in spandex and as he swings through the streets of New York. You were clutching onto him while screaming and trying to break free. None of which he seemed to like because his head turned in your direction and the red markings on his navy color suit just made you that more terrified.

“Would you stop yelling I’m trying to save your life!!”

He sounds pissed and when he finally releases you, it’s after he’s landed safely on the top of a very high building.

In his defense, he did stop you from being attacked. Most people knew better than to walk the streets of New York that late. You’d just been dealing with so much. The second he’s no longer holding you, you grip your purse, scampering to a corner. There’s really no way for you to run and when he straightens to his full height, it does nothing to ease your nerves.

“It’s stupid to be out on your own this late.”

His lecture kind of pisses you off.

“I thought you said you were helping me! What kind of hero talks trash to the person they are saving!!”

“I never said I was a hero.”

“Yeah, well good, you would suck at it anyway. I-I didn’t even need your help.”

“Por supuesto.”

The little grumble in Spanish catches your attention and you inch away from your cowering position, recognition flashing over your features.

“No way..”

A part of you thinks it’s a delusion, but you know that voice. That exasperated tone. You heard it too often not to recognize it.

He’s still standing there clearly agitated, but when you no longer look scared, his body language shifts.

“M-Mr. O’ Hara!!”

You yell in surprise. He turns his back abruptly.

“You got the wrong person.”

It sounds like he’s trying to mask his voice now and you growl, charging at him.

“Oh no you don’t!”

It’s clear he doesn’t expect you to fully attack him, when you jump on his back, he stumbles.

“W-What the hell are you doing get off me!!”

You grab the top of his mask and when you yank it off. Those thick brown locks are hard to miss. He turns to you in surprise.

“ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!”

Of all the people, why did it have to be him?

He shrugs you off, and you almost tumble, but he grabs your arm before you fully meet the concrete. His glare is fixated on you. Much like the other times in his office, you feel so small under it.

“Give me back my mask.”

It doesn’t take a genius to see that he’s pissed. You hand it to him shakily and he runs a hand over his head with an aggravated huff. This wasn’t making any sense.

“W-Why are you running around the city as a vigilante..”

His gaze is still somewhat boring to you.

“The better question is why the hell are you out this late with no protection. Are you really that reckless? You were basically asking for trouble. “

“Y-You have some nerve!! You’re the one that gave me the shitload of entrance forms and told me to have it done by Monday. You think I enjoy getting mugged!!”

Maybe it was the darkness playing tricks on you, but for a second he actually looked a bit guilty. It disappeared within a second, and you were once again being hoisted into his arms. You screamed.

“P-Put me down!!”

“Stop fighting me, I'm going to take you back to your home!!”

You intended to protest, but then you realized you were in fact on the top of a very large building that you would not be able to climb down on your own.

“I guess that finally shut you up.”

You had every intention of firing a response, but he took off in the air again and you could only shut your eyes as you tried not to look down at the daunting buildings. Miguel’s eyes strayed only for a moment when he felt you bury your face deeper into his chest. He brushed off the thought that ran across his mind the second it appeared, focusing on getting you back.

That night was eye opening for the both of you. Not only were you an assistant for the world’s most grumpiest boss, but apparently you were also his accomplice in crime.

In his case it was more justice..maybe?

You were still trying to wrap your head around the whole vigilante situation. That’s why you decided that you were going to be anywhere he wasn’t. You couldn’t continue working there knowing who he was.

“He’s crazy if he thinks I’m staying.”

You’d already quit and you were at home packing up your things. The plan was to move to another state and start fresh. You could do temp jobs until you found a solid one.

“Where exactly do you think you’re going?”

Your screech must have been heard from every floor.

“H-How did you get into my house!!”

“Your bedroom window was open.”

“What kind of psycho does that!!”

You grabbed a mug from the box, chugging it at him in which he caught easily, placing it on the table nearby. You swallow when he approaches. His stature has always been intimidating, but now, it’s more daunting. Knowing what he was fully capable of was terrifying. It didn’t help that he was wearing that suit again. Something about the way those eyes were painted over just had you so unsettled. The design of his outfit was just as unnerving as his personality.

“Do you really think I would let you leave my company with all you know? You’re my assistant and since we’re both in a compromising position, there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight. You know my secret. Knowledge is power.”

You shook your head.

“P-Please, I promise I won’t say a word to anyone. J-Just let me go. You won’t ever hear from me or see me again I swear.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I wish I could take your word for it. But you’re a liability that I can’t afford. “

You managed a glare.

“Y-You can’t force me to do anything!”

He turned his palm over and when he drew those claws, you could physically feel your heart stop for a second.

“Try me.”

He approaches and you stagger backwards in an attempt to run, but in a matter of seconds, you're pinned to the door. Miguel leers down at you.

“I know where you live, who you are and where you might run to. So I insist that you reconsider my offer Ms. Caine.”

From his tone, you really don’t have a choice.

You’re stuck.

That’s how the partnership started. You showed up the very next day, and the whispers were non-stop. A lot of people speculated that there was an affair, or that you were almost taken by another company. There’s a long list of rumors and assumptions. You should have been more affected by the voices, but all you could think about was him. Your ill tempered jerk of a boss who was basically holding you hostage.

“Why did it have to be him!!”

Of all the people, why did he have to be the vigilante?

Following the encounter you conducted some very in depth research. As it turns out, Miguel was actually cleaning the streets of New York, both with his companies and his skills. It was bad enough that he was a pompous rich guy. He just had to be a superhero too. It was infuriating.

He got to spend his day bossing you around and then his nights kicking the butt of bad guys. You didn’t understand how such an unlikeable man could be doing such good deeds. There was no press in it for him if he was insistent on keeping his identity a secret. Honestly, with what he was capable of, he could have turned into a crime boss. With some of the things you saw on youtube, the man was next to unstoppable.

Incredible.

You would have admired the cause if you didn’t know who was under the mask.

“What are you doing?”

You blink.

You hadn’t realized that you’d completely zoned out. You turn your head, getting back to work organizing his files.

“Nothing.” You mutter.

Miguel is at his desk, and you’re shuffling through his cabinets as you put everything where it belongs.

“I hope you’re not getting any crazy ideas. “ He stands and you tense up because you think he’s about to head right over to you and tell you off, maybe offer another threat.

“Have my schedule for this month done by today.”

Your eyes widen.

“S-Sir, that's impossible. I usually take at least three days to have everything sorted.”

“You better get to work then.”

You aren’t given a chance to retaliate because he’s already out the door, heading off to another meeting. You’re beyond pissed. Not just for the inconvenience that being his assistant has always brought, but the sheer fact that tonight you actually had a date and this is the third time you’re canceling. You slide out your phone begrudgingly.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be working late again. Could we maybe meet on Saturday.”

The response you get is almost immediate.

“I don’t think this is going to work.”

That’s all the message says. You try to respond, but it appears he’s blocked you.

“AHHHH WHY ME!!

You can’t really blame the guy. Neither of you had met yet, but you’d spent the last two times explaining why you couldn't make it. All because your boss is a grade A asshole.

The next few hours you drown yourself in tasks. The only good thing this man has ever done is make your office fairly close to his. Throughout the day you move back and forth. Even when Miguel returns, you don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing your displeasure. At this point it’s obvious he doesn’t really care. When your friends had warned you about taking the job five months ago you should have listened. Everyone heard the rumors of him being a difficult person to work with but you wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. That and the pay was amazing. So you just dove in because you knew rumors weren’t always true. As it turns out he wasn’t difficult.

He’s insufferable.

Regardless of your situation you continued to do your job. You’d only stopped when you happened to glance at your cell phone. It wasn’t strange for you to work late. There was a knock on the door and the person that stepped in didn’t even look surprised.

“Figured it was you? Working late again.”

You let out a heavy sigh.

“Yeah, I’m just about to wrap up. Thanks for bringing me back to earth John.” He nods, stepping inside. He pulls out something from his pocket.

“Here, my Elizabeth made this for you. She’s just recently got into bracelet making.” Your eyes lit up at the bead style accessory with your name on each colored bead.

“It’s so cute!”

John smiles.

“My wife wouldn’t stop gushing about the outfit you bought for Elizabeth either. You’re basically a part of the family now. Don’t work too hard kid.” He gave you a little pat on the shoulder, and you smiled in thanks, sliding the little gift into your bag.

That small interaction had already brightened up your night. You cleaned up the space, exiting the building in a few minutes. On your way back, you couldn’t stop the little giggles at the thought of John’s family. He’d spent the first few months of her birth showing everyone pictures of his kid and wife, it was endearing.

You envied it

At this rate you wouldn’t get there because Miguel wouldn’t offer you even a chance to breathe. You tried your best not to dwell on that. Increasing your pace. Whenever you got out this late it always made you weary. You needed to take the train back to your place and all the creeps tended to come out at these hours. You buzzed right by a bar, keeping your head down to avoid drawing any unwanted attention.

Fate wasn’t too kind because for the last five minutes you were certain you’d felt the same figure following you. Your heart rate increased and you clutched your pace, speeding up. For a moment you turned behind and when the lights flashed on the street, you could see a smirk on his lips. At this point you were full on panicking. This particular street was vacant, so throwing caution to the wind, you began sprinting the best you could in heels.

Better to look crazy than to be attacked.

You took one turn and you were pushed against the wall. You staggered, hitting it roughly. Just as you moved to pull out your pepper spray you were punched in the gut. Your body hit the floor like a brick, and you gasped when the man jumped on top of you, holding you down.

“Pretty thing like you shouldn’t be out so late.”

The taunting in his voice just spiked your pulse faster and you tried to fight him off, you really did.

“H-HEL-”

His hand pressed against your lips and he ripped your blouse. The tears were coming before you could stop them.

“Be quiet and you just might leave here alive.”

Dread struck you.

This was it.

He was too strong, you were too tired and weak. You hadn’t even had a full lunch. The stress from your job had been weighing on your mind so much that you hadn’t realized how exhausted you really were. Now you were about to be assaulted in the back of some alleyway.

Your sobs continued and he began moving his hands lower. You weren’t even sure if you were fighting anymore or if you’d just given up.

One second he’s on top of you and the next you hear a grunt. The weight is gone almost instantly, and you briefly process the sound of punches making contact. Each one that hits makes you jolt. You’re still actively crying, now pressed to the wall as you pray for help.

One last hit and something hits the ground. Your entire body is shaking, and when the figure rises from over the man who’s now laying on the ground, you want to scream. You wonder if you’d just escaped one monster to get jumped by another. He steps out from the shadows and the crimson and navy patterns are the first thing you see. It’s a breath of relief that leaves in an instant.

“You’re-”

He barely gets a word out, because you run right into his arms.

Crying.

Bawling.

Miguel looks down at your state. Your clothes are a mess and he can still feel you trembling. You’re holding unto him as if you never want to let go.

“This is my fault.”

If he hadn’t been such a jerk about getting his tasks done you would have been home safely like all the other employees. You were attacked again and it was all his fault. Sliding his arm under your legs, he lifted you up. His free hand slicks a web to grab your bag. The second he has it all secured, he’s gone in the darkness of the night.

After he’d dropped you home, you seemed a lot more settled. He’d given specific instructions about reporting your attacker and he made it his mission to head back there and kick the guy some more just for the hell of it.

At the moment, he’d found himself just watching you. There was still a slight tremble when he looked at you, but you’d thanked him and turned around. You were a mess, he could understand why. So he stayed. You didn’t ask him to, but he caught the look of relief you wore when you stepped out the bathroom and he was still standing by the bed. He watched you get tucked in and had every intention of leaving, but you grabbed his arm.

“Can you..stay just a little longer…”

The vulnerability displayed made him feel like shit. Right about now he would have loved to see you yell at him or fire a crafty insult. Anything other than the pain you were now experiencing.

“I’ll stay as long as you want.”

He owed you so much more than that.

For the very first time, you actually smiled. Not at a coworker or some friend, but at him. You slid into the bed, and he could see your features begin to even out with the sounds of your breath. Some point early that morning he’d finally gotten himself to leave.

That’s why the following morning he’s anxious. He knows that you probably won’t show up. But he’s not certain if he should drop by to check on you or simply just call.

The soft knock makes his head raise.

“Come in.”

Someone does walk in, to his surprise it’s you. You’re holding his calendar that he’d been adamant of you finishing.

“Good morning Mr. O’ Hara.”

He stands almost out of impulse. You look physically alright, but that expression from last night is engraved in his mind. You walk right over so casually. It almost makes him wonder if he imagined the entire ordeal.

“I finished your calendar. It’s been fully updated. I also adjusted it on your computer. You should receive the updates in a few minutes with a link to forward it directly to your phone as well. Your 10 am has been pushed to 11am today because the benefactor is currently stuck in traffic due to an accident on the main highway. He sends his apologies.”

You place the binder on his desk.

“I set all the new applicants for the internship on your desk for you to look over. The interviews went very well, but we only have six positions open. I made notes to help you get a better understanding of the individuals. Is there anything else you need at this moment before I go for a small break? I skipped breakfast this morning. “

He’s not sure what to make of this.

“Are you..is this..”

He can’t really form a proper answer.

You hold his gaze for a few moments, then look down.

“I filed the report this morning at the precinct. They found him tied to a post on ninth avenue. He’ll be charged accordingly thanks to you.” You still refuse to look at him.

“Thank you so much for..saving me..”

It sounds like you’re about to cry again and he grits his teeth.

“It’s my fault you were in the position in the first place. From now on you leave here at 6pm for the latest, do you hear me!”

It’s a very sweet gesture, but he’s yelling. It’s become clear that he’s not truly a heartless asshole, he’s just not good at communicating when he’s worried about someone.

“Yes, I will. Thank you Mr. O’ Hara.”

He grumbles, running a hand through his hair, taking a seat. Now that the atmosphere is much more mellow, you can’t help but ask.

“So how did you get your powers? Were you bitten by a cat-spider?”

He looks annoyed.

“Are you serious?”

“Well you have spider webs shooting out of your hands and you have claws and fangs. Plus I'm positive your eyes changed color last time.”

You place your hand on the desk, leaning over as you squint at him.

He’s a little unsettled by how intently you're looking at him now. He doesn’t like the way his heart reacts to the attention.

“Get back to work before I change my mind and make you work until the morning.”

“You can’t do that, it’s against company policy.” You fold your arms proudly.

“I own the company.”

Damn, you forgot about that.

Dropping your arms, you brush it off.

“You wouldn’t do that. I can tell that you’re starting to warm up to me. I think this whole tough guy act is just a charade. You’re actually a teddy bear aren’t you.”

“Please leave my office.”

“See, you don’t deny it!”

“GET OUT!!”

“Okay okay I’m going.”

You make a sharp turn, happily walking to the door. When you’re halfway out, you look back at him. He expects another snide remark, but your expression is nothing but warm.

“Thank you again for last night sir.”

It’s just above a whisper. For a moment he’s taken in how nice it feels to be thanked by you. With one last smile, you leave.

Miguel frowns.

“Meirda..”

He never thought he’d ever really trust anyone. Especially with the secret he holds. He’d gotten so good at keeping others at a distance. You finding out was never the plan. But it was surprisingly easier when he didn’t have to lie about his whereabouts to an unsuspecting assistant. Especially when he showed up at random times in the morning, covering it with poorly made excuses of sleeping in or unplanned meetings.

To his surprise you’d even gotten him a small wardrobe in his office to keep an array of business suits. It was after that one time he realized that he couldn’t show up to a meeting dressed as Spiderman.

This particular afternoon he was actually working on a crime syndicate he’d intended to take down. He had the files and pictures he needed to bring them down. Now it was just a matter of linking it all to the politician he was certain behind the whole operation. You walked in, carrying two bags of what looked like chinese food.

“You should have dinner. I’m just about to leave.”

He was relieved you were now sticking to the agreed time. That moment felt so far in the past.

“Thank you, I’ll be done in a second.”

He barely gave another glance after he said that. You dropped the food on his desk, but he noticed you hadn’t moved. Raising a brow, he looks up.

“Is there something else?”

You shook your head.

“Not really, I just think you’d have an easier time getting a date if you spoke to people like this rather than barking orders all the time.”

“WHO SAYS I HAVE A PROBLEM GETTING A DATE!!”

You grin.

“That defensive response just proved it. Besides this is a cooperation. People talk.”

“I should fire you all.”

You just laugh.

“Then who would keep this place afloat. I doubt you’d be able to be out there galavanting and run an entire company all by yourself.” You tease.

“I’d manage somehow.”

He directs his focus back to his work, and you admire him. For so long you’d convinced yourself that he was just a narcissist that enjoyed making others miserable. But the truth of the matter is he was shouldering quite a lot. If word got out of his nightly adventures, he could lose a lot. Regardless of how rich he is, there would be consequences.

The media would probably run his name through the mud, then when he finally picked up the pieces, his image would be tarnished. In an instant he could potentially lose all of this. Yet he still went out there to protect people. Suddenly his distant personality makes sense.

“Why do you do it?”

You can’t help but ask. His eyes don’t move from the computer.

“You seem to have everything figured out, why don't you tell me?” His sarcastic reply is what you expect.

“I think it’s because of what happened to your brother.”

He stops altogether.

It looks like you were right.

“After that night I found out I did a little research. He was a reporter and a good one. He uncovered that Alchemax was using lower class people to experiment on. He got too close and they killed him for it. A month after the whole thing was brought to light. Families were reunited and reimbursed by an anonymous source. They honored Micheal O’ Hara down at city hall. If not for him, no one would have known. “

His entire body is tense, and when his gaze finally meets you, there’s a strange vulnerability that you’ve never witnessed before.

“He wasn’t supposed to die like that. I kept telling him to let it go. But he never listened. We both know what it’s like to be taken advantage of when you don’t have much. Micheal was always fighting for the underdogs. He didn’t live in a big suite or mansion even though he was making six figures. He donated most of his funds to the orphanage that we grew up in."

You’re a bit shocked to learn of his background.

“Surprised that I wasn’t born into wealth.”

You nod.

“A little, yeah.”

“Micheal and I grew up dirt poor. Parents abandoned us when we were three. We spent those years on the streets until social services caught us and forced us into the system. Almost got separated. We promised that if we ever made it big, then we’d give back.”

This is quite the discovery. You always assumed he was linked to so many nonprofits to help his image, but he was actually making good on the promise. His eyes drifted to a picture on his desk, and you stare at the image of him with another man who bore a striking resemblance to him. Both men were grinning so widely.

“People are scum, but he wasn’t. He was the greatest person in the world. He died doing what was right.”

You could see the pride as he spoke.

“That’s the only thing I care about.”

Who would have thought. You have a newfound respect for him.

“Micheal would be proud of you. I know it.”

You find yourself reaching over and placing a hand over his on the desk. Miguel looks up, shaken by how easily your smile causes his thoughts to jumble.

You give a soft pat, pulling away.

“Well I’m turning in. Have a good night sir.”

Miguel stands abruptly and you slow your steps.

“Everything okay?” You question.

He nods.

“Yes. Just..let me take you home.”

You tilt your head in confusion. You’ve been going home alone for the last month or so. It was a bit scary at the beginning, but you are better now.

“You really don’t have to. I’m fine, I promise. “

“I want to.”

If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought that expression on his face was bashful.

“I didn’t know he could wear such a cute expression..”

You push back the thought.

“I’ll go grab my things.”

You pace out of there, slapping your cheeks for almost giving you away.

“Calm down, he’s just being nice!”

That’s what you were trying to convince yourself.

But for the nights that followed, he kept driving you home. It has gotten to the point that it was routine. He’d wrap up his work and then drive you back. It was weird being this close with him. He was maybe ten years your senior. You always knew that, but it seems like recently you started to take notice of the way he did things that just oozes maturity.

His gait, the way he spoke during conferences or meetings. The sharp suits. You’d been so fixated on the bad qualities at the start that you wrote off him having any good ones. He was so put together. Sure of himself. Whatever he did there was no doubt or uncertainty. Whether it be closing a contract or addressing an unreasonable client.

Although it was a change, it’s nice to see the different sides of him.

Like that one time you caught him singing to himself. You both had been working to close a contract, so it’s not shocking that he’s distracted. His door was slightly ajar, and the soft tune is what drew you inside

Ya hacen día' que no' vemos

Y creo que un tesoro encontré

¿Será verdad? Aún no lo proceso

Es que eres tal como te soñé

You were surprised to find out that he had a pretty nice voice.

Cuando me ve, no le tengo que decir

Si mi sonrisa no sabe mentir

Lo que no sabe es que mi sueño me va a cumplir

Si tú me ves y te empieza' a desvestir

Sneaking into the room, you just enjoyed the melodies. He was sitting in his chair, but his back was turned, grabbing something from the shelf at the side. When he got what he needed, he wheeled back to his desk. It’s then he takes notice, and he fumbles, almost falling out of the chair.

Your grin is stretched wide.

“I didn’t know you could sing sir. Quite a nice voice you got there.”

He straightened in the chair, and you could have sworn you saw a light dust of red on his cheeks. It was honestly adorable.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than sneak up on people.”

He stood, getting busy around the room in an attempt to play off his embarrassment.

“I’m pretty much free for the moment.” You hum, walking over to him.

You’d planned to ask if he needed any assistance, but he turned suddenly and you found yourself looking up at his massive form. The way he stared down always seemed to make you feel small. Not so much inferior, just, tiny.

Like he was the lion and you were the mouse.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re built like a bulldozer?”

“It’s come up.” He groused, stepping to the side, staying on task. You turn, following him to the desk.

He might have had a bit of a short fuse, but you were a little surprised he didn’t have a girlfriend.

Possibly relieved.

Miguel picked up his glasses from the desk, slipping them on as he read over a document. You couldn’t help but drink in the sight of him. There were a few stray locks that lay just over his forehead. He’d discarded his jacket and his shirt appeared to strain against his broad shoulders. Even with his perpetual scowl, you couldn’t deny that he is a very very attractive man.

“Are you interested in dating Mr. O’ Hara?”

It was a personal question, but if you were being honest at this point the both of you had already crossed so many boundaries that fell under normal boss-employee relationships.

What’s one more to that?

You can tell by his gaze that he expects some snark that follows on your part. Yet he’s met with nothing but your curious eyes. You looked generally interested in what he thinks of the topic. He stands from his seat, and once again you feel as though you shrink back when he moves into your space.

“What if I was cariño..”

You don’t really expect the lowered tone. His hand comes down on the desk at the sides of your waist and you exhale shakily. Somehow the spectacles on his face had made him ten times more handsome.

That or you have a serious kink.

“I-”

There’a a knock and you both seem to snap out of the short daze.

Miguel draws back and you’re a little afraid to move. Your legs feel a bit unsteady.

“Yes.”

The person enters and you do your best not to look frazzled. It's another manager presenting reports. Miguel dives right into work, exchanging notes.

You just take it all in.

A sudden realization seems to hit you that you no longer see him as the pissy superior you used to detest.

Rather than deal with your new discovery, you decide to just brush it off. Your dynamic with Miguel is already complicated at the moment. It’s better if you just don’t think about it.

Instead, you distract yourself with episodes of your favorite show.

When you’re settled in the comfort of your home, you finally have a chance to decompress.

Grabbing a bowl of popcorn, you got comfortable in your sheets as you got ready to watch a much needed movie marathon with your favorite district attorney.

“Barba for the win.”

You grin to yourself as the episode starts. Just as you were stuffing your face with the buttery goodness, there’s a harsh collision at your window. You’re startled, but you recognize that tall figure.

Pausing your show, you practically toss your bowl to the side.

“Hey did you forget how to land sir.” You joke.

When you fully opened your window, you took in his bloodied form and your heart dropped.

“Sir..”

You reached for him instinctively, guiding him from your balcony into your room. Sliding the window close, you moved him to lean against your bed. It was tough managing his weight.

His breathing didn’t sound that great. The very prominent slashes to his chest were hard to miss. His suit was a mess of materials. There seems to be blood everywhere.

You’ve never seen him this bad before.

He looks like he’s on the verge of death and you have no idea what to do.

“I-I need to call the ambulance, we have to get you to a hospital!”

You’re about to go search for your phone, but he takes your head, halting you. You lower to the floor slowly.

“No..no hospitals.”

His voice is strained.

“T-Then how am I supposed to help you. I-I don’t know what to do. I’m scared. I-I don’t want you to die!”

You’re on the verge of tears and he does his best to straighten his leaning form. He always lectured himself against resorting to this method. He wasn’t even sure why he came here in the first place. It just felt right at the moment. Like no matter what, everything would be alright if he just made it to you.

“I need..blood..your blood..”

It sounds a bit ridiculous. You’re convinced that he’s somewhat delirious. But he doesn’t look hazy, just in pain.

“M-My blood will help?”

He nods, groaning under his breath.

“It plays the same purpose as vitamins or herbal remedies. I don't usually need to ingest blood to survive. But when I’m injured, it helps me recover faster.”

None of it made sense to you, but if this would heal him, then you didn’t care. Miguel tried to look up when you ran into your kitchen. You’re walking back and he sees the knife. He feels a bit panicked.

“W-Wait what are you-’

You slice it across your palm before he says another word, and the red flashes over his usually honey brown eyes. You're on your back in seconds, the knife sliding out of your hand across the floor. You can only stare. Miguel’s tongue darts out and his fangs become visible.

You half expected him to bite you, you’re fully prepared, but he licks instead and your face heats up at the contact. You should be grossed out by this, but the way his wet appendage runs over your digits almost makes you blush. You close your eyes, and just when he pulls back, you wait.

All that follows is a thud.

You jump, because he’s now passed out on the floor. To your relief, the color has begun to return to his features.

You sigh to yourself, because it dawns on you that you can’t leave him here on the ground.

Oh joy.

It took maybe five minutes for you to get him into your bed. The top half of his suit was already pretty torn, so you ripped the remainder, tossing it on the ground. He’s set comfortably and you get busy, grabbing a washcloth and wiping the blood that’s stained on his skin. You would have to toss out all your sheets in the morning, that was for sure. But you can sleep much easier knowing that he’s alive.

At some point in the night you’ve fallen asleep.

You’re shaken awake when you feel movement on the bed.

“Are you going to sleep all morning?”

Rubbing your eyes, you try to adjust to the surroundings. You finally make out the towering form of Miguel.

He’s wearing that usual scowl.

“I guess I have you to thank for the scrap of my suit.”

For a moment you just stare at him. Last night he looked so weak and frail. Now watching him frown as he addressed you is comforting.

You run right into his arms, and he’s frozen.

“You’re okay…”

Miguel finds himself returning the embrace. He never imagined that he would have gotten so close. The both of you had barely been able to stand each other at the start. It was a miracle you both were able to be in the same room together without tearing the building apart.

“Don’t you ever do that again.”

It’s mumbled into his chest. His eyes soften.

“I’ll be more careful from now on. Thank you for taking care of me.”

Possibly the first sincere thing he has said to you. You move back slowly, and when you look up at him, you can see from his expression he’s confused.

“What?”

You shake your head with a little smile.

“I’m just really happy that you’re okay Mr. O’ Hara.”

He never thought he’d hear those words coming out of your mouth. Everything that usually followed those pretty lips of yours often came in the form of a heated insult.

“Her lips..”

His eyes couldn’t help but stray. You look so innocently happy. Miguel gulps and he almost bites into his lips when he feels the dryness that follows in his throat. His hands lay on your shoulders and he pushes you away, lowering his head.

“W-What’s wrong!”

You immediately assume the worst.

He shakes his head.

“I-I’m still recovering. You should keep your distance for the time being.”

You don’t get it, not at first, but then you remember his words from last night.

“Is it because of my blood?”

The cut is still present on your palm where you’d slide the knife. You’d just wrapped it with some gauze.

“It has nothing to do with your blood. I just need to be careful.”

“Then why won’t you look at me? I let you guzzle down some of my delicious iron, the least you could do is say thank you.”

“This isn’t the time, Caine.”

“Just look at me!”

He meets your gaze, but the power behind that stare isn’t what you expect. Nor is the ruby color of his irises.

“This is what you wanted, are you scared?”

He takes one step and you try to move back. It results in you almost falling right onto the bed. His pointed stare is still on you and this time you frown. You hate when he does this. You’ve been around him long enough to know when he’s trying to distance himself. Create that barrier. It's cowardly.

Turning your body, you shove him. You can see the clear shock as he falls right onto your bed. He means to yell at you, but you climb on top and he grows completely silent. Unable to breathe or talk or think.

“The only thing I’m scared of is losing you. Even if you’re a jerk, I care about what happens to you. Someone has to. You refuse to show anyone who you are or how you really feel. I’m done playing this game. I know you care. You care a lot and I think that you..t-that you might actually care about me the same way I care about you. Y-You could have gone anywhere last night but you came here.”

You pin his wrists to the bed the best you could. Given the clear size difference, he can easily push you off the bed.

“I-I’m not moving until you admit it!!”

You’re aware of how childish it sounds, but you couldn’t have imagined it.

His eyes hold uncertainty that you’ve never truly seen. When his gaze falters, a strange feeling erupts in your stomach. He wasn’t fighting back. Even though this was clearly breaking the rules of conduct.

“I care about you..”

It’s said so softly that you almost miss it.

“You do..”

Now he’s glaring.

“You pinned me down and demanded an answer when you weren’t even sure!!”

“Well I had a hunch but I could have been wrong.”

Miguel turns his head in the opposite direction.

“I can’t believe this. I should have fired you when I had the chance.”

You grin at his little mumble.

“Hah, like if. You’re crazy about me. I’m barely holding you down right now yet you haven’t budged. You’re secretly into this kind of stuff aren’t you sir. You want me to hold you down and have my way with you.”

You smirked and he rose to his feet, taking you with him. He was holding you in his arms and he could see the taunt about to follow, so he dropped you back on the bed.

“Oooof!”

Miguel rolled his eyes.

“I’m heading back.”

You scramble off the bed.

“W-Wait you can’t go out like that!”

“My mask is still intact.”

He was right, it’s just his top that was missing.

“You’re half naked, what kind of hero would you be if you went out like that. N-Not a very good one.”

Truthfully you just didn’t want other women seeing his beefy body.

That’s for your eyes only.

“Just stay here. I’m going to run to the store and get you some clothes.”

Before he could protest, you’re out the door.

From the moment he hired you he knew he was in trouble.

#miguel o'hara #spiderman #fluff #humor #boss/employee #across the spiderverse #care #friendship #miguel x reader #admitting feelings #heroes #alternate universe #love #crimefighter #secrets #trust #powers

43 notes · View notes

mcyt-peach · 3 years ago

Text

playground love

*:･ﾟ summary: a surprise visit from Phil's nephew lands you and George a babysitting gig

*:･ﾟ pairing: cc!george x gn!reader

*:･ﾟ warnings: mentions of injury, mentions of marriage (joke)

*:･ﾟ note: love George but you can't deny this man would be frustrating to work with because he'd keep falling asleep

*:･ﾟ series masterlist

"Y/n! George! Can you come up here for a bit?" Phil’s voice sounded out from the office window that overlooked the store.

"God I hope we’re not in trouble." George mumbles, climbing the stairs, still tired despite the slow day.

"What, afraid he’s gonna call you out for napping during your shift?"

"That was one time!" He tries to keep his exasperated tone quiet as the two of you approach Phil’s office.

"I’d like you both to meet my nephew, Michael!" Phil smiles, patting the back of a small child who's staring at his feet and tugging the bottom of his shirt. "Sorry to spring it on you two, but you’ll have to babysit him today."

You and George quickly share a look before Phil tacks on, "Don’t worry, he’s very well behaved." Another look was shared between you too, causing Phil to sigh and concede, "Fine, you can pick first for next week’s shifts."

You squat down beside the boy and give him a gentle smile. "Hi Michael, my name’s Y/n!"

The boy barely glances up at you and only mutters a polite "Hello Y/n."

George mirrors your stance and sends a small smile your way. "Hey buddy! Do you like coloring?"

Michael’s head snaps up as his eyes widen. You can't help but let out a slight laugh at his cute expression.

Both boys tear off towards the stairs as you shout a "Be careful!" after them. The sound of a tumble and then soft crying spurs a sigh from Phil. "Maybe you should get on that."

Right.

At the bottom of the stairs sat a crying Michael and an equally panicked George, who was desperately trying to calm the boy. Michael reached his tiny hands towards you and you brought the small boy into your arms in an attempt to comfort him.

One ice pack and two lollipops later, Michael was as happy as could be. He's perched on a comically large stool, swinging his feet back and forth as he draws next to your coworker.

"George! Why aren’t you drawing? You said you would help!" Michael whines a bit at the boy beside him.

Placing your hand on George’s head and ruffling his hair, you laugh. "That’s because pretty boy over here can’t tell his colors apart. Think you can teach him the colors, Michael?"

The boy’s face splits into a grin as he launches into an animated explanation of the rainbow.

The sound of the front door opening brings you back to the register. After checking out the customer, you feel a slight tug on your pants and look down to find a patiently waiting Michael. Once again, the boy reaches his hands up and you lift him into your grasp.

You give George a questioning look, but find no answer when he mirrors your confusion. Michael pokes your cheek to get your attention, holding a hand up next to your ear.

Leaning towards you, Michael asks, in the loudest whisper you’ve ever heard, "Is George your boyfriend?"

You can feel the shock run through your body at that moment. If you weren’t so utterly confused by this fever dream situation, you’d honestly be impressed by the fact that you didn’t drop the boy the second he asked you that question.

Instead, all you could do was stare at the "boyfriend" in question. His eyes were wide and his jaw might as well have been on the floor. His face was so red you would make a colorblind joke if you had the ability to. When you finally do remember how to speak, you sputter for a moment before managing anything coherent.

"W-what?! Michael, where’d you get that idea?" The boy looks at you with a very confused face, as if you just told him that aliens aren’t real.

"But you said he was pretty! And George said the same thing too. When we were drawing, I told him to draw something pretty and he drew you!" The boy might as well be exposing George’s deepest secrets with how much the Brit is groaning at him to stop.

George thought you were pretty?

"Michael! Your parents are here!" Phil’s voice once again makes an appearance from the office window and Michael hops down from your grasp.

"When you get married, can I come to the wedding?" The boy grins before racing up the stairs to Phil’s office.

Well, this was going to be an awkward shift.

taglist: @cultof-medusa @mooncaffeine @lemonedbeetle @patchesofwork @junebug-isunavailable @cryptidcritter @paradigmax @soot-and-co @alovestruck-fool @onehellofaweeb13 @stayacarat @ladylapize @satellitesunshine @hanaamara @nonetookind @tinylillx @jhinx-it @h0p33e @flowerguywashere @olibv @daydreamerwriting @mayempress @kaii-jpeg @msbonink @kkusuxa @oatnivison @crestentmoon5678 @nightmarefox15 @lous-blue @girlofthefandom @somethingsuperstupidsstuff @greatesthitz @thethiccestdaddy @hunneiuwu @megnotfound @missskyes @pressled @tokiyur @https-urwife @paranoia-agent11037 @cupidpebble @mhmelena @cupidpebble @elenawasfound

291 notes · View notes

mistydear · 2 years ago

Text

soften me now, let me take as is given (xiv)

billie dean howard x reader

summary: You meet Billie in mourning. She's too professional, and you're too angry, and it takes too long to see her again. And again. And again as your lives tumble together.

w/c: 2.8k

taglist: @thedeconstructionist @cordeliass @talulahmae @max-the-d0g @mistysswampmud @angelxsarahp @billiedeanspearls @madamevirgo @cordithatgurl @devriesgoode (@mayfair-fleurureur ??) @saucy-sapphic @whatfutureiamdead

chapter one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen,

notes: little bit of medical gore at the end but like one sentence. also lots of crying

You’d been driving past your old house every evening lately. Even though it was out of your way, even though you didn’t believe Billie’s ghost stories. You just miss Kate. You miss her so much that a pain sears your chest every time you think about waking up without her next to you. Which is often. Not as often as six months ago, but often enough for you to still feel like you're missing something. Like there’s a black hole somewhere close by you can’t see but think you may fall into at any moment.

Pressing your lips together, you park across the street from the house that used to belong to you and Kate, turn off the engine and your lights and just sit. Kate’s behind those doors. You know that now. And all those strange little feelings you tried to ignore about Kate’s hand on you, her eyes on you, her presence near you had been not just validated but real.

In all the times you’ve driven past, you hadn’t seen anyone moving in or living there, and it had you curious, confused. You often wondered who bought the house. If they had kids or were newlyweds or a single mom with a dog. It made you think of what your life could have been with Kate. Or what it could be going forward, what a future without her might look like. Having a family without Kate in it still seemed much too daunting, too wrong, but some kind of happiness without her seemed possible now. Maybe because of Andy and her soft gazes. Maybe Norah’s strength and love and Margot’s tenderness were beacons to a future you’d been having trouble imagining. Or maybe it was Billie who came back again and again when you were so unkind to her.

You notice a light on in the kitchen, the one you always see, and are convinced that no one’s moved in yet. So, you do something a little rash and walk up to the front porch. You always kept a spare key in a little fake rock in one of the bushes, and you were surprised to still find it there. Heart skipping a beat, you slide the key into the lock, sucking in a breath when it clicks open.

. . .

Kate’s been watching you since you parked across the street, and she greets you at the door with a sad, fond smile. She knows you’ve been coming here after work, but this is the first time you’ve been inside since you sold it. A rush of warmth flows through her at having you so near, and as you inch hesitantly into the empty living room, she walks beside you.

You sit cross legged on the floor, and Kate sits across from you, not taking her sore eyes off of you for a single moment. As you take a weary breath, Kate notices the hollowness in your eyes, the heaviness in you, the way your energy vibrates and wavers and sinks.

“What happened?” she asks, voice cold and concerned. You don’t answer, scrubbing your hands down your face instead, sighing as you bend over, burying your head in your palms, arms in your lap.

“Something happened,” you say finally, and Kate swallows as you sit back up. “I don’t know how to explain it.” You’ve never talked to her like this before, like she’s actually there to hear you, and Kate’s throat tightens. “But I think…I mean,” you sigh, “No, I know. I know you’re here. Kate.” You choke on her name, tears welling. “And I’m sorry. For everything. I can’t even begin to…” you scoff and shake your head, tears running down your cheeks. Kate’s eyes are misting too, stunned and overwhelmed and in so much pain. Finally. Finally.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, sunshine,” Kate whispers, leaning forward, resting her hand on top of your knee. “Nothing at all.”

“I wish you never had to see me like that,” you cry, voice choked and wet. “I should have been stronger for you.” You hide your face in your hands, frame wracked with painful sobs.

“Baby, no,” Kate breathes, immediately on her hands and knees coming over to you, wrapping you in her arms and holding you as you sob on the living room floor. “I am so proud of you. You’re making it through this.” She kisses your head, resting her cheek there. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, Kate. I miss you so much,” you cry, breath catching as you press your fists into your eyes. Kate’s throat is tight, and she just holds you. This isn't fair. None of it is fair.

Then there’s a slow clicking of heels in the entryway, and you and Kate turn to find Billie in the doorway to the living room. You wipe your eyes, blinking up at her.

“Billie,” you murmur, breath hitching. “What’re you doing here? How did you know I was…”

“Where else would you be?” she offers with a weak laugh, eyes fluttering between you two. Her voice is strangely hoarse and gravelly, and Kate notices how weary she looks. Just like you. She’s in work clothes, but they’re disheveled, her hair a mess. “I figured you might want to talk to her,” Billie says and then chews her lip. “And I didn’t want you to be alone.” The words come out reluctant and embarrassed. Maybe because Kate’s there listening to every word, watching the way Billie steps closer.

“She’s not alone,” Kate says back, a twinge of defensiveness in her voice.

“Am I alone?” you ask almost simultaneously. Billie swallows as Kate looks at her expectantly.

“No. Kate’s here next to you,” Billie says, and you nod, processing that reality. That fact.

“What happened?” Kate asks Billie then, feeling increasingly protective. You’re so unlike yourself tonight, so meek and contemplative. It worries her. Billie looks down at her hands clasped in front of her. She’s digging a manicured nail into her palm, sharp and deep. She seems ashamed, and it makes Kate’s blood boil. “What did you do to my wife, Billie?” she asks, voice rising an inch. Billie’s jaw twitches.

“A malevolent spirit latched onto me,” she begins, and you look up as she talks to the air. No, to Kate, you realize.

“So, what, you decided to get my wife involved?” Kate shoots back. Billie’s nostrils flare.

“It wasn’t intentional,” she grits out, meeting Kate’s eyes. You follow Billie’s gaze to the spot right beside you, and a faint smile flickers on your lips knowing Kate’s there—right there—for you.

“It’s true,” you chime in, and Billie’s eyes turn to you. “Don’t be upset with Billie,” you say, turning to where you think Kate might be beside you. “Besides, it brought me back to you,” you say, raising a shoulder, embarrassed to be talking to someone you can’t see. Embarrassed to be saying something so loving after so long and to be saying it in front of Billie. But Kate melts at the almost eye contact and your words, and her heart swells in her chest as she leans forward to kiss you on the forehead. Your eyes immediately widen, hand going to the spot, eyes shooting to Billie. “Was that…”

“She kissed you there,” Billie confirms, and your chest tightens.

“I felt it,” you choke, and Billie swallows, nodding. She doesn’t provide any more explanation as to why now. You don’t think you need her to.

Still, Kate notices something in Billie’s eyes shift as the interpreting begins. The swirling emotions of whatever happened earlier that night fade, and some persona takes over. Something Kate recognizes from the first time she met Billie. It was the Medium that showed up at the door, professional and impersonal, just a mirror for her clients. It was almost strange to see it now.

“Can you tell Y/N that she has nothing to be sorry for and that I’m proud of her?” Kate says, her hand resting gently on top of yours. Billie does as she’s asked, watching as fresh tears well in your eyes. They spill over silently, and you nod, wiping your nose. It’s a response to something you said before Billie arrived, and though you didn’t need any more proof of Kate’s presence, it’s something you needed to hear from her.

“Okay,” you choke, voice barely there. Kate’s crying now too. This is the first time she’s been able to speak with you, and she wants to say everything all at once. But most of all she just wants to hold you and to have you hold her back. But she can’t. All she can do is let Billie speak for her.

“Tell her that she deserves to have a life after me. That I want her to have one,” Kate says, and as Billie speaks, you crumble, shaking your head and pressing your palms to your eyes.

“Nothing feels right without you,” you admit through tears, sniffling, and Kate’s eyes mist over.

“I know, sunshine,” Kate coos, but it’s Billie’s voice that you hear.

“You were always the strong one,” you say, and Kate laughs, rubbing soothing circles in your back.

“You’re stronger than you think, Y/N. You are going to build such a beautiful life for yourself. I know it,” Kate whispers, kissing your temple. Billie repeats her words with similar care and affection, and Kate notices her eyes misting. As soon as Billie sees Kate watching her, she wipes them dismissively, mascara smudged at the corner of her eyes.

“I’ll give you two a minute,” she says, clearing her throat, but the tears well back up sooner than she’d like. So, she wipes them again before you can turn to watch her go.

. . .

Billie’s made it through two and a half cigarettes before you open the front door to come sit down next to her on the stoop. Neither of you say anything for a long moment, breathing in the cool night air and the tang of tobacco smoke.

“I told Kate what happened tonight,” you say eventually, watching as Billie takes a long drag, smoke drifting from her nose as she taps ash onto the walkway. “I don’t think she’s mad at you.”

“Trust me, I’d feel it all the way out here if she were,” Billie says, cigarette dangling between two fingers, arm hanging off her bent knee. It pulls a smile from you. You take a moment to consider her with your red rimmed eyes and tear stained cheeks.

“Billie.”

“Hmm?” She meets your eyes.

“Thank you.” It feels like a goodbye, but you don’t want it to be one. “All you’ve ever done is try to help me, and I…well, I just…I don’t know how to thank you. Or apologize.”

“It isn’t necessary,” she tells you, a faint, weary smile flickering at her lips. “More than Medium—more than any of it—this is what I do.” Her eyes never waver from you as she wraps her lips around her cigarette, taking a long, slow drag.

You can’t help but think back to the time you saw her at Insomnia, so tired and worn out. She’d said it’d been a bad day and that spirits aren’t always kind. You wonder, maybe for the first time, what kind of emotional toll this must take on her. To take all the energy in the room and filter it through her own body. How difficult that must be.

“How do you do it?” you ask quietly, and Billie’s eyes flicker away, almost skittish—which you think is an unusual emotion for her.

“I just do,” she answers and then shrugs, a strange smile on her lips. “It’s not like I have much of a choice.” Then you see a part of her facade crack, and it’s like you're back in her apartment watching an icy horror overtake her as she pulls her mutinous hand from your throat. But it welds itself together again, this cold metal wall that Billie puts up.

“How bad was it today?” You ask, chewing at your lip. She glances over at you then quickly away, blowing smoke and snubbing out her cigarette on the walkway. Billie swallows, silent for a long moment. The porch light makes her look small and hollow, and if it weren’t for the way she digs a sharp nail into her palm, you’d think she wasn’t even there anymore.

“I’ve never hurt anyone before,” she chokes, voice breaking, and when her eyes meet yours they look so raw it stuns you. Her jaw twitches, and her fingers shake as she pulls another cigarette from her pack and lights it.

What Billie did today scared the fuck out of you, but it was never her that you were afraid of. It was everything else that they could do, whoever they were. Their power over Billie scared you. How vulnerable and small they rendered Billie scared you. But Billie, you don’t think, could ever scare you.

“I don’t mean to be so scattered and emotional,” Billie says then, shaking her head. “You’ve been through enough today.” You glean that this may be something new for Billie, to share this kind of emotion with another person. You swallow, curious if Billie’s ever been taken care of before.

“Hey,” you breathe quietly, reaching over and grabbing Billie’s cigarette from her fingers. She resists for a brief moment but then runs shaking fingers through her hair. You bring Billie’s lipstick stained cigarette to your lips and take a drag. It’s your first in years, but you think you both need this right now. “I know you just saw me bawling my eyes out in there, and that’s…a lot. But you’re also allowed to feel…” you gesture vaguely to all of Billie, and it pulls a weak smile from her. Playfully, you bump her shoulder with your own, and she sniffs.

But then something cracks again, and tears well rapidly in her eyes. Chin wobbling, a tear drips down her cheek as she rests her elbows on her knees and hides her face in her palms. Then she takes a deep shuddering breath and shakes her head, wiping her face clean and turning back to you.

“You have to know I would never intentionally put you in harm's way.” Her eyes are red and teary, and your chest seizes up.

“It never even crossed my mind,” you reply automatically. Billie presses her lips together, brow furrowing in the most heartbreaking smile. She nods, throat bobbing as she holds back a sob.

“Okay.”

“Billie,” you sigh, trying to hold her flighty gaze. “Tell me what to do.” She’s barely holding herself together. You think she might be on the verge of needing a wet cloth on the back of her neck, and you’d happily return the favor if she needed it. Instead, she shakes her head.

“Go be with your wife.” Something about it stings even though Billie said it with nothing but that same gentle care. You sigh and give her a nod. Then you take a final drag of her cigarette before handing it back.

“Today was a lot. I mean it was a lot,” you emphasize, letting the weight of it sit with you for a moment. “And I’m still…” You don’t even know how to finish that sentence, and you don’t think Billie does either. “But it got me Kate, and I can’t express to you how much that means to me.”

She gives you a tired smile, and you give her a quiet one back, something gentle and reassuring. Then you reach over and squeeze her arm, thumb trailing across her. Billie quietly gets up before you can, and you watch her walk down the driveway to her car like it’s the first day you met her, shoulders still so perfectly straight after everything.

When you get back into the living room and sit down on the floor, something in you knows that Kate is still there. You take a deep breath, gathering yourself.

“I think you and I both know I can’t come back after tonight.” You swallow. “I needed this. I had to know that you were okay. I had to say goodbye.”

You feel something settle in you when you say it. This is the closure you needed. You never got to hold her hand in the hospital. You never got to tell her you loved her one last time, never got to pretend like it was gonna be okay, that you had a warm bed and her favorite ice cream waiting for her when she got out of there. Catherine died alone in the ER, covered in blood with a tube down her throat. Even just five minutes would have been enough. Above everything, this is what gives you nightmares, what makes you feel so cold and alone, what you wish you could change. And now you have, thanks to Billie.

“I love you, Kate.”

#this arc is quickly coming to an end #get ready for some fun stuff to come #like i am so excited guys #soften me now #billie dean howard #billie dean howard x reader #ahs fanfic #so...billie's an emotional wreck and y/n's pulling it together #how the turns have tabled #what a perfect time to kiss

68 notes · View notes

gumnut-logic · 3 years ago

Text

Dad (or Five times Alan’s brothers carried him to bed and one time they didn’t) (Part 4, Bit 1/2)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 - Bit 1

This is all @flyboytracy ‘s fault.:P ::hugs:: From this post

This is only half of the next part. I got distracted with friends and managed to procrastinate finishing the full chapter. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow. But I think this bit stands quite nicely on its own anyway.

Many thanks for all the amazing support you have all given me ::hugs you so tight:: It is nice to be writing again.

I hope you enjoy it.

-o-o-o-

It must have been later than he thought because Alan did not remember reaching the villa much less his rooms. It was kind of embarrassing if he thought too hard about it, but it was far from the first time Virgil had carried him to bed.

His big brother had a way of enforcing medical orders on little brothers.

But last night all he could remember was relief at being held and the soft rhythm of Virgil’s walk.

Waking up in bed wasn’t that much of a surprise, considering, but what was a surprise was finding Scott sitting at the end of his bed.

The moment he had enough awareness to put two and two together, the dread sank in his stomach.

Perhaps if he pulled the covers over his head, Scott won’t realise he was there?

Nonsensical, but avoidance could be a good thing.

A hand landed gently on his leg. “Allie.”

It was inevitable. Alan peered over the edge of his quilt. “Hey.”

“How are you feeling?”

A swallow. “Okay?”

“You’re staring at me as if I’m going to eat you alive.” His eyes darted in the dim light. “Trust me, I’m not.” A quirk of his lips. “Too scrawny.”

“Okay.”

Scott stared at him a moment, looked away and sighed. The light sneaking through the curtains sketched out a crinkle in his brow and for a moment, just a split second, his profile looked like his memory of Dad. Sitting in that exact same spot, so long ago, that same worry in his expression.

“Scott, please don’t send me away.” The words tumbled from his lips uncensored and without thought.

Dad turned to him and dissolved back into Scott, worry plain on his face. “I’m not going to.” But he looked away again, still troubled. “Don’t worry, Gordon had his say. Loud and clear.”

A blink. “W-What about Grandma?”

His brother’s hand landed on his leg again, a gentle pressure through the sheets. Scott turned back to him, honesty sketched out in the late morning light. “We only want what is best for you, Alan.”

“I want to be with you guys.”

“I know. We want to be with you.” A pause. “It’s just…Allie, this is a life we chose, not you.”

Alan sat up. “I did, too.”

“You were nine years old. It wasn’t fair, you didn’t have a choice.”

“I’m as Tracy as you are! And I want to be part of International Rescue.”

Scott eyed him. “I want you to be safe.”

“And I can’t want the same for you?”

“That’s different-“

“No, no it’s not! We’re brothers. I can’t be out there with you. But at least let me follow what you are doing.” Alan pressed his lips together. “Please, Scott…” He wanted to say more but couldn’t articulate the mass of emotion clogging his throat.

Scott stared at him for a solid moment before raising an arm and beckoning with his hand.

He didn’t need to ask twice, teenager or not, yesterday had been hell and Scott was the closest to a father he had. He threw off the covers and clambered down to the end of the bed, grabbing his brother in a hug to end all hugs.

Strong arms wrapped around him. Scott mumbled into his hair. “You scared Virgil, you know that, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry.” A swallow. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Scott’s exhale ruffled his hair. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry.” A hitch in his voice. “And I am.”

Alan didn’t know what to say, so he clung tighter.

And they sat there for a long time.

-o-o-o-

Part 4 - Bit 2

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Alan Tracy #Scott Tracy #nuttyfic #flyboytracy's fault

42 notes · View notes

whisker-biscuit · 3 years ago

Text

The Birds, The Bees, and The Bottles

Fandom: Psychonauts

Rating: T for mild language and discussions of underage drinking

Summary: Two teens are caught trying to sneak into a bar. Bob finally has a conversation he’s held off for far too long.

Because herbaphony is not the only thing that runs in the Zanotto family.

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

Bob’s phone rang at two in the morning. Judging by the jolly ringtone of Helmut singing Strawberry Fields Forever, it was his personal phone instead of his work one, and that was the real tip off to things being very, very wrong.

He woke up and groggily pulled out of his still-slumbering-husband’s arms to answer the little thing going off on his nightstand.

“H’lo?”

“Bob!” Truman’s voice came out far too loud for the time of night, and far too stressed. “Bob, I’m so sorry to wake you, but something happened with Lili. I need you to pick her up for me, please.”

The older man sat up, much more awake as worry and fear immediately rolled in his gut. Helmut finally began to stir beside him, sensing his partner’s agitation.

“Truman, what’s going on? Pick Lili up from where?”

“The city’s police precinct on Abbey Avenue. She – she called me, but I’m out of state and I wouldn’t get there for hours at least even if I left this instant. She’s not in danger!” He added hastily, hearing the concern before Bob could even voice it mentally. “She didn’t get hurt! She’s just…”

The way he tapered off, the way he hesitated, said more than words could.

“She just got herself into some trouble, and she needs someone to go get her.”

Helmut was sitting up now, and Bob felt the question cross their mental link.

What happened?

Truman needs me to pick Lili up from the police station.

“I’m up, I’m on my way right now,” He responded to his nephew verbally, heaving himself out of bed. His husband followed suit despite still looking extremely puzzled, bless him.

“Thank you so much, Bob. I’ll make it up to you as soon as I can, I promise.”

“Don’t worry about it.” The older man waved a dismissive hand even though Truman wasn’t there to see it. “Family is s’pposed to do that for each other anyway.”

“Did I hear that right? Our peppy petunia had a run-in with the law?” Helmut asked as soon as his partner hung up. He paused, and in a lower tone – “she didn’t kill anyone, did she?”

“I don’t think it’s that serious,” Bob said, pulling a coat on over his sleep shirt. “But something tells me we still have a few things to worry about. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Ohohoh, no, don’t even think about hoofin’ it without me. We both know I’m the better driver.”

“Neither of us are very good drivers, Helmut.”

“Exactly! That little bit makes all the difference!”

The herbophanist sighed, charmed despite himself and the situation. “Alright, alright. Let’s not keep her waiting.”

The police precinct was nearly dead at this time of night. While it would’ve felt eerie to anyone else, Bob was grateful for the lack of people, and not just because he was still an introvert of the highest degree.

Two teenagers awaited them in the lobby, sitting on a bench together. One was hunched over and burning a hole in the ground with his downcast eyes. The other sat straight up, defiant, holding a glaring contest with the officer standing over them. When Bob entered the room first and met his great-niece’s eyes, her self-assuredness wavered for a brief moment. She hid the slip-up behind a wall of indifference.

“Lili,” he said softly. Then, just as softly but with a gruff tinge of surprise; “Razputin.”

There was no accusation in his voice, but the former scowled harder and the latter looked like he wanted to employ his invisibility. Bob studied them both a moment before his husband appeared and broke the tension with his mere presence.

“We’re here to bust you out, kiddos!” He announced with spread arms, cheerfully ignoring the looks he received from every person in the room.

“Are you Truman Zanotto?” Asked the officer who finally broke his gaze away from Lili to give them a disapproving once-over.

“No, I’m uh, I’m Bob Zanotto, and this is Helmut,” came the awkward reply. “Truman called me to pick Lili up. She’s my great-niece.”

A few seconds of silence passed as the officer made no move to do anything with that information. Bob cleared his throat.

“We’re, uh, listed in her emergency contacts for school?”

“I see. If you can just fill out some paperwork first, we can release her into your custody.”

The herbophanist watched the way Raz seemed to sink further in his seat at the mention of family contacts. The Aquatos were also out of state right now too, if he remembered correctly. Perfect timing for two minors getting up to mischief.

Well, up until they were actually caught.

“And…Razputin, too?” He asked, catching the teen’s startled gaze and giving him the mental equivalent of a thumbs-up.

The officer raised a brow. “Is he related to you, too?”

“Well, uh –”

“Yep!” Helmut interrupted, strolling right up to Raz and giving him a merry clap on the back. The teen had a physique comparable to most adult Olympic athletes, but even he nearly toppled forward from the force of such a big man. “He’s my third cousin, twice removed. Big family. Very close. Holidays are an experience, lemme tell ya!”

“Fine,” the officer pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine, okay, I’ll make sure he gets cleared for release too. I’ll be right back.”

He stalked off, muttering something about it ‘being too damn early for this’, and the older couple turned to face Raz and Lili. Helmut steepled his fingers together to rest against his mustache.

“So! Now that Officer Spoil-Sport is gone, are we allowed to know what heinous crime has been committed in the night by my favorite pair of mischief-makers?”

The two glanced at each other. Raz was the one to break their silence.

“We, uh…got caught sneaking into a bar.”

Cold heat rushed through Bob’s core. Helmut blinked once, twice, then let out a boisterous chuckle.

“That’s it? Jesus! From the way you two were acting I thought you’d robbed the First National Bank.”

“…Helmut.” His husband murmured. The psi-king lost his mirth as he caught Bob’s eye.

“Ah…w-well, y’know, while I’m certainly glad we won’t hear about a righteous homicide in the news tomorrow, forgery ain’t exactly a humble hobby either.”

“It was just two IDs,” Lili muttered under her breath. “Not a big deal.”

The ice in her great-uncle’s heart turned frigid, but before he or Helmut could say anything to that, the officer was back. He shoved a handful of forms under Bob’s nose and the herbophanist fumbled to grab them before they all tumbled to the floor.

“Uh, uh, thank you.”

“Alright, we’re putting the pause on this conversation to make you free citizens again, but don’t think that means we’re done with it.” The Psi-King gave the teens the sternest look he could manage. “As soon as we get in the car, you two will have a lot of explaining to do.”

“O-Okay.”

“Uh-huh.”

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

No one spoke a word as they got in the car and started the drive back.

Raz seemed content to continue his efforts to blend in with the background of his seat, still not meeting anyone’s eyes, and Lili stared out the window with her chin in her hand, leaning against the car’s backdoor and letting the lights of the city bathe her in neon sickness.

Helmut, bless his soul, dutifully kept the radio going while he drove, changing the station to something more mellow whenever a song started getting a little too upbeat for the collective mood of the vehicle. Bob sat in the passenger side with his arms folded awkwardly. His brain was buzzing, dreading the inevitable conversation he needed to have with his great-niece and trying to figure out how he was going to go about it.

It surprised them all when Raz spoke over the music.

“It was my idea.”

The two adults glanced at each other, then through the rearview mirror at the fidgeting teen.

“Your idea to go looking for a drink? Or to sneak into a bar to do it?” Helmut asked, turning off the radio.

“Both.”

He still wasn’t meeting their eyes. Bob sighed through his nose.

“I don’t believe you.”

Razputin’s head finally snapped up to stare at him in shock for the fast call on his bluff. “I’m telling the truth!”

“I think you’re only telling part of it, kid.”

“No! I’m telling all of it.”

“Razpu-”

“Oh, come off it, Raz,” Lili snapped a little too loud, making the whole car jump. “Quit trying to take the fall for me. It was my idea to try the stupid fake ID thing, okay? Happy now?”

“Wh – uh, who said anything about being happy about it?” Helmut asked, legitimately confused.

“Look. Neither of us had anything to do tonight, and we were bored, so Raz suggested getting a drink somewhere, but Adam and Lizzie are out of town so we couldn’t ask them.” She crossed her arms and spoke without any inflection. “So, we went out but no one would let us do anything cause we’re minors. I thought that was stupid, because we’re agents same as any of you, so I came up with the sneaking-in part. We only got caught cause one of the bartenders recognized Raz from a show.”

There were a lot of loaded things to parse through from that explanation, but Bob’s mind stalled on one particular detail.

“Adam and Lizzie give you two alcohol?”

“Not…often,” Raz admitted. “Just once or twice, when we asked.”

“Do you mean like, a literal once or twice, or a…an estimated once or twice?”

“Did Dad put you up to this?” Lili shot back. “It was just a few times, like he said. What’s with the inquisition?”

“…Lili –”

“Raz.”

“Okay!” Helmut proclaimed as he slapped his hand against the steering wheel in boisterous aggression. “Who wants some ice cream?”

Everyone stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Cause I’m really feeling some chocolate-vanilla swirl right now. Basic bitch style. Right? Who’s with me?”

Silence.

“Great! Look at that, open Dairy King right there, better take advantage of this opportunity before it slips through our fingers like the melting ice cream we’re all gonna have in about five minutes!”

The psi-king swung into the parking lot in a frenzy and herded the car crew inside before any of them could come out of their shock long enough to protest. It was only as Bob was staring up at fifteen flavors of oversaturated sugary goodness that he realized what had just happened.

He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief over his husband’s diversion. The tension that had been boiling over was cooled significantly by the sudden non-sequitur, and while the teens were rather half-hearted about picking out their sweet treats, there was no longer a risk of an explosion happening.

Metaphorically and literally.

Helmut caught his spouse’s eye with a meaningful look at Lili the moment all of them had their orders in hand, then slung his arm around Razputin’s shoulders and steered him away. “C’mon my lad! Nothing like the cool night air of three in the morning to keep your Hurricane ™ properly chilled!”

The poor boy had no choice but to let himself be pulled outside, leaving the two Zanottos standing awkwardly in the dingy restaurant. Bob gave a nervous scratch at his chin under his beard.

“How about we, uh, find a seat somewhere?”

Lili couldn’t fully cross her arms while holding ice cream, but she did a good job of making it work anyway. “Sure.”

They sat in a booth in the farthest corner from the front counter. Both great-niece and great-uncle stared at their respective sweet treats as if they could teleport them out of this situation. Bob glanced out the window and saw Helmut and Raz standing outside of the car. The former was on one knee with his hand on the teen’s shoulder, speaking earnestly but inaudibly, and the latter was scuffing the toe of his sneaker against the asphalt.

“Are you going to lecture me?” Lili finally cut through the silence.

Bob turned back to her. “No. Not really.”

“No?” She broke her gaze away from her ice cream just a little bit, eyeing him with surprise. “Then why did Helmut take Raz and leave us alone?”

She was so perceptive, so smart. And yet, still so young.

“Well, I… I still want to talk to you about what happened. I’m just not very, good, at this kind of thing.” He took his spoon and absentmindedly began drawing a flower in his soft-serve. “You already know what you did wasn’t a good idea, right? So I don’t think a lecture would help things any on that front.”

She didn’t respond. He continued.

“It’s less about the fake ID and more…the reasons you made the fake ID. Does that make sense?”

“I guess so, but I know what I’m doing, Uncle Bob. I’m not going to drink irresponsibly.”

The herbophanist shook his head. “But you’ll do irresponsible things to be able to drink in the first place.”

“That’s not –” Lili didn’t have a good rebuttal. She folded her arms and grumpily started eating her cherry chocolate delight. “Whatever. It’s two different things, anyway.”

Against his better judgement, Bob began picking at his own food as he thought about how best to bring the subject back up without making the teen defensive again. Spoons clicking against teeth was the only sound between them for a solid minute.

Finally, an epiphany.

“Did Truman ever…tell you anything, about your great-grandma?”

The girl paused with a bite halfway up to her mouth. She frowned, confused. “Grandma Tia? Not much. Just that she died when he was a baby.”

“Yeah. Yeah, she did.” He ran a tired hand over his face. The ache in his heart might have long-since healed into a scar, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when pressed. “She passed away when I was nineteen. The doctors told me it was liver failure.”

He didn’t have to say anything else. Lili’s mouth thinned and she put her spoon down, uncomfortable.

“When I…found out the reason behind her death, I was horrified by it. It didn’t make sense to me why she would willingly do something that hurt her so badly, especially when I was right there to love her and help her. It felt like a betrayal that she never got help or made herself stop. I was…disgusted by the mere thought of doing anything like that.”

Bob took a moment to breathe and wipe his eyes. He wasn’t crying, but better safe than sorry.

“It sounds pretty hypocritical when I say it now, doesn’t it?”

His great-niece only gave him a hesitant look.

“Anyway, uh, where was I…” He worried his lip. “Oh, right. I told myself that I’d never touch the stuff after that. I was angry at what she’d done, and I was determined not to have the same ‘weakness’, so to speak. As you know, it, uh, it didn’t last long. I was at a college party barely a year later when I was invited by some friends to drink with them. I didn’t make human friends very easily back then – actually, I still don’t – so I was a little desperate to keep them. It turned out to be pretty hard whiskey, so I got hammered.”

The man leaned back in his seat, staring at the patterns in the booth table.

“Back then, no one really knew how alcoholism could run in a family. Everyone thought it was a personal choice to keep drinking. It wasn’t even classified as an addiction yet. So I didn’t know how susceptible I was, or how careful I had to be. I’d spend months not having a single drink, thinking I was fine and could handle myself, and then I’d get plastered for a week at parties and bars and God knows what else, and it would take me even longer to get myself to stop again. It was like that even when I was with Ford and his gang. It wasn’t until I started dating Helmut that I started trying to change those habits. I’d never met anyone who loved me so unconditionally that I wanted to be a better person for them, until him. And it worked for a while.

“Well, barring our wedding, of course. I got shitfaced at the reception. It was embarrassing afterwards, but Helmut told me it made our cake-eating ceremony a hell of a great time.”

Lili snorted, and it was accompanied by a tiny upturn of her lips. Then it dropped as her expression became solemn. “And then…everything with Maligula happened, right?”

“Yeah. I think you know the rest of that story.”

“Uh-huh.”

Great-niece and great-uncle sat together for a while, just thinking about it all.

“I know I have to be more careful drinking than a lot of people, Uncle Bob,” Lili finally said at length. “My dad warned me about it when I was old enough to ask.”

“Truman is a good dad,” he murmured in response.

“The best dad.”

“Definitely the best dad.”

More silence.

“I didn’t mean to worry you and him,” she continued. “Or scare you. I know it was dumb to do what we did tonight.”

Bob looked at her, and she gave a conceding sigh.

“Okay, it was dumb to do a lot of what we’ve been doing with this stuff. That doesn’t mean I’m not being careful.”

“Kid, it’s not always just a matter of being careful. I thought I was being careful. I thought that for years and years, and when I finally realized I wasn’t, I convinced myself I could stop any time I wanted to, and kept up the same patterns anyway. That’s what I’m trying to get you to understand. I just don’t want you to make the same mistakes I did. I’m just worried about you.”

Lili closed her eyes with a grimace. “I know. I’m sorry, Uncle Bob.”

“Hey, kiddo, look at me.” He waited until she did so. “I’m not mad at you. I’m not disappointed, either. That’s your dad’s job. I get it, is what I’m saying. It gives you a buzz, and it’s fun and exciting, and you just wanted to have a good time with your, uh…”

Bob leaned in a bit, and dropped his voice to a stage whisper.

“Is Raz still your boyfriend?”

“Wha –” her cheeks went red. “Yes, he is!”

“Alright, sorry, I’m just always out of the loop. No one ever tells me when these things change or not. Anyway,” he continued before she could get brighter than the cherries in her ice cream. “I’m just saying that you gotta be more than careful with this kind of thing. Everyone should be, really, but especially people like us. Plants aren’t the only thing that runs in the Zanotto family, unfortunately, so we just have to be aware of it and act accordingly.”

The teen turned this over in her mind. He could practically see the gears moving. When she looked at him again, it was with a slow, contemplative nod.

“No more late-night bar-hopping?” Her great-uncle asked.

“No more late-night bar-hopping.” She answered, sincere.

“Good.” He looked outside. Helmut and Raz were both lying on the front of the car, pointing out stars to each other. The sight made him smile. “Come on, we’ll work on that whole thing about Adam and Lizzie giving you alcohol another time, when it’s not three in the morning. For now, let’s rejoin our boys again and go get some rest, okay?”

“Okay.” Lili slid out of the booth and tentatively took her family member’s hand. His fingers squeezed hers in reassurance. “And...thanks, Uncle Bob.”

“Well, what can I say. Us weird Zanotto plant people hafta look out for each other, right?”

“Right.”

They walked out together, hand-in-hand.

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

A/N: I knew from promotional material that we'd be going into the mind of someone struggling with alcoholism, but Bob's Bottles punched me hard in the gut. It's probably my favorite mind in the game, both because it's visually gorgeous and because it hit a little close to home with some of the themes, like generational alcoholism and how the addiction can make someone a shell of themselves.

I wrote half of this three weeks ago and then found myself really struggling to finish it because it brought up a lot of old feelings I thought I'd sorted through a long time ago.

Psychonauts, man.

#psychonauts 2 #psychonauts 2 spoilers #Bob Zanottto #Helmut Fullbear #Lili Zanotto #Razputin Aquato #Bob Zanotto/Helmut Fullbear #psychonauts

241 notes · View notes

five-rivers · 4 years ago

Text

Like Kind

Prompt by @dp-marvel94: As soon as Maddie saw Phantom, she KNEW. It had happened, the thing that she dreaded and feared but in the back her mind knew would happen. Her Danny, her baby wasn’t human anymore….but then again he never had been completely human.

In retrospect, she should have seen this coming from miles away. Perhaps she had seen it, and her surprise now was the result of having willfully turned away. But now, it was being rubbed in her face, thrown up in front of her in gleaming neon letters, staring her in the eye.

The last was literal.

Phantom floated a few meters above the ground, eyes fixed on hers.

Phantom, who was undeniably Danny. Her son. Her baby boy.

He vanished from sight, flying up through the ceiling. Maddie waited ten minutes, frozen and holding her breath, before sitting down hard on the floor. She had thought—She had hoped—

(A memory plagued her. Out with Vlad and Jack after Vlad was discharged, Jazz with a sitter. Red eyes where there should be blue. Panicked apologies. Blood on the sheets and an ache radiating through her whole body.)

She had hoped.

Had hoped that a child born to someone who had been possessed would be entirely human.

(But even as a young child, something had been… not right about Danny. He’d stared at empty corners, spoken to thin air, had a bizarre fixation on clocks. There had been other signs. She’d dismissed them all. But then. Phantom.)

(She couldn’t ignore this.)

She went through the rest of the day, even the kidnapping of the mayor and a fight with a whole horde of ghosts in a daze. Danny was there. Fighting. Doing these… these things. And now she knew.

Did Jack realize? Had Jack put two and two together to realize that the boy he’d raised, the boy he’d taken as his own son, was now… this?

Was now a ghost?

“He’s our responsibility,” said Maddie, hands clasped under her chin. She couldn’t meet Jack’s eyes. “He’s our responsibility, and he’s giving in to his—to his nature. What he did last night…”

“Maddie,” said Jack, reaching across the table. “Just. Stop. Maybe… maybe there’s another way we can do this. Up until now, he’s been fighting the other ghosts, hasn’t he? Maybe we could encourage that part. Guide him to something less, less malevolent.”

“That’s what we thought we were doing from the beginning,” said Maddie. “It hasn’t worked, Jack.”

“That’s when we thought he was still human,” said Jack. “We can—We could invent something. To help him control his—”

“This isn’t a movie, Jack,” snapped Maddie. “He isn’t a vampire we can feed animal blood or a werewolf we can lock up during the full moon. He’s a ghost. This isn’t going to get better. It’s going to get worse.”

“We don’t know that,” protested Jack. “We could at least try, couldn’t we? Don’t we owe him that?”

“Jack…”

“He’s our boy, Maddie. We can’t just give up on him.”

“It’s already getting worse. You’ve seen his grades.”

“It might not be because of intellectual degeneration,” said Jack, urgently. “If you suddenly found out about—” he waved his hand vaguely “—wouldn’t you have some trouble focusing on schoolwork? I know I had enough trouble when I was in school…”

“This isn’t the same,” said Maddie.

“I know, that’s my point.”

Maddie covered her face and sighed. “Alright,” she said. She couldn’t let herself hope again. “We’ll… we’ll try it your way, first. What do we tell Jazz?”

“You already know?” asked Maddie, aghast.

“Yes, I saw him transform, once, but I thought it would be better to let him come to me, tell me on his own terms.” Jazz licked her lips. “Does this mean you’ll stop shooting at him? Maybe be more supportive of what he’s trying to do?”

“Jazz, he kidnapped the mayor.”

“I’m not sure he did. A lot of people were possessed this past week. The mayor could have been one of them.”

Maddie closed her eyes and swallowed, suppressing the feelings that rose in her at Jazz’s casual pronouncement.

“I mean, a lot of people at school were talking about how little they remember… Mom, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She collected herself. “Ghosts,” she said, “aren’t human. They don’t have a human psychology.”

“Danny’s still human.”

“Partially. For now. We don’t want to lose him to this. Will you help us?”

Jazz looked away, frowning. “Even if ghosts are different,” she stressed the word, “that doesn’t mean they’re evil. The wolf ghost helped Danny, didn’t it? And Danny’s doing good. I don’t think you should try to ‘fix’ him. It isn’t right.”

Jack jumped in. “That’s not what we’re doing,” he said, reassuringly. “We just want to make sure that he stays himself. That this doesn’t affect him negatively.”

“But you don’t want me to tell him that’s what you’re doing.”

“Based on recent events,” said Maddie, “we’re concerned that he’ll react poorly and run. We just don’t want that to happen. We can’t help him if he runs from us.”

Jazz bit her lip. “Okay,” she said, finally. “But you can’t do anything to Danny that he doesn’t want. No experiments. No tearing him apart molecule by molecule.”

“That isn’t—”

“Don’t tell me it didn’t cross your mind,” said Jazz, harshly. “You talked about it at the table at breakfast. More than once. I’m keeping an eye on everything you do.”

It was better than her running to the police or trying to free Danny right away because she couldn’t understand.

“Alright,” said Maddie.

It was a good thing Danny’s physiology hadn’t changed enough to give him a resistance to simple sedatives. Watching him nod off in the middle of dinner was as cute as it was tragic.

Jazz was… unhappy. Clearly. But she didn’t say anything.

Danny knew he was in lab as soon as he woke up. The buzz of the overhead lights and the hum of the portal made his hair stand on end and his mouth go dry.

This was bad. This was a nightmare made real.

He didn’t move. Maybe, if they thought he was asleep, they’d hold off on the dissection.

Although… he didn’t seem to be on the examination table. That was a good sign, right? IT had to be a good sign.

“Danny.”

His breath caught in his throat and his fingers curled on the surface beneath him. It wasn’t metal. Something… not quite soft. But not hard. Like… a thin air mattress.

“Danny, we know you’re awake.”

He screwed his eyes shut even tighter.

“Please don’t hurt me,” he said. “I’m me. I’m really me. I promise.”

“We know,” said Jack.

That made Danny open his eyes. “You do?” he asked, hopeful despite the fact he was in a box with thick, plastic walls. He pushed himself up on the bench. “Then why—” He was almost hyperventilating.

“Danny,” said Maddie, “Danny, calm down. We’re just- We know you’re Phantom, and we’re here to help you.”

“We know how hard it must have been for you, fighting those ghostly urges,” said Jack. “But we’ll find a way for you to beat ‘em back, son.”

“I don’t- I’m not—” He shook his head. “If you’re talking about the robberies—”

“That’s exactly what we’re talking about,” said Maddie. “But it’s okay. We’re going to keep anything like that from ever happening again.”

Danny bit his lip and felt despair clutch at his heart again. They weren’t going to listen to him. But—Jazz. Jazz would notice he was missing. She didn’t even believe in ghosts, not really. She’d save him. Or Sam and Tucker would look for him.

He just had to hold out. Even if they thought he was… succumbing to his ‘ghostly instincts,’ they wouldn’t hurt him.

Right?

“It isn’t working,” said Maddie, head in her hands, surrounded by crumpled by pieces of paper. “He’s getting worse.”

Jack had to admit that he was. It was tragic to watch his son fall to what could only be described as a ghostly Obsession. Just last night Danny had been reduced to clawing at the inside of the containment unit. Crying. Screaming to be let out to fight ghosts and ‘protect the town.’

He… didn’t know what to do about it. Any of it.

“Maybe…” said Maddie. “You remember what he said about the portal. What if he was right? What if he really…”

What if he really died?

“What if he did?” asked Jack. “What would it change?”

“He’s not really alive,” said Maddie. “If he isn’t… maybe we should… let him go.”

“W-what? You mean give up on him?” demanded Jack. “We can’t do that!”

“No! Not give up. Never give up. But- but maybe it would be better for him if he, if he was among like kind. If he was… We don’t have to destroy ghosts after all. We just have to… have to put them on the other side of the portal. Close it. Close it so no more ghosts can get through.”

“You can’t be saying what I think you’re saying,” said Jack.

“Like kind,” said Maddie. “You remember that one Grimm’s fairy tale. The little boy who couldn’t move on.”

“That’s not Danny,” said Jack.

“I know. I know it isn’t. But, still… We… Please, Jack. Just… Tell me, what can we do?”

Danny tumbled head over heels into the Ghost Zone. He stopped, turned around, sending a blast of ectoenergy from his foot to accelerate himself back towards the portal.

He was too late. The portal doors slammed shut, then winked out of existence.

They were gone. Danny was stuck here. In the Ghost Zone.

Fine.

You know what? Fine.

He was here. He was stuck here, because he didn’t know where or how to find natural portals. He didn’t know what was happening back home in Amity, and he was half out of his mind with worry about it.

Fine.

They thought he was a ghost. A terrible, evil ghost. Something to be cast off and thrown away.

Fine.

He was a ghost. And he’d be the best ghost. Ever.

#danny phantom #phic phight #phic phight 2021

288 notes · View notes

intheticklecloset · 4 years ago

Text

The Great Academia Road Trip, Part 2 (My Hero Academia)

Primary Universe

Summary: On their first morning away from home, Deku and Aoyama meet in the early hours and wind up passing the time waiting for the others to wake up in an unexpected and playful way.

A/N: I feel like a genius for finding a way to combine these two prompts. I also consider myself a genius for finding a temporary solution to my "I hate titles" problem. Hahaha! Enjoy!

Word Count: 1,461

Part 1

~~~

“Good morning, Midoriya.”

Deku turned, smiling when he saw his sparkly blonde friend entering the bathroom they shared with the rest of the guys in their class. It was their first full day of activities on this training/vacation road trip they were on, and – as usual – Deku had been up earlier than most everyone else just out of habit. He’d thought to go ahead and get dressed and wash up before the rest of the guys woke and caused chaos with their limited space, so he was pleasantly surprised when his quiet morning was interrupted by one of his more relaxed classmates.

“Morning, Aoyama,” he replied. “Did you sleep well?”

“Oui.” Aoyama nodded, stretching his arms above him before turning on one of the faucets and splashing his face with cold water. “You?”

“Pretty good, actually.” Deku smiled. Thanks to Kacchan’s random tickle attack last night, any uneasiness he may have felt about sleeping in a new place had been all but eradicated. “I’m not sure what time we’re allowed in the lobby. Do you?”

“No, but if we are quiet I’m sure we couldn’t get into trouble for just looking to see, you know?”

“Right.”

Deku stepped outside to give Aoyama some privacy, and when they were both ready to go, they made their way down the hall of sleeping classmates and other hotel guests to the stairwell, where they poked their head down to see if anyone was moving about in the lobby yet.

It looked astonishingly empty.

“Perhaps it is too early?” Aoyama suggested.

Deku hummed thoughtfully, frowning. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s only an hour before we’re supposed to be up; don’t you think at least one of the teachers would be up by now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well…” Deku glanced around, then pointed to the landing halfway down the stairs where they’d be between the two floors. “Why don’t we sit down there until someone else shows up? That way we can talk without disturbing anybody, and when the lobby opens up we’ll see movement.”

Aoyama nodded. “Good idea.” He stretched again. “I slept well, but my back is sore.”

“Too used to the beds in our dorms?”

“Oui. In comparison, these bedrolls we use during travel are made of concrete.”

Deku chuckled. “They are a little harder, huh?” He watched as Aoyama stretched his arms above his head yet again, tilting from side to side to try and ease the soreness in his back. Deku felt an incredible urge to tickle him while he was exposed, but forced himself to stay put.

Then Aoyama groaned and placed both hands on his lower back. “Midoriya, I don’t suppose I could ask you for a favor?”

“Of course!”

“Would you mind massaging my back a little?” the blonde asked sheepishly, unable to make eye contact. “The muscles are so tense and I don’t think stretching is going to help.”

Deku smiled. “Totally. Here, lie down on your stomach. I’ll do what I can.” Once Aoyama had done as he was asked, Deku gently felt around his lower back, searching out the tense spots his friend was talking about. It didn’t take long at all to find them. “Whoa, Aoyama, you’ve got some serious knots of tension. What did you do? Sleep like a pretzel?”

“Some things cannot be explained, mon ami.”

Deku chuckled again. “Okay, well, just let me know if anything hurts too much. I’ll try and ease the pain for you.”

“Merci.”

For several minutes, Deku worked gently on Aoyama’s back, easing the knots of tension as best he could, massaging the area to ease the pain. He worked for almost ten minutes before checking in. “How’s that? Any better?”

“Much better,” Aoyama sighed contentedly. “I owe you one.”

“Not at all.” Deku hesitated, that urge to tickle him rising up again. Now that he was no longer in pain, it was definitely tempting…

Oh, what the heck? Deku lightly scribbled over Aoyama’s sides, grinning when the blonde yelped and slapped a hand over his mouth, rolling into his side with wide eyes.

“M-Midoriya?”

“Yes?” Deku asked innocently, slipping his hands under the blonde’s shirt to scratch at his lower ribs. “Are you still feeling pain?”

“N-No, y-you – Midoriya, stohohohop…” Aoyama let a couple of giggles loose, rolling onto his back and trying to sit up.

Deku straddled him. “But I think I feel more tension. Right here.” He kneaded his thumbs into the sides of his friend’s belly, right near his navel. When Aoyama’s stomach clenched with suppressed giggles, the green-haired boy nodded seriously. “Yep, there’s definitely tension. Let me work on that, too.”

“N-Nohohohoho! Midoriya!” Aoyama used on hand to cover his mouth and the other to try and push Deku away. “Thehehehere’s no tehehehension! Y-You’re tihihickling me! Plehehehease!”

“Tickling?” Deku exclaimed as though he’d never heard the word. “Is that why you’re giggling? Oh, that makes sense. Definitely.”

“Stohohohohohohop!”

“But I like making my friends laugh,” Deku teased, shooting one hand up into Aoyama’s underarm. Aoyama screeched and finally released his mouth, using both hands to push his assailant away as laughter poured from him freely. “Yeah, just like that!”

“Plehehehehehehease! Midoriya, stohohohohohop!”

Deku beamed, then climbed off of him, patting his knee. “Sorry, Aoyama. But you kept stretching in front of me and then you asked me for a massage and I really couldn’t resist.”

Aoyama kept giggling, catching his breath, and when he looked at Deku, there was a wicked glint to his eye that made the freckled boy both nervous and excited.

“You said you like making your friends laugh? Well, so do I.” The blonde grabbed Deku’s hip, and Deku slapped both hands over his mouth to keep from letting out a scream of laughter, falling back against the wall with Aoyama quickly climbing into his lap, trapping him so effectively he couldn’t move at all. He could only sit there and take it, and the sparkly teen was pressing his thumbs into Deku’s hips so deliberately.

“Please!” Deku squealed, trying his best to stay quiet as he dug his heels into the carpet and wiggled back and forth against the wall, fighting between his desire to cover up his boisterous laughter and his desire to push Aoyama away – or tickle him back again. “P-Plehehehease, not thehehehere, I’ll whahahahake everyone up!”

“Then you shouldn’t have tickled me while I was helpless to fight back,” Aoyama teased, grinning.

“But you wheheheheheren’t helpless - Aoyama nohohohohohohohoho!” Deku arched his back as much as possible when he found the hip bone, forcing the green-haired boy to thrash against the wall, finally pushing at Aoyama with desperate laughter bursting from his lungs. “PLEHEHEHEHEASE, NO, I’LL WAHAHAHAHAHAKE THE WHOLE HOTEL – AOYAMAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!”

“Good morning, you two.”

The third voice put an abrupt end to the boys’ play, drawing their attention to the top of the stairs, where Shinsou stood with one hand in his jeans pocket as he began his descent.

“Sh-Shinsou!” Deku yelped, pushing Aoyama away now that he was distracted. The blonde tumbled off in a heap. “G-Good morning!”

“Having fun, Midoriya?” the purple-haired boy smirked, walking past him without waiting for an answer, continuing into the lobby.

“I – w-wait! We don’t know if we’re allowed—”

“Didn’t you read the handout?” Shinsou looked back up at the both of them once he’d reached the base of the stairs. “We’re allowed in the lobby after six in the morning, even if we’re not required to be up by seven. They start serving breakfast at six.”

Deku and Aoyama exchanged surprised glances.

“I take it neither of you have eaten yet?”

“No,” said Aoyama. “We were waiting for someone else to show up.”

Shinsou was silent for a long moment, looking between the two of them before his eyes settled on Deku. “Well…I’m here now. Do you…want to join me for breakfast?”

Deku leapt to his feet, nearly pulling Aoyama up with him. “Of course!”

Shinsou nodded, then kept walking.

Aoyama followed Deku down the rest of the stairs, but before they could get too far into the lobby, he pinched Deku’s ribs, making him squeak. “Just getting the last tickle in, Midoriya. You’d better be careful who you choose to tickle fight with.” The blonde winked at him. “I may not go so easy on you next time.”

That was going easy? Deku thought, a thrill shooting through him. He could still feel ghost tickles in his hips where the blonde’s hands had been just a minute before. Still, he couldn’t let Aoyama think he was intimidated. “I’d like to see you try and beat me in a tickle fight, Aoyama.”

The blonde smirked at him just as they caught up to Shinsou in the dining room. “Challenge accepted, mon ami.”

~~~

Part 3

#fanfiction #tickle fic #boku no hero #my hero academia #bnha #mha #road trip #aoyama #izuku #midoriya #deku #massage #keep quiet #playful #teasing #tickling #ticklish #tickle

101 notes · View notes

megsironthrone · 4 years ago

Text

You Don’t Have to Do This

Based on this request: okay umm👉👈🥺 if requests are open, I would really like one with sandor clegane x reader (female if it’s okay) set in the one to last episode of the series, yeah that ugly episode for us sandor stans…….😭 like can the reader arrive in the red keep while sandor is fighting his brother and helps him out? managing to not get him brutally tumbling to the ground with him? and then he confesses his love for her? ❤ 🙏 thanks

Here you are, lovely! *Familiar Characters are NEVER mine!* Also, as I refuse to rewatch this episode in particular, some things from the scene have been altered(though I will say the scene portrayed in the gif is one of my favorite Sandor & Arya scenes)

Warnings: Angst w/happy ending, violence, fire, The Mountain, death

Pairings/Characters: Sandor Clegane x fem!reader, The Mountain.

(^^Also Could someone please help me learn to make gifs?? I really would like to find/make more Sandor gifs that are NOT SanSan related XD)

You pushed passed the crowds of people trying to get out of the city and trying to avoid the flames raining down. Nothing mattered in that moment but finding Sandor. You knew he was headed for the Keep and you were determined to stop him and get him out of King's Landing before you both died in one way or another.

You ran as quickly as your legs would carry you toward the Keep and the man you'd come to love. Your legs threatened to give out and your lungs burned, but pure perseverance and love pushed you forward. Finally, after what seemed like hours, you made it inside. Luckily, your entrance had made enough noise to attract Sandor's attention because you couldn't speak in that moment even if you wanted to.

His brows furrowed for moment before deciding to let you take a moment to catch your breath. He turned to Arya, who you just now noticed was in the room, and said something along the lines of, "You want to be like me?" You watched as a look of understanding came over the young lady. She began to walk out of the Keep, thanking Sandor then leaving the two of you alone.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his deep brown eyes meeting your (e/c) ones. "Please, Sandor. I know why you're here. You don't have to do this. Come with me. We can find a way out of the city. We can escape. Please…" you trailed off. You weren't sure what else to say without admitting your feelings for the man. Feelings you were certain he would reject and you couldn't bear that.

"I can't let him keep living." You ran forward and gently grabbed his arm. "Please, Sandor. He isn't worth your life. The best revenge you could have is leaving and living the rest of your life peacefully, out of his shadow. Sandor, look at me. I am begging you don't do this." Sandor shook his head, removed your hand from his arm, and turned away.

You felt your heart clench once more at the thought of Sandor dying at the hands of his resurrected brother. You couldn't let him go alone. To that end, you followed after him. "What are you doing?" he snapped. You rolled your eyes. "I'm coming with you. I can't stop you, but I sure as all Hells am not going to let you go alone." His brows drew together as he tried to contemplate the meaning behind your words.

"Fine," he said after a moment, "Just stay out of trouble." You chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "This entire situation is nothing but trouble. But I will stay out of your way unless I think you need help. I just…I need to be there and know that you're okay." Once more, Sandor didn't say anything, but you could almost see the gears turning in his head. However there would be no more time for conversation.

You heard him before you saw him. The Mountain. Gargantuan and imposing. Lethal. You felt a shiver rip through you when he rounded the corner. He seemed to ignore you in favor of staring down his brother. You didn't hear anything Sandor said to him. You just wanted it to be over. Sandor needed to win this time. The sound of a blade swinging through the air had you moving out of the way as quickly as possible.

The scene before you unfolded as you watched in horror. The brothers were somewhat evenly matched. Well, except for the Mountain being dead-but-not-dead. It seemed his strength was left intact when he was brought back. When the Mountain had Sandor pressed up against the crumbling walls of the Keep, you knew you couldn't wait any longer.

You rushed forward, drawing the Mountain's attention to you long enough for Sandor to straighten himself up. Your relief was short-lived as the giant man grabbed you by the throat and threatened to throw you into the roaring flames below. Your eyes met Sandor's for a brief moment and a look of understanding passed between you. With one hand, you tried clawing at the Mountain's gauntlet-covered hand while your other hand reached for the nearby torch.

Sandor yelled at his brother, causing him to remove his helmet to vehemently glare. You took the opportunity to reach next to you. You grabbed the torch and swung it against the Mountain's head with all your might. He let out a blood-curdling scream, dropping you to the stone steps. No pain registered in your mind as you focused on the task of helping Sandor.

The Mountain was precariously close to the walls, giving you an idea. You only hoped Sandor would catch on quickly or the Mountain's sword was coming for your neck next. From your position on the ground, you could easily reach the Mountain's legs. Sandor had him bent backward over the wall. If you were quick enough, you could end this right then and there.

Without waiting another minute, you took aim. If you hit him in the just the right spot, you could throw him off balance long enough for Sandor to finish the job. Since the Mountain wasn't paying any attention to you anymore, you had your chance. His knees bent just enough. With a smile, you carefully reached over and rammed your elbow into the back of one knee and then the other. Then, you stayed on all fours behind his legs, basically creating a table from your body.

In his surprise, the Mountain released his hold on Sandor. Sandor took one glance at you and got the idea. With all his might, he shoved. The Mountain lost his balance, flipping over you and off the walls, down into the flames below. Sandor helped you to your feet and the two of you watched his brother fall. When you could no longer see him, Sandor pulled you back and gazed into your eyes.

"What in Seven Hells were you thinking, woman?!" he snapped, "You could have gotten yourself killed!" You huffed a little and crossed your arms. "A 'thank you' would be nice. I told you I would stay out of the way unless you needed help. And you did! I-I couldn't let you die, you idiot! I saved-" you were cut off, letting out a squeak of surprise when you felt Sandor's arms wrap around you.

"Don't do anything like again," he muttered. You pulled back slightly to look at him. "Sandor, I…why are you so worried? I'm fine." Sandor let his brown eyes meet your (e/c) ones. "I," he started, but couldn't seem to find the words, "I-Dammit, woman! Just accept that I can't lose you!" You felt your lips stretch into a smile. "Sandor, do you love me?"

"Aye," he answered without hesitation. You guessed he thought he'd hesitated long enough. With everything going on, there were no guarantees after all. You moved to stand a couple steps above him so you could meet his gaze. "I love you too." You placed your hands on his shoulders and slowly leaned closer to him. Sandor froze for a moment, but began leaning in as well. "Are you sure about this?" he asked when your lips were a mere breath away from one another. You laughed lightly. "Absolutely. Will you kiss me, Sandor?" You question was answered when he smashed his lips against yours, practically pulling you off your step in an effort to bring you closer to him.

(a/n: I hope this is what you wanted! I miss my Sandor!)

Forever Tags: @fizzyxcustard @brewsthespirit-blog @etherealpotter @line-viper @frozenhuntress67 @cd1242 @gruffle1 @smalltownbigheart @igotmadskills

Sandor Clegane Tags: @songoficecreamandfireworks @silversprings98 @nkjktk

#george r.r. martin #game of thrones #sandor clegane #sandor clegane x reader #sandor x reader

166 notes · View notes

pedropascalssimp · 4 years ago

Text

No need for tears

Old Boba fett x reader

Request: (SPOILERS) I saw you were taking requests for Boba, so I was wondering if you could do old boba comforting you after Grogu leaves with luke. Really sad and fluffy. LOVE YOUU

Warnings: angst. Fluff. Mild language.

*gif not mine*

You've been there for him every day since din found him, you've played with him countless times, laughing whenever he'd tumble over from excitement. You've rocked him to sleep every night or time he was tired, singing him lullabies on the silent ship. Although din saw the child as a son, you couldn't help but grow so damn fond of Grogu.

So as you watched how din stood so vulnerable, helmet off as his dark locks was a mess atop his head and dark eyes full of tears, lip trembling as the child touches his cheek. You knew that you'd never see Grogu again, the jedi was taking him.

Quick to stride over you place a hand gently by Grogu's side, running a finger over his cheek. His eyes look at you, tears threatening to spill as you watch how he wraps his little fingers around your pointer finger.

"I'm gonna miss you womp rat" you dryly chuckle, a choked sob nearly tumbling from your lips. "you be nice to the jedi guy okay, you don't cause him as much trouble as you have me and din" you say, voice cracking as you try and not sob. Din couldn't even speak he was so tore up, his tears almost falling. But your words make the ghost of a smile tug at his lips.

You lean down and touch your forehead to Grogu's shortly walking away not wanting to see him leave. Cara gives you a sympathetic look as you simply walk by, you wouldn't cry. Not right now, you'd save your tears for a moment when you was alone and could break down.

The ship landed on a planet you didn't even care to know, the name not important to you. You was heart broken, you already missed him. You could tell din was as well, for he wasn't even speaking to no one and put his helmet back on, to hide his tears you'd assume.

Walking off the ship with Cara, Fennec and din. You walked ahead of them. Already in search of your knewly found friend boba fett, although you'd be lying if you said you didn't find him insanely attractive and captivating. But that's a story for another time. Once spotting the man clad in green beskar, you feel your tears welling up again, lip trembling.

"where's the little one?" boba asks in confusion, not seeing Grogu. You feel your heart clenching in pain at the thought of what happened, but it was for the best right? So why did it hurt so much....

"he's been taken into the care of a jedi, he's safe" Fennec says somewhere from behind you, and the tears slipped past your eyes. A sob escaping your lips. Your vision was blurry from the tears thet fell from your eyes and you could hardly register the arms that wrapped around you, holding you close as you finally break down. Head resting on a armored chest.

You'd miss Grogu so damn much, you'd miss waking up to him trying to eat everything in sight, you'd miss him always touching things he wasn't supposed to... You'd miss hearing his sweet little coos. You cried harder at the thought, at how you'd possibly never see him again.

"it's okay princess... It's okay" you realize then it's boba who holds you, who soothing rubs your back as you cry. His helmet off as he whispers reassurance in your ears. "he's safe, the little one is in good hands" you're sobs turn to whimpers.

"w - why? Why did he have to go.... We protected him, I miss him so much" you whimper as you look up at boba, his soft brown eyes showing the most comforting look someone could give. It surprised you that such a hardened bounty hunter who had a dangerous reputation could be so... Gentle, and you knew he wasn't one for comforting, he wouldn't feed someone false hope and useless words just to calm them down, so boba had to be speaking the truth.

"you done good, you and you're friend helped him survive in this harsh galaxy... You gave him safety, and now because of you princess he has a permanent safety" boba tried to help you, he really did. He hated seeing you so upset.

"but I miss him..." you say with a quivering voice. Eye's locked on the man's before you. He sighs and cups your face gently, your soft skin a warm welcome for his roughed palms.

"I'm sure you do, but there is no need for tears when he's finally safe girl... You should be happy that he can finally train properly and live a fear free life..." he muttered, his thumb gently rubbing away your tears.

You let his words settle in, trying hard to feel happy for the little child you missed. Perhaps boba was right, maybe you should be happy for Grogu. He was training with what looked to be a jedi master, most likely living a life behind the walls of safety and peacefulness. With you and din he was always safe, but also put in danger... At this thought you sigh, looking down and realizing you should be happy that Grogu was safe, but you'd still miss him.

Smiling up at boba with tears still falling from your eyes you nod, "you're right, he's safe now. More so then when he was in my care" you muttered and boba grasps your face delicately making you look at him.

"he was always safe with you, don't ever doubt that. But if he was with you and the mandalorian still yet he'd never have a place to call home, you'd never be able to sleep with both eyes shut" boba said and although his words hurt, they were true. You knew that and you let them settle in.

You close your eyes and nod your head, leaning into his touch, letting his embrace envelope you. Calming you down. Unknowingly to you, boba quite enjoyed holding you close, the feeling of your smaller self in his large arms was something he Never thought he'd longed for, not until he held you close. Your sniffles became quiet as your tears slowed down, slowly raising your head off his armored chest you look up at boba.

"thank you..." you murmur, eye's red from crying. You watched a small smile tug at his lips. Dark eye's looking over your face, You felt more calm in his arms.

Boba only nods in acknowledgement, letting you lay your head on his chest once more. Letting you bask in the comfort of his arms. Boba gently placed a kiss atop your head and had decided at that point he'd never let you go, deciding he'd always want to protect you from harm. Although he'd never speak his thoughts out loud, boba knew he never wanted to see you cry ever again.

___________________________________________

#pedro pascal #din djarin #the mandalorian #star wars #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal imagine #the mandalorian imagine #the mandalorian x reader #baby yoda #mando x reader #boba fett imagine #boba fett x reader #boba fett #din djarin x you #din djarin imagine #din djarin x reader

186 notes · View notes

soyeahitsmiddleearth · 4 years ago

Text

Elmer's Glue pt.1

Éomer/Reader

God you just can't get his name right, and it's a shame cause's he's cute af

Awkwardness Humor and Fluff

----

Someone like you shouldn't have survived nearly as long as you did.

You first came tumbling into Middle Earth a few days before departing for some big important quest to destroy a powerful ring, having landed yourself in a place called Rivendell that's full of elves and lovely scenery.

You were presented at some meeting and urged to join this 'Fellowship' and became a valuable member of the group even despite your lack of fighting knowledge, because you somehow had some sort of 6th sense regarding things that have yet to happen.

Just barely did you and your friends survive Helms Deep, The Hornburg, after all of those horrible events (losing Gandalf, Merry and Pippin being captured, and Frodo and Sam departing to continue on on their own), but once all is said and done, you're ecstatic to finally have a moment of rest and celebration.

A grand party is thrown in the royal halls of Rohan, but you're none to interested in the drinking or dancing.

Instead, you opt to watch everyone else enjoy themselves.

At some point after Legolas wipes the floor with Gimli in a drinking game, the prince, and brother of the sweet woman Eowyn, ends up meandering over to where you idly sit.

You remember riding with him to and from Isengard during your journey to reclaim your hobbit friends, though the two of you didn't speak much. It was kind of embarrassing for you to sit so close to him and attempt to share a conversation while looking straight ahead, so you didn't speak much at all, and he didn't engage himself often either.

It was surprising to you how comfortable the journey was, though, all things considered.

His horse was huge and he was just as large, but you never felt afraid or feared falling even once during the ride.

It's not a big deal, but it still stuck out to you since he's so clearly a very skilled rider.

Even after all that, however, you still totally blank out on his name when he suddenly approaches after helping Legolas bring Gimili to the resting area.

Your mind begins to race as you try to remember the name that belongs to him, and all too soon do you realize that you're both staring at each other and he's waiting for your to say something (probably after greeting you, which you did not catch).

"L-Lord... Elmer..." You say slowly after a moment, praying to god you got it right since you took inspiration from your favorite brand of kids glue.

He raises an eyebrow when you say his 'name', and a smile creeps on to his face. "Elmer?"

Ah, shit. You definitely didn't get it right.

"Elmo?" You mentally kick yourself for that one, he's definitely not a small red puppet monster, you would've noticed if he were.

He shakes his head this time, amusement painting his features as you struggle to come up with his actual name.

"Emir?"

Another head shake, and also a full on smile.

"It's not Edgar, is it?" It definitely doesn't sound right, but maybe you'll get lucky.

At this point, you know for a fact that your face is on fire, this is so embarrassing, but you simply can't remember.

"Would you like me to tell you?" He offers after you don't guess again for a time, leaning his arm on the table next to you, leaning closer to you.

Getting help at this point would be mortifying, so you deny his offer for the proper answer and take another crack and guessing. "No, no wait. I've got it! Your name is... Elinor..." You mentally smack yourself in the face for that one; he doesn't even look like an Elinor (mostly because he's not a woman).

"Not quite. Eomer is my name may I remind you."

So your first guess was the closest, but still so far away.

"W-Well, this is extremely embarrassing." You stutter out, adverting your gaze from his eyes which have suddenly become so close.

Eomer can't help but to laugh, and the smile that graces his lips is positively dashing.

You glance back up at him and notice right away, and once more your face begins to burn like a furnace.

"I-I didn't mean to forget, I swear! And I definitely wasn't trying to make fun of you either!"

His chuckles die down when your slightly panicked speech betrays your concern of being disrespectful, and he wastes no time in assuring you that it's perfectly fine. "If you are worried that you've upset me, then do not fret. I'm not offended, simply amused."

Well, that's a relief.

"Um... well, that's good- I guess," you tell him your name, then continue, "I feel so bad. You took me on your horse and everything and I didn't even remember your name! Gosh, I suck."

The tall blond-haired man looks at you oddly when you insult yourself so strangely, and you realize that you forgot to keep your other-word slang to a minimum since it can be hard to understand.

"Right, well, I came over to ask if you would like to join me on a walk outside. Are you interested?" He leans down a bit closer when he asks you this, acting as if he doesn't want anyone else to hear.

Typically you'd be more cautious than this, but you find yourself nodding along regardless.

---

Lord Eomer (you'll definitely remember his name this time, you swear it) took your hand in his and led you outside after you nodded your assent, and while you'd normally dislike being grabbed so casually, you allow it for some reason.

He releases you from his gentle hold once the both of you are beyond the party halls and outside in the cool night air at the bottom of the steps, and you finally find your voice to ask about his intent.

"So... did you want to talk to me about something or...?" You look up at him curiously with your hands clasped in front of you, twisting your heel in the dirt to ease the anxiousness.

"No, nothing in particular. I do have questions, but I simply wanted a moment alone with you," he pauses, then adds slyly, "Your friends have taken up al your time since we arrived, so I had hoped to steal you away for a time."

You aren't sure if you should be flattered, flustered, or both.

"I-I see... well, you've got me now." You mean it as a joke but it's hard to sound humorous when you're so flustered.

He only smiles and nods his head once, "I do."

Cue the awkward silence.

It appears that he's once again waiting for you to say something, so you decide to pull no punches and go straight for the heavy hitting topics.

"So, hows about that battle, huh? Crazy..."

His eyebrows knit together as he thinks over your strange speaking mannerisms, but he doesn't question it and only nods his head instead. "You could say that. The men fought bravely and we lost many, but our victory does not go unrewarded."

"Are you talking about the party?"

"Yes. That, and the knowledge that some of my men get to return home tonight and see their families."

His words bring a small, sad smile to your face, and you speak much more softly this time, "I'm afraid it isn't over, though. With everything going on, it's only a matter of time before we're all sent away again."

"We?"

Oh, right, he doesn't really know about your role in this merry group of misfits.

"Um, yes. I fight, er, kind of. I do my own thing really, but I can't afford to stay behind." It's hard to explain since you aren't sure what the extent of his knowledge is.

His uncle, Theoden, knows almost all about your deal, but does Eomer? He should since he's a key part of this whole Rohan operation, but it's not necessarily your place to tell him either.

"A shield-maiden?" He wonders aloud, taking a seat on the stone steps next to you two.

Even when he's sitting down he's taller than you, and it shoots an arrow of envy through you. The bigger you are, the more intimidated your enemies are, after-all.

"Not quite. I'm not the best at fighting really." It's kind of a lie, actually, because you've got some hidden skill that makes you pretty good at that kind of thing, but it has to do with your foresight to you choose not to explain much further.

Your answer seems to only confuse him more, however, for his eyebrows knit together and his smile tugs downwards into a frown. "You are not? But they bring you into battle regardless?"

Well, shit, now you're making them sound like negligent, reckless idiots.

"N-No- I mean, I'm okay but, uh, it's hard to explain." It's like you somehow just know how to affectively fight; it's like something inside of you just takes over and keeps you from dying, and it proved to be both extremely useful and also unexpected.

They found out about this 'hidden ability' (for lack of a better term) during the battle in which Boromir was slain and you first lost your hobbit friends. You were surrounded and everyone else was fighting for their lives, and in that moment of hopelessness, something inside of you snapped and the floodgates were opened.

Your skill lies in defense, not offense, but it was all you needed to make it through the fight alive and intact.

"I-I know it seems like they were being irresponsible, but there's more to the story- I swear!" You try to defend, taking a step closer to his seated form, "Really, they need me, so it'd be even more irresponsible if they didn't bring me along."

He doesn't seem to get it, for his doubtful expression remains and his frown deepens, but he tries not to judge too much either. "I... see."

A subject change seems like the best course of action, so you decide to ask him a question of your own. "W-Well... anyways. Why'd you want me to come out here with you?"

"I simply wished to learn more about the beautiful newcomer that graced our halls, and I find that I'm even more entranced than before."

Lord Eomer's words bring a flush to your face and leave you flustered, and it seems you can't get your brain to form a coherent thought either.

"Have my words troubled you?" He asks when you still don't manage to find your voice.

"N-No, it's not that..." You trail off and cover your mouth and nose coyly, looking off to the side when you find that you can't meet his gaze any longer. "I'm just not sure how to reply to that. I've been here so long I don't even remember how to flirt." Your words are, of course, an embarrassed joke, and it seems to land well for he chortles with amusement.

"If that is all it is, then it must be fine that I say you've caught my eye, and I'm afraid I cannot get it back until I know more."

"Know more about... m-me?" You repeat slowly, simply trying to wrap your head around it all, "Like... Like what?"

Another dashing smile brightens his handsome features, and this time your heart flutters nervously when he does, "Anything."

You twiddle your thumbs in front of you and dip your head down, racking your brain for any information that would be interesting but not super telling in terms of your 'earth of origin.'

"Um... I can do this-" You raise one of your hands and bend your fingers all the way back until they're perpendicular with your palm, displaying your double jointed fingers effortlessly.

He stares at your hand trick for all of 5 seconds before he's standing up and worriedly asking, "Have you broken your hand?" He takes your hand in his own, delicately turning it around in search of bruises.

"N-No," you pause and look at his larger hands taking yours, then add shyly after, "It's just a trick. I'm double-jointed."

"Double-jointed?" He repeats slowly, not releasing your hand though he does cease his search for damage. "I... see."

He sure does say that a lot.

"I can also do this." You take back one of your hands and reach into your pocket and pull out a lighter that you've had with you all this time, then you ignite a flame and brandish it proudly.

The blond-haired man looks on with wide eyes, and he reaches out towards it, asking with amazement in his voice, "You created fire so effortlessly!'

"Yeah, this little device has, er, oil in it and it ignites it using a spark." It has been helpful many a-night when everyone else has been out and about doing stuff and you were left to tend to the fires. "Don't get too close though, it's hot."

He nods his head once and drops his hands to his dies, watching the small flame dance on the lighter before you blow it out and place it back in your pocket.

"Where did you find such a magnificent contraption?" He asks once it's out of sight, looking down at you with curiosity sparkling in his eyes.

"I, um... made it." You think it best to lie, though he doesn't appear to fall for it, and change the subject. "So, how about that weather we're having?"

Your sudden and shitty subject change makes him raise an inquisitive eyebrow, but after a moment he starts to laugh, "Yes, the night sky's are very clear tonight. As it should be the morrow after a raging battle."

It's strange and none too awkward since you're no good at this, but this normalcy actually almost makes you forget all the shit you've seen up until now.

"I would very much like to see you again." He says suddenly when the conversation dies down and you both just stand there in silence.

You look back up at him and offer a small smile, repeating softly, "Sure. I'd like that as well. But I'm still here, so we don't have to talk about later just yet, right?"

"I suppose not." He reaches down and grabs your right hand gently, raising it up while he also leans down, then he presses a feather soft kiss to the middle of the back of your hand.

Eomer looks up at you while he does so, and you find that your face has begun to heat up once more.

When he doesn't move to stand normally and continues to look up at you expectantly, you ask uncertainly, "Am I supposed to kiss your hand too, or...?"

It seems you're quite the comedian to this guy, for he stands up straight again and bursts into joyful laughter, reaching down to pat your shoulders, "No no, but if you wish to offer me one somewhere else then I would not deny it."

People in this place really waste no time beating around the bush, though you suppose they can't afford to waste much time when things like the Battle at Helms Deep happen every so often.

There are murderous orcs everywhere and danger at every turn for them nowadays, do you actually feel a sense of appreciation for his forwardness.

This time you find yourself laughing too, and you readily reply, "Maybe next time, Lord Eomer. We only just met, you know. I could be trying to steal a place in the royal line, for all you know."

His smile does not waver despite your warning against yourself, for he only shakes his head and squeezes your shoulders gently, "No, such motives always make themselves clear early on. Unfortunately for me, you're honest."

"Unfortunately?"

"Unfortunate for my heart, yes."

#eomer x reader #Eomer of Rohan #lotr eowyn #lord of the rings #lotr #reader insert #reader #lotr fandom #lord of the rings fanfiction #romance #fluff #humor #awkwardness

159 notes · View notes

pokefanclaire · 4 years ago

Text

Secret Santa

Hello everyone! I’m no writer but I decided to have a crack at a fan fiction for a ship I absolutely adore. Alfendi Layton x Lucy Baker. Also I don’t own any rights to the game, or characters its purely my weird thoughts.

This fan fiction has mutual pining and teasing but is pretty tame. I’m not entirely sure how to describe this!

Secret Santa

‘Th’ Prof always uses the mug I gifted him for secret Santa. It’s a normal enough looking mug with “World’s greatest detective” printed in black ink and the inside is decorated with a flurry of magnifying glasses facing every which way. I watched him unwrap my gift for ‘im from under the Scotland yard Christmas tree about a month ago and he ‘asnt used another mug from the break room since’ Lucy thought proudly as she eyed the space allocated for making hot drinks.

“Good morning dear Lucy”

Lucy jumped in surprise of his sudden arrival and twirled to see a tired looking Alfendi sporting disheveled placid burgundy hair and 3 day old stubble across his chin.

“slept ‘ere again prof?”

“.. You know you have to fill that with water Baker?”

He gestured to the empty kettle Lucy was absent mindedly staring at. Alfendi laughed light heartedly at his assistants morning forgetfulness.

Lucy stepped aside as Alfendi began to make tea in his favourite mug. He had clearly slept in the mystery room last night she thought, yet his disheveled, unkept appearance did nothing to calm the flutters in her stomach or the increased pounding of her heart against her ribcage from his arrival to the break room.

Noticing the heat rising in her cheeks from his close proximity she snapped her attention toward the fridge to fetch a lemon slice to add to his earl grey tea Placid enjoyed each morning.

The coolness of the fridge gave her cheeks much needed relief, and Lucy gave out an audible sigh of relief.

“’ere ya are Prof”

Lucy beamed turning around. She felt a solid mass suddenly press against her entirety realising the Prof was standing right behind her.

“Sorr’ Prof”

she said stumbling back a step.

“It was entirely my fault I apologise dear Lucy. Are you okay?”

Smiling shyly placid prof tugged at the back of his neck nervously.

“It were nowt Prof, why’d you sleep at the mystery room anyways?” smiling at the nervousness she now felt. “was there some new case?”

“Not at all Lucy, I just didn’t want to get behind on paperwork. And besides my favourite mug is here at Scotland Yard. I really like it, and what it stands for”

Lucy stared at her mentor.

“I think I know who my secret Santa was”

“well you should” Smiled Lucy “been the worlds greatest detective and all that. Piece of cake for a great mind like yours”

Alfendi drank from his mug maintaining piercing eye contact with his dear Lucy.

“...And my dearest assistant, did you happen to find out the identity of your secret Santa?”

“nah Prof’ It was a crazy difficult puzzle with no instructions but it looks lik’ sum kinda box. I spent all Christmas day tryin’ to solve it. My ma and dad had a go too, and my neighbour tried but nowt”

“I wonder who would send you such a thing dear Lucy”

Lucy felt her cheeks burn from his relentless stare. She couldn't remember the last time Alfendi blinked…

“was ‘t you? Prof’”

Of course Lucy had her suspicions with him been the son of the famous Hershal Layton. A Puzzle sounded fitting. But she was a detective constable and all of Scotland Yard would of known that she would find a puzzle an entertaining gift.. Had Alfendi been staring at her this whole time? She watched his sweet amber eyes flicker to a darker, more dangerous shade of yellow.

Alfendi grinned sipping from his mug trying to guess her train of thoughts.

“You know, I’m quite good with puzzles my dear Baker. Can I possibly be of some help to you?”

Before Lucy could answer Alfendi had crossed the room to her. She had just enough time to groan as Potty Prof’s eyes met with hers. From his slightly crouched position he leant over her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

“because I am… the world greatest detective aren’t I Baker?”

“morning folks!” Dustin called glancing over at Lucy and Alfendi with a raised eyebrow “Not interrupting summat am I?”

Alfendi grinned at Dustin, his unkempt messy hair bright crimson.

“You ‘kay Lucy Love?” Dustin smiled, eyebrow still raised questioningly in Lucy’s direction.

Lucy was inches away from the grinning Potty Alfendi’s face, his unshaven dishevelled look making the break room vanish from her vision as heat rose to her cheeks. She took an inward breath, wanting to answer Dustin quickly before suspicion took hold and everyone at Scotland Yard would soon be making fun of her obvious crush on her mentor.

“um yea Dusti’ ta”

she finally managed with an altogether strange look on her face. Alfendi smelt of stale cigarettes, coffee and old books, an intresting and all together appealing combination rushing her senses.

“I’m just fine” Lucy added. Convincing herself this time.

“are you Baker? Because you look a little distracted by something, or someone perhaps?” he teased.

“then see ya Lucy love, have a good’n” Dustin stifled a laugh as he exited the break room noisily jangling his keys. “young love!” he added from half way down the corridor.

Lucy’s cheeks were hot, She could only imagine how uncomfortable she looked to Alfendi as he continued to intimidate her at her eye level.

“Baker, come with me”

He turned on his heels without looking back toward the break room certain Lucy would follow. Lucy hesitated for a split moment, deep in her own thoughts before racing to catch up with her handsome mentor. Out in the corridor, she looked left and right for Alfendi assuming he had gone to the mystery room she skipped up the corridor after him. The door to the mystery room was wide open, with no apparent inhabitant in there she knocked on the door.

“Hello? Prof? Are you here?”

her calls were met with silence but she observed on Alfendi’s desk was the still warm mug of tea, steam escaping the rim. He had to be here, She felt herself falter as she leaned inside the room knowing that it was most likely Potty Prof inside, Lucy felt the familiar heat rising to her cheeks at the thought of her Potty prof, the original Alfendi Layton. Fearless.

Lucy scanned the corridor once more before deciding to search the suspiciously silent Mystery room.

“Prof?”

Hands quickly covered her eyes as the door slammed shut behind her, heated breath brushed against the nape of her neck.

“care to guess which of your dear mentors is here with you?” Whispered Potty..

“Th’ original of course”

Silence fell once more.

“what did you call me just now” twisting to be sure he saw her lips move as she spoke. “not po…did you say original?”

“aye, I mean ya were ‘ere first wernt you? What woul you like me to call ya?”

Dazed Alfendi stared still covering Lucy’s eyes.

“...and Lucy, you aren’t scared are you? Of me I mean. Us”

He moved a hand to the side, brushing through Lucy’s golden hair. She groaned as the familiar scent of the prof fogged her consciousness for the second time that morning. ‘Get it together Lucy, he’s your boss! and this sort of thing isn’t allowed.. besides he’s just teasing. He never goes through with it, jus’ leaves me hanging. He’s all talk, that Potty’ She managed to comfort herself with her thoughts for a moment before allowing one eye to gently flutter open. He stared silently as heat rushed to her cheek turning her a shade of crimson familiar to Potty.

Alfendi gently traced the outline of her cheek with his outstretched fingers casually moving his face closer to hers before lightly brushing his thumb back and forth over her bottom lip.

“what would happen if I.. We just…..gave in Lucy?.”

Lucy stared at him in disbelief, convinced he was teasing as always she roared with hysterical laughter causing her to lose her balance and tumble forward into Alfendi.

“If I knew it was so easy to get you onto my lap Baker, I would of trapped you in the mystery room months ago”

Lucy’s eyes met with his, smiling broadly.

“I know you Prof, its all teasin’ an nowt else”

“one day I wont be able to stop myself Baker?”

Lucy was left feeling confused at the look on the now placid Prof’s face. Well placid Prof isn’t one for teasing, she thought about the living nightmare her life would become if both potty and placid decided to tease her. Shaking the thought from her head she tried to stand steadying herself on the sofa, offering both hands to the Prof she helped him regain his balance.

“Sorry abou’ falling onto you there Prof! I didn’t mean ta”

Alfendi didn’t reply, instead he stared down silently.

“wa is it?”

Her gaze fell on what had taken the Profs attention. Lucy was still holding Alfendi’s hands after helping him up.

“sorr’ Prof!”

Lucy let go of his hands instantly, retracting her arms from his direction.

“….Lu… Lucy… can you do me a favour please?”

Still looking down at his now empty hands.

“o’course Prof, anything”

Beamed Lucy, hoping by now he would of finally stopped teasing for the day.

“Can you try, to be less… perfect in my presence during work hours. I’ve found it very distracting of late” Alfendi didn’t bring his eyes to meet hers, but Lucy giggled at Pottys latest tease.

Alfendi’s hair was a placid, pale wine colour. He looked up with dull amber eyes.

“I mean it Lucy.”

A silence fell between them.

“tea prof?, how ‘bout I make us a brew! Earl grey with a lemon slice kay? Or would the othe’ trouble maker like a coffee?”

Alfendi laughed sheepishly as Lucy skipped from the mystery room toward the Scotland yard break room.

“Tea would be perfect my love”

morning turned to afternoon, and then dusk as 18:00 flashed on Lucy’s wrist watch.

“I’m ‘eading home now Prof, would you like to ride together?”

Alfendi hadn’t heard the question, or ignored his assistants declaration that she intended to leave.

“Is the mysterious puzzle in your backpack Lucy or at home?”

“s’in me backpack, I like it a whole bunch and who knows when i’ll figure it out eh?”

“May I see it Lucy? If you would kindly accept the help of your mentor”

“Sure Prof, I would love you to ‘elp me get a little further with solving the puzzle. Can I grab you some food from the take out place ‘round th’ corner” Understanding Alfendi will tackle her puzzle for a few hours at least.

“May I suggest something similar? I need to return to my apartment building this evening to take care of some household chores, and shave as i’m sure you’ve noticed I failed to remember to bring my razor with me into to work these past few days”

Alfendi ran a hand through his newly emerging beard with a disgusted curl tugging at the edge of his lips.

“we could grab some take away, and we can cycle to my apartment and I can help you with your puzzle while I take care of my chores”

“I uh.. I like it the stubbl’ I mean Prof.it suits ya somthin wicked”

Alfendi looked over at Lucy his hand frozen in the rough patch of hair now inhabiting his cheek.

“Can you confirm please, the newly emerged stubble you like?” Alfendi raised an eyebrow at Lucy.

“wel’ I guess yea. stubbl’ or ‘least yours”

Lucy stared for a moment before realising she hadn't answered Prof’s next question.

“oh an’ take out at your place would be grand”

Alfendi didn't say a word until they reached the take out place near Scotland yard.

“what do you fancy Lucy? I mean from the take-out menu of course”

He grinned from ear to ear.

“’ello Potty, wondered if you were joining us this evening”

“Do you fancy something Italian Baker?”

“This is a chines’ restaurant silly”

He leaned into Lucy’s scarf sending his warm breath over her ear.

“I’m the something Italian silly”

“no, I don’t fancy any dam’ Italian”

“yes you do Baker”

Alfendi blew warm air over her ear and felt the gooseflesh wash over her exposed skin.

“yes you do.” he repeated.

The pair stood in silence: Alfendi grinning at her blush, Lucy pretending to be very interested in the Chinese food menu.

“now are you ready to order from the Chinese menu?”

#lucifendi #lucy baker #alfendi layton #alfendi #mystery room #lucy x alfendi

28 notes · View notes

zaffrenotes · 4 years ago

Text

[TRR] Kairos

Kairos - Part 12

Pairing: Liam x Riley, Liam x OC Series Rating/Warnings: 18+; language; series will include ns*w 🍋 scenes Chapter Rating/Warnings: G Author’s Note: * All main characters belong to Pixelberry, I’m just borrowing them * Kairos (καιρός) is a word in Greek that translates to “the right time” or “the right moment to act” * Liam’s wife asks about “the one that got away” one night over dinner, and Liam recounts a relationship from his past * This is my submission for @wackydrabbles Prompt 89: This isn't what I had in mind, but okay. * Author’s Note 2: * I apologize if this chapter feels choppy; I haven't updated this story since January, and writing is H A R D, but I want to finish this AU. I know how it ends, I just have to *gestures at the air* get there. * Word Count: 1708

Catch up with previous chapters here

Taglist (let me know if you’d like to be added or removed for this series): @ao719 @blackcatkita @debramcg1106 @ofpixelsandscribbles @callmeellabella @smalltalk88 @aestheticartsx @bbrandy2002 @burnsoslow @choiceskatie @darley1101 @dcbbw @gardeningourmet @iplaydrake @liamxs-world @rainbowsinthestorm @riseandshinelittleblossom @superharriet @texaskitten30 @theroyalheirshadowhunter @the-soot-sprite // @alyssalauren @clairexoxo100 @cordonianroyalty @cordonian-literature @gkittylove99 @gnatbrain @jared2612 @kingliam2019 @mom2000aggie @pink-diamond13 @princessleac1 @queenjilian @sfb123 @txemrn @yourmajesty09

The evening carried on, and it was nearly impossible for Liam to pull himself away from one conversation to the next. Most of the new suitors vied for his attention to make a good impression, various nobles edged their way into conversations to discuss official business, and his friends made every effort to steal him away for short reprieves. He was dancing when he caught a flash of Max’s dress near the edge of the dance floor.

Brief glimpses and glances of a link to Liam’s almost-love was all The Fates seemed to grant for the duration of the ball, despite his best efforts to carve out a moment with Max. The irony wasn’t lost on him; having found a connection to Elia after years had passed, without a way to speak with her sister. His hand warmed against his dancing partner’s palm as they waltzed with other couples.

“What’s troubling you tonight? Besides the obvious farce of this whole ordeal.” A pair of cherry red lips curled into a sympathetic grin, and Liam nodded in silent agreement. “Something other than counting steps is running through your mind.”

Liam adjusted his grip on Olivia’s hand as he led her across the floor, quickly scanning the crowd for another glimpse of Max. “I require the assistance of a dear friend,” he answered quietly, twirling her in a circle. “Someone who knows of secret passages in the palace to remain undetected, who can also speak with one of the new ladies at court.”

One of Olivia’s brows arched in Liam’s direction. “Has someone managed to catch your eye already?”

“Not the way you think,” he replied. “It’s a long story, and right now I’m grasping at straws, but it’s…something.” As Liam twirled his childhood friend in another circle, the expression in his eyes conveyed the seriousness of his request.

Olivia’s back tensed when she looked up to meet her friend’s gaze, though they moved effortlessly through the song. “What do you need me to do, Li?”

“There’s a young woman here, wearing a peacock ballgown. Her name is Max.”

“There’s some irony,” Olivia giggled. “Maxwell’s probably talking her ear off over her dress alone.”

“I haven’t been able to speak with her since we were introduced.”

“Tell me when and where, I’ll make sure you converse with her before morning.”

Liam shook his head at the suggestion. “That’s not the kind of conversation I need to have, Liv. I do need to speak with her though. It could mean cancelling the rest of the social season before it’s had a chance to begin, in a good way.”

Olivia arched her brow at Liam again, as the music began to come to an end. “I’m going to need a full story about this very soon, if she’s a means of ending the season.”

Liam let out an anxious laugh. “Soon enough, of course. Get her as close as possible to my office without being seen.” He looked over Olivia’s shoulder to see Bastien by the ballroom doors, nodding at him just before Bastien said something to another member of the Kings Guard. “Enjoy the rest of the ball, I’ve got to go over details for tomorrow’s events. Shouldn’t take longer than an hour.”

Nearly an hour after Liam departed the ballroom, he sighed with relief to enjoy the silence in his office once Regina and her team of event planners were satisfied with preparations for the garden party. He poured himself a bit of scotch in a glass as a nightcap, glancing at the clock on the wall. Most of the guests had ventured home while he went over checklists with Regina, minus the suitors and their sponsors that would live at the palace for the next several weeks.

Another weary sigh slipped past Liam’s lips as he returned to the ornate desk in the office, and he removed the cufflinks Madeleine had given to him as a gift. He rolled up his sleeves, trying to ignore the soft ticking of the clock, wondering if Olivia had managed to get a hold of Max. Princess Maria Amelita Xamira Basilio, who had a sister that went by the name Elia. There were too many similarities in her siblings names and the fact that Max looked so similar in appearance to Elia.

He’d opened the laptop on the desk and was about to type Elia’s real name into the search window, when there was a knock at the door. Liam rushed out of his seat to answer, loudly whispering a name when he turned the knob. “Olivia? Is that you?” He was surprised to see Max in the hallway by herself. “Your Highness, please, come in,” he said, stepping aside to let Max pass. “Did anyone see you?”

Max bowed her head to Liam as she stepped into his office. “No, Lady Olivia led me through a number of passages from my room, and distracted the very tall, silver-haired guard down the hall.”

Liam chuckled softly. “That would be Bastien. He’s always had a bit of a soft spot for Olivia, ever since we were children.” He closed the door shut before walking towards the liquor cabinet. “May I offer you something to drink?”

“No, thank you,” she replied, taking a seat in one of the small couches. “To what do I owe this clandestine invitation?”

Liam sat down in the matching sofa across from Max, clasping his hands together as he carefully chose what to say next. “Max, you and I are both aware of the reason you’re here, participating in the social season. Under other circumstances, I’m certain you would have caught my eye, just as you did earlier this evening.”

Max chewed a tiny spot of her inner cheek. “There’s a ‘but’, isn’t there?”

“The reason you caught my eye was because you bear a striking resemblance to someone I met several years ago, before I met and married my first wife, Riley. Someone who, until tonight, I thought was lost to me.”

“Are you saying I’ve got a secret twin you’ve already met? This isn’t what I had in mind, but okay.” She grinned conspiratorially at him. “Who’s this doppelgänger that’s stuck with you?”

Liam sucked in a breath before answering. “As it were, it’s your sister. Elia.”

Max blinked at him silently, her eyes welling up with glossy tears at the mention of her name. “You…you knew Elia? When? When did you see her? Have you heard from her?” The questions tumbled out all at once, as Max tried to compose herself.

He picked up a gilded box of tissues from a side table, offering it to her. Max pulled two from the box, dabbing at the corners of her eyes, waiting for a response. “It’s been a number of years,” he began. “She was vacationing in Greece, just before she was supposed to return to university to study law.”

Max stopped dabbing at her tears to look up and study Liam’s face. “Oh my god, it’s you. You’re the guy.”

Liam’s brows pinched together. “She mentioned me?”

“Very briefly,” she responded. “Only that she met someone that gave her a reason to laugh every day, and seemed to understand what she – what we,” she paused, motioning to herself, “were going through, being…high profile?”

“That’s one way to describe it,” Liam chuckled softly. “She never said outright that she was a princess, but after we parted ways, many of the things we shared in our conversations made sense.” He looked up to see a puzzled expression on Max’s face. “Her fluency in languages, the way she could tell stories about growing up in vivid detail while overlooking things like ‘I grew up in a palace’ or ‘my parents were especially strict with me and my siblings’…”

“Oh by the way, that’s because they’re the king and queen?” Max scoffed lightly, shaking her head.

“I tried to look for her, for quite some time after that trip,” Liam added. “Only…my efforts were in vain, as the names she used were all nicknames. Even her own name wasn’t fully hers. Elia de Leon.”

Max sniffled and the puzzled expression returned to her face. “De Leon? That’s…our great-grandmother’s name.”

“I suppose that makes sense as well, now that I’m familiar with your family name. Had I searched for Elia Basilio, I might have found out about the royal connection, not that it would’ve changed my opinion of her.” Liam ran a hand across his face, his jawline and chin already rough with stubble. “You haven’t heard from her since that summer either? Anyone in your family?”

“No,” Max answered. “When her personal guard called the morning he was supposed to escort her home, he told my parents the apartment was empty…that she must have snuck away the night before.”

“But I was with her until morning.”

“What?”

“I…” Liam hesitated, taking in a breath. “I had dinner with Elia the night before she was supposed to leave. We talked long into the night, and I told her I was a prince. I even offered to let her stay with me here to take more time and consider alternative options to create some distance with your parents.”

“Because they wanted to marry her off, right?”

“Correct,” Liam nodded. “She only told me it was for a political alliance, to put your family name in a positive light after Mariela’s marriage to someone caused trouble.”

Max sighed with indignation. “That guy, ugh. That’s a story for another evening.” She began to wring the tissue between her hands. “But you saw Elia the next morning?”

“Yes, in fact I was the one that slipped out while she was still sleeping, long after dawn. I stopped for a coffee in the café below where she’d been staying, on my way to return home as well, and I…” Liam paused, recalling the man in the café that morning, remembering the other patron. “You said she had a personal security guard assigned to her?”

“Beni…Benigno, yes,” Max replied.

“Do you have a photo of him?”

“I can do better than that,” Max answered, pulling her phone from the pocket of her cardigan. “He’s here as my security and chaperone for the duration of my stay.”

#the royal romance fanfic #the royal romance fanfiction #trr fanfic #trr fanfiction #the royal romance au #trr au #trr liam x oc #king liam x oc #wacky drabbles #wackydrabbles #playchoices fanfic #choices fanfiction #zaffrenotes writes

53 notes · View notes

babysizedfics · 4 years ago

Text

Pink Crayons and Pinky Promises - Part 2

Summary: Being a super cool big brother is hard work sometimes. Especially when you don’t feel as big as usual, Vee doesn’t feel as little as usual, you parents are asleep, your baby sister’s pullup needs changing, you both need breakfast, you don’t know where crayons come from, and you miss your Mommy. But Mommy always calls Roman a clever little boy, so he’s gonna try to deal with all that stuff anyway! That can’t be too hard, right?

Word count: 7.2k

Take me back to part 1!

Also on AO3!

oOo

As much as Roman tried to enjoy colouring again, it was suddenly really hard. His head felt stuffy and his chest felt full—and not in the nice bubbly way. In the yucky balloon way. The yucky balloon always meant he was bored, and Roman hated being bored!

He threw the crayon to the carpet and pouted around his toothbrush. Not even chewing the crunchy bristles could stop the yucky balloon that was swelling in his chest. He rubbed his feet on the carpet again, but that didn’t help either. And now his fingers were feeling tingly! It was the worst feeling in the whole entire world forever and ever!

He groaned and flopped back to lie on the floor with his arms spread out. Bobbles of the carpet caught under his fingernails as he scratched it over and over again. Everything sucked!

Vee squeaked.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Roman asked, feeling a little bit… not little anymore. It wasn’t that he wanted to be big—he really, really didn’t—but it was always tricky staying so little without a grownup there to encourage it.

There was no response from Vee except some little babyish hums. Then some silence. Then an even louder sound: a chirp!

Roman raised his head from the floor just enough to see Vee’s back. Fae was wiggling around on faer butt with faer hand still held to faer mouth. Sucking sounds told Roman that fae was still eating the melon. And every couple of seconds, fae would make more squeaks and hums and chirps!

The yucky balloon in Roman’s chest deflated. “Is it yummy, Titch?” he giggled, sitting back up.

Vee always made funny sounds when she ate. Daddy called them yummy sounds, and Mommy said that was stimming too. It didn’t look much like stimming to Roman, but Mommy was super duper smart so Roman believed him. He liked this version of Vee’s stimming a lot because the noises were fun to listen to!

More chirping met Roman’s ears. Then he saw Vee’s legs kick out gently against the floor. Kick, kick, kick, quick but soft. That meant Vee really liked what she was eating.

Vee being happy made Roman feel a whole lot happier, so he picked his crayon back up to keep colouring!

The only sounds in the room were the crayon scribbles, the toothbrush bristles, Vee’s yummy sounds, and Roman’s little giggles when Vee made a particularly funny noise. He was smiling so hard and for so long that his cheeks even ached!

Then one of Vee’s squeaks got cut short by a whine. Roman looked over at his sister just in time to see faer pick a big black seed from faer mouth and drop it onto the carpet.

“You don’t like the seeds?” he asked, taking his toothbrush out of his mouth. There were a few seeds all over the carpet where Vee had apparently dropped them already.

Vee shaked faer head. “Wucky!” fae squeaked, and even stuck faer tongue out to show just how yucky fae thought they were. “Not s’posed to eat them ‘cause then Daddy can’t gwow them!”

That gave Roman a really creative and clever and funny idea! He tried to look casual, inspecting his toothbrush as if it was far more interesting than what he was about to say.

“Well they can still grow,” Roman started with a sly smile. “They would just grow in your tummy instead of the ground.”

He waited a moment—just long enough to seem cool but not dismissive—then checked Vee’s reaction.

She was frowning suspiciously, the tip of her tongue stuck out in thought. (Though she might have just been licking some melon juice from her lips. There was definitely enough dripping all over her cheeks.)

“They don’t do that…” Vee’s fingernail went back up to her sticky lips and she went quiet again. Then she whispered: “Do they?”

“Sure they do!” Roman nodded. He acted surprised and asked, “You’ve really never had a little fruit tree grow in your tummy before?”

It was pretty funny watching Vee’s eyes get slowly wider. Fae shook faer head. “No, I—Well I don’t think so.”

Roman’s lips betrayed him by pulling into a smirk, but he quickly shoved his toothbrush back in his mouth to hide it. “I fink you woulda noticed if you did. You woulda felt it for sure.”

It was less funny watching Vee’s eyes get quickly shinier. “B-because it hurts?!” Faer breathing got faster and faer eyes darted down to the seeds on the floor. Then fae pulled faer legs up into another tight hug. “I don’t wan’ a fwuit twee hurtin’ m-my tummy!” fae whimpered.

Uh oh.

“No, no, no, Vee! I didn’t—It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt!” Roman scooched on his butt to be right next to Vee and wrapped his arm around her.

“How d’you know?” Vee’s voice was really quiet. She was still scared.

Roman had to think something up real fast. And fast ideas weren’t always the bestest ones.

“I had a melon tree in my tummy once.”

It could’ve gone a whole lot worse than it did, but luckily Vee didn’t look upset by Roman’s answer. She just looked really freaked out.

“In your tummy?!” Vee squealed.

Her voice was so loud and squeaky that Roman even dropped his toothbrush on his empty plate to cover his ear! “Hey, we don’t wanna wake Mommy or Daddy!”

“In your tummy?” Vee repeated in a whisper.

A giggle bubbled up Roman’s chest and out of his mouth. His feet went brush, brush, brush. “Yeah, Titch! That’s how I know it doesn’t hurt.”

All of Vee’s attention was now on Roman. Her mouth was dropped open and she was staring at him and leaning forward. “Was it when we had the melon when it was waining?”

Roman shook his head and sat up straight with a proud smile. “Nu uh, that was only a month ago. This was way before that. Like before you lived with us.”

“Wow…” Vee gasped. “Did Daddy help you get it out?”

Roman’s eyes went wide and he hurriedly added, “No, Daddy didn’t know about it! A-and neither did Mommy, so don’t ask them ‘cause they won’t remember.” That was a close one! He didn’t wanna be in trouble for thinking of cool answers that were maybe not that true.

Vee nodded in understanding, then looked down at her fluffy socks, frowning. It looked like she was thinking hard.

After a few moments, fae hummed and nodded to faerself. “Okay, but even if they’re weally small and it doesn’t hurt, I still don’t want any twees in my tummy.” As if to prove faer point, Vee picked a seed out from one of her melon cubes and dropped it on the side of faer plate.

“Suit yourself,” Roman shrugged. Then—just to prove to his baby sister that he was a brave big boy—he picked the seed up and popped it in his mouth.

“Wo-Wo!” Vee screeched and launched herself on top of him. Her feet kicked out behind her and flung the melon and crayons all over the floor. “Don’t, it’ll gwow in your tummy again!”

Roman laughed even as Vee was crawling into his lap and getting really close up in his face. Then he stuck his tongue out to show her the seed. “I mot swawowed it yep!”

A big gasp came from Vee and her hand quickly lifted, ready to reach into his mouth! But Roman was super fast and grabbed her wrist before she could. Vee kept pushing her hand forward though, and Roman jolted back to get away from it.

With Vee’s weight in Roman’s lap, they both tumbled back onto the carpet, Vee still trying to put her sticky fingers in Roman’s mouth and Roman pushing her hands away as fast as he could.

“Eww, what are you doing?!”

“I’m gonna take it out!”

“No, don’t touch me!”

“Gimme da seed!”

“Your fingers are all sticky and—”

“We not s’posed to hab twees in our—”

“Get your icky baby hands out of my mouf!”

Suddenly, a low chuckle came from the hallway that made both of the littles freeze. They looked over at the living room door just in time to see it push open…

To reveal Nana Janus!

“You two certainly have a lot of energy this morning,” Nana said, smiling as he stepped into the room.

“Nana!” both littles squealed in unison.

“W-we didn’t know you were here!” Roman scrambled to sit up and pushed Vee off his lap. She didn’t cry or anything, she just wriggled onto her butt and held her arms up to Nana, whining. What a baby!

“Good morning to you too, little ones.” Nana looked around the floor and his smile went a bit different—like the smaller, tighter, wobblier one he had whenever Vee was throwing her toys everywhere or Roman was running around in his underwear. The tired kinda one.

“I see you’ve been busy…” he said slowly, kneeling down to where Vee was making grabby hands at him. “Looks like Nana has his cleaning work cut out for him, don’t you agree?”

Roman twisted his head round to look over the floor. There was lots of icky melon and seeds and cereal and crayons all over the carpet. He bit his lip and looked back at Nana with a giggle. “Oopsy daisy!”

That made Nana’s bigger smile come back. “Oopsy daisy indeed.” He pulled Vee into his lap and it made her stop whining. “But don’t get yourself in a fret, little prince, we can tidy up a bit later.”

What silly words! Roman giggled and brushed his feet all over again.

“M-m-m-m—”

The baby was trying to talk! Roman and Nana both looked at faer and Vee blushed under their attention. Fae wiggled and pulled at faer pyjama shirt again. “M-m-me and Wo-Wo are habin’ fun!” Faer voice went real squeaky and happy.

“You’re having fun? Without me?!” Nana gasped dramatically and held Vee’s shoulders, jiggling them a little.

Big giggles spilled from Vee, and then Roman joined in. They looked at each other with excited smiles. Nana was funny!

When they had gotten over their giggle fit, Nana spoke again. “I was listening to your conversation for a while. Roman, I never knew you were so knowledgeable on crayons and melon seeds.”

Electric excitement coursed through Roman’s veins and he bounced on his butt and brushed, brushed, brushed his feet and scribbled his fingers on the carpet! “Yeah, I-I-I teached Vee lots!”

“Yes, I know,” Nana said with a different smile. The sneaky kind of smile. He pointed at his eyepatch. “I could tell.”

Heat flooded Roman’s cheeks. Nana only ever wore his eyepatch when he was seeing lots and lots of yellow. And Nana only ever saw lots and lots of yellow when someone was doing lots and lots of lying.

“Um, Nana?” Vee whispered, tugging Nana’s waistcoat and making him look down at her instead.

Phew! Saved by the baby.

“Yes, little hatchling? Did you want to play with my watch chain?”

Vee shook her head and looked at Roman. Then she tugged Nana’s waistcoat again and leaned near his ear. Like she was tryna keep Roman from hearing it! But her whisper was too loud for Roman not to hear:

“Did you come down the chimney?”

It took a lot of effort for Roman to not roll his eyes. Ever since Christmas, Vee kept asking Daddy if anyone was gonna break into their chimney. And now it was summer! Roman thought it was a very silly thing to be worried about. Of course no one could come down their chimney; only Santa Claus could do that ‘cause he was magic!

And while Nana did know lots of magic tricks, it was a different sort of magic, Roman was sure. Although, Nana always bringed them lots of presents. And Roman saw him eating gingerbread cookies with milk one night when he was babysitting them… Maybe Roman would have to investigate if Nana had any links with the North Pole!

“No, darling,” Nana assured, tucking Vee’s bangs behind her ear. They were getting real long. “I didn’t come down the chimney.”

Vee sighed in relief.

“Did you, um, crawl through the dog door?” Roman laughed, knowing he was being silly. It was fun to be silly with Nana because he made cool jokes!

“Well yes, but that was last week,” Nana said, then winked at Roman.

That was his special way of telling Roman he was joking, because Roman was clever and he knew what sarcasm was! It made him feel super big and cool to be in on the grownup joke while Vee looked at Nana in shock, so he wiggled happily.

“I just didn’t go home last night,” Nana explained.

“Did you sleep in da apple twee?” Vee asked.

Nana laughed loudly and cuddled Vee closer to him. Roman hugged himself. He wished Mommy was here…

“That was the original plan, but then your Daddy said I could sleep in his bed. So I thought I might as well accept the offer.”

Roman gasped and got ready to speak—but Nana gave him the warning look and beat him to it.

“No, Roman,” Nana said sternly and raised his eyebrow—the one with the shiny piercing that Roman wasn’t allowed to poke anymore. “Before you accuse me of anything, your Daddy was not in there with me.”

Roman squinted at Nana suspiciously. You could hardly blame him for wanting to make sure his Mommy and Daddy weren’t cuddling anyone else!

Then Nana pulled a pack of baby wipes from his sleeve making both of the littles gasp—that’s the kinda magic tricks he did! “Now, why don’t you tell me what you’ve been up to this morning while I clean Vee up a bit, hmm?”

The warning voice was back to a soothing voice, and Roman felt all wiggly again!

“Um, um, um!” Roman started, taking a big, stuttering breath. His chest was tight with just how much energy he had to get out, and his mind was racing with all the stuff he wanted to tell Nana!

Like about how he stopped Vee from crying and how he offered to play without his cars so his little sister could join in. Or maybe about how he was so clever in thinking of how to get downstairs and make breakfast all without breaking any rules! Ooh, or about how brave he was for not crying when his hands got yucky and how he helped his baby sister read the crayon label! Oh but he wanted to show Nana his drawing too!

“Um, um, um, uh, um, um—” Roman babbled, his tongue struggling to keep up with his brain.

“Let’s start with what you did once you were downstairs, little prince,” Nana interrupted softly. “Can you do that for Nana?”

It was weird how Nana didn’t need to raise his voice over Roman to get the thoughts to stop zooming so fast in Roman’s brain, but it worked! Roman took a deep breath to calm down. It was really hard to talk right when he was so excited.

“Um, we-we-we—I made breakfast!” he said louder than he really meant to. He was just super happy because he knew Nana would praise him!

“Oh goodness, all on your own?” Nana’s jaw dropped in surprise as he passed Roman a fresh baby wipe.

Roman giggled with a nod and took the baby wipe to clean his hands. Then he accidentally made a weird happy, throaty sound. Kinda like Vee’s yummy sounds. He bit his lip to hold any more back and wiggled his knees as he wiped his fingers clean.

Then Nana gushed, “What a smart little boy you are, Roman!”

“Eep!” Roman couldn’t hold that sound back. “Y-yeah, yeah, yeah, I am!” He felt almost dizzy with excitement! He quickly finished cleaning his hands then screwed up the wipe and dropped it into Nana’s lap. “I was so clever and-and-and big!”

“Very big indeed,” Nana agreed while he ran his own baby wipe over Vee’s hands. He swirled his finger on Vee’s palm and she squealed and kicked her feet and twisted her head to rest it on Nana’s shoulder.

Then Nana tutted and picked off a piece of cereal that had been stuck to her cheek with melon juice.

“Eww!” Roman giggled. “Vee, you got food everywhere!”

Vee just giggled back and buried her head in Nana’s neck. It looked like she was getting even more little now that they had a grownup with them. Roman was too! He just wasn’t a baby.

“Come on, sweetie, up, up.” Nana stroked Vee’s hair as fae lifted faer head back up and looked at him with a pout. “Say ahh, baby. Ahh, ahh,” Nana demonstrated, holding his mouth open and his chin up.

“A-a-ah!” Vee opened her mouth in a little circle, and Nana quickly wiped all over her sticky cheeks.

“There we are,” Nana whispered, screwing up the wipe and dropping it into Roman’s lap. (Roman squawked and flicked it off straight away!) “Well, I certainly hope at least some of the food ended up in your little tummies.” Nana’s finger swirled on Vee’s tummy this time and fae squeaked and quickly hugged faer tummy.

“Yeah, look!” Roman blurted, remembering yet another thing he needed praise for. He hurriedly grabbed his Spongebob divider plate and held it up proudly. “Look, Nana, look!”

“Yes, darling, I’m looking. And do you know what I can see?”

Roman nodded quickly, eyes tight shut with a smug smile. He was such a good boy and he knew it! “Mhm, my empty plate! Be-because I was a good boy and eated all my breakfast!”

“Oh, it’s not quite empty.”

There was no way that was true! Roman remembered, he eated all of his food! He opened his eyes, knowing there was nothing left on his plate except his—Uh oh.

His chewed up toothbrush…

“Roman, look at Nana.”

The warning voice was back and Roman bit his lip and lowered the plate back to the floor. Keeping his mouth firmly shut, he looked up at Nana with the most innocent smile he could muster.

Suddenly, Nana’s hand darted forward, his fingertips landing on the sole of Roman’s foot and scribbling over his sock.

“Aah, Nana!” Roman squealed, immediately falling into a stream of laughter.

He hurriedly pulled his feet under his butt so Nana couldn’t tickle them anymore. (It was really fun when Nana or Daddy tickled his feet, but not as fun as when Mommy did it. Mommy was Roman’s favourite tickle monster!)

But then Nana’s fingers held Roman’s chin up and gently pulled his lip down. Oh no! Nana had tricked him!

“Nanaaa,” Roman whined, scrunching his face up and squinting his eyes shut. His gums kinda hurt from his mouth being open…

Thankfully, Nana dropped his chin quickly. But it was too late. Roman opened his eyes and saw Nana giving him the you’ve-been-naughty look.

“Your gums are positively raw, Roman!” Nana tutted. Then he sighed and shaked his head. “Would you care to tell me why you’ve been chewing your toothbrush when your Mommy and Daddy and Nana have all said that that’s not allowed?”

“Uh ohhh…” Vee whispered, and Roman glared at faer. Fae hid faer face on Nana’s shoulder again.

“I not been chewing it!” Roman defended with a pout. “I was just, um, lookin’ at it!”

That was never gonna work. All Nana had to do was tap his eyepatch for Roman to scramble over an excuse.

“Um, w-well I might of chewed it a little, but only ‘cause… Um, be-because—”

Vee’s head quickly poked up from Nana’s shoulder and she squeaked, “He was chewin’ on it all mornin’, Nana.”

“Little prince!” Nana scolded. “You know you’re not allowed to do that. I’m going to have to tell your parents.”

“Vee-Vee, we had a deal!” Roman whined and kicked his feet on the carpet. What a little tattletale!

Vee didn’t look sorry at all! She even had an evil little baby smile and fidgeted with her pyjamas while she giggled. “You said don’t tell Mummy or Daddy! And Nana is allowed to tell them!”

“What a cheeky little monkey,” Nana chuckled and tickled under Vee’s ear, making her squeal. “That was very clever, baby.”

Hot, heavy stuff filled Roman’s ears and head and he clenched his jaw so tight his gums hurt all over again. Two could play at that game! He crossed his arms and argued, “Well then I’m telling Nana you didn’t change your bedtime pullup!”

That stopped Vee’s giggling. Roman even felt kinda proud at how much her face dropped and how loud she gasped.

“Oh, sweetheart…”

Nana’s voice was so soft it kinda surprised Roman. His own mischievous smile dropped off his face and he looked up at Nana.

Nana was looking down at Vee’s face with a worried kinda look, and he stroked her bangs again even though they were already tucked back. “Is that true, darling?” he whispered.

Fae tugged at her pyjama top again and nodded silently. She looked like she’d done something naughty and felt really bad about it

“Can you tell Nana if it was wet when you woke up?” Nana asked gently.

It made Roman’s heart and tummy drop when he saw Vee’s eyes go wet again.

Now he probably looked like he’d done something naughty and felt really bad about it…

“Nana?” Roman mumbled, hunching his shoulders a little when Nana looked at him again. “Um… her pullup was wet but she said she didn’t wanna change it.”

Vee whined loudly. Faer body went really stiff on Nana’s lap and fae looked up at him really scared—like fae was getting ready to be told off.

“Shh, it’s alright, Vee.” Nana’s hand cupped Vee’s cheek. “You’re not in trouble.”

Even Roman sighed in relief. He never wanted to get his baby sister in trouble.

Nana continued, “But your pullups aren’t like your nappies, sweetie; we really need to change them once they’re wet. We don’t want any leaks, do we?”

All of a sudden, Vee’s wet eyes got even wetter. Fae sniffled and tugged faer pyjama shirt down. Kinda like if fae was trying to hide faer—

Oh… Roman’s tummy sinked even more.

It looked like Nana thought of the same thing, because he had a sad kinda smile now. “Can Nana please check, little one?” he asked really quiet.

Nana nudged Vee’s hands off her pyjama top and out of her lap. Then they could see a small wet patch on her pants.

Vee started whimpering and wriggling straight away.

“Oh, sweetie,” Nana cood and cuddled Vee back on his chest again, swaying her gently side to side.

She made a sad squeaky sound and choked, “Didn’t kn-know.”

“I know, Vee. Shh, it’s not your fault, darling.”

Roman’s eyes went wide. Did that mean Nana thought it was his fault?

“It’s not my fault either!” Roman quickly yelled. “She wouldn’t let me help! A-a-and she pinky promised that she wouldn’t have a accident!”

“Didn’t m-m-mean to!” Vee cried back, but it was all muffled because her face was on Nana’s shoulder again.

“Hey, hey, both of you stop for a moment.”

Both littles went quiet. Even Vee’s sniffling stopped.

Nana nodded at Roman and squeezed his arms tighter around Vee. “Very good. Now we’re all going to take a deep breath, all together. On three, ready?”

Roman’s lips twitched up at the corner and he scrunched his fingernails in the carpet again. He liked taking a deep breath with Nana, it always helped. So he nodded.

“Alright,” Nana said very quiet and soft. “One… Two… Three.” He squeezed Vee’s shoulder to let her know it was time to breathe, then they all took a big breath in.

Roman’s chest filled up, up, up with air, like a big balloon. He watched Nana and when Nana nodded with his chest puffed out really far, they all breathed out again slowly.

Once it was done, Roman’s tummy felt a lot better.

“Now—” Nana’s voice was still soft “—it wasn’t anyone’s fault that Vee had a little accident. Vee, sweetie, do you remember what we say about accidents?”

Vee’s pink cheeks puffed up like they did when she was thinking real hard sometimes. Then she looked up at Nana with her fingertip between her lips. “Um… jus’ habben.”

“They just happen,” Nana repeated with a smile. “They’re not bad or yucky or naughty. They just happen, and that’s okay.”

Once Vee nodded (and smiled when Nana kissed her cheek), Nana looked over at Roman.

“And it’s not your fault either, little prince. I know you were just trying to help your sister feel comfortable. And the most important thing is you didn’t make her do something she didn’t want to do.”

Roman’s heart felt a bit lighter hearing that. But not completely… “Fae still got wet pants, though,” Roman whispered. “I wanted to help faer stay dry!”

Nana shook his head and patted Roman’s knee. It made Roman wiggle his toes. “That’s not your job, sweetheart. And wet pants are very easy to fix, aren’t they, little one?”

For a moment Roman’s tummy flipped in excitement. Nana didn’t call him little one very much, but Roman always loved it when he did!

But then he realised Nana was looking at Vee, not him. Vee was the little one, not Roman… It made his chest feel spiky and whooshy.

“Now let’s get you in a fresh pullup and dry clothes, little love,” Nana told Vee while he reached over to pick up her pacifier from where she dropped it on her colouring. “Those ones can’t be very comfy, can they?”

“Gaga pwup?” Vee babbled with her whole thumb stuck in her mouth. She was obviously more of a baby now. Which meant she couldn’t play with Roman anymore!

“Yes, little hatchling, Nana will help you change your pullup.” He held up the pacifier and Vee gasped. “Do you want your dummy, baby?”

Vee did the grunt that meant yes please, and Nana pulled her thumb out from her mouth and put in the paci instead.

“There we are!” Nana smiled. Then he moved onto his knees like he was about to lift Vee and get up.

But Roman hurriedly grabbed Nana’s wrist to stop him from standing. “We weren’t finished colouring yet!”

Both Vee and Nana were looking at Roman surprised. He let go of Nana’s wrist and pouted grumpily to hopefully distract them from his blush.

“Little prince, I know you and your sister were having a lot of fun on your own.”

Roman nodded enthusiastically.

“But it’s time to fix a couple of things now,” Nana said slow and gentle, like he was being careful not to make Roman cry. But Roman wasn’t a baby, Nana didn’t need to be careful! “I need to help Vee change and then we’re going to tidy up.”

“No, I don’t want to! I want Vee to stay and colour and I want you to go away!”

The last bit wasn’t completely true… But if Nana was going to make Vee not play with him and make him do boring chores then Roman didn’t want Nana there!

“Listen to Nana, little prince,” Nana sighed and sat back down on the carpet, pulling Vee closer on his lap again. “I know you like to be a big boy, but today I think you’re too little to be on your own. That much is clear from the mess you’ve both made. Neither of you are in trouble,” Nana quickly added when Roman’s shoulders went tense. “I know you couldn’t help yourselves, and that’s okay. But now I think we need to give you some grownup supervision before anything else goes awry.”

“W-we’re gonna wake up Mommy?!” Roman squealed, bouncing a little on his butt. “I’m gonna show him my colouring and my plate and the cereal pieces and—”

“Not so fast, darling,” Nana chuckled. “Your mummy still needs his rest, so Nana is going to be your caregiver this morning, alright?”

It made the inside of Roman’s chest swishy and crackly and hot. Like lava! Like angry, sputtering lava!

“Now while I help your baby sister, why don’t you start by collecting all of the crayons and—”

“No!” Roman yelled.

Nana went silent while Vee whimpered. Roman knew it was bad of him to yell around the baby, and it was kinda scary to be a bad boy because he really didn’t want to be bad… But he didn’t want to clean up either! He wanted to play!

“Okay then,” Nana started, slow and gentle again. (Roman wasn’t a baby!) “Perhaps you can start by picking up the pieces of food from—”

“No!” There was no way Roman was gonna touch icky floor food! He crossed his arms tightly.

“Roman.” Nana used his strong voice. “We are not doing this today.”

The strong voice meant he wasn’t happy with Roman, and sometimes it even meant Nana would tell on him to Mommy and Daddy later. The idea of Mommy being disappointed in him made the backs of Roman’s eyes burn and his lips pull down, but he quickly scrunched his face up angrily so no-one noticed.

Nana’s voice was a bit softer when he said, “I’m sure you don’t want to clean up the mess, but I’m afraid it has to be done. If we do it together—”

“No!” Roman yelled again, his voice cracking a little.

It made Vee whine and look up at Nana, who took a deep breath.

Roman knew he was being really naughty now, and it made him feel scared and embarrassed and sad. But he was nearly gonna cry and he really didn’t want to in front of Nana, and Nana wanted to take Vee away from him, and Nana wasn’t letting Roman see Mommy! Nana was mean and Roman didn’t want to do what he said! He grabbed his toothbrush to hold it tight. It made him feel better to hold his favourite things.

“Would you like Nana to help you clean the—”

“No!” This time he even raised his foot from the carpet and stamped it back down! (It was hard because he was still on his butt, but Roman had a lot of practice stamping his feet in all kinds of situations.)

Nana ignored the foot stamp. “Well then would you like to be left alone?”

Roman’s eyes widened and he clenched his toothbrush so tight it hurt. Being left alone sounded really scary and made Roman’s throat clog, but he couldn’t let Nana know that! So he gritted his teeth and put all his strength into making his voice steady: “No, no, no!”

The look on Nana’s face wasn’t happy at all. It was tired and annoyed. “Then you’re clearly too little to make a decision for yourself. Nana is going to help you whether you like it or not.”

“No!” Roman shouted. “I don’t want Nana, I want—”

Roman gasped and closed his mouth really tight. Hot tears made his eyes wet.

Even though it was blurry from his tears, Roman could still see Nana’s face soften. Then Nana asked in a low voice, “What do you want, sweetheart?”

And that was exactly how Mommy always sounded when he was cuddling Roman and helping him to stop crying.

Without any warning, Roman suddenly felt his face crumple and his mouth made a squeaky sad sound. He quickly buried his face in his arm to try to squeeze the tears away like before, but it was too late. His sleeve was already getting wet from him crying.

“I-I—” Roman squeaked, trying to think of another clever idea. But it was too hard. He couldn’t think about anything except…

“I want my mommy!” he wailed into his arm. His tummy sinked all the way down now, and he hugged it with his free arm to try to make it feel better.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Nana cood softly.

It made Roman’s tummy swoosh so he hugged it even tighter. Then he heard some quick shuffling and suddenly a warm arm wrapped around him. Nana’s hand laid flat on his back and rubbed up and down, nice and slow. It helped Roman take a deep breath, but it was shaky and got caught in his chest. A sob broke free and he bit his lip.

“Shh, shh. It’s okay, little prince.”

“I w-want Mommy,” Roman whimpered, spluttering on his tears.

“I know you do, Roman,” Nana whispered and Roman slowly leaned against him. It was warm to lean against Nana and it felt safer. “Oh, you poor thing.”

Another little squeak met Roman’s ear, and for a moment he thought it came from him. But then he felt small fingers wrap around his hand and knew it was Vee. Roman whimpered and squeezed his sister's hand gently. He hoped fae knew it meant thank you.

Fae squeezed his hand back.

Nana’s hand went circle, circle, circle on Roman’s back. Nice and slow. “You miss your mummy, don’t you, little one?”

Roman waited a moment to find out if Nana meant him or Vee. But then Nana squeezed his shoulder softly and repeated the question. Roman was the little one.

With a wet sniffle, he dropped his arm from his face. There was no point hiding anymore, Nana and Vee definitely both knew he was crying. He still didn’t wanna look up from his lap though.

“I just—” Roman cut himself off because his voice was all croaky and thick and wobbly. He whimpered and squinted his eyes shut and squeezed his toothbrush as hard as he could. This is why he hated crying, it made him sound like a baby!

“Deep breath, little prince.”

Just like Nana said. Breathe in, deep… Breathe out, slow…

That was better. Plus, Nana’s hand was still rubbing Roman’s back and Vee’s fingers were still squeezing Roman’s hand. It all felt very safe.

Roman quickly wiped his sleeve over his eyes then looked up at Nana.

It was easier to whisper when he cried, so Roman tried that instead. “I just want Mommy to see h-how clever I been.”

Nana had a sad smile. “And he will, darling. Just as soon as he wakes up.”

Roman didn’t like that. It made his tummy sink all over again just thinking of waiting even longer to cuddle Mommy.

Then Nana’s fingers gently wrapped around Roman’s other hand and lowered it. Roman had started raising his toothbrush to his mouth without even realising! He pouted as Nana tugged his toothbrush down. Chewing his toothbrush would help him feel better right now, but he wasn’t allowed.

“Don’t you think it’ll be so much more fun to tell Mummy all about—” Nana’s eyes swept over the messy room quickly before landing back on Roman “—your endeavours after we’ve tidied up a bit? Then you can brag—uh, tell him all about how you helped to clean up, too.”

“But I want Mommy now!” Roman whined, stamping his foot again. It wasn't as hard this time though, only a soft kick. “I waited all morning a-an-and I always wake up Mommy and he’s never ever mad about it!” His lip wobbled even though he was sure he was done crying now.

The hand rubbed circles on his back again, nice and slow. It reminded him to breath in, deep, then breathe out, slow.

“I don’t doubt it for a single second, Roman,” Nana said in a bouncy voice. It was the babysitting voice and it made Roman’s tummy feel lots calmer. Even Vee perked up at the sound and wiggled happily on Nana’s lap. “But your mummy wasn’t feeling very well last night. Do you remember?”

Roman’s lips twisted in thought. Last night Mommy felt sicky and he was sad and his bedtime was really early, even earlier than Vee’s. After a moment of thought, Roman nodded his head. “Mommy was feeling yucky.”

“Wucky!” Vee squeaked and bounced in Nana’s lap with a squeal.

Roman giggled at faer excitement. Fae was just a baby, so fae didn’t really know what they were talking about… Fae probably just liked that word! It was kind of funny when the baby was excited when something not very exciting was happening!

“That’s right,” Nana said, wiggling his finger on Vee’s side. She smiled and wiggled just like the finger. “And when we’re feeling yucky, we need lots and lots of sleep to feel better.”

“But… b-but if Mommy was awake and he saw what a good boy I been then he would be happy,” Roman whined. Then he added, “And maybe I can make Mommy feel better.”

Nana’s lips pulled up in a smile and he gave Roman a squeeze. “That’s very sweet, Roman, but it’s not little ones jobs to look after their parents. That’s a big grownup job…” The hand on Roman’s back lifted away, but before Roman could pout, Nana poked his nose! “And I think we might have a very little prince this morning, hm?”

It made Roman blush and fidget. “Mhm…” he agreed quietly, then felt his toothbrush stroke across his lip before Nana tugged his hand down again.

“No, darling,” Nana scolded gently, tapping Roman’s wrist. “No chewing. Unless you want me to tell your Daddy.”

Nana was beginning to sound like Vee. Apparently being a tattletale ran in the family… With a massive sigh that he hoped would make Nana feel really guilty, Roman dropped his toothbrush back to his plate. Then he stuck his tongue out, just in case Nana didn’t realise Roman wasn’t happy about it. It made Nana laugh!

Maybe Roman wasn’t that annoyed. It actually felt really nice and soft and warm and bubbly and safe that Nana was trying to help him stop chewing the toothbrush, even if Roman really wanted to. His gums were super sore now anyway. And no matter how clever Roman was, he was still only a little boy! He knew that grownups usually knew more than he did. That was okay though! It meant Roman could just play and have fun and leave the big responsible stuff to the grownups.

“Gaga?” Vee whispered.

When Roman looked down at Vee, it was obvious she was pouting behind her paci. And she was tugging at her wet pants.

Nana’s cold fingers unwrapped from Roman’s wrist so Nana could cradle Vee’s head. “Sorry, sweetie. Let’s get right on that.” His thumb stroked over Vee’s cheek and she hummed and closed her eyes. She looked kinda sleepy.

Then Nana paused and looked back at Roman softly. “I know you’re worried about your mummy, little one, but I was with him for an hour or so last night. I promise you that he’s okay.”

Normally Roman believed Nana (unless Nana winked at him, which meant it was a big kid joke!) but this was very important. So Roman needed Nana to make a very important promise.

“Pinky promise?” Roman asked, holding his little finger up.

Nana’s pinky wrapped around his without hesitation. “Absolutely. Pinky promise,” he said very clearly, and Roman believed him. Then Nana’s hand dropped and his smile was back—the happy, soft one! “And I bet once he’s all rested up, your mummy would love to play with you later.”

Obviously! Mommy always loved playing with Roman because he was such a clever and creative little boy! Roman’s legs vibrated just thinking of all the fun he would have with his mommy. “Maybe-maybe-maybe playing lots!”

“Lots and lots!” Nana gasped, then he shuffled Vee around in his lap to start getting her ready to stand up. (She whined, but she always whined when she had to use her legs.)

Roman giggled, “A-and maybe he will play cars with me!”

“Oh, I’m certain he will.”

“And Nana you’re allowed to watch us play cars!”

A big chuckle came from Nana as he stood from the floor and helped Vee stop from tumbling over. “Thank you for your generosity, little prince. I would adore being a spectator for the hundredth time.” Once Vee was standing upright, Nana unwrapped his arm from her shoulders to hold her hand

“W-well, now you get to be a vip spectre!” Roman assured Nana, bouncing up onto his own feet. He jumped up so fast his head went all spinny and he had to hold Nana’s arm to help stay balanced.

“A V.I.P. spectator, sweetheart,” Nana corrected. (But Roman didn’t like saying each letter on its own. It took too long.) “As I said, I would love to do that later. But for now—” Nana held his empty hand out to Roman “—will you please come with me and your sister upstairs?”

Roman pouted at Nana’s hand. It was nice to hold hands, but it felt like Nana thought he was a baby who couldn’t walk on his own. Like Vee.

“Um…” he muttered, wringing his hands to avoid holding Nana’s. “But I’m a big boy. I can stay here on my own and clean the mess.”

Roman didn’t want to be on his own or clean the mess, but he did want to sound like a good big boy.

“That’s very true,” Nana nodded slowly, lowering his hand. “But you see the thing is, I seem to have forgotten all of the rules to your special car game. So I need you to explain it to me all over again, otherwise I’ll be completely lost when I watch you play with your mummy.”

“Awober again,” Vee whispered.

“Nana,” Roman giggled. How silly of Nana! “You always forget the car game rules!”

“I know, it’s funny how that happens. Now could you be a good big brother and hold Vee’s other hand for Nana?”

Yay! Now Roman got to hold someone’s hand and still feel like a big boy! Roman quickly bounced to Vee’s free side and took her empty hand, very happy that it wasn’t sticky anymore.

“Wo-Wo!” Vee cheered, smiling up at him past her paci and hugging his hand to her chest.

“I’m gonna help you walk, Vee-Vee!”

“Good boy,” Nana praised from Vee’s other side. “Now, are we all ready to head upstairs?”

Roman and Vee both nodded at Nana. It was fun when they were on their own, but it felt better to have a grownup to help them with grownup stuff. At least Roman thought so.

“Alright, here we go, little ones,” Nana announced, and they all started walking toward the hallway hand in hand. As they stepped carefully to make sure Vee didn’t trip up, Nana asked, “So will you be so kind as to tell me about your cars again, sweetheart?”

Roman’s cheeks bunched in a big smile. It was good Nana kept forgetting the car game, because it was Roman’s favourite thing to talk about!

“Okay! For the billionth time!” Roman laughed, his chest bursting with excitement for the day ahead.

“For the billionth time. I think I remember a little though. It’s the blue car who always wins the race, right?”

“Nana, it’s the red one!”

“Oh, of course. How silly of me.”

“Siwy!”

“Yeah, Vee, Nana is silly!”

“I suppose I am. What else can you tell me about the red car, little prince?”

oOo

I really hope you enjoyed the latest fic for this ongoing series! If you did, please consider reblogging, leaving a comment, or sending me an ask or message! They really keep me motivated to write more!

Thank you for reading! ヾ(ᴖ๑ᴖ)ﾉﾞ

Take me back to part 1!

Also on AO3!

#pink crayons and pinky promises #little/big series fics #little/big series #agere roman #agedre roman #little roman #agere virgil #little virgil #nana janus #cg janus #ts agere #ts agere fic #sanders sides agere

65 notes · View notes